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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2017)
The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 GONE FISHIN The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Rosalinda Gonzalez casts into Magone Lake Monday, May 29. W EDNESDAY , J UNE 7, 2017 • N O . 23 • 18 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com Medical marijuana dispensary opens in John Day Mt. Vernon: ‘Filling in the blanks’ of history Friends compile history of Grant County town By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Did you know the fi rst Grant County fairs were held in Mt. Vernon in 1880 and 1881? Did you know the town of Mt. Vernon was likely named after a racehorse, and it once thrived with several business- es, including sawmills? Lifelong Mt. Vernon resi- dents and family friends Mary Ellen Brooks and Lyle Wil- liams remember many of Mt. Vernon’s good old days and worked together, along with other longtime residents, to compile a book of the town’s history. The book is called “Mt. Vernon: the Town, the People, the Horse.” Inside its pages, readers will learn how the town start- ed, as well as information on the pioneer families, the schools and the businesses. The cover of the book features Brooks’ painting of the stone stable that housed the legendary race horse, Mt. Vernon, to protect him from would-be thieves and ne’er- do-wells. The stable, which still stands across Highway 26 from Clyde Holliday State Park, was built specifi cally for Mt. Vernon the horse, for which the town was named. Williams said there are two other possibilities for how the town was named. A fur trader came through named Mr. Vernon, and some say Mt. Vernon Peak was named fi rst. “The most famous is being named after the horse, so that’s the one I go by,” he said. He said over the years bits By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Mt. Vernon residents Mary Ellen Brooks, left, and Lyle Williams spearheaded a book project, writing and compiling “Mt. Vernon: the Town, the People, the Horse.” of Mt. Vernon history have been published here and there. “We thought we would just fi ll in the blanks,” he said. Brooks said she and Wil- liams reached out to descen- dants of area homesteaders and found information for the book through the library and internet, digging up stories and photographs. A committee of several longtime Mt. Vernon resi- dents started meeting two years ago to start the process. Brooks and Williams had help from Dale Morris, Millie Belshaw, Wilma Bauer, Dar- lene Muzzy and others, and research was also conducted at the Grant County Court- house and Grant County His- torical Museum in Canyon City. “I like history,” Brooks said. “When my generation is gone, the history dies because young people don’t know, until you write it. My inspira- tion behind writing the book was to get the history out and to make money for the Mt. Vernon Alumni Scholarship Committee.” The scholarship, admin- istered through Grant School See BOOK, Page A18 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Children take turns petting search and rescue dog Gabby. The long-haired German shepherd is owned by Cindy Lemcke, right. Lost and found Search and rescue volunteers share tips with Humbolt, Seneca students By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle “W hy don’t you want to be lost?” Search and rescue volunteer Dan Vande- hey posed that question to a large gathering of kindergarten through sixth-grade stu- dents at an assembly May 31 at Humbolt Elementary School. The gym was abuzz with answers from the students from Humbolt and Seneca, ex- pressing plenty of reasons why they didn’t want to become lost. The Grant County Search and Rescue team told them there were also plenty of things they could do to prevent becoming lost and to make it easier to fi nd them if they did. “Always tell a person where you’re go- ing and what you’re doing, and always tell an adult,” Vandehey said. Search and rescue volunteer Kim Kell emphasized the “buddy system,” going with a friend rather than alone. See SEARCH, Page A18 Grant County’s fi rst medical marijuana dispensary opened its doors last week. Rocky Mtn. Dispensary be- gan selling a variety of medical marijuana products Thursday, June 1. The business, at 27877 Ap- ple Road in John Day, hopes to help patients conveniently ac- cess their medicine while keep- ing money in the county. “People were really tired of going out of town and going to Bend to get their medical canna- bis,” owner Cindy Kidd said. Kidd’s family started the business to fi ll a need felt by their family and the community. “Different illnesses in our family have inspired us to get this thing going,” Kidd said. While medical marijuana is available in other counties, it’s diffi cult for some patients, such as those with cancer, to make the nearly three hour drive to Bend, owner Haley Olson said. Many patients are on fi xed incomes and traveling adds an additional expense, she said. There are 108 medical card- holders in the county, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The Grant County Court voted Sept. 28, 2016, to pass an ordinance allowing registered medical marijuana patients to purchase marijuana at dispen- saries in Grant County. The amended ordinance only allows medical marijuana, not recre- ational, dispensaries. One person applying for a medical card to utilize the dis- pensary is Kelly Olson. Kelly See POT, Page A18 ’62 Days celebration highlights ‘Miner’s Eclipse’ Sharon Livingston named grand marshal By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle Sharon Livingston is the grand marshal for this year’s ’62 Days celebration in Can- yon City. Livingston, of Long Creek, grew up in the area and regularly takes part in the fes- tival and rides in the parade. She said her grandmother was named queen of the ’62 Days celebration 48 years ago. “I’m very appreciative,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized.” She said one of her favorite aspects about the festival is its ability to bring peo- ple from the area together. “It’s part of our history. It’s part of us,” Livingston said. “People get together, they visit, they talk over old times, have some entertain- ment and get to town.” While the celebration brings people together with music, food and a parade, it also observes the history of Sharon the area. Livingston “This is just something to recognize gold being dis- covered here in 1862,” Livingston said. This year’s theme is “Miner’s Eclipse” in recognition of both the upcoming eclipse and the area’s deep mining history. The festival is a staple in the community, and Livingston hopes it remains that way. “I like to have young people involved because those are the people that carry on our traditions,” she said. The ’62 Days celebration takes place See ’62 Days, Page A18 Eagle file photo The Whiskey Gulch Gang, which organizes the activities for ’62 Days, rides in last year’s parade.
