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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2017)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor / Rec / Local Museum holds fall gathering Landlord uses BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com On Tuesday, the Friends of the Baker Heritage Museum held their Fall Gathering, their closing event of the season, in the museum’s Adler Room. At the gathering, Ken Anderson gave a short presentation for the retire- ment of the “Honoring Those Who Have Served” Military Exhibit. The exhibit has been at the museum for three years and will be retired when the museum closes for the season on October 28th. The museum will open again December 15th and will have an exhibit for “50 Years of Paint Your Wagon in Baker County.” Anderson’s presentation focused on a World War II soldier, Baker City local John William Studer who was known as Bill Studer or “Little Billy ” “Did you know that in World War II there were 2,000 Baker City folks that were involved in the service in the military?” Anderson asked those attending. “That’s al- most nine percent of the entire population of Baker County. So, Baker County was well represented in our veterans during WWII. Among them, the Veterans Memorial down at the Court House tells us that 78 of our residents were killed during WWII, 70 of them actually killed in action. Among them, was John William Studer.” Anderson explained that Studor joined right after Pearl Harbor and was a member of the Carlson Raiders and ended up be- ing among the 1,000 out of 7,000 who were the volun- teers for the Raiders. “His first assignment was in the Battle of Midway,” said Anderson. “These Raiders were trained to sneak behind enemy lines and to fight as guerrillas; they were to stop the enemy invasion.” Anderson said reports from survivors said Studer was killed by a grenade he rolled on top of to prevent harm to others. “Freedom is not free,” said Anderson. “By look- ing at this one man’s life and the dedication, the commitment, the patrio- tism he expressed, we need to be really thankful that we live in the country that we do and that we have men and women like Billy Studer.” “That really puts a per- spective what an important exhibit that we’re saying farewell to tonight because it is a testimony to what wonderful people we have here in Baker City that have done amazing sacri- fices for our quality of life here,” said Chris Cantrell, baseball bat to evict tenant At about 7:45 a.m. on Monday, Baker City Police and Baker City Ambulance responded to a call at 1425 Dewey Avenue. Elizabeth Ann Burrell was arrested on the scene for Second Degree Assault. According to Police Chief Wyn Lohner that morning, Burrell rents the house from her mother, and was subletting the basement area to Joshua Thomas. In an apparent attempt to evict, Burrell took a baseball bat to Thomas, striking him in the torso. Photos of red- ness on his arm were also taken. Burrell was arraigned the next day with bail set at $150,000. Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Ken Anderson gives a presentation on the Military Exhibit at the Baker Heritage Museum. president of the Friends of the Museum. Museum Commis- sioner Melinda Sherrieb explained that for the 9th Annual Night at Old Au- burn, they will have Beef Raffles. She said there will be two drawings, and tickets are available until February 24th. People do not need to be present to win. Beef will be available in fall of 2018; it is locally raised and is being donated by Warnock Ranches. All proceeds go to the Baker Heritage Museum. Cantrell explained that they need volunteer help to set up for the event. Museum Director An- nable said, “We hosted Museum Camp again this year and we were able to have two sessions for that and actually we had over 40 kids that came and were able to be part of that camp, as well as two scholarships thanks to some kind donations from members of our friends organization.” Huntington’s ‘Haunted Forest’ BY EILEEN DRIVER Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com Walk don’t run— you’ll want to save your strength—to Lion’s Park in Huntington to purchase your tickets and catch a ride on the Steampunk Bus which will transport you to the Haunted Forest. This is the Snake River Sternwheeler Association’s second annual Haunted Forest and it is bigger and better than ever. The Steampunk Bus’s driver will give you a fount of information and the history of sternwheel- ers in eastern Oregon and prepare you for the spooky fun ahead. As you travel down the dark dirt road towards the Haunted Forest you will travel across the rickety bridge and into the land of the dead. There you may be greated by an other- worldly escort or if you dare, start down the path on your own. What awaits is an eerily friendly/scary forest of too many different kinds of creatures to count. It is quickly becoming a must see halloween adventure. The Forest is open from 6:30 - 10:00 p.m., Friday, October 27th and Saturday, October 28th for the last time this year. Tickets are $10 per per- son but if you have a group of six or more you will receive a 10% discount. If you need more information call Bill Burley at (208) 249-5179. Sage-grouse meeting Nov. 7 The Bureau of Land Management will host a public meeting to solicit comments and provide information on Greater Sage-grouse land management issues. As stewards, the BLM manages public lands for the benefit of current and future generations, supporting conservation as we pursue our multiple-use mission. The meeting will be held on November 7th, 2017, in Burns, Oregon at the Harney County Community Center, 484 N Broadway Avenue from 5 - 8 p.m. The meeting will begin with an overview followed by an open house. Participants will be encouraged to speak with BLM staff on various topics related to the Greater sage-grouse. In addition to comments on the issues and planning criteria, the BLM would like to receive comments on whether the planning effort should occur through state-by-state amendment processes and deci- sions. In accordance with the October 11, 2017 Notice of Intent, the BLM seeks comments on the Sagebrush Fo- cal Area designation, mitigation standards, lek buffers, disturbance and density caps, adaptive management, and any other topics identified at the state or local level. The potential planning effort does not preclude the BLM from addressing issues and inconsistencies through other means, including policy, training, or plan mainte- nance, nor does it commit the BLM to amending some, all, or none of the Greater Sage-grouse plans. Participants will have the opportunity to provide writ- ten comments during the meeting, online at: http://bit/ ly/GRSGplanning. Comments can also be submitted via email at: BLM_sagegrouseplanning@blm.gov Bank buys back Halloween candy Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press Huntington resident Shellie Nash with her Haunted Forest escort at a ghostly wedding. This Halloween, local trick-or-treaters will join kids across the nation when they bring their Halloween candy and handwritten letters of gratitude to any branch of Community Bank. The goodies will be shipped to Operation Gratitude for inclusion in Care Packages to U.S. Service Members deployed overseas in harm’s way and to First Responders serving here at home. To encourage participation, Community Banks across Northeast Oregon and Southeast Washington will be purchasing candy from kids for $1 per pound, up to five pounds. Buy-back dates are during normal business hours from November 1st through November 7th. DH Wagon & Carriage provide services to guests at the Geiser Grand Hotel CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 The two became engaged early last year, and began the new horse-drawn car- riage business this year (the name “DH” stands for “Danny” and “Holly”). Boyer grew up around horses (her family owns a ranch in Haines), Clary’s been driving horses for over 30 years throughout all of North America, and it was the duo’s mutual dream about the idea that prompted the entrepreneur- ial leap into the venture, Boyer said. “We were looking for something to do with our draft and driving horses, and (Geiser Front-Desk Clerk) Mandy Clark got a hold of us, and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in doing this?’ So, we started in the carriage business with the idea of doing rides for the Geiser Grand, along with doing other things around the community— weddings, rides and wagon trains—stuff like that.” Once Boyer and Clary secured funding, they purchased two wagons this year (they have three wag- ons total), including one built in Canada, and a new chuck wagon, outfitted for cookouts. “Once we were able to get the funding, and start buying the wag- ons, we went back to the Geiser, and said, ‘We’re ready when you are.’” she said, again with a laugh. Boyer said that currently, she and Clary use one team of horses for the rides, ani- mals which Clary brought back from Ohio, five years ago, about the same time he also brought back the first of the three wagons the couple own. The wagon, a typical “farm wagon,” was used to give rides during the Fourth of July celebration in Haines, Boyer said. Routes for rides down- town aren’t really set up in a strict sense, since they can be tailored to what passengers request, with a normal ride a half-hour, or an hour, depending on the request, traffic, and the weather. “We drive around downtown, and take guests over by the (Geiser-Poll- man) park, the old hospital, the St. Elizabeth Towers, etc., and explain the his- tory of the area, and a lot of the buildings that are there,” Boyer said. Boyer said that, so far, there is a demand for the service, enough so that when Sidway called on Ron Colton, who’s given similar horse-drawn car- riage rides for many years for the Geiser, to provide the service, he had other obligations that day, and DH filled in, which was the first day the team provided rides for guests of the historic hotel. Boyer said that DH has bookings for later this fall, including Thanksgiv- ing, for some guests of the Geiser Grand, and she was approached by Kristy Backlund, co-host of the “Local is the New Black” Christmas Bazaar, to possi- bly provide some rides, in connection with her event. Boyer said, “We’re really excited to be working with the Geiser. We’re thank- ful that Ron (Colton) was able to bring that apprecia- tion to the community, of having horse-drawn rides... Barbara (Sidway) men- tioned to us, when we met her, especially the down- town areas, are best seen from the seat of a horse, or a horse-drawn carriage.” Sidway said, “We wel- come another horse-drawn carriage service to our community; we’re already working with them, and are super excited about it... We couldn’t be more pleased. It’s wonderful for our community to have this, and we continue to celebrate and use Ron Colton, and his carriage service, as well.” Sidway said that Colton plans to provide sleigh rides every Saturday night, during the winter, and Colton’s and DH’s car- riages are very different, to she feels strongly that there is plenty of demand for both. Sidway said, “We’ve always had strong demand from our guests, and we were approached by Holly (Boyer)...and, might we want to use them? and, so, great! Super cute, super fun—our guests love to explore the history of our community, and we think it’s best from the seat of a horse. A car is too fast, and walking—we have so much history, it’s hard to capture it all, when you’re walking.” Sidway explained there is plenty of demand for the service, but no competi- tion (she compared using the service to the hotels in-suite massage service, when one masseuse may not be available, and another one is called). She said Colton came into the Geiser Grand’s lobby many years ago, and he said, “You know, I have a feeling your guests might like a horse-drawn carriage ride,” to which Sidway re- sponded, “You bet—we’ll back you all the way.” “We are very happy to support quality experienc- es, that guests can enjoy, provided by members of the community. It was easy for us to say ‘Yes’ to Copper Belt (Winery) wine tasting, and Barley Brown’s (Brew Pub) beer, and Glacier 45 (Distillery), and Peterson’s (Gallery and Chocolatier) choco- late, and promote the heck out of all that. It’s great stuff. We’re lucky to have them,” Sidway said. Boyer said, for now, the best way to keep up to date on DH events and other happenings is via the Face- book page. She and Clary plan to marry within the next couple of weeks, at the Boyer ranch, in Haines.