News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
A3
MEMORIALIZING THE FALLEN
Veterans and civilians remember those they have lost
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
D
Ed Heiple plays trumpet
during the Memorial Day
ceremony in the Prairie
City Cemetery on Monday,
May 29. “It’s a special day
to remember those people
who contributed so much
to our country,” Heiple
said, “and to remember my
son who passed away in
the military.”
ozens gathered at the Prairie City Cem-
etery to honor fallen military personnel
on Monday.
The American Legion Post 106 performed a
ceremony and gun salute for Memorial Day.
Trumpet player Ed Heiple said he takes part
in ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans
Day to honor those who have served.
“I believe a lot in what the military has done
for us,” Heiple said.
He has played the trumpet since grade school
and taught music for years. Playing at the Me-
morial Day ceremony is a way for him to com-
memorate those who have died.
“It’s a special day to remember those people
who contributed so much to our country,” Hei-
ple said. “And to remember my son who passed
away in the military.”
Retired Capt. William Campbell also took
part in the ceremony.
“My stepdad saw combat, I saw combat and
my son saw combat, so it means a lot to me,”
Williams said. “A lot of my friends don’t make
it back, and they’ll be forever young.”
Williams is one of four brothers who all
served in the military.
He served in the Navy for almost 36 years
and was stationed in New York when the twin
towers fell, spent 13 months at the Demilitarized
Zone between North and South Korea with the
Third Marine Division and took part in the Tet
Offensive in Vietnam.
“I feel fortunate to come back,” Williams
said. “I did my job and relied on the other mili-
tary personnel to do theirs.”
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Members of American Legion Post 106 salute the flag during the
annual Memorial Day ceremony in the Prairie City Cemetery on
Monday, May 29.
Retired Capt. William Campbell stands for a photo on the Bridge Street
bridge following the annual Memorial Day ceremony in Prairie City
on Monday, May 29. “My stepdad saw combat, I saw combat and my
son saw combat, so it means a lot to me,” Williams said. “A lot of my
friends don’t make it back, and they’ll be forever young.”
Members of American
Legion Post 106 stand
and sit before the annual
Memorial Day ceremony in
the Prairie City Cemetery
on Monday, May 29.
81 DAYS: Total Solar Eclipse countdown is on
Cities prepare for
flock of visitors
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Tammy Bremner opened
the May 17 total solar eclipse
planning meeting asking if
anyone knew the number of
days left until the big event.
Prairie City city recorder
Taci Philbrook’s hand shot up
with the correct answer — 95
days.
As of Wednesday, May 31,
the countdown is 81 days.
That’s less than three
months for county and city
offi cials and local residents to
plan for the expected hordes of
visitors to the area.
Bremner, who is the Grant
County Chamber of Com-
merce offi ce manager, said
they don’t know how many
people to expect — it could be
10,000 or 100,000, she said.
She said some local resi-
dents are looking forward to
the event and visitors while
others are not.
Whatever the feelings are,
she said there needs to be a
“focus on local understanding”
to stock up on supplies such as
food, water, medication and
pet food early, fi ll fuel tanks on
vehicles, don’t count on the in-
ternet and have some cash on
hand. She noted ATMs could
be down, and businesses may
have to handle credit cards
manually.
She suggests residents have
these things taken care of more
than a week before the eclipse,
which takes place at approxi-
mately 10:22 a.m. Monday,
August 21.
“Be prepared,” she said.
“The highways are going to
be packed,” she said. “Local
people are going to be incon-
venienced.”
She said if property owners
are concerned about visitors
trespassing, they should post
signs indicating private prop-
erty and no parking.
“Take the initiative,” she
said.
Bremner said some visi-
tors will stay for the three-day
weekend, Saturday through
Monday, and others will stay
for a week.
She called on city offi cials
and others who are helping
prepare for the infl ux of tour-
ists to share their plans.
Angie Jones, the transpor-
tation manager at the People
Mover in John Day, said they
are planning on having eight
routes with stops in John Day,
Mt. Vernon, Prairie City and
Dayville.
In John Day, they will have
two loops to the Industrial
Park, one on West Bench Road
and another on Adam Drive.
The People Mover’s eight
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
A crowd of about 50 Grant County residents were in
attendance at the latest monthly solar eclipse meeting,
where Chamber of Commerce office manager Tammy
Bremner spoke about preparations being made and
answered questions.
vehicles have a total of 108
seats, and they plan to add to
that by possibly leasing one to
three Prairie City School bus-
es, one Dayville School bus
and a Burns Paiute Tribe bus.
They also plan to hire extra
drivers.
About 250 parking spots
will be available, during the
time of the event, at the old
Hudspeth Mill at “Mill Corner
Pond,” with space on the east
side, near Mills Building Sup-
ply, and to the west, in a paved
area.
John Day city staff mem-
ber Julie Larson said their 286
camping spots at the Industrial
Park are fi lling up.
At last check on Friday,
there were 40 spots left.
The Industrial Park has a
total of 160 dry camp tent sites
with potable water access and
126 RV sites with water and
sewer.
One resident, who lives on
West Bench, said she has rent-
ed 12 campsites to visitors who
are from Russia and Germany.
Bremner said activities in
John Day include the Moon-
LIT Music Festival at the Grant
County Fairgrounds on Satur-
day, Aug. 19, featuring fi ve lo-
cal acts with a variety of talent.
Some cities will have mov-
ies and yard sales.
In Mt. Vernon, property
owned by Mike Kilpatrick
behind city hall will be used
for a venue called the “Solar
Slam,” solarslam2017.com,
with 400 dry campsites, in-
cluding RV spots, with live
music, helicopter tours, sou-
venirs and a beer garden, and
will also have food, water and
ice available.
Prairie City city recorder
Taci Philbrook said property
owners on County Road 60
said they would open parking
space.
“It’s going to be a congest-
ed area,” Philbrook said, not-
ing that Prairie City is a hot
spot to experience the totality.
“Parking is going to be a
big deal,” she said.
In Monument, a dry camp
called the Off the Grid Eclipse
Festival, offthegrideclipse.com,
includes spots by the river and
live music.
The local RV park and mo-
tel will have extra campsites,
and some accommodations are
also available in Kimberly.
In Long Creek there are 13
acres for parking.
Several areas of concern
were discussed at the meeting,
including fi re and lightning
safety, EMT services, highway
traffi c congestion and safety, air
traffi c and even garbage dispos-
al and port-a-potties.
State Fire Marshal Dave
Fields and Irene Jerome with
Firewise talked about light-
ning and fi re safety.
Fields said they’re working
on public safety announce-
ments.
Tom Davis, ODOT’s Re-
gion 5 operations coordinator,
said they are organizing emer-
gency services operations with
crash teams.
“If there is a crash in the
Gorge, we’ll be able to re-
spond from both sides,” he
said.
He stressed tripcheck.com
will be important for travel-
ers as information is updated
live.
There will be no highway
construction during the time
of the eclipse, and they are
bumping up resources, he
said.
The Grant County Re-
gional Airport in John Day
will be closed to eclipse
traffi c — pilots can fl y in, if
they have a hangar to park
in, otherwise the airport will
be used for fi re and medical
emergencies.
Bremner said the cham-
ber rented 150 port-a-potties,
which are now diffi cult to fi nd
without driving a great dis-
tance.
Chamber volunteers are
trying to locate all the RV and
garbage dump sites.
“We’re trying to encour-
age people to pack it out,” she
said.
Bremner added they’re
still adding to the list of prop-
erties for rent in the county.
“It would make it easier if
we knew how many to pre-
pare for,” she said. “You can
only prepare the best you can,
and hope it goes well.”
Last week, Bremner said
they’re looking for volun-
teers, including parking at-
tendants, help at the chamber
offi ce, garbage pick up, etc.
For more information, call
the chamber at 541-575-0547.
Hannah Brandsma
Jessica Carter
James Clay Johnson
Jamie Waltenburg
05681
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