A8
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Former Grant Union student offers web development, design
Harsh Patel works
through local economic
development office
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day resident Harsh Patel,
a former Grant Union student and
recent Boston University graduate,
is jumping into real-world entre-
preneurial experiences.
Patel, who earned a bache-
lor’s degree in computer science,
accepted a software engineering
position with Amazon in Seattle.
But he is still keeping roots — and
doing work — in John Day.
While attending the June 20
Grant County Chamber of Com-
Angel Carpenter/Blue Mountain Eagle
Harsh Patel, a former Grant
Union student and recent Boston
University graduate, is offering
web design for clients through
the Grant County Economic
Development Office.
merce meeting, Patel immediately
picked up a couple of jobs, provid-
ing web development and design
expertise for the Grant County Eco-
nomic Development office in John
Day.
He’s currently working with
Chris Labhart on Kam Wah Chung
& Co. museum’s website and Gor-
don and Julie Larson on their Berry
Creek Ranch website, helping
revamp their home pages.
Patel’s parents Rakesh and
Jyotsna Patel, who own Dreamers
Lodge in John Day, also have a new
website for their motel courtesy of
their son.
Harsh said he wants to offer
“affordable solutions for building
websites and hosting.” His services
include domain hosting, SSL secu-
rity for websites, logo design and
automating tasks, including punch-
ing hours for time cards.
He’s also interested in holding
Motorcyclist killed in crash north of Mitchell
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
A 48-year-old man
from Madras died July 22
in a single-vehicle crash
on Highway 207 north of
Mitchell.
Oregon State Police
responded to the scene
about 7:30 p.m.
A northbound black
2017 Harley Davidson
motorcycle operated by
Christopher Jones report-
edly left the highway for
unknown reasons at a cor-
ner and crashed.
Jones sustained fatal
injuries and was pro-
nounced dead at the
scene. State troopers were
assisted by the Wheeler
County Sheriff’s Office,
Spray ambulance and
Oregon Department of
Transportation.
O utlook
workshops on coding for young stu-
dents and adults.
While attending Boston Uni-
versity, Patel took part in hack-
athon events at MIT, Harvard and
Rice University, in which computer
programming students and others
involved with software development
work intensively in teams, creating
software projects.
In 2017, Patel collaborated with
two other students at an intercol-
legiate entrepreneurship competi-
tion called TigerLaunch at Princeton
University in New Jersey.
The team created an upgraded
water-dispensing machine called
Drop: Trusted H20, aimed at provid-
ing clean drinking water while reduc-
ing the demand on plastic water bot-
tles in developing countries. Three
of the team’s machines are operating
in rural parts of Thailand.
Patel said he plans to return to
John Day from Seattle as frequently
as possible, which he said will give
him the opportunity to help his par-
ents with their motel.
He said he’s impressed with the
improvement and development
plans for John Day that were dis-
cussed at the June chamber meeting.
“I’m all in support of it and can
do their tech work, if needed,”
Patel said. “I’m excited to be back
in John Day.”
For more information about
Patel’s web development services,
call 541-279-7296. He meets with
clients by phone and, when he’s
in town, in a conference room at
the economic development office
located at 530 E Main Street, Suite
4, in John Day.
Injury prevention clinic offered for high school athletes
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County high
school athletes and coaches
can learn from an expert at
an injury prevention clinic at
7 p.m. Friday, July 26, at the
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School track complex.
Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal physical therapist Elliot
Sky will test and provide
training for the athletes to
improve their jump explo-
siveness and injury preven-
tion drills.
Sky will also follow up
with the athletes in four
to six weeks to see their
improvements.
Grant Union athletic
director Sonna Smith
encourages coaches to
share the information with
their athletes.
“This is an invaluable
resource he is providing the
community free of charge,”
Smith said.
SENI R
PRAIRIE CITY –
We had a great meal for
the middle of July! If
you missed it, you
really missed
something. Amber and
Lacy did a super job on
Rose Coombs
the spare ribs, macaroni
salad, coleslaw and
chocolate cookies.
Extra-added attractions were rolls and watermelon. Mmmm, good.
Drew led the flag salute and Jack asked the blessing. Nadine Smith won
the gift certificate donated by Chuck’s Little Diner. Carlos and Luann
took care of the home deliveries. All of our usual volunteers were
taking care of lots of other things: Pam at the desk, Carol on the table
settings, Delores on the announcements and Alex on the broom. Thanks
so much for all the help. Lorna and Mariah brought Marilyn Randall
and Gordon Sindt from the Blue Mountain Care Center.
The word(s) for the day: A friend is God’s way of proving He
doesn’t want us to walk alone! So bring a friend to lunch… As the
saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men do often go awry.
We were all set up to go to Portland for Agata’s naturalization
ceremony. Then I got sick. But I have all the information about it so
hang on. The ceremony invitation that all prospective citizens received
said that they should be at the courthouse in downtown Portland at
10:30 a.m. So they got there in plenty of time to allow for trips to the
restroom beforehand. The courtroom that they had to go to was on the
16th floor and there were signs all over about turning off the cell phones
and no photos in the courtroom. Well, phooey. They found a place to sit
and wait. An official read the names of all 50 of the people who had
come to be naturalized. When you heard your name, you go up to
another official and surrender your green card and get a piece of paper
with the oath, pledge and national anthem on it. Then you sit and wait
until all have been called. Then the judge asked each one to stand and
say their first name and country they came from, and stay standing.
When all had done that, then all repeated the oath and pledge and then
sang the first verse of the national anthem – a cappella! Then everyone
sat down again. Then the official explained how to get to the other
official who had each person’s naturalization certificate. After you got
that, then you could get a photo with the judge (!?). One of Agata’s
friends got to the courtroom late and did not hear all the admonitions to
turn off the cellphones and take no pictures. So she recorded the whole
thing, so we do have photos! After Agata got home and looked at her
packet of New Citizen Information, she discovered that she has to sign
her certificate to make it legal. So there you go; now you know how it
works.
When she was studying the test book, I said that I thought every high
school graduate should take the same test. In fact, to carry it one step
further, I think that you should be able to pass this test before you can
register to vote!
Gal. 6:4-5 “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take
pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each
one should carry his own load.”
JOHN DAY - August is
almost upon us! We have
had an amazing summer so
far, haven’t you? This
summer has been flying by
so fast, I can hardly believe
it! Where has this year
Dusty Harris
gone? Wasn’t it just
January? And now they’re
talking Christmas in July? Wowza, certainly didn’t expect that. It will be
on the 25th and we are all looking forward to it; remember to sign up give
us a call!
On Thursday, July 18, the Blue Mountain Hospital District Physical
Therapy department joined us for lunch. They let us know exactly what it
is they do as well as informed us of a new therapy they just added: speech.
It was so nice to learn all this information and to know what all they do.
They brought several gift for the people and we would like to thank them
from the bottom of our hearts. All of you are so amazing and wonderful,
thank you.
There were 31 frozen and 24 regular meals delivered by Veann and
Laura and the crew at Step Forward. Our greeters were Everette and
Darlene who are always up to the task. Our delicious lunch was chef
salad, chicken soup, cottage cheese and pistachio cake with strawberries
for dessert. Bob won the gift card donated by Len’s Drug and Andra won
the free meal. As always, congratulations. The meal was served by our
friends from the First Christian Church. We thank you for serving us great
food and providing your lovely company.
Finally mowed the lawn and weed whacked around the fence line.
Sprayed some weeds too in hopes of them being gone soon. We’ll see
how much of a change there is within the next week. I also tore all those
pesky dandelions out of my flowerbed so it is now looking pristine
again. I’m too scared to spray around all my beautiful flowers! If they
died before this fall all this hard work this summer would have been for
not.
There were 34 total meals delivered by Dennis and Linda Dickason
as well as the team at Step Forward. We couldn’t do what we do without
our faithful delivery teams and we thank you greatly for that. Darlene
and Gregg were our greeters and are so welcoming each and every time
they are there. Our lunch was sponsored by Riverside Mobile Park and
served by the United Methodist Church. Lunch was delicious and
consisted of lasagna, green salad, veggies, garlic toast and tapioca for
dessert. Yummy, yummy; so good! Tray won the sundae donated by
Dairy Queen and Bill won the free meal.
The Lord has seen fit to bless us with brilliant sunshine that
outweighs the rain as of late. It has definitely been a relief on those of us
who don’t care much for the rain. I like my fair share mainly for reading
inside or watching a movie but during the day when I actually want to
be outside doing things? I don’t think so.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD
make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; the LORD lift up
His countenance on you, And give you peace.”
Prairie City
Seniors
John Day
Seniors
MONUMENT - I can’t
believe that I missed this
meal. I heard from
everyone that the meatloaf
was fantastic. Yes, I was
not present for this week’s
lunch because I had to go
Soo Yukawa
into town. Along with the
yummy meatloaf,
everyone was served mash
potatoes and gravy, green beans, dinner rolls and fruit cobbler for dessert.
Boo hoo, and I was gone. This great meal was prepared by Terry Cade and
Carrie Jewell, thank you both.
The greeters at the table were Jimmy Cole, Linda Blakeslee and Kristi
Guimont. Jimmy and Linda collected and counted the money. Kristi
checked in the guests and wrote down the announcements. Bodean led the
flag salute, made the announcements and prayed the blessing over the
meal.
There were 54 guests on the books and eight takeouts. Rusty Baughman
and Sylvia Cockrell were the winners of the free meal tickets. Laura
Andersen was the lucky winner for the Len’s Drug gift card. There were
some ladies who joined the Tuesday lunch. Sandra Lewis came from
Chico, California, Sally Lewis came from Los Angeles, California and
James Lewis came from Seattle, Washington. I’m pretty sure our guests
enjoyed themselves and had a lovely meal.
Jerry Cowger’s service will be this coming Saturday, July 27, at 11 a.m.
It will be at the Monument Senior Center and followed by a potluck dinner
right after. There was a condolence card that was passed around to be
signed by all for Dinah. We pray for her and all Jerry’s family. May the
Monument
Seniors
Lord comfort all of them at this difficult time. He will be missed.
The Monument Senior Center election results are as follows: Dallas
Helsley, Jimmy Cole and Karen Stubblefield. We congratulate each of
these individuals who have decided to serve our senior center and
community.
Don’t forget that there is a firearm raffle going on. There is also
Pendleton Roundup raffle tickets being sold by Judy Harris. The tickets
for the raffles are $1 each or six tickets for $5. The winner of the
firearm raffle will be drawn at the Buckaroo festival in September. The
Roundup raffle will be drawn August 15. You need not be present to
win.
Mark your calendar for the last Saturday of the month of July for
Bingo. Bingo starts at 6 p.m. and they play ten games. Then there is a
potluck dinner shared. After the dinner, they play ten more games.
Come join the fun, you could be a lucky winner.
I have a shout out of thank yous to Bruce Hansen from the senior
center in Spray and from their chairman, Jimmy Tankerslee for their
wonderful and cushy chairs. They were most grateful for the chairs and
send their warmest greetings.
All this information was gathered for me to make this article possible
by my good friend Kristi Guimont. Thank you Kristi for your help!
Well, folks, the last month of summer break is approaching. What? So
quick! I know, right? I swear that time is speeding up. But I am
thankful that the summer has been pretty mild so far.
1 Peter 3:22 “Who is gone unto heaven, and is at the right hand of
God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto
Him.”
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