B6 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle If we had a Movie Theater people would make more plans to see people and that would bring people to- gether, more people would come to the Movie Theater and more people would have friends to hangout with at the movie theater. It would bring friends and families together! If we had a movie theater that had all of these things then more people would come to the county, people here would be able to go to the movie theater, and it would be a good place to hang out with friends and watch a good movie, or even have your very own birth- day party at the theater! ___________________________________________ Summer Berry Repair the Mt. Vernon Stone Fort January 4, 2022 Repair the Mt. Vernon Stone Fort The Mt. Vernon stone fort is a historical building where a racing horse named Vernon lived. The town of Mt. Vernon was actually named after him. I love the block building and the history behind it. It is about three miles east of Mt. Vernon. I think we should fix it up so people can take pictures and maybe even go inside. But the shack has fallen into disrepair, the blocks are falling, the fence is torn down, and the rats have prob- ably taken over. The block house is really important in Mt. Vernon history. The block building was made to pro- tect a colt, because his owner was tipped off that native americans were after his famous racing colt. The block building has eight gun holes, two on the front and back and on each side to protect the colt, although no gun was ever fired. Mt. Vernon was never beaten in a race except for one time. He was beaten by a horse named Black Hawk. He was beaten in the final stretch by the beautiful black stallion. Mt. Vernon was sold many times to breed. There may still be disindence of Mt. Vernon today. Then one day someone that had seen Mt. Vernon perform a few years ago, saw him tied to a fence with a few other horses, half blind, and very old. He found out who owned him and asked if he could buy the old and run down horse. The farmer said yes so he loaded up the old and half blind horse and drove him home. The horse lived to be forty one years old, sadly outliving his original owner. I think we should repair the Mt. Vernon block building before it collapses so friends and family can see it and take pictures. The block building is very important in Mt Vernon history, so if you would like to see it preserved please call Dustin Berry at 541-620-2375 today! ___________________________________________ Emmie Saul Opinion Essay January 4, 2022 After School Riding Program An after school riding program is a place where kids can go after school and ride horses or learn to ride horses. They also hold events like rodeos and horse shows to raise money for a good cause. They offer rid- ing lessons for kids of all ages. There are so many more events that they could hold and raise money while do- ing it. As you can see riding programs offer a lot not just to the kids but to the community too. Therefore the cit- izens of Grant County should push for funding an after school riding program. First, I know so many kids in Grant County that really Wednesday, March 2, 2022 want to ride horses, but they can’t. Either their parents won’t let them get a horse, or they don’t have the space for a horse. Which brings me to another way we could use the riding program, as a boarding facility. A board- ing facility is a place where people pay to keep their horse if they don’t have the space for a horse. But they still have to care for their horses such as mucking out their stall and feeding them. If they can’t make it to the barn that day, a stable hand could do it for them. Second, it could be a way to bring in income and it could be a way to give people jobs. The boarding fa- cility would bring in monthly payments. People would also pay to get riding lessons, and there could be lots of events held to bring in income as well. For jobs there could be stable hands that muck out stalls, turn horses out, and feed the horses. Third, the events that would be held, like rodeos and horse shows, would be a great way to bring families and friends in the community together. They could even have their own rodeo team. When I go to rodeos I see it as a way to see my friends and family, and it makes the experience ten times better. What can the citizens of Grant County do to make this happen? They can raise awareness of this idea and make it seen. A riding program will add value to the community, and it will make Grant County an even bet- ter place to live and visit. ___________________________________________ Noah Cobb Opinion Essay January 4, 2022 Please Keep Our Road Plowed The Grant County Road Department works hard to keep our roads clear of snow in the winter. They are good at laying down gravel. However, the Grant County Road Department should try to plow West Bench Road and Meadowlark Lane better. It is very unsafe for me, my family, and other families that live on West Bench Road or Meadowlark Lane when they are not plowed. It is important to plow our road, because it is unsafe in the winter time. Sometimes there are people that walk on the side of the road by our house for exercise. If the roads are slick and not plowed, there is a chance that our truck could slip and run into them while we’re driving. One time we had to drive to school with four inches of snow on the road. It did not feel safe at all, because there is this one turn and you either make the turn or you fall off a very steep hill. There are not even guard rails on the sharp curves. There are many people that use West Bench Road and Meadowlark Lane. Many parents use these roads to pick up and drop off their kids at school. People use these roads to get to work and back all the time. There are also medical experts that live on that hill. Once my mom had to call someone just to come and plow West Bench Road. What can we do to make West Bench Road and Meadowlark Lane more safe for all drivers in the win- ter? If you also feel that West Bench and Meadowlark need to be plowed more often, please call and express your concerns to the Grant County Road Department at (541) 575-0138. ________________________________ Sean Perkins Opinion Essay January 4, 2022 Proudly Supporting Youth in Academics and Sports! They need more churches I think Mount Vernon needs more churches because if the people don’t like the church they can find a new church. Grant County does have a lot of churches but not all of them because what if they don’t like the church, they’ll go to a different church. If they don’t go to that church they’ll go for a different church. There’s a pat- tern. Not all people like the same churches. At certain times people don’t like it they might not go to church if they can’t find the right church for them. There will be more options if you decide to help build more churches because they can’t get the right church if you don’t build more churches. There will be more people in the churches and possibly more religious peo- ple joining and if they can find a better church it means more churches equals more religious people there is another pattern and if you could get more options for more people it would be very good. It is important to do this because we need better churches and if we don’t get better churches, people will be upset if they don’t get the churches that they like. They would be way more happier if they got the church- es that they want. It is important to do. They’ll be able to get the decision that they wanted for a long time. If you don’t do this people would be the opposite of happy. They’d be mad because they won’t get the churches they wanted. They will be able to find the best church for them because not all people like the same types of churches because no one is the same person and if you help you will be doing a great thing because we have a lot of churches just not enough of the different types of churches so please help us. It would mean a lot for you to do that because it will not be fair if you do not. So please help me. If you agree that we need another church in Mount Vernon, please email perkinssean@gmail.com. Please help me do this to make it fair to Mount Vernon. Make sure that we get more churches for people to go to that church. help make more churches. _____________________________________ RIGGIN Opinion Essay January 4, 2022 Juniper removal Our forests are really important,but they have an en- emy in them. Junipers is the name. They take up a lot of water so the other plants can die. They also can light on fire easily and they burn for a long time. Also,they decrease the number of homes for many animals. One reason why we should cut down all the junipers in our forests is because there would be more water for other plants because junipers take up a lot of water by sucking all the water deep underground making it im- possible for other plants to grow. Another reason is that there would be less fire dam- age because junipers light on fire easily,burn for a very long time and the fire gets really hot. Finally, there would be better habitats for most ani- mals except birds because they really like juniper trees. Will you help us get rid of Juniper trees? If you want to cut down junipers near you, contact Jacob Dittel at 541-737-4531. u o v e i e l y e in b e W believe i n y o u e W OTEC mini-members are our future and we proudly support them! Our mini-members have a webpage dedicated to them! Find us on Facebook and Instagram or our website 1188brewing.com. S283581-1 Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner • 141 E Main St., John Day • 541-575-1188 Supporting the building blocks of our future, the youth of Grant County! www.otec.coop 120 E Main St. John Day 541-575-0629 Mon-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 10am-4pm S284556-1 S283584-1