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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 8, 2016 A7 Burnt River School extends invitation to Portland students By Eric Mortenson EO Media Group Eagle file photo From the June 9, 1966, issue of the Eagle, John Larkin of John Day holds a badly damaged helmet he wore while on duty with the Army in Viet Nam. An explosion from a short round mortar shell blew out one side of the helmet. Larkin escaped serious injury, and possibly death, when the helmet came off as he was diving for cover from the explosion. O UT OF THE P AST June 8, 1916 Grant County Journal 100 years ago J.L. Stalker has troubles of his own in making all his sales of alcohol only to people who have a right to purchase it under the law. Whereas in the old prohibition days all kinds of schemes were worked to get booze from druggists, now all of the old ones and a few new ones are tried to buy alcohol. But J.L. has turned the joke on some of them. When he has any doubts in the matter he assists his judg- ment with a little sulphuric ether, camphor, turpentine or something of like nature. This does not hurt the alcohol in the least for exterior use, but greatly depreciates its value as a beverage. June 6, 1941 Blue Mountain Eagle 75 years ago Jake of all trades People got the idea that county Agent Brooke has nothing to do but to count cattle, plant lowers and dis- tribute pamphlets and keep two stenographers busy. On a recent evening, after supper, he settled down to read his newspaper. A car drove up; a man jumped out and he was excited. He had a monkey in the car, and it was sick and he wanted to have its tail am- putated. Mr. Brooke told him that the monkey looked too much like a human for his line of surgery and sent him to a doctor. Then a customer from Mt. Vernon put in a hurry up call for him to come to Mt. Vernon for a calf was choking and again the phone rang and a lady in John Day had a sick cat, and before Mr. Brooke could get his hat the phone rang again and he was needed, right now, to vaccinate a dog. June 9, 1966 Blue Mountain Eagle 50 years ago Lucky Survivor — John Larkin of John Day holds a badly damaged helmet he wore while on duty with the Army in Viet Nam. An explosion from a short round mortar shell blew out one side of the helmet. Larkin escaped serious in- jury, and possibly death, when the helmet came off as he was diving for cover from the explosion. June 9, 2006 Blue Mountain Eagle 10 years ago Sign points way to in- dustrial program Local businesses work to spur economy JOHN DAY– Most peo- ple who live in Grant Coun- ty are concerned about the lack of jobs here. David Paddock and Genevieve “Gigi” Burke of Nomad Signs are no exception. They used their talent and resources to create a sign for the Industrial Park that would have sold for $9,000. They sold it to the city for $1,500. “Grant County needs jobs,” Paddock said. The sign weighs approx- imately 1,000 pounds and is 8 foot by 12 foot. It is made of wood, iber glass and di- amond plate steel. It took a month and a half to build the sign, which included the giant gears used to hold up and accentu- ate the sign. The gears were donated by Grant Western Lumber. “One of the best things about the job was when Grant Western lets us go through their scraps,” Burke said. “We’re both dumpster divers by nature.” Grant Western wasn’t the only business that donated to the creation. Bob Warren donated I-beams and Grant County Building Supply loaded ma- terials. “We got a lot of support from the John Day Public Works,” Paddock said. The sign was set up on June 1. It is located on In- dustrial Park Road across from Winner’s Choice. A tiny Eastern Oregon school has an invitation for Portland high school students: Come stay with us for a se- mester and learn about ag and science. The program, which will begin next school year with eight Portland girls visiting the irst semester and eight Portland boys arriving for second semester, is a delib- erate attempt to span the ur- ban-rural divide. And Oregon does not get more rural than the Burnt River School in Unity, about 50 miles east of John Day. The Burnt River School District has a single build- ing, a K-12 charter school. In the 2015-16 school year — they’re already out for the summer — the district had 34 students. Fielding an eight- man football team last fall required an allegiance with Prairie City School. Cattle ranching is the primary way to make a living in the area. District Superintendent Lorrie Andrews also serves as school principal, teaches personal inance and careers, helps seniors with their port- folios and advises the year- book kids. She’s been there 30 years. “Time for me to go, huh?” she jokes. She’s been working on Burnt River’s invitation to Portland for a couple of years, Courtesy of Burnt River School District The entire student body and staff of Burnt River School poses on picture day in September 2015. The Eastern Oregon school invites Portland high school to come stay for a semester and learn about agriculture and science. Lorrie Andrews, the superintendent and principal who also teaches careers and personal finance, is on the far right. with noteworthy help from state Rep. Greg Smith, a Re- publican from Heppner, state Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republi- can from Ontario, and Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett. Now they are ready to try it. “It is something we’ve thought a lot about,” Andrews said. Burnt River has a “great school and an excellent staff,” she said, but the district’s en- rollment has declined for sev- eral years. Twenty-eight of the school’s 34 students are high school age. “We were just thinking we need to think outside the box, so to speak,” Andrews said. Over the May 21-22 week- end, Portland Public Schools sent an email to its high school families, telling them of the opportunity to take part in the Burnt River Integrated Agriculture/Science Research Ranch program, or BRIARR. On Monday, May 23, An- drews responded to 23 emails about the program. A bunch more arrived Tuesday. Portland students will get a semester of hands-on learning in what Burnt Riv- er describes as a “variety of natural resource settings.” They’ll learn about animal production science, sustain- able rangeland science and forest restoration studies, and do water quality monitoring with the Powder Basin Wa- tershed Council. She said it made sense to extend the invitation to Port- land, by far the state’s largest urban center. The city has more than 49,000 students in 78 schools, including 10 high schools. “We were thinking there probably are students out there who would enjoy a ru- ral experience and a small school experience at the same time,” Andrews said. “I think it’s a way to bridge that di- vide. I think there are a lot of misconceptions in both direc- tions. I think we can all learn from one another. Kids are usually open to that.” JAC awards two scholarships Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — The Juni- per Arts Council has award- ed 2016 scholarships of $300 each to Janelle King and Stephanie Croghan. King, a home-school stu- dent, will graduate in June and plans to attend Northwest Nazarene University in Nam- pa, Idaho, majoring in mar- keting with a graphic design minor. Croghan, a 2014 graduate of Grant Union Junior-Senior High School, attends East- ern Oregon University in La Grande, and is majoring in business, with a minor in art. The Council, with a mis- sion to promote the arts and arts education in Grant Coun- ty, awards an annual schol- arship to local students who have declared a major or a minor in the arts. Funding is provided through gifts and donations, interest earned on JAC accounts, and fundrais- ing events. Recently, the Council hosted Eastern Oregon Uni- versity’s music department in concert. Donations from the free concert brought in $242 which went toward the schol- arship fund. A CADEMIC R EPORTS Blue Mountain Eagle Joshua James Hester of John Day graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s de- gree in theology from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 7. Megan Wilkins of Kim- berly graduated with a master’s degree in resource interpretation from Ar- thur Temple College of Forest and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University. ••• Ashley Metcalf, a student at Valley City State Univer- sity in Valley City, North Dakota, has been award- ed three scholarships: the Steve Welk- en Scholar- ship by the Welken fam- ily, the Jim and Meryl O’Connell Ashley Scholarship Metcalf by the math department and the Hazel McBride Scholarship by the school of education and graduate studies. Metcalf is a senior pur- suing majors in mathemat- ics education and Spanish education, with a minor in teaching English language learners. She is the daughter of Kristine Metcalf of Sen- eca. Michael B. DesJardin Dentistry, PC Preventive, Restorative & Endodontics New Patients Welcome! 208 NW Canton John Day 541-575-2725 mbddental@live.com michaelbdesjardindmd.com myeaglenews.com/breakingnews I N A R M O U N T A 2 0 1 6 C I N N A B Playdays J UNE 11 TH , J UNE 25 TH * *This event is a one day double header. Entries 8am • 1st performance 9am 2nd performance 3pm Don’t forget to wear red, white and blue! J ULY 16 TH Don’t forget to wear pink! A UGUST 20 TH & 21 ST Grant County Fairgrounds Entries open 8am • Rodeo starts 9am B ARREL R ACING • P OLE B ENDING G OAT T YING D UMMY R OPING • K EYHOLE R ACE F LAG R ACE • F IGURE 8 R ACE Membership: $30 individual / $45 family Entry Fees: $2/event or $10/day Membership in the Cinnabar Mountain Playdays is required . M EMBERSHIP DUES MUST BE PAID IN FULL IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE . N O E XCEPTIONS . Daily entry fees must be paid at time of entry. Proof of age is required to compete and must be presented to a director no later than the second playday attended by the membership holder. Contestants must compete in at least 4 playdays to be eligible for year-end awards For more info call: Didgette McCracken: 541-575-3520 Janet Plocharsky: 541-792-0077 Emma Winkelman: 541-620-1199 • Justin Jacobs: 541-620-1014 Melanie Kimball: 541-620-0706 • Sian Martin: 541-963-0379 Kristal Hansen: 541-910-7732 • Laura Hopper: 541-932-4315 The Class of 2016 GU would like to extend a big thank you to the businesses Also, a special thank you to Teri Bowden. who donated gifts & items that made our Grad Night such a huge success! We would also like to thank the John Day Elks Lodge once again for graciously offering their facilities. Photo by Tanni Wenger Photography Studios Without the support of our community this night wouldn’t be possible.
