NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
A3
Grant enables free art classes Fourth festivities planned
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
CANYON CITY —
Painted Sky Center for the
Arts has received a grant
large enough to provide free
summer art classes for a large
number of children in the
county.
The Oregon Commu-
nity Summer Grant awarded
to the art center totaled
$180,367 and is described
as being signifi cantly larger
than grants the center has
received in previous years.
Due to the size of the grant,
the art center can now pro-
vide art classes to 60 more
kids than are enrolled at this
time.
The center was operat-
ing on a tuition-based atten-
dance model before the
grant funding but will now
be able to off er summer art
classes free of charge from
8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Ryan
McKnab of Painted Sky said
the goal of the art center is to
accommodate working fami-
lies and families that want to
participate in summer activi-
ties that may not be compat-
ible with children.
“Sometimes they want
to go play golf or enjoy the
summer, and kids won’t
always be compatible with
that. I want to accommo-
date family lifestyles and, of
course, bring kids in to learn
art techniques. We’re learn-
ing about art cultures from
all over the world. In rural
areas like this, where there
isn’t much diversity, I’m try-
ing to bring the diversity to
them,” he said.
Art classes have moved
from the art center to Hum-
bolt Elementary, 329 N.
Humbolt St. in Canyon City.
The arrangement allows kids
in Humbolt’s summer school
program to attend the classes
put on by the art center after
summer school classes end
at noon.
Alicia Griffi n of Painted
Sky said the move to Hum-
bolt allowed the center to
serve more kids and accom-
modate them for longer
hours.
“We were brainstorm-
ing and came up with the
idea, why don’t we bring
GRANT COUNTY — Sev-
eral communities around the
county will be holding celebra-
tions of the 246th birthday of the
United States in the county.
Prairie City’s Fourth of July
celebrations will kick off early
the morning of Independence
Day, Monday, July 4. Day-
ville’s celebrations will start on
Saturday, July 2, and continue
through Independence Day. And
Monument’s observances will
take place Saturday and Sunday,
July 2 and 3.
Highlights of the Dayville
celebration include a tour of
the newly reopened Commu-
nity Hall at 11 a.m. on Saturday,
followed by a tri-tip meal pre-
pared by Guyon Springs from 4
to 7 p.m. and karaoke from 6 to
9 p.m. The tri-tip meal and kara-
oke will take place at the Fish
House Inn.
Sunday will start with a
church service at the Dayville
Community Church at 11 a.m.
followed by goat roping at Leto-
sky’s Corral at 1 p.m. From 4 to
6 p.m., hot dogs and hamburgers
will be served at the Fish House
Inn, where the band Red Headed
Step Child will perform from 5
to 9.
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Students from Painted Sky’s summer arts classes attend mu-
sic lessons at Humbolt Elementary on Friday, June 24, 2022.
SUMMER EVENTS AT A GLANCE
July 25-27, 10 a.m. to noon: Toddler event @ Painted
Sky Center for the Arts, 118 S. Washington St., Canyon
City
Friday, July 29 and Aug. 5, time TBD: Ceramics event
for tweens (ages 8-13) at the Painted Sky ceramics
studio, 118 S. Washington St., Canyon City
Friday, Aug. 19 and 26, time TBD: Teen ceramic days
at the ceramics studio, 118 S. Washington St., Canyon
City
TBD: “Pop-up” events at the Canyon City Farmers
Market
Saturday, July 9 and 23, Aug. 6 and 20 at dusk: Family
movie nights collaboration with Parks and Recreation
@ Grant Union High School football fi eld, 911 S. Can-
yon Blvd., John Day
Movie list:
Saturday, July 9 — “Boss Baby: Family Business”
Saturday, July 23 — “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
Dayville’s
Independence
Day festivities kick off at
7:30 a.m. Monday with a break-
fast at the Community Church
that lasts until 9 a.m. A Fourth
of July parade at 9:30 a.m. will
be followed by a classic car
show and a baked goods auc-
tion at 11:30 a.m. The Jack-
pot Horseshoe Tournament will
kick off at 11:45, with goat rop-
ing at Letosky’s Corral bring-
ing events to a close. Goat rop-
ing starts at 1 p.m.
Dayville also has a host of
Fourth of July contests, includ-
ing patriotic lamppost decoration,
home decorating, coloring, Day-
ville rocks and sidewalk chalk
art, as well as a hometown trea-
sure hunt. Details can be found at
the Dayville City Hall. Prizes for
contests will be awarded after the
baked goods sale.
Prairie City’s Fourth of July
celebration gets underway with a
5k fun run at 7:30 a.m. Monday.
Those not participating in the
fun run can partake in a pancake
breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. at the
Teen Center. A fl ag folding cere-
mony at City Park at 11:30 a.m.
will be followed by a parade at
noon. A barbecue at at the park
with various activities will take
place from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Vendors will be out on Front
Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
with cow pie bingo starting at
1 p.m. on the Prairie City High
School ballfi eld. Prairie City
kids will put on a dramatic per-
formance at the Prairie City
Community Center at 2 p.m.
Entry forms for the parade
can be found at Prairie City Hall.
A $1 donation is suggested for
the drama performance.
In Monument, the senior
center will hold its annual rum-
mage sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Saturday and Sunday, June 2
and 3.
The Monument Jubilee, tra-
ditionally held on the Fourth of
July, will take place on Sunday,
July 3, in the city park. Breakfast
will be served to the public from
8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the city park.
A horseshoe tournament
with a $5 entry fee will begin at
9 a.m. The silent auctions will
open at 9 a.m. as well.
Vendor booths will open at
9:30 a.m. with a parade shortly
after at 10 a.m. Family games
including cornhole and a duck
race will start at noon and con-
tinue throughout the day.
A community picnic will take
place at 5 p.m. and will coincide
with the closing of the silent auc-
tion. A dessert auction followed
by a live auction gets underway
at 6 p.m. Fireworks over the
river will begin at 10 p.m.
Saturday, August 6 — “Bad Guys”
Saturday, August 20 — “Clifford the Big Red Dog”
our operations to Humbolt
and fi ll that gap for parents
that need to drop off their
kids at 8 o’clock instead of
9 o’clock and can’t come
at noon to pick up their kid
after summer school?” she
said.
“So we’re fi lling that gap
for those kids, but bringing
it here opened up big oppor-
tunities to add more kids and
teachers and accommodate
for those kids.”
McKnab said the cur-
rent teacher to student ratio
at summer art classes is 15
to 1.
Youth summer events
coordinator Sharon Henry
said the grant has also
allowed the art center to
off er more things to the
community for free. Activ-
ities will include a toddler
event at Painted Sky on July
25-27, separate ceramic
events for preteens and teens
at the Painted Sky ceramics
studio, and a group of family
movie nights that will take
place at the Grant Union
football fi eld in a collabora-
tion with the John Day/Can-
yon City Parks and Recre-
ation District and the Grant
County Library.
The largest of the events,
which Parks and Recreation
is calling “Fun in the Sun,”
will be held on July 23 at the
Grant Union High School
football fi eld. Griffi n said
the event is part of the “Go
Outside” campaign and will
feature cornhole, slip-and-
slide kickball and a night-
time movie with popcorn,
cotton candy and snow-
cones. The nighttime movie
will be family-friendly and
will start at dusk.
Prairie schools get funding boost
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — The
Prairie City School District
is getting a funding boost.
The budget for the 2022-
2023 school year is set at
$19,971,191. The proposed
budget is a 55.76% increase
from last year’s $11,137,393
figure and a more than
200% increase from the
$5,914,105 budget from fis-
cal year 2020-2021.
Prairie City Schools
Superintendent Casey Hall-
garth said the increase in
funds came in the form of
federal and state money
like ESSER (elementary
and secondary school emer-
gency relief) funds, capital
improvement grants and an
increase in enrollment.
“The big increase for the
budget is our sponsorship of
our online school, Oregon
Connections Academy Prai-
rie City,” Hallgarth said.
“Of that funding we receive
2.2% for being the sponsor
school.
“Other funding that
helps out our district is our
Student Success Account
(SSA), Student Investment
Account (SIA) and High
School Success (HSS),” he
added.
The
school
district
received $15,324,278 in
funds from state sources for
the 2022-2023 school year.
A seismic grant in the
amount of $2.5 million was
awarded to Prairie City
School District but is not in
the budget due to the grant
being awarded after the dis-
trict’s budget hearing. The
grant is for improvements
to the high school wing and
main building. The district
also received a $430,000
capital improvement grant
for the Bates Building.
Hallgarth said he is
excited about the direction
the school is moving toward.
“We are putting some
important pieces in for staff,
and our retention rate is
100%. We are fortunate to
keep all our great staff. My
goal is to set up Prairie City
School District financially
so that we can compete
with salaries and compen-
sation for staff. We are right
there now, and the reten-
tion of staff shows that,”
he said.
The Prairie City School
District budget was adopted
and approved at the dis-
trict’s budget meeting held
on June 21.
FRIDAY, JULY 8
be accepted through June 25.
Contact Winnie Browning at
541-620-0748 about donating
items for the live or silent auc-
tion, and contact Teri Bowden
at 541-575-2112 about mak-
ing a donation for the dessert
auction.
Do you have a community
event you’d like to publicize?
Email information to editor@
bmeagle.com. The deadline is
noon Friday for publication
the following Wednesday.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
”In a Landscape: Classi-
cal Music in the Wild”
• 6:30 p.m., Cant Ranch,
32651 Highway 19, Kimberly
Classical pianist Hunter
Noack will perform the sec-
ond of two concerts on the
grounds of the Cant Ranch
at the John Day Fossil Beds.
Tickets start at $35 but are
available free to Grant and
Wheeler County residents
with registration. Tickets
available online at https://
tinyurl.com/52pn66w5. More
information at https://www.
inalandscape.org/.
TUESDAY, JULY 5
W HAT’S
HAPPENING
FRIDAY, JULY 1
Dayville Community Hall
reopening
• 3:30-9 p.m., Highway 26,
Dayville
This celebration marks
the grand reopening of the
old community hall, which
has undergone a major ren-
ovation. The festivities
begin with a ribbon cutting
at 3:30 p.m., followed by
building tours, a program at
4:30, a potluck at 5:30 and
music by the James Gang
starting 6:30.
911 User Board meeting
• 6:30 p.m., John Day Fire
Hall, 316 S. Canyon Blvd.
The Grant County Emer-
gency
Communication
Agency 911 User Board will
meet to discuss a dispatch
radio console update and
other matters. The meeting is
open to the public. To listen
in by phone, call 605-313-
5406 and enter access code
889135#.
Wheeler family benefi t
• 5 p.m., Trowbridge
Pavilion, Grant County Fair-
grounds, 411 NW Bridge St.,
John Day
A pulled pork dinner, live
and silent auction, and des-
sert auction to benefi t the fam-
ily of Adrian Wheeler, who
has a rare form of colon can-
cer. The event will also fea-
ture live music and a no-host
bar. Auction donations will
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