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East Oregonian
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Camp: ‘You don’t even have to play music to be involved in music’
Continued from Page A1
The focus was on creativ-
ity, he said, rather than, for
example, having students
learn a Led Zeppelin solo
note for note.
“We wanted to encour-
age kids to be original and
creative, whether that’s silly
and simple, or deep and
personal,” Walters said.
T he creat iv it y wa s
evident throughout the
Pendleton Center for the
Arts, from workshops where
camp participants could
create their own band logos
and merchandise to discus-
sions on the nature of the
music industry itself.
“We wanted something
that proved to kids that you
don’t have to want to play
in a band to be involved in
music,” Walters explained.
“You don’t even have to
play music to be involved
in music. There’s a place for
everyone, whether center
stage, running lights or
taking pictures. There’s so
much more to music than the
people playing, and there’s
no class for that in school.”
Lilo Lese, 17 and a
Pendleton native, has been
attending Rock & Roll
Camp since she was 12,
getting past the camp’s age
requirement of 13 years
on account of her birthday
being so close to the camp’s
start date.
“I highly recommend this
camp for everyone, it’s one
of the best things in town,”
Lese said. “As a kid, Rock &
Roll Camp was my absolute
favorite part of summer.”
Lese is a singer, song-
writer and has been playing
the ukulele since last year.
This year she’s doing some-
thing different. Instead of
only singing, she’s playing
the ukulele with her band,
and she also wrote the song
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Arin Velho, 16, shreds the guitar Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, during Rock & Roll Camp at the Pendleton Center for the Arts. Velho
is a member of the band Make It Nuclear.
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Marilla McClelland-Holden, 15, plays drums Thursday,
Aug. 11, 2022, during Rock & Roll Camp at the First Chris-
tian Church in Pendleton. She is a member of the band
Popcornado.
Dustin Hamman, 44, gives advice on drum rhythm Thursday,
Aug. 11, 2022, during Rock & Roll Camp at the Pendleton Cen-
ter for the Arts. Hamman traveled from New Mexico to be a
part of the camp.
they intend to play at the
camp’ showcase Aug. 12.
“Our band this year is
show. It’s still untitled, but I
started writing it over a year
ago. It sat around, I wasn’t
called Knives and Dande-
lions.” Lese said. “I wrote
our song for this year’s
sure what to do with it, until
now.”
Lese said she is “really
into” musical theater and
likes pop and jazz.
“I’m hoping to become
a musician on Broadway or
sing pop music. I’m a music
and theater kid,” Lese said.
“I’ll be attending East-
ern Oregon University and
studying music and theater
arts.”
As the camp goers broke
up from a morning of classes
and discussions, they began
forming their bands, with
counselors joining in to help
where they could. The coun-
selors always are trying to
keep up with the speed of
the attendees, Walters said.
“If you’re a counselor in
this camp it’ll definitely bite
you in the butt if you under-
estimate the kids,” he said.
Walters said he likes
seeing young people in
Pendleton get involved in
music, be fans of music and
make music.
“Not just music, but art
in general,” he said, “Every
music scene or commu-
nity needs people who are
making the art, but also
the people engineering it,
promoting it. There’s so
much music.”
Walters still plays with
James Dean Kindle and the
Eastern Oregon Playboys
when he can, but finds it
more and more difficult as
he gets older to find the time.
He emphasized this is why
it’s so important to engage
young people in the music
making process.
“It’s at its purest form
when you’re just a young
person getting together with
your peers and throwing
stuff at the wall. You’ll never
be as artistically free as you
are at this age, as a teen-
ager,” he said. “It’s a good
time to find those traits that
are going to define you, and
find the things they’re going
to define themselves with.”
Fair:
Continued from Page A1
The beef showings took
place Wednesday, Aug. 10,
and Thursday, Aug. 11, but
Perez and other FFA members
had been at the fairgrounds
since Aug. 8. Perez and Rebel
placed fifth in showmanship
earlier, marking the end of
a long journey for the two
friends.
“It’s always an enjoyable
experience,” Perez said. “I
work for this all year.”
Avian flu stifles
bird showings
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Smoke continues to rise Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, from the Grain Craft flour mill as the
sun sets in Pendleton.
Fire:
Continued from Page A1
“A lot of farmers don’t
have home storage, and
they can’t store that grain
on their farm,” he said. “For
this heartbreaking event to
happen today, it puts the
community and a lot of the
farmers in a tough situation.
It hits the community hard.”
Jeremy Bunch, CEO of
Shepherd’s Grain, a farm-
er-owned flour company,
sent an email to customers
about the fire.
“We are working on a
contingency plan now and
getting wheat staged for
movement to another Grain
Craft mill,” Bunch said.
“Unfortunately, there will
be an interruption in flour
supply as we work through
these details. We apologize
for the inconvenience this
causes. We are working
hard to minimize this flour
supply interruption and will
provide a timeline update
very soon.”
The cause of the fire
was “mechanical failure,”
Byram, the police chief, told
the Capital Press.
On Aug. 9, dispatch-
ers received a report of
black smoke coming from
the mills, “with no visi-
ble flames,” according to
a police department press
release. The fire department
responded, extinguished the
small fire and remained on
fire watch.
The fire subsequently
reignited at about 4 a.m.
Aug. 10 and the mill became
fully engulfed due to the dry
grain and the wooden struc-
ture, Byram said.
Employees identified the
source of the fire, Byram
said.
“It happened in the mill
itself, with one of the pieces
of equipment, with a rubber
bushing or housing that
obviously got too hot and
started the fire,” he said.
There were no injuries,
he said.
It’s the middle of harvest,
Byram said, so the mill was
processing a lot of flour. He
didn’t have an exact figure,
but said Grain Craft employ-
ees estimated there were
“hundreds of thousands of
pounds of processed flour in
the bins.”
There is no estimated cost
of damage yet, he said.
“We can’t even get into
the building, we can’t do
anything right now, this is
strictly defensive ... right
now. They’re just trying to
keep (the fire) away from
other structures,” he said the
afternoon of Aug. 10.
Some surrounding build-
ings have been damaged by
water and smoke, Byram
said.
The Pendleton Fire
Department, Umatilla Tribal
Fire Department, Umatilla
County Fire District No.
1 and other agencies
responded to the scene, at
501 S.E. Emigrant Ave.
Firefighters were still
extinguishing hot spots and
battling the fire the after-
noon of Aug. 10, Byram said.
The mill plays a “huge”
role in the Pendleton
community, he said.
“ T hey’re a m ajor
employer; we are obviously
an agricultural community
that does a lot of dryland
wheat farming,” he said.
“Wheat farmers from the
surrounding area bring their
wheat in here to the Pendle-
ton flour mill. It’s yet to be
determined what the impact
is, but I can gauge it’s going
to be significant.”
Pendleton Assistant Fire
Chief Tony Pierotti told
the East Oregonian news-
paper the silos were full of
finished grain, so the fuel
load was “extreme.”
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Over at the small animal
barn, things seemed a bit
quieter. With a recent avian flu
outbreak in Oregon, the fair
limited 4-H and FFA avian
entries to market chickens
and turkeys. This meant many
cages sat empty in the small
animals’ section of the barn.
Alice Dyer, fair barn
superintendent, said the
decision slowly snowballed
throughout weeks as cases
grew. Initially, it was only
waterfowl excluded from the
fair. Days later, Dyer said
the decision was made for
all non-market birds to stay
home.
“It was better to keep all
non-market at home,” Dyer
said. “With avian flu, once
one gets it, (the flu) spreads.”
The decision, while under-
standable, ”devastated” a lot
of the young exhibitors, she
said. With so many birds
unable to come, the fair staff
decided to let them bring
stuffed animals to fill the
space.
Several stuffed animals
sat in the birdcages, allow-
ing many exhibitors to bring
a bird in. Many children even
brought their stuffed birds
into the showing competition
just so they could take part in
the activity, Dyer said, giving
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Mackenzie Whaley/East Oregonian
Annika Holden prepares her sheep May for the upcoming
sheep showcase Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at the Umatilla
County Fair in Hermiston.
them a bright spot to look
forward to.
Business as usual
elsewhere in the barn
Next to the avian sections,
rabbits and guinea pigs
occupied their usual space.
Two barns over, the pigs
attracted a bit of a crowd as
well. While Dyer said partic-
ipation numbers have been
down the past year due to the
pandemic, they are creeping
back to usual.
One barn over, the sheep
were showing on the after-
noon of Aug. 11. Swarms of
owners pulled their sheep for
their showmanship presen-
tations in front of a judging
panel and crowd. Many exhib-
itors were washing and prep-
ping their animals as the time
ticked down, some frantic and
some calm.
Watching the action was
Arthur Golightly of Hermis-
ton and his prize pygmy goat,
Brownie. The 10-year-old was
recently named grand cham-
pion in showmanship. for his
presentation of the 4-month-
old goat.
“It felt really good,” Goli-
ghtly said.
For Golightly and many
others, it was their first time
working with the animals.
Kaitlyn Crouther and Dallin
Smith, both of Hermiston,
are first-time fair partici-
pants. Both said they have
loved their time working with
the animals. Crouther’s show
with her goat, Rolo, placed
fifth in showmanship earlier
in the week.
Royal connections
Following their show-
ings, two Umatilla County
Fair Court princesses,
Kylie Temple and Ashlynn
Cutburth, greeted each partic-
ipant. The two presented
competitors with a ribbon
during award ceremonies.
The competitions are
something Temple, who
has been part of FFA show-
ings since her freshman
year of high school, knows
well. Cutburth, meanwhile,
has been involved in 4-H
since before she could have
an animal. Both of them
expressed their appreciation
for the programs.
And while many may
come to Umatilla County for
the elephant ears, Temple said
what makes the fair special
is the entire community’s
support of both FFA and 4-H.
“The people make (the
fair) special,” Temple said.
“They show up for the live-
stock kids. The community
puts in so much.”
LeeAnnOttosen@UmpquaBank.com
UmpquaBank.com/Lee-Ann-Ottosen