OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, September 16, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 13A
Couple fulfills Round-Up
dream 65 years later
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Bartenders rush about making drink orders on Thursday night at the Fraternal Order
of Eagles lodge on Main Street in Pendleton.
EAGLES: ‘We’re not going anywhere’
Continued from 1A
Round-Up for 40 years. It is
a place where he can meet up
with friends from his rodeo
days when he competed in
bareback riding and steer
wrestling. His wife, Rae,
also used to be one of the
best Quarter Horse and
thoroughbred jockeys in the
country, he said.
The two seemed perfectly
at home Thursday in the dim
mood lighting, surrounded
by fellow cowboys, cowgirls
and the twangy sound of
steel guitar emanating from
the stage.
The Fraternal Order of
Eagles is an organization
that dates back to 1898. The
local lodge, No. 28 in the
nation, opened a year later,
and board chairman Jerry
Dunn said they have been
at their current location on
South Main Street since the
mid-1940s. Even a devas-
tating fire that gutted the
building on March 15, 2007,
couldn’t close them down.
Like most establishments
in Pendleton, Round-Up is
a major draw at the lodge,
brining a rush of visitors
through the door. Music
begins after 9 p.m., and the
group also hosts a $22 prime
rib dinner on Friday and
Saturday nights, with all the
trimmings.
“Round-Up is definitely
one of our staples,” Dunn
said. “We tend to get the
people who don’t want to
drink and fight and raise all
sorts of heck, but they just
like to have fun.”
Dressed in their finest
Western attire, John and
Karen Harris made a point of
stopping by the Round-Up
on their way back home to
Sherwood from vacationing
in Montana and found
themselves in the Eagles
Lodge on Thursday night.
The couple loves to dance
— they actually met during
a dance class in Portland —
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge opens their doors
to non-members during the Pendleton Round-Up.
and soon found themselves
lured onto the floor.
“We’ve been coming (to
Pendleton) for years,” John
Harris said. “We just enjoy
the camaraderie with friends
we’ve met through the years.
And the rodeo is always a
plus.”
The last several years
have
been
somewhat
difficult for fraternal organi-
zations in Umatilla County.
The Pendleton Elks Lodge
surrendered its charter in
March after falling on hard
times, and the Eagles Lodge
in Hermiston also closed
recently.
Larry Dalrymple, trustee
with the Pendleton Eagles,
said they aren’t going
anywhere, despite whatever
rumors may be circulating.
“When you have a
brother fraternal organiza-
tion that closes down, the
questions always jump to the
next one,” Dalrymple said.
“We’re going on. The locals
have never given up.”
The Pendleton Eagles
Lodge
currently
has
220 aerie members and
196 auxiliary members.
Recruiting more members is
the group’s number one goal,
Dalrymple said, especially
younger members willing to
roll up their sleeves.
“The membership is
getting older,” he said. “The
younger generations are not
joiners like us old dogs.”
The lodge has also
received a helping hand from
the national FOE to stabilize
operations and pay the bills
moving forward. Dalrymple
said the work is going well,
but they still make sure to
have fun at the same time.
Mel Lappen, fellow
trustee and secretary for the
lodge, said Round-Up is a
big part of that fun.
“Everybody who comes
in here, they’re in a joyful,
playful mood,” Lappen said.
All money raised by the
Eagles goes to charity and
community groups, Dunn
said, and Round-Up is a
major bread winner on the
annual calendar.
“It’d be a little rough to
get through the whole year
without Round-Up, to tell
you the truth,” Dunn said.
“We’re just people helping
people. That’s what we’re
all about.”
As couples dance the
night away Friday and
Saturday, Dunn said they
are looking forward to many
more Round-Ups to come.
“We’re
not
going
anywhere,” he said. “The
Eagles is here to stay.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
INJURIES: Group will provide treatment
for more than 300 people during the week
Continued from 1A
him off and slammed him
to the ground. The bull also
injured one of the volunteer
gate staff.
Dice said neither injury
turned out to be serious. And
the volunteer, Bill Boyd,
was in the stands Friday,
according to the rodeo
announcer.
Cornell has brought her
trailer and expertise to the
rodeo for three years now.
Contestants and others with
the Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association come
and go every few moments.
She said her group will
provide treatment to more
than 300 people during the
week. They treat another
30-50 during the Professional
Bull Riders contests Monday
and Tuesday.
Much of the work in
the trailer is preventative.
Bulldoggers take a seat so
Cornell or Dice can pass
layers of athletic tape around
their ankles. Calf ropers and
trippers come in for the same.
The medicine in the trailer
is “really quick,” Dice said,
and they also rely on a cadre
of dedicated volunteers.
Cowboys and cowgirls come
in for ice, bandages and even
sutures. Most of the injuries
they treat at the Round-Up
are muscle strains in backs,
groins and necks. Dice said
the Round-Up’s grass field
contributes to those. The
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Bull rider Brady Portenier inspects the work of Dr. Tom
Weeks in a mirror as Weeks tends to an injury Portenier
received when a bull’s horn connected with his chin on
Friday at the Pendleton Round-Up.
grass can prove tricky, he
said, and vary from being
wet and slick to bone dry.
He recalled a horse
slipping last year after a
morning rainfall, and its rider
fractured an ankle, leaving
the foot to flop in the wrong
direction.
One of the ambulance
crews — they station at
either end of the arena —
drove onto the field to take
the cowboy straight to St.
Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton. Dice said that almost
never happens, but carrying
the cowboy on a stretcher
would have caused him more
agony.
“So far this year, we have
not taken any contestant to
the hospital by ambulance,”
he said.
For 65 years, Tom and
Kathy Acord dreamed of
attending the Pendleton
Round-Up.
They drove through
the area shortly after they
married in 1952. The town,
busy with the Pendleton
Round-Up, drew them in.
They explored the Indian
Village and walked around
outside the rodeo grounds.
The young couple (she was
18 and he was 20) ached to
go inside and watch some
rodeo.
“But we didn’t have any
money,” Kathy said. “We
couldn’t get in.”
“We dreamed about it
ever since,” Tom said.
Life got busy and the
couple started a family.
Tom worked for a short
time as a fireman for Union
Pacific Railroad in Hinkle,
then moved to Alaska to
work as a telegraph oper-
ator. He held down two jobs
and completed correspon-
dence school to become an
electrical engineer. While
living in Juneau, they got
horses and built a riding
arena with about 200 rental
stables.
They eventually moved
to California, where Tom
worked as a U.S. Forest
Service engineer. They
retired to McCleary, Wash-
ington, last year.
Every year, around
Round-Up
time,
they
thought about returning.
Distance or some other
thing always interfered —
until this year.
“I got online, then called
and got tickets,” Kathy
said. “We told our children,
we’re going to Pendleton.”
Their progeny, a son
and a daughter, were a little
worried about their octoge-
narian parents heading to a
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Tom and Kathy Acord finally made it to the Pendleton
Round-Up 65 years after their first glimpse of the
rodeo from outside the gates.
rodeo in wild and woolly
Pendleton.
“We’re old,” Kathy said,
with an amused smile.
The experience did not
disappoint. They sat in the
South Grandstand for the
first time Wednesday and
marveled at the athletes
and the animals. They had
attended little rodeos when
they could and loved them,
but hadn’t experienced
anything in the same league
as Pendleton.
“It was wonderful,”
Kathy said. “This was a cut
above.”
The couple will attend
all four days. They don’t
plan to check in with their
kids, Kathy said with a
mischievous grin.
They agreed that the
Round-Up experience was
worth the 65-year wait.
“Every year since we
came back to the mainland,
we have thought of going to
the Pendleton Round-Up,”
Tom said. “We finally made
it.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
Calliope players just as
unique as their instrument
By EMILY OLSON
East Oregonian
If you stayed for the end
of the Westward Ho! Parade,
you probably saw an unusual
caboose. If you decided to
sneak out early, you still
probably heard it.
The Pendleton Main
Street Cowboy’s calliope
belts out whimsical, cheery
melodies, reminiscent of
flutes and fairy tales.
“I refer to it as sparkle
music,”
said
Carolyn
Mildenberger, who played
the instrument in the purple
truck at Friday’s parade.
“That means we’re not doing
Mozart. We’re not doing
anything dark and serious.”
It takes a special kind of
musician to play the very
special instrument. It’s a lot
like playing the piano, but
with a shorter keyboard and
sticky keys. Once known as
a “steam organ,” the calliopes
of today are powered by an
air compressor — meaning
musicians have to put some
oomph into tickling the
ivories. That sends air through
large whistles like you might
find on an old locomotive.
Every year, the Main
Street Cowboys rely on a
small team of veteran players
and young, fresh faces to
bring the unique music to
parade and event audiences.
With more than 40 years
of experience, Mildenberger
has been playing the Main
Street Cowboy’s calliope
longer than anyone.
She remembers the first
time she saw the instrument,
during Pendleton’s Fourth
of July Parade. As someone
who had been playing the
piano since age 3, she knew
it was only a matter of time
before she’d take a turn at the
calliope keys. Sure enough,
by next year, the Main Street
Cowboys put out a radio call
for a player and Mildenberger
picked up the phone.
“I said, ‘Tell me about
this Calliope player you’re
looking for. Do you have to
be a boy or would you like
a girl player?’” The Main
Street Cowboys had never
used a female musician.
“And he said, ‘At this point
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Carolyn Mildenberger plays the Mainstreet Cowboys
Calliope during Friday’s Westward Ho! Parade.
I don’t care if I get a chim-
panzee.’” Mildenberger told
him she wouldn’t pass for an
ape, but could certainly figure
out how to make the calliope
sing.
“And here I am, 77 years
old and I’m still playing,” she
said.
The need for players has
never really disappeared
since Mildenberger started
playing. In recent years, the
Main Street Cowboys have
taken to recruiting local
music students. This year, it’s
an even split of three older
musicians and three younger
players.
Bethany Van Cleave was
one such recruited student.
Two years ago, her Pendleton
High School music teacher
encouraged her to give it a
try, knowing that Van Cleave
had been a pianist since age
5.
“I’d never played on a
calliope before,” she said.
But she had seen it. The
Main Street Cowboys made
frequent appearances in the
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in
Heppner, where Van Cleave
grew up. She said she’d
always thought it’d be cool
to play, but admitted she was
a bit nervous for her first few
parades.
“The other ladies were
super encouraging,” she said.
“They were so excited to
have someone new.”
Often, multiple players
will ride along on a single
parade to ensure they’ve
got enough energy to play
the whole route. Van Cleave
counts the connections
formed over parade routes as
her favorite thing about the
experience.
“Some of the players are a
few generations above you,”
she said. “It’s very special
that you can bond over
playing the calliope.”
The youngest player is
16-year-old Kipling Bose.
The oldest is 94-year-old
Vivian Larsen. Larsen is the
same age as the instrument
itself.
No one knows for sure,
but the Main Street Cowboys
believe the calliope has been
featured in parades since the
organization got its start in
1951.
The calliope makes
appearances at more than 20
parades in the region each
year. Mark Jaeger, the out-of-
town parade director for the
Main Street Cowboys and an
air force veteran, likes to the
think of the rig as the Main
Street Cowboy’s version of
the Thunderbirds.
“It’s great advertising,” he
said. “It’s a way to say ‘Hey,
come to the Round-Up!’”
He hopes the tradition
continues, he said. He’d love
to see the younger players
stay around long enough to
develop their own styles— to
master the “sparkle music”
that Mildenberger knows so
well.