A special good morning to subscriber Midstate Fertilizer
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 • Redmond, Oregon • $1
School District
bond projects start
up, Obsidian near
completion
redmondspokesman.com
@RedmondSpox
DESCHUTES COUNTY FAIR
BY NICK ROSENBERGER
Redmond Spokesman
Parents and students across Redmond School
District will see changes in their schools as the
Redmond School District’s $27.5 million bond
program takes flight.
With nearly every school in the district receiv-
ing renovations, including security and safety
upgrades, many of the buildings will look a little
different as the number of district students and
schools continue to grow.
Obsidian Middle School in Redmond will be
the first to cross the finish line. Its extensive re-
modeling and upgrades are set to be complete by
the time students return in September.
“Only a couple weeks away,” said Chad
Frankie, the HMK Company program manager
for the Redmond School District bond.
According to Frankie, the overall bond time-
line was to have everything complete within a
three-year window. With most of the school
projects starting in 2021, they’re currently about
halfway through that plan.
And, despite supply chain issues and a “tre-
mendously difficult” time acquiring supplies,
HMK, Griffin Construct and BBT Architects
have focused on trying to stay ahead. These tac-
tics have paid off as construction on Obsidian
wraps up and Tom McCall Elementary School
and Elton Gregory Middle School come un-
der-budget.
“We’re doing really good on that timeline,”
Frankie said.
The goal, he said, was to check off the really
important things first: Obsidian Middle’s reno-
vation, a new building with six classrooms split
between Tom McCall and Elton Gregory, and six
more classrooms for Vern Patrick Elementary.
“Redmond is growing,” he said. “(The con-
struction) was an understanding that the district
needed additional classroom space.”
According to Frankie, current class sizes sit
around 27 students per classroom. The new
building for Tom McCall/Elton Gregory aims to
lower that number and the student to teacher ra-
tion down to 20-25 students.
And, since Tom McCall and Elton Greg-
ory share the same campus, the new building
is designed to be flexibly used between the two
schools as needed.
“There was ample need for various classroom
space,” Frankie said.
See Bond projects / A1
LOCAL
Nick Rosenberger
Katelin Baldwin brushes her boer goat, Lipstick, before an FFA competition at the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo in Redmond on August 5.
Fair is finale for 4-H, FFA
BY NICK ROSENBERGER
Redmond Spokesman
T
here is no sound like a
youth livestock show
and auction. Goats bleat
at the Deschutes County Fair
& Rodeo, massive pigs squeal
as competitors thwack them
into position and lambs scream
for no particular reason. Each
competition is unique and vi-
brant as livestock and competi-
tors vie to top their category.
The shows and squeals are the
culmination of months of hard
work, passion and dedication,
both from kids to adults.
“I just ... I really like it,” said
Cash Fred, a young 4-H member
from Tumalo. Cash won ribbons
for champion junior showman
with his seven-month-old goat
named Opal and reserve cham-
pion market goat named Rip. “I
just really love goats. They’re one
of my favorite animals. I love tak-
ing care of them.”
His mom, Debbie Fred, said it
was awesome to be able to watch
Cash thrive. She said he’s always
smiling and excited when around
livestock. He also knows he’s
there to do a job.
“He’s really competitive,” she
said.
Nick Rosenberger
Competitors leave a session of judging with their goats at the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo in Redmond on
August 5.
PREPARATION
This competitiveness is a com-
mon theme in 4-H and FFA
members, but raising livestock
is by no means an easy feat.
Hanna Perkins, a 14-year-old
4-H member from Crooked
River Ranch, is in her sixth year
and raising three breeding gilts
(pigs) this year: Nyxi, Voodoo
and Gidgit.
She pampers them in advance
of their big moment.
“They all have their own
fans, their own rooms,” she said.
“They have AC and then the
process of keeping their skin
and hair together and looking
lively is I have to buy what we
call ‘show shine’ and ‘show con-
ditioner’ and then they get baths
on the daily.”
One particular gilt didn’t want
See Livestock / A6
National Night Out
Redmond parties with the
police department A3
WEATHER FORECAST
WEDNESDAY
Sunny
EVENTS
101/59
Reynolds Agency
Full forecast on A2
Shannon Reynolds
TODAY’S EDITION
The fair in photos
Sights of the Deschutes County Fair A11
Jo i n u a s r k a b l e
f o r a g r e e x m p e r i e n c e
dinin
Calendar ...................... A2
Outdoors ..................... A8
Coffee Break ............... A9
Classifieds .................A12
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
Phone: 541-526-3081
Address: 145 SW 6th Street
Redmond OR 97756
Volume 112, No. 49
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