A10 PAGE LABEL Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, September 22, 2021 WEDNESDAY September 22, 2021 Monument/Dayville’s Senior Zachary Ferguson Monument/Dayville’s quarterback Jordan Hull, a senior Dayville/ Monument falls to Joseph 20-6 By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle MONUMENT — Joseph proved to be too much for Day- ville/Monument to handle as the Eagles defeated the Tigers 20-6 on Friday, Sept. 17. Zachary Ferguson, a senior, told the Eagle that there was good sportsmanship all around in the football game. “They (Joseph) were cour- teous, and it was not like they were targeting anyone. They were just playing the game, just like us,” he said. “They were just having fun.” Dayville/Monument coach Tim Auty said in the team’s next game against Echo, he wants the Tigers to start the way they fi nish. “We fi nished much stron- ger than we started,” Jordan Hull, Dayville/Monument quarterback, said. Dayville/Monument is 0-3 on the season so far, hav- ing lost their Sept. 10 game to Huntington 20-6 and falling to Prairie City 54-0 in their fi rst game on Sept. 4. Next up: Dayville/Monument will host Echo on Friday, Sept. 24, at 1 p.m. at Dayville High School. Dayville/Monument football coach Chris Carlin SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, SEPT. 23 Grant Union football vs. Irrigon, 7 p.m. FRIDAY, SEPT. 24 Prairie City football vs. Jo- seph, 7 p.m. Prairie City volleyball vs. Joseph, 5 p.m. Grant Union cross country @ Lebanon, champions invita- tional, 3 p.m. SATURDAY, SEPT. 25 Prairie City volleyball @ Elgin, 1 p.m. Grant Union volleyball @ Stanfi eld/Weston-McEwen, 1:30 p.m. Kellie Ridenour/Contributed Photo Retired rodeo clown Gerald “Pinky” Christopher poses in full clown attire with a group of children in 1973 at the Deschutes County Fair Rodeo in Redmond. A lifetime of making the crowds laugh By NICK ROSENBERGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — Gerald “Pinky” Christopher has spent his life making others laugh. With fritzy eyebrows and wire-rimmed glasses peeking out from under his cowboy hat and a mis- chievous grin crowned by a white horseshoe mustache, Christopher is the defi nition of old school cowboy. From his red kerchief to his cow- boy boots, the soon-to-be 87-year- old’s life as a rodeo clown is etched into him. His youthful energy goes against a lifetime spent helping build the foundations of Oregon rodeo. Born in Kansas in 1934, Christo- pher wasn’t even a year old when he and his mom, dad, two brothers, and uncle piled into a Model-A truck and moved across the country to Oregon, where they settled in the Willamette Valley. Outside of Eugene, his father owned a ranch that ran up against the nearby logging camps during World War II, but sold it and moved to Red- mond after the war ended. “On Friday I was going to high school in Elmira, Oregon, and Mon- day I was going to Redmond, Ore- gon,” Christopher said, “and so I fi n- ished high school in Redmond.” It was as a senior in high school when Christopher truly began a life- time in rodeo. When visiting Tygh Valley for a rodeo, he drew War Paint — the famous saddle bronc who won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bucking Horse of the Year Award in 1956, 1957 and 1958 and is preserved at the Pendleton Round-Up Hall of Fame. “I rode him to the whistle, and then I went sky and up in the air and 40 feet forwards,” Christopher said. “And I think I won all of $25.” Christopher said he did bareback and saddle bronc and a few bulls before deciding to become a clown “to be in front of them instead of on top of them.” It was the early 1950s when Chris- topher started his clowning career in the small town of Yoncalla in Doug- las County. When the rodeo had no bulls, he asked the organizer if he needed any help with entertainment Kellie Ridenour/Contributed Photo Retired rodeo clown Gerald “Pinky” Christopher, 87, poses with tribal members on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, at the Pendleton Round-Up. Kellie Ridenour/Contributed Photo Retired rodeo clown Gerald “Pinky” Christopher poses with War Paint, a re- nowned bronc he rode in the early 1950s, at the Pendleton Round-Up on Sept. 15, 2016. and in return got his entrance fees covered. There was one lady, he said, who owned about two-thirds of the busi- nesses in Yoncalla and had brought her grandson to the rodeo who was crying and whining and bawling. “I started going by and I’d get up on a fencepost and sit there and he’d shoot me with his cap gun and I’d fall off and stuff ,” Christopher said, “and pretty soon, before the second day was over with, why he was a-laugh- ing and having a good time and his grandmother was enjoying the show.” Christopher would spend the next 30 some odd years traveling around Oregon to rodeos, working as a bull- fi ghter and rodeo clown, ingrain- ing himself into Oregon rodeo life. It made him happy to help others have a good time, forget their troubles and enjoy the show, he said. “If you just make them laugh for 10 minutes and forget their troubles,” he said, “why it was well worth it.” Christopher said it was diff erent then versus nowadays, where rodeo clowns, bullfi ghters and entertain- ment are separate. Back then, “you were the rodeo clown, you were the bullfi ghter and you were part of the entertainment, too.” “He was a prankster, oh my god I could tell you a million stories,” said Robert Cosner, a retired member of the Deschutes County Sheriff ’s Offi ce who has known Christopher for more than 40 years. One of these included building a washtub on a saddle and adding a sack of fl our to the bottom. They’d sprinkle fl our on Christopher, and he’d hop in the tub on top of a buck- ing horse with his legs poking out. He’d get bucked out and fl our would go everywhere, Cosner said. He strapped heavy thick sponges to his back and the back of his legs to help avoid getting too banged up. “Sometimes you get the wrong way, you know, eating a little dirt,” Christopher said, “but usu- ally you tried to land on your feet.” Christopher did anything he could think of to get people hooting and hollering and enjoying the show. “Whatever you can come up with to keep the people entertained,” he said. Even now, at 87 years old, Chris- topher never misses a rodeo, accord- ing to his daughter, Kellie Ridenour. He still loves making others laugh. “I enjoyed it, the people enjoyed it,” he said. “If they were happy, I was happy.” SPORTS ROUNDUP Panthers pick up second win of the season PRAIRIE CITY — The Panthers improved their record to 2-1 in league play with a 36-18 win over South Wasco. Nick Thomspon, Panthers head football coach, said he had some players that showed up to play Friday. He told the Eagle Monday that the team played really “physi- cal,” which, he said, was what the squad was lacking in their loss to Wheeler on Sept. 10. He said the team had over a dozen missed tackles against Wheeler the week before com- pared to two in their game against South Wasco. Thompson said the team watched the game on fi lm and worked on what they needed to in practice, and the scoreboard refl ected that hard work. He said another signifi cant improvement this week was the off ensive line putting down blocks and staying with them. On defense, Wes Voigt had eight and a half tackles, including a sack and two tackles for a loss of yards. Thompson said he credits a half to a player if they share in a tackle. Additionally, he said Eli Wright had six and a half tackles, one sack, and two tackles for a loss; he said one was a forced fumble that Brock Haak recovered. Trey Brown had fi ve tackles and one sack as well. Off ensively, Thompson said Voigt was three for 10 on passing for 65 yards and one touchdown. He told the Eagle John Titus scored one touchdown and had 45 yards. Wright, he said, had two recep- tions for 20 yards. Tucker Wright had three carries for fi ve yards and Voigt had a carry for fi ve yards as well. Cole Teel carried the ball 21 times for a total of 367 yards and scored four touchdowns. “(Teel) is starting to prove that he needs to be in the conversation in this league,” Thompson said. “He really balled out this week.” Grant Union girls volleyball team improves to a 9-5 record HEPPNER/BAKER CITY — After a 3-0 win over Heppner on Thursday, Sept. 16, the Lady Pros won three out of six games at the East-West Classic Volleyball Tour- nament in Powder Valley on Sept. 18-19. The Eagle was unable to reach Shanna Northway, Grant Union’s volleyball coach. Prairie City volleyball wins two in a row PRAIRIE CITY/ELGIN — The Lady Panthers won back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17 and 18. On Friday, the girls team blanked the Bees 3-0 and on Sat- urday overpowered Elgin 3-1. The Eagle was unable to get in touch with Jordan Bass, Prairie City’s vol- leyball coach. Grant Union drops season opener to Lost River 51-26 LOST RIVER — Grant Union lost its fi rst football game of the sea- son to Lost River 51-26. The Eagle was unable to reach Grant Union coach Jason Miller for comment.