COMMUNITY
MyEagleNews.com
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.
Wednesday, Dec. 11
Blood drive
• 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Prairie City School gymnasium
To schedule an appointment, contact Aleah Johns at Ale-
ahjohns29@gmail.com.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
A7
WHAT’S
HAPPENING
Friday, Dec. 13
‘A Gingerbread Christmas Party’
• 2 p.m., Blue Mountain Care Center dining area, Prai-
rie City
Blue Mountain Care Center invites community members
to attend.
Contributed photo
Joel Coombs, top, accompanies the junior guitar group at
the Youth Arts Program concert in 2018 at the John Day Unit-
ed Methodist Church.
Friday-Saturday, Dec. 13-14
‘Best Christmas Pageant Ever’
• 7 p.m. Friday, Canyon City Community Hall
• 2 p.m. Saturday, Canyon City Community Hall
The Youth Arts Program pageant costs $2 for children 12
and under, $3 for teens and adults (13 and up) or $5 for a
family.
Saturday, Dec. 14
Winter Festival
• 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dayville Community Hall
Crafts, food and fun will be offered with several vendors.
Timber Truckers Light Parade
• 6 p.m., downtown John Day
The theme for this year’s parade is “A Storybook Christ-
mas.” A by-donation dinner will follow at the Elks Lodge.
Sunday, Dec. 15
Monument Christmas bazaar
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monument School gymnasium
Vendors will have items for sale.
Monument tree-lighting ceremony
• 4:30-5 p.m., Monument city park
Hot cocoa will be served during the tree-lighting
ceremony.
Grant County Fair and Rodeo Court coronation
• 5 p.m., Grant County Fairgrounds, Trowbridge Pavilion
Queen Kelsei Kiser and Princess Katelyn Barker, along
with outgoing 2019 Grant County Fair & Rodeo Court
Eagle file photo
The 2020 Grant County Fair and Rodeo court, from left, 2020
Queen Kelsei Kiser of Fox Valley and 2020 Princess Katie
Barker of Dayville, pose with 2019 Queen Courtney Nichols
of Dayville.
Queen Courtney Nichols, will attend this year’s coronation
dinner. Kathy Moss will perform. The dinner costs $15 per
person or $25 per couple.
Wednesday, Dec. 18
Grant County Food Bank distribution
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Grant County Food Bank, John Day
Food will be distributed one week early because of the
holiday.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Santa Claus waves to the crowds as the 2018 Timber Truckers
parade ran down Main Street in John Day on Dec. 8.
Timber Truckers parade marking new chapter in its ‘Storybook Christmas’
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Christmas lights and vehi-
cles will come together to
stroll down Main Street in
John Day for the 26th annual
Timber Truckers Light
Parade at 6 p.m. Saturday,
Dec. 14.
The theme is “A Story-
book Christmas.”
“The festival started out
as a way to acknowledge the
timber industry that has been
very important over the years
in Grant County,” said Leslie
Traylor, the president of the
Timber Truckers committee.
About 125 trucks drove
during the first parade on
Dec. 11, 1993, which was
organized by D.R. John-
son. A decrease in the timber
industry affected the amount
of timber trucks that par-
ticipated, so the committee
diversified the people who
can participate.
“If individuals wanted to
enter and they had a pickup
and wanted to decorate for
their family, they would
Eagle file photo
Iron Triangle Logging trucks carrying post and poles from
Seneca appeared in the 2018 Timber Truckers parade in John
Day on Dec. 8.
Leslie Traylor has headed up
organization of the Timber
Truckers parade in John Day
for 18 years.
started the parade, and D.R.
Johnson’s office is still very
supportive of the event. It’s
always going to be Timber
Truckers Parade.”
Drivers can enter in four
categories: farm and ranch,
timber, commercial, and
community.
Planning for the parade
began on Oct. 1 with com-
mittee members picking a
theme and sending out letters
to merchants. City merchants
make donations that are used
as prizes for the participants
in the parade.
“These guys that decorate
their vehicles are doing it in
December, and a lot of them
Eagle file photo
have an opportunity, and we
also have some churches and
community
organizations
participate in the commu-
nity category,” Traylor said.
“Somebody told me, ‘Why
don’t you change the name of
the event from Timber Truck-
ers to a Christmas Parade?’
It was a timber industry that
don’t have shops to do it in
and it’s cold,” Traylor said.
“After the parade, we have
a dinner and an award cere-
mony, and this is where driv-
ers get really cool prizes that
are donated by merchants,
or the committee buys gifts
through donations.”
When drivers sign up for
the parade, they submit their
name into a drawing. If any
women or children helped
decorate, they are also put
into a raffle for prizes.
Vehicles are also judged
in each of the four catego-
ries with first place winning
$200, second place $100 and
third place $50. After a win-
ner is decided in each cat-
egory, a sweepstakes win-
ner is decided for a prize that
changes every year. Orga-
nizing this event requires an
abundant amount of time and
planning but comes with a
payoff that is priceless.
“Especially during the last
couple of days going into the
event, we are running around
trying to collect donations
and following up,” said Tray-
lor. “We then spend several
hours at the Elks club deco-
rating the place, and then we
go down to where the drivers
register. 6 o’clock comes and
you’re exhausted, but all you
have to do is drive into town
and see all the cars, people
and kids lined up to see the
start of the Christmas season.
It makes everything worth
it.”
People interested in driv-
ing in the parade can pre-
register at John Day Auto
Napa, Bank of Eastern Ore-
gon or at the city of John Day
with a $10 entry fee. Partic-
ipants can also enroll on the
day of the event at Iron Trian-
gle, formerly known as Grant
Western, from 3-5:30 p.m.
When participating, peo-
ple are not allowed to throw
candy. Vehicles must be fully
decorated, and no motorcy-
cles are allowed.
Everyone is invited to the
John Day Elks Lodge for a
dinner by Elks members after
the parade ends. The dinner
will be free, but donations
will be accepted.
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