NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
A3
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Chairs and tables line the Trowbridge Pavilion’s new concrete floor at the Grant County Fair-
grounds. The pavilion has been used the last month as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
County completes Trowbridge
Natural grocery store opens in John Day Pavilion repairs and improvements
The Griffin family, Jason, Alicia, Ellie, Collin and Brighton, pose inside Earthly Home Natural Market
in John Day.
Griffins provide
more choices in
‘food desert’
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
A family-owned natural
grocery store opened in John
Day Saturday.
Earthly Home Natu-
ral Market owners Jason
and Alicia Griffin said they
would be sharing space with
Frontier Medical on Main
Street.
Opening a health food store
has long been a dream for the
couple since Jason worked at
an Apple Market in Utah.
The couple said John Day
is considered a “food des-
ert,” an area where its resi-
dents’ access to affordable,
healthy food options are
limited.
“We have people, local
people, driving hours away,
spending local money that
needs to stay in our commu-
nity,” Alicia said. “And that’s
important to me to provide
those things that people have
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Collin Griffin rings up an or-
der Saturday during Earthly
Home Natural Market’s grand
opening.
to drive hours away to get and
keep our money here locally
in our economy.”
Alicia said she and Jason
both asked themselves what
they could do with their back-
grounds and passion for nutri-
tious, healthy food. Opening
the store, they said, made per-
fect sense.
Alicia said they saw a gap
in the marketplace they can
fill. She said they want to
bring more education, provide
more opportunities and offer
more community choices.
The store, Alicia said,
hopes to soon be certified to
accept food benefits from the
Supplemental Nutrition Assis-
tance Program.
They said they are also
mindful of the perception
most people have of a natural
grocery store.
“I always pictured a health
food store like crystals and
New Age music and incense,”
Jason said.
Alicia said their goal for
the store was more of a mer-
cantile, “grocery-feel” kind
of store, where they will rec-
ognize the people coming
into the store and know their
needs.
The store will be open
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon-
days through Fridays and
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Satur-
days at 401 W. Main St., John
Day.
$320,000 project
fixes tripping hazard
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The county is wrapping
up its repairs and improve-
ments at the Trowbridge
Pavilion at the Grant County
Fairgrounds.
Fairgrounds
Manager
Mindy Winegar said the staff
needs to paint the exterior of
the building to complete the
project officially.
The project included pull-
ing large trees from the north
side of the building to replace
the concrete floor, which
began to heave and crack,
creating a tripping hazard.
The completion of the
$320,000 renovation allowed
the pavilion to serve as
a venue for the county’s
COVID-19 vaccination clin-
ics over the last month.
Winegar said immuniz-
ing people for the virus is one
of the many purposes of the
fairgrounds.
“It’s for everyone in the
county,” she said.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
The Trowbridge Pavilion’s new floor at the Grant County Fair-
grounds.
In addition to the fair
in the summer, the fair-
grounds hosts Christmas and
spring bazaars, gun shows,
youth benefits and weddings
throughout the year.
After a scaled-back fair
in 2020 due to COVID-19,
Winegar said this year she is
planning like usual, but she
said she would be flexible
should anything change.
Leading up to the fair last
summer, as Gov. Kate Brown
canceled large events in
larger, more populated areas,
Winegar held out to find
wiggle room in the state’s
guidelines.
Winegar said her staff,
members of the Fair Board,
4-H and FFA worked on a
plan to hold the youth live-
stock shows and auctions.
Grant County Auction
Committee Treasurer Shan-
non Springer said the auction
netted upwards of $300,000,
surpassing the 2019 amount
by roughly $25,000.
Winegar, a Grant County
native, said the fair com-
memorates the county’s her-
itage and culture, and it’s the
centerpiece of the commu-
nity year-round.
Did someone
say refund?
Use your tax refund to upgrade your home electronics
All TV’s On Sale
Starting at
55” Smart TV with WiFi
$199
99
Starting at
Starting at $599
99
Laptops
On Sale
$64
99
Local
Installer
&
Tablets
99
Ipads
Starting at $89
Donʼt forget we have ink
DP HOME
ENTERTAINMENT
137 E. Main Street, John Day
541.575.1637
S225502-1