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.
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