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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2020)
SPORTS Blue Mountain Eagle A10 Wednesday, July 1, 2020 SHOOTING THE BREEZE The .45-70 Government W The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Golfers pose at a tournament fundraiser for Thadd’s Place, a grief center planned in John Day, Saturday. Thadd’s Place tees off Fundraiser supports grief center to be opened in John Day By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Nearly 75 people com- peted in the Thadd’s Place golf tournament at the John Day Golf Course Saturday and then hit the drive-through dinner by donation in the Chester’s Thriftway parking lot to celebrate the eventual opening of the grief center. Named in honor of Thad- deus Cowan Thompson who died of cancer last year at the age of 39, organizers and those closest to Cowan Thompson said it was an emotional day. “I’ve been able to laugh with people today,” Tirza Shaffer, Cowan Thompson’s sister, said. “We’ve been cry- ing. It’s been wonderful.” Shaffer said the goal was to bring awareness to Thadd’s Place, a nonprofit grief center, which will rely on community and volunteer support. “We want to get walls up in this building,” Shaffer said. “We want to be able to make it operational so people have somewhere to go so they don’t have to grieve alone.” Shaffer said the focus of the day was to get the program The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Alana Shaffer, left, and Jordan Ross atop a banner with the Thadd’s Place design at the ninth hole of the John Day Golf Course during a fundraiser tournament. The Thadd’s Place design was chosen by Thaddeus Cowan Thompson’s son Nathaniel. “off the ground and running.” She said the grief center is continuing the legacy of her brother. Thadd’s Place board mem- ber Jan Curtis said she was not sure how much money the event brought in exactly, but she said there were 18 teams at $500 each, which brought in $9,000. She said the 50/50 raffle ticket sales brought in $600. She said there were over nine sponsors at $100 each, and other businesses — local and from out of town — donated as well. Curtis is a teacher and she said she has helped her stu- dents through the grief pro- cess and she also lost her husband two years ago. Addi- tionally, she said she golfed in tournaments with her hus- band frequently and that it was something that was very important to her. Curtis said the top three teams were Andy, Bo and Ken Ellison and Andy Radi- novich, who shot a 58; Brad Armstrong, Mitch Saul, Colt Carpenter and Alex Finlayson, who shot a 60; and Matt Curtis, Kellen McMullen, Shane Schiemer and Rick Ramirez, who shot a 63. Join our School Today alt Gentis or Mike Browning or Jim Sproul ought to be writing this article. The expe- rience those gentlemen have in hunting and long-range shoot- ing with rifles chambered for this 147-year old cartridge far exceeds that of my own. There are many other names we could add to that list and from right Dale Valade here in Grant County. Nev- ertheless, I will attempt to pen more than a cheechako’s effort for your reading pleasure! Realizing the future lay in self-contained cartridges, the U.S. Army Ordinance Department began looking for replacements for the var- ious muzzleloaders that were issued to the troops in the War between the States. Con- verting the Springfield front stuffers via a curious design known as the trapdoor saved Uncle Sam (read “taxpayers”) a lot of money versus adopt- ing one of the Henry or Spen- cer repeating designs. Gov- ernment brass apparently kept our boys in blue to single-shot rifles to spare them from wasting too much ammo. I’m sure that infantry and cavalry alike at Little Big Horn et. al. appreciated that decision. The first trapdoor rifles were chambered in .50-70, but in 1873 the .45-70 made its debut. Christian Sharps and Philo Remington wasted no time chambering their Fall- ing Block and Rolling Block single shot rifles for the new government round. Frontiers- men, especially buffalo hunt- ers, enjoyed the accuracy and long-range power offered by these rifles. In 1881, Marlin became the first firearms com- pany to offer the .45-70 in a lever-action repeating rifle. The Browning-designed 1886 Winchester came five years later. A 405-grain bul- let became the standard, although lighter 300-grain Contributed photo The .45-70 Government. bullets see use as well as heavier 500-plus-grain bullets. Although it’s not always been a top-10 seller, the .45-70 in a lever gun or single shot has gained and maintained a fan base ever since. It is espe- cially popular up north where they grow much bigger spe- cies of deer and bear. Today the .45-70 is debatably more popular than ever and sees use on all manner of game worldwide. My own experience with this grand old cartridge has been limited to ringing steel and punching paper. While I have yet to successfully take a big game animal with it, I’ve fired both original and replica Sharps 1874 single shots, Mar- lin 1895 and Winchester 1886 lever guns and the unique vin- tage 1878 Remington-Keene bolt-action repeater. I did, however, shoot the head off of an angry rattlesnake with a borrowed 1886 Win- chester. It was the only gun we had handy, so bumblebee met bazooka. The aforemen- tioned Mister Gentis however has taken 13 elk with 13 shots using his .45-70! That’s a pretty impressive track record in itself. While there are many fast- er-moving choices out there, you could do a lot worse than the quintessential, nearly ses- quicentennial big bore .45-70! Like they say, the older the violin, the sweeter the music. Are you a .45-70 fan? Write to us at shootingthe- breezebme@gmail.com! Dale Valade is a local country gent with a love for the outdoors, handloading, hunting and shooting. ──── Love to Learn! ──── Class sizes are limited ──── 7 Register Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Friday Sharpe 8am - 5pm Mendy FNP before July 31st ──── Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available Office Hours: Tues-Thurs 8:00 am-3:00 pm S195792-1 139101 ENROLL TODAY SONSHINE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL S193237-1 1. Registrations are being accepted for 2020-21 school year We offer a high-quality school-readiness program for little learners. *Eligibility requirements apply. Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 yrs): 3 days a week, (T, W, TH). Now registering for morning & afternoon classes. *Must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2020. Pre-School (3-4 yrs): 2 days a week, (T, TH) 8:15 am- 10:45 am. *Must be 3 years of age by Sept 1 st , 2020 DP HOME ENTERTAINMENT and be independent when using the bathroom. 137 E. Main Street, John Day 541.575.1637 SONSHINE SONSHINE CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SCHOOL 521 E Main St. 521 E Main Street John Day John Day 541-575-1895 or 541-575-1895 or 541-968-9865 541-968-9865 office@ johndaynazarene office@johndaynazarene.com .com S178853-1 Early Deadline For July 8th Edition S195790-1 Blue Mountain Eagle 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-576-2160 Ad, Classified & Legal Deadline Thursday, July 2nd by 5p.m. Office will be Closed July 3rd Blue Mountain Eagle 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR. 97845 www.MyEagleNews.com 541-575-0710 He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com S194107-1 S195788-1 A MAN WAKES UP in the morning after sleeping on... an advertised bed, in advertised pajamas. Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
