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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, July 31, 2019 COMMUNITY The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Friday. Call the Eagle, 541-575-0710, or email editor@bmeagle. com. For meetings this week, see our list in the classifieds. Friday, Aug. 2 First Friday • 6-9 p.m., downtown John Day This month’s theme is “Art Walk.” Art will be displayed in participating businesses. Food and beverages will be available as well as a chance to meet the artists. For more information, visit the Downtown John Day First Fridays Facebook page. A7 WHAT’S HAPPENING Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 3-4 Cinnabar Mountain Playdays youth rodeo • 8 a.m., Grant County Fairgrounds Entries begin at 8 a.m., followed by the youth rodeo at 9 a.m. Event will feature barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, dummy roping, keyhole race, flag race and figure 8. Memberships are $30 per person or $45 per family and are required to participate. Entry fees are $2 per event or $10 per day. The event is open to all children up to the age of 18. For more information, contact Emma Winkelman at 541-620- 1199, Tiffnie Schmadeka at 541-620-2881 or Nicole Israel at 541-620-2624. The Eagle/Richard Hanners Left to right, Kara Hansen, Mordecai Soupir, Wyatt Hansen and Zoey Rookstool eagerly wait for the start of the Grant County Fair Kids Parade in 2018. Wednesday, Aug. 7 Tai chi in the park • 6:30-7:30 p.m., John Day City Park Short tai chi form for relaxation and balance is suitable for beginners and those with previous tai chi experience. The class meets Wednesday evenings in August. For more information, call Kyle Cline at 541-575-1011 or visit simplytao.com. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 9-10 NPRA Rodeo • 7-9:30 p.m., Grant County Fairgrounds outdoor arena Admission is $10, $5 for ages 6-12, $2 for seniors 65 and older and children age 6 and under get in free. The NPRA Rodeo Queens Dance will follow after Saturday’s performance. For more information, call the fair office at 541-575-1900. Sunday, Aug. 11 Grant County Fair Junior Rodeo • 9:30 a.m., Grant County Fairgrounds outdoor arena The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Steer wrestler Tucker Wright of Canyon City, right, goes after it for first place with hazer Steve Currin at the 2018 NPRA Rodeo at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Youth rodeo contestants, ages 16 and under, from across the Pacific Northwest will compete in calf riding, steer rid- ing, woolly bullies, dummy roping, breakaway roping, chute dogging, pole bending, barrel racing and goat tying events. Contestants must have preregistered online by Aug. 8 at https://bit.ly/2ya3xDl. Detailed event information is online as well. Stickhorse racers need not preregister. Free specta- tor admittance. Wednesday-Saturday, Aug. 14-17 110th Grant County Fair • 9 a.m., Grant County Fairgrounds Grand marshals are Dean and Joyce Nodine. The event includes 4-H and FFA static and livestock shows, Fiber Fest draws 30 vendors, visitors aplenty to Prairie City By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The long-awaited Fiber Fest arrived Saturday and Sunday in Prairie City with 30 vendors and visitors aplenty. Led by event director Ginger Shive of Prairie City, a group of several volunteers spent a year and a half plan- ning the event that featured woolen wares and demon- strations on techniques in cleaning wool, spinning, as well as creating useful and beautiful items. Spinners were at work while selling rugs, blankets, hats, socks, scarves, sweat- ers, stuffed animals and more. Others were demonstrat- ing their craft, including Judy Taylor of Little House Rugs in Auburn, Washing- ton, who showed how she hooks rugs. “They’ll last 100 years,” she said, noting the rugs are sturdy and are easy to repair — “easier than orien- tal rugs.” Her wool comes from Jacob sheep and Angora goats, and she dyes the wool and creates her own designs. Teresa Southworth of Seneca demonstrated how she skirts wool, which is a cleaning process to remove vegetable matter from the fibers using a mesh skirting table. It is then bagged for sale, and the buyers wash the wool. She said she was pleased with the Fiber Fest. “I usually have to drive five or six hours to a fiber festival,” she said. “It’s a great venue.” Shive said she and the Fiber Fest board plan to keep the local festival to 50 vendors. She said other events in larger cities may have as many as 200 vendors, and it’s easy to get lost in that type of crowd with not many visitors stopping at your booth. The main volunteers, working with Shive, were Debbie Emmel oversee- ing livestock; Taci Phil- brook over vendors, food and fiber; and Anna Smith over accommodations and logistics. Shive said she’s been involved in fiber arts since the 1960s. Right now, the Fiber Fest operates as a nonprofit under GREAT. She said she plans open class exhibits, food vendors, commercial vendors, a carnival and entertainment. The ranch breakfast is from 7-9 a.m. Friday. Parmalee will perform at 7 p.m. Friday. The Grant County Fair parade is at 11 a.m. Saturday. The 4-H/FFA livestock auction takes place at 4 p.m. Satur- day. Freestyle bullfighting takes place at 8 p.m. Satur- day. Admission is free Wednesday. Other days cost $5, or $2 for seniors and children 6-12. Children 5 and younger get in free. For more information, contact Fair Manager Mindy Winegar at 541-575-1900 or winegarm@grant- county-or.gov. Saturday, Aug. 17 ‘EXPLORE: Fly Fishing’ class • 10-11:30 a.m., Seventh Street Complex, John Day The North Fork John Day Watershed Council is sponsor- ing an introductory lesson to fly fishing. The basics, includ- ing an introduction to fly casting with a fly rod and techniques and flies used to catch different species, will be taught. At the end of the lesson, the class will compete in a casting com- petition for a chance to win hand-tied flies. Adults cost $12, and ages 10-17 are free. To purchase tickets, visit https:// bmlt.org/events/fly-fishing-john-day-2019-yn299. For more information, contact Genevieve Perdue at genevieve@bmlt. org or 541-620-5754. Cowboy roots honored with community concert Joni Harms, Brenn Hill sing, Andy Nelson shares humor of the West By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Teresa Southworth demonstrates how she ‘skirts’ the wool before she bags it for sale on Saturday at the Fiber Fest in Prairie City. Skirting, which removes any vegetable matter from the wool, is done on the mesh skirting table. MJ Snyder of Mt. Vernon and her helper Crystal Wimberley of Canyon City show Snyder’s French Angora bunnies she had for sale at the Fiber Fest on Saturday in Prairie City. The heritage of cow- boys and cowgirls was the highlight of a commu- nity concert held Saturday evening at the Prairie City School athletic field. Music from Joni Harms of Canby and Brenn Hill of Hooper, Utah, as well as the humor and wit behind Andy Nelson’s (Pinedale, Wyoming) cowboy poetry held the crowd of 150- plus in rapt attention as they lounged on the field in camp chairs or on blankets. Among Harms’ selec- tions was a song she wrote called “Cowboy Up” — “It’s the only way to go when you bite the dust, the tough get going when the going gets tough” she sang. Andy Nelson’s poetry about the “Endangered Cowboy” likely struck a chord with several ranch- ing families in the audi- ence. Another poem about what might happen if dogs, including border collies, shelties and catahoulas, took over the ranch, had the crowd in stitches. Brenn Hill sang some “cowgirl power songs,” including “Buckaroo Tat- The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Joni Harms of Canby sings at the Community Concert in Prairie City Saturday, honoring National Day of the Cowboy. too” and “Barrel Racing Angel.” He also dedicated a song to the McCosker family, a hunting song called “My Time to Kill.” Cowboy poet Kathy Moss shared the stage for a moment with a poem called “The KT Diner.” Moss and Wanda Win- egar of Bar W-B, both Prairie City residents, organized the concert for National Day of the Cowboy. The proceeds of the event, which had a by-do- nation admission, will benefit the International Western Music Associ- ation Columbia Chapter youth poetry and music program. Join our School Today Little woolen animals from Fir Acre Farms were among the many unique items available at the Fiber Fest. to create a Fiber Fest foun- dation, and the proceeds from this year’s event and future events will all go toward Grant County 4-H and FFA programs. “It’s to benefit the kids of Grant County,” she said. She’s especially inter- ested in seeing more sheep at the county fair, and has proposed using some of the proceeds to buy sheep for 4-H and FFA youths. Shive said not many sheep are shown at the fair, and noted that there are not many sheep shearers in the area. One idea that has been considered by the fiber fest group is buying shears, which are expensive, for the programs and having an expert visit and teach shear- ing to the chapters, she said. She said youths can sell sheep at the fair or start a flock, and their knowledge of shearing could lead to a possible occupation. Their sheep could also be sold at the Fiber Fest. “I hope the community gets behind this and we see more sheep at the fair,” Shive said. Love to Learn! Class sizes are limited Register before Tuesday, Sept.1 ENROLL TODAY SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Registrations being accepted for 2019-2020 We offer a high-quality school-readiness program for little learners. *Eligibility requirements apply. Pre-Kindergarten: 3 days a week, (T, W, TH) (AM) 8:15- 11:15, (PM) 12:15-3:15. Must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2019. Pre-School: 2 days a week, (T, TH or M, W) 8:15-10:45 am. Must be 3 years of age by Sept 1st, 2019. Office hours: Tues-Thurs 9:00 am-3:00 pm Summer hours: 9:00 am-1:00 pm SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 521 E Main Street John Day 541-575-1895 or 541-968-9865 office@ johndaynazarene. com 1330608
