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