News
Blue Mountain Eagle
A3
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Grant County carnage
Fairgrounds to
host 28th annual
demolition derby
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
For the 28th year in a row,
the Whiskey Gulch Gang is
putting on the Demolition
Derby.
The event, at 7 p.m. Satur-
day, will feature a variety of
vehicles pitted against each
other in a last-man-standing-
style brawl.
Longtime organizer Hugh
Farrell describes the event as
“kind of a madhouse.”
Despite this, Farrell said
none of the drivers have ever
been injured, or at least never
complained about it.
Driver safety is a priority.
Helmets and seat belts are
mandatory, and neck collars
and eye protection are recom-
mended.
The derby is split into three
heats for cars and one heat for
pickup trucks. The winners of
each heat will win $250, and
all who are able continue on
to a fi nal showdown will com-
pete for a $2,000 top prize.
Eagle file photo
Wayne Saul of Mt. Vernon and Steve Patterson of Prairie City wrangle in the arena at
last year’s derby.
“A lot of them get right
back in there, beat all to
pieces,” Farrell said. “You
wouldn’t think they’d run
again, but they do.”
Other trophies are award-
ed for best looking car and
most aggressive driver.
No utility vehicles, four-
wheel drive vehicles or
Chrysler Imperials are al-
lowed in the competition.
The Imperials are not
allowed because they are
significantly tougher than
many other vehicles, Farrell
explained. Though a wide
variety of vehicles are ac-
cepted, American cars built
before the 1980s tend to fare
better, according to Farrell.
Cars suitable for the derby
are getting harder to find,
and often the ones drivers
do find are expensive, he
said.
“Some people go to a lot of
work to get a car set up prop-
erly,” he said. “But sometimes
a broken wire can put you out.
You just never know.”
Money raised from the
derby helps the Whiskey
Gulch Gang host other events.
“If we didn’t have the der-
by, we wouldn’t be able to
have the (‘62 Days) celebra-
tion,” Farrell said.
The derby begins at 7 p.m.,
and children six and under get
in free. Tickets can be pur-
chased at the gate or before-
hand at Ace Hardware, True
Value or Les Schwab Tires.
Those interested in enter-
ing a vehicle in the derby or
wanting more information
should contact Hugh Farrell
at 541-575-0329 or 541-620-
0931.
A $50 entry fee covers a
car, driver and one pit crew
member. Pit passes are $30
each.
Eagle file photo
Tyler Nodine of John Day waits just moments for a crew
to extinguish a fire from the final blow of his derby car.
Nodine finished second at last year’s Whiskey Gulch
Gang Demolition Derby at the Grant County Fairgrounds
in John Day.
The Eagle wins
22 awards in
state contest
Five first-place
honors and
second-place
in General
Excellence
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Blue Mountain Eagle
was recognized as one of the
top weekly newspapers in
Oregon, earning 22 awards
in the Oregon Newspaper
Publishers Association Better
Newspaper Contest.
The contest was judged by
personnel from newspapers in
Pennsylvania, and the Eagle
competed against weeklies
that distribute 2,001-3,000
copies.
The Eagle earned fi ve fi rst-
place, eight second-place and
nine third-place awards in the
annual competition featuring
work from 2016.
For the top honor — Gen-
eral Excellence — the Eagle
earned second place. The
entry is judged based on the
overall product, from news
and editorial content to photos
and design to advertising and
reproduction. The samples
are taken from three editions
from specifi c months through-
out the year. The Sandy Post,
a Pamplin Media Group pub-
lication, placed fi rst.
“General
Excellence
award is the top award the
Eagle can receive, and it’s an
honor to be recognized by our
peers for our efforts,” Editor
Sean Hart said. “The staff at
this newspaper works hard to
deliver the news, and I cannot
thank them enough for their
dedication.”
The Eagle earned fi rst
place in the special section or
issue category with its breast
cancer awareness special edi-
tion. The Eagle also placed
third in the category with its
Journey special section.
Page designer Randy
Wrighthouse defended his ti-
tle, winning page one design
again this year.
Angel Carpenter earned
the top honor for lifestyle
coverage with a story about
Mary Weaver battling cancer
a second time.
Carpenter and Rylan
Boggs won the photo essay
category with a series of shots
from the Grant County Fair.
Former editorial assistant
Cheryl Hoefl er earned the top
prize for sports photo with a
shot of Buddy, the Easter elk,
running in the Dayville Bunny
Hop 5K. The story also placed
third in the sports category.
Carpenter earned three
second-place awards: busi-
ness and economic issues for
a story about eclipse accom-
modations, sports photo for
a shot of the John Day Swim
Team and writing for a collec-
tion of three stories.
Wrighthouse and graph-
ics designer Alan Kenaga
placed second in graphics
for a map and photo package
about county geographical
features that formerly includ-
ed “squaw” in the title, which
were renamed.
The Eagle earned second
place for web design.
Editor Sean Hart placed
second in headline writing
and enterprise reporting.
Boggs placed third in the
feature photo category with a
shot of Leo Dedmore hiding
behind a pumpkin.
Carpenter earned third
place in the personality fea-
ture category.
Hart placed third in writing
and third in the general fea-
ture category for a story and
photos about salmon being
released into the landlocked
Malheur River.
The Eagle’s website
placed third overall. A slide-
show with audio of the
planned meeting in John
Day featuring people occu-
pying the Malheur Nation-
al Wildlife Refuge placed
third in multimedia element,
and election night coverage
earned third place in the on-
line breaking news category.
Contributed photo/Stephanie Falck
High Desert Youth Range campers and staff pose for a photo during the event. Ellie Justice of John Day is on the
front row, far right, and her sister Maggie is on the back row, third from right.
Two sisters enjoy range camp in the High Desert
Maggie Justice
chosen as top
camper
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant Union Junior-Se-
nior High School students
Maggie and Ellie Justice of
John Day experienced a four-
day “getaway” at the June
21-24 High Desert Youth
Range Camp.
The two sisters joined 11
other students from Oregon,
Idaho and Washington at
the camp to study rangeland
issues at the 16,000-acre
Northern Grant Basin Exper-
imental Range near Burns.
Maggie, who will be a se-
nior this fall, was chosen as
top camper and will receive
an all-expenses paid trip to
Sparks, Nevada, to represent
Oregon at the High School
Youth Forum held during
the annual Society for Range
Management meeting.
Maggie owns 13 head of
cattle, has shown livestock
at the Grant County Fair and
made a presentation about
crested wheat grass at the
Oregon Stockgrowers Asso-
ciation last September.
She said her favorite part
of the range camp was learn-
ing the importance of sage
brush and perennial grasses.
“We identifi ed the grass-
es, and before this camp, I
thought it was a bunch of
weeds that got stuck in my
Contributed photo/Stephanie Falck
Ellie Justice, top right, of John Day cuts grass during a field lesson at the youth
range camp.
shoes,” she said. “I think it’s
important to be aware of your
surroundings. You’ve got to
know what’s around you and
understand the importance of
it — just a base knowledge
of what’s going on out your
back door.”
Camp coordinator Gabri-
elle Johnson said they had an
excellent and engaged group
of campers.
“The students were eager
to hear the material present-
ed, were full of thoughtful
questions and showed great
willingness to learn all they
could,” she said.
The camp offered more
than learning about soils,
sagebrush and invasive
weeds. It included a hike to
a butte, dutch-oven cooking
provided by Harney County
Cattlewomen members and a
karaoke night.
Ellie, who will soon be a
sophomore, said she enjoyed
the educational experience,
as well as the more enter-
taining parts of the camp,
including geocaching for
varieties of grasses, such as
buckwheat and needle grass.
“You can’t really go there
and not learn,” she said.
She said she appreciated
the opportunity to broaden
her horizons at the camp.
“Our environment has so
many animals that you can’t
always see,” she said. “It’s
cool seeing how complex it
is.”
The range camp is a co-
operative effort between
Eastern Oregon Agriculture
Research Center, Agriculture
Research Service and Harney
County Watershed Council
with several sponsors and
instructors supporting the
effort.
Each camper paid $50
to attend, and sponsors de-
frayed the cost with a $125
scholarship for each high
school age youth.
The participants also
earned two credits through
Treasure Valley Community
College.
“It’s something that I’d
recommend for everybody,”
Maggie said. “You get col-
lege credits and free food.
What more can you ask for?”
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