News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
PC council votes to support effort
to preserve Bates School building
Local citizen
hopes to halt
district’s plans to
sell empty facility
PRAIRIE CITY — The
Prairie City City Council
voted at its Feb. 10 meeting
to support a local citizen’s
campaign to prevent the Bates
School building, located at
Prairie City School, from be-
ing sold or demolished.
The campaign, headed up
by Frances Preston of Prai-
rie City, is striving to garner
enough local support to pre-
serve the building, which at
one time served the school
with art and music classes and
a library, but is now empty
and not in use.
In a 4-3 decision, the coun-
cil voted to draw up a letter
of support for Preston for her
cause.
After the meeting, Preston
said, she was “delighted with
the outcome.”
“It was so nice to see the
council agree with what the
citizens want,” she said.
In her presentation to the
council, Preston offered sev-
eral suggestions for alternate
uses of the school, includ-
ing housing for exchange
students and a community
learning center. She said
Prairie City has a potential
for growth, which would re-
sult in growth at the school
and the need for more space
in the future.
Preston, who grew up
in the nearby logging town
of Bates and attended the
school, stressed the build-
ing’s historical quality and
the emotional connection for
many people in the commu-
Lenten lunch
The Eagle/Cheryl Hoefler
The Prairie City City Council voted at their Feb. 10 meeting to support a local
effort to prevent Prairie City School from selling the empty and unused Bates
School building, located at Prairie City School.
She added the school board
isn’t interested in housing ex-
change students, nor costly
A 1965 graduate of Bates School is planning an all-class
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reunion.
the building.
Frances (Raines) Preston, who lived in Bates from 1947
The board has directed her
until her graduation, is seeking out other alumni. She is
to
proceed with the sale of
requesting feedback about possible dates and activities. She
the
building, and if it doesn’t
is also requesting memorabilia.
sell,
it will be destroyed,
For more information, contact Preston, fmpreston1@
Gurczynski
said.
gmail.com; P.O. Box 3, 121 S. Washington St., Prairie City,
With
a
pending
letter of
OR 97869; 541-820-4463.
support in her corner, Preston
plans to continue her quest by
nity who attended classes not in use at the school, which knocking on more doors in
there.
has been maintaining a steady Prairie City.
Preston, who has been enrollment of 145 students for
“I’m hearing the people of
working on the cause since the past decade.
Prairie City want to keep it,
last summer, said she had
“We can house what we and keep it where it is,” she
received the support of 107 have within our current build- said.
signatures from people in the ing space,” she said.
Preston has also ap-
community to save the build-
Gurczynski added the pealed to the Oregon Parks
ing.
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Prairie City School Su- cantly changed” over time, about the possibility of re-
perintendent/Principal Julie ZLWK QHZ ZLQGRZV URR¿QJ locating the school to Bates
Gurczynski told the council and paint over the years de- State Park. According to an
that the school board has de- creasing its “historic” status.
email provided by Preston
termined the building, which
The absence of the build- from Eastern District Man-
has been deserted and not ing would be an asset for the ager Jim Hutton, the depart-
maintained for the past 10 school, she said, providing ment assessed the building’s
years, is “no longer suited to easier access for students to condition and considered its
our needs.”
and from the main school fit with the park but deter-
Gurczynski said they have building and the new gym, mined it had been altered too
plenty of room for growth. and allowing space for an add- much to be worth the signif-
As it is, six rooms are already ed grassy area for students.
icant cost.
Bates School all-class reunion
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as commissioner No. 2 Sept.
Several Grant County po- DQG -LP +DPVKHU ¿OHG
sitions are open for elections for the same position Jan.
this year.
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Positions up for election re-election as sheriff Dec.
include assessor, commis- DQG7RGG0F.LQOH\¿OHG
sioner No. 2, sheriff, survey- for the same position Jan. 25.
or, treasurer and Public For- 0LNH 6SULQJHU ¿OHG IRU VXU
est Commission Nos. 1, 3, 5, veyor Dec. 11.
7 and alternates Nos. 1 and 2.
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7RQ\D &DWHV ¿OHG IRU other positions. The deadline
assessor Dec. 16. Chris WR¿OHLV0DUFK
Blue Mountain Eagle
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OPB will premiere a new
Oregon Experience documen-
tary that explores the life and
legacy of Thomas Condon.
Embracing both religion
and science, Condon was the
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Fossil Beds, becoming a na-
tionally-known scientist and
educator. Condon would de-
vote his life to teaching others
about Oregon’s ancient past.
The half-hour documenta-
ry “Thomas Condon: Of Faith
and Fossils” airs at 9 p.m. Feb.
22 on OPB TV and online at
watch.opb.org.
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Thomas Condon immigrat-
ed with his family to New
York. After graduating from
a Congregationalist seminary
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nelia Holt, traveled to Oregon
and spent 10 years in the Wil-
lamette Valley on various mis-
sionary assignments.
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ferred to The Dalles, where
he settled and found a small
but eager congregation that
grew and thrived. He also al-
ways loved geology. He sub-
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and collected rocks and fossils
wherever he lived. Towns-
people, teamsters and soldiers
stationed at Fort Dalles knew
of his great knowledge of ge-
ology and began bringing him
fossils to examine and identify.
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companying the soldiers on
trips into Oregon’s interior and
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now known as the John Day
HAPPENING
WEDNESDAY,
FEB. 17
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Blue Mountain Eagle
WHAT’S
The deadline for What’s
Happening items is 5 p.m.
Friday. Call Cheryl at the Ea-
gle, 541-575-0710.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Fossil Beds — where nearly
50 million years of time are
preserved. Condon’s early cor-
respondence with East Coast
paleontologists helped ignite
worldwide interest in the area.
11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.,
St. Thomas Episcopal Church,
139 S. Washington St., Can-
yon City
A soup meal will be served
from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.,
followed by a service until
12:45 p.m. All are welcome.
Call 541-575-1326 or 541-
575-0766.
Meeting for weather
observers
4-5:30 p.m., Grant Coun-
ty Regional Airport, John Day
Anyone interested in be-
coming a volunteer weather
observer is encouraged to
attend the public meeting of
the Community Collaborative
Rain, Hail and Snow Network.
For more information, visit
www.cocorahs.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 20
Spay-ghetti Dinner
4-7 p.m., Squeeze In
restaurant, John Day
The all-you-can-eat spa-
ghetti dinner buffet is a fund-
raiser for New Hope for East-
ern Oregon Animals, hosted
by the group’s Grant County
committee. The menu includes
spaghetti, salad, garlic bread,
dessert and beverages. Other
activities include door prizes,
drawings and a silent auction.
Suggested donation is $10 for
adults and $5 for children un-
der 12. Tickets for drawings
and door prizes are available at
the door. Beer and wine will be
available for an added charge.
TUESDAY, FEB. 23
Mad Hatters to meet
1 p.m., El Cocinero
restaurant, Prairie City
The Grant County Mad
Hatters will meet for lunch.
Everyone is welcome.
WEDNESDAY,
FEB. 24
THURSDAY, FEB. 18
Lenten lunch
Blue Mountains Forest
Partners to meet
11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.,
First Christian Church, 311
N.E. Dayton St., John Day
A soup meal will be served
from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.,
followed by a service until
12:45 p.m. All are welcome.
Call 541-575-1326 or 541-
575-0766.
4-7 p.m., Grant County
Regional Airport, John Day
The Blue Mountains Forest
Partners will hold its monthly
full group meeting. The public
is invited to participate.
New hunters education
class starts Feb. 22
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — A new se-
ries of hunter education class-
es starts Monday, Feb. 22, at
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School, and will continue
on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays over a two-week
period.
Classes will start at 6 p.m.
and run for about 2 to 2-1/2
hours.
$ ¿HOG GD\ OLYH VKRRW ZLOO
be at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 5,
at the police range.
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hunt wildlife — except on
their own land — without
successfully completing the
course. All ages planning to
hunt as nonresidents in other
states may be required to have
a hunter education card.
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Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife sponsors the
classes and has set a $10 class
fee per student, which may be
waived in some circumstances.
Enroll at Nydam’s Ace
Hardware, John Day True Val-
ue Hardware, the local ODFW
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cense sales outlets.
For more information, call
%U\DQ1HOVRQDW
or ODFW at 541-575-1167.
Cowboy Chapel H our
KJDY
Sunday, 7 a.m.
“Jesus and
John Wayne”
A3
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Maag Angus Ranch Headquarters, Vale, Oregon
