NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
A3
John Day ceremony honors veterans
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Roughly
20 people gathered at the Sev-
enth Street Sports Complex
Thursday, Nov. 11, to honor
Grant County veterans for
their service.
The Veterans Day event,
sponsored by the John Day
Elks Lodge, included a rifle
salute by the John Day Amer-
ican American Legion Post
No. 77 and taps played by Ed
Heiple.
Bob Van Voorhis, an Army
veteran and active supporter
of veterans in Grant County,
reminded everyone that Vet-
erans Day is not the same
as Memorial Day, which is
observed on the last Mon-
day in May. While both
honor military service, Van
Voorhis noted that Memorial
Day commemorates men and
women killed in service to our
country.
As the Department of
Defense notes on its website,
“A lot of Americans get this
confused, and we’ll be hon-
est — it can be a little annoy-
ing to all of the living veterans
out there.”
Armed Forces Day, cele-
brated on the third Saturday
in May, honors those currently
serving on active duty, Van
Voorhis added.
Veterans Day, which
occurs each year on Nov.
11, commemorates the armi-
stice that signaled the end of
World War I and went into
effect on the 11th hour of the
11th day of the 11th month of
1918.
The holiday was initially
known as Armistice Day. But
Van Voorhis noted that Pres-
ident Dwight D. Eisenhower
officially changed the name to
Veterans Day in 1954 in rec-
ognition of the fact that peace
was equally preserved by all
veterans, not just those who
fought in World War I.
Van Voorhis said the offi-
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Bob Van Voorhis, a Vietnam veteran and active supporter of
Grant County veterans, speaks during the John Day Elks Veter-
ans Day ceremony at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John
Day on Thursday, Nov. 11.
Veterans were honored Thursday, Nov. 11, at the Seventh Street
Sports Complex at a ceremony sponsored by the John Day Elks
Lodge.
cial number of veterans in
Grant County is 750, but he
has always put the number at
around 1,000.
“In a county of 7,000
people, “Van Voorhis said,
“there’s a lot of us.”
Van Voorhis thanked the
Grant County commission-
ers and the people of Grant
County for their support of
veterans’ activities.
He added that Grant
County is on the national reg-
istry as a Purple Heart county
in honor of local residents
who have been awarded the
medal. The Purple Heart is a
combat decoration given to
military personnel who have
been wounded or killed in
battle. It is the oldest mili-
tary medal still awarded in the
United States.
“When you come into
Grant County,” Van Voorhis
said, “you’ll see a Purple
Heart County sign.”
Van Voorhis was awarded
the Purple Heart after getting
wounded in Vietnam.
Van Voorhis pointed out
that 6 million veterans served
during peacetime, keeping the
military on the line and other
countries free against totalitar-
ian regimes.
“That makes them just as
important as us who served
in combat,” he said. “They’re
every bit as much of veterans
as any of us.”
Prairie City water project due to start
use restrictions and arranging
to truck supplemental water
into town.
The completion of the
project will provide excellent
insurance for the Prairie City
water supply should the region
see another lower-than-aver-
age snowpack this year, Ham-
sher noted.
Hamsher said the proj-
ect would not affect people’s
water bills. The only change,
he said, would be that the city
would not have to restrict
water use.
Prairie City received a
$550,000 grant and a 30-year,
$950,000 loan at 1.7% inter-
est from Business Oregon to
develop the Faiman Springs
County outlines plans to allocate
$1.1M in COVID relief funds
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Court
recommended
allocating
upwards of $1.1 million of
American Rescue Plan Act
funding Wednesday, Nov.
10, during the court’s regular
session.
ARPA is a federal stimu-
lus program designed to speed
economic recovery from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
County Judge Scott Myers
said the list of recommen-
dations the court was using
followed the U.S. Treasury
Department’s
preliminary
guidance.
Among other allocations,
the court recommended a
$145,850 reimbursement for
the Grant County Fairgrounds,
which provided the location
for the county’s vaccine clin-
ics. Myers said the allocation
took into account revenue the
fairgrounds otherwise could
have collected during that time.
Additionally, the court
approved reimbursing Com-
munity Counseling Solutions
$161,274.16 for direct costs
for its COVID-19 response
as the county’s public health
entity.
In a county court document
shared with the Eagle, Grant
County Emergency Manage-
ment Coordinator Eric Bush
noted that CCS provided a
spreadsheet that documents
staff hours and costs related
to the Health Department’s
response to the pandemic.
The court approved a rec-
ommendation for a reimburse-
ment of $100,000 to the Grant
County Sheriff’s Office that
includes the sheriff’s search
and rescue team. A court
document lists the Sheriff’s
Office as an essential govern-
ment service, with the recom-
mended funding offsetting lost
revenues due to the virus.
Likewise, the court listed
Families First as another
essential government service
and recommended reimburse-
ment of $34,517.44 to offset
revenue lost to the pandemic.
Under the category of
water, sewer and broad-
band infrastructure, the court
approved a $90,000 allocation
to bring high-speed internet
access to the courthouse from
Humbolt Elementary School.
Myers told the court the
courthouse needs high-speed
internet, mainly because the
county’s internet provider is
no longer operating.
“Broadband high-speed
internet infrastructure is a
qualified expense,” Myers
said. “So we will reimburse
that project as soon as it is
completed.”
well site, Hamsher said. The
city was also awarded a $1
million grant by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Rural Development program
to offset the state loan and the
cost of hauling water during
the city’s water emergency in
2018.
The city initiated a plan to
complete a water project using
wells drilled by the city in
2005, using grants and loans
to cover the cost. The city
raised the monthly water rate
by $8 to qualify for the loans.
In a pump test, the Faiman
Springs well produced roughly
460 gallons of water a minute,
Hamsher said. The town needs
around 350 gallons a minute at
peak demand.
The city’s current wells
produce only slightly more
than that under optimal condi-
tions, but when the water table
drops, they can’t keep pace
with demand.
For instance, Hamsher
said, the No. 2 well currently
produces around 65 gallons a
minute, while well No. 3 is at
approximately 100 gallons a
minute.
The infiltration galler-
ies currently produce roughly
200 gallons a minute due to
increasing groundwater lev-
els, which, Hamsher noted, is
a significant improvement.
This year, during Grant
County’s hottest and driest
summer in over a century,
Prairie City saw the capacity
of its water system drop to just
10 to 20 gallons a minute.
TOM CHRISTENSEN
CHRISTENSEN
TOM
CONSTRUCTION
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Sat & Sun 12:30, 3:45, 7:00
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OPENS WEDNESDAY, 11/24:
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S266914-1
PRAIRIE CITY — After
upwards of two years of work-
ing out the details, Prairie
City’s Faiman Springs water
project will break is expected
to break ground next month.
An emergency procure-
ment due to the recent drought
allowed the city to bypass a
formal bid process, Prairie
City Mayor Jim Hamsher told
the Eagle on Wednesday, Nov.
10.
Hamsher said the proj-
ect would move forward with
Winegar Excavation, a Prai-
rie City-based contractor, and
other subcontractors starting
Dec. 1, adding he expects the
project will be completed by
late spring or early summer.
“That is my hope,” Ham-
sher said.
The project will tie an
existing well near the Faiman
Springs site into the current
city water system, Hamsher
said. The project includes
constructing a pump station
and laying between 8,000 and
9,000 feet of piping.
Prairie City has suffered
from chronic water shortages
for years, with drought con-
ditions and low winter snow-
packs cutting into the city’s
water supply. In 2018, Ham-
sher declared a water emer-
gency, implementing water
S266943-1
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Elks Club preparing Thanksgiving meal
JOHN DAY – Once again
this year, the John Day Elks
Club will be preparing a free
Thanksgiving dinner for any-
one in the community.
The menu will include tur-
key, ham, stuffing, mashed
potatoes and gravy, yams, green
beans, dessert and a roll.
Food will be available for
pickup or delivery, and dine-in
service, which was canceled
last year due to COVID-19
restrictions, will return at the
Elks Lodge, 140 NE Dayton St.
Takeout meals will be
available for pickup at the
lodge starting at 1 p.m., and
dine-in service will begin
at the same time. Deliveries
will go out by noon.
For takeout or delivery, call
the Elks Lodge at 541-575-
1824 before Nov. 25 and leave
a message with your name,
address, phone number and the
number of Thanksgiving din-
ners you are requesting. Be sure
to state whether you want take-
out or delivery service.
FIREWOOD PRICING:
YOU LOAD:
$90 a ton
$.045 a pound
PRE-PACKAGED PALLET OF
OR
You pick from pile of wood rounds.
KILN DRIED
FIREWOOD:
$50 a pallet
Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
See Chance Finley at the Norco Office at Iron Triangle,
60643 Highway 26, John Day (cross the bridge and go straight to large shop)
or call the Iron Triangle Office for more information, 541-575-2102.
S268048-1
We will load on trailer/pick-up.
H 20% OFF FOR SENIORS AND VETERANS H
S226603-1
