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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2019)
A8 BUSINESS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 24, 2019 GREAT ideas for the local economy By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Resource Enhancement Action Team remains active in the community after a quarter-century support- ing local businesses and entrepreneurs. Incorporated in 1992 as the Upper John Day Com- munity Development Corpo- ration, the nonprofit organi- zation later changed its name to GREAT. The organization started out handling capacity-build- ing grants that were used to fund an economic develop- ment coordinator, Treasurer Eagle file photos King Williams said. The county took over that posi- GREAT serves as the fiscal agent for the Saturday farmers market in John Day. tion in 2012. GREAT’s 19-member members to vote by email, The impact of one new profits, such as the John Day board includes represen- Williams said. job here is like 250 in west- Farmers Market and the John tatives from Grant Coun- The organization’s vision ern Oregon’s urban areas, Day Community Garden. ty’s nine cities, the cham- is to be a catalyst to build- Williams said, noting that The group provided $1,000 ber of commerce, county ing a strong diversified local former Grant County Eco- to the garden in 2010 to final- court, state and federal agen- economy, and its mission nomic Development Coor- ize city water service. It also cies and professionals from is to increase and enhance dinator Sally Bartlett’s mis- arranged for $4,900 in fund- agriculture, timber and edu- the economic stability of sion was adding “one job at ing for the David Romprey cation. Getting a quorum at Grant County by attract- a time.” Oregon Warmline telephone meetings sometimes can be ing, retaining and expanding GREAT often serves as counseling service. difficult, so the bylaws allow businesses. The organization also a fiscal agent for small non- O utlook acted as the fiscal agent for $50,000 in funding for con- struction of the Prospector Trail along Canyon Creek through sale of a house donated by Wells Fargo in 2010. The goal was to pro- vide a safe route for school- children, Williams said. GREAT also has served as a fiscal agent for startups, such as the Blue Mountains Forest Partners. In 2009, GREAT asked Congress to appropriate $7.7 million for restoration and hazard fuels reduction projects on 400,000 acres of the Malheur National Forest and another $2 million for the heritage, botanical and road access studies or surveys needed for the stewardship projects. Blue Mountains Forest Part- ners is now a registered non- profit and no longer needs a fiscal agent, Williams said. Progress is sometimes slow. In 2001, GREAT was awarded $133,500 by the Forest Service to purchase mill equipment to prove val- ue-added use and market viability of small-diameter wood products. The doweling machine, however, lay dormant due to a shortage of needed For- est Service timber sales, Williams said. Iron Trian- gle acquired the machine in 2017, and it was put to work in Seneca making fence posts as it was originally intended, he said. GREAT also finds fund- ing for economic studies. In 2001, it received $28,155 from the Forest Service to develop a final market- ing plan aimed at increas- ing winter tourism in Grant County. GREAT hired Green & Christofferson Market- ing of Enterprise to write the report. In 2010, GREAT expanded its micro-loan pro- gram to assist local busi- ness startups from $2,500 to $5,000. Beneficiaries of the program over the years include a woman who started a medical transcription busi- ness and David Irwin, the owner of Environmental Measurement in Mt. Ver- non, which manufactured the ThermaFan woodstove fan kit. SENI R PRAIRIE CITY – Welcome to spring in Grant County! One week two feet of snow and the next week all the creeks are over their Rose Coombs banks. After that we have 75 degree days to get everyone excited about yard work only to have it rain the next day; typical Grant County weather. For you newcomers, we have two adages: always take a jacket and if you don’t like the weather wait a minute… The spring flowers are all a-bloomin’ and the bees are a-buzzin’. Nephew Ivan gave us a bouquet of beautiful and fragrant daffodils from his yard, thanks so much; their sweet scent filled the house. Jay Colson led the flag salute and Tom Roark asked the blessing. Carlos and Jay made the home deliveries and Bonnie Lake was the winner of the gift certificate donated by Chuck’s Little Diner. The ham for our Easter meal today was donated by Huffman’s Market as part of our entrée program. Thank you, Blaine and staff, it was delicious! Along with the ham, we had scalloped potatoes, carrots, deviled eggs, Jell-O with cherries, a roll and muddy buddies for dessert. Now, I had never heard of muddy buddies, but lots of others had. Must be a new item from the recent past… like 25 years ago, ahem. Before we sat down to eat, we had an Easter egg hunt. Tom had hidden little plastic eggs all over the dining room and library. He said, “Why should the kids have all the fun?” You should have seen them rushing about as all and sundry jumped up and started grabbing eggs. Tom had put little candies inside of them, so you got rewarded for finding them. Lots of fun. Bob Meador has returned from his winter in the south and a newcomer to our area is Dennis Scott who has joined us for the last couple weeks, welcome to you both. We were blessed to have son number one and family join us for Easter weekend. They took a scenic route through Maupin and Antelope and encountered a big thunderstorm in that area. There certainly is a difference between a gentle shower and a ‘gully-washer’. Kind of took the fun out of the trip, but it is one that they will remember. Got a new book at a thrift shop entitled “The Long Road to Lonesomeville.” It’s about old towns in Eastern Oregon that boomed back in the late 1800s and up to the mid 1900s but slowly lost population due to ‘modernity.’ But those places are attracting new residents precisely because of that. Kind of like Prairie City; new people come in because they like the slower pace of life and the friendliness of the people. Even my father’s hometown was mentioned – Drewsey. The old general store that was there reminds me of how Amazon works today: you could get anything you wanted there. We came back through there after our honeymoon in Northern California 58 years ago and the owner/manager, Sam Burt, who had known me since I was born, gave us a handmade wooden paddle for future use on children, quite a wedding gift! Prov. 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” JOHN DAY – What a glorious Easter Sunday He truly blessed us with. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and only a slight breeze was present! It’s Dusty Harris hard to believe that we are already at the end of April… time flies when you’re having fun I guess! On April 15 our greeter was Ron Dowse and there were 39 regular and 40 frozen meals delivered by the lovely team at Step Forward. This time, our meal was served by the wonderful volunteers from First Christian Church; we thank all of you! Yao was our winner of the gift card donated by Len’s Drug and yours truly won the two free meals! Speaking of meals, our meal was breakfast, which consisted of biscuits with sausage gravy, hash browns, link sausages and fruit salad for dessert. On April 18 our greeters were Gregg, Bonnie and Jeanette and we had 49 total meals delivered by Linda and Dennis Dickerson, and Joel and Joan Tayles. The meal was served by our great volunteers from the Methodist Church with M.D. Enterprizes donating the meal; thank you for all your compassion toward us! We had an Easter hat contest, which was very fun, and Marllie Mediger won the large rabbit; she had cute little lights on her hat and it was oh-so-cute! We also had some little stuffed rabbits to give away as door prizes and they were won by Billie Bullard, Jean Willey, Bob Meader, Jay Colson, Tom Roark, Barbara Pollack, Ron Dowse, and Kim Ausland who gave hers to Louise. Congratulations to all our lucky winners! For Easter dinner we had glazed ham, creamy potatoes with peas, maple carrots, relish trays, French bread and honey nut crispies for dessert. As always, our lovely cooks, Shay and Barbara, outdid themselves and we are so thankful for them! On Wednesday, May 15, from noon to 4 p.m., there is a Living with Alzheimer’s seminar for caregivers at DHS in John Day. We are so blessed to live in this community and have such wonderful folks attending our senior meals each week. Daniel 2:20 “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.” Prairie City Seniors John Day Seniors MONUMENT – We had a special Easter meal that was served, compliments of Larry Vogt and Pam Callahan. Our cooks were Terry Cade and Teawna Soo Yukawa Jewell. The meal served was baked ham, scalloped potatoes, carrots, dinner rolls and Easter cake. Sounded delish right, well, so did 60 other guests on the books. Then there were fourteen takeout’s. The cooks were very busy; we thank them for their hard work. I’m not sure I have all my details right; I was not present at the Easter dinner. I was home sick and in misery. Ha. Seriously, I was not well at all and thank the Lord I finally got over it. I don’t know if I had the flu, or stomach virus, or what, but I did not step a toenail out the door for five days. So, bear with me while I try and write from the written notes of my kind husband who tried to write everything for me. The North Fork Café has new hours starting April 17-May 21. They will be open from Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. They also have a new menu with new items like the “take & bake” pizza. There will be a memorial service for Janet Engle Hardin on Saturday, April 27 at noon with a potluck to follow at the Monument Senior Center. There will also be a celebration of life for Joanie Howell on the same day, Monument Seniors Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. It will be held at the Monument City Park with a potluck to follow. On May 4, the Monument SKILS USA, high school organization will be having a trap shoot to help raise funds for their trip to Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. They will be having a taco feed, dessert auction, silent auction, and have a raffle for a beautiful knife. Please come and show your support. Again, on the same day, you can make your rounds and not have to cook all day; there will be the EMT Cinco De Mayo Fiesta dinner. There are two seating times, 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. The menu will be selected by Sylvia Cockrell. There is also a raffle for a Traeger Smoker and there will be a dessert auction and silent auction. If you would like to make a donation, please contact Rose Howe. Lastly, the Third Annual Senior Center Rummage Sale is set for June 14, 15, and 16. A huge amount of items will be there and I’m sure you will find something you never knew you needed. Ha. Well, we got baby goats! My sweet Bonnie had twin boys! Sherry Allen of the Monument RV Park helped me name them. They are Chip and Dale, cute huh? Dolly had her twin girls two days later. My kiddos wanted to name them; they are Chevre and Frita. Both sets have one with ears and one with no ears. They are adorable and I’ve already banded the boys; they are over a week old now. Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise Him.” 116580
