FAMILY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
OBITUARIES
OSU Extension Outdoor School provides
resources for families during stay-at-home order
Blue Mountain Eagle
The statewide Oregon
State University Extension
Service Outdoor School pro-
gram is offering resources to
engage children in learning
about nature while adhering to
Oregon’s “Stay Home, Save
Lives” order.
Extension Outdoor School
added a webpage – “Edu-
cational Resources for Stay
Home, Save Lives” — to its
website where parents, guard-
ians and teachers can find
links to resources to support
outdoor learning experiences
while schools are out of ses-
sion, according to a press
release.
The page, which can
be translated to Spanish, is
updated Fridays with weekly
resource sets with nature
observations, journal prompts
and online activities: https://
outdoorschool.oregonstate.
edu/educators/educational-re-
sources-for-stay-home-save-
lives.
So far, the themes have
been birds, trees and flowers.
Outdoor School is also linking
to the resource sets on its Twit-
ter and Facebook accounts.
“These weekly themes
simplify matters for fami-
lies who are sorting out a lot
of information about at-home
activities,” said Kristopher
Elliott, an OSU Extension
assistant director who leads
Contributed photo/
Oregon State University
A ladybug crawls on a stu-
dent’s finger. The Oregon
State University Extension Ser-
vice Outdoor School program
offers resource to engage stu-
dents in learning about nature
while staying home.
the Outdoor School program.
“Given all the time we’re
spending inside, these are
unique resources to help fam-
ilies keep children connected
to their natural environment in
a meaningful way.”
The resource page and
resource sets are part of Exten-
sion Outdoor School’s strate-
gic response to the COVID-
19 pandemic, which led to
mass cancellations of in-per-
son outdoor school programs
this spring.
The strategy seems to be
working, Elliott said.
Nearly 400 new users have
visited the webpage since it
launched in late March. That’s
created a ripple effect: Visits
Studded tire deadline extended
Blue Mountain Eagle
Oregon drivers will not
be required to remove stud-
ded tires until 11:59 p.m.
Friday, May 15. The dead-
line had previously been
extended from April 1 to
May 1.
While studded tires are
allowed in Oregon by law
from Nov. 1 through March
31, the Oregon Department
of Transportation decided to
again extend that deadline in
response to the continuing
public health emergency of
COVID-19.
ODOT encourages driv-
ers to have their studded tires
removed before May 15 if
it can reasonably be done
while maintaining social
distancing.
HEINEGER WINS LAKE CREEK
YOUTH CAMP PISTOL RAFFLE
Contributed photo
Margot ‘Grace’ Heiniger, 83, won the Lake Creek Youth Camp
pistols in a raffle on April 4. She has been a resident of Grant
County for 40 years, has been a sharpshooter since she was
22 and an author since 1981.
to the OSU Extension Out-
door School website have
more than doubled in the last
month. They’re coming from
Oregon cities such as Bend,
Klamath Falls, La Grande,
Seaside and The Dalles. Out-
side of Oregon, the page
has been visited by users in
Minneapolis, Bangkok and
Amsterdam.
It’s not just families who
are accessing the resources.
Nearly 17% of unique vis-
its to the weekly resource sets
come from Google Class-
room, suggesting that teach-
ers are directing parents and
students to the resource sets as
part of their distance learning,
said Kristi Backe, Extension
Outdoor School’s curriculum
and professional development
coordinator.
“We picked topics that
are accessible to many stu-
dents. Things that you can see
out a window,” said Backe,
who worked with the Exten-
sion Outdoor School’s team to
develop in one week the edu-
cational resources webpage.
“We wanted to focus on
curating these resources into
manageable pieces so they’re
not overwhelming families,”
she said. “It only takes a cou-
ple of minutes to read through
each topic.”
Oregon’s school clo-
sures and cancellations of
this spring’s outdoor school
experiences came at a time
Darryl-McKenzy Sheppard Smith
when enrollment in Outdoor
School was increasing state-
wide. Nearly 38,000 students
took part in Outdoor School in
2018-19, a 6% increase over
the 2017-18 school year.
Elliott anticipated that
figure would rise to 43,300
students this school year
— before the spread of
COVID-19 led Gov. Kate
Brown to issue a statewide
order to close schools.
In 2016, Oregon voters
passed Measure 99, mandat-
ing that all Oregon fifth- or
sixth-grade students should
have the opportunity to attend
a week-long outdoor school
program or comparable out-
door education program.
Measure 99 created an
Outdoor School Educa-
tion Fund and charged Ore-
gon State University Exten-
sion Service with supporting,
administering and funding an
outdoor school program as set
forth in Senate Bill 439, which
approved $24 million for the
program’s first two years. Last
year, the Oregon Legislature
approved $46 million for the
next biennium for Extension
Outdoor School.
Elliott said that if funding
is available, Extension Out-
door School is considering
guidance for schools to allow
next year’s seventh-graders
to participate in an outdoor
school program if theirs was
canceled this spring.
Amateur radio
operators participate
in emergency test
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County Ama-
teur Radio Emergency Ser-
vice took part in an Eastern
Oregon and Eastern Wash-
ington regional exercise
April 18.
Grant County ARES
normally participates in
twice annual simulated
emergency tests with other
counties throughout the
state, according to a press
release from Grant County
ARES
Emergency
Coordinator
Steve
Fletcher.
This year those exer-
cises
were
canceled
because of the COVID-
19 restrictions and the fact
that in many counties an
emergency communication
response requires a cen-
tralized room with many
people in it.
In Grant County, ARES
has been practicing dis-
persed
communication
responses, which solves
many of the problems of
a centralized communica-
tions network.
“The
decentralized
approach solves problems
of audio and radio ‘noise,’”
Fletcher said. “When you
have a room full of people
talking, this creates a num-
ber of problems for radio
operators. When you have
a number of radios and
antennas in one spot it cre-
ates some serious technical
problems.”
When other counties
had to cancel their tests,
Grant County partnered
with nearby counties and
continued, using temporary
cross-band repeaters to
talk to operators in Pendle-
ton, Boardman, La Grande,
Baker City, Summerville,
Caldwell, Nampa and
Boise.
Four different bands
or modes were used to
accomplish the objectives
of the test.
“Many things were
learned and improvements
will be made,” Fletcher said.
June 17, 1968 — April 9, 2020
Darryl-McKenzy Sheppard Smith, 51, passed away at his
home on April 9, 2020, in Baker City, Oregon.
Darryl was born in Ontario, Oregon,
on June 17, 1968. Darryl gradated high
school at Mt. Vernon and attended col-
lege at the University of Eastern Oregon
in La Grande. After college he moved to
Portland and became a property manager
until he became disabled.
After leaving Portland, he moved to
Hermiston, Mt. Vernon and Baker City.
Darryl loved to garden, camp and fish.
He enjoyed spending time with his fam-
ily and friends.
Darryl is survived by his moms, Marilyn Smith and Elaine
Johnson; step-dad Dale Johnson; brother Gene Sheppard; sis-
ters Wendi Leeper, Pam Woodworth and Ann Morino; several
aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousin;s and his beloved four
legged companion Nia.
Darryl was preceded in death by his father Carl Sheppard and
nephew Steven Jay Maine.
All those who knew Darryl loved him dearly and will always
treasure their time that they spent together. Darryl will forever be
missed. May he rest in peace.
For those who would like to make a memorial donation in
memory of Darryl, the family suggests Best Friends (animal care
and rescue) through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Crema-
tion Services P.O. Box 543 Halfway, OR 97834. Online condo-
lences may be shared at tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com.
James L. Johnson
Oct. 8, 1934 — March 26, 2020
James Lynn Johnson of Canyon City passed away on March 26,
2020, at the age of 86, surrounded by his family.
Jim was born Oct. 8, 1934, to Iva Marie
and Irvin Leroy Johnson. He was the sixth
of seven sons.
Jim attended Grant Union High School,
participating in football, basketball, base-
ball, boxing, track and field.
On July 30, 1954, Jim married his high
school sweetheart, Lola Lee Smith. Three
days later, he deployed to Korea serving
in the Army as SP3, 99th ENG CO, oper-
ating an offset printing press. He also vol-
unteered at orphanages helping children.
Jim received the National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct
Medal and Honorable Service Medal from Oregon Veterans.
Music was Jim’s passion, playing and singing fiddle music in the
community or at home. Jim had a gift for flint-knapping, leather and
rawhide braiding. Jim as often found fishing or boating and enjoyed
being outside hunting and camping with family and friends. He
loved teaching the children of his community survival techniques
during Outdoor School for many years.
Jim attended Redeemer Lutheran Church in John Day and was
a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was employed by
Hines Lumber Company and USFS as a Timber Sale Administrator.
Jim was preceded in death by both of his parents and all six of
his brothers. He is survived by his wife, Lola; daughter Cindy Lem-
cke; son and daughter-in-law Guy and Angie Johnson; daughter
and son-in-law Tani and Tom Schaefer; nine grandchildren, Bran-
don, Tyrel, Jared, Amanda, Kaylee, Ben, Ori, Clay and Katie; nine
great-grandchildren, Emma, Paisley, Samantha, Stetson, Parker,
Sheppler, Jaxon, Harleigh and Lawson.
Donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or
Shriners Hospital for Children.
A celebration of life for Jim will be held this summer.
Darrell H. Johnson
Darrell H. Johnson, age 96, of Prairie City went to be with his
Lord and Savior on the morning of Thursday, April 16, at Valley
View Assisted Living in John Day.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a private family burial will
be held this week at Prairie City Cemetery. However, a public
memorial service will be announced later in the summer for his
many friends to attend and pay their respects.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Samaritan’s
Purse through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon Blvd.,
John Day, OR 97845.
To offer online condolences to his family, visit driskillmemo-
rialchapel.com.
Rosemary
A. King
January 2, 1924 ~ April 15, 2020
Rosemary A. King died April 15, 2020 at Wheatland Village in Walla Walla, WA. Her birthday was January 2, 1924 near
Mt. Vernon, Oregon to James L. and Edith Schrier. She was next to the youngest child in a family with six children.
Rosemary grew up on a cattle ranch near Mt. Vernon, graduating from Mt. Vernon High School as valedictorian of her
class in 1942. After graduation she attended NYA School in Pendleton, Oregon and then worked at Pendleton Field as
a secretary in Special Services until the Air Base closed. She then worked at Knob Hill Pharmacy in Portland, Oregon.
On September 10, 1945 Rosemary married Dennis J. King at her father’s home in Mt. Vernon, Oregon. They made their
home on a ranch west of Long Creek, Oregon, raising registered, horned Hereford cattle for over 40 years.
Mrs. King enjoyed participating in Home Extension for a number of years. She was a long-time exhibitor at the Grant County Fair, most particularly in the
home economics division, winning champions and a trophy for her angel-food cakes. Also, for a few years she served as a 4-H cooking leader, teaching
youth how to exhibit at the fair. The real joy of her life was preparing made-from-scratch meals, from their home-grown produce for her family, friends
and summer hay-hands. In her later years, she enjoyed her cats, garage sales and hobbies of refunding and coupon shopping and attending the Adams
Community Church.
Mrs. King was preceded in death by Mr. King, her parents, two brothers and two sisters. She is survived by one sister, Kay Swanson, and by two daughters,
Edith Elligsen Smith of Athena and Terry Thunell and her husband John (Bud) Thunell of Walla Walla, as well as numerous grandchildren, great grandchil-
dren and other relatives.
A private burial service will be held at Olney Cemetery in Pendleton, OR. A public memorial service will be held at the Adams Community Church when
the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. Meantime, memorial gifts can be made to the Adams Community Church, Box 34, Adams,
OR 97810 or to the Blue Mountain Humane Society of Walla Walla. Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home of Milton-Freewater is in charge of the arrangements.
To leave a condolence online, visit: www.munsellerhodes.com. Paid for by the family of Rosemary King.
S184356-1
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