News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
A3
Monument comes together for Buckaroo Festival
Event revives
60-year-old
supper tradition
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
The community came to-
gether in and around the se-
nior center in Monument to
celebrate the Buckaroo Fes-
tival and Harvest Auction on
Saturday, Sept. 24.
The festival is a revival of
a local gathering called the
Buckaroo Supper that took
place annually roughly 60
years ago, according to event
organizer and fundraiser chair
for the senior center Judy Har-
ris.
Donated items, ranging
from cords of wood to a pair
of Nigerian dwarf goats, were
auctioned off with the pro-
ceeds going to help support
the senior center. A number of
prizes were also auctioned off
via a silent auction as well as
a rile that was rafled away.
Local musicians enter-
tained festival goers under the
supervision of Darrin Dailey,
a local teacher. A beer garden
kept those of age content with
a variety of cold beers, while
horseshoes, cornhole and oth-
er yard games were available.
Bruce Hansen caught and
donated over 90 pounds of
salmon and over 100 ears of
corn to the festival to ensure
that everyone was fed.
“I’m happy to help the
community,” Hansen said.
Harris described Hansen as
a “real pillar of the communi-
ty.”
Harris, who was born
in Monument and recently
moved back, described the
festival as a community effort.
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Cody Hewgley plays horseshoes during the Buckaroo Festival in Monument
on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Darrin Dailey plays his guitar and sings during the
Buckaroo Festival in Monument.
Judy Cavender, left, and
Cara Dailey prepare
over 90 pounds of
salmon donated by
Bruce Hansen for the
community dinner.
“I have quite a troupe that
helps,” Harris said. “I couldn’t
do it without them.”
Judy Harris, left, and Bruce Hansen pose for a
photo during the Buckaroo Festival in Monument
Saturday, Sept. 24.
In charge of cooking din-
ner were Jan Ensign, Cara
Dailey and Judy and Sue Cav-
ender, who cooked donated
elk, salmon and corn. Though
they didn’t know how many
people would be coming for
the festival, they planned to
cook for 200.
“We’ll feed ’em till the
food runs out,” Cavender said.
The event is a revival of
the Buckaroo Supper, which
had been a gathering of the
community to come togeth-
er and raise money for the
old town hall, according to
the women. Sixty years ago,
a large group of local men
would put on the “Buckaroo
Supper.” Now there is only
one remaining member, the
96-year-old Grand Marshal
Jack Cavender.
The supper had been a
fundraising event for the
Grange Hall, which was the
town’s community center at
the time. The senior center
in Monument was erected in
1992, replacing the Grange
Hall as a meeting place.
Nelson appointed to state OYCC board
By Rylan Boggs
Katy Nelson is the
newest appointee
to the Oregon Youth
Conservation Corps.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Long-time Grant Coun-
ty resident Katy Nelson has
been appointed to the Oregon
Youth Conservation Corps ad-
visory board.
Nelson worked extensively
with the OYCC when she was
with the Grant County Center
for Human Development.
Nelson has worked as a
family support specialist,
community mental health
counselor and instructor at the
University of Maine, Augusta
and Quinnipiac College.
The OYCC provides high
schoolers with job experi-
ence, interviewing skills and
employment that helps shape
the communities they live
in. As the 30th birthday of
the OYCC approaches, they
are looking for a new name,
something that rolls off the
tongue a little better, Nelson
says.
The program has shrunk
due to lack of funding since
Nelson last worked with it
some seven years ago, some-
thing she wants to remedy by
inding more funding options.
Nelson said kids in the pro-
gram are usually 16, and this
is typically their irst job. Part
of the draw for kids is having
a job to return to if they are
good workers, Nelson said.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
She said she often runs
into kids who had been in
the program who say how
they took pride in their work
and have something to mark
their passage through the
community.
Nelson cites statistics
gathered from the program,
stating over 90 percent of
participants have an interest
in furthering their education,
spending more time outdoors,
taking more responsibility for
their actions and demonstrat-
ing better work habits because
of the program.
“These are the things you
want when you work with
kids: to feel better about their
future and further their edu-
cation,” Nelson said. “It’s a
beautiful symmetry. They’re
getting ixed and ixing the
environment.”
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