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.