Community
Blue Mountain Eagle
The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Fri-
day. Call the Eagle, 541-575-0710, or email editor@bmea-
gle.com. For meetings this week, see our list in the classi-
fieds on Page A17.
THURSDAY, JULY 20
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
W HAT’S
HAPPENING
Chamber of Commerce meeting
• 11 a.m., Chamber offi ce, 301 W. Main St., John Day
The public is welcome to attend the business and board
meeting of the Grant County Chamber of Commerce, with an
adjournment to the Outpost Restaurant at noon. Guest speakers
will be Don Merritt, curator of the Kam Wah Chung museum,
and Shelley Hall, superintendent of the John Day Fossil Beds
National Monument. Call the Chamber of Commerce for more
information, 541-575-0547.
MONDAY-FRIDAY, JULY 24-28
Vacation Bible school
• 5:30-8 p.m., Prairie Baptist Church, 238 N. McHaley St.,
Prairie City
Children in kindergarten through sixth grades are welcome
to attend. Family members are invited to join nightly dinners at
5 p.m. and stay to watch the activities. For more information,
contact the church at 541-820-3696.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26
Health care fi lm showing
• 6:30 p.m., Canyon City Community Hall
A viewing of the recently released fi lm “Now is the Time -
Healthcare for Everybody” will be available to the public. Grant
County Democrats are sponsoring the fi lm. Discussion and re-
freshments will follow.
SATURDAY, JULY 22
SATURDAY, JULY 29
John Day Farmers Market
Cinnabar Mountain Playdays youth rodeo
• 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., SW Brent St., John Day.
The market features crafts, baked goods, produce, kids ac-
tivities, entertainment and information booths. For more infor-
mation, call 541-792-0958 or email johndayfarmersmarket@
gmail.com.
Pie and ice cream social
• 5:30-8:30 p.m., United Methodist Church, 123 NW Canton
St., John Day
Residents are welcome to enjoy a dessert social. For more
information, call the church at 541-575-1326.
Demolition derby
• 7 p.m., Grant County Fairgrounds, John Day
The 28th annual event, sponsored by the Whiskey Gulch
Gang, will feature a variety of prizes, including $2,000 for fi rst
place, $1,500 for second place and $500 for third place. The en-
try fee is $50 per car, which includes the driver and one pit crew
A7
Eagle file photo
Grima Horgan loads rhubarb into a bag at the John
Day Farmers Market June 16. The markets continue
each Saturday until mid-October. Crafts, baked goods,
produce and information booths are usually available, as
well as kids activities.
person; pit passes are $30 a person. Pre-sale tickets, $10 for
adults and $6 for children 12 and younger, are available at John
Day True Value, Nydam’s Ace Hardware and Les Schwab Tire
Center. Tickets at the gate will cost $2 more. Children under 6
are free. For further information and rules, call Hugh Farrell at
541-575-0329 or 541-620-0931, or email farrelhugh@yahoo.
com.
• 8 a.m., Grant County Fairgrounds, John Day
The youth rodeo starts at 9 a.m. Membership is $30 per person
or $45 per family, and membership is required. Entry fees are $2
per event or $10 for the day. For more information, call 541-575-
3520 or 541-792-0077, or email cmplaydays@gmail.com.
FRIDAY, AUG. 4
Micky & the Motorcars concert
• 7:30 p.m., Madden Brothers Performing Arts Center, 116
NW Bridge St., John Day
The band will be joined by guest performer Dustin Schae-
fer, featuring country/rock and Americana music. Doors open at
5:30 for VIP and at 6:30 for general admission. Ten pairs of VIP
tickets are available, including two front row seats, prime rib and
beverages. Suds Pub will provide food and beverages, and all
ages are welcome. Tickets start at $25 and may be purchased at
maddenbrothers.tix.com or by calling 1-800-595-4849.
O UT OF THE P AST
75 years ago
July 17, 1942
Severe Grasshopper In-
festation Develops in Grant
County
Severe injury to crops,
lawns, shrubs and in fact
anything green is in store for
Grant County people, unless
immediate steps are taken to
poison the hoard of young
grasshoppers that have re-
cently appeared in the county,
according to L.E. Cowden,
Bureau of Entomology, from
The Dalles, who spent two
days surveying conditions in
Grant County last week at the
request of M.E. Knickerbock-
er, County Agent.
Mr. Cowden stated that the
only effective control is by
means of the spreading of a
poisoned brand sawdust mix-
ture, and that a large measure
of success is obtained by this
method only when baiting is
done on a community-wide
basis.
The type of grasshoppers
found in the greatest numbers
is the Clear Wing or Warrior
grasshopper, which is a great
migrant, and upon reaching
the adult stage will travel as
far as 200 miles to fi nd green
food, Cowden stated.
When the hoppers mature,
much more damage is done
than at the present stage, and
because of the fact when they
mature there is greater diffi -
culty in successfully poison-
ing them, it is important to
start control measures as soon
as possible, Cowden believes.
Infestations ranging up to
a population count of 140 per
square yard were found by
Mr. Cowden. Some damage
can be expected when counts
show a population of 10 to
20 per square yard and the
normal is only one to two, he
stated.
The county agent reported
that mixing stations have been
established in Prairie City,
Canyon City, Mt. Vernon, and
the Mead Gilman and Roy
Cork place in the Monument
area. More stations can be es-
tablished in other areas when-
ever the need develops.
Five tons of bran and four
barrels of sodium arsenite
have been obtained for poi-
soning purposes. Bait is most
Eagle file photo
From July 18, 2007: A building burns at the JV Ranch July 15.
Eagle file photo
From July 18, 2007: An Army National Guard UH-60
Blackhawk out of Salem waits to be dispatched to any of
the local fires.
effectively distributed in the
early morning when the tem-
perature ranges from 60 to 90
degrees and should be broad-
casted thinly over the ground
to avoid poisoning of live-
stock, Knickerbocker said.
50 years ago
July 20, 1967
County Fair Plans Jell
Early – ‘Fun for Everyone’
“Fun for everyone” is
guaranteed at this year’s
Grant County Fair, according
to fair managers Mr. and Mrs.
L.J. “Pete” Baucum.
Fair activities kick off on
Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. with the
Grant County Open Class
Horse Show. Aug. 12 is the
closing date for entries. This
year there will be no excep-
tions.
The fairgrounds will be
open for reception of animals
and displays from 3 p.m. to 8
p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6,
and again on Thursday, Sept.
7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Judg-
ing will take place the rest
of Thursday and the grounds
will not be open to the pub-
lic. Open class livestock this
year will include registered
and grade cattle swine, sheep,
poultry and rabbits.
John Day Kiwanis Club
will sponsor the fi rst of two
parades on Friday. The same
prizes and money will be
awarded as in past years. Sat-
urday’s parade will have the
theme of Nursery Rhymes.
There will be a children’s di-
vision this year and the win-
ners of the Kiwanis parade
competition will be in the
Saturday event. The Herman
Oliver Award will be changed
to three places of prize money
for the best organizational rid-
ing groups. Horses and equip-
ment as well as riders will be
judged.
Community Booth scoring
will receive a boost this year
as an additional $30 will be
awarded to each entry which
scores 75 out of 100 points.
This is in addition to the regu-
lar prize money.
Portland’s Oregon Journal
Juniors will provide entertain-
ment and music Friday, and
will offer a variety show Sat-
urday night at the Fair. Local
talent will be invited to join in
the variety show.
The crowd-pleasing Grant
County Fair Rodeo will be
held Sept. 8-9 – an evening
show on Sept. 8 and an after-
noon event on Sept. 9. Thurs-
day night, Sept. 7, there will
be jackpot team roping.
As an added event, Grant
Union High School will kick
off their football season with
the fi rst home game.
25 years ago
July 16, 1992
Long Creek co-gen plant
could close
An agreement reached be-
tween the Oregon Trail Elec-
tric Cooperative and Blue
Mountain Forest Products of
Long Creek is expected to
save OTEC customers an es-
timated $57 million in power
purchase costs over the next
several years, but it also like-
ly means the shutdown of the
co-generation power facility
in Long Creek.
The initial power purchase
agreement with BMFP was
negotiated by CP National,
which provided Eastern Ore-
gon electrical service before
OTEC’s formation in 1988.
The agreement was in-
herited by OTEC as part of
its takeover of CP National.
Under the agreement, OTE
would pay steadily increasing
costs for power from the Long
Creek co-generation power
facility.
The buy-out of the con-
tract with BMFP may well
force the shutdown of the
Long Creek power facility
unless a new power purchase
agreement can be negotiated
with another utility company.
Bruce Malcolm, presi-
dent of BMFP, said the Long
Creek plant will continue in
operation until Oct. 1. “We’ll
probably have to mothball the
plant then until we can fi nd a
buyer,” he said. “We’ll try and
absorb the employees into the
sawmill.”
He said the co-genera-
tion plants employs about 12
workers, and the sawmill op-
eration can run independent
of the co-generation plant.
Presently, OTEC purchas-
es wholesale power from the
Long Creek plant at a rate of –
cents per kilowatt hour (kwh).
Under the agreement, that
rate would increase to 23 kwh
if the agreement remained in
effect through its 2010 expi-
ration date.
By contrast, OTEC pur-
chases wholesale power from
the Bonneville Power Admin-
istration for 2.5 cents per kwh.
OTEC members will see now
immediate change in their
electric bills because of the
settlement which will relive
the pressure for future rate in-
creases because of the savings
accrued in the buy-out of the
contract, according to General
Manager George King.
OTEC will use $8.5 mil-
lion in pre-payment from the
BPA through its residential
exchange program plus a
$500,000 loan from the Co-
operative Finance Corpora-
tion – the co-op’s banker – to
complete the buy-out of the
contract.
With the settlement, OTEC
will save money by purchas-
ing a greater percentage of its
power from the BPA, which
offers a far lower wholesale
rate to Pacifi c Northwest
customers, said an OTEC
spokesperson.
10 years ago
July 18, 2007
Monument fi res merge,
explode
The Monument Complex
fi res, sparked by lightning
July 13, exploded since last
week to cover more than
23,390 acres by Tuesday, July
17. The fi re grew by more
than 10,000 acres on July 15
alone, doubling its size. The
complex was created when
several blazes – including the
Red Hill, Lovlett Corral and
Wall Creek fi res – merged.
The fi res were burning on
Umatilla National Forest, Or-
egon Department of Forestry
and BLM-protected lands
about 5 miles north of Mon-
ument.
As it spread, the fi re ran
up ridges and jumped roads
to come close to the rural res-
idences around Monument,
at one time threatening some
245 structures. On Tuesday,
fi re offi cials reported that
three unoccupied structures
or outbuildings had burned,
and 20 structures remained
threatened.
Over the weekend, the
fi re spread onto the historic
JV Ranch, fueled by heavy
grasses and driven by gusty
winds. One spot fi re touched
off a meadow at the ranch
headquarters,
threatening
main buildings there. How-
ever, two ODF engines re-
sponded and were able to
stave off the fl ames. Those
buildings survived the blaze,
but the ODF reported that
other ranch structures were
damaged.
Fire offi cials on Monday
were keeping a close eye on
the residences within a few
miles or so of the fi re’s edge.
However, they stressed that
no evacuations had been or-
dered as of Tuesday.
GRANT COUNTY
ENTREPRENEURS!
Share your ideas about what makes a
good business or ask questions about
starting a business in Grant County.
Maybe you are working on something
and you want feedback on your idea.
THIS IS THE PLACE:
Tuesday, July 25th at Timbers Bistro 742 W. Main St. at 10:00 am.
FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL:
David@envme.com
541-523-6377
05855
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-523-6377
05370