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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2017)
A10 Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, July 5, 2017 WEDNESDAY July 5, 2017 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Junior golfer Clyde Holliday, 10, chips the ball onto the green Thursday at the John Day Golf Club. Instructor Ron Lundbom, left, claps as Madelyn, Eliza and Max Bailey and Riddick Hutchison look on. A total of 13 area youth joined the weeklong golf camp this summer. Area youth golfers learn the ropes Friday scramble caps golf camp By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Ron Lundbom is teaching the lifelong love of golf to a younger generation through Grant County Junior Golf. A golf scramble Friday at the John Day Golf Club capped the week-long golf camp. There were 13 boys and girls from ages 7-14 partic- ipating in the camp, with some older Grant Union golfers assisting with in- struction. “It’s been quite success- ful,” said instructor Ron Lundbom, who is the Grant Union golf coach. “They’ve picked it up. I hope the kids have developed an interest in golf.” He teaches stance, grip, etiquette, swing technique, putting and chipping and rules of the game during the camp. Grant Union assistant coach Jeff Allen helped in- struct the class, along with Grant Union alumnus Na- than Gehley and students Duane and Devon Stokes and Curtis Perry. This was 8-year-old Sil- vie Holliday’s third year participating in the camp. “I think that it’s really fun to come here,” she said. “I improved on my hitting a lot. The coaches teach you a lot, and I made a lot of friends.” She added, “My favorite part is putting.” Riddick Hutchison, 12, said he likes the camp for the opportunity to hang out with friends, and he enjoys the golf scramble. Vincent Raschio, 9, who attended the camp last year, said he also likes the scram- ble. MAGONE TRAIL SYSTEM GETS UNDERWAY The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Brady Ineck, 9, and other junior golfers work on their swing at the driving range Thursday at the start of practice. “I’ve learned a lot, and the coaches are awesome,” he said. This was 14-year-old Parker Manitsas’ fi rst time at the camp, and Lundbom said he’s been a quick learner. “It’s a pretty fun sport,” he said. “It’s not like a sport that ends when you grad- uate. This camp is a good opportunity. You learn a lot of good stuff about the sport of golf.” Lundbom said he is ded- icating his weekly game to the Wednesday junior golf nights when any youth ages 8-18, or even up to 20, can play a round at John Day golf course at 5 p.m. each week. The cost is $15 a night or $60 for a year-long junior membership. With the year-long mem- bership, a parent can choose to walk along with their youth and watch or help them, and not just on junior golf night. Lundbom said members of the girls varsity golf team were interested in keeping their skills up over the sum- mer. “They want to practice and just have fun,” Lund- bom said. BLAZING A TRAIL By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle R oughly a dozen volunteers broke ground on a new section of trail in the Magone Lake area. The few hundred feet of trail built in late May is the beginning of a multi-use trail system in the area and the culmina- tion of years of collaboration between the Eastern Oregon Trail Alliance and the Forest Service. “This is purpose built for mountain biking, but we’re not precluding other users such as hikers, runners and eques- trian users,” EOTA board member Wade Tait said. Tait has over a decade of experience building trails and began working with the trail alliance and Forest Service on this trail system in 2014. “It’s hard to get excited about it when it’s just in theory and on paper,” Tait said. “But when people can come out and see a new trail that looks like it’s going to be fun, people will take some ownership over it, and that’s what we need.” When choosing routes for trails, Tait said he and others from the trail alliance tried to incorporate what he calls pos- itive control points, such as views and trailheads for ease of access. They aim to avoid negative control points like sensi- tive species’ nesting areas, weed patches and some stream crossings. They plot these on a topographical map and then walk the area to pick the exact route of the trail, marking it with fl ags. When choosing the exact line, Tait The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Mytchell Mead tests out a new trail near Magone Lake May 29. said he looks for a slope grade of under 10 percent, natural rise and fall in the landscape and interesting natural fea- tures, such as views, water crossings or rock gardens. The trail system will be built to In- ternational Mountain Bicycling Asso- ciation standards and use the same trail designations as skiing. Beginner runs will be green circles, blue squares will be intermediate and black diamonds will be diffi cult. The more diffi cult trails could have technical features like jumps, roll- ers, wall rides and rock gardens where the area allows. The easiest trails will be built on closed roads. The trail alliance is not involved in closing roads and only utilizes roads al- ready closed by the Forest Service, Tait said. The trails will be largely funded by grants, which accept volunteer hours as a match. Volunteers are covered under the Forest Service’s volunteer liability program. Mytchell Mead, a trail alliance board member, is optimistic about having as much as 15 miles of trail rideable by the end of summer, and a total of 26 miles of trail eventually. Mead envisions creating a trail system that will attract bikers from across the country. “Biking is the fastest growing recre- ational activity in America right now,” he said. Mead has been working on mak- ing the John Day area more appealing to cyclists with projects such as this trail system and a bike park at the Sev- enth Street Complex. The 11-acre park would include two pump tracks, several boardwalk-style features and two miles of trails. Mead aims to have a portion of the park open before the eclipse in August. “Mountain bikers are oftentimes called high-return, low-impact tourists,” Mead said, explaining they have a posi- tive impact on the local economy and a small impact on the environment. Efforts to promote mountain biking in the area have been met with resistance, but Mead said he is beginning to see a shift in attitudes toward it. “We’re embracing a broader range of forest activities,” he said. John Day swimmers excel at Prineville Invitational Blue Mountain Eagle Contributed photos/Erin Hodge LEFT: John Day Swim Team’s Justin Hodge competes at last weekend’s Prineville Invitational. RIGHT: John Day Swim Team’s Quentin Hallgarth holds the medal for boys 13-14 high-point swimmer, which he won at last weekend’s Prineville Invitational. The John Day Swim Team made a splash fi nishing third at the Prineville Invitational. The meet last weekend was the fi rst of the season for the local team, competing with six other teams, includ- ing fi rst-place Bend and sec- ond-place Prineville. A highlight from the event was John Day’s Quinten Hall- garth receiving the 13-14 boys high-point award. Head coach Sabrina How- ard said she was pleased with Hallgarth’s award and the overall performance of the team. “This was a great way to set the stage for the season,” she said. Hallgarth won the Boys 13-14 200 Short Course Meter IM with a time of 3:04.48. He placed second in the following individual events: 200 SC Meter Freestyle, 100 SC Meter Freestyle, 200 SC Meter Breaststroke, 200 SC Meter Backstroke, 100 SC Breaststroke and the 50 SC Meter Freestyle. John Day’s relay team A, which included Hall- garth, Russell Hodge, Grant LeQuieu and Taylor Hunt, placed second in the 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay, with a time of 2:05.91. They also placed second in the 200 SC Meter Medley Relay with a time of 2:31.06. Full results for the John Day Swim Team are listed at myeaglenews.com.
