BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
State trooper comes to the rescue with pizza for hungry high schoolers
other employee were cleaning
the restaurant after closing
when Blood knocked on the
door and asked if there was
anything they could do for
the bus full of hungry kids in
Prairie City.
“He explained what the di-
lemma was and that these
kids were going to be there for
a while,” Taylor said.
Taylor and her co-worker
swung into action, firing up
the ovens and making five
large pizzas for the stranded
kids — even though Blood’s
request was unique.
“We’ve helped out a lot
of different people over the
years,” Taylor said, “but noth-
ing like this.”
Fortunately, Taylor added,
Blood’s timing was just right
— if he’d shown up much
later, nobody would’ve been at
the restaurant to help the kids.
“It was probably 15, 20
minutes before he missed us,”
she said.
Blood said it didn’t take
much convincing to get The
Outpost crew to make the
pizzas.
“They were happy to do
this, and I give them all the
thanks in the world for doing
that because they certainly
didn’t have to,” Blood said.
“They had everything cleaned
up and they got it all dirty
again.”
Union High School Athletic
Director Chris Dunlap wasn’t
at the event, but he was noti-
fied that the bus was having
issues. As an athletic director,
he said, he was thinking of the
kids and their safety.
“When I hear that, the first
thought is are the kids going to
be OK? Is the bus running and
does it have heat?” he said.
The team had planned to
stop in Baker City to get a bite
to eat on their way home, but
the bus breakdown derailed
those plans. Dunlap called
Trooper Blood’s actions a “life-
saver” and said what he did
“go a long ways showing small
town community and support.
It reassured me that people do
care about each other and take
care of each other, especially in
Eastern Oregon.”
Like Taylor, Dunlap said he’s
never heard of anything like
this happening.
“I’ve heard of maybe check-
ing on somebody or running
to make a phone call for some-
body,” he said. “Never some-
body to turn around and say,
‘Hey, those kids are hungry,’
and then find a business that
is open, get enough pizzas
to feed everybody and then
pay for that themselves. I’ve
never heard of it, and I’ve been
around athletics for a while.”
Dunlap said the students fi-
nally made it back to Union
sometime around 1 a.m.
Trooper Blood’s actions were
met with relief and gratitude
from the coaches and went a
long way toward making the
mechanical issues the teams
were suffering through man-
ageable.
Dunlap said he never got to
speak with Blood personally,
but the trooper’s actions speak
to the nature of people in East-
ern Oregon.
“We have rivalries and we
want our teams to win, but
we still take care of each other
when the time comes,” Dunlap
The ordinance states, in part:
The ordinance prohibits
“It shall be unlawful for any
camping on public property be-
Continued from Page A1
person to set up tents or any
tween 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily.
other temporary shelter or to
The ordinance defines
In other business during
use house trailers, campers or
parks as including the Leo
Tuesday’s meeting, councilors automobiles for the purpose of Adler Memorial Parkway.
are slated to:
overnight camping in any city
The ordinance also prohib-
• Discuss the process of
park, nor shall any person re-
its camping in several other
putting on the Nov. 8, 2022,
main in any city park after clos- specific public properties, in-
ballot a measure asking city
ing hours; provided, however,
cluding within 150 feet of any
voters whether or not they
organized youth groups under school, preschool or childcare
support the city applying for a competent adult supervision
center, or at the Baker Heri-
railroad quiet zone.
may be permitted overnight
tage Museum at 2480 Grove
The Council voted 4-2
camping privileges.”
St., the Baker County Court-
during its April 12 meeting
to ask the city staff to prepare
such a measure.
That decision reversed the
Council’s 4-3 vote on Jan. 25 to
apply for a quiet zone.
Heather Sells, one of the
Come help us
four councilors who voted for
the motion to pursue a quiet
celebrate our five
zone, subsequently resigned
year anniversary!
because she moved outside
the city limits and was no
longer eligible to serve.
Kenyon Damschen, who
was appointed by the remain-
ing councilors to replace Sells,
voted in favor of Joanna Dix-
luncheon • dessert
on’s April 12 motion to take the
raffle • give aways
quiet zone issue to voters.
In a staff report for the
in store specials
April 26 meeting, City Re-
corder Dallas Brockett out-
lines the process for putting a
measure on the ballot, includ-
ing writing the measure title
and publishing a legal notice
in the newspaper.
Sales, Service, Parts & Mattresses
Any registered voter can
2036 Main, Baker City • 541-523-6284
contest the measure title by
petitioning Baker County
Circuit Court.
Prepare for unexpected
The deadline to qualify for
power outages with a
the Nov. 8 election is Sept. 7.
Generac home standby
• Discuss and potentially
generator
approve the first and second
SCHEDULE YOUR FREE IN-HOME
readings of an ordinance lim-
ASSESSMENT TODAY!
iting where and when people
877-557-1912
can camp in parks and other
public property.
7-Year Extended Warranty*
A $695 Value!
Police Chief Ty Duby pro-
Off er valid March 16, 2020 - June 30, 2020
posed the ordinance as a way
to potentially curb issues re-
Special Financing Available
*Terms & Conditions Apply
Subject to Credit Approval
lated to homeless people stay-
ing on public property.
house, Sam-O Swim Center,
the YMCA gym on Church
Street and the YMCA Fitness
Center on Pocahontas Road.
The ordinance also states that
if someone is living in a vehicle,
it must be moved at least every
24 hours and for at least the dis-
tance of a city block.
The ordinance applies only
to public property; people are
not allowed to camp on some-
one else’s private property re-
gardless of the zone.
• Hear a presentation from
an official from the Baker
5J School District about the
district’s plan to use an un-
opened section of Fifth Street,
just south of Grace Street
near South Baker Interme-
diate School, as a bus lane.
Councilors could approve the
installation of stop signs at
Fourth and Grace streets, for
southbound traffic on Fourth
Street and eastbound traffic
on Grace Street. That’s the in-
BY JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — A bro-
ken-down school bus, hungry
teenagers and a concerned Or-
egon State Police trooper all
crossed paths on the night of
Feb. 11, and the outcome was a
win for all concerned.
Trooper William Blood,
working out of OSP’s John Day
outpost, was on patrol that Fri-
day when he came across a dis-
abled Union High School bus
on the side of Highway 26 in
Prairie City. He approached to
check on the occupants, who
turned out to be the school’s
boys and girls basketball teams.
The engine was still run-
ning, so the bus had heat, but
Blood learned the basketball
players would be stuck in the
area for some time as their re-
placement bus made its way
to their location from Union.
He also learned the kids riding
the bus were hungry and that
no restaurants or convenience
stores were open in the imme-
diate area.
Blood then drove the 13
miles to John Day and found
lights on at The Outpost
restaurant, but the establish-
ment was closed. But he saw
a woman working inside and
knocked on the door.
After he explained the sit-
uation, the woman agreed to
turn the ovens back on and
make five large pizzas for the
stranded kids. Blood paid for
the pizzas — two pepperonis,
one Hawaiian, a meat lover’s
and a combo — out of his own
pocket and delivered the food
to the hungry kids back in
Prairie City.
Blood has worked in law
enforcement for 20 years. His
first posting was as a police of-
ficer in Cornelius, southwest of
Portland, in 2002. From there,
he made his way to the Hills-
boro Police Department in late
2009. In November of 2018
Blood was hired by the Oregon
State Police, and he’s been sta-
tioned in John Day since early
2019.
Blood has a son on the John
Day basketball team, and on
Feb. 11 he combined all of his
breaks for the day into one in
order to go watch him play
against Union that evening.
Following the game, Blood re-
turned to work and spotted the
broken-down bus while on pa-
trol in Prairie City.
“I saw the bus at probably
around 9:30 p.m., and the game
was long over by then,” Blood
said.
The bus was parked beside
the minimart, and Blood didn’t
think anything of it at first.
“I thought it was a Prai-
rie City bus coming back into
town dropping kids off,” he
said.
But after seeing it was a
Union bus, he realized it was
likely having mechanical trou-
ble. He turned around and
talked to the occupants to find
out what type of problems they
were having.
He learned it would be 2½
hours before their replacement
bus would be arriving from
Union. The Union girls team
had played the Grant Union
Lady Prospectors early that
night and had gotten dinner at
the Dairy Queen in John Day
during the boys’ game. The
boys, however, hadn’t had any-
thing to eat yet. It was this in-
formation that pushed Trooper
Blood into action and sent him
to The Outpost.
Shirley Taylor was one of the
people working at the restau-
rant that night. She and an-
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Trooper William Blood stands beside his patrol car on Tuesday, April 5,
2022. The Oregon State Police recognized Blood for helping a busload
of stranded teenagers in Prairie City.
Council
April 30
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said. “We separate those rival-
ries for the sake of humanity.”
Blood said he felt like a “rock
star” when the kids saw him
pull the pizzas from the passen-
ger seat of his patrol vehicle.
“I stepped onto the bus and I
honestly couldn’t tell you (how
but) the pizzas were gone,” he
said.
Following the pizza delivery,
Blood said, one of the Union
basketball players told his
teammates to get out of his way
because he was “going to give
that man a hug,” adding “that
started the long line of hugs
from the kids.”
Blood said his own experi-
ences as a high school athlete
aroused his sympathies for the
stranded basketball team.
“I played sports in high
school,” he said, “and I know
what it is like to be in a small
town where nothing is open
and you’re hungry.”
Blood’s act of kindness did
not go unnoticed by his super-
visors with the Oregon State
Police.
For his deeds that night, he
was awarded a certificate of
recognition and two challenge
coins, one from OSP’s John
Day outpost and the other
from the agency’s Ontario,
Burns and John Day area com-
mand.
Lt. Mark Duncan presented
Blood with the challenge coins
and certificate in a brief cere-
mony at the John Day OSP out-
post on Wednesday, March 30,
noting that the challenge coins
are not handed out often and
should be held in high regard.
Duncan said Blood “went
above and beyond, showing
compassion, and that Trooper
Blood represents the Oregon
State Police and their core val-
ues well.”
tersection where buses would
turn right from Fourth Street
onto Grace Street. Buses
would no longer load and un-
load along Grace Street on the
north side of the school.
• A possible discussion on of-
fers the city has received to sell
property in the Elkhorn View
Industrial Park in northwest
Baker City.
• Approve a proclama-
tion designating May 27 as
Poppy Day.
Louis A. Tholen
December 28, 1930 - February 8, 2022
In the wee hours of February 8, 2022,
Heaven gained a very devoted angel. He
was 91 years old. Louis “Louie” Tholen
was born on December 28, 1930, in
Oakley, Kansas, to Anton
Herman Tholen and Anna
Marie
(Muehlenkamp)
Tholen. He was one of
eight children. His sister,
Gertrude Brown, the only
surviving
sibling,
just
turned 100 years old. His
parents and his son-in-
law, Rio DeGennaro also
preceded him in death.
Louie spent much of his
childhood in a one room
schoolhouse in Oakley, Kansas, where
children were taught from 1st through
8th grade. He then attended 9th grade in
Windhorst, Kansas. When Louie was a
small child during the Great Dust Bowl,
he remembered gathering tumbleweeds
with his brother so they could pour
molasses on them to feed the cows to
keep them alive.
Louie served his country in the Korean
War from 1952-1953. While in the Army,
he made a lifelong friend named Leroy.
He cherished that friendship.
After his time in the military, Louie
married the love of his life, Delmonta
Bartell. They were married in 1957
and remained married until his death.
They had four children together. He
was thankful that the fourth one was a
boy. That boy would purchase his final
business venture (Farm & Industrial
Service Co. Inc.) from him in 1996.
In Louie’s lifetime he lived in Oakley,
Kansas, moving to Klamath Falls,
Oregon, in 1970 and finally Baker City,
Oregon, in 1972 where he and Del
found the community to be a perfect fit
for them. In each place he called home,
he contributed markedly to his church,
family, and community.
As a young man Louie owned Tholen
Farm Supply in Oakley, Kansas, from
1957-1968. He decided the family needed
a change and moved his family to Oregon.
He worked for Pelican Tractor and later
for the Ford and Hesston dealership,
both in Klamath Falls. Louie started to
get calls from other dealerships telling
him to bring his tools and he would
have a job. His reputation as a valuable
and knowledgeable mechanic was well
known. Howard and Harold Britton were
two of the many people who contacted
him regarding his skills. After some
discussion, he was invited to come to
Baker City the following weekend to see if
their company would be a good fit. Louie
and Del liked the area, the people, and the
idea of working for Britton Equipment
Company. He worked for them for three
years. In 1975 Louie opened LT Welding
and Repair and closed it in 1981.
He had started talking
to Nils Christensen, a
fellow Sumpter Valley
Railroad volunteer, about
a partnership in a business
venture. The name Farm
and Industrial Service Co.
Inc. was chosen and came to
fruition in March of 1983.
The three years they worked
together ended in mutual
agreement. Louie liked
running a shop business
where he fixed everything from Granny’s
frying pan to a manure spreader.
While Louie recognized his blessed
existence, he also acknowledged the
personal responsibility he needed to
take to address a developing drinking
problem. His drinking problem lasted
about three years. He spent 30 days in an
inpatient treatment center, and then never
drank again. He just missed having his
53rd year AA birthday in March of this
year. Louie had been a member of AA for
all of those years and worked to practice
the philosophy and 12-step program to
the best of his ability. This contributed
to a life of serenity, contentment, and
happiness.
Adding to Louie’s contentment were
the hobbies he enjoyed in his downtime.
He loved watching NASCAR racing and
other sports, shooting and hunting, and
his favorite pastime restoring tractors,
vehicles and small engines. He was always
willing to share his passion by answering
questions, giving advice or telling a good
story.
Louie leaves behind his wife whom
he shared his life with for 64 years,
Delmonta Tholen, daughters, Donna
(Ray) Bonneville, Carol DeGennaro,
Twila (Dave) Pivnick, Donald (Cheryl)
Tholen, many grandchildren and great-
grandchildren who will all miss him
dearly.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests
that you consider donating to the Building
Maintenance Fund for St. Francis de
Sales Cathedral in Baker City through
Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home, PO
Box 543, Halfway, Oregon, 97834.
A memorial service will be held April
30, 2022 at 10 a.m. at the St. Francis de
Sales Cathedral in Baker City. There will
be a gathering for friends and family in
the church hall after the service. Online
condolences can be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com