News
Blue Mountain Eagle
The deadline for What’s
Happening items is 5 p.m.
Friday. Call Cheryl at the
Eagle, 541-575-0710.
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 18
Southern Blues Resto-
ration Coalition
• Noon-4 p.m., Juniper
Room, Malheur Supervi-
sor’s Offi ce, Patterson Bridge
Road, John Day
The symposium will cov-
er a range of monitoring
programs related to ongoing
work within the Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration
project boundary area. The
public is welcome.
Grant County
Democrats meeting
• 6:30 p.m., 511 S.E. Hill-
crest Road, John Day
All local Democrats are
encouraged to attend. Call
541-542-2633.
THURSDAY, MAY 19
People Mover open
house
• Noon-3 p.m., 229 N.E.
Dayton St., John Day
The event celebrates the
Grant County Transportation
District’s ConnectOregon V
Enhancement Project. The
community is welcome to
stop by and see changes to
The People Mover building,
view history of the trans-
portation service’s 30-year
history and learn plans for
the future. Board and staff
members will be on hand to
answer questions. In appre-
ciation of its customers, The
People Mover will offer free
rides all day in John Day,
Canyon City, Mt. Vernon and
Prairie City. For a schedule
and more information, call
541-575-2370 or visit www.
WHAT’S
HAPPENING
grantcountypeoplemover.
com.
SATURDAY, MAY 21
Auxiliary yard sale
• 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Canyon
City Community Hall
Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal Auxiliary’s yard sale is a
fundraiser that supports the
needs of Blue Mountain Hos-
pital.
Canyon Mountain
cleanup day
• 10 a.m., Canyon Moun-
tain
Anyone is welcome to
bring rigs, trailers and gloves
to help clean up the mountain
area. For more information,
call Nathan Watt, 541-620-
4340.
25th annual Seneca
Oyster Feed
• Noon, Seneca Park
The cost is $30 a person
for all you-can-eat oysters,
salads, garlic bread, corn and
drinks or $20 for one time
through. A hamburger stand
will also be open. Other activ-
ities include a softball tourna-
ment, golf scramble, kids ac-
tivities in the park, live music
and a reverse draw raffl e with
over $1,000 in prizes. Call
Seneca City Hall, 541-542-
2161.
Curt Pereira fundraiser
• 5 p.m., John Day Senior
Center, 142 N.E. Dayton St.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
A3
25 years of savoring
seafood in Seneca
Annual oyster
feed is coming
up May 21
A by-donation spaghetti
feed, silent auction and live
dessert auction will benefi t
Curt Pereira with medical ex-
penses and other bills in his
fi ght against an aggressive
brain tumor. To donate auc-
tion items, food for the dinner
or to volunteer, call 541-575-
2949, 541-575-1825 or 541-
620-2861.
GU dinner and auction
• 6 p.m., John Day Elks
Lodge
The smokehouse roast
beef dinner and silent auc-
tion is a fundraiser for the
Philadelphia and Washing-
ton, D.C., trip for the classes
of 2021 and 2022. Auction
items include a two-night
stay in Leavenworth, Wash.,
a half a beef, a Ruger Ameri-
can rifle and student “slave”
labor. Tickets are $15 pre-
sale and $20 at the door.
Call or text 509-881-4965 or
neaner015@gmail.com.
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 25
PC kindergarten
round-up
• 3:30 p.m., teacher Becky
Sharp’s classroom, Prairie
City School
Parents should bring their
child’s birth certificate and a
copy of their immunization
record. Children need to be
5 years old before Sept. 1,
2016.
By Cheryl Hoefl er
Blue Mountain Eagle
SENECA — The oysters
are coming.
They’ve been coming, in
fact, for 25 years — brought
hundreds of miles from their
oceanside habitat to the
small Grant County town of
Seneca — all for the delight
of oyster fans far and wide.
This year’s feast begins
at noon Saturday, May 21,
in Seneca Park. The cost is
$30 a person for all you-
can-eat oysters, several sal-
ad selections, garlic bread,
corn and drinks. This year,
a one-time-through option is
offered for $20 a plate.
The Seneca hamburger
stand will also be open near-
by for non-oyster lovers.
However, while the oys-
ters are the main attraction,
the fun begins much earlier
in the day.
Other activities include
a softball tournament, golf
scramble, kids activities
in the park and live music.
There will also be a reverse
draw raffl e for $5 a ticket,
with over $1,000 in prizes,
including a fi rst-place prize
of $500.
The popular tradition
draws crowds from well out-
side the county.
The fi rst Seneca Oyster
Feed was held in 1992, and
was originally organized to
Eagle file photo
From left, Kris Long, Brady Long, Shelby Long
and Thaddeus Cowan Thompson tend oysters at
the 2015 Seneca Oyster Feed. This year’s event is
the 25th annual, coming up on Saturday, May 21.
help fund the newly devel-
oped Bear Valley Meadows
Golf Course. In fact, in the
May 20, 1993, issue of the
Eagle, the event was billed
as the “Bear Valley Mead-
ows Golf Course Oyster
Feed,” and held in the late
afternoon.
The purpose of the oys-
ter feed was to “have fun
and enjoy a late spring
afternoon in Bear Valley,”
according to organizer Jack
Southworth.
Activities that year in-
cluded music and a softball
tournament.
Over the years a variety
of competitions have been
included in the big day:
canoe races on the Silvies
River, the Silvies River
Bud Race, which began in
1995 and drew over 200
entries, and a golf tour-
nament, which started in
1998.
Inclement weather has,
at times, caused some ac-
tivities to be canceled, but
the “oyster migration” it-
self always goes on — rain,
sun, wind or snow.
And transportation to
the oyster feed is a snap
this year, with The People
Mover offering a “Seneca
Shuttle” from John Day.
Departure times are 10
a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m.
and 2:30 p.m. from The
People Mover barn at 229
N.E. Dayton St. Call 541-
575-2370 for fare informa-
tion and to reserve a seat.
Golf scramble registra-
tion starts at 8 a.m. The
cost is $10 a person for
four-person teams. Call
541-542-2201 to sign up.
To participate in the
softball tournament, call
541-620-4533.
For all other informa-
tion about the Oyster Feed,
call Seneca City Hall at
541-542-2161.
Memories
With Fondest
We remember those who have passed away & are especially dear to us.
On Wednesday, May 25, we will publish a special section devoted to
those who are gone but not forgotten. The names will be placed in
alphabetical order and will be similar to the sample below:
Eagle file photo
From the May 18, 2011, issue of the Eagle, Grant
Union High School stands surrounded by water
on Sunday, May 15, after nearby Canyon Creek
overflows its banks.
O UT OF THE P AST
May 16, 1941
Blue Mountain Eagle
75 years ago
“The American Legion
Auxiliary has not forgotten”
With the entire world rapidly
becoming a veritable battlefi eld,
with our own peace-loving na-
tion straining every resource to
defend our freedom with the fu-
ture dimmed by uncertainty, the
patriotic sentiment of all Ameri-
cans has been highly stimulated.
Determination to keep our
valuable possessions and priv-
ileges is shadowed by the pos-
sible frightful cost of our youth.
The sight of the soldiers today
send our minds back to thoughts
of our soldiers of yesterday.
They were heroes then, those
boys of but little more than 20
years ago.
The memories of those left
on the battlefi eld of Flanders
was a national sorrow. Gratitude
and sympathy for those who
were brought back on hospital
ships, those who had before
them a living death, barred for-
ever from the world by hospital
walls, prompted a deep nation-
al resolve that nothing was too
good for them.
they hibernate the winter away,
far from the pounding surf that
used to take such a toll on them.
As the ice leaves the Silvies
River, the oysters jump out of
the mud and walk overland
about 15 miles until they get to
the head of the South Fork of the
John Day River, and then it is on
to the ocean for the summer.
The only person to see this
annual migration was an Izee
rancher who will remain anony-
mous. Needless to say, the sight
of tens of thousands of migrat-
ing oysters strolling over the
Izee Summit on a moonlit night
left him speechless.
In his words, he was “twit-
terpated to the point of being
squeeny-puckered.”
However, the people of
Seneca were quite capable of
reaping some of Nature’s boun-
ty, and helping themselves and
sharing with others. Hence, the
annual Seneca Oyster Feed that
this article is really about. ...
As our Izee rancher would
say, “You don’t want to be nilly-
knockerin’ ‘round the low coun-
try when the fi llyfartherin is up
in the hills.” What that means,
no one knows, but it sounds
like a good time had by all.
May 18, 1995
Blue Mountain Eagle
21 years go
May 18, 2011
Blue Mountain Eagle
5 years ago
Annual oyster migration
observed over the Izee Sum-
mit
SENECA — It’s fi nally
spring time here in the Valley of
the Bears, and the residents of
Seneca are eager to catch bush-
els of oysters, as the little fellers
make their annual migration out
of the Silvies River and on to the
Pacifi c Ocean.
In what is a little understood
biological phenomenon, Pacifi c
Ocean oysters actually winter
at the head of the Silvies River.
Tucked snugly into the mud,
Area rivers surged past
their fl ood stages, the John
Day River at John Day hitting
8.3 feet — above its fl ood lev-
el of 8.0 feet — by Monday.
Gauging stations measured
the precipitous rise in all
county rivers. Statistics from
the Grant County Watermas-
ter’s offi ce showed the John
Day running at 712 percent
of average, the Middle Fork
John Day at Ritter at 657 per-
cent of average, and North
Fork John Day at Monument,
666 percent.
Andrews, David C
July 10, 1920 – May 5, 2000
May God’s angels guide
you and protect you
throughout time.
Always in our hearts,
John and Mona Andrews
and Family
If you wish, select one of the following verses below to accompany your
tribute.
1. We hold you in our thoughts and memories forever.
2. May God cradle you in His arms, now and forever.
3. Forever missed, never forgotten. May God hold you in the
palm of His hand.
4. Thank you for the wonderful days we shared together. My
prayers will be with you until we meet again.
5. The days we shared were sweet. I long to see you again in
God’s heavenly glory.
6. Your courage and bravery still inspire us all, and the memory
of your smile fills us with joy and laughter.
7. Though out of sight, you’ll forever be in my heart and mind.
8. The days may come and go, but the times we shared will
always remain.
9. May the light of peace shine on your face for eternity.
10. May God’s angels guide you and protect you throughout time.
11. You were a light in our life that burns forever in our hearts.
12. May God’s graces shine over you for all time.
13. You are in our thoughts and prayers from morning to night
and from year to year.
14. We send this message with a loving kiss for eternal rest and happiness.
15. May the Lord bless you with His graces and warm, loving heart.
16. Write your own.
To remember your loved one in this special way, please fill out the form below and mail to:
BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE
195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR. 97845
or stop by the office
541-575-0710
Deadline: Friday, May 20, 2016 at 5 p.m.
Please publish my tribute in the special Memorial Section in May.
Blue Mountain Eagle = $25 00
Publishes on 05/25/2016
Make check payable to the Blue Mountain Eagle
E-mail photo to: office@bmeagle.com
Questions: Call Lindsay at 541-575-0710
Name of deceased
Relationship to me
Date of birth
Verse # or special message
Date of passing
Who the message is from
Print your name here
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Phone number
State
Zip
03642