FEB. 23–MAR. 2, 2022
WWW.GOEASTERNOREGON.COM
Grande
Ronde
Symphony
presents
‘bite size’
concert
INSIDE
PAGE 8
David Cowan/Contributed image
The Grande Ronde Symphony performed at St. Francis
de Sales Cathedral in Baker City Nov. 12, 2021. The next
concert, titled “Bite Size Pieces” and featuring small
ensembles, is March 2 at Eastern Oregon University.
Join
The Big
Read
See
EOU art
show
Visit
Josephy
art show
PAGE 3
PAGE 7
PAGE 14
SPORTS A8
Go! Magazine
Arts and entertainment magazine
Powder Valley boys best Condon, 59-51
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • BUSINESS & AG LIFE • SPORTS
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
Baker City
Councilor
Heather
Sells resigns
QUICK HITS
—————
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Wade
Saunders of Baker City.
BRIEFING
—————
Speaker to discuss
modernizing irrigation
systems
On March 2, the Powder
Basin Watershed Council in
Baker City will host a talk by
Julie Davies O’Shea, execu-
tive director of the Farmers
Conservation Alliance (FCA)
based in Hood River. She will
discuss how her organization
has worked throughout the
West to modernize irrigation
systems benefi ting both agri-
culture and the environment.
Her presentation will start
at 6:30 p.m. at the Sunridge
Inn, 1 Sunridge Lane.
She will explain how FCA’s
Irrigation Modernization
Program creates a path for-
ward for irrigation districts to
upgrade their infrastructure,
saving water and operat-
ing costs, while restoring
streams, protecting fi sh, and
generating clean, renewable
energy. In addition, she will
give an overview of recent
projects the organization has
worked on to give an idea of
possibilities and approaches.
“One of our board members
thought that given the recent
drought, it is an ideal time to
share information with irriga-
tors and planners on ways
to more effi ciently use our
limited water resources,” said
Tim Bailey, the Watershed
Council’s executive director.
More information is
available by calling Bailey at
541-523-7288 or 541-786-
4312.
WEATHER
—————
Today
24/0
Mostly cloudy
Friday
29/4
Sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 • $1.50
Sells, elected in 2020, is
moving out of Oregon
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
The Bulldogs’
MAGICAL
SEASON
Photo Courtesy of Ann Ross
The 1972 Baker High School boys basketball team. Top row, left to right: Head Coach Gary Hammond, Rick Scrivner,
Craig Erickson, Wes Morgan, Daryl Ross, Mike Davis, Mark Johnson, Randy Daugherty, Assistant Coach John Heriza.
Bottom row, left to right: Statistician Gerry Steele, Tim Wood, Fred Warner Jr., Greg Sackos, Dick Sheehy, and
manager Verl Cote.
Baker City Councilor Heather Sells an-
nounced during the Council’s Tuesday, Feb. 22,
meeting that she is resigning, effective March 1,
because her family is moving out of Oregon.
Sells was elected to a two-year term in No-
vember 2020.
Her term continues through the end of 2022.
Per the city charter, the remaining councilors
can appoint Sells’ replacement. Typically the
Council solicits applications from residents who
meet the requirements, which include being a
registered voter who has lived within the city
limits for at least 12 months.
By moving outside the city limits, Sells would
no longer be eligible to serve as a councilor.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten thanked Sells for her
service.
“And congratulations on the next step,” Mc-
Quisten said.
Sells read her resignation letter during the
meeting.
“I ran for city council during one of the most
unique and unnerving times in recent history.
The pandemic shook us — and it shook us hard.
I had a strong desire to help our local businesses,
emergency workers and first responders and to
help our community bounce back stronger than
ever,” Sells said.
See, Councilor/Page A3
Ceremony Friday evening, Feb. 25, will
honor the 1972 BHS boys basketball
team, which finished 2nd in the state
“It was a special year in the history
of Baker High School sports.”
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
H
alf a century on, many of those
who were there remember the
crowd with particular clarity.
— Randy Daugherty, a junior on the 1972 Baker
boys basketball team
And the cacophony.
No Baker High School sports team had ever
played in front of a bigger audience than the
Bulldog boys basketball squad did on that Sat-
urday night, March 25, 1972.
And none has in the five decades that have
come since.
The organizers of the Class AAA state tour-
nament managed to cram 13,395 spectators
into Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
That’s 729 more people than the listed ca-
pacity for the then 12-year-old arena, home to
the Portland Trail Blazers, the city’s one-year-
old NBA franchise.
It’s also about 90% of the population in
Baker County at that time.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
The “Blind Date With A Book” display at the Baker
County Library encourages patrons to try a book with-
out knowing its title. The display will be up through
March 14.
Photo courtesy of Ann Ross
Baker’s Daryl Ross, right, plays against Jefferson
in the 1972 Oregon state championship game at
Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
This mass of humanity had gathered to
watch an improbable — and unusually com-
pelling, due to its many distinct contrasts —
state championship basketball game.
There were the Bulldogs from Baker, a
small town at the far eastern edge of Oregon,
considerably closer to Boise than to Portland.
The farm boys.
All sporting crew cuts more reminiscent
of the Eisenhower administration than the
Nixon era.
Baker’s longtime coach, Gary Hammond,
in his final game before retiring with a lifetime
record of 565 wins against 171 losses, insisted
on that hairstyle, a precision that mirrored his
approach to basketball.
“Hammond ran a pretty tight ship,” said
Photo courtesy of Ann Ross John Heriza, now 90, who was Baker’s assis-
Senior post Daryl Ross, 6-foot-7, was the leading tant coach and replaced Hammond as head
coach the next season.
scorer on Baker’s 1972 state runner-up team.
Ross went on to play basketball at Montana
State University.
See, Bulldogs/Page A6
Try a book —
without seeing
its cover
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but the
Baker County Public Library has taken this notion
to the extreme.
Library staff Missy Grammon and Courtney
Snyder launched “Blind Date with a Book” on
Feb. 7.
The display is located in the Teen Room at the
library, 2400 Resort St., but anyone who enjoys
young adult books is welcome to check them out.
It’s already been restocked twice.
The poster encourages readers to “Take a book
home without knowing its title. Go ahead...take a
chance on love!”
Each book is wrapped in black paper. The at-
tached label gives a few clues — genre, who it’s
recommended for, the first line of the book, and
who chose it.
See, Books/Page A3
TODAY
Issue 120
30 pages
Business ................B1 & B2
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
Horoscope ..............B2 & B4
Letters ...............................A4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
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Senior Menus ...................A2
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Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6