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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2017)
Year in Review Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, December 27, 2017 A3 Rainbow, eclipse bring thousands $100,000 in uncompensated care. Other agencies reported smaller expenses from the gathering as well. Events top list for 2017 By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle The eclipse T he population of Grant County more than doubled during the two biggest events of 2017. The national Rainbow Gathering and the total solar eclipse brought thousands of visitors from around the world this sum- mer. While preparations had been underway for the eclipse for more than a year, the unannounced Rainbow Gathering left little time to prepare. The Rainbow Gathering The decision for the annual gathering to take place on the Malheur National Forest between John Day and Seneca was made at a previous meeting in early June in northern Grant County. The Rainbow gathering is held annu- ally on public lands, hosted by a loosely organized group that refers to itself as the Rainbow Family. First started as a prayer for world peace in 1972, individuals from around the world gather to pray for peace on July 4. The first public safety call occurred at the planning meeting in June, where Noah James Anthony Destefano of Stock- holm, Sweden, was arrested for stabbing a 23-year-old from California. The victim said she was stabbed while intervening in an altercation between two people who were not Rainbow Family members, and were under the influence of LSD and al- cohol. Once the site was determined, Forest Service personnel attempted to flag off sensitive areas to mitigate damages but said the environmental impact from the unauthorized event would be “detrimen- tal.” As 13,000 people trickled in over the next several weeks until the July 4 prayer, emergency personnel remained busy re- sponding to medical emergencies, shop- lifting and violence. Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said his deputies and others were “running nonstop” with few days off since mid-June. Palmer said two people died at the event: George Ernest Rogers III, 43, of Dumas, Texas, and William Pasko, 74, of Takoma Park, Maryland. Pasko died of natural causes from a heart attack July 3. Rogers collapsed near a makeshift medical station at the gathering July 2. Stabbings and beatings also occurred at the event, Palmer said. At least 15 arrests were made on the national forest, and 117 violation notices EO Media Group file photo Gabriel Porter, of Sandy, right, reacts to the start of the eclipse while watching it with his twin brother, Nathan, Aug. 21 in John Day. Eagle file photo Miles Biddulph plays guitar at the Rainbow Gathering July 1. primarily for intoxicated driving, disorder- ly conduct and shoplifting. After the gathering, a smaller crew stayed to clean up the site for the next sev- eral weeks, with the goal of making it look as if the gathering never occurred. Truck- loads of garbage were removed from the site. By early August, the Forest Service spent more than $450,000 responding to the gathering, with ongoing costs ex- pected for rehabilitation and monitoring. Blue Mountain Hospital District increased staffing and expected to be hit with about were issued, according to the Forest Ser- vice. Kevin Sonoff, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said about a quar- ter of the arrests were felonies. About half of the violations were related to traffic or vehicle offenses, he said, and about a quar- ter were related to drugs. Other violations were related to alcohol, officer interfer- ence, fires and forest roads and trails. Mobile federal court sessions were held near the site to alleviate the load on the local court system. The Grant County District Attorney’s Office had fewer than 15 cases related to the Rainbow Gathering, A few weeks after most of the gathering attendees had departed, another group de- scended on Grant County to see a spectacle in the sky Aug. 21: the total solar eclipse. The local communities had been plan- ning for the eclipse and procured facilities and supplies for the extra visitors. Science experiments and entertainment, such as a music festival and private concerts, were also lined up. Dayville science teacher Jim Latshaw and students sent two high-altitude bal- loons 90,000 feet up to provide a unique view of the eclipse from space. Grant Union teacher Sonna Smith and students participated in a coast-to-coast project taking photos through a telescope. Long Creek hosted lectures. NASA scientists viewed the event from Unity. All commercial lodging had been booked well in advance, but most cities and schools and many private residents profited from the event by renting out camping sites. John Day City Manager Nick Green es- timated more than 10,000 people stayed in town, including 3,000 who camped at the John Day Industrial Park and the former Oregon Pine mill site. The city made about $75,000 from the event. Forest Service campgrounds were also full. A major concern was the risk of wild- fires. The Forest Service implemented a large fire prevention campaign in advance of the eclipse rush, and no human-caused fires were reported. The hospital planned for heavy traffic, even bringing in outside volunteers, but the weekend was much calmer than antic- ipated. “It was crazy, just how quiet it was,” Public Relations Director Jenna Knowles said. “We were prepared for a lot different scenario.” Local businesses reported a sizable bump from the eclipse. Gas stations and restaurants reported more than double av- erage sales. Chester’s Thriftway manager Bill Wy- llie said his store was more than prepared for the eclipse and had record sales, “a 13 percent increase in business across the board.” The Rainbow Gathering acted as a good practice run for the eclipse, Wyllie said, though for the eclipse people were a bit friendlier. Feedback from eclipse visitors about Grant County was overwhelmingly posi- tive. A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. 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