Community & History
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
A9
O UT OF THE P AST
75 years ago
Feb. 12, 1943
Eagle file photo
Guests enjoy a cocktail before dinner in the bar at The Retreat at
Silvies Valley Ranch. A job fair for the resort and golf course will take
place Friday in John Day.
The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Friday. Call the Eagle,
541-575-0710, or email editor@bmeagle.com. For meetings this week, see our
list in the classifieds.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14
Lenten luncheon
• 11:30 a.m., United Methodist Church, John Day
A soup and bread lunch will be served, followed by a service. All are wel-
come to attend. For more information, call the church at 541-575-1326.
FRIDAY, FEB. 16
Silvies Valley Ranch job fair
• 4-7 p.m., Outpost Restaurant, John Day
The Retreat and Links at Silvies Valley
Ranch hopes to hire 60 people to fill 27 different
positions. The resort and golf course opens in
April. For more information or to inquire about
the upcoming job fairs in Burns or John Day,
call 541-573-5150 ext. 203 and ask for Colby or
Pat, email careers@silvies.us or visit silvies.us.
WHAT’S
HAPPENING
SATURDAY, FEB. 17
Clay pigeon shoot
• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kimberly Rock Products pit, mile marker 9 on Hwy 402
Events include jackpots, Annie Oakley and more, plus men’s, women’s and
children’s competitions. The cost is $3 per shoot. Food will be available pot-
luck-style; bring a side dish or meat to barbecue. Silent and dessert auctions
start at 12:30 p.m. Proceeds from the auctions and the shoot will benefit Silent
Wave Horse Rescue. A series shoot continues. For more information, call 541-
934-2143.
TUESDAY, FEB. 20
Genealogical Society luncheon
• Noon, Outpost Restaurant, John Day
Sandra Sutton will speak about the Asher families who came from Kentucky
to Eastern Oregon. The no-host luncheon is open to the public. For more infor-
mation, call Sutton at 541-575-1431.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21
Lenten luncheon
• 11:30 a.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 139 S. Washington St., Canyon
City
A soup and bread lunch will be served, followed by a service. All are wel-
come to attend. For more information, call the church at 541-575-2415.
SATURDAY, FEB. 24
Pancake feed
• 5-7 p.m., Mt. Vernon Grange
Everyone is welcome to enjoy all-you-can-eat pancakes, ham and eggs. The
cost is $6 for adults. For more information, call Jean Saggart at 541-575-1007.
Hoop tournament to be held at
Grant gym, Feb. 25-27
The sub-district basketball tour-
nament for “B” high school teams
of eight Eastern Oregon counties
will be held in the Grant Union high
school gymnasium on February 25,
26 and 27. This district includes
“B” schools from Wallowa, Union,
Baker, Malheur, Harney, Grant and
Wheeler counties.
Grant Union High, being the host
team, is automatically one of the par-
ticipants, and it is definitely known
that Prairie City and Mt. Vernon will
take part in the playoffs. At this time
it appears among some of the teams
likely to represent their respective
leagues are: Union, Elgin, Halfway,
Haines and Crane. It is only guess-
ing to say that these teams will win
out in their respective areas and
come to the tournament; however,
they now appear to be leading. Oth-
er schools in the district which have
teams competing for the right to
represent their respective leagues in
this tournament are: North Powder,
Joseph, Cove, Richland, Huntington
and Jordan Valley.
Kleigle of Baker has been select-
ed as referee for the tournament.
50 years ago
Feb. 15, 1968
Jet pilot has close call
After 13 months of flying a re-
connaissance Phantom Jet in Viet-
nam, Capt. Ralph Graham hopes
he’s home to stay. Graham is the
husband of Mrs. Sharon Culp Gra-
ham, who had been residing in John
Day with her mother, Mrs. Evelyn
Culp, during his assignment over-
seas. He visited here during the
holidays, and his wife and daugh-
ter, Kristen, are now with him in the
East where he is presently stationed.
The extent of Graham’s contri-
bution to the war is measured by his
record, 319 missions with 107 of
them over North Vietnam.
They earned him three Distin-
guished Flying Crosses and 21 Air
Medals. In addition he has been
nominated for the Air Force Cross
and the Bronze Star.
The unarmed recon planes de-
pend on speed — they can fly twice
the speed of sound — and maneu-
verability to outrun the MIGs and
escape ground fire. But speed isn’t
always enough. On one mission
Eagle file photo
From Feb. 15, 1968: PARISH HALL — Rapidly taking form is the
parish hall for the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in John Day. The
multi-purpose building will be used for educational and social
functions. Robert Sullivan construction firm of Ontario is building
the hall. Watching workmen install rafters for the building Tuesday
morning is Father Robert Simard.
over a heavily defended area of
North Vietnam, his plane was hit
twice by 57-mm anti-aircraft shells.
The flak blew a number of holes in
the wings and fuel cells, caused one
engine to explode and catch fire and
knocked out two of three hydraulic
systems.
Graham shut off the damaged
engine, and fortunately the fire went
out in a couple of minutes. Then
he headed for Da Nang, about 150
miles away.
The next 25 minutes were
rough. Flight controls were virtual-
ly non-functioning. “I had to horse
it around quite a bit to get near the
landing field and just before I land-
ed I lost control altogether,” Gra-
ham said.
Nevertheless he landed some-
how; the plane rolled off the runway,
but he and his navigator climbed out
and walked away.
Captain Graham was based at
Tan Son Nhut, near Saigon. Most of
the pilots’ waking hours are spent at
the base 9 to 10 hours per day, seven
days a week, three to four months
at a stretch. Then they get a rest and
recreation leave. Graham spent his
leave in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singa-
pore and Honolulu.
Pilots have little contact with
the Vietnamese, with exception of
the chief of staff of the South Viet-
namese Air Force who occasionally
flies with the squadron. “There’s no
doubt he is a real gung-ho fighter
pilot, and a dedicated person,” Gra-
ham said.
25 years ago
Feb. 11, 1993
Mush-a-long sled dog races set
for Saturday, Sunday
Saturday and Sunday will bring
the fourth annual Grant County
Mush-A-Long sled dog race to Lake
Creek Camp in Logan Valley.
The event, sponsored by the Grant
County Chamber of Commerce, the
Grant County Snowballers and the
Cascade Sled Dog Club, will begin at
10 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday.
The races usually wrap up at about
4-4:30 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule includes
sprint races in five classes: eight-
dog teams, six-dog teams, four-dog
teams, novice and Pee Wee. A 35-
mile mid-distance run will be held
Sunday, with teams averaging 10
dogs.
Most of the entry fees will go to-
ward the winners purse, and winners
in each class will also divvy up 1,000
pounds of dog food donated by Unit-
ed Grocers.
Pat Temple, Chamber of Com-
merce manager, said that about 20
dog teams are signed up as of a week
ago. “I think we’ll have a really good
turnout,” she said.
Temple said there is no need to
worry about not having enough snow
— there is plenty of it at the camp,
about 40 minutes from John Day.
A variety of door prizes have been
donated by merchants, and the John
Day Kiwanas Club will be cook-
ing and serving breakfast and lunch
items.
1188’s Spring Crab & Craft
Saturday, March 3rd
Fresh crab from Astoria caught the day prior to serving and flown in – tickets for crab need to be purchased in
advance ($65/person for a large plate, includes over 2 lbs of crab, baked beans, coleslaw and lots of 1188’s
spent grain fresh bread and 1 beverage of your choice - $30/person for a small plate that would have 1 ⁄ 2 a crab
and all the sides)
• Tickets on sale now at the pub. They can also be purchased over the phone at 541-575-1188
• Deadline for crab ticket purchase is Saturday, February 24
• Three different seating times for crab – 2:00 to 4:00, 4:00 to 6:00 and 6:00 and later. Can come in any
time during the block shown on your tickets
We will have live music throughout the day provided by Wind Fields (For those that know Bri Murphy, this is
the band she is part of). They can be found on Facebook.
• Craft beer, wine and spirit
tastings available throughout
the day through a variety of
vendors.
• Local artists spotlighted.
• We will have a separate menu
available for those that do not
like crab with a variety of items
and prices.
Check our Facebook page regularly
where we will add details over the
next couple weeks.
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