A2
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Eagle schedules
candidate forum
Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The Blue
Mountain Eagle will host a
public forum with the three
announced candidates for
Grant County commissioner in
the May 17 election.
The free event will be held
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednes-
day, April 20, in the large con-
ference room at the Grant
County Regional Airport, 720
Airport Road, John Day.
Scott Knepper of Prairie
City, John Rowell of John Day
and Mark Webb of Mt. Vernon
are running to ﬁ ll the seat on
the Grant County Court being
vacated by Sam Palmer, who
is running for the Republican
nomination for a U.S. Senate
seat. The candidates will talk
about their qualiﬁ cations, dis-
cuss their positions on issues
facing the county and answer
questions about the campaign.
Blue Mountain Eagle Editor
Bennett Hall will moderate the
discussion.
Members of the public are
invited to attend in person. The
event will also be streamed live
on the Eagle’s Facebook page.
The deck overlooking the John Day Golf Club.
Golf club reopening this weekend
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Signif-
icant ﬂ ood damage shut-
tered the clubhouse at the
John Day Golf Club for
nearly three months, but a
local contractor and volun-
teers put the ﬁ nal touches on
a long-overdue renovation of
the 70-year-old building last
month, and now the mem-
ber-owned club is gearing up
for a reopening on Saturday,
April 9, with a 14-hole golf
scramble, auction and tri-tip
dinner.
Clubhouse manager Joe
Densberger said the ﬂ ooding,
which was caused by an out-
dated plumbing system, dam-
aged the old bar and one wall
so severely that both had to
JOHN DAY
GOLF CLUB
MEMBERSHIP
AND SERVICES
John Day Golf Club
Greens fees
Nine holes: $20 ($17
when a guest of a mem-
ber)
18 holes: $32 ($27 when a
guest of a member)
Cart rental: $20 for nine
holes and $25 for 18
Kathleen Lee/Contributed Photo
Chuck Coﬀ man, a longtime member of the John Day Golf Club,
helps knock down the old ﬁ replace during the demolition
phase of the club’s renovation last winter.
be removed to even begin the
repairs.
In that case, he thought,
Loyce M. Phillips
May 28, 1928 ~ March 28, 2022
Loyce M. Phillips, 93, of
John Day was surrounded by
family when she passed away
March 28th in Pasco, Wash-
ington. Graveside Funeral Ser-
vice will be held at 11:00 a.m.
on April 9th at the Canyon City
Cemetery.
Loyce was born May 28,
1928 to Dewey and Mildred
Benson in Prairie City, Oregon.
She was the first of four chil-
dren followed by Peggy, Jack
and Sherrie. Loyce completed
her education at the Mt. Ver-
non Schools and graduated in
1945 (a year early) with a class
of two. During her school years she worked for her Aunt Velda
Williams at her local café and also worked Sundays at Oregon
Telephone as one of their first operators.
Loyce attended a Portland Business School and then lived and
worked at the Bear Valley Ranger District.
At the conclusion of World War II, she was transferred to the
US Forest Service office in John Day and later she was employed
at the Grant County Bank where she met the love of her life, Stan-
ley Phillips. Their first date was a fishing trip. They were later
married at the First Baptist Church in John Day on December 12,
1948. Three children were born of this union, Ronald, Thomas
and Mary Lou.
After their children started school, Loyce worked for her aunt
Kristine Staig for 35 years at the John Day Liquor Store.
In their latter years, Stan and Loyce formed Phillips’ Fire In-
vestigation where they worked and traveled extensively both for
business and pleasure. They traveled to all 50 states, visited parts
of the Oregon Trail, Branson Missouri, and Nashville Tennes-
see, took their grandchildren to Hawaii, Disneyland, and fishing
in Alaska and attended the National Finals Rodeos in Las Vegas
regularly.
They were accompanied by family and friends on several trips.
After celebrating 54 years of marriage, Mr. Phillips passed away.
Loyce continued to live in the family home of 67 years that she
and Stan built until June of 2021 when her health required a move
to Pasco Washington to live with and near Mary Lou and Gordon.
Loyce was a very loving and nurturing person who enjoyed
spending time with her family and friends.
She was an avid gardener, seamstress, cake decorator, bak-
er, hunter and angler extraordinaire. Although she didn’t seek the
spotlight, she always seemed to be where help was needed and
quietly disappeared when the time was right.
She was preceded in death by her parents, son Thomas (Tom-
my); husband Stanley, sister Peggy Cloud and grandchild Jacelyn
Black.
Loyce is survived by son Ronald R. Phillips and daughter Mary
Lou (Gordon) Campbell; grandchildren Aaron (Kirsten) Black,
Emily (Greg) Ransier; three step-grandchildren, four great-grand-
children; Nathan, Natalie, Zoey, Addison; and one great-great-
grandchild Mila; brother Jack (Marlene) Benson; sister Sherrie
(Harley) Allen and brother-in-law Lyle Cloud.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your
choice through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home PO Box 543,
Halfway, OR 97834.  Online condolences may be shared at www.
tamispinevalleyfuneralhome.com. Paid for by the family of Loyce
Phillips.
why not open up the club-
house by knocking out the
wall and ﬁ replace that
divided the cocktail area and
banquet room? A
,which looks out over the
nearly 3,000-yard course
with its meticulously main-
tained, uniform greens and
tree-lined fairways?
Densberger said it took a
village of dues-paying mem-
ber volunteers to get the
project oﬀ the ground. In the
middle of winter, they put in
long days to knock down the
wall and pull out the old bar.
After that, he said, the rest of
the project went out for bid
and was awarded to Day-
ville-based contractor Casey
Fretwell.
Fretwell put in the cus-
tom-ﬁ nished bar, installed
new ﬂ ooring and did needed
electrical work.
Longtime dues-paying
members like Chuck Coﬀ -
man, a ﬁ reﬁ ghter with Gray-
back Forestry, spent eight-
and 10-hour days for over
two weeks knocking down
the wall, pulling out the ﬁ re-
place and making numer-
ous trips to the dump. Coﬀ -
man’s wife, Kathleen Lee,
an insurance agent at Bis-
nett, chipped in after work
and on weekends.
Lee said both men and
women lent a hand in the
eﬀ ort. She said the club
24/7 F ORECAST
A UTOMATED : 541-575-1122
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162.500 MHz
Club rentals: $5 for a
complete set
All-inclusive yearly mem-
berships are $780 for
families, $600 for individ-
uals or $60 for students,
plus a a one-time $150
initiation fee.
Social memberships,
which cover entry to the
clubhouse, are $60 per
year.
Small business lending webinar set
SALEM — Business Oregon is hosting a free virtual meeting
to discuss and gather input on plans to bolster existing small busi-
ness ﬁ nancing programs and create new ones.
Oregon has applied for $83 million from the State Small Busi-
ness Credit Initiative, a federal program aimed at providing ven-
ture capital, venture loans and expanded traditional loans to small
businesses.
Business Oregon is planning a series of virtual meetings with
business owners, with the ﬁ rst scheduled for 2-3:30 p.m. Thurs-
day, April 7. Register online at https://tinyurl.com/3emy83hn to
get the Zoom link and sign up to get email updates on ﬁ nancing
opportunities.
Aid available for EOU, BMCC students
JOHN DAY — Applications are being accepted for Grant
County Futures Scholarships.
The scholarships are for students enrolled in or planning to
enroll in classes through Eastern Oregon University or Blue Moun-
tain Community College’s online degree programs and courses
oﬀ ered through the Grant County Center in John Day. This year’s
scholarships are funded for a minimum of $1,000 apiece.
Applicants must have been Grant County residents for
at least one year, show ﬁ nancial need and provide letters of
recommendation.
The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. April 28. Forms can be found
online at https://tinyurl.com/2fwer34y. For more information, con-
tact Ashley Armichardy at 541-575-1550 or aarmichardy@eou.
edu.
Work party in the Ochocos
could not have aﬀ orded the
project had the members not
volunteered.
Densberger said while he
could not share the cost of the
project, he noted that the vol-
unteers saved the club a sig-
niﬁ cant amount of money.
For his part, Coﬀ man esti-
mated the savings to be
around $30,000.
Coﬀ man and Lee joined
the club in 1997 shortly after
getting married. Lee was the
women’s club president, and
Coﬀ man said he learned to
cook for large groups peo-
ple in the clubhouse’s kitchen
over the years.
Asked why he was will-
ing to spend long hours vol-
unteering at the golf club
when he was already a paying
member, Lee said that comes
with being a part of a mem-
ber-owned club.
“You just want to do what
you can to make it the best
place,” she said. “So that we
can make it one of the best
(golf courses) and aﬀ ordable
for people.”
PAULINA — All Hands All Brands for Our Public Lands, a
coalition of outdoor recreation groups, will host its third annual
campout and work party in the Ochoco Mountains June 17-19 at
Sugar Creek Campground northwest of Paulina.
This year’s primary project will be to construct two four-
strand wire fences around aspen stands near Big Summit Prairie,
along with a small buck and pole project around a quarter-acre
stand.
A potluck social is planned for Saturday night, along with a
free raﬄ e, archery shoot and music. Participants should bring
T-post pounders, gloves, plenty of water, tools for attaching wire
clips, 3-pound hammers and cordless drills.
Register at the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers website,
www.backcountryhunters.org/ahab. For more information, con-
tact Eric Brown at 541-647-0424 or ericbrown5112@gmail.com.
OTEC has unclaimed capital credits
BAKER CITY — If you are a current or former member of
the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, you might have some
money coming to you — but if so, you’ll need to act soon if
you want to claim it.
OTEC has updated its list of unclaimed capital credits —
essentially, proﬁ t-sharing checks that were issued to co-op
members but never cashed. If the credits remain unclaimed
for four years after they were issued, the money goes back to
the co-op. The deadline to claim the oldest outstanding cred-
its is July 31.
The list of current and former OTEC members with
unclaimed credits can be viewed at https://www.otec.coop/
capital-credits. Credits can be claimed by contacting your
local OTEC oﬃ ce. For more information, call 541-523-3616.
— Blue Mountain Eagle
Donna Jeanette Talus
September 13, 1931 ~ July 22, 2021
DEATH NOTICES
Beaverton – Donna J. Talus, 89, died July 22, 2021, after a
brief illness at a Beaverton memory care facility. She was born
September 13, 1931, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the daughter of
Ralph and Estelle Sebern.
Donna graduated from Yakima High School in 1949. Following
graduation she attended Willamette University, obtaining a bache-
lor’s degree in 1953. In 1955, she married Henry Talus in a union
that lasted 37 years until Henry’s death in 1992. She dedicated
her life to teaching, first in physical education and later Language
Arts and Journalism, serving 29 years in total. Additionally, she
coached multiple sports including volleyball, tumbling and tennis.
Donna was a longtime member of the United Methodist
Church, in addition to being the state president of A.A.U.W (Amer-
ican Association of University Women). She served as state presi-
dent for several years.
In addition to her husband Henry, she was predeceased by
her daughter Dottie, brother Ralph, and sisters Helen and Juanita.
She is survived by sons Steve and Stacy (Becky) and grandchil-
dren Hanna, Jackson, Reed, and Ellie, as well as many nieces and
nephews. Paid for by the family of Donna Talus.
Last Week’s Temps
John Day ...........................................................HI/LO
Wednesday ..................................................... 51/31
Thursday .......................................................... 48/28
Friday ............................................................... 59/34
Saturday .......................................................... 57/34
Sunday ............................................................. 56/35
Monday............................................................ 54/36
Tuesday ........................................................... 43/21
Pushcart rental: $2
LOCAL BRIEFING
Donald Carlos Stratton
Donald Carlos Stratton, 87, of John Day passed away March
28 at Blue Mountain Hospital. A graveside memorial service is
scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday, June 17, at Canyon City Cem-
etery. Memorial contributions may be made to Grants for Grant
County Vets through Driskill Memorial Chapel at 241 S. Canyon
Blvd., John Day, OR 97845. To light a candle in memory of Don
or to oﬀ er online condolences to his family, please visit www.
driskillmemorialchapel.com.
CORRECTION
Grant Union Softball: Savannah Watterson’s last name was
misspelled in a story about Grant Union softball in the March 30
edition. The Eagle regrets the error.
W EATHER F ORECAST FOR THE WEEK OF A PRIL 6-12
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Mostly
sunny
Mostly
sunny
Mostly
cloudy
Partly
cloudy
AM snow
showers
Mostly
cloudy
Partly
cloudy
59
73
59
43
37
39
42
30
42
31
27
25
24
25