News
Blue Mountain Eagle
A3
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Photographer captures treasured
memories behind the lens
Contributed photo
Pastor Jeff Parson with
his wife, Lindsay.
Churches
plan Spring
Roundup
April 6-8
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
Churches from across
the area, six Christian min-
istry organizations and over
100 people will gather at the
Trowbridge Pavilion at the
Grant County Fairgrounds
for the Spring Roundup this
weekend.
“Nineteen different de-
nominations will be repre-
sented, but we all worship
one god,” Grace Chapel Pas-
tor Mike Harvey said. “We
will get to see how much we
are all alike instead of how
much we are all different.”
Church of the Nazarene
Pastor Bob Douglas said the
event was a way for church-
es to come together and do
something big.
“We have a whole bunch
of very small congregations
in the area and very few
churches with resources for
major projects,” he said.
The event is also an op-
portunity for people to do
some “comparison shop-
ping” to find a ministry right
for them, according to Doug-
las.
The event will feature a
bell choir, solos, duets and
piano specials at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 6.
There will be a concert
by Faith Street and Grace
— their third in John Day in
the last year — at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, April 7.
The Women’s Ensemble
and the full Praise Band will
lead worship on Saturday
evening.
Each evening of the
Spring Roundup will feature
Pastor Jeff Parson of Ham-
lin, Texas, as a speaker.
People will be able to
tour the “The Road to Res-
urrection,” a one-hour walk
through five stations de-
picting Jesus’ final week, in
the Trowbridge Pavilion on
Saturday, April 8. Tours will
leave every 15 minutes from
1-4 p.m.
There will be 20 differ-
ent tables from ministries of
congregations in the com-
munity. There are 24 sepa-
rate churches worshipping
in Grant County. The doors
open at 5:30 pm each eve-
ning.
Francis Kocis of the Re-
deemer Lutheran Church
said the event was made
possible by support from the
community and that it was a
team effort.
“It just speaks for the
people here in Grant Coun-
ty when an event like this
comes about and they get
behind it,” Kocis said.
Tanni Wenger
opens new John
Day studio
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County native Tanni
Wenger took her favorite hob-
by, photography, and turned it
into a career.
“When you do what you
love, you don’t work a day of
your life,” she said.
Wenger said she’s always
liked taking pictures, and her
first “portfolio” was a photo
album she made in the fifth
grade. She’s come a long way
since those early days.
She moved her Tanni
Wenger Photography Stu-
dio, which she’s owned since
2012, from its Canyon City
location to John Day, opening
in January.
Wenger was mainly a self-
taught photographer until in-
terning with professional pho-
tographer Jody Thompson,
who previously owned the
Canyon City studio. She has
also taken classes with oth-
er photographers and online
workshops.
The new studio office is lo-
cated inside a historic Victori-
an house on the west side of
John Day, which Wenger, her
husband, Ray, and their two
daughters also now call home.
Many locals remember the
house, built in 1890 by the
Luce family, as the Apricot
Tree Restaurant.
Historic buildings or old
barns are often a part of
Wenger’s photography, along
with familiar scenery.
Her specialties include
graduates, families, children,
babies, weddings, sports,
events and landscape photog-
raphy.
Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography Studio
Bride and groom Lydia and Nathan Wunz celebrated their
wedding day in September of 2014 with Tanni Wenger
capturing the event behind the lens. The photo was taken
at Emmel Brothers Ranch east of Prairie City where the
wedding took place.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Tanni Wenger, at the
computer, searches her
files of senior photos.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Photographer Tanni Wenger in front of her new business
location in John Day. She and her family also call the
house, built in 1890, home.
She recently branched out
with commercial photogra-
phy — photos of artwork and
restaurant meals — and she
hopes to offer a basic photog-
raphy class in the future.
Senior portraits are some
of her favorite photos to take.
“I want their pictures to
be uniquely about them,” she
said. “One person might love
horses and old barns, and an-
other might like sports, band
or hunting.”
Wenger goes to great
lengths to get just the right
look for her clients.
Last year, she traveled to
Monument to photograph two
seniors, one who likes “guns,
ammo and camo” and his
friend who likes fishing.
Another time, she photo-
graphed a senior on Magone
Lake with her paddle board.
“In a small town, you can
really personalize their pho-
tos,” she said. “I like my pho-
tos to define who the person
is.”
Wenger said she appre-
ciates the opportunity to be-
come involved in her clients’
lives.
“I took a couple’s wedding
photos a couple years ago,
and last week, I photographed
their first baby girl,” she said.
Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger
Photography Studio
A Tanni Wenger
Photography Studio
senior picture of Reannah
Lemons.
She’s also taken elementa-
ry students’ school photos and
later their prom pictures.
“I love documenting their
lives,” she said. “You never
know when you take some-
one’s photo, if it will become
a treasured memory.”
Her favorite time to take
photos is late afternoons and
evenings — “my prime light,”
she said. “Everywhere I go,
I’m always looking for a mag-
ical shot.”
She said her daughter Av-
erie gave her a plaque with
one of her favorite quotes,
which sits on her desk: “Life
is like a camera. Focus on
what’s important, capture the
good times, develop from the
negatives, and if things don’t
work out, take another shot.”
The photography studio
is located at 60355 Highway
26 in John Day. Studio hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon-
days through Fridays, with a
flexible schedule. For more
information, call Wenger at
541-620-3045.
New officer on the streets of John Day, Prairie City
Martin splits
time between
dispatch and
patrols
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
Residents of John Day and
Prairie City may have seen a
new face in the John Day po-
lice cruisers.
Officer Andrew Martin be-
gan patrolling with other offi-
cers earlier this year.
Martin worked for almost
two and a half years as a re-
serve officer before moving
up to work as a dispatcher and
officer.
Reserve officers receive
training on the job and aren’t
able to work alone until they
complete training and are ap-
proved by the chief, according
to Martin.
He graduated second in
his dispatch training class of
42 and hopes to attend police
academy in the fall.
He was hired on in Jan-
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Officer Andrew Martin
stands outside the John
Day Police Department
Monday, March 27.
uary to work part time as a
dispatcher and officer. While
Martin doesn’t mind working
in the call center, he would
prefer to be on the streets.
“The real reason I got into
law enforcement is because of
my grandfather,” Martin said.
“He was a longtime Oregon
State Police fish and game
trooper out of Baker City, and
is really the inspiration for me
to take this career path.”
The dispatch center is cur-
rently underfunded and may
be in danger of being out-
sourced to Condon.
“It is a big worry, not an
immediate worry because I
know we’ve been working
and the city manager has been
working really hard on keep-
ing us here,” Martin said.
All of the dispatchers are
certified, which carries a cer-
tain sense of job security, ac-
cording to Martin.
“We live here, and we
work here because we love to
be here, and we would hate to
go somewhere else,” he said.
Before joining the depart-
ment, Martin worked in cus-
tomer service. He sees some
similarities between the two,
but wouldn’t trade the excite-
ment he gets as an officer for
a regular job.
“It would be very hard
to go back to working a cash
register,” he said.
Things can be fast paced at
the dispatch center, and with
such a small staff, there’s al-
ways work to be done. While
having only a handful of of-
ficers and dispatchers can
spread the department thin,
Martin also said it has its up-
sides. Many of the officers
grew up in the area, and peo-
ple know and recognize them.
Martin grew up in the
hills between Sumpter and
Baker. As an outsider, he
said he will have to work to
gain the community’s trust.
Since he began patrolling
with other officers, he’s han-
dled everything from drunk
driving to restraining order
violations.
“I feel like I’ve done one
of everything since I’ve been
here,” Martin said.
While he is sometimes
surprised at how little people
think things through, he said
he enjoys the community as a
whole.
“The thing that jumps out
at me is how, overall, our
population in John Day and
in Grant County are general-
ly very decent and very out-
standing respectful people,”
he said.
April 11th, Tuesday 8:00am - 2:00pm
Harney County CWMA
Hay Growers Class
The Harney County CWMA presents our Hay
Growers Class, April 11th at the Harney County
Courthouse Basement Meeting Room. ODA
Pesticide License credits will be offered. Speaker
subjects to include: Irrigation/Water conservation
w/ LESA, Herbicide reps from CPS & Wilbur Ellis
treatment options for broadleaf & annual grass
control, OSHA PPE training, African Rue & Noxious
weed ID & treatment.
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
Lunch will be Provided by CPS
This event is sponsored by your Harney County CWMA Partners
Contact Person: Steph Bonson 541-535-8397 RSVP
05437