WEDNESDAY
August 17, 2016
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Brothers Run organizer Megan Workman is
joined by Shilo Burton, Mindy Hutchison,
Melissa Galbreath and KC Dickens, helping at
the finish line of Saturday’s race.
Community
comes together for
Brothers Run 5K
Proceeds
benefit Grant
County
scholarships
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
NO BULL
Contributed/LindseyWyllie.com
Justin Josey leaps his competition for the win at Friday night’s Grant County Freestyle Bullfighting event.
Bullfi ghters deliver dangerous thrills at fair
Two cowboys ride —
to the hospital
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Freestyle Bullfi ghting at the Grant
County Fair delivered what organizer
Trever Hamsher promised would be
“the most intense extreme sport you
will ever see.”
The entertainment had the bull-
fi ghters jumping over the bulls, danc-
ing around the bulls — and trying not
to become gored by the bulls.
Justin Jose of Apache, Oklaho-
ma, won the event up against a bull
named #21 Jump Street with a score
of 87.
Jesse Tennet of Springfi eld placed
second, and Sean Peterson of Sum-
merville took third.
The bulls had the upper hand over
Liam Bertolacci and Bradon John-
son, who left the arena by ambulance.
Bertolacci, 19, who’s been in the
business of bullfi ghting for just a year
and a half had a torn lung. He was re-
leased from Blue Mountain Hospital
in John Day the following day.
Johnson was treated and released
with a knee injury.
Hamsher said he hopes their re-
coveries go well.
“They’ll heal up,” he said.
“I want to say thank you to ev-
eryone that came out and supported
it, and thank you to all the volunteers
and sponsors, along with the fair of-
fi ce and fair board,” Hamsher said. “I
hope to see everyone there next year.”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Bull and cowboy look eye to eye.
Rodeo youth bring home buckles
78 participate
in this year’s
Cowkids Rodeo
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Sunday’s Cowkids Rodeo
gave youth an opportunity to
compete as they learn the ropes
of the sport.
There were 78 participants
from Grant County and as far
away as Redmond and Ontario.
Simmie Waddel took the
reins again this year as the orga-
nizer of the event.
“They enjoy being able to
participate in a real rodeo,” she
said. “The Cinnabar Mountain
Playdays are great, but they
don’t have the opportunity to
ride any roughstock.”
She said the closest youth ro-
deos are in central Oregon and
in Idaho.
The rodeo had youth through
age 5 riding sheep, or wooly
bullies in Cowkids terminology.
Ages 6-9 could ride calves and
the junior and senior divisions
could ride steer.
“I’d like to give a big thank
you to those that donated stock,”
Waddel said. “Willis and Mela-
nie Kimball donated the calves,
Mike Carr and John Clark pro-
vided steers, plus the McDaniel
family, Martin family and the
Waddel family.”
There were 22 belt buckles
given away to winners.
Trinity Hutchison, 15, of
John Day, Waddel’s daughter,
has been competing in rodeo
since she was 2 years old.
On Sunday, she earned one
buckle for goat tying and anoth-
er for dummy roping. She also
placed third in barrels and com-
peted in pole bending.
Hutchison said goat tying is
her favorite event, and she com-
petes in barrels and pole bending
with her 5-year-old fi lly Paulina.
She hopes to one day compete
Participants in Saturday’s
Brothers Run 5K Walk/Run
kept two Mt. Vernon broth-
ers in mind as they raised
money for Grant County
student scholarships.
This year, 69 runners and
walkers were at the Seventh
Street Complex starting line.
The 5K honors Mt. Ver-
non brothers Taner Gil-
liam (June 24, 1993-July
19, 2010) and Arthur “AJ”
Dickens (June 6, 2002-Dec.
10, 2015).
When the event was
fi rst organized in 2011 by
their sister Megan Work-
man, proceeds were split
between a scholarship fund
and the Muscular Dystrophy
Association; Dickens had
Duchenne muscular dystro-
phy.
This year, Workman is
keeping the donations local
to benefi t the Taner Gilliam
and AJ Dickens Scholarship
Foundation for graduating
Grant County high school
seniors.
“It was a great way to
honor the boys’ memory,”
Workman said after Satur-
day’s race.
She thanked the partici-
pants and volunteers during
a gathering where they gave
away prizes.
“We’re really excited to
donate so much to the schol-
arship fund this year,” she
said. “I’d like to thank the
whole community for being
a part of this event.”
First to cross the fi nish
line was Tanner Elliott of
Canyon City with a time of
17:05.
Savannah Wyllie of
Loop, Texas, was second,
and fi rst in the women’s di-
vision, with a time of 20:24.
Several friends and fam-
ily members volunteered to
help hand out water and re-
cord times, including Sandy
Johnson, Gilliam’s grand-
mother.
“It’s a good cause for
our boys with family and
friends,” she said.
Those who would like to
send in a donation can mail
it to: Megan Workman, P.O.
Box 106, Mt. Vernon, OR
97865. Make checks pay-
able to The Brothers Run
or Taner Gilliam Memorial
Fund.
For more information,
contact Workman at 541-
620-1822 or 541-448-2535.
in a professional rodeo. She said
she likes having the local rodeo
with out-of-town participation.
“It’s a good experience to
get you started, and it’s some-
thing to look forward to because
you have the opportunity to win
a buckle at the end, if you do
good.”
Waddel said she’s been or-
ganizing the Cowkids Rodeo
for six years. She handles all as-
pects of preparing for the rodeo,
and then on rodeo day, many
volunteers come out to help with
timing, running gates, pushing
stock and helping the youth.
“I’d like to thank all the vol-
unteers who keep everything
running smooth,” she said.
Besides the other Grant
County Fair sponsors, she said
her big donors are Pioneer Feed,
which gives half the cost of the
buckles, and Bar W-B, which
donates Wrangler blankets.
Mary Ann Vidourek also
embroiders the hats and blankets
for a minimal cost.
Waddel said the buckles are
a special prize to the winners.
“It’s a trophy that they can
wear,” she said. “My kids enjoy
hearing people ask about how
they won it. It’s something that
they earned, not just something
they went out and bought.”
Cowkids Rodeo, fi rst-place winners
Peewee Division
Wooly bullies: Nolan Mobley
Dummy roping: Paxton Waggoner
Pole bending: Kodee Kimball
Barrels: Kodee Kimball
Goat tail untying: Kodee Kimball
Youth Division
Calf riding: Taylor Parson
Dummy roping: Colton Clark
Pole bending: Denni Coleman
Barrels: Denni Coleman
Goat tail untying: Taylor Churchfi eld
Junior Division
Steer riding: Riley Robertson
Dummy roping: Lacy Churchfi eld
Pole bending: Lacy Churchfi eld
Barrels: Lacy Churchfi eld
Goat tying: Lacy Churchfi eld
Senior Division
Steer riding: Opie McDaniel
Dummy roping: Trinity Hutchison
Pole bending: Regan Johnson
Barrels: Denali Twehues
Goat tying: Trinity Hutchison
Knowles hopes to
extend fi nals streak
Mt. Vernon
bulldogger
places third in
Hermiston
By Matt Entrup
EO Media Group
Mt. Vernon steer wrestler
Trevor Knowles has made
the Wrangler National Finals
every year since 2004, and
entered last week’s Farm-City
Pro Rodeo in Hermiston that
his uncle helped found 28
years ago feeling the pressure
of keeping that streak going.
“It’s been a rough year for
me,” said the cowboy of a
season that has him at No. 21
in the world standings. “Long
story short, my dad’s health
wasn’t real good this spring. I
came home for quite a while,
and then he started doing a lit-
tle better and I decided I could
go compete again. So I’ve
4K resolution 49” and 55”
1808p resolution 32”, 40” & 48”
all smart TVs, some Android TVs
been trying to make a come-
back here since June.”
After an initial hot streak
that saw him win the aggre-
gate in Sisters and place sec-
ond in Reno, Nevada, things
have cooled considerably, and
Knowles needs to make up
about $7,000 to get into the
running for the fi nals.
“It always turns, and I’m
getting impatient,” he said.
“You know, it’s August and
I’d like to have some opportu-
nities to fi ll my pockets in the
next 60 days.”
He earned a bit of that,
$1,301, in Hermiston after a
4.8 in the second performance
of the Farm-City Pro Rodeo
on Thursday fi nished third
place in Round 2. He had a 7.5
in the afternoon’s slack to give
him 12.3 combined, but he
didn’t place in the aggregate.
Mike McGinn posted the
best single time at the rodeo,
4.1, to win Round 2, and Clay-
ton Hass won the aggregate
with a 10.3.
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