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B1
FARM CITY RODEO
TOM
CLAYCOMB
BASE CAMP
August
already,
there’s still
much to do
ow. It’s already August.
I don’t know about you
but my life has been
passing by in a blur lately. I’ve been
ﬂ ying out for three weeks and home
for one week this year and I don’t
hardly know what season it is, much
less what month it is. With that said,
let’s plan out August so we don’t
wake up and see snow outside the
window and wonder what happened
to our summer.
OK, I’m super busy right now.
We just ﬁ nished my daughter’s
wedding, redid the ﬂ oors through-
out the whole house, I have to get
in all of my July invoices and I
just ﬂ ew back home Friday. It is
Monday and I have to get in this
week’s article right fast. What
should I do? I’ll tell you what I need
to do. I’m going to get this article
ﬁ nished then I’m going to go grab
Orin and Josiah and go crappie ﬁ sh-
ing. Whew! That decision took a lot
of stress oﬀ of me. Now I can get
my focal point on the far wall and
breathe deeply. No wait, that’s the
Lamaze recommendations when
you’re having a baby. But since men
have a lower pain tolerance it is
almost that painful having not been
able to ﬁ sh for three weeks.
I think we’ll ﬁ sh until midnight,
put ice on the ﬁ sh and then ﬁ llet
them in the morning. If the ﬁ shing
is still good then I think I’ll go ﬁ sh-
ing twice more this week.
Oh, but the huckleberries ought
to be out by now. You don’t want to
miss the huckleberry season. That’d
be a colossal mistake. Huckleber-
ries are the best berries in the world.
If you’ve never picked them you
have to go. They make the best ice
cream in the world. Make sure to
wear a pistol in case you run into
an aggressive bear. I remember one
year there was a cute little fuzzball
cub about 14 inches long eating
them by me. I saw him and ﬁ gured
it was time to scatter.
Katy starts school in a couple
of weeks. We need to take one last
camping trip, don’t we? Think I’ll
try to do a low-proﬁ le camping trip.
Maybe just go to the mountains and
throw up a tent by a river and burn
some steaks over a ﬁ re. Or maybe I
can talk her into camping on a lake
and us crappie ﬁ sh for a couple of
days.
Or something I’ve been wanting
to do for a couple of years is to go
get a room at the Big Creek Lodge.
The original lodge burned down
years ago but they rebuilt another
W
See August, Page B2
Breakaway roper Jacee Currin of Heppner ropes her calf
in 2.5 seconds to win the round on Thursday, Aug. 11,
2022, at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Casey,” said Campbell, who is
the heeler. “This was our first
time roping together. So far, we’re
pretty good together.”
Campbell and Minton also were
presented the Gray Ribbon Chal-
lenge Award, named for the late
Darrel Sallee, who was a longtime
FCPR board member.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
ERMISTON — The
Currin name has been
well-known in rodeo
circles for generations,
and Jacee Currin is the
next in line to keep the
family’s legacy alive.
The Heppner native
turned in a time of 2.5 seconds
Thursday, Aug. 11, to post the
top run of the night in break-
away roping at the Farm-City Pro
Rodeo.
“This my ﬁ rst Farm-City Pro
Rodeo,” Currin said. “I have
watched my dad, uncles and cous-
ins compete here, and now me and
my cousin (Shayla Currin) get to.
It’s pretty cool. Thanks to the
committee for adding this event.”
Currin had the ﬁ nal run of the
night in the event, and was the only
competitor to record a time under
3 seconds.
“My horse Chili has changed
my game,” Currin said. “It’s been
a slow summer, but I have gone
from the bottom to moving up in
the standings.”
H
Bull riding
Braden Richardson has an asso-
ciate’s degree in petroleum tech-
nology and science. One would
think he would know better than to
Saddle bronc riding
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Tie-down roper Reese Riemer, of Stinnett, Texas, ropes his calf in 9.3
seconds to win the night on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
get on the back of a raging 2,000-
pound bull, but he’s pretty good
at that too.
Richardson turned in an 88.5-
point ride on Gold Rush to move
into the lead in the event, moving
past Stetson Wright, who had an
85.5-point ride on Thursday.
“It felt really good,” he said. “I
couldn’t have asked for a better
bull.”
It’s Richardson’s second trip to
the FCPR. He ﬁ nished second last
year. Now, he’s trying to move up
in the world standings to secure a
trip to the National Finals Rodeo.
“A month ago, I wasn’t in
the top 50,” he said. “Now, I’m
sitting 34th with a month to go.
I’m coming oﬀ a win yesterday in
Missoula, Montana. It feels good
to get two good bull rides.”
Team roping
BJ Campbell and Brushton
Minton were last-minute ﬁ ll-ins
Thursday night, but the pair made
the most of the opportunity with a
run of 5.8 seconds.
“I used to rodeo with his dad
Bareback riding
It was another lean night in
the bareback, with just four men
entered. Bill Tutor came away
with an 87-point ride on Bigtimin
Houston to take over the lead in
the event.
See Rodeo, Page B2
Snake shot: An unexpected encounter with a rattler
SPORTS
BRIEFING
Free physicals for
student-athletes in
Echo, Stanﬁ eld
ECHO — Stanﬁ eld and Echo
school districts made arrange-
ments with Family Health Associ-
ates to provide sports physicals at
no charge for student-athletes. With
the fall sports season getting ready
to kick oﬀ , up-to-date physicals are
required before starting practice.
The free physicals are available
for Echo and Stanﬁ eld student-ath-
letes on Wednesday, Aug. 17,
1-4 p.m. at the Echo School District,
600 Gerome St. Valid for two years,
students in seventh, ninth and 11th
grade, as well as those that did not
play a sport last year need to update
their physicals.
For more information, visit www.
echo.k12.or.us. For questions, call
541-376-8436.
— EO Media Group
Wright got the night started
with an 85-point ride on Indian
Country, but Tegan Smith came
through with an 88-point ride on
Umber Bubbles to move into the
lead with Zeke Thurston, who had
an 88 on Wednesday.
“That is a good horse,” Smith
said. “I’ve had some rough luck
this year, but I had a good horse
here today. I hope it holds up.”
Smith is sitting 37th in the
world standings, and is nearly
$40,000 out of the top 15. A nice
payday at the FCPR would go a
long way in helping him move up
the ladder.
GARY
LEWIS
ON THE TRAIL
rouble comes in all sorts of
packages. We were headed
into the wilderness to ﬁ sh a
mountain creek. Rattlesnakes did
not cross my mind.
My daughter, Jennifer, and I
had planned this hike and camp-
ing trip for a few months. Now
we shouldered backpacks and
started up the trail. I carried a
Model 1873 single action loaded
with 158-grain hollowpoints in a
holster on my hip, while Jenni-
fer packed her Ruger SR22. Fly
rods were strapped to our packs.
Our goal was to ﬁ nd a good place
to sleep for the night then cast
dry ﬂ ies for wild rainbows in the
morning.
After an hour we found a spot
T
Gary Lewis/Contributed Photo
Jennifer Lewis left a warning for the next campers.
where trail and creek diverged
and then a nice place to throw
down our sleeping bags.
In the morning, we hiked
down the creek, then worked our
way back up, pool by pool. The
little rainbows took our dries
with wild abandon and when we
had both caught close to a dozen,
when the only thing on our minds
was dead-drifting a Parachute
Adams down the next riﬄ e, a
quick movement alerted me.
We were on a narrow ledge
between a deep hole in the creek
and a rock wall.
Leaves shuddered and the
twigs moved and a diamond-pat-
terned snake headed straight
away toward the base of the cliﬀ .
“Snake,” I warned Jennifer,
and then saw its head and tail. “A
rattler.”
It ran out of options when it
got to the cliﬀ wall and gathered
itself, cornered. It turned and
headed straight back at me on
the narrow trail, its head up eight
inches in the air. That’s when I
shot it.
Hit, the snake pushed oﬀ the
bank and tumbled toward me. I
shot it again and once more then
stepped out of the way as it went
by me into the creek. I ﬁ shed it
out, a gorgeous, hideous creature,
and counted three bullet holes.
The ﬁ rst was a bit oﬀ -center,
about six inches down from the
See Snake, Page B2