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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2022)
GO! EASTERN OREGON MAGAZINE | INSIDE Wednesday, August 17, 2022 154th Year • No. 33 • 14 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com Grant County Fair Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle The back side of the Chester’s Market fl oat during the Grant County Fair Parade on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. Auction photos by Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle Sydnie Brandon, a member of the Strawberry Riders 4-H Club and turkey reserve grand champion, proudly holds up her prize animal Satur- day, Aug. 13, 2022. Best in show Annual Youth Livestock Auction draws strong community support By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle n one of the culminating events of the 2022 Grant County Fair, the annual Youth Livestock Auction took in nearly half a million dollars on Sat- urday, Aug. 13. An estimated 200 people gathered in the Heritage Barn of the Grant County Fairgrounds as over 100 4-H and FFA stu- dents — ranging from 10 to 19 years old — auctioned off livestock that they had fed, groomed and worked with daily for the last year. The animals up for bid included turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and steers. Grant County is an ag-based community I Brett Burill, of Prairie City CC and reserve cham- pion, heavyweight, shows his market steer with a years-long tradition of local 4-H and FFA students who raise livestock to sell at the annual auction, not only to earn money but in hopes of winning a grand or reserve champion award. The Youth Livestock Auc- tion is one of the biggest events of the year in Grant County and always seems to bring people together like no other. Shannon Springer, Grant County Auc- tion Committee treasurer, said sales were down about $5,000 from last year. Nonethe- less, this year’s auction was still up substan- tially from the fi ve years before that. While she didn’t have the exact number of animals sold this year, Springer said the auction raked in $499,476.75. See Auction, Page A14 Owen Parsons of the Beaver Believers 4-H Club shows off his reserve champion lightweight pig M.T. Anderson, an Izee rancher, takes a bid Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, during the Youth Livestock Auction at the Grant County Fair- grounds. Cooper Ross of Beaver Believers 4-H club shows a market steer Parade fi lls John Day streets By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — Traffi c was put on hold Saturday morning, Aug. 13, as the Grant County Fair Parade made its way down Canyon Boulevard and Main Street, but no one really seemed to mind. A Grant County tradition that takes place annu- ally, the event drew onlookers of all ages and chil- dren scurrying to scoop up candy thrown by parade participants. The parade began about 11 a.m. at Grant Union Junior/Senior High School and proceeded down South Canyon Boulevard before making its way onto Main Street. The pro- cession ended at the unpaved area east of Timbers Bistro. Local businesses were well repre- sented, with Ches- ter’s Market, Old West Credit Union, Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle Solutions Certifi ed Ron Phillips and Denny Lang- Public Accountants, ford ride down John Day’s Madden Realty and Main Street in Phillips’ 1915 more having fl oats Ford Model T during the in the parade. Also Grant County Fair Parade on prominently featured Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. were an array of ATVs and UTVs that were driven by various local youths. Ron Phillips and Denny Langford weaved through the procession in the black Ford Model T owned by Phillips that has become a crowd favorite and sta- ple of parades throughout the county. The Oregon Department of Forestry sprayed parade watchers with squirt guns from their fi re trucks in an eff ort to help patrons beat the heat. Also present were 2022 Grant County Fair and Rodeo Grand Marshals Gibb and Gary Gregg, who rode in a green Ford Bronco and waved to the crowds. See Parade, Page A8 Voters to decide on pool for second time By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — Voters in the John Day/ Canyon City Parks and Recreation Dis- trict will get a second chance to vote on a $4 million pool bond after the fi rst vote in May ended in an 802-802 tie. The measure will be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election. If the measure passes, the city has $2 million in state lottery grant funding that will go toward building the pool in addition to the bond funding. The cost to complete the pool is projected to be just over $6.6 million. The $600,000 remaining after the appli- cation of grant funding and bond funds would be covered through a combination of in-kind improvements, extra funds from the sale of Gleason Pool and funds given to the city as part of the Kam Wah Chung Visitor Center project for local improvements. The city expects to have an extra $1 million to contribute to construction of the pool with the funds from these sources. Proposals by Opsis Architecture call for a 3,200-square-foot pool with a multipur- pose room, offi ce spaces, boys’ and girls’ locker rooms and a family locker room. The pool would be built at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day. If voters approve the measure in Novem- ber, construction could begin in June of 2023 with the pool opening during the sum- mer of 2024. The push to put the pool bond back on the ballot started with an eff ort from a pro-pool political action committee known as Yes to JDCC Swim Center. The group placed a petition on change.org seeking sig- natures in support of the measure and sent letters to the JDCC Parks and Recreation District board. Following those eff orts, the John Day City Council drafted and signed a letter dated July 26 that voiced support for a second pool ballot measure. Reasons the council gave for drafting the letter of support include the demolition of Gleason Pool, signs that construction cost increases may be tapering off and the See Pool, Page A14 Silvies Valley Ranch unveils Claire’s Course putting green By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle SILVIES — Making golf more accessible and recognizing the role of women in the game was the inspira- tion behind designing a putting course at The Retreat, Links and Spa at Sil- vies Valley Ranch. This summer, Silvies Valley opened Claire’s Course, an 18-hole reversible putting course named after Claire Owens, the fi rst woman to play golf in Silvies. Scott Campbell, the resort’s owner, said that besides honoring an infl uen- tial woman from Silvies Valley, the putting course aims to make the game fun for everyone and put golf clubs in as many hands as possible. “We’re trying to get the whole family involved,” Campbell said. “Not just the guys.” Campbell said the new course is the fi rst of its kind and is designed to be played simultaneously in oppo- site directions, east to west and west to east. Free to guests of the resort, the 720-foot course circles the lower half of Otter Lake, right outside the resort’s lodge and log cabins, and has water hazards on each hole. The course is the creation of Dan Hixson, the designer of the resort’s two 18-hole reversible courses, Hankins and Craddock, which were recognized by Golf Digest as two of the top four best new courses of 2018. The reversible design means just that. One day you can play the course in one direction, and the next you can play in the opposite direction. Campbell said most putting courses being built these days are on vast expanses of greens and take after the Himalayas putting course at the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club in Scotland. The Himalayas, which gets its name from the undulating nature of its terrain, is believed to have been the world’s fi rst putting course. He said those courses play more like a traditional putting green in that people end up putting a couple of holes, and that’s it. With Claire’s, Campbell said, the See Silvies, Page A14
