News
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Contributed photo
McDonald’s employees Ashley Armendarez and
Ashley Pompa ham it up in costume on Halloween
for their final day of work at the restaurant.
McDonald’s
soon to be
demolished
Several former
employees find
local jobs
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Marines meet to
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Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Sixteen lo-
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met at the Outpost Restau-
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of the Marine Corps.
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World War II, Korea, Viet-
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the present.
The Marines included
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Gary Langenfeld, Jim Clark,
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Contributed photo
Sixteen Marines and their wives met at the Outpost
Restaurant in John Day on Nov. 10 to observe the
240th Marine Corps birthday. Back row, from left: Gary
Daake, Walt Kight, Harry Stangel, Marc “Doc” O’Dell,
Bob Stewart, Tom Baum and Dale Duby. Middle row,
from left: Dave Traylor, Dennis Smith, Gary Langenfeld,
Jim Clark, Gary Whitmore, Bill Sexton and Ken Evans.
Seated, from left: Dave and Eileen Saxton, Bud
Salsbury, Francis Fannin and Claudia Evans.
Gary Whitmore, Bill Sexton,
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Kight, Harry Stangel, Marc
“Doc” O’Dell, Bob Stewart,
Tom Baum and Dale Duby.
After introductions were
made, a general reminis-
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order of the gathering.
According to Traylor, not
all Grant County Marines
were able to attend, but they
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were fondly remembered by
those present.
Gift
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Call to make an
appointment first.
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Hours - Fri. •C
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at
Better Blooms & Gardens
Between John Day & Prairie City • 541-820-3329
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – The Oct.
31 closure of McDonald’s
restaurant in John Day sad-
dened many in the commu-
nity, including the owner, 18
employees and the patrons.
Jorge Ribeiro of Burns,
who owned the restaurant,
said he doesn’t know when it
will be torn down.
“They asked us to be out
within two weeks of clos-
ing,” he said, adding they
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erything, inside and out.
He expects the building to
be demolished sometime this
month.
Ribeiro said corporate of-
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close the restaurant, although
he tried to talk them out of it,
based on the “low economics
of the situation,” and because
they are reaching the end of a
20-year lease on the property
owned by the D.R. Johnson
family.
“The biggest thing – I’m
going to miss all the regular
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the restaurant, and all my
great employees,” Ribeiro
said.
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where,” he added.
Ashley Pompa was a crew
trainer and worked at Mc-
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“There were a bunch of
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astated that we were clos-
ing,” she said.
This includes a group of
regulars they nicknamed the
“morning breakfast club,”
she said. “They would show
up at 6 a.m., and they all
wanted coffee right at 6.”
She said the adjustment
to the layoff and closure was
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a job and how to support my
kids – it’s been rough.”
She said she’s kept busy
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With help from Work-
Source Oregon she found a
job at Chester’s Thriftway.
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day of work, dressing up for
Halloween.
Pompa had ghost makeup,
another was “Jason” (from
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other made light of their sit-
uation, wearing a cardboard
“Will work for food” sign
around his neck.
The restaurant closed ear-
ly that night to allow workers
to take kids trick-or-treating.
“It’s going to be missed,”
Pompa said of her former
workplace.
Still, she said she has a
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new job.
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Hunting for the
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The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Golden Arches
from the John Day
McDonald’s now lean
against the trash bin
area in the restaurant
parking lot.
H u n t
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Donald’s for nine years, and
I’m experienced with cus-
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N o F u r t h e r
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