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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2021)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, January 6, 2021 A3 Contributed photo Kim Randleas, the director at Painted Sky Center for the Arts, said the center has 10 students attending the arts after school program and 10 additional kids who attend the Friday art club. Painted Sky Center for the Arts illustrates growth John Day receives funding to improving signage and waypoints By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Navigating around John Day will soon get easier. The city of John Day received an award that will improve sig- nage and waypoints in the city. Outdoor Recreation Roundta- ble announced in December that they selected four communi- ties to receive funding for their economic revitalization plans. John Day was selected and will receive funding to help imple- ment the city’s plans. John Day City Manager Nick Green said they were awarded $4,000 in cash with no match required. Lindsey Davis, ORR’s act- ing executive director, said John Day was selected for sev- eral reasons. She said there is a state-level support for this work. The project also supports many forms of outdoor recreation such as backpacking, hiking, biking, campground and hospitality, fishing and wildlife viewing. Davis said the project also promotes recreation opportuni- “THE GOAL IS TO GET PEOPLE OUT AND MOVING AROUND, SHOPPING DOWNTOWN, EXPLORING OUR PARKS AND TRAILS AND GETTING TO KNOW THE COMMUNITY BETTER, ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE DRIVING THROUGH WHO WEREN’T PLANNING TO STOP.” —Nick Green, John Day city manager ties at the city’s five parks and river and helps tourism and rec- reation, which were two of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. The ORR release said the implementation of the funding is in addition to technical assis- tance provided by the Recre- ation Economy for Rural Com- munities assistance program. John Day participated in the RERC summit meeting in Sep- tember, which established pos- sible action plans the city can pursue to accomplish various tourism goals in the city. Green said one of the action items from the RERC strategy was to improve signage and waypoints in John Day. “For example, waypoints connecting Main Street to the city’s parks will improve the vis- itor experience and make it eas- ier to get around town and know where you’re going,” Green said. “You can drive through John Day and never know there’s a river here or anything about the Seventh Street Park or the new Hill Family Park we’re building along the riverfront. This funding will help us iden- tify specific landmarks and des- tinations to promote.” The city will also receive technical assistance from ORR in the form of staff time. ORR’s integrated planning and design team will assist the city with the project, and the kickoff call with ORR will be on Jan. 11. Davis said the money is already out the door for John Day. “After the destination anal- ysis, we’ll develop new sign concepts, waypoints and other destination markers, which we will try to build locally and then install at strategic points throughout the city like our new downtown parking lots,” Green said. “This is a quick win, some- thing we can do to enhance the community without spending a lot of time and money. “The goal is to get people out and moving around, shopping downtown, exploring our parks and trails and getting to know the community better, especially for people driving through who weren’t planning to stop.” Greenbacks program sees exponential growth this holiday season $17,000 in local gift certificates sold By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle file photo Grant County Greenbacks, available in $5, $15 and $25, are for sale at the Grant County Chamber of Commerce. Greenbacks can be used on purchases at participating chamber member businesses. Mountain Hospital bought almost $10,000 worth of Greenbacks this holiday sea- son. She ordered more Green- backs to meet the demand after running out of the vouchers. “We have a couple peo- ple that usually do Green- Serving Eastern Oregon since 1959! Pharmacy • Hallmark Cards • Gifts • Liquor Store Heppner Condon Boardman (541) 676-9158 (541) 256-1200 (541) 481-9474 www.MurraysDrug.com Support continues to grow for Painted Sky Center for the Arts as classes fill up and plans for expansion develop. Kim Randleas, the director of the Grant County arts cen- ter, said it opened in Septem- ber 2019 when they rented a building in Canyon City. They had a slow running start, she said, but by March all of their classes were full. She said their income was able to cover the staff and building within a few months, thanks to the support. “Overall, we’ve had huge support from the commu- nity, and if the community is divided about anything, they at least come together around the art center,” Randleas said. “I’m telling you, people want to support us.” Randleas said one way the community supports the cen- ter is by purchasing member- ships. She said some people still purchase a membership even if they’ve never taken a class because they want to be supportive. Alicia Griffin, who is directing the center’s produc- tion of “A Fairy Tale Christ- mas Carol” in January, said they offer the community a chance to sponsor or provide scholarships to students to help pay for the classes or after school programs. “We have people from all around the state that might have lived here before, and they see we’re opening,” Randleas said. “They send money for a membership or scholarship funds. It feels really good to be so supported.” The support helped the center expand on the various workshops and opportunities they provide. They now have eight departments: music, per- forming arts, youth, visual arts, literary arts, ceramics, leather and movement. In March, the center closed down as the pandemic-in- duced lockdowns started in Oregon, but donations contin- ued and the center was able to hire its first employee. “We are still very solid, and it helped us be frugal with things, and we figured out our operations while we were closed,” Randleas said. “We were able to hire our first employee, Mariah Harper, A MAN WAKES UP in the morning after sleeping on... an advertised bed, in advertised pajamas. 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! S218724-1 Bremner said restaurants and Chester’s usually get the Greenbacks, but more types of businesses are now redeeming vouchers. “I think they are kind of being spread around, and that was the whole idea when it was set up,” Bremner said. “A lot of people thought that it had run its course, and I think they thought we weren’t accepting them anymore.” Bremner said the program is still ongoing and that Blue S223735-1 Grant County is keeping its money local. The amount of Greenbacks — Grant County Chamber of Commerce’s local gift certifi- cates — sold this holiday sea- son skyrocketed with $17,000 in sales, more than six times higher than last year. Last holiday season, the chamber sold $2,500 in Green- backs, which are redeemable at participating local businesses. Chamber Manager Tammy Bremner said this was a good way to end 2020. “Businesses are loving it when they bring in their stack and I write them a check,” Bremner said. “They are very happy with how it all worked out.” Bremner said, in the last two weeks, $4,350 in Green- backs have been redeemed from businesses including Bar WB Western Wear, Java Jun- gle, 1188 Brewing Company, Outpost Pizza, Pub and Grill, Chester’s Thriftway, JD Rents and Power Equipment and Roan Coffee Company. backs for employee bonuses,” Bremner said. “This year, we had at least six businesses that bought them specifically for that reason.” Bremner said she would like the community to know that businesses appreciated their support, and in turn, they supported each other by buy- ing the Greenbacks. Grant County Greenbacks are available in increments of $5, $15 and $25 and can be bought at the Grant County Chamber of Commerce office, Bremner said. Greenbacks are not redeemable for cash, and some businesses do not pro- vide more than $5 in change when they are redeemed. Chamber of Commerce President Sherrie Rininger said the level of support from the community was exceptional. “It’s a fantastic program, and it keeps the money here in Grant County,” Rininger said. “What a way to support the community this year.” By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle which was a huge step for us, and now we have office hours and people can come in and register for classes.” When the center reopened, their classes filled up again, and their leather department opened for the first time. Along with various work- shops for people of various ages, the center also has 10 students who attend the arts after school program and 10 additional kids who attend the Friday art club, according to Randleas. She said the after school program is for kinder- gartners through sixth-grad- ers, but the center is look- ing to expand in 2021 to offer toddler classes and a similar after school programs for high school kids. In 2019, Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative applied for a planning and techni- cal assistance grant for John Day through the Touchstone Energy Cooperative, accord- ing to the Dec. 8 city council agenda. The award provided technical assistance to the city for a project of their choos- ing, and they elected to assist the Painted Sky Center for the Arts to develop a strategy for a new John Day location. Randleas worked with Zachary Manneheimer, a prin- cipal community placemaker for Alchemy Community Transformations, thanks to the Touchstone Energy Grant and began planning for the future of the center. “Hopefully, with Zach’s help, it will take us to the next level, which is purchasing our own building,” Randleas said. “That’s the direction we’re going.” Griffin said, as they met with Manneheimer and shared their needs, they realized the massive amount of space they would need to cover every department. “The reality of having one location for everything is maybe pushing it, but we don’t know” Griffin said. “It seems like it might be better suited to have multiple locations.” Randleas said one goal for the center is to bring the cre- ative community together, whether it be through teach- ing, group gathering or help- ing the economy grow. Harper said they aim to cre- ate a feeling of home in Grant County at the center. “I want kids of the future to be able to go, ‘That’s my home,’ whether or not they’re interested in hunting or fish- ing,” Harper said. “...This is a very comfortable, homey environment.” Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com S223714-1 Eagle file photo John Day Public Works employees erected a new flagpole near the city greenhouse Sept. 25. Community support leads to more departments, future plans Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710