Community
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
A7
A busy week at the Grant County Fair
‘Boots, Chaps
and Cowboy
Hats’
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
You don’t need Western
wear to have fun at the Grant
County Fair, but “Boots, Chaps
and Cowboy Hats” is this year’s
theme Wednesday through Sat-
urday, Aug. 15-18.
The headliner this year is
Lonestar, which performs at the
outdoor arena on Friday with
gates opening at 6 p.m. With
10 albums and numerous hit
songs, Lonestar’s music is in-
fluenced by Alabama, The Ea-
gles and Restless Hearts.
Opening for Lonestar at 7
p.m. will be Nate Botsford, a
Portland-based artist with a hy-
brid style and numerous music
awards. Tickets for Lonestar
and Botsford are available on-
line at eventbright.com. Gener-
al seating is $30, and admission
for children 12 and under is
$15.
The Grant County Free-
Eagle file photos
Justin Josey dodges around a bull during a bullfight at
last year’s Grant County Fair. Freestyle bullfighting takes
place at 8 p.m. Aug. 18 this year.
Cheyenne Nichols leads her steer out of the livestock
auction at the Grant County Fair last year. The livestock
auction will take place at 5 p.m. Aug. 18 this year.
style Bullfighting event will
take place on Saturday starting
at 8 p.m. in the outdoor arena.
Country music singer Britnee
Kellogg will perform on the
main stage at 6 p.m. and 9:30
p.m. She has been singing since
she was 3 and appeared twice
on American Idol. Admission
to both events is covered with
general admission to the fair.
The Funtime Carnival opens
at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 3 p.m.
on Thursday and Friday and
noon on Saturday. The cost is
the pavilion.
Friday kicks off with the
Ranchers Breakfast from 7-9
a.m. on the east side of the pa-
vilion, with ham, scrambled
eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit,
juice and coffee for $7.
The Kids Parade at 1 p.m.
will run from Southwest Sec-
ond Avenue down South Can-
yon Boulevard onto Southwest
Dayton Street, then left on
Main Street to Umpqua Bank.
Children can register the day of
the parade.
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.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY, AUG. 9-10
Youth volleyball camp
• Grant Union Junior-Senior High School gym
A volleyball camp will be held for grades 3-5 (one day) and
6-8 (two days). Grades 6-8 will meet 1-5 p.m. Thursday and 8
a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday. The cost is $30 and includes a T-shirt.
Grades 3-5 will meet 1-5:30 p.m. Friday. The cost is $20 and
includes a T-shirt. For more information, call 541-910-6180.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUG. 10-11
NPRA Rodeo
• 6 p.m., Grant County Fairgrounds
The cost to attend is $10 each night, $2 for seniors ages 65
and up, and $5 for youth 6 to 12 years old. Children 5 and under
are free. A family-friendly Queen’s Dance will be held Aug. 11
after the rodeo, featuring live music. For more information, call
the fairgrounds office at 541-575-1900.
SATURDAY, AUG. 11
John Day Farmers Market
• 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Southwest Brent Street, John Day
$1 per ride on Wednesday and
$18 per day for unlimited rides
Thursday through Saturday.
The Coventry & Kaluza
Circus and Comedy team will
perform each day in a strolling
act or on the main stage. Hyp-
notist Dan Hawk will perform
each day on the main stage.
Team branding and dog tri-
als will take place at the out-
door arena on Wednesday at 5
p.m. The Blue Mountain Old
Time Fiddlers will perform
each day on the stage behind
The Grant County Fair Pa-
rade will take place on Satur-
day at 10 a.m. Decorated floats
and vehicles will stage at Grant
Union Junior-Senior High
School from 8-9 a.m. The pa-
rade will run down South Can-
yon Boulevard and Southeast
Dayton Street and then left on
Main Street all the way to the
big parking area next to Tim-
bers Bistro.
Grand marshals this year
are Mike and Joanne Keerins,
residents on a century farm in
Izee. Descended from a dis-
tinguished ranching family,
Mike spent two years in the
Army before returning home to
ranch with his parents. Joanne
worked as a substitute teacher
and volleyball referee when she
wasn’t raising a family, serving
on many community boards,
from PTA and 4-H to soil and
water conservation and water-
shed advisory councils.
The Grant County Best Pie
Contest will take place at the
east end of the Pavilion on Sat-
urday at noon. The 4-H/FFA
Grant County Fair awards and
recognition ceremony will take
place in the heritage barn at 2
p.m., and the 4-H/FFA live-
stock auction will take place in
the sale barn at 5 p.m.
Admission is free Wednes-
day and then $5 per day or $12
weekly. Senior tickets are $2
per day and children 5 and un-
der can enter for free. Parking is
$3 per day or $10 weekly.
Tickets can be purchased
at Len’s Drug, Radio Shack,
Bar WB, Boyer’s Store, Duke
Warner Realty, Jonna Joe’s
Hair Care and at the fair-
grounds.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 15
W HAT’S
HAPPENING
‘A Community Touched by Suicide’
• 6-8 p.m., John Day Senior Center
The public forum is sponsored by Community Counseling
Solutions and Lines for Life. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information, call 541-676-9161.
WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY, AUG. 15-18
The market features a variety of locally grown produce, Grant County Fair
homemade food and handmade crafts, plants, food and reci-
pe samples, information booths and entertainment. For more
information, call 541-575-0547 or 1-229-869-2136, or email
johndayfarmersmarket@gmail.com.
Triathlon for hunger
• 9:15 a.m., Gleason Pool, John Day
Proceeds from the event benefit the John Day/Canyon City
Parks and Recreation summer lunch program for kids around
the county. Participants can compete as individuals for $35 or
as a team for $60. Events include a 10-lap swim, 12.4-mile bi-
cycle ride and a 3.1-mile run. Check in is from 8-8:45 a.m. Reg-
istration must be completed by Aug. 8, and forms are available
at jdccparksandrec.weebly.com. For more information, call the
parks and recreation district at 541-620-4001 or visit the web-
site.
• 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday
• 8 a.m. to midnight, Friday-Saturday
• Grant County Fairgrounds, John Day
Features of the fair include a live concert by Lonestar on
Friday, the parade on Saturday and daily entertainment acts
by hypnotists, fiddlers, a comedy act and more. The pavilion
is open during the day. Admission to the fair is $5 per day
or $12 for a week pass; seniors are $2 per day, and chil-
dren 5 years old and younger are free. Parking passes cost
$3 per day or $10 for the week. The carnival will open at 5
p.m. Wednesday, 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and noon on
Saturday. Passes for the fair and carnival can be purchased
at Len’s Drug, Radio Shack, Bar WB, Boyer’s Store, Duke
Warner Realty, Jonna Joe’s Hair Care and the fairgrounds.
For more information, call the fair office at 541-575-1900 or
visit grantcountyfairgroundsor.com.
Public Forum
A Community Touched
by Suicide
August 15, 2018 • 6:00pm - 8:00pm
John Day Senior Center
(Refreshments Provided)
• In 2016, the suicide rate per 100,000 youths aged 10-24 was 12.97 in
Oregon, compared to 9.6 nationwide. Suicide is the second leading
cause of death amongst this age category in Oregon.
• Grant County (combined with Lake and Harney) youth are a full
5 percentage points higher in the contemplating suicide category
compared to the rest of the state.
• Its not a stretch to state that Grant County has experienced, or is
experiencing, a suicide cluster, defined as “multiple suicidal behaviours
or suicides that fall within an accelerated time frame, and sometimes
within a defined geographical area.” In this case, it would specifically
be a “point cluster”: Point clusters involve suicides that are close in
time and/or space. They often occur within institutional settings such as
hospitals, prisons, or schools, or within distinct communities.” These
are more common in smaller, family like communities. Gilliam County
experienced this from 2006-2011, when they had one youth suicide per
year for 5 years. They were off the charts.
• There have been more suicides in Grant County this year than
homicides.
• There were 45,000 suicides in the US in 2016, more than twice the
number of homicides.
• Among people ages 15-34, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death.
• Grant County in the past 7 months has had at least four completed
suicides. Usually there is an average of approximately 1 per year.
Lines for Life is the agency that will be providing the community forum. They are nationally recognized in their work
on suicide prevention. They provide hallmark training taught by certified professionals, assisting schools and
communities in identifying at risk individuals and to respond to signs and symptoms.
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