History
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
A7
O UT OF THE P AST
Blue Mountain Eagle
Jan. 23, 1942
75 years ago
Civilian Defense School
has Big Attendance
Nearly one hundred men,
with every town and every
community in Grant County
represented, were in atten-
dance at the school of in-
struction for Police Reserves,
and community chiefs and
leaders in the various branch-
es of Civilian Defense held in
the Grant Union high school
last Saturday and Sunday.
The school was called by
Sheriff J.B. Hazleton, county
Chief of Police Reserves, and
the sessions each day started
at 9 a.m. and continued un-
til late in the afternoon. The
forenoon session on Saturday
was devoted to discussion on
Criminal law led by Sergeant
Ted Bryan, local officer of
the State Police department.
Twenty-two questions were
present, in the form of an ex-
amination and the “pupils,”
after scanning through the
list were, after a few mo-
ments of secret embarrass-
ment, greatly relieved when
the sergeant explained that he
would attempt to answer the
questions, using the Oregon
Criminal Code for reference.
This discussion proved to
be very interesting and was
continued into the afternoon
session.
Some actual demonstra-
tions of police procedure
were given by Sergeants
Bryan and Glenn Martin of
Burns, after which the re-
mainder of the afternoon was
taken up with a speaking pro-
gram.
Forest Supervisor J. C. Iler
of John Day, who under the
Civilian Defense organiza-
tion is County Chief of Fire
Reserves, gave an interesting
talk on the use and control
of both gas and incendiary
bombs, briefly summarizing
the instructions given at the
school for County Defense
leaders and Fire Chiefs re-
cently held in Portland.
A H Wright, superinten-
dent of Grant Union High
school, told of some of the
things which the schools are
doing in defense work, and
then the session for that after-
noon was concluded with an
interesting discussion on sab-
otage by Marshall Barnes, of
the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation, who explained the
various methods used by es-
pionage agents and saboteurs.
Mr. Barnes conducted the
Sunday session of the school,
which was devoted principally
to air regulations and instruc-
tions to the various communi-
ty chiefs of air raid wardens.
Methods of controlling gas
bomb raids as well as incendi-
ary bomb fires were explained
and the use of a gas mask was
demonstrated. Besides Mr.
Barnes, other who spoke on
the Sunday morning program
were: V. F. Greupner of Albee,
Harold Larson, chief of police
of Burns, and K. A. Snow,
county coordinater of Civil-
ian Defense for Grant county,
who explained various phases
of this work. The afternoon
was devoted to finger printing
all of the members of the Po-
lice Reserves.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Jan. 23, 1992
25 years ago
Author of “Gentle Ben”
has Grant County roots
WILSONVILLE — Walt
Morey, author of “Gentle
Ben” and other children’s
O utlook
books, died of a heart attack
Sunday, Jan. 12, at his home
at the age of 84.
“Gentle Ben,” the story of
a 13-foot, 2,200 pound Ko-
diak bear, appeared in 1965
and sold nearly 3 million cop-
ies. It was later turned into a
movie and television series.
He wrote 14 other children’s
books, most of them based
on the people and animals he
knew.
Born Feb. 3, 1907, Morey
was a native of Hoquiam,
Wash. After graduating
from high school, he moved
around the Pacific Northwest
as a mill worker, construction
worker, heater manager, and
for a time, as a professional
boxer.
He began his writing ca-
reer by selling short stories
to pulp magazines in the
late 1920s, and writing two
books for adults. The ad-
vent of television wiped out
many of the pulps and Morey
stopped writing. He ran a ha-
zelnut orchard in Oregon and
did some deep sea fishing in
Alaska.
His wife, Rosalind, was
a schoolteacher who some-
times read Morey’s old sto-
ries to her students. She
urged him to write a story for
children.
“I was highly insulted,”
Morey said in a 1991 inter-
view. “I said, ‘I don’t read
kids’ stories. I don’t like kids’
stories, I won’t write one.’”
After 10 years of listening
to his wife’s nagging, Morey
decided to end the argument.
He sat down at the typewriter
to prove to his wife that he
couldn’t write children’s sto-
ries. The result was “Gentle
Ben.”
His last book, “Death
Walk,” appeared in June
1991. He tells of an 18-year
old boy who encounters an
escaped band of criminals in
Alaska.
He spent the last 15 years
visiting elementary schools,
urging children to read.
Morey said he knew about
non-readers. He repeated first
grade three times and said he
hated school in general and
reading in particular until he
became a teenager.
Rosalind died in 1977.
He was married the follow-
ing year to Peggy Kilburn,
former wife of Mr. Clarence
Kilburn. They lived in John
Day during the 1950s and
1960s where he operated a
freight line from Portland to
John Day. They lived on a
60-acre hazelnut orchard at
Wilsonville, south of Port-
land.
Peggy’s sister was Sunny
Meyers who was married to
Les Meyers. They built their
home near the airport, and
she died about 10 years ago.
Peggy’s daughter, Lucy
DeMarsh, was married to
Joe DeMarsh, former coach
at Grant Union High School.
Peggy’s mother was Edith
Ebbert who worked at the Mt.
View Golf Club for several
years when it was first estab-
lished. She died six years ago
in Canby.
Morey is survived by his
wife, Peggy of Wilsonville;
his step-daughter Lucy De-
Marsh; four grandchildren;
and nine great-grandchildren.
No funeral was planned. A
memorial service is pending.
Editor’s note: Information
for this story was compiled
from a story prepared by The
Associated Press and Dick
Martin, a resident now of Eu-
gene and former owner of the
John Day Pharmacy.
SENI R
My, my, what a week of
weather, huh? We did
have an ice skating rink
in the parking lot, but
our nice city crewman
brought over some sand
Rose Coombs
and spread it around so
we could get from our
autos to the front door.
We thank you much for that, Tom. There were a couple dozen very
intrepid souls who came out for lunch. But there were 23 others who
said, “Please deliver to me.” And we did. Ken, Larry, Buzz, and
Carlos did the happy chore. Hopefully next week will have more
moderate weather conditions. That will be January birthday
recognition day, so if your birthday is in January, come on down (or
up, as the case may be) and celebrate with us. You could win the $10
gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market.
The winners were Betty Elliot for Chuck’s Little Diner and Julia
Davis got the $5 in trade donated by Prairie Hardware & Gifts. Buzz
led the flag salute and Jack asked the blessing. We wanted to have our
annual meeting today, but there were too many people missing, so try
again next week.
We did hear good news about Jim Howard - came through the surgery
fine and is recuperating for a while at home. PTL. Since there was no
school today in the Prairie City district, Zach got to help Iva and Tom
with the meal and serving.
So what was our meal today? Spaghetti and meat sauce, green beans,
garlic bread, and triple chocolate banana bread. That was a trick on the
senses. You look at the chocolate and determine that it will taste like
chocolate. Then your tongue picks up the taste of banana, and your
brain says, “Now wait a minute! Banana-flavored chocolate?” Yep.
And it was good, too. Been lots of comments about how this winter is
a bad winter. But if you stop and think, bad winters come in cycles,
just like everything else that is weather-driven. The trick is to keep the
snow in the mountains until we need the water in the summer.
And another comment was concerning that we had never cancelled a
meal since we started back in the early ‘70s. And I think that may be
true. I can’t remember. But special circumstances merit special
decisions. And I think that cancelling last week was a good idea. And
if you think the circumstances here are bad, just take a peek at
Portland...Son #2 called Monday evening. Daughter-in-love Laurel had
been rear-ended trying to get home from stocking up for the bad
weather. The person who hit her had a choice of missing her and
hitting another car head-on. So he decided that a rear-end hit was better
than a head-on. All due to the slick roads. Son #1 hasn’t been to work
for a week due to the ice on the roads. And my goodness, how are they
going to make up all those missed school days? Makes me think of the
story about Seneca. When the temperature gets down to below zero,
the kids put a sweater on.
Proverbs 25:20 “Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day,
or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy
heart.”
On Jan. 16 we had
approximately 32 diners at
the center. We had beef
chop suey, steamed rice,
pork egg rolls, fortune
cookies and key lime
Alma Joslin
cheesecake ice cream.
Greeting us at the front
desk were Jeanette Julsrud and Drew Harmer. Rick and Becky
Rhinehart delivered 37 meals out and 36 frozen ones to shut-ins. They
represented the First Christian Church and were helped by Amber
Wright and Billy Scott Howland who delivered to Mt. Vernon.
Becky also served with help from Karen Barrietua, Jan Ellison and
Ron Dowse, all from First Christian Church. Jan led the flag salute
and Ben Leuthe asked the blessing.
Roberta Dowse won the Len’s Drug gift card and Dale Stinnett won
the free meal for two at Valley View.
On Jan. 19 we were greeted at the door by Buzz Glass. The rain and
melting snow have formed a moat at the front doors.
The folks at the center had improvised a bridge across it but the
bridge wasn’t useable by folks with walkers and wheelchairs. Buzz
was redirecting those folks around to the kitchen door. We really
appreciated the Elks Lodge for taking care of snow and ice removal
in the parking lot. Ron Dowse and Margret Glass were at the front
deck. We want to say a big THANK YOU to Step Forward for taking
on the Mt. Vernon home delivered meal route. This frees Veanne up
to take care of other things. Linda and Dennis Dickerson delivered
the John Day and Canyon City meals.
They were able to get to all but two homes. The weather has
definitely been giving all of us big challenges. Others from the
Methodist Church were at the center to serve.The kitchen staff did
their usual excellent job. The pork roast was very moist and tender.
The mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, rolls, jello with fruit and
blueberry muffins were tasty too. The meal was sponsored by Tootie
Cernazanu. Tootie is very generous to our John Day Senior Center.
35 meals were delivered and over 50 people dined at the center.
Veanne did not have any announcements. Isa Larkin led the flag
salute and Sherry Feiger asked the blessing. Kay Cotham won the
Chester’s Thriftway gift card and Margie Conlee won the lunch for
two at Valley View.
On Jan.16 Mr. Jack
Cavender went home to
be with the Lord. His
celebration of life was
held Saturday, Jan 21.
He was 96 years old.
Soo Yukawa
Thank goodness the
snow had melted enough
that allowed everyone to
safely travel to get here to Monument. He had many family
members from all over that came. There were four generations that
came to pay their respects. He was a dear “Papa” to his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He left a legacy that won’t be forgotten. When hearing all the stories
of his life and what an impact he made on his family, I was quite
envious. I never had a grandpa. Mine all had passed long before I
was ever born. Mr. Jack had also made a huge impact in his
community and Grant County. Had I had known that Mr. Jack had
so much knowledge about so many different things, I would have
picked his brain more. He will be greatly missed and there will be a
big hole at the Senior Center lunch.
We had a very intimate crowd for our Tuesday, Jan. 17 meal. Our
greeters were Bob Blakelsee and Marva Walker. Bodean Andersen
has been unable to safely get down her driveway due to the snow
and that is the reason why she has been MIA, just fyi. Bob led us in
the flag salute, Marva made the announcements, and yours truly
prayed the blessing over our meal. Diane Gianger and Sharon Falls
both won the free meal for two at Valley View. Bob Yukawa won
the Len’s Drug gift card. We had 27 guests on our books and five
takeouts.
Carrie Jewell and Terri Hamilton made us a tasty and hearty meal of
tacos with all the fixings, Spanish rice, refried beans, and pudding for
dessert. We thank our cooks and our generous donators. We
especially are thankful and appreciate our cooks coming out to make
our meal, braving the icy roads.
We continue to lift up prayers for Ron Odette of Long Creek and
Debbie Reid of Kimberly, who recently had hip surgery. We also
pray for Janice Werner of Monument for healing from surgery too.
Hope I didn’t miss anybody.
I’m not liking this mushy, muddy, slushy mess we’re getting now.
Because of the warmer temperatures, everything is melting or not
staying frozen anymore. It wasn’t very pleasant stepping in mushy
cow poop, twice, I might add. I hope everything melts gradually and
not all at once. That would be a nightmare.
My poor Steve, the old goat, lost a horn. That big, mean Perry beat
him up. Poor Steve was a bloody mess for awhile and he looks weird
with only one horn. Soon, Perry will get his just reward.
I’m contemplating on my garden for Spring. I’ve got grandiose plans
for this year. I plan on using chicken wire to block out the nasty
gophers. Oooh, I’m getting excited, Spring is just around the corner!
Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:
and his name is called The Word of God.
Prairie City
Seniors
John Day
Seniors
Monument
Seniors
04846