A6
OUTDOORS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
When February ends
G
rab some tissues. This
one is going to be a
tear-jerker. Five years
ago, I lost a childhood friend
and hunting partner, Andy Starr.
We had known each other for
20 years. Having grown up
in the same small town, we
attended school together, par-
ticipated in athletics and spent a
lot of our free time in the outdoors
together.
In his family, there were four
boys. Andy was the oldest, and
he and I were the same age. The
summer I turned 9, we moved
to Spray, a small community in
Wheeler County. From my first
day of fourth grade on, Andy and
I were best friends. The memories
I could share here could go on and
on, but due to space constraints I
shall share but a few.
It was an experience shoot-
ing a coyote with his favorite .30-
06 rifle that ultimately led me
to search for and buy my own.
Each spring, we would hunt tur-
keys together. In the summer, we
would hunt varmints, go fishing
and, in the fall, join up for a deer,
bear or elk hunting. Andy liked to
save the fall hunts, as did I, to be
with his family. We often talked
politics, football, reloading, shoot-
ing, hunting and fishing. Andy
was very knowledgeable on these
subjects and many
others besides.
It was early
in 2013 when he
got married to his
lovely wife, Trin-
ity. They were to
start their great-
Dale Valade
est adventure
together. Only a
few months later, he called to tell
me that he had been sick and that
doctors had found a mass in his
gastrointestinal area. Optimistic as
always, he began treatments forth-
with. All that year as his health
began to deteriorate, his attitude
remained positive. He was scared,
and who wouldn’t be with the
thought of cashing in your chips
hanging constantly overhead.
Still, he never gave up hope.
I went to see him only once, as
I was living several hours away in
Idaho at the time. If I had known
it was the last time I would see
him, I would’ve spent more time
Contributed photo
Columnist Dale Valade and friend Andy Starr pose with a spike elk circa
2009. Starr passed away in February 2014.
with him that day, and many more
days besides. Isn’t that the mis-
ery of it, though: You don’t know
what you’ve got until it’s gone.
O utlook
Then it’s too late. His hair was
thin from the treatments, and he
had lost weight from not being
able to keep much down. Stal-
wart to the end, it was February of
2014, one day short of their first
anniversary, when Andy passed
away. He was 29 years old. He
never got to meet his daughter,
and she never will get to meet
him.
The heavens wept the day
we planted his mortal taberna-
cle. Many spoke at his funeral,
myself included. What do you say
on behalf of someone that meant
so much, and how do you sum up
a lifetime of memories in a few
minutes? Andy told me once that
“none of us is promised tomor-
row.” I’ve thought about that
sagacious oration many times.
All I can say is do the things that
count. Make those memories.
They’re all we have of each other
once we are called to glory. So
to paraphrase the words of Green
Day, “Wake me up when Febru-
ary ends.”
I will never forget you, Andy.
Feedback? Please shoot us an
email at shootingthebreezebme@
gmail.com.
Dale Valade is a local coun-
try gent with a deep love for hand-
loading, hunting and shooting.
SENI R
We want to express
our thankfulness to those
intrepid diners who
made their way through
the snowstorm to come
to the hall for a hot
Rose Coombs
meal; you are to be
congratulated for your
bravery. We postponed
the board meeting and Crish cancelled her tai chi class too. That’s the way
things go in the far, far west. But, we are also very thankful for the snow!
We are also grateful that it is not like the big storms that have been
blowing through the Midwest and Eastern parts of our great country. This
we can handle; I’m very grateful that the electricity hasn’t been off; God
is good, right?
Juan Rubio led the flag salute and Jack Retherford asked the
blessing, and Carlos and Jay did the home deliveries. We had 43 names on
the registration book this week! Juan was also the winner of the gift
certificate toward a meal donated by Chuck’s Little Diner.
The table that went first today has two purple hearts on it. Today,
Feb. 27, is February birthday recognition day; so, if your birthday is in
February, come and put your name in the pot. You could win the special
birthday gift donated by Huffman’s Market.
Our meal today was chicken chili, rice, creamed corn, a choice of a
Prairie City
Seniors
Holy winter!! I’m
beginning to think the
groundhog lied… these
winter storms are brutal. I’d
like to thank OTEC for
fixing the blackout on
Dusty Harris
Monday morning so
quickly; you guys are such a
blessing. On Feb. 18 our greeters were Everett, Gregg and Bonnie; always a
pleasure working with you guys. There were 37 regular and 36 frozen meals
delivered by David Gill and Rodney – looks like no one wants to go out in
these conditions. Thank you guys for courageously braving these harsh
conditions to deliver meals. For our President’s Day lunch we had chicken a
la king, fruit cocktail, a relish tray and amazing cinnamon rolls for dessert.
Volunteers from the First Christian Church served our dinner and boy-oh-
boy was it delicious! The Len’s Drug gift card was won by Nancy Elliott
and the free dinners were won by Jan; congratulations ladies!
On Feb. 21 our greeters were Jeanette and Gregg Starr. There were 51
total meals delivered by Shermayne Boethin and David Gill. This time, our
meal was served by volunteers from the United Methodist Church; it is so
nice seeing all of you who are so willing to help! Our meal was donated by
Buzz and Margaret Glass; thank you so much, dinner was very good! The
John Day
Seniors
How glorious it is to
have all this snow! Wow,
woke up Sunday morning
with at least a foot of snow
higher than the previous
day; praise our mighty God
Soo Yukawa
for His grace! Yes, we were
walking in snow that came
up to my knees. It’s the
perfect kind of snow to make snowmen, igloos, forts, and, of course,
snowballs. I just love that my kids are enjoying their childhood out here and
get to play with snow.
Our greeters at the table were Bodean Andersen, Linda Blakeslee and
Kristi Guimont. Bodean led us in the flag salute, made the announcements,
and prayed the blessing over our meal, and Linda and Kristi collected and
counted the money and checked in the guests.
According to the books, we had 52 guests present and five takeouts.
Some of the guests that we had were Mike Andersen from California (he is
the oldest son of Bodean), Dick and Pam Wanous from Spray, and Sharon
Livingston from Long Creek.
I have some very, very sad news if you haven’t heard already; Joanie
Howell has passed away. We pray for her family. They lost their grandpa last
year and their aunt very recently. May the Lord comfort them and give them
strength at this time.
Judy Harris had thank you cards from the Quilts of Valor and Sleep In
Monument
Seniors
sourdough, wheat or sesame – or was it poppy seed – bun. The dessert was
peanut butter cookies; warmed you up inside and out.
We have a new assistant cook in the person of Barbara Dole. She has
a person shadowing her for work-study, Lacy May-Philips. We welcome
these new faces to our hall.
Even the Blue Mountain Care Center was brave and brought Marilyn
Randall and Gordon Sindt over, courtesy of Lorna and Krystin.
Joel came and got the baseboards put back on in the kitchen so I had
no excuse to not get started on the “spring cleaning.” So I did; it took two
days, but I got the laundry room/back porch done. I even defrosted the
little freezer! I found a wasp in the bottom of it… hmmm. Anyway, I
didn’t find anything that I had lost, which is a good thing, I guess. Found
some items that could go somewhere else, though. So, one room down and
five to go (not including the attic; that’s a job for later in the year when the
temperature is a lot warmer).
As I was waiting for the pinochle players to come, I did some
shelving in the library. My goodness; what a great place to get some fine
reading material! I was amazed at the variety! There’s no reason to sit idle
and stare out the window when the library has such abundant selections. It
is a scientific fact that when you read the mine improves; so come and get
a bagful…
2 Corinthians 3:2,3 “You yourselves are our letter, written on our
hearts, known and read by everybody… written not with ink… (or) on
tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”
meal consisted of beef pot roast with roasted potatoes and carrots, pan
gravy, homemade bread and peach almond cobbler for dessert. Free meals
donated by the senior center were won by Toddy Stovell and Joe Phippen
won the dinners donated by Valley View Assisted Living. We had some
special door prize items this week; the guys were wearing scarves home;
Kim Ausstaud and Tony Cupalso took home a bear that was stuffed; and
Barb Polaback, Floyd and Everett took home plaques! Thanks to all who
were able to help with this week’s door prizes.
A bit of news, we are honored to have a new cook who is working
alongside Shay! Marchelle is an amazing cook who makes our desserts all
from scratch as well as items like bread, cinnamon rolls and great salads!
Sorry it took so long to tell everyone how amazing you are and how much
we appreciate all your hard work.
We live in a wonderful community; some of the residents donate
many things to help with hospital items, book and puzzles! Our newest
donors were Bob and Bryon, who donated western pocket books, and
Roy, who donated political books. One final thank you to everyone who
cares so much about our senior center and who do so much to help every
week; you all are such a gift to us, God bless you.
James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows.”
Heavenly Peace organizations. They were so grateful for all the quilts and
blankets that were made and donated to these organizations.
We want to recognize and thank Doug Sweek for his generous
donation of a new Singer sewing machine to our little sewing group. He
did much research to purchase just the right little and perfect machine.
May the Lord bless him for his thoughtfulness!
The winners of the free meal tickets went to Bob Blakeslee and
Yvonne Baughman, and Ed Falls won the Len’s Drug gift card. We thank
everyone for all their generous support.
Well, Jill had her babies. Unfortunately, none of them made it. I was
expecting her to have maybe around three? She actually had four! She had
them between the time I saw her in the morning and the afternoon. They
were just too small and I think so many overwhelmed her; I found one still
in its sac. One was alive and I tried to bring it into the house and warm it
up and fed it some milk but it was just too weak; it did not make it.
Sigh… oh well. I have never heard of a goat having four kids. Poor
Jill, having to carry so many babies, my goodness; I am sure she will be
having more in the future. I just hope it won’t be so many like this. She
seems to be doing well, but she did cry and was looking for her babies for
a couple of days, but she is ok now. Dolly and Bonnie will be having their
babies in May. That will be a much better scenario, I’m sure. It will be
nice and warm.
Isaiah 65:24 “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will
answer, And while they are speaking, I will hear.”
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