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.