A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
OUR VIEW
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Colby Farrell, a member of the Whiskey Gulch Gang, ﬁ res a blank in a mock
gunﬁ ght Saturday, June 11, 2022, during the ‘62 Days Celebration.
A fair trial followed by
a ﬁ rst-class hanging
gunﬁ ght broke out on the streets of Canyon City June 11,
and everybody cheered.
The gunslingers were members of the Whiskey Gulch
Gang, they were all ﬁ ring blanks, and the simulated showdown was
the Wild West centerpiece of ‘62 Days, the annual celebration that
pays tribute to Canyon City’s origins as a rough-and-ready min-
ing boomtown after the discovery of gold there in 1862. One of the
combatants lay seemingly dead in the street, and the survivors of
the shootout quickly converged on the triggerman to hand out some
swift and sure frontier justice. To paraphrase the crooked sheriﬀ
in “Silverado,” he got a fair trial followed by a ﬁ rst-class hanging.
No one was too upset when the condemned man broke through the
ﬂ oor of the gallows before the hangman was ready. They just pulled
him up, dusted him oﬀ , rearranged the harness that kept the noose
from choking him, and did the thing properly.
While things are a lot more civilized these days, that Old West
culture still adds its own distinctive spice to life here in Grant
County, and ‘62 Days is a great way to savor the ﬂ avor.
The historic Sels’ Brewery comes out of hibernation just once a
year to serve as headquarters for the two-day celebration, and it’s
perfect for the part. Built in 1872, the stone structure houses a bar
that could have stepped straight out of a classic Western movie,
complete with swinging doors, sawdust on the ﬂ oor, an elkhorn
hatrack and a large nude painting on the back wall. Sels’ outdoor
patio was the scene of live music and dancing on both Friday and
Saturday, with a big tarp overhead to keep the worst of the rain oﬀ
the revelers, none of whom seemed to mind the wet weather too
much. Washington Street was blocked oﬀ to vehicle traﬃ c for the
occasion, with vendors oﬀ ering barbecue, burritos and other tasty
treats. Kids played across the street from the brewery in the city
park, where a band was set up in the gazebo.
On Saturday morning, a parade rolled slowly down Highway
395 through town, with the Grant County Fair and Rodeo Court rid-
ing horseback, a group of high-kicking can-can girls performing
their routine on the back of a wagon, Boy Scouts marching in uni-
form and a string of ATV riders rolling along on their four-wheelers.
Other attractions at ‘62 Days included a chili cook-oﬀ , a cornhole
tournament, an art show hosted by Painted Sky, the Miners’ Break-
fast, the Gold Rush Run and the Medicine Wagon Show.
All in all, it was a fun and lively tribute to Canyon City’s colorful
history. Our hats are oﬀ to the Whiskey Gulch Gang and other com-
munity volunteers for keeping this grand Western tradition alive.
A
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201 S.
Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820.
Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-
0515. Email: tocc1862@centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825.
Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-987-2187.
Email: dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-575-
1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek
97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-
3075. Email: info@cityoﬂ ongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon
97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-
4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City
97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-3566.
Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email:
senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol,
Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-3111. Fax:
503-378-6827. Website: governor.state.or.us/
governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem,
97310. Phone: 503-986-1180. Website: leg.
state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) — 800-332-2313,
oregonlegislature.gov.
• Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale — 900 Court St.
NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1730. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/ﬁ ndley.
Email: sen.lynnﬁ ndley@oregonlegislature.
gov.
• Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane — 900 Court St.
NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-1460.
District address: 258 S. Oregon St., Ontario OR
97914. District phone: 541-889-8866. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/ﬁ ndley. Email: rep.
markowens@oregonlegislature.gov.
FARMER’S FATE
Waddle we do with the ducks?
T
here’s been quite a bit of fowl I saw six of the 10 ducks across the
play at our house
road and in the alfalfa ﬁ eld
lately.
(because apparently it tastes
As the rain keeps coming
better than the alfalfa ﬁ eld
down in buckets, all of the
next to their pond).
animals have been most irri-
I pulled oﬀ the road and
table — with the exception
went bouncing through the
of the ducks. Those ducks
wet alfalfa, high heels and
just quack happily, splashing
all. Five of the six ducks
Brianna
in puddles while pretending
hunkered down while the
Walker
not to notice how miserable
“sentry” stood tall and gave
the soggy sheep look.
me a one-eye stare-down.
The happy ducks seem to wad-
Was I bluﬃ ng? Was I really going to
dle across the pasture, intentionally
keep coming?
ﬂ aunting their big, happy, water-
Everyone else was still doing
logged grins. They may taunt — but the “duck and cover” until the sen-
they do it smartly. They must have
try must have decided I was seri-
seen the sign that reads: “The farmer ous and quacked out a loud “get
allows walkers to cross the ﬁ eld for
the ﬂ ock back!” order. At his com-
free, but the bull charges.”
mand, the ﬁ ve other ducks stood up
They always make sure their
and the whole procession waddled
mocking leaves enough space for
and quacked back to the driveway.
them to ﬂ ap to the safety of their
As my procession of ducks tod-
pond. After a mad splash into the
dled back toward their pond, the
water just ahead of the wet and
other four came out to watch, and I
aggravated llama, one could almost
could easily imagine them holding
hear their twinkling little brains say- up scoring signs for how well their
ing, “Put it on our bill ... ”
escape plans had gone: 8.4, 9.1, etc.
We have decided that if it walks
Hollering out the window won’t
like a duck, and talks like a duck — get their attention. No matter how
you better have someone on duck
much noise you make, they will
patrol. Duck patrol is a real thing at
totally ignore you until they see
my house. Because those mischie-
the door open. Then the sentry will
vous little ducks don’t keep their
stretch his neck and acknowledge
taunting to just the other farm ani-
you for the ﬁ rst time. They still
mals — oh, no. They love to see
won’t budge, though, until your feet
how long it takes for us to discover
actually touch the ground. Then they
they’re missing and bring them
start quacking as they wibble-wob-
home. If I saw a duck with a stop-
ble their way back home.
watch around his neck, I wouldn’t
Each time I’m on duck patrol,
be surprised.
I can’t help but hum “Five little
Coming home the other day,
ducks went out to play, over the
wearing tall-heeled boots and a skirt, hills and far away ... ” I’m starting
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Building on debt is
risky business
To the Editor:
Looking back on a management
style and its tactics and looking for-
ward to accountability is the topic
of the day. The city of John Day
hired, in my opinion, the most lib-
eral and unexperienced manager in
its history. In April 2019 Nick Green
writes: “Proﬁ tability is less import-
ant for a public agency. We are not
designed to generate proﬁ ts and are
required by law to break even.” As
we, on the outside watching in, ﬁ nd
the service on the debt rise every
year. This ﬁ gure is the principal
amount taken oﬀ of debt, plus the
interest paid in each ﬁ scal year.
Audit for FY 17-18, the debt ser-
vice amounted to $259,568. Under
the topic of “solvency,” Mr. Green
includes the following statement:
“By using leverage (debt) to make
land acquisitions, capital improve-
ments like ﬁ nishing the ﬁ re hall,
and building greenhouses, we cre-
ated near-term debt obligations ...
and long term debt obligations.” By
doing this, he says, “we also cre-
ated assets whose value exceeds our
debts as a result of external invest-
ment from third parties.”
So, to make this short, he is cre-
ating debt to build stuﬀ to borrow
more money as assets rise. To date, I
know of no third parties that are par-
ticipating in this failing plan. So far,
the city has been borrowing large
amounts of money to “subsidize”
third parties, and only a handful of
them.
Let’s go forward now and look at
the 2022/2023 budget. $1,413,889 is
the debt service for this coming ﬁ s-
cal year. This comes to $812.58 for
every man, woman and child within
the city limits this year alone for the
privilege of living in the city. For
the property taxpayer that ﬁ gure is
$1,178.24 for this upcoming FY.
In the Dec. 14 URA meeting,
(RES.) No. 2021-06, he requested
a loan from Business Oregon for
URA, and in this resolution it
includes additional funding from this
loan for “debt service.” So he is bor-
rowing for debt service to satisfy
these loans. How does this sound
like “breaking even” to a balanced
budget? Borrowing for debt service
is not a way to balance a budget.
Bob Pereira
John Day
Phone customers
left in the lurch
To the Editor:
While returning to our ranch
recently, we called the Kimberly
Post Oﬃ ce to resume our mail. No
answer. We correctly guessed that
the Kimberly phones were once
again not working. Five days later
still no dial tone for any of us.
After four days I ﬁ nally went
online with CenturyLink. Their sys-
tem reported that there is no out-
age in our area and that the prob-
lem must be with the wiring in our
home! I then tried to talk to a real
person and was told that the wait
time was 160 minutes! When I
ﬁ nally reached them, they said they
could send out a technician on June
24 — that’s over two weeks without
phone service for us or any of our
neighbors.
This is all typical with Centu-
ryLink, and one has to wonder if
they just want us all to go away. I
understand that most people today
rely on cellphones, and many have
gotten rid of their landlines. But for
people in rural areas where there is
little to no cellphone coverage, and
satellite internet is our only digital
connection, our landlines are essen-
tial. Who is going to protect rural
folks from corporate giants like
CenturyLink?
And to all you other Grant
County residents who have Oregon
Telephone Corporation service –
count your lucky stars!
Jim Kelly
Kimberly
L
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mail to Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or by fax to 541-575-1244.
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to think that was more than a kid’s
song — it was a warning.
Day after day we watched the
leader, a little curled feather on his
back, lead his ragtag gang of naugh-
ties oﬀ to play. One day after hav-
ing been on duck patrol nearly every
hour, chasing them oﬀ the road and
out of the neighboring ditch, I was
starting to get a little annoyed.
“Rotten ducks anyhow, if they
weren’t so adorably mischievous, I
might be contemplating duck stew,”
I grumbled to my husband.
“You need to let it roll like water
oﬀ a duck’s back,” he sing-songed
to me.
“Don’t use such fowl language
in front of the kids!” I exclaimed
overdramatically, “my day was for
the birds — the very deﬁ nition of
unpro-duck-tive!”
We continued with our lame
duck puns all evening amusing our-
selves more than our children —
they thought we’d ﬂ own the coop. It
probably wasn’t all it was quacked
up to be, but I did learn there is no
hope our ducks will ever grow up —
because they will grow down.
But one of the best things about
duck patrol is that, at the end of
the day, however crazy things have
gone, one can always say they had
their ducks in a row — at least
once.
On a late evening duck patrol,
shooing the naughty little ducks
back home, I thought about a
“badling,” a group of ducks on land
— and right then I decided the per-
son who came up with that name
knew all about duck patrol!
Phone: 541-575-0710
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