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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2020)
A10 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, October 28, 2020 Canyon Creek 4-H Club delivers truckload of donations and hope to fire victims By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Earlier this month, the Canyon Creek 4-H Club delivered a truck- load of donations and a handful of gift cards to fire victims in Lincoln County. The club swiftly stepped up last month and solicited donations and had them dropped off at Pioneer Feed and Supply. Items included personal hygiene products, clothes, blankets, and $1,700, which club leader Laura Brown used to pur- chase the gift cards. Brown said she wanted the club members to deliver the donations personally. She said she met Norma Jean, a volunteer at the Rose Lodge Grange Distribution Center, after posting on Facebook her club’s intentions of hand-delivering the donations they had gathered to a drop-off center. After getting connected with Jean, Brown said three club mem- bers, her son Trey, daughter Ava and Brooke Taynton, made the trek to the other side of the state. Brown said, despite just three members making the trip, every member of the club participated in the dona- tion drive. “You have to walk the talk,” Jean said about Brown insisting the kids deliver the donations. “That’s the best way to teach kids.” Brown said the club did not travel through any of the devastated areas. However, they did meet and talk with an evacuee. Trey said the experience gave him a greater awareness and empa- thy for the fire victims. “It was heartwarming,” he said. “I have never been through anything like that.” Contributed photo From left, 4-H member Trey Brown, fire volunteer Norma Jean, 4-H member Ava Brown, 4-H member Brooke Taynton and 4-H club leader Laura Brown drop off a truckload of donations to fire victims in Lincoln County. “IT WAS NEIGHBOR HELPING NEIGHBOR. RESIDENTS WERE TRYING TO GET THEIR PETS OR THEIR POSSESSIONS.” —Norma Jean, a volunteer at the Rose Lodge Grange Distribution Center on the fires in Oregon Taynton, whose family was among 43 who lost homes in the 2015 Canyon Creek Complex fire, said the experience was why she made the trip. “I know how they feel,” she said. “A home is where you’re safe.” Brown said it became emotional when the club presented Jean with the cards because she had not told Jean the club collected monetary donations. Brown said the experience was about paying it forward to others and keeping things in perspective. “It really makes you appreciate what you have and what is really important,” she said. Jean said there had been no warn- ing when they evacuated the town. Many, she said, escaped with barely the clothes on their back. “It was neighbor helping neigh- bor,” she said. “Residents were trying to get their pets or their possessions.” Jean said the Grange Hall has a “personal shopper” who spends time with people who ask “probing ques- tions” to find out what they need. Jean said the gift cards made it possible to help an 80-year-old man get work boots. She said when she asked him what he needed the boots for, he said he’d “lost everything.” “He said, ‘I have nothing left but what you see, but I’ve got to go to work.’” Jean said he works for a company in the area and is back to work with a brand-new pair of boots. Taynton’s mother Courtney Fox said, when she and her family lost their home, the little things, like boots, helped them have a sem- blance of normalcy. “It’s about getting back to nor- mal,” she said. Fox said long before the Canyon Creek fire, she would read to Tayn- ton, then 7, every night. After arriving at the Grant County Fairgrounds with little more than the clothes on their backs, Fox said that it did not dawn on her that the books she and Taynton had read together were gone. Sifting through a pile of donated books, she said she came across a copy of the “The Kissing Hand,” one of their favorites. The book tells the story of a mother raccoon comforting a child raccoon ner- vous about its first day of school by kissing its paw. The book has been used to provide reassurance for children dealing with difficult transitions and situations. “We had always read it before,” Fox said. “And it was one of the ones that burned.” Fox said she and Taynton kept the tradition going as the family rebuilt their home. “I was trying to keep it together,” she said. “I did not want to lose the one thing we shared.” C L A R K’ S TRANSFER STATION Wednesday–Saturday 9am to 4:30pm S208917-1 Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available Office Hours: 11am to 2pm Monday–Friday S206634-1 NEW HOURS STARTING NOVEMBER 1ST Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Friday Sharpe 8am - 5pm Mendy FNP S209978-1 139101 DISPOSAL 541-575-0432 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-576-2160 Grace Chapel (EMC ) 154 E. Williams St. Prairie City, Oregon 541 820-4437 Sunday School (all ages) 9:30-10:30 Sunday Worship 10:45-12:00 S211472-1 Pastor Robert Perkins Redeemer Lutheran Church Come Worship with us at John Day Valley Mennonite Church 24/7 Inspirational Christian Broadcasting Meeting every Sunday at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM Sunday School ...............................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ............10:50 a.m. For more information, call 541 620-0340 Pastor Leland Smucker Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861 P rairie B aptist C hurch 238 N. McHaley St., Prairie City Sunday School (all ages) .......9:00 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship .10:30 a.m. Awana (Oct.-Apr.) ................3:00 p.m. Youth Group .........................5:30 p.m. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church Corner of S Canyon Blvd and SW 2 nd Mon. - Fri. Mass - 12:05 pm Saturday Mass - 5:00 pm Sunday Mass - 9:00 am Holy Days Mass: Noon & 6 pm Confession: Saturday 4:00-4:45 pm Anytime by appointment 541-974-8638 St. Anne Monument - 2nd & 4th Sundays at 12:30 pm Office Hours Monday - Friday 9 am - 12 Noon Sunday Worship • 9AM 2 Corinthians 5:17 Every Sunday in the L.C. Community Center (Corner of Second & Allen) Contact Paster Ed Studtmann at 541-421-3888 • Begins at 4:00pm FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Sunday School ...................... 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship .. 10:50 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship .. 10:50 a.m. No Mid-week Services Pastor Jesse Gosnell 300 W. Main, John Day 541-575-1355 627 SE Hillcrest, John Day st 1 Sunday Worship/Communion ..................10am 3 rd Sunday Worship/Communion/Potluck ...4:30pm 2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship .........................10am Wednesday Evening Bible Study .....................6pm For information: 541-575-2348 Community Church SUNDAY SERVICE..............9 am SUNDAY SERVICE ...........9 am 541-932-4800 EVERYONE WELCOME (541) 575-1326 johndayUMC@gmail.com 126 NW Canton, John Day Food Pantry Friday 3-4PM Like us on Facebook! FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH 541-820-3696 www.prairie-baptist-church.com Pastor David Hoeffner Pastor Keith DeHart JOHN DAY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MT. VERNON PRESBYTERIAN Sunday School ..................... 9:45 am Sunday Worship ...................... 11 am Fox Community Church ............. 3 pm Sunday Evening Bible Talk ......... 6 pm Saturday Men’s Study ............... 6 pm Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us 541-575-1202 Church 311 NE Dayton St, John Day Pastor Al Altnow Cornerstone Christian Fellowship 139 N.E. D AYTON S TREET , J OHN D AY 541-575-2180 Sunday Worship Service 10 am Sunday Youth Group 3 pm Thursday Celebrate Recovery 6 pm Pastor Levi Manitsas cornerstonejohnday@gmail.com ccfjd.org CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE Sunday School .......................... 9:30 am Sunday Worship Service......... 10:45 am Sunday Evening Service ...........6:00 pm Children & Teen Activities SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO Weekdays: Sonshine Christian School St. Thomas Episocopal Church Join us on Facebook live Sunday 10am Like us on Facebook! Pastor Randy Johnson 521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895 www.johndaynazarene.com 59357 Hwy 26 Mt. Vernon Seventh-Day Adventist Church SATURDAY SERVICES Celebration of Worship JOHN DAY 110 Valley View Dr. 541-575-1216 Head Elder ..........................541-575-2914 Bible Classes (all ages) .................9:30 am Worship ...........................................11 am LONG CREEK E. Main Street 541-421-3033 Head Elder .................................421-3468 Bible Classes (all ages) ......................2 pm Worship .............................................3 pm Jr./Sr. High Youth Connection Sundays 5:30pm Youth: 0-6th Grade Midweek Service Thursdays 6:30pm Youth: 0-6th Grade Wednesdays at 6:30pm Overcomer’s Outreach Mondays at 6pm at LWCC A Christ-Centered, 12-Step Recovery Support Group Pastor Sharon Miller 541-932-4910 www.livingwordcc.com S209977-1