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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2017)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local HELP WANTED BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT 5J is currently accepting applications for a Full-time Custodian II. Closing Date is August 29, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. For a complete description of the position go to www.baker5J.org. You may also call Cathy Martin at 541-524-2261 or email cathy.martin@ bakersd.org. 8.25 LEGAL NOTICES DISTRICT MEETING NOTICE Medical Springs Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors will hold its regular monthly board meeting at Pondosa Station, on Monday, August 28, 2017 at 7 PM to discuss fire department operations. Equal opportunity provider. Ultra runners complete race Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press. Matt Palilla, top marathon runner, completing the race. • ELKHORN CREST TRAIL PROVIDES FOR SCENIC RUN BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com The first Elkhorn Crest ultra trail run, based in Sumpter, was held Sat- urday, August 19th. The event was hosted by Crux Ridge Running from Bend. They put on “challenging running races from the mountains of Oregon to the urban wilderness of Ten- nessee.” Along with the approxi- mately 53-mile Elkhorn Crest 50, a marathon race was also offered. Janessa Taylor of Crux Ridge Running said she and her partner, Trevor Hostetler, love the area and have been running the Elkhorn Crest Trail for a while. They often start at Anthony Lake and run to Marble Pass and back. A race on the Elkhorn Crest hadn’t been done yet. Tay- lor said this is one of their favorite places, and they wanted to share it with others while benefitting the local community. Taylor ran cross-country in high school. She started doing half-marathons, then marathons, and that led to ultra runs. Hostetler said he was always interested in climbing and had to stay fit for that, which led to his interest in trail running. Taylor said they did not pick the event date to coin- cide with the weekend be- fore the solar eclipse; that’s just the way it worked out. There is a short window of opportunity for running the Elkhorn Crest trail after the snow melts and before snow flies again. They also had a race three weeks ago in the Ochocos so this weekend is just what worked out best. The running group rented The Grounds in Sumpter through Monday so racers had the option to camp out and enjoy the eclipse from there. The Bear Butte Fire did have the Crest trail closed temporarily, and reroute options were identified, but the restrictions were lifted in time for the race to go forward as planned. Runners came from all over the United States. There was one entrant from Hawaii and a few from the East Coast. Quite a few turned out from Boise and local runners also came from Baker City. The beneficiary of the event is the Baker City High School cross-country team. The team had mem- bers manning one of the aid stations for the event. Hostetler said he thought it was great they could show the team there is more to racing than running a 5K “or whatever.” The Locked and Loaded off-road group volunteered for a couple of other sta- tions and some members spent Friday night at the Cracker Creek Saddle aid station. The Sycamore Tree was a local sponsor, with Bob’s Red Mill, Skout, Applegate, and The Pulse running shop in Boise some of the other sponsors. Sumpter Valley Commu- nity Volunteers (SVCV) assisted with a pancake post-run meal for entrants and friends and family as racers finished. Taylor estimates a couple of years to get the word out, but says they plan to make this an annual event. LeAnne Woolf, of SVCV, said she heard several run- ners say they had a great time and will definitely be back next year. Check-in started at 4 a.m. Saturday with runners bussed to the starting line at 5:30. The race began at 6 a.m. from Bourne and finished at The Grounds in Sumpter. One hundred one runners in all tackled the challenge. The marathon course featured a total gain of 5,700 feet and loss of 6,300 feet. The Elkhorn Crest 50 course included gain of 11,000 feet and loss of 11, 700 feet. Taylor described one portion with a gain of 1,000 feet in one mile, from Summit Lake to the crest, as “not so much a run as putting your head down and hiking as fast as possible.” Matt Palilla from Bend was the first marathon fin- isher with a time of three hours, thirty-one minutes. Susie Rivard of Portland was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of four hours, forty- nine minutes. Duncan Hoge of Portland finished the 50-mile course in just over 9 hours. Rachel Drake, also of Portland, completed the course in nine hours and fifty-five minutes. More information on the race can be found online at elkhorncrest.com. Crux Ridge Running is on Face- book at facebook.com/ cruxridgerunning. Music in the Meadow held Baker City has eclipse festival BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com August 19th and 20th, Baker City welcomed travelers for the Solar Eclipse with an Eclipse Festival. The event was organized Kristy Backlund and hosted 46 vendors. Backlund began the process to set up the event around three months before the event. She does other events, “Local is the New Black Christmas Show” and the “Jubi- lee Marketplace.” She explained that she was waiting for someone to set up the event, but after seeing that nobody else was going to, she decided to do it herself. “At that time we had the Lion’s Club Breakfast that was coming,” explained Backlund. “They weren’t able to get enough volunteers, so they had to back out. And I knew that the Powder River Music Review was at the park on Sunday. So I was like, well we have breakfast both days. We have music, why aren’t we adding vendors? I mean, we’re going to have all these people in town, why aren’t we doing something for them?” Among the vendors at the festival, Grace Mothershed, and Adina and Katrina Fast held a face painting booth. The funds made are going to a ten-day school trip for Katrina to go to Costa Rica for the 2018 summer. It costs $3,000 per student and they are responsible for raising their money. Jeanie Zebrak of Lazy Lizard Designs had a booth sell- ing her handcrafted jewelry. Her merchandise is avail- able through her website and her Etsy Store online. At her booth, she also had jewelry made by nine year old Landon Dougherty and six year-old Liam Dougherty. Zebrak has been crafting jewelry for 50 years, making earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and other items. A family from Walla Walla, Washington also had a booth where they sold hair wraps, read tarot cards, and body art. Nani Storey made the hair wraps, and Francheska Sto- rey read tarot cards and painted body art. Beside them were Nico and Bash Evans, who also per- formed on Saturday as Sound and Stone. They sold post- ers, stickers, and pin back buttons. They are a family of artisans who occasionally have traveled to art and music festivals, drawing inspiration from diverse cultures. Kathy Spence from Haines had a booth for Perfectly Posh, a five year-old company founded in October 2011 that sells “head to toe pampering with natural based in- gredients.” Spence has been with Perfectly Posh for three years. Spence had body butters, scrubs, facemasks, soaps, and many other products at her booth. Trista Phillips from Keating had a booth for her “Little Pistols,” handmade leather infant and toddler moccasins. Phillips explained that she wanted to buy a pair for her son but they were expensive. She then decided to learn how to make her own. Her website grew and she sold them online, even in different countries such as in Nigeria and the UK. She decided not to continue online and now sells them at Bazaars. Stacey Grimes, Prevention Education Team Leader Trainee for the Wildland Fire Prevention and Education Team was at the festival, giving out stickers and bags and educating people of the strict no burn restrictions for the eclipse. Grimes and other members of the Prevention and Education team canvased camping areas, trying to get the fire restrictions out to people and other rules such as no chainsaws, no stopping on dry grass, and to pack out all trash. Powder River Music Festival BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press. Salt Lick #39 featuring the fabulous Marilyn Shollenberger in the middle. BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com Sumpter Valley Com- munity Volunteers (SVCV) hosted the eighth Music in the Meadow event in Sumpter on Sunday, Au- gust 20th. Main organizer LeAnne Woolf said this will prob- ably be the last year, as she is just getting tired. Myrna Clarke publically recognized Woolf for her community involvement and volunteerism. The event was held at the pavilion on The Grounds. Entrance was a suggested $5 donation per adult. SVCV members also sold hamburger and bratwurst meals and sodas. Woolf mentioned some of the things SVCV has been involved in, includ- ing redoing the exterior of Sumpter City Hall and giving grants to the Fire Department and Cracker Creek Museum of Mining. Most recently, SVCV has taken on restoration of the property known as the Superintendant’s House. Salt Lick #39, classic country band from Baker City, kicked off the event at noon. Wallulah Junction, from Hermiston, took over at 2:45. They play in all genres and proved their expertise by providing a musical sampling of everything from polka to Santana to Johnny Cash. Frank Carlson, of Baker City, ended the evening with his mix of classic rock and country. Carlson also played in Sumpter at Carole’s Mad Dog Restaurant Saturday evening and Monday. Sunday, August 20th, Baker City Events held the Powder River Music Review at the Geiser-Pollman Park during the Eclipse Festival. Performing was EOCenes (AKA The Ladd Canyon Ramblers) from 4pm to 6pm in the Powder River Pavilion. Members are Duane Boyer on the banjo, Ron Em- mons on the mandolin, Hal Spencer on the guitar, Hugh McClellan on the guitar, Lyn Attwood on the bass, Allan Feves on dobro and bass, and Doug Jenkins on the fiddle. Lynette Perry, the events coordinator/treasurer for Baker City Events, explained that they are all college buddies from 50 years ago. “People are loving it,” explained Perry during the event. The Music Sponsors for the event were Mountain View Trailer Park, Lew Brothers-Les Schwab, Grumpy’s Re- pair Inc., and Settler’s Park. They also had raffle baskets donated by Sorbenots, Eltrym Theater, and the Baker City Events Board of Directors put together another basket. According to Perry, The Powder River Music Review originated at the court house and through Historic Baker City. “They had a Thursday lunch hour music event at the court house,” explained Perry. “And then it disbanded and went away for years. As a matter of fact, Marilyn Shol- lenberger who’s on our board of directors for Baker City Events was the one who named it. And then, when we were raising money to build this pavilion, we decided we would have Powder River Music Review come back to life and hold it in the park. And so we held it at the Lion’s Shelter and sold bricks and that’s how we managed to raise funds along with some grant writing to build this pavilion.” SEE POWDER RIVER MUSIC PAGE 9
