NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Elgin band misses out state trophy by 1 point
By SHERAZ SADIQ
Oregon Public Broadcasting
CORVALLIS — The
Elgin High School band
competed for the first time in
the statewide Oregon School
Activities Association band
and orchestra champion-
ships, finishing in fifth place
among the seven other bands
competing in their school
division.
The event started on
May 11 in Corvallis and drew
nearly 200 public and private
high schools from around the
state.
Elgin High School band
and choir director Tucker
Mur phey said he was
“extremely proud” of his
team and their accomplish-
ment.
“They exceeded all my
expectations today. I thought
the students handled them-
selves with great poise and
professionalism,” he said.
“We are bummed that we
didn’t come home with a
trophy but we are hungry
to get back to it next year
and hopefully make it to the
podium.”
Erika Adams, a f lute
player, is one of two seniors
in the band and is graduating
at the end of the month.
“We are a young band and
I was trying not to get my
hopes up,” she said. “But it
Matt Polacek/Contributed Photo
The Elgin High School band prepares to perform at the May 2022 OSAA state band and or-
chestra championships in Corvallis. The band finished fifth in its school division.
of playing the notes in the
three musical compositions
they performed.
Still, Murphey is thank-
ful for the experience of
leading the band to its first-
ever appearance at the state
finals and is already plan-
ning to make changes to be
better prepared for next year,
including folding in early
morning rehearsals.
“We were the very first
was such a good experience
to go through it and learn
from it, and I’m just really
looking forward to hearing
about how well they do in the
future.”
The team scored a total
of 278 points, just one point
shy of earning a trophy,
according to Murphey. Their
performance was evaluated
on several measures, includ-
ing intonation and accuracy
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group to play, really early at
8 a.m., and my class is in the
afternoon, so we are not used
to performing in the morn-
ing,” he said.
Adams has two younger
sisters who also perform in
the 16-member band.
“It’s just a really good
exper ience, especially
because we’re able to critique
each other in a way that’s not
hurtful, but they tell me how
A shower; cloudy,
then some sun
68° 49°
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LA GRANDE — Four
past fallen Union County
law enforcement officers
were honored last week in La
Grande.
Law enforcement offi-
cers from the La Grande
Police Department, Union
County Sheriff’s Office and
Oregon State Police hosted a
Union County law enforce-
ment memorial ceremony
on Friday, May 13, honoring
four law enforcement officers
who lost their lives in Union
County. The event took place
in front of a crowd at the
Union County law enforce-
ment building, with officials
from the city and county in
attendance.
“It’s important to honor
them and their families,” La
Grande Police Chief Gary Bell
said. “Several of those individ-
uals still have family members
here locally.”
Speakers at the memorial
72/37
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Sunrise today
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Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 106° in Zapata, Texas Low 23° in Daniel, Wyo.
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a drunk driver struck their
vehicle head-on. Cheney, who
had served in Union County
for only 14 days after moving
from the Douglas County
Sheriff’s Department, was 38
years old — he was survived
by two daughters. Williams,
who was 33 years old, served
with the Union County Sher-
iff’s Office for five years and
was survived by a wife, son
and daughter.
La Grande Police Cpl.
Byassee died at the age of 30 in
the line of duty in 1982, after
a leg injury sustained during
a police training session in
San Luis Obispo, Califor-
nia. Byassee developed blood
clots due to the injury, which
traveled to his lungs and led
to his death before complet-
ing treatment in Seattle. Byas-
see served in the La Grande
Police Department for six
years, prior to which he served
two years with the Union
County Police Department
— he was survived by a wife
and two daughters.
IN BRIEF
Man suffers serious injuries
in fall from in Union County
LA GRANDE — A 41-year-old La Grande
man suffered serious injuries in a fall from a
rock outcropping in southeast Union County
this weekend.
The victim slipped and fell about 150 verti-
cal feet from the rock outcropping, which was
just off Merry-Go-Round Road, 6.5 miles
southeast of Catherine Creek State Park, on
Saturday, May 14, said Union County Emer-
gency Manager Nick Vora. A helicopter ambu-
lance later flew the victim to St. Alphonsus
Medical Center, Boise. Vora said the patient is
expected to recover from his injuries.
The man who fell was with a group of
all-terrain vehicle riders who rode off Merry-
Go-Round Road and then up to a viewpoint.
There he got off his ATV and later fell off the
outcropping.
The accident was called into Union Coun-
ty’s dispatch soon afterward at 4:41 p.m. Eight
Union County Search and Rescue volunteers,
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service in addition to Bell
were pastor Franklin Humber,
La Grande Police Lt. Jason
Hays, OSP Lt. Dave Aydelotte,
Union County Sheriff’s
Office Lt. Ken Woodward, La
Grande Police Officer Scott
Norton and La Grande Mayor
Steve Clements. The names of
the fallen officers were read to
the crowd in attendance, while
flower wreaths were placed
above the memorial outside
the law enforcement building.
Those in attendance
honored the lives of Amos
“Spud” Helms, Michael Lynn
Cheney, Raymond Williams
and Gary Byassee.
Helms, a trooper with
OSP, sustained fatal gunshot
wounds in October 1931 on
Adams Avenue in La Grande.
The trooper served with OSP
for six months prior to his
death.
In 1980, Union County
Sherrif’s Office deputies
Cheney and Williams were
killed in their patrol pickup on
Highway 82 near Elgin when
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
-10s
person for rehearsals and
performances? So Murphey
posted assignments on
Google Classroom and had
the students record them-
selves completing them for
him to critique.
And he also found a
way to showcase the band’s
growth and instill a sense of
cohesion.
“For one of our winter
concerts, we were all socially
distanced. We played in
the gym and I posted it to
YouTube and sent it out to
parents,” Murphey said.
Adams welcomed the
opportunity to perform
together in person after
months spent practicing the
flute without all her band-
mates nearby for encourage-
ment and motivation.
“We hadn’t been together
in forever and it was just
exciting to hear that nice
big, warm sound again,” she
added.
In August, she will
leave Elgin to start her first
semester at Brigham Young
University-Idaho. She plans
to bring her flute along and
the memories of her time
learning from her teacher,
mentor and friend.
“Mr. Murphey is so inspi-
rational,” Adams said. “He
pushes me to be a better
person inside class and
outside of class.”
Local officials honor past fallen law
enforcement officers in Union County
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Times of clouds
and sun
I can improve myself, and
we go home and we practice
together,” she said.
Adams has been a student
of Murphey’s since the sixth
grade when she decided to
pick up the flute and join her
friends in band practice.
She was a freshman in
2019 when the band’s perfor-
mance at a district competi-
tion clocked in at just under
15 minutes, the minimum
length required under contest
rules to advance to the state
finals.
“I remember Mr. Murphey
being really disappointed
and it hurt me more that our
teacher had seen such hopes
for us and that we weren’t
able to get there because of
what seemed to be small
reasoning,” Adams said.
Murphey resolved to
avoid any missteps the
following year. But then
came the pandemic, which
brought the music to a halt
well beyond the halls of Elgin
High.
“When COVID hit and I
lost four seniors (to gradua-
tion), I thought the sky was
falling. Would the band ever
be able to play again at this
level?” Murphey said.
He also faced a more
pressing problem: How to
keep bandmates engaged
and developing musically
when they couldn’t meet in
10s
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Vora, Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen,
three sheriff’s deputies, ambulances with the
La Grande Fire and Union fire departments, a
member of U.S. Forest Service law enforce-
ment and a Life Flight helicopter soon arrived
to conduct the rescue.
First responders set up a low angle rope
system with a Stokes litter basket. The man
was placed in the basket and pulled up a steep
500-foot incline.
“It was the equivalent of pulling somebody
up a ski slope,” Vora said.
Once up the slope the individual was trans-
ported in an ambulance to the helicopter, a
drive that took about 10 minutes. The helicop-
ter’s pilot was not able to land closer to the
accident scene because of the rugged terrain.
Vora said the rescue was successful due in
large part to the assistance of volunteer first
responders.
“If it had not been for their help we would
not have had the same outcome in the same
time period,” Vora said.
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