Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
MORE WESTWARD HO!
PARADE PHOTOS INSIDE
The fl ag led the Westward Ho! Parade
marches down Southwest Dorion Avenue
on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Pendleton.
PAGE A12
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
145th Year, No. 143
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
‘IT’S IN OUR BLOOD’
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Rose Bowman, right, age 9, Lily Jokin-
en, 11, and Amelia Thompson, 13, per-
form to attract attention to the Jr. Jams
Dance Co. soft drink stand Thursday,
Sept. 17, 2021, at the Pendleton Round-
Up Grounds. This and other nonprofi ts
rely on the Pendleton Round-Up to fi ll
their coff ers.
Local vendors
attempt to
rebound from
rodeo-less ’20
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Andrew Whiteman rides Dusty Dan into the fi nal horse exchange Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, during the Indian Relay Race at the Pendleton Round-Up.
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Indian Relay Race showcases skills, thrills
PENDLETON — He careened
around the bend, dismounted
his horse and, in a blink, leaped
spread eagle onto his fi nal horse,
Thunder.
It was during this very
exchange on Wednesday, Sept.
15, his team was disqualified
after his hand got caught in the
reins during the dismount, pull-
ing his horse over the inside rail
and nearly ripping his bloody
fi ngers off .
Now, a day later, his team
lifted him up for the fi nal lap.
He sped past other teams
fumbling over the exchange
under the gaze of thousands
of spectators. For much of the
race, they lagged in third place,
but he f lew around the first
turn and into the lead. Thunder
galloped hard, a blur down the
back straightaway. The rider’s
hair whipped in the wind. His
competitors were right on his
heels.
He hugged the fi nal bend and
headed down the straightaway.
It’s over for the others. He looked
toward his team — Cayuse
Express — and held up the
fi nger signaling victory. Andrew
Whiteman of Nespelem, Wash-
ington, screamed as a thunderous
roar erupted from the Pendleton
Round-Up grandstands.
See Race, Page A9
Lights, sounds and action
Focus and passion key to
Happy Canyon Night Show
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Lizzy Huskey runs one of three spotlights Friday, Sept.
15, 2021, from a catwalk above the Happy Canyon Arena
during the beginning of the Happy Canyon Night Show.
PENDLETON — From those in the
spotlight to those behind the spotlights,
the Happy Canyon Night Show is a labor
of love for the roughly 750 participants
— from the actors and those making sure
they look the part to the light and sound
technicians.
The show, which has been running
longer than a century, takes many late
nights, an ability to multitask and a
good eye for detail to keep the show
running smoothly, or as smoothly as
the frenzied and energetic show can
manage.
“There’s not one person that can make
this happen,” said Allen Waggoner, who
has been involved since around 1988 and
whose wife Becky is this year’s show
director. “It takes every person and every
person has a very vital, important role.
Regardless of the size of it, it is critical
for all of it to work.”
PENDLETON — The Pendleton
Round-Up is a nonprofi t that feeds an
ecosystem of smaller nonprofi ts.
During Round-Up week, various
community groups sell concessions,
manage parking lots and cook meals
with the goal of bolstering their own
budgets until the next rodeo.
At several stalls across the concourse
on Thursday, Sept. 16, young dancers
from Jr. Jam Dance Studio performed
short routines to entice attendees to
buy soft drinks. Like many of the
other vendors, Jr. Jam had been on the
grounds since Sept. 13, when Round-Up
week kicked-off its rodeo activities with
Xtreme Bulls. Jr. Jam volunteer Julie
Thompson said business was good so
far.
Toward the center of the concourse,
Pilot Rock Seniors were slinging Philly
cheesesteaks as the start of the rodeo
approached. Margaret Moff et, a booth
volunteer and the mother of a Pilot Rock
High School senior, said she hadn’t
worked the booth previously, but from
what she knew, sales were going well.
Should the booth continue its success,
Moff et said it would put the group in a
good position to fund the high school’s
senior class trip to a destination of their
choosing.
Just a few booths down, Athena
Christian Church anticipated it could
set a record by the time the Round-Up
ends on Saturday, Sept. 18.
See Show, Page A12
See Vendors, Page A9
Manufacturing, hospitality among worst hit industries
Unemployment in
Eastern Oregon has
dropped signifi cantly,
but shortages at two
top industries remain
EDITOR’S NOTE
This is the third in a fi ve-part series
by EO Media Group looking at the
issue of the lack of workers for
jobs in Central and Eastern Oregon
— why workers are not returning
to previously held jobs and how
businesses are pivoting to function
without being fully staff ed.
By JAYSON JACOBY,
SAMANTHA O’CONNER
and ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — Tyler Brown’s
family owns one restaurant in
Baker City that hasn’t served a
meal since before the first COVID-
19 case was confirmed in Baker
County.
But the Browns’ challenges to
keep enough workers to run their two
other restaurants are so daunting that
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Restaurateur and business owner Tyler Brown poses for a photo Wednesday,
Sept. 15, 2021, inside Sumpter Junction, one of his restaurants, in Baker City.
they can’t begin to plan the reopening
of the closed business.
That’s the Sumpter Junction
restaurant, off Campbell Street near
Interstate 84. The Browns closed the
restaurant in March 2020. Inside rest
the memories of customers who once
frequented the restaurant, told quietly
by a single butter knife resting on the
edge of a booth table.
A newsstand is stacked high with
Baker City Herald issues blaring the
headline “Coronavirus Closures.”
They’re dated March 14, 2020. It was
three days before Gov. Kate Brown
banned dining inside restaurants.
It was the last paper delivered to
Sumpter Junction.
See Shortage, Page A9