A6 COLUMNS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 4, 2021 GRANT COUNTY SENIORS Monument Seniors Prairie City Seniors Soo Yukawa Rose Coombs Our cooks Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell pre- pared our lunch, which was Parmesan chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, and chocolate birth- day cake for the last Tuesday of the month of July. We thank our cooks and appreciate them for their work and dedication. Our usual volunteers were Kristi Guimont who filled out the paperwork. We had Bob Cock- rell and Jan Ensign counting up the money. Syl- via Cockrell delivered the meals to the patrons at the door. Just FYI, there have been veggies that people have been bringing to share from their gardens, free for the taking, so help yourself. Calling for prayers for Carrie Jewell and fam- ily. Her father, Bill Richards, passed away. His services will be held this Friday, Aug. 6. We send Carrie and her family love and prayers during this difficult time. May the Lord comfort them all with his great peace that surpasses all understanding. So, I did not get to partake of the Monument senior lunch because I had to go to John Day to take a dog in for neutering. In fact, I had to go to John Day three days in a row. I had to leave the dog and pick him up the next day. On the third day, we took a bunch of cats to be spayed and neutered. I was exhausted from driving back and forth at the end of it all. I sure am glad that it has all been taken care of and over with. Until I can get four more of our male cats done that is. Normally they are all friendly and lovey dovey cats, but when they saw me putting their friends in those portable carriers, they suddenly “disappeared.” I have a zucchini that is around 6 inches long and maybe almost 2 inches in diameter! Yay! I think I will be picking it in the next cou- ple of days. I think I will give it to a friend as an offering of my firstfruits to the Lord. After all, everything belongs to him. I have long and round zucchinis growing. I was looking around at my lemon cucum- ber plants and seeing a whole bunch of flow- ers. I picked up some leaves to look underneath, when lo and behold, three lemon cucumbers! Yes, and two of them were like the size of plums. I am super excited about those lemon cucumbers. I am also seeing some tomatoes growing. In fact, I picked one, and I am going to serve it sometime this week. My peppers are doing very well too. It seemed, all of a sudden, every- thing just exploded. My potatoes too grew in one week, so much so that I had to add new dirt on the top. I have been very careful about the wasps now. I was not happy at losing that battle with the wasp over that raspberry. Darn him. They have been devouring a lot of my raspberries, and that is just unacceptable. I must find away to get rid of them. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Things are a-happenin’ at the ol’ hall now! Repairs to the very old kitchen — circa 1940 — roof began in earnest today. Any resem- blance to current code was purely coinciden- tal. At least we get to save all the tin roofing. That will help! Across the street to the south, another big project was a-happenin’. The old Cenex fuel tanks were being dug up and removed. Some will comment “Cenex?” Yes. Back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, there was an up and going store that was in place where the quilt shop used to be and where Levi Voigt has his engi- neering establishment now. They catered to the farm and ranch community with fuel, oil, tools, etc. Derrol drove fuel trucks for them then. I had to take photos of the operation, along with the hall goings on. Busy, busy. We did have dinner! A great lunch of taco salad, pears, chips and dips and birthday cake provided by today’s sponsor Driskill Memo- rial Chapel. If you’ve never had a taco salad, this was what was in it: a huge taco shell loaded with lettuce, tomato, onion, olives, cheese and hamburger. Super good! Thanks to cook Pam and helpers Cindy and Tom. Pam Howard was at her place at the regis- tration desk, Carla helped her get the pick-up meals to the customers and Gwynne, Carlos and Ginger took care of the home deliveries. And I am very pleased to report that we sent out 69 meals today! Whooppee! Been watching the Olympics? The surfers and skateboarders had their first time being in the Olympics. It was very fitting that the surfer lady who won gold was from Hawaii — the place where surfing got started. My biggest complaint is the clothing that the females are required to wear. If the men can be clothed in mid-thigh shorts for volleyball and gymnastics, why not the women? And the suits for the diving for the women were atrocious! Why can’t they wear the same suits as the swimmers? Talk about double standard! OK. Off that soapbox. And on to another one. What ad man thought it would be appro- priate to play music while someone is try- ing to give an announcement about some- thing? People have enough trouble hearing the announcement without having to sort it out form the music that is playing against it. Especially those of us with hearing aids. So much for that. I was given some old history magazines from the ‘80s and have been finding out lots of things! Always wondered why Gen. Billy Mitchell was court-martialed. Wasn’t because he did something physically wrong. He just told the top brass that they were wrong! Some people just can’t take criticism. Proverbs 19:25 “… rebuke a discerning man and he will gain knowledge.” Contributed photo The .264 Winchester Magnum was chambered in the Model 70 Westerner, featuring a 26-inch barrel and loaded with either 100- or 140-grain factory ammunition. SHOOTING THE BREEZE The .264 Winchester Magnum I n the realm of orphaned and obsolete car- tridges, few stories are as sad as the tale of Winchester’s magnum .264. Intro- duced in 1958 along with the .338 Winchester Magnum in the rifleman’s rifle, the .264 was touted as being the perfect western hunter’s cartridge for everything between varmints and elk. Chambered in the Model 70 Westerner, featuring a 26-inch barrel and loaded with either the 100- or 140-grain factory ammunition, the .264 appeared to be all that and a bag of chips, as the saying goes. Gun writers of the day didn’t exactly throw any ticker tape parades. One Dale Valade notable said that it would accomplish nothing that his .270 couldn’t do just as well with its shorter barrel, and using less powder to boot. Others decried the com- paratively poor selection of bullets. The 6.5 bullets of the day had relatively thin jackets as they were designed to be fired at more pedes- trian 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser velocities. “Overbore” is a term used to describe a cartridge that, due to having too large of a combustion chamber in proportion to the diameter of the bullet, chamber pressure con- straints are exceeded disproportionately quicker than increases in bullet velocity. It’s for this reason we don’t see cartridges like a .22-.30-06 or a .25-.375 H&H, they are sim- ply too obtuse of cases for such smaller diam- eter bullets. The .264 is one that suffers from overbore, and some of the side effects of high pressure are poor barrel life and unpleasant recoil. However, properly crafting one’s han- dloads and allowing the barrel proper cool down time between strings at the range are small concessions to make for using such a fine cartridge. Alas, others had too similar of ideas. The 1962 introduction of Remington’s instant classic 7mm Magnum seemed to be a significant nail in the .264’s popularity coffin. It’s greater range of bullet weights and styles combined with its larger diame- ter of bullet made much more sense to the average gun-buying deer hunter. Today, with contemporary contenders like the 6.5 PRC and Weatherby’s 6.5 RPM and 6.5- 300 Magnum, it’s unlikely that we will see any Bethanian resurrection in the case of the .264. Still if you have one, don’t dis- may. With modern powders and bullets the original 6.5 short magnum will run with the big dogs both up close and far away. Brass and ammo are still in circulation, and if you handload, 7mm Rem Mag brass can be easily converted in a pinch. While the .264 might be considered an also-ran by some, it’s a capable cartridge deserved of respect. Accurate, fast mov- ing and definitely unique, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be the only one in camp that has one. If you’re looking for something that gets it done, but you’re antithetic to commonplace cartridges, the .264 deserves a look. Are you a fan of the .264 Win Mag? Write to us at shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com! Dale Valade is a local country gent with a love for the outdoors, handloading, hunting and shooting. MT. VERNON PRESBYTERIAN Community Church SUNDAY SERVICE..............9 am SUNDAY SERVICE ...........9 am Redeemer Lutheran Church Come Worship with us at 541-932-4800 EVERYONE WELCOME 627 SE Hillcrest, John Day 1 st Sunday Worship/Communion ..................10am 3 rd Sunday Worship/Communion/Potluck ...4:30pm 2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship .........................10am Sunday Bible Study .....................................8:45am For information: 541-575-2348 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH Grace Chapel (EMC ) 154 E. Williams St. Prairie City, Oregon 541 820-4437 2 Corinthians 5:17 Every Sunday in the L.C. Community Center Pastor Robert Perkins Contact Pastor Ed Studtmann at 541-421-3888 • Begins at 4:00pm Sunday School (all ages) 9:30-10:30 Sunday Worship 10:45-12:00 John Day Valley Mennonite Church Meeting every Sunday at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall Sunday School ...............................9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship ............10:50 a.m. Pastor Leland Smucker Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861 (Corner of Second & Allen) JOHN DAY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Sunday Worship • 9AM (541) 575-1326 johndayUMC@gmail.com 126 NW Canton, John Day Food Pantry Friday 3-4PM Like us on Facebook! 24/7 Inspirational Christian Broadcasting Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM For more information, call 541 620-0340 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 Pastor Randy Johnson 521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895 www.johndaynazarene.com St. Thomas Episcopal Church Join us on Facebook live Sunday 10am Like us on Facebook! 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 59357 Hwy 26 Mt. Vernon Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us Celebration of Worship 541-575-1202 Church 311 NE Dayton St, John Day Pastor Al Altnow Midweek Service 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 Sundays 5:30pm Youth: 0-6th Grade Thursdays 6:30pm Youth: 0-6th Grade Jr./Sr. High Youth Connection 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 S255708-1