News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
A3
Flag bearer hangs up spurs
Man serves 36
years in search
& rescue
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Kelly Collins of Canyon
City is retiring his spurs af-
ter 36 years as a member of
the Grant County Search and
Rescue.
A former ranch hand cow-
boy, Collins mostly operated
by horseback during his years
of volunteer service.
Collins was a familiar face
at county parades, leading out
with the U.S. flag as color
guard.
Atop his Tennessee Walk-
er named Lippy, he held Old
Glory in parades for the Mt.
Vernon Cinnabar Mountain
Rendevous in May, the Can-
yon City ’62 Days in June, the
Dayville Fourth of July Pa-
rade and the Kids Day Parade
and Grant County Fair Parade
in August.
He also carried the flag
for parades that are no longer
running, including the Christ-
mas Parade and the Mule
Days Parade in John Day.
He hasn’t tracked how many
parades he’s ridden in, but it
could be well over 100.
He said, when he joined
search and rescue in the mid-
1980s, he was looking for a
way to serve in the organiza-
tion.
Eagle file photo
Kelly Collins rides color guard for the 2014 Fourth
of July Parade in Dayville.
“I got their permission to
take over as color guard, and
I’ve always tried to do my
best and was very proud of
leading the parades all these
years — I wanted to be a
benefit to the community,”
he said.
Collins said someone chal-
lenged him to join search and
rescue.
“He thought I would be
a good member,” he said. “I
have kept that in the back of
my mind over all these years,
to be a good member and a re-
sponsible citizen of the coun-
ty.”
He held various positions
in the organization, including
president, vice president, trea-
surer and board member.
The most difficult search
and rescue operations, Collins
said, included responding to
plane crashes and recovering
the deceased.
“It’s a great load off your
heart when they do find some-
body alive,” he said.
Trying to put himself in the
lost or injured person’s shoes
has helped him in his duty.
“For the lost person, you
put yourself in their mindset
to figure out where they might
be at a particular time of day
and use your training and
knowledge to find them,” he
said. “You do you very best to
help locate and bring that per-
son home ... because it could
be one of yours. I’ve taken
great pride in that. That’s
why I’ve extended myself so
long.”
He said he was trying
for 40 years, but decided 36
would have to be it. Collins
sold his horse and said he
might move to Prineville in
the spring.
“I just feel now is the time
to step away and let some
younger people take over,”
he said. “I want to thank the
Sheriff’s Department for al-
lowing me to be a volunteer
member all these years. I want
to thank all the great people of
the county for allowing me to
be of service to them over the
past 36 years.”
Political exposure: 2 local students share Girls State experience
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Two Grant Union High
School Girls State delegates
were honored with a dinner at
the Nov. 14 meeting of the Ellis
Tracy No. 77 American Legion
and Auxiliary, which sponsors
the program.
Seniors Natalie Stearns and
Reitta Wyllie reported on their
time at Willamette University
in Salem, where they gained
hands-on political experience
for one week in June.
While at the Girls State ses-
sion, they learned the political
ropes while helping operate a
mock 51st state.
“We learned more about
how many offices there are and
what each position does and
how they get elected,” Stearns
said. “I really enjoyed how we
met with a lot of different girls
from a lot of different back-
grounds and they basically be-
came family for a week. It was
nice to learn everyone’s views.”
Both girls participated in a
mock trial, where Stearns was
an attorney and Wyllie was part
of a jury.
Wyllie said, although she
plans to pursue a career in the
medical field, she found value
in the experience.
“I’m really glad I got to
go,” Wyllie said. “We learned
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Girls State representatives Natalie Stearns, left, and
Reitta Wyllie stand with American Legion Auxiliary
Girls State Chairman Tammy Bremner, right, with
Auxiliary president Ruth Harris seated in front.
so many different things about
how government works.”
The girls recalled cheers
they learned and skits their
groups presented.
Wyllie said one girl brought
a muscular Thor costume for
their skit, which showed the
superhero unable to lift his big
hammer, but a little girl waltzed
along and picked it up.
“Our skit for the follies
showed how girls are power-
ful,” Wyllie said.
Their other activities in-
cluded a visit to the Capi-
tol building, climbing the
stairs to the top of the rotun-
da where they had a view of
the golden pioneer man.
They also learned how bills
are passed.
“They went through the Sen-
ate and House of Representa-
tives,” Wyllie said. “Some did
pass, then were presented to the
governor of Girls State. If she
passed it, then it went to Gov.
Kate Brown.”
Local Girls State Chair-
man Tammy Bremner said
the program offers girls ex-
posure to how government
operates.
“They get to learn and par-
ticipate in the process,” she
said. “It’s good for them be-
cause they can see that they
have value. They realize that
what they think and feel are
important, and they can make a
difference if they want.”
Carl Lino was the sole Girls
State sponsor this year. His late
wife, Sondra, was the Oregon
Girls State chairman for many
years.
Bremner said they welcome
more sponsors to help girls go
to the sessions. Boys can also
attend Boys State, which is
chaired by Art Pereira.
Registration takes place in
April 2017 for the June session.
For more information, call
Bremner at 541-620-1125.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Michelle Wiederman, 24, moved from New York to
Grant County to be the youngest attorney at the
Law Office of Robert Raschio.
From New York
to Grant County
New public
defender
surprised by
genuinely
friendly
community
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
Michelle
Wiederman
traded skyscrapers for
mountains when she moved
from New York to Grant
County to be the youngest
attorney at the Law Office
of Robert Raschio.
Wiederman, 24, is used
to spending time stuck in
traffic rather than on empty,
open roads or four wheel-
ing on rutted trails, but it’s
a change of pace she has
enjoyed.
Wiederman began work
as an attorney in October at
the firm representing those
who cannot afford lawyers
in Grant, Harney and Baker
counties. She said beginning
her career in Grant County,
as opposed to New York,
allows her to spend plen-
ty of time in the court-
room
and
experience
on-the-job training. She
described the experience as
“invaluable.”
Wiederman began work-
ing in law at 17 as a intern
at a firm in New York and
has wanted to be a pub-
lic defender for a long
time.
She entered the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin Madison
knowing she wanted to pur-
sue law and earned a bache-
lor’s degree in legal studies
and sociology and a certif-
icate in criminal justice in
three years. From there, she
received a full-ride scholar-
ship to St. John’s Universi-
ty in New York.
In college, one of her
professors brought in some-
one from the Wisconsin In-
nocence Project. They talk-
ed about the great need for
criminal defense attorneys,
and what Wiederman heard
resonated with her.
She moved to John Day
in June to join her fiancé,
Jonathan Bartov, who also
works at the Law Office of
Robert Raschio. Outside
of the courtroom, Wieder-
man enjoys hiking, explor-
ing the area and sci-fi TV
shows.
She said she and her fi-
ancée are content here in
Grant County and have no
plans to leave.
Wiederman says one of
the biggest surprises was
how genuinely kind and in-
terested people in the area
were. Growing up in New
York, she said people are
friendly, but in a superficial
way. She said she was sur-
prised by people’s willing-
ness to go out of their way
to help.
“The people here have
been so welcoming,” she
said. “Even when I visited
they were so exceptional-
ly friendly to me and went
above and beyond to make
me feel welcome here. The
community has been just
great.”
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John Day, OR 97845
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