News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
100 YEARS YOUNG
John Day resident celebrates centennial
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day Mayor Ron
Lundbom declared March 28,
2017, Bernice McPheeters
Burdick Day.
That’s the day the John
Day resident turned 100 years
“young.”
Lundbom said in an offi-
cial proclamation, “... in cel-
ebration of Bernice’s 100th
birthday the citizens and city
council of John Day wish to
extend their heartfelt congrat-
ulations on such a long and
wonderful life.”
A celebration, with five
generations of family pres-
ent, and plenty of friends,
was held Saturday at the John
Day Senior Center, with folks
traveling from as far away as
California, Nevada and Wash-
ington.
“It’s hard to believe, be-
lieve me,” Burdick said when
asked what she thinks about
her birthday.
Reaching 100 years of
age has not kept her from a
favorite hobby. Although her
eyesight has dimmed some,
she still keeps up her talent of
china painting.
Considered an expert in
the art, six ladies join her
each Tuesday evening for les-
sons. She said the art involves
painting on porcelain, such as
plates and vases, with five to
six firings between the lay-
ers of paint.
“It’s something I’ve al-
ways enjoyed doing,” she
said.
She was born in Canada
and moved with her parents
to Portland when she was 10.
After graduating from
Jefferson High School, she
became an assistant nurse
at St. Vincent’s Hospital in
Portland. This is where she
met her first husband August
“Red” McPheeters, who was
a patient there with a signif-
icant arm injury. They mar-
ried on April 2, 1938, when
she was 19 years old.
She has fond memories
of living at the Double O
Ranch south of Burns, when
she and her husband were
first married. They lived
with her sister-in-law while
her husband’s arm continued
to heal. She remembers hay-
ing and walking all day with
the sheep and cattle with her
sister-in-law.
“I was a city girl, not a
country girl, and I learned a
lot from my sister-in-law, in-
A3
The Keeper
of the West
Moss beats out
Western singers
and songwriters
in international
contest
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Bernice McPheeters Burdick turned 100 years “young” on March 28. Here, she
displays one of her many china paintings, a hobby she’s been involved with for
nearly 60 years.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
A sampling of china
paintings by Bernice
McPheeters Burdick, as
well as a birthday card,
celebrating 100 years.
cluding cooking,” she said.
“I think that was the happi-
est time of my life because
my husband and I would get
up and go horseback riding.
I really enjoyed it out there.”
Their son Errol was born
the following year, and he
was later joined by sisters
Kathleen and Maureen.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
A doll handcrafted by
Bernice McPheeters
Burdick.
August passed away in
1970, and Bernice remarried
Alden Burdick, who died in
1990.
Bernice later enjoyed
traveling to destinations
such as England, France,
Germany and Holland.
For the past 10 years, she
has lived with her daughter
and son-in-law, Maureen
and Gerald Mesecher, in
the John Day countryside.
Bernice said she enjoys the
weather and hearing the
coyotes at night, also seeing
deer in the yard and birds
building nests.
She said she attributes her
longevity to “living a clean
life.” She enjoys visits with
friends and family and loves
playing games such as Skip-
Bo and Canasta.
“She’ll beat you, too,”
her daughter Maureen said.
Bernice also continues
to paint. A creative outlet
she’s been working at for
over 50 years, she now has
a lighted magnifying glass
to help her with the fine
details.
“I still can’t give up paint-
ing,” she said.
A Grant County local won
big at a Canadian poetry com-
petition earlier this month.
Kathy Moss won the
Keeper of the West award at
the Kamloops Cowboy Festi-
val in Kamloops, British Co-
lumbia.
She performed her poem
“K T Diner” that she penned
as a sequel to the famous song
“Navajo Rug” by Ian Tyson.
Moss was one of 16 sing-
ers, songwriters and poets
that competed in the audi-
ence-judged event. She de-
scribed it as a friendly com-
petition among top-tier talent
like Kevin Davis and Joni
Harms.
“It was like the Oscars in a
small, Western way,” she said.
The win came as a surprise
to Moss. On her flight to Cana-
da, she had rewritten the poem
and subsequently got lost in her
first public reading of it.
“Tears were just running
down my face when they said,
‘The winner of Keeper of the
West is Kathy Moss,’” she
said.
Poetry comes naturally
to Moss. However, when it
comes to what she’s writing,
Moss doesn’t have a lot of say
in the matter.
“I don’t choose what
comes to me,” she said. “I
would like to say, ‘OK, I’m
going to write a poem about
this,’ but it doesn’t work that
way. When it happens, it hap-
pens.”
Her first poems were about
stories her father told her
about training horses, having
to wear clothes for the first
time and turning a $50 horse
into a $1,000 horse.
She started writing to pre-
serve those stories for future
generations.
Moss has published two
novels, three books and two
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Kathy Moss holds her
Keeper of the West award
she earned in Canada
earlier this month. She
performed her poem “K T
Diner,” which she penned
as a sequel to the famous
song “Navajo Rug” by Ian
Tyson.
CDs of her poetry, some of
which feature her own photo-
graphs as cover art.
She also works with res-
cue animals and runs Russell’s
Custom Meats & Deli with her
husband, Tracy.
She’s thankful for the op-
portunity “to travel the world
and do different things and see,
experience and share what I’m
passionate about, and then I
can come back to Grant Coun-
ty and just be the butcher’s
wife.”
At times, Moss has sec-
ond-guessed her choice of
medium. She confided in her
friend Billie Flick that she
wished her art could be more
tangible, like that of a saddle-
maker or silversmith.
“I’m stuck with a doggone
piece of paper and pen in my
hand, and it just sits there un-
til somebody wants to read it,”
Moss said.
On her stove, Flick had a
single spur inlaid with silver
her husband found in the des-
ert. She said to Moss, “You see
that spur? That spur is only a
spur until the story is written.”
The challenge of using
words to bring to life to the
beauty and mystery of a single
silver spur found in the desert
captivated Moss.
“At that point I knew,
damn, I’m a writer,” she said.
Attend a Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation Dinner
and Benefit Auction
Where fun and fund-raising combine for a
memorable evening.
$9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth
Saturday, April 22
4:00—Doors open
5:30—Dinner
7:30—Auction
Place:
Pavilion—
Grant County
Fairgrounds
Ticket Information:
Gale Wall (541) 575-2661
05445
THE BOSS BABY PG
A suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying baby
pairs up with his brother to stop the
dastardly plot of the CEO of Puppy Co.
FRI & SAT (12:45) (4:10) 7:10 9:40
SUNDAY (12:45) (4:10) 7:10 9:45
MON-THURS (12:45) (4:00) 7:10 9:45
POWER RANGERS PG-13
A group of high-school kids, who are
infused with unique superpowers,
harness their abilities in order to save
the world.
FRI & SAT (12:45) (4:00) 7:00 9:35
SUNDAY (12:45) (4:00) 7:00 9:45
MON-THURS (12:45) (4:00) 7:00 9:45
BEAUTY & THE BEAST PG
A young prince, imprisoned in the
form of a beast, can be freed only by
true love.
FRI & SAT (12:45) (3:45) 6:45 9:30
SUNDAY (12:45) (3:45) 6:45 9:45
MON-THURS (12:45) (4:00) 6:45 9:45
Date:
Time:
A great time for a great cause.
Proceeds benefit elk and other wildlife.
541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-523-6377
05370
Celebrate our
Local Nurse
Practitioners
this
PUBLICATION FOR SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Sonshine Christian School will be accepting pre-registrations for the
2017/2018 school year. Registration fee for students is $75.00
Pre School students must be 3 years of age before September 1 of
the school year and able to attend to toileting without staff assistance.
Their classes will be offered 2 days a week from 9-11am.
Pre-Kindergarten students must be 4 years of age before September 1 of the school year.
Their classes will be offered 3 days a week from 9-11:30am.
Registration packets can be picked up at the Spring Roundup being held in the
Trowbridge pavilion April 6, 7 & 8 at the Church of the Nazarene, Sonshine School
information table. After these dates, you can receive these registration packets at the
church office, 521 E Main Street, John Day. The office is open Tuesday-Thursday 9am-
3pm. For information call (541) 575-1895 or e-mail Trace at the church e-mail address
judy@johndaynazarene.com
05455
Grant County Health
Department
Make an appointment to see
Mendy Sharpe, FNP for all of
your Family’s health care
needs.
528 E. Main, John Day
541-575-0429
or
888-443-9104
Open Mon. - Fri. 8am-5pm