COMMUNITY & HISTORY
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
A7
OUT OF THE PAST
WHAT’S
HAPPENING
The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Fri-
day. Call the Eagle, 541-575-0710, or email editor@bmea-
gle.com. For meetings this week, see our list in the classifieds.
Thursday, Jan. 30
Grant County Republican Central Committee meeting
• 5:30-7 p.m. The Outpost Pizza, Pub & Grill, John Day
Special guests include circuit court judge candidates John
Lamborn, Jim Carpenter and Rob Raschio who will speak and
answer questions. The meeting is open to the public.
Grant School District Student Investment Account
meeting
• 6 p.m., Grant Union High School library
Everyone is welcome to provide input.
Saturday, Feb. 1
Blue Mountain Mule Deer Association dinner
• 4:30 p.m., Grant County Fairgrounds
The event begins at 4:30 p.m., and dinner is at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 8
Wyatt Simmons benefit dinner and silent auction
• 5 p.m., Mt. Vernon Community Hall
The event benefits Wyatt Simmons, a 6-year-old boy
from Mt Vernon, who is receiving treatment for kidney can-
cer in Portland. For more information, contact Allison at
530-520-0472.
Saturday, Feb. 15
Sweetheart shoot
• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kimberly Rock Products pit
A fundraiser for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Search
and Rescue, the shoot will also feature a raffle, baked goods
and concessions. Lunch will be available. For more informa-
tion, call 541-934-2143.
Sunday, Feb. 16
Prairie City Seniors potluck
• 1-3 p.m., Prairie City Senior Center
All are welcome to enjoy music, dancing and food. The
Old Time Fiddlers from Grant and Harney counties will pro-
vide music.
Saturday, Feb. 29
Seneca PTA bingo fun night
• 5-8 p.m., Seneca School gym
Food and prizes will be available. For more information,
contact Jessica Moore at 541-620-1640 or Dana McLean at
503-798-3249.
10 years ago
Stick horse rodeo on
tap
Cowboys and cow-
girls of all ages are invited
to family fun event, at the
annual stick horse Rodeo
and Chili feed, Satur-
day, Jan. 30, in the Seneca
School Gym. The chili feed,
which begins at noon, costs
$3 a person, for a bowl of
chili and corn bread.
The rodeo action starts
at 1 p.m.
Four events will be fea-
ture: Bronc riding, barrel
racing, pole bending and
the Calcutta barrel Race.
Participants are encour-
aged to wear their best
rodeo duds, but boots and
spurs must be left in the
bunk house. Only gym
shoes are allowed on the
gym floor. Entry forms
are at the school office
and library, and requested
back by Jan. 28. There’s a
fee of $2 per event (maxi-
mum of $15 per family) in
the following age groups:
Preschool-kindergarten;
Grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-12 and
adult.
Rodeo entries will be
accepted during the chili
feed, until 12:45 P.M. Par-
ticipants are encouraged
to bring their own stick
horses; the school has a
few available on loan. The
event is sponsored by the
Seneca School PTA.
10 years ago
Ready Set Sled
The Grant County
Snowballers are getting
ready to tout the state’s pre-
mier snowmobile region
with a bigger and better Sen-
eca Poker Ride next month.
Now they just need a lit-
tle more of the white stuff.
“We’re ready to go, but
we need a lot more snow
— so start dancing,” joked
Anthony Kodesh, Snowbal-
lers president.
The Seneca Poker Ride
is set for Feb. 7, 2009, and
organizers expect to see
more snow by the time of
Eagle file photo
From 10 years ago: The Grant County Snowballers are get-
ting ready to tout the state’s premier snowmobile region
with a bigger and better Seneca Poker Ride next month.
Eagle file photo
the ride. They have a con-
tingency plan just in case.
If there’s not enough snow
in Seneca, the ride will be
based at Huddleston Sno-
Park instead.
The event, in its fifth
year, includes two Poker
Ride courses — 65 miles
and 30 miles round-trip —
that start and end in Seneca.
There also will be a radar
run, with participants sled-
ding against the radar gun
on a track about 600 feet
long.
This year, as a lure to
more participants, the Poker
Ride offers a bigger purse
— $2,000 total, with indi-
vidual awards ranging from
$800 for first place to $50
for 10th place.
Participants can buy a
poker hand for $10 at Sen-
eca, or in advance at loca-
tions including Doug’s
Automotive, John Day
Polaris, the Forest Service
office, the Grant County
Chamber of Commerce and
other businesses.
You don’t even need to
ride to play a hand, Kodesh
said.
The event also will
include a raffle, with prizes
at 3 p.m.
Organizers want to sell
200 poker hands, and they
hope the larger purse and
greater variety of individual
prizes will help pull in about
100 new participants.
The Poker Ride is one
way the Snowballers hope
to promote snowmobiling
in Grant County to tour-
ists who would enjoy the
area’s attributes and support
local restaurants, motels and
other businesses.
The Snowballers got
help this year in the form of
grants from major sponsor
Les Schwab and the coun-
ty’s transient occupancy tax,
which is used to promote
tourism.
John Bastian, a past pres-
ident of the Oregon State
Snowmobile Association,
said the event is being pub-
licized in Bend, Pendleton
and elsewhere.
“This is a plus all-around
for the whole county,” he
said.
Kodesh said snowmo-
bilers generally plan at least
one weekend getaway a
season, and some do even
more.
When they do, he said,
“we want them to pick
Grant County, not McCall
(Idaho).”
The biggest draw is the
area’s groomed trail system,
thanks to the Snowballers.
Grant County has more
than 800 miles of groomed
snowmobile trails, with
the club doing the work on
more than 500 miles.
“The largest trail system
in the state is right here,”
said John Bastian.
Members don’t take the
summer off, either. In addi-
tion to their monthly meet-
ings and community service
activities, the Snowballers
do trail maintenance on for-
est roads that, come winter,
will be prime snowmobile
routes.
“We have a great coop-
eration with the Malheur
National Forest,” Bastian
said.
Lindy Bastian, past pres-
ident of Snowballers, said
that once people try snow-
From 25 years ago: Larry
Bass, of Prairie City, hoists
a fat, healthy rainbow trout
he caught recently while
jigging the chilly depths of
frozen Phillips Reservoir.
Bass was actually fishing for
perch when the trout struck
his jib. And no, Bass caught
no bass that day.
mobiling in Grant County,
they’ll want to come back.
Recently, a fellow from
Halfway brought about two
dozen people to the area to
snowmobile because he had
enjoyed it so much when
he attended the OSSA state
convention in 2007 in John
Day.
The organizers know
tourism is not the only solu-
tion to Grant County’s eco-
nomic challenges. However,
they say it can be an import-
ant part.
“We already have all
sorts of things going on
here to attract people in the
summertime,” said Kodesh.
“We’re ready to bring them
in for the winter. This is
nothing but a win-win for
the area.”
When they’re not pro-
moting their rides, the
Snowballers keep busy with
community service activ-
ities. They participate in
the Festival of Trees each
year, and help with food
drives and other activities.
They also offer snowmobile
safety, training and youth
rider programs, and help the
Sheriff’s Office with win-
tertime search and rescue
operations.
The club has about 70
family memberships, but
more are welcome.
National
Stalking
Awareness
Month
Contact the Grant County Victim Assistance Program at
541-575-4026 or Heart of Grant County at 541-575-4335
This project was supported by Grant No. 2019-WR-AX-0027 awarded by the Office on
Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and
recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
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