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HISTORY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
OUT OF THE PAST
75 years ago
Susanville miner burns to
his death in his cabin
Mrs. Genevieve Saling,
stage driver between Austin
and Susanville, in the north-
eastern part of Grant County,
grabbed her mail sacks and
rushed to Austin Tuesday
morning, where she called
County Judge Jess Allen and
informed him that the cabin
in which Adrian Matteson
lived near Susanville was
almost destroyed by fire; that
no trace could be found of
the miner; that citizens feared
that the old man had perished
in the flames. Telephone
communications from Susan-
ville were temporarily out.
Within an hour, however,
communications were had
with Mrs. Gertie O’Rorke,
postmaster of the mining
town, who reported that the
charred remains of Mr. Mat-
teson were discovered in the
coals of the burned cabin.
Coroner J. Carl Driskill,
accompanied by Slim Cur-
tis, county road master, went
to the scene and the remains
were brought to the Driskill
Mortuary, John Day. Grave-
side funeral services will be
held at the Canyon City cem-
etery, Sunday at 2:30 p.m.,
Rev. Ernest H. Brown
officiating.
Coroner Driskill states
that investigation revealed
that the elderly miner’s death
was accidental. The origin of
the fire will probably never
be known but the supposi-
tion of citizens of the Susan-
ville community is that the
old gentleman kindled a fire
in his cook stove and that a
defective stove pipe or fall-
ing coals from the stove set
fire to the cabin. His body
was found in the corner of the
room opposite the door.
Mr. Matteson was born
on August 12, 1873, in Hep-
pner, Oregon, being 70 years
of age at the time of his death.
A brother, Elmer, resides
in Monument and another
brother, Harley, lives in Hep-
pner. He is also survived by
three sisters, Miss Eva Mat-
teson of Boring, Oregon,
Mrs. Estella Mulvaney of
Seattle, Wash., and Mrs. Silva
Casin of Heppner, Oregon.
50 years ago
Stork fails to arrive
As of press time today, the
first baby of 1969 for Grant
County has not arrived.
The Blue Mountain Hos-
pital reported this morning
that there is no indication
that the stork would arrive
in Grant County today. Sev-
eral stork flights are tenta-
tively scheduled, but no defi-
nite times are available.
The winner of the 21st
annual Grant County Stork
Derby will claim a variety
of prizes from 16 merchants
who are offering merchandise
prizes or gift certificates.
The contest is open to
any parents who have lived
in the county for six or more
months.
25 years ago
County and OTEC flip the
switch on energy efficiency
The county last week
agreed to team with Oregon
Trail Electric Cooperative in
an energy conservation proj-
ect planned on an element in
a $45,000 renovation project
slated for the courthouse.
Under the Implementation
Incentive Agreement signed
last week, the county will
receive $8,104 from OTEC to
revamp the courthouse light-
O utlook
ing fixtures.
John Stearns, customer
relation’s representative with
the Grant County OTEC
office, told county court
members last week that the
funds are available through
the Energy Smart Program
created by the Bonneville
Power Administration.
He said the BPA program
is used for lighting efficiency,
insulation and other conser-
vation projects in commercial
buildings.
Stearns said the underly-
ing philosophy of the BPA
is that it is less expensive to
make money available for
energy conservation projects
rather than spending money
to construct more dams
and power plants to meet
increased energy needs.
10 years ago
Firemen’s Ball raises
money while having fun
A New Year’s Eve Fire-
men’s Ball rang in 2009 at the
Mt. Vernon Community Hall
last week and helped raise
money for emergency equip-
ment the department needs.
The wish list included
pumps, saws, radios, and
wildland fireman clothing —
a necessity for fighting wil-
derness fires the district faces
in the summer months.
Fire Chief Bill Cearns says
the Mt. Vernon Fire Depart-
ment, established in 1948,
currently has a good core of
10-12 volunteers, but more
are always needed.
“It takes a commit-
ment from someone to go to
school,” he said.
Currently a Firefighter
I class is being held in John
Day and in February a train-
ing will be held in Long
Creek.
In the spring, Grant/Har-
ney Training Association will
offer training for entry lev-
el-volunteers with weekend
classes held in Long Creek
and Hines. This training is
required for firefighters to
enter a house fire.
Cearns says the big-
gest fire-starter problems for
houses he sees are wood-
stoves and candles. Then in
the summertime their biggest
fire “nemesis” is burn bar-
rels 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 com-
pressor and fill station within
a trailer — this fills the air
tanks the firefights use to
breathe when they are sur-
rounded by smoke.
The Fire Defense Board,
which includes all the Grant
County fire chiefs, Oregon
Department of Forestry and
the Malheur National For-
est, owns the SCBA station
and it’s placed in Mt. Vernon
because of its central loca-
tion, Cearns says.
On Dec. 31, any wor-
ries about fires were put on
hold while about 100 people
attended the Firemen’s Ball,
held at the community hall
where renovations were com-
pleted last summer. Cearns
hopes to see the Ball become
an annual event.
SENI R
This was quite a
combination of days:
last meal of the year,
Christmas dinner, and
December birthday
recognition. There was
Rose Coombs
only one name on the
sign-up sheet for a
chance to win the $10
gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Select Market for the birthday
this month: Fran Bunch. And it couldn’t have gone to a nicer lady!
There were lots of other items to give away, too. The Food Bank
brought over lots of apples, plums and potatoes. Then Lloyds Twice
Upon a Time brought in some boxes of Hummel-like figurines to give
away. Thank you so much for these items.
Then there was the final time to bid on the silent auction items. I got a
handmade afghan to put in the car. Even has its own bag; what a deal!
Drew Harmer led the flag salute and Tom Roark asked the blessing.
Larry and Carlos made the home deliveries; there were 61 names on
the book.
Prairie City
Seniors
These holidays have sure
come quickly this year! I
hope you are better
prepared than I am, but
we’ll have good family
time, good food and maybe
a game or two. Our furnace
Nicky Essex
went out a week ago, but
our friends from Baker
helped us make it work, over the phone, until they could get here
Thursday!
On Monday, Dec. 17, those wonderful guys from Step Forward made all
of the home deliveries from Canyon City, to John Day and Mt.
Vernon! Delivering 30 regular meals and 36 frozen meals; you have sure
been a lifeline to many this year. Thank you!! The folks from First
Christian Church provided table service, with Roberta Dowse opening
the time by leading our salute to the flag. The drawings went on, but I
missed most of it, trying to close out the 3rd successful silent auction.
Linda Stoltz has really given so many neat wreaths and Christmas
decorations each time we’ve had a meal; she is a gem here and keeps our
center beautifully decorated at all times. Dale Stennett gave the
devotional blessing on our meal and we had 24 diners who enjoyed chili
verde with toppings, flour tortillas, a green salad and cinnamon streusel
coffee cake for dessert. Reminder: Tai Chi forms will begin again on
Monday the Jan. 7. They will be held before lunch on Thursdays, 10:15
to 10:45 a.m.; bingo is played after lunch on Thursdays.
On Thursday, Dec. 20, our service was provided by The Methodist
Church and Ye Olde Thrift Shop; Sherri Feiger, Dolores Belden, Nancy
John Day
Seniors
We all had a good ol’
time for our meal on Dec.
18. Our cooks, Terry Cade
and Teawna Jewell, made
us some chicken
enchiladas with Spanish
Soo Yukawa
rice, fresh green salad, and
a fruit cocktail followed
by chocolate cake; the
meal was very satisfying and filling. We thank our cooks for their
preparation and hard work. That was our last meal for the year of 2018.
Our greeters at the table were Jimmy Cole, Kristi Guimont, Jeannie
Strange, Bodean Andersen, and Judy Harris. Jimmy was collecting and
counting the money, Kristi and Jeannie were checking the guests in and
handing out the free raffle tickets, Judy led us in the flag salute and made
the announcements, and yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.
There was a free raffle going on that Jeannie Strange had prepared. All
guests who came to the lunch received tickets for a chance to win prizes.
The winner of some tools was Bill Nichols, Dorothy Jordan won and
chose a Christmas gift basket, yours truly won the beautiful Christmas
wreath, my favorite color: red. We thank Jeannie for all her creative ideas
and her generosity. That’s part of what makes our town special, people
giving of themselves and their support.
There was also a turkey raffle. The tickets were $5 for six tickets or $1
each. The lucky winner of the turkey went to Jeannie Strange; she
deserved it.
The winner of the Len’s Drug gift card was Dorothy Jordan. The free
Monument
Seniors
So which table got to go first today? Who else but the Wise Men! And
what did our cooks serve? Baked ham, potatoes au gratin, green bean
casserole, a veggie tray with carrots, celery, pickles, olives and beets, a
roll and all kinds of pies and other desserts (I assume, since we weren’t
there). We got to partake of the meal on Thursday and our dessert in
the take-out boxes was a jelly topped cookie; very tasty.
Krystin and Lorna had a full load from the Blue Mountain Care Center:
Mary Crawford, Virginia Miller, Charlene Dean, Marilyn Randall and
Gordon Sindt. There was no meal on Dec. 26, but we will be back on
Jan. 2.
Had to make a run to Bend on Wednesday, so that’s why we missed
the meal. Upshot was that no surgery is indicated soon. Hallelujah! We
can have these senior columns.
Luke 2:38-40 “{Anna}…gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child
to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When
Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the
Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the
Child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the
grace of God was upon Him.”
Elliott, Isa Larkin, Louise Nelson and Katy Smith. Nancy led the flag
salute and Sherri gave her very thought provoking devotion and
prayers. Thanks again to Linda, more drawings and gifts. Vivian
Rookstool won the Valley View meal, Jeanette Julsrud won the
Chester’s Thriftway gift card and Dusty Harris won the special $15
gift from Chester’s Thriftway.
Our Senior Center Christmas Dinner was sponsored by Tootie
Cernazanu in memory of Jim. The menu included cranberry glazed
ham, scalloped potatoes, fresh oven roasted Brussel sprouts, with
sweet cranberries, onions and bacon topped with honey balsamic
sauce, homemade dinner rolls and fresh relish trays; our dessert was a
chocolate cheesecake! Along with your choice of drinks with eggnog
added for the holidays. Shay, Michelle, Veanne, Linda and Anne
worked tirelessly to present a wonderful celebration meal! It was a
very busy full house. In addition to the 96-seated guests, 42 regular
meals plus 40 frozen meals were delivered by Chet and Jeannie Day
and the Step Forward group. (The center was closed Monday, Dec. 24,
so the extra frozen meals covered those). One of our regular members,
Margie Conlee, took a very bad fall and we ask for your thoughts and
prayers for her.
Our many guests included Jason Walker, Vickie Stolle, Pam and
Everett King, and Paul and Michele Dieker (Michele is Kay Trafton’s
daughter). From Valley View, Kim, Randa, Chuck, Georgine, Helen,
Lois, Norma, Betty and daughter Pam, Shirley, Nancy and Ben! If I
failed to include you, please forgive me!
1 John 4:9 NIV “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent
His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”
meal tickets were won by Doug Sweek and Bob Yukawa.
There were 45 guests on the books and 16 takeouts. We had Dick
Wanous and his friend Sharon from Spray join us for lunch.
Betty Richards is back home and is still recovering; we are glad to
have her back. Bruce Strange is also back from the hospital from a
bout of pneumonia and is recovering at home. We pray for all our
friends having health issues for a full recovery.
There is bingo going on for Saturday, Dec. 29. The games will start at
6 p.m. and break for a potluck dinner after 10 games and then we will
play another 10 games; I might try my hand at it again.
There’s some snow on the ground in parts of Monument, PTL! We
also got some rain; we are supposed to have snow and rain in the
forecast this week. I am praying that the Lord continues to bless our
little valley with more moisture.
We as a family are having a very low-key Christmas this year. I gotta
go and dig out the Christmas movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life” and
watch it with my family. We are going to try and make some cookies
too.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. May the Lord bless your
families with His peace and joy. Our hope comes from the Savior
Jesus who came to us as a helpless babe. He came to set us free from
our sins. What a glorious gift from our heavenly Father!
Luke 1:76-77 “And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the
Highest: For thou shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare His
ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission
of their sins.”
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