A8
SENIORS & HISTORY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
GRANT COUNTY SENIORS
John Day
Seniors
Elsie Huskey
On Monday before Christ-
mas, Greg Starr was greeting
folks as they entered the build-
ing for lunch. Amongst his
chuckles and friendly smile,
the day started pleasantly.
Veanne was the announcer
today. The flag salute was said,
and then Veanne reminded
everyone of the Christmas din-
ner on Christmas day starting
at noon at no charge to any-
one. She shocked us with the
news that Drew Harmer had
passed away so unexpectedly.
We had a moment of silence
to remember Drew and say a
word of prayer for him. Sev-
eral drawings were done and
the blessing was prayed and
lunch was served by members
of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. We had
fish and crosscut crispy pota-
toes, coleslaw, drinks of our
choice and a yummy dessert.
Thanks to Shay and his crew
for a nice meal.
On Thursday, the day after
Christmas, Darlene Nodine
and Jeanette Julsrud were at
the desk to greet everyone for
lunch. It is so nice to come
into a gathering and be greeted
with smiles and a comment
and/or chuckles. Jeanette did
the announcing with her usual
flare and gave everyone rea-
son to smile and giggle a bit.
Thanks, Jeanette, for mak-
ing everyone so comfortable.
Jimmy Maples led the flag
salute.
The bridge club sponsored
the meal for today. Thanks
were given to Doc Pope for
a generous donation to our
senior center. Thanks were
given to the Palmers for once
again providing a lovely gra-
cious Christmas dinner to our
whole community. We were
told that this was the 20th year
they have done this Christ-
mas dinner. Thank you again,
Palmers, for this wonderful
event.
Jan. 9 will be the annual
hall board meeting for our
senior center. There are three
positions open so if you or
anyone you know would like
to run for these positions, let
Chris Labhart know and plan
to attend this meeting. They
are giving away over $1,000
worth of door prizes at this
meeting so this should entice
many of us to attend. Besides
that, it is good to know how
our senior center operates and
all the details for its success.
The site council also needs
members of its board so give it
some thought and help them out.
Starting Jan. 1, there will
be no plastic bags any more
at our grocery or other stores
so those of us that use these
bags at home or to transport
items will need to provide our
own bags. The senior center
uses these bags to transport the
meals that we deliver to citi-
zens all over the area. Veanne
made a plea for help with this.
Please help with donations of
any kind of nice bags for this
project.
Thirty-five fresh meals
were delivered by Jimmy
Maples, Barb, Comer and the
Step Forward crew. Thanks,
everyone. This effort is so
much appreciated.
Lon Davis won the Ches-
ter’s Thriftway certificate, and
Kristina Labhart won the free
meal.
Father Christie asked the
blessing and also sang us a
Christmas song in his native
language and in English.
Thanks to him for bringing
this enjoyment to us. St. Eliz-
abeth Catholic Church served
our meal to 24 in-house din-
ers. The meal consisted of hot
roast beef sandwiches on sour-
dough, real mashed potatoes
and gravy, green bean medley
and a very yummy fruit and
whipped cream mixture on
graham cracker crust. Thanks,
Shay, for a lovely meal.
As Father Christie said:
“Christmas is not a day, it is a
season. We are always grateful
that God gave us his son Jesus
and that is what Christmas is
about.”
Monument
Seniors
Soo Yukawa
I hope you all had a wonder-
ful Christmas. Can you believe
that it will be 2020, when you
read this? 2019 seems like a
blur because it feels like it went
by so fast to me. This also will
mark our sixth winter here in
Monument. My two little ones
have lived more of their lives
now in Monument than in
California.
We did not have a lunch for
Christmas Eve, so I have no
report to share. It was weird
not having lunch to go to, and it
threw my days of the week off.
I guess I am sometimes a crea-
ture of habit.
A bunch of my ladies from
my Bible study group and some
of our kids made a visit to
Haven House retirement home
in Fossil before Christmas. We
went there and ate lunch with
the folks. We sang some Christ-
mas songs, and some hymns.
We also sat and visited with
them. It was such a nice time,
and we praise the Lord for the
privilege of serving him. We
plan on making it a regular visit
every month or every other
OUT OF THE PAST
month. We need to remember
our elders and not neglect them.
We need to honor them, spend
time with them and love them.
My wonderful hubby has
been helping me by doing the
early morning chores for me and
most of the afternoon chores as
well. I am so lucky, right? We
did go out and banded little
Douglas. He is all set not to be
a stinky goat. Ha.
I love my little Lily. She still
remembers me, and when I am
at the goat pen, she follows me
around and wants to sit on my
lap. Oh, she is so cute, and I
just love her! I thought I loved
Bonnie, but no, Lily is really,
really special to me. She is get-
ting a pretty big pooch. Since
she is the only one that Jill is
nursing, Lily is getting quite
chubby around her middle. I
think it will be really easy for
me to bring Lily up near my
house and have her follow me
around in the spring and sum-
mer. Maybe she still thinks of
me as her mama?
I think Dolly is pregnant. I
don’t think she will be due for
at least a couple of months. I
don’t know, maybe she is just
a bloated goat. I am keeping
an eye on her. Since I have the
girls separated from the boys,
the boys will not stray very far
from the girls’ pen. The boys
are constantly looking forlornly
at the girls. Too bad, so sad for
them.
It is very fun sitting with the
goats and watching the little
ones play. They are quite amus-
ing to watch when they are run-
ning and hopping and kicking
up their little hind legs. Daisy,
Douglas and Lily like to come
over and either sit on my lap,
chew on my coat, nibble my
gloves, or jump on my back.
Ah, the country life.
1 Corinthians 4:20 “For the
Kingdom of God is not in word,
but in power.”
10 Years Ago
Having a Ball — Firemen’s Ball Raises Money
while having fun
A New Year’s Eve Firemen’s Ball rang in 2009
at the Mt Vernon Community helped last week and
helped raise money for emergency equipment the
department needs.
The wish list included pumps, saws, radios and
wildland fireman clothing — a necessity for fight-
ing wilderness fires the district faces in the summer
months. Fire Chief Bill Cearns says the Mt. Vernon
Fir Department, established in 1948, currently has a
good core of 10-12 volunteers, but more are always
needed. “It takes a commitment from someone to go
to school,” he said. Currently a Firefighter I class is
being held in John Day and in February a training will
be held in Long Creek.
In the spring, Grant/Harney Training Association
will offer raining for entry level volunteers with week-
end classes held in Long Creek and Hines. This train-
ing is required for firefighters to enter a house fire.
Cearns says the biggest fire-starter problems for
houses he sees are wood stoves and candles. Then
in the summer time their biggest “nemesis” is burn
barrels and people burning when they shouldn’t be.
“Lightning is another one,” he said. “We get quite a
few of them — more than other districts in our area.”
One of the department’s stations holds five wildland
pickups and the ambulance. Another station on Wid-
ows Creek has a structure engine, one wildland engine
and one tender (a water tank truck).
The new station has three structure engines, one
medium rescue, a tender and a portable self contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA) compressor and fill sta-
tion within a trailer — this fills the air tanks the fire-
fighters use to breath then they are surrounded by
smoke. The Fire Defense Board, which includes all
Grant County fire chiefs, Oregon Department of For-
estry (ODF) and the Malheur National Forest (MNF),
owns the SCBA station and places it in Mt. Vernon
because of its central location, Cearns Says.
He welcomes the future U.S Forest Service fire base,
to be built as part of the Grant County Regional Airport
terminal project in John Day. His department works
closely with ODF and MNF, and they help each other
under mutual aid agreements. Two fires on Aldrich
Mountain last year required some outside assistance
due to to the steep terrain inaccessible to equipment,
Cearns said. He enlisted the help of MNF rappellers for
those jobs, and smoke jumpers worked on another fire.
On Dec. 31, any worries about fires were put on
hold while about 100 people attended the Firemen’s
Ball, held at the community hall where renovations
were completed last summer. Cearns hopes to see the
ball an annual event. “That way there’s something to
do in the wintertime,” he said.
John Day Valley
Mennonite
Church
Pastor Keith
Meeting every Sunday
at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall
Sunday School.......................9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship...10:50 a.m.
Pastor Leland Smucker
Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861
Historic Remnant
Church
St. Thomas
Episcopal
Church
Preparing for
Jesus to come
Morning Prayer........10 am
(1 st , 3 rd , 5 th Sundays)
Eucharist & Sunday
School.............10 am
(2 nd & 4 th Sundays)
Meets Saturday at Mt. Vernon Grange
Sabbath School............................9:30 am
Church Services..........................11:00 am
139 S. Washington,
Canyon City
VICTORY BAPTIST
CHURCH
KJV
Independent
Fundamental • Premillennial
Terence K. Crabb, Pastor
A Bible-believing Church
“He that hath the Son hath life ...” I John 5:12
Sunday School 9:45 am • Sunday Preaching 11:00 am
Junior Church 11:00 am • Sunday Evenings 3:30 pm
Wednesday Bible Study & Master Club 7:00 pm
Saturday Men’ s Prayer Meeting 7:00 pm
108 S. Washington Street, Canyon City
541-575-2688 or 541-575-0844
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Catholic Church
Corner of S Canyon Blvd and SW 2 nd
Mon. - Fri. Mass - 12:05 pm
Saturday Mass - 5:00 pm
Sunday Mass - 9:00 am
Holy Days Mass: Noon & 6 pm
TV & Radio Networks
Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM
Valley View Broadcasting
PO Box 151, Mt Vernon, Or 97865
Antenna: Digital Channel 15
Blue Mountain Cable Channel 2
Redeemer
Lutheran Church
Come Worship with us at
627 SE Hillcrest, John Day
1 st Sunday Worship/Communion.......10am
3 rd Sunday Worship/Communion/Potluck...4:30pm
2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship ..........10 am
Wednesday Evening Bible Study.......6 pm
For information: 541-575-2348
MT. VERNON
PRESBYTERIAN
Community Church
SUNDAY SERVICE..............9 am
SUNDAY SCHOOL...............9 am
541-932-4800
EVERYONE WELCOME
CHURCH OF THE
NAZARENE
Sunday School..............................9:30 am
Sunday Worship Service..............10:45 am
Sunday Evening Service................6:00 pm
Children & Teen Activities
SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO
Weekdays: Sonshine Christian School
Pastor Randy Johnson
521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895
wwww.johndaynazarene.com
FIRST CHRISTIAN
CHURCH
Sunday School.......................9:45 am
Sunday Worship.......................11 am
Fox Community Church..............3 pm
Sunday Evening Bible talk..........6 pm
Saturday Men’s Study................6 pm
Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us
541-575-1202 Church
311 NE Dayton St, John Day
Pastor Al Altnow
Confession: Saturday 4:00-4:45 pm
Anytime by appointment
541-974-8638
JOHN DAY
UNITED
METHODIST
CHURCH
Sunday Worship • 9AM
St. Anne
Monument -
2nd and 4th Sundays at 12:30 pm
2
Every Sunday in the L.C.
Community Center
(Corner of Second & Allen)
Contact Pastor Ed Studtmann at
541-421-3888 • Begins at 4:00pm
FIRST
BAPTIST
CHURCH
Sunday School....................... 10 am
Church....................................11 am
Afternoon Service.................... 2 pm
No Mid-week Services
Pastor Jesse Gosnell
300 W. Main, John Day
541-575-1355
Office Hours
Monday - Friday 9 am - 12 Noon
(541) 575-1326
johndayUMC@gmail.com
126 NW Canton, John Day
Food Pantry Friday 3-4p.m.
Like us on Facebook!
Cornerstone
Christian
Fellowship
139 N.E. D AYTON S TREET , J OHN D AY
541-575-2180
Sunday Worship Service 10 am
Sunday Youth Group 3 pm
Thursday Celebrate Recovery 6 pm
Pastor Levi Manitsas
cornerstonejohnday@gmail.com
ccfjd.org
Seventh-Day
Adventist
Church
SATURDAY SERVICES
JOHN DAY
110 Valley View Dr.
541-575-1216
Head Elder......................541-575-2914
Bible Classes (all ages)............9:30 am
Worship.......................................11 am
LONG CREEK
E. Main Street
541-421-3033
Head Elder............................421-3468
Bible Classes (all ages)...............2 pm
Worship........................................3 pm
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