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