A6
LOCAL
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Flora silversmith honored by grand marshal selection
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
FLORA — Thirty-fi ve
years ago, Larry Bacon
attended a spur-makers
school in Idaho.
The classes, which were
in Nampa in 1986, were to
take four weeks, but Bacon,
a Flora resident, attended
for just a week due to mat-
ters that needed tended to
on his home farm.
“I asked if I could go just
for one week. I had cows to
calve, etc.,” he said.
Yet in that week, the
skill he honed — one he set
out to develop to make a
little money on the side —
turned into one that led to
him spending three decades
crafting spurs for the all-
around winner of the Chief
Joseph Days Rodeo.
This past weekend, he
was honored for that con-
tribution as he was named
grand marshal of the Chief
Joseph Days Parade, which
ran through the streets of
Joseph on Saturday, July
31.
“It was quite an honor
— very much appreciated,”
he said. “There’s only very
few people that are cho-
sen with that honor. If they
think I have benefi ted their
rodeo and business, I very
much appreciate that.”
Bacon began making
spurs for the rodeo in 1991,
he said, after “word kind of
got out” that he was making
spurs and bits.
“One of the directors
contacted me and asked if I
could make a pair for Chief
Joseph Days, which I did,”
he said.
The silver spurs have
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Flora silversmith Larry Bacon rides through the arena with his wife, Donna, in the Chief Joseph Days stagecoach Saturday,
July 31, 2021. Larry Bacon, who has made the all-around award winner’s spurs for the past 30 years, was the CJD parade grand
marshal.
“FROM WHAT THE DIRECTORS TELL
ME, EVERYONE WANTS TO WIN
THOSE SPURS, AND IT BECOMES
QUITE A COMPETITION BETWEEN
THEM OF WHO IS GOING TO GET IT.”
Larry Bacon, grand marshal of the
Chief Joseph Days Parade
become a hit since, and one
of the more desired items
one can win at CJD.
“From what the directors
tell me, everyone wants
to win those spurs, and it
becomes quite a competi-
tion between them of who
is going to get it,” Bacon
said.
The spur-making pro-
cess, he said, can take about
a month and starts with a
bar of steel.
“You saw out your
design, cut it out of the
steel, fi le it, and work it as
needed,” he said.
Once the steel is crafted
into a spur shape, Bacon
overlays the spur with sil-
ver, then polishes it.
The CJD ones then have
the logo for the rodeo in
bronze soldered onto them,
with lettering spelling out
the title also soldered on —
and also in bronze.
This year, Bacon said, it
read, “All-Around Cham-
pion, 2021, 75th.”
Bacon, who has made
between 100 and 200 sets
of spurs, said he has always
liked making, working
on farm projects or as a
mechanic. That was part of
what turned him on to spur
making.
“I wanted a job that
& Skylight
Gallery
I could do in my shop
over the winter time, and
kind of make a little extra
money for the farm,” he
said. “That’s what I chose
to learn to do a little silver
work and maybe help out
with my income.”
Over the years, he has
made spurs for several
individuals, and has also
crafted them for the St.
Paul Rodeo, he said. He
also made buckles, jewelry,
bits and more.
“People ask me to make
them for special occasions,
usually — wedding anniver-
sary, birthday, such things
as that,” he said. “Many of
my spurs are being used in
everyday use.”
Terry Jones, CJD presi-
dent, said the grand marshal
honor was given because of
the longtime commitment
to the rodeo by Bacon, and
also by his wife, Donna.
“Larry has done the all-
around spurs and stuff for
a long time,” he said. “Liv-
ing in Flora, it’s a long way
out to attend stuff , and they
show up. ... They have been
here for a long time and
supported the rodeo. As
long as they’ve supported
us, it was time to return the
favor, or at least let them
know that we know what
they’re doing.”
Bacon will work with an
individual who wants spurs
to get them what they desire.
If interested, they can email
him at ld_bacon@yahoo.
com, or fi nd him on Face-
book at Larry Bacon.
“We would need to talk it
over,” he said. “I would then
have to design what I think
they want, and then I pro-
ceed to make them.”
Church
Directory
Finding books is
our specialty
CLUES ACROSS
1. Artistic inspiration
5. Penne ___ vodka
9. Albacore and bluefin
14. Banded gem
15. Weaving device
16. Japanese port city
17. Dinosaur experts (Hint:
Read this answer’s last
3 letters first)
20. Head of state?
21. One who takes a vow,
or a pledge
22. One-dollar chips at a high
rollers’ table, say (... last 4
letters first)
25. Roll of cash
28. Golden or brown brew
29. Trivia champion Jennings
30. Two-piece swimsuit
32. Piece of work
34. Oboe necessity
37. Burn slightly
38. Into many things? (...
last 4 letters first)
41. Gadget
42. Garment such as an obi
43. Stock option?
45. “___ Eleven” (2001
eist comedy)
47. Compostable straws?
49. Fish eggs
50. Word after “flower”
or “oyster”
51. Low-cost lodging (...
last 3 letters first)
55. Like many restaurants
56. What skaters “catch”
after jumping
57. Those who stick together
forever, or a theme hint
63. Rihanna wore one for
a British Vogue cover
64. Draw in
65. Duct ___
66. Enjoys a newspaper
67. Church recess
68. Southern fried vegetable
CLUES DOWN
1. “The Simpsons” bartender
2. Game with Reverse cards
Joseph United
Methodist Church
Grace Lutheran
Church
3rd & Lake St. • Joseph
Pastor Cherie Dearth
10 AM Worship
Phone: 541-432-3102
409 West Main - Enterprise
Online AND In Person
For More Info
Worship
Online at
541-432-3102
JosephUMC.ORG
JosephUMC.org
SUNDAY
WORSHIP
at 9am
Pastor Cherie Dearth
Pastor John B. King Jr
phone (message): 541-426-4633
web: gracelutheranenterprise.com
Enterprise
Christian Church
St. Patrick’s
Episcopal Church
85035 Joseph Hwy • (541) 426-3449
We have ‘In-person worship” @ 9:00 am
(Guidelines observed)
Sunday School at 10:30
Parking Lot Radio/Facebook @ 9:00
100 NE 3rd St, Enterprise
NE 3rd & Main St
541-426-3439
Worship Service
Sunday 9:30am
David Bruce
Pastor, Enterprise Christian Church
Lostine
Presbyterian Church
Discussion Group 9:30 AM
Worship Service 11:00 AM
Childrens program during service
Blog: dancingforth.blogspot.com
3. Produced electronically, as music
4. Bonus
5. “___ is well”
6. Rigidity’s opposite
7. Deductive skill
8. Sect wary of technology
9. Belief with spirit animals
10. Russia, once: Abbr.
11. Siesta
12. Wanted poster letters
13. Nickname within “Absalom”
18. Piglet’s sound
19. Ticket tear-off
22. Touch on the back
23. “The Silence of the Lambs”
protagonist
24. Spice Girl Halliwell
25. When a beach trip is
especially nice
26. Poet Maya
27. Game cube
31. Rios and Sorentos
33. ___ Sutra
35.,Texter’s “When will you be here?”
36. Brings shame to
39. Yens
40. Casual talk
41. Slimy lump
44. Oversaw
46. Button often clicked moments
before noticing a typo
48. “Uh-huh”
52. One of its Roadsters is in space
53. Reach out to, colloquially
54. Be untruthful with
55. Out of battery power
57. New Deal prez
58. Regret
59. Songwriter Gershwin
60. Shirt shot from a cannon
61. “Car Talk” network
62. Substance control org.
107 E. Main • Enterprise • 541-426-3351
www.bookloftoregon.com
Summit Church
Sundays at 9:30 am and 11 am
Sundays
at 10 am
at the Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise.
at are
the required
Cloverleaf
Hall available
in Enterprise
Masks
- but made
at the door.
Pastor: David Pendleton
541.398.0597
Hwy 82, Lostine
www.summitchurchoregon.org
Stephen Kliewer, Minister
Cloverleaf Hall • 668 NW 1st St. • Enterprise, OR 97828
Wallowa
Assembly
of God
702 West Hwy 82
Wallowa, Oregon
541-886-8445
Sunday School • 9:am
Worship Service • 10:am
Pastor Tim Barton
Visit Us on
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church & School
305 Wagner (near the Cemetery)
P.O. Box N. Enterprise, OR 97828
Church 541-426-3751
School 541-426-8339
Pastor David Ballard 503-810-9886
Worship Hour
10:30 a.m. - Noon
Christ Covenant
Church
Pastor Terry Tollefson
Church Office: 541-263-0505
Worship 9:00 a.m.
723 College Street, Lostine
Enterprise Community
Congregational Church
Join us at the
BIG BROWN CHURCH
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Bible Studies:
Bible Studies:
Sundays
9:30 am &
Sundays, 9:30 am &
Thursdays, 5:30 pm
Thursdays, 5:30 pm
Led by Lay Pastor Archie Hook
301 NE First St. • Enterprise, OR
Find us on Facebook! 541.426.3044