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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Recreation Memorial weekend and weekends beyond physically with us. One major point, something to constantly keep in mind, while enjoying the freedom to move around, and to do as we wish in the Great THE OUTDOOR COLUMN Outdoors (or, if one prefers, By Todd Arriola the Great In- The arrival of the Memo- doors), is that rial Day weekend prompts this same freedom should such activities as long- never be taken for granted, distance travel, family re- lest those who have sacri- unions, barbecues, fishing, ficed so much will roll over hunting, hiking, camping, in their graves, and curse and visits to cemeteries, to the newer generations. decorate sites, and to pay This thought was in- respect to those no longer spired partially by the up- coming weekend—which is an extremely important period during which to reflect on the past and to honor those fallen, to be certain—and, by the fol- lowing weekend, June 4th and 5th, which is a Free Fishing weekend, courtesy of the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). More than 185,000 trout will be released this next week, at 80 locations throughout the State, and in the preceding weeks, numerous additional loca- tions have been stocked as well, according to ODFW. Free Fishing weekend means that fishing licenses, tags, and endorsements are not required during that pe- riod, anywhere in Oregon. That’s good news, because I don’t have any of those yet anyway (nor, have I gone fishing yet, in case any ODFW personnel are reading this). I include this topic, because most of us perk up at the mention of some- thing that’s “free,” whether it’s gear, bait, and instruc- tion (provided at most of the Free Fishing weekend events—for the local 203 Pond, check with Shannon Archuleta, 541-523-1385), door prizes, money, advice, or even part of the word “freedom.” I claim no immunity from that same feeling. If you’re into archery, I highly recommend the Relay for Life 3D Shoot for a Cure event this weekend, at the Washing- ton Gulch archery grounds, off of Pocahontas. Two years ago (the last time I reported on the event), Relay for Life raised almost $1,000 from this fundraiser, sponsored by the Elkhorn Archers, and it was a blast, to boot, with a mix of old (sorry, older), and new bow users, who walked and climbed around the course to shoot at 31 targets at different ranges, throughout the day. Last year’s hunting sea- son—basically, I consider the whole year that—didn’t go as well as planned, but, at least there’s hope this time: I had officially applied for literally every controlled hunting oppor- tunity in eastern Oregon that was available, and I didn’t even wait until the last day to do that (I waited until the second to last day). I’m not crazy enough to believe I would ever successfully draw all of those tags for which I’ve applied, but it’s worth a shot. Hope sure does cost a pretty penny sometimes. If extensive honey-do lists are also (or are solely) included in the weekend’s planned activities lineup, that’s okay, too—another form of freedom is the freedom to avoid resid- ing in the doghouse for a lengthy amount of time. Whatever the chosen activ- ity was during this past Memorial Day weekend, I hope you found yourself up-range, with the wind at your back, the sun out of your eyes, and the police not on your doorstep ... Huntington Catfish Derby goes off without a hitch BY EILEEN DRIVER Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com The 31st Annual Catfish Derby was held Memorial Weekend amongst a beau- tiful blue sky and luckily, moderate winds. Huntington was swarm- ing with visitors from as far away as Florida, who came to celebrate the start of the summer while en- joying all that Huntington has to offer. Friday, May 27th was Catfish Derby registration day bringing in 240 brave souls of all ages to register for and try their hand at catching the biggest catfish they could find in the Snake River. Saturday morning was the official start of the derby and while the fisher- people were fishing, their families and friends ate breakfast in the park with a choice of pancakes, french toast, biscuits & gravy or sausage burrito with all the fixins’ made by the Hun- tington Senior & Youth Organization, then strolled thru the park and browsed the wares at the flea market booths. They secured their Duck for the Duck derby, bought raffle tickets from the Lion’s Club for a wide assortment of prizes and from Huntington Christian Center for a handmade quilt while picking out homemade cakes, cookies, breads and pies to snack on. They also had several large garage sales in town to shop at and Bingo to play in the banquet room at Howell’s Cafe & Stream- liner Lounge sponsored by the Lion’s Club. Saturday morning at 9:30 the entries for the Hook- er’s & Cooker’s Catfish Tournament met to go over the rules and receive their catfish. From then till the Judges were served at noon, was a battle of culinary delight to see who could make the taste buds sing with their special catfish or hush- puppy recipe. After the judges were served the populace started thru to receive their sample of each entry to cast their votes for the People’s Choice Award. For only $7 a plate everyone received coleslaw, french fries, and lemonade or ice tea on a tray from the Chamber of Commerce at the Cook Shack then they went to each contestant and received a sample of their catfish. This year saw five new teams vying for the top prize and you know the food was good when every team who competed won a category. This years winners were: 1st Place Team Davison Head Cook Clint Davison of Middleton, Idaho 2nd Place Team Get “R” Done w/ Keystone Head Cook Norma Trus- cott of Vale, Oregon 3rd Place Team King Kat Head Cook Bar- rett Belmudes of Nampa, Idaho People’s Choice Team Jimmy One Nut Head Cook Jimmy of Union, Oregon Hushpuppy Master Team Yogi & BooBoo Head Cook Dave Ables of La Grande, Oregon The Judges this year Christian Matthews, son of the owner’s of Grady’s Tavern & Restaurant, Shellie Nash Deputy City Recorder and Chamber Member and Huntington Mayor Chuck Guerri, owner of Guerri Transpor- tation. According to Mayor Guerri, “ The entries were all so delicious it actually came down to presentation more than taste.” The cookoff coordina- tor reported that first and second actually tied and the judges had to make a tie-breaking decision with the other teams only being one to two points behind them. Saturday evening was rounded out by the street dance featuring the band Big Blue Johnson, a Huntington favorite, which was held from 8 to midnight. The street in front of Li- on’s Park was cordoned off and was filled with people of all ages dancing to clas- sic rock music and getting to know people who lived both near and far. The street dance is always a favorite event and is sponsored by How- ell’s Cafe & Streamliner Lounge and Huntington Bait and Tackle. Sunday was filled with excitement with the continuation of the Catfish Tournament and the Annual Steak Feed at the VFW Hall where you could eat your fill of tender boneless rib eye steak or a juicy hamburger with ev- ery side you could possibly want including beverage and dessert. The VFW Hall was awash in a steady stream of satisfied eaters from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Steak Feed is pro- vided by the Huntington Senior & Youth Organiza- tion. On Sunday afternoon also enjoyed was the Duck Derby with a record num- ber of over 500 colorful little ducks being set free in the Burnt River to travel a quarter-mile to the finish line where duck catch- ers Mirra Burley, Alice Burley, Richard Burley and Carl Hicks were waiting to scoop them out of the water as they made it to the end of the line. The Duck Herders this year who walked behind the ducks in the middle of the cold, cold river to make sure no duck was left behind were Tina Winters, owner Cowgirl Country Cakery and Mike Wiley, owner Wayne & Dottie’s Cabins. Winners were: Grand Prize of $250 Cash Glenda Boxberger 1st Place Afghan J. C. 2nd Place rack of towels J. C. 3rd Place Shop Vac Cody Taylor 4th Place Men’s Basket Cali Creagon 5th Place Women’s Bas- ket E. T. Burley 6th Place Kid’s Basket Donna Rush 7th Place Ladies Toiletry Basket Matt Taylor 8th Place Fish aquarium Maudi Davis 9th Place Movie Basket Dustin, 10th Place Sewing Bas- ket Dustin, and Last Place Fishing Pole Alan Crites Jr. Eileen Driver/ The Baker County Press Derby Champion Junior Division Raney Brooks with her brother. Submitted Photo. Derby Champion Senior Division Riley Chad with Lion Mike Raney. The Duck Derby is sponsored by the Hunting- ton Historical Restoration Society. Monday brought us to the last day of fishing for the “big one” with the contestants continuing the battle till 4 p.m. when the winners were announced and the trophies given. The following were the overall winners for the weekend in the Senior Division: 1st Place and Winner of the $500 Superprize Riley Chad 35 lbs. 10 oz. 2nd Place Rodney Seiber 28 lbs. 6 oz. 3rd Place Bryan McLean 21lbs. 4oz. 4th Place David Blair 20 lbs. 2 oz. Junior Division: 1st Place Raney Brooks 17 lbs. 1 oz. 2nd Place Kaiden Blair 9 lbs. 3 oz. 3rd Place Beatley Delib- ertis 8 lbs. 2 oz. 4th Place Ashlynn Pome- roy 7 lbs. 9 oz. Congratulations to all the Derby winners. The Catfish Derby is a fundraiser of the Hunting- ton Lion’s Club and the proceeds go to pay for the 4th of July fireworks show the put on every year at Farewell Bend State Park.
