FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
Burnt River student wins
Congressional art contest
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
(R-Hood River) announced
that Shelby Swindlehurst, a
senior at Burnt River High
School, has been selected
as the Baker County win-
ner for Oregon’s Second
Congressional District in
the 2016 Congressional
Art Competition. In a
record year for entries,
Phoebe was ranked highly
by a panel of local judges,
including Lori Sams, art
gallery director at Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege, artist Malcolm Phin-
ney of Phinney Gallery
of Fine Art in Joseph, and
associate professor of art at
Eastern Oregon University
Michael Sell. Shelby’s art
will hang in Walden’s of-
fice in La Grande.
“I want to congratulate
Shelby on this impres-
sive achievement in such
a competitive year,” said
Walden. “Phoebe is a testa-
ment to Shelby’s artistic
talent, and she should be
very proud of this accom-
plishment.”
The overall winner of the
Congressional Art Com-
petition, Sage Hassell, a
senior at Mountain View
High School, will travel
to Washington, D.C. to
see her artwork displayed
in the national student art
exhibit in the U.S. Capitol
and attend a reception in
her honor June 23, 2016.
“The Congressional Art
Competition is a tremen-
dous opportunity for young
Oregonians interested in
art, and I want to thank all
of the students, teachers,
and families who made
this year’s competition a
success,” Walden said. “I
would also like to thank
our fourteen judges from
around Oregon’s Second
Submitted Photo.
Shelby Swindlehurst’s art is now officially prize-winning.
District for their expertise
in judging over one hun-
dred pieces of our talented
students’ work.”
Judges for this year’s com-
petition included: Rogue
Gallery & Art Center board
member Nancy Jo Mullen,
and their executive director
Kim Hearon; Central Or-
egon Community College
art professor Bill Hoppe;
former Jackson County
Commissioner and high
school art teacher Sue Ku-
pillas; associate professor
of art at Eastern Oregon
University Michael Sell;
Southern Oregon Univer-
sity professor of art Peg
Sjogren; Southern Oregon
University professor of
painting and drawing
Cody Bustamante; fine
arts professor at Treasure
Valley Community College
Robin Jackson; Treasure
Valley Community College
photography instructor
Ted Fink; Treasure Valley
Community College visual
arts professor Tammy Kin-
ney; Betty Faves Memorial
Art Gallery director Lori
Sams; artist and owner of
Phinney Gallery of Fine
Art Malcolm Phinney;
Mark Nilsson, artist and
owner of Mark Nilsson
Artist Studio; and Cathy
Stever, owner and artist at
Cathy Stever Gallery.”
The Congressional Art
Competition is a nation-
wide program for students
to showcase their artistic
abilities and to highlight
the importance of art
education. Since its start in
1982, more than 650,000
high school students from
around the country have
participated. Photos of the
winners and more informa-
tion on the competition
can be found via Walden’s
website at https://walden.
house.gov/art-competition.
Warm Springs couple found dead
Investigators have found
the remains of Mark Kevin
Johnson, Jr., in Deschutes
County. FBI agents and
Warm Springs Police
Officers were trying to
locate Johnson as part of
the investigation into the
violent death of his wife,
Candelabra Rhoan.
Warm Springs officers
who were doing a welfare
check on Ms. Rhoan found
her body inside her Warm
Springs home in the early
morning hours of Thurs-
day, May 19th.
At approximately 3 pm
on Saturday, May 21,
2016, Deschutes County
Sheriff's deputies were dis-
patched to a vehicle over
the cliff in the Deschutes
River Canyon near Lower
Bridge Way (Terrebonne,
OR). Deputies arrived and
determined a single male
occupant of the vehicle
was deceased. The vehicle
was located more than 100
feet down the slope below
a 50-foot sheer cliff.
Sheriff's Detectives
responded to the scene to
investigate.
Due to the nature of the
terrain, Deschutes County
Search and Rescue was
called out to recover the
body.
For safety reasons, that
recovery was delayed until
this morning. On Sunday,
May 22nd, 21 Search and
Rescue volunteers and two
Special Services (SAR)
deputies assisted investiga-
tors with recovering the
body of the deceased. The
recovery involved a ropes
system to raise the body to
the top of the canyon.
Deschutes County Sher-
iff's Detectives continue to
investigate the vehicle inci-
dent in cooperation with
other agencies, including
the FBI, Warm Springs
Police Department and the
Jefferson County Sheriff's
Office.
Both Johnson, Jr., 33,
and Ms. Rhoan, age 30,
were members of the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm
Springs.
Bennett
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
He said he was living in Eugene during the attack on
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, which was before he
was married to Jean. “The whole country did an about
turn...the factories, instead of making washing machines
and cars, they were making equipment for the war...The
women folk, I’d like to give them credit, because back
in ‘41 and ‘42, my future wife went to riveting school in
Eugene, so she could be a riveter...” Robert said that Jean
then went to work for an airplane factory in Portland.
Robert was aware that he would be drafted into the
military, and the couple married on December 21, 1942.
Shortly after that, while Jean was working at the factory,
Robert received a physical, and he was told that he was fit
to join any service he liked. He chose the Marine Corps,
and he was shipped off to boot camp in San Diego, Cali-
fornia. During this time, Jean found out she could make
more income as a welder, so she attended welding school,
in Portland.
Post-boot camp, Robert signed up for radio operator
training, and he was sent to Texas A&M, to receive that
instruction, while Jean finished welding training. Jean
arrived at the Portland shipyards to begin work, and she
discovered that the gate had been locked. She asked
what happened, and a female there told her that a worker
had been found murdered in the hold of one of the ships,
which prompted Jean to quickly conclude that she would
seek less dangerous work. She joined Robert at Texas
A&M, until he finished training, after which he was
promoted to Corporal, while the rest of the class made
Private First Class, he said.
On the one-year anniversary of their marriage, De-
cember 21, 1943, Robert was put on a troop train headed
for California, as Jean stood at the depot with suitcase
in hand, unsure of what to do, until a Navy buddy of
Robert’s somehow managed to get her onto the train—the
only female there. “We shipped out of San Francisco on
January 1, 1944. I was assigned the 1st Marine Air Wing
Headquarters Squadron, South Pacific, and it took us
almost a month... on a Liberty Ship, to get down to... the
Solomon Islands...We were building up to invade Rabaul,
on New Britain Island, just off the Philippines...” Robert
said.
He said that the the decision from “the powers that
be” was made to bypass Rabaul, and to land instead on a
small island north of Rabaul, since it was less fortified.
“It was solid jungle,” Robert said. Troops built an air-
field, and he said that sleeping accommodations included
a hammock with mosquito netting, hung between two
palm trees, over a foxhole. “When the Japanese came
over with their bombers, we would just unzip (the net-
ting), and roll out in our foxholes,” he said.
A radio station was set up on the island, and Robert
worked as a radio operator, relaying messages from
Australians, who acted as Japanese stronghold and
fortification spotters, using Morse code. He said he
was informed that he was supposed to have received a
commendation for this effort from the Australian govern-
ment, but he couldn’t confirm that. Robert did receive,
among other medals, Consolidation of Solomon Islands,
Bismarck Archipelago, and Expert Rifleman. “It was
not too much of a physical combat with me; it was more
long-range radio work, so I wasn’t really involved in any
hand-to-hand combat over there,” he said.
While Robert was there, Jean gave birth to the couple’s
first daughter, Barbara Jean. (They had five children
total—three girls and two boys). Robert said while com-
municating back and forth via V-Mail (short for Victory
Mail, a hybrid, secure mail delivery system during World
War II), he and Jean found out they both had picked the
same name for her, after Robert (Barbara was a form of
“Bobbie”), and Jean, of course, after his wife.
Currently, a couple from The Dalles manage the
historic Pondosa Store, which Robert still owns, located
near Medical Springs. He explained that during the
1960s, Jean’s brother, Lester Gaddy, who was a disabled
Navy veteran (his ship was struck by a kamikaze pilot),
found an advertisement for the sale of the former Collins
mill town (near where the store is now), and bought the
property partially because of the love of the area.
SEE BENNETT PAGE 11
VetTix gives free event tix to vets Halfway man
Veteran Tickets Founda-
tion (Vet Tix), a national
nonprofit that provides
free event tickets to the
U.S. military community,
announced today that it has
now delivered 2 million
tickets since 2008. This is
the equivalent of donat-
ing enough tickets to fill
Madison Square Garden
to capacity more than 100
times, the Hollywood
Bowl 114+ times, or Sol-
ider Field 32+ times.
“Vet Tix was born eight
years ago. I was at football
game and noticed that there
were still empty seats, even
at one of the most attended
games of the season,” said
U.S. Navy Veteran Mike
Focareto, founder and
CEO of Veteran Tickets
Foundation. Focareto
continued, “Vet Tix has
grown into a thriving
word-of-mouth program.
It has benefitted thousands
of military families who
often can’t afford tickets to
events. We’ve also heard
from veterans that Vet Tix
is helping them reintegrate
into civilian life after their
service.”
Vet Tix supports all
branches of currently
serving military, veterans
and their families, as well
as the immediate families
of those killed in action
by distributing tickets
to sporting events, con-
certs, performing arts and
family activities in all 50
states. This includes many
college and professional
sports teams within the
MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL,
and WNBA, in addition
to NASCAR, concert and
entertainment events.
Where there are empty
seats, Vet Tix seeks to fill
them with people who
have served our country
and their families. Giv-
ing an event ticket is an
expression of appreciation
and recognition that honors
the service of the troops
today and long after their
tour of duty has passed. At-
tending these events helps
veterans reduce stress
through entertainment,
strengthen family bonds,
build life long memories,
and encourage them to stay
engaged with American
life and local communities.
“We are overwhelmed by
the generosity of so many
ticket donors and support-
ers who have been para-
mount to our tremendous
growth of over 500,000
tickets in less than a year,”
Focareto said. “Our 2
million ticket milestone
could have been a family
attending a circus event,
a date night at a Kenny
Chesney concert or four
buddies at a New York
Yankee’s game. Helping
our veterans attend events
provides positive family
and life experiences after
their years of service to our
country.”
Vet Tix started in 2008,
and distributed 1,290 tick-
ets in Phoenix that year.
The organization grew
over the next six years to
celebrate its millionth tick-
et given away in July 2015,
and this quickly rose to 1.5
million tickets distributed
by August 2015.
Vet Tix is a national
501(c)(3) nonprofit foun-
dation, and it ranked as the
2016 Top-rated Nonprofit
in the United States by
GreatNonprofits.
arrested on sex
abuse charges
On May 20, 2016, Baker
County Sheriff's Deputies
arrested Alan Steele, born
April 11, 1961 or Clear
Creek Road on Halfway,
for Sex Abuse in the First
Degree. The allegations
of sex abuse involved a
juvenile male.
The sexual contact with
the juvenile was reported
to have started when he
was 13 years old.
A search warrant was
conducted at Mr. Steele's
residence relating to the
allegations.
Mr. Steele was transported
and lodged in the Baker
County Sheriff's Office Jail.
Photo Courtesy of the Baker County
Sheriff’s Office
Alan Steele.