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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2015)
A8 Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, July 15, 2015 WEDNESDAY July 15, 2015 Derby dad gets Wildcat ready to ride JD demolition derby set for Saturday at 7 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle MT. VERNON – Wayne Saul of Mt. Vernon has a good handle on a wild ride. He and several other drivers are getting their mean machines in top-notch condition for Saturday’s 26th Annual Whiskey Gulch Gang Demolition Derby. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Presale admission is $10 for adults and $6 for chil- dren 12 and under – at-the- gate prices are $2 more. Saul has been prepar- ing for the event for two months, working on a ’69 Buick Wildcat with a 430 V8, which his uncle George Hamsher acquired for him. Older cars like this one are hard to find because they’re so often sold for the metal, Saul said. He’s worked, welding and chaining parts of the Wildcat, at his uncle’s T&H Automotive shop, and re- cently painted it at Clark’s Disposal with help from friends and co-workers. His wife Jessie and their two children, Mayley, age 6, and Emmie, 4, also lend a hand in the shop at times. Saul started derby con- tests 12 years ago. “I watched Hal Gilliam and Walt Osborne when I was little,” and later decid- ed to give it a try, he said. He’s won a few main events in John Day and Baker City. What’s to love about it? “The rush of it – the ex- citement,” he said. “You get sore – I rolled one time, but was never injured.” For more information about the John Day derby, call organizer Hugh Farrell at 541-575-0329 or email farrellhugh@yahoo.com. Contibuted photo Kayla Webb of Bend is the lucky winner of the 7 Wonders of Oregon bicycle created for and hidden in the Painted Hills area by Travel Oregon. 7 Wonders Painted Hills bicycle found Blue Mountain Eagle It took all of 23 minutes for the Painted Hills bike hidden by Travel Oregon to be found. Kay- la Webb of Bend found the Paint- ed Hills bike Saturday, July 11, at 5:50 a.m. The bicycle, hidden at 5:27 a.m., was discovered behind a tree on Gird’s Creek Road. To celebrate the 7 Wonders of Oregon, Travel Oregon asked seven of the best bike builders in the state to build one-of-a-kind bicycles for each of the Won- ders, one of which is the Painted Hills near Fossil. Sea Dragons shave time in Lakeview By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Wayne Saul of Mt. Vernon works under the hood of his ’69 Buick Wildcat, prepping it for Saturday’s demolition derby in John Day. Derby driver Wayne Saul has help from his young pit crew, 6-year-old daughter Mayley, left, and 4-year- old daughter Emmie. Volunteers take on creek restoration at Silvies Valley Ranch Blue Mountain Eagle For the fourth year in a row, volunteers for the Or- egon Natural Desert Asso- ciation took part in a week- end-long creek restoration project at Silvies Valley Ranch. Though the group and the ranch don’t agree on every topic, “working to- gether doing activities that both groups embrace such as stream restoration, broadens understanding on both sides of the creek,” joked Colby Marshall, Vice President/ Foreman at Silvies. The weekend started June 19. The following morning, after an early breakfast, the ranch and ONDA groups worked together to install 56 bird and duck houses, and Clues provided by Trav- el Oregon aided Webb, who camped near the site the night before, in her search. This Painted Hills bike was built by Portland-based bike builder Christopher Igleheart. Two bikes, one hidden at Smith Rock and the other on Mt. Hood, have also been found. This week another bike will be hidden in the Wallowas, followed by the Columbia Riv- er Gorge the week of July 20, Oregon Coast the week of July 27, and, ¿ nally, Crater /ake the week of August 3. riparian areas are home to more than 150 different spe- cies of birds. Many of the volunteers stayed an additional day and spent the time on the ranch birdwatching, ¿ shing, or wandering around the ranch to see the elk, deer and an- telope and their calves and fawns, which are numerous Contributed photos in the spring. Oregon Natural Desert Association members with “None of our other resto- 56 bird and duck houses the group installed in ration trips are quite like the mid-June during a restoration project at Silvies experience at Silvies Valley Valley Ranch. Ranch,” said Sam Frank, wilderness stewardship co- then planted several hundred others back along our restored ordinator at ONDA. “What is Red Twig Dogwood, Black creeks is one of our big goals happening on Silvies Valley Cottonwood and Hawthorn at Silvies,” said Colby Mar- Ranch is really quite unique trees. The trees were then shall in a press release. in Oregon, and ONDA is protected by deer nets and elk According to a study by glad to have the opportunity fencing. an Oregon State University to be part of this one-of-a- “Getting native trees and master’s student, the ranch’s kind experiment.” /AKEVIEW – The John Day Sea Dragons swim team traveled July 10-12 to the /akeview Swim Meet with 21 swimmers participating. Swimmers included: Made- lyn Bailey, Max Bailey, Mick- ayla Coalwell, Ryan Coalwell, Tori Coalwell, Trevyn Coalwell, Cole Gravem, Justin Hodge, Russell Hodge, Sivanna Hodge, Cayden Howard, Colbie How- ard, Andrew Hunt, Taylor Hunt, Reece Jacobs, 4uinn /arson, Grant /e4uieu, Thomas /e- 4uieu, Sierra May, /ogan Na- mitz and Auna Waldner. The team was in third place Saturday, and ¿ nished in ¿ fth place on Sunday. “It was a good meet,” said head coach Crista Waldner. Several athletes improved, shaving time off their ¿ nishes, one of which was 4uinn /ar- son, who took off a lot of time on several of his events, Wald- ner added. The team will travel July 17- 19 for the Burns Swim Meet. Lakeview Swim Meet, Top 5: Ryan Coalwell Male 9-10 50 Free, 1 Male 9-10 50 Fly, 2 Male 9-10 50 Back, 5 Male 9-10 100 IM, 3 Male 9-10 50 Breast, 3 Male 9-10 50 Free, 2 Tori Coalwell Female 13-14 200 Free, 2 Female 13-14 100 Fly, 2 Female 13-14 100 Back, 4 Female 13-14 200 IM, 2 Female 13-14 100 Breast, 3 Female 13-14 50 Free, 1 Trevyn Coalwell Male 11-12 100 Free, 4 Male 11-12 100 IM, 4 Male 11-12 50 Breast, 4 Male 11-12 50 Free, 4 Cole Gravem Male 8 & Under 50 Free, 5 Male 8 & Under 25 Free, 5 Justin Hodge Male 11-12 100 Free, 3 Male 11-12 50 Fly, 2 Male 11-12 50 Back, 5 Male 11-12 100 IM, 3 Male 11-12 50 Breast, 3 Male 11-12 50 Free, 2 Russell Hodge Male 13-14 200 Free, 4 Male 13-14 100 Back, 4 Male 13-14 200 IM, 5 Male 13-14 50 Free, 2 Cayden Howard Male 8 & Under 50 Free, 3 Male 8 & Under 25 Back, 1 Male 8 & Under 25 Free, 2 Colbie Howard Female 6 & Under 25 Free, 4 Andrew Hunt Male 9-10 50 Fly, 5 Male 9-10 100 IM, 4 Taylor Hunt Male 13-14 100 Fly, 3 Male 13-14 100 Back, 2 Male 13-14 50 Free, 4 Quinn Larson Male 9-10 50 Free, 5 Male 9-10 50 Back, 3 Grant LeQuieu Male 13-14 100 Back, 5 Thomas LeQuieu Male 11-12 100 Free, 5 Male 11-12 50 Back, 3 Sierra May Female 8 & Under 25 Free, 4 Auna Waldner Female 15-18 200 Free, 4 Female 15-18 100 Fly, 5 Female 15-18 100 Back, 4 Female 15-18 200 IM, 5 Female 15-18 50 Free, 3 Wild¿ re team plays for championship title Blue Mountain Eagle PI/OT ROCK – The Grant County Wild¿ re softball team advanced to the state champion- ship game Tuesday, July 14, in Pilot Rock after defeating Warm Springs 12-5 in the semi¿ nal round. The team is coached by Zach Williams, Mike Strong and /ance Zweygardt. The game was played past press time.