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About The Record-courier. (Haines, Baker County, Oregon) 1932-2016 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2016)
Aloíík P mx WA/ m M— “Höntti, Rowden “Hewd By Vickie Christensen ......... . \ **••••••••••••* .‘ n This week dice and card games are afoot in North Powder. On June 15th, Chris Aldrige hosted the Bunco gathering in her home. June Bauck took first place, Bev Bigler placed second, and Susanne Watson was low. The hostess gifts were won by Suzie DeHaas and Lisa Watson. The most Buncos went to Cindy Weight. Subs were many, including Chris's husband, Jim. Joyce Lawyer hosted the Pinochle party on Thursday, June 16th, at the Wolf Creek Grange. Judy Moe was first, June Bauck took second, Joyce Lawyer placed low. The Pinochle prizes were awarded to Sandy Wood and Eleanor Blankenship. Subs were Marie Johnson, Judy Moe, June Bauck and Susie Michaels. The North Powder City Library held a planning workshop. Efforts are underway to create a more unified library district within the Union County library system. Discussions are moving forward on what works for each library. The library is also looking for grants to help build a new fa cility. Our library is working hard and wants to continue to be a great asset in our community. Be safe out there. Even though our nights have been cool, things are going to heat up and will dry out. We can do a lot with common sense to avoid fires this summer. It is a pleasure to bring you The North Powder Buzz. Happy Trails. WALDEN continued from page 4 “This makes four years in a row. It has the support of my Oregon colleagues, Representative Defazio and Schrader. It is time for the Sen ate to act.” The bill is designed to increase timber harvest and revenue for the local counties, and it directs BLM to revise their flawed Resource Management Plan. He also ex pressed an interest in making sure the federal government was held accountable when it came to re planting practices, and to require environmental groups to “put Some financial skin in the game” when it came to their legally challenging federal rulings. Walden echoed Wyden’s concerns expressed several weeks ago re garding the Forest Service’s prac tice of “borrowing ” money from their prevention budgets to put fires out. According to Walden, the measure allows the Forest Service to request FEMA disaster funds for fire suppression without continu ally having to rob their internal fire prevention accounts. Congressman Walden briefly touched on the political scene in Washington, D.C., as it related to the Presidential campaign. “All the national press wants to talk about is Donald Trump,” stated Walden. “Last week the Republi can Leadership rolled out a Six Point Plan for America - a plan that we hope will address many of the same issues we have been talking about here. The first six questions were: Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump and Trump.” > The audience chuckled and Con gressman Walden acknowledged it will be an interesting summer. Oregon Department of Transportation Busy in Eastern Oregon: Be Aware Highway constructfon season has begun and several projects are currently underway. Eastern Oregon travelers can expect to see orange traffic cones and construction workers at several dozen work sites throughout the year along Interstate 84 and sec ondary state highways. ODOT reminds motorists to slow down, pay extra attention and be prepared for flaggers and traffic pattern changes when they see orange cones and construction signs. Please pay attention to avoid paying a fine, or being involved in a crash. Baker/Union Area 1-84 Old Oregon Trail Highway - Bridge deck repairs at Union interchange, Exit 265, MP 265.9. Lane closures, reduced speeds, minor delays. Work is ongoing. Completion: 8/2016 I-84 Old Oregon Trail Highway - Bridge rail upgrades on three structures near North Powder, MP 285.6-289.2 Eastbound and westbound lane closures, reduced speeds, minor delays. Work is ongoing. Completion: 9/2016 I-84 Old Oregon Trail Highway - Variable Speed Limit Sign in stallation between Baker City and La Grande, various sites adja cent to freeway shoulders, MP 277.1-307.1. Shoulder and lane closures, minor delays. Work is ongoing. Completion: 10/2016 U.S. 26 John Day Highway - Pavement chip seal between Austin Junction and Grant Co. line, MP 190.4-199.4. Lane clo sures, reduced speeds, day/nighttime flaggers, pilot cars, loose rock on the roadway, delays up to 20 minutes. Work expected to start July 25 and take about 3 days. Completion: 8/2016 U.S. 26 John Day Highway - Rock fall correction work near Camp Creek, MP 220-220.5. Possible minor delays/minimal im pacts, work is now mostly complete. Completion: 7/2016 U.S. 30 La Grande - Baker Highway. Intersection improvements and signal installation at U.S. 30 and McAlister Road (RR xing) in La Grande area, MP 4.95. Lane closures, flaggers, delays up to 20 minutes. RR crossing at McAlister will be closed for RR work June 20-24. Work is ongoing. Completion: 10/2016 OR 237 La Grande - Baker Highway - Pavement overlay through Pyle’s Canyon south of Union, MP 17.4-20.5. Flaggers, pilot cars, up to 20 minute delays. Work expected to start late June, early July and be completed by July 31. Complete 8/2016 Individuals, Partnerships and Corporations Tax Preparation Nichols & Mitchell, PC Certified Public Accountants Bruce Nichols, CPA Stan Mitchell, CPA Tax Preparation & Electronic Filing Payroll Services - Estates & Trusts Located at 2550 Broadway in Baker City 541-523-6471 A U c T I O X i Record-Courier 5 THURSDAY, JUNE 23,2016 Reasons Why Coins Are Left On Military Tombstones CZSaff** "’¡jr Story courtesy Hells Canyon Journal During the summer months and especially on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veteran’s Day, our local cemeteries have a lot of visitors from out of the area who come home to visit family. There are a lot of people who like to come back and retrace their ancestors footsteps and cemeteries are a good place to gather information. Sometimes without intent to cause harm, memorabilia and plants are taken. Know ing why there are tributes at gravesites might offer a little insight and cause one to pause be fore even touching what has been left by loved ones. In any cemetery, there are many signs of tribute, honor and love. Flowers and flags, crosses and pictures. It’s not a surprise to find any number of memoires such as a small toy or a favorite team mascot. The memorabilia might make you wonder what the rest of the story is. When you see coins on a veteran’s tombstone, you won’t know who left the coin, but you can know without a doubt, what their connection was to that soldier. The tradition of leaving coins on the tomb stones of fallen soldiers can be traced back as far as the Roman Empire. Today, the meaning is specific and they are placed as an unwaver ing sign of respect and honor to those who lost their lives while serving their country. The coins serve as a message to the families, of these soldiers that someone stopped to pay their respects, what their relationship to the soldier was and as a sign of caring. A penny is left as a message to the family that someone has visited and a nickel means that the person who has visited was in boot camp with their loved one. A dime means that the two served together in some capacity and a quarter is a message to the family that the visitor was with their soldier, when he/she was killed. Tradition is that the money left at gravesites in state and national cemeteries is eventually collected and put into a fund that helps to main tain the cemetery and also help fund burial costs for soldiers whose family needed assistance. In the United States, the tradition of leaving coins was resurrected during the Vietnam War. Because of the dramatic divide in America regarding this war, leaving a coin was an easier way for a soldier to communicate with a deceased solder’s family that the grave had been visited and eliminated the risk of getting into a potentially uncomfortable argument over war politics. Some veterans would leave a handful of coins as a ‘down payment’ to buy their fallen comrade a beer or play a hand of cards, when they were reunited. Retired Correctional Officer Wildland Firefighter Jim Hunter Story/photo courtesy Hells Canyon Journal Jim Hunter of New Bridge training in anything. ‘We had to worked for the State of Oregon teach a lot of them how to use as a Correctional Officer for 27 a shovel.” years. He took pride in his work Prison crews were put and the effects that his efforts through a comprehensive train had on those he worked for and ing but Jim noted that the real also those he was held training came when they were accountable for. Starting in out on the job. “Nothing trains 1996 and for the next 14 of you as fast, as being hands on those 27 years, Jim supervised in your work. They also learned wildland firefighting work crews a level of confidence in them out of the Powder River Correc selves and in each other that tional Facility in Baker City. they had never known before. Prior to that, Jim had worked at They were proud of their work the penitentiary in Salem. and they really liked giving It was Hunter’s job to keep back to the community, in that his crews well trained, ready to aspect you see a difference go and instilled with good work in the person and hopefully ethics. “The prisoners have to they have learned enough go through the same training skills so that they do not come any wildland firefighter would back. So many people who do. At first they did not volun come into prison are broken. teer. If they were on an outside You hope that you can build work crew and had outside clearance, they could be put on a fire crew. Later, prisoners EAGLE Collision Rebuìiders Ine. were required to put in an ap plication and we’d interview Mike Fiala each individual and then start 541-523-1057 the training process. At the Celi 541-403-1138 • Fax 541-523-1059 height of the program, we had 2155 Windmill Road eight hand crews that could go Baker City, Oregon 97814 out and also a kitchen crew. Email: evcr@uci.net We’d get a call that they needed firefighters on a certain fire and it was our job to be ready to go,” said Jim. ‘The first crew I took out was to fires in Hells Canyon. We actually spent 38 days on that fire. That summer we were in the institu COUNTRY tion twice and that’s because __FINANCIAL«___ _ after 21 days we were required AUTO | HOME | LIFE | BUSINESS | RETIREMENT to take a mandatory time off and then of course, we were Cindy Endicott out again on fire.” Baker City Jim said that a lot of men on 541-524-9930 the crews learned what work was and how to work, while in 541-519-2612 Cell prison. He noted that most www. countryfinancial. com incoming prisoners do not /cindy.endicott know how to work and have no 1214-047 VALLEY O K« them up enough and teach them enough that they can take care of themselves when they leave and have confi dence to do it. Fighting fire creates a bond with each other. If they got into trouble even once, they didn’t get to go out again. A lot of times if someone on a work crew started to act up, another guy would grab him and tell him to knock it off and that took care of any po tential problems. They would look after each other. If some one got knocked off the crew he had to work hard to get his way back on but if the rest of the guys could not work with him and they didn’t want him See HUNTER on page 8 ™_-sF.ACTf<W PLUMBING Since 1990 Complete Residential & Commercial NEW - REMODELS - REPAIRS Serving Union & Baker Counties CCB# 103084 Baker City 541-523-7990 La Grande 541-963-9534 Dave Billings & Wendy Kohl-Billings Owners GYLLENBERG EQUIPMENT, INC. Campbell St. • Baker City, Oregon __ McCORMiCK 541-523-7823 , We wash anything on wheels! Exit 304 offI-84 2410 Plum Street, Baker City 541-519-8687 67// Certificates Available. www.paradisetruckwash.com One Day Only - June 25th at 10AM Ron Davis - First St & Sullivan Ln, Richland New Holland 1032 Stack Wagon New Holland 489 Haybine Swather New House Hay Chopper • ■ 3 Point Post Auger 1987 Single-Screw International TYactor/Truck Metal Band Saw ■ • 2 Horse Shop Grinder w/Stand 1 Air Greasers on Wheels • • Porta Power Heavy-Duty Chain Hoist TACK 2 Decker Pack Saddles * ■ 2 Sawbuck Pack Saddles Halter, New Ropes, Breast Collars, Head Stalls Shoeing Anvil on Stand Large Offering of Tools & Equipment ■ Some New Auctioneer - Mib Dailey - 541-518-2027 there! My name is Perkins and I am a young male yellow/white Labrador Retriever x. My mother was a Labrador Retriever and I have no idea who my daddy was, but he must have been a handsome guy, just look how I turned out. I am extremely friendly and well socialized and used to living as an indoor/outdoor dog and enjoying the security of a secure fenced yard. I ride very well in the back of a car. I kind of know my basic commands but need a lot more work. I would like to relearn my house maimers so that I can be in vited back inside the house as a family member and snuggle up with my people all year long. I will make a great walking, hiking and swimming companion. I am neutered, vacci nated and very healthy. I walk well on a leash and I am also house trained. I get along with all size dogs and love to run and play. If you want to meet me, learn more about me or receive an adoption application, please call Carmen at 541-519-4530 or Best Friends ofBaker, Inc. I will gladly greet you with a full wag of my body and tail and a handshake with a high five. Call Best Friends of Baker, Inc. 541-519-7387 ■ www.gyllenbergeq.eom Truck &RV Wash 541-523-5070 27
