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NE Oregon facing football ref shortage
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A short-
age of football referees is loom-
ing ominously as the start of high
school football season in North-
eastern Oregon approaches.
The Northeast Oregon Foot-
ball Offi cials Association, which
provides offi cials for high school
and middle school varsity and
junior varsity games in Union,
Wallowa, Baker and Grant coun-
ties, has just 19 people available
to offi ciate this season, seven
short of the minimum needed,
according to Pete Caldwell, com-
missioner of the association.
“It is the lowest number we
have had,” said Caldwell, who
has been with the Northeast Ore-
gon Football Offi cials Associa-
tion for about 25 years.
Caldwell attributes the decline
to the fact that many members
have been retiring.
“I don’t know why more
younger people are not getting
involved in offi ciating. It is a
mystery,” said Caldwell, noting
that the average age of his asso-
ciation’s members is now 61.5
years.
He said that unless the North-
east Oregon Football Offi cials
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
SPORTS
Association is able to recruit
more people to offi ciate, it will
face the prospect of requesting
schools on some occasions to
change their schedules so that all
games can be played. For exam-
ple, on Fridays, when there are
a high number of games sched-
uled, schools may be asked to
move some contests to Thursday
or Saturday to reduce the logjam,
making it possible for offi cials to
be provided for all of them.
Caldwell, who noted that
rescheduling had to be done sev-
eral times in 2021 when there was
also a shortage of offi cials, said it
is not easy.
“It is a huge headache,” he
said.
Doug Hislop, of La Grande,
an offi cial with the Northeast
Oregon Offi cials Football Asso-
ciation for the past 52 years,
said rescheduling games is not
an ideal alternative. He said he
fears that the complications cre-
ated by the process may lead
some schools to cancel some
contests.
Caldwell is hoping people
will step forward to serve as offi -
cials to reduce the shortage. Pre-
vious offi ciating experience is not
needed.
“We can teach anyone to be an
offi cial,” he said.
Caldwell said those start-
ing out may fi rst be assigned to
middle school and junior varsity
games before offi ciating varsity
contests. This will allow them to
develop their skills in a less pres-
sure-packed environment, he said.
Caldwell said many people
who serve as offi cials are driven
to do so because they want to help
youth.
“They want to give back to the
community and kids,” he said.
Hislop said this is a motivating
factor for him, noting that he will
never forget how referees made it
possible for him to participate in
athletics as a youth growing up in
Idaho.
“I had the opportunity to play
football and wrestle because we
had offi cials,” he said.
Others are drawn to offi ciating
because of their love of a specifi c
sport — football, for example.
“It gives people a chance to be
part of the game,” Caldwell said.
Offi cials are paid on a per-
game basis, making $73.50 for
offi ciating Class 4A games. Offi -
cials are paid a little less for offi -
ciating varsity games involv-
ing schools in the 3A, 2A and
1A classifi cations for smaller
schools.
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Sometimes memories are
worth more than inches
A
lmost 30 years ago,
I drew a Murder-
ers Creek ante-
lope tag and shot a buck
that scored 82 Boone and
Crockett inches. The thing
is that it wasn’t much of
a hunt. I knew where he
was and almost drove right
up to him. The stalk was
short, the shot less than
100 yards. I had him home
by 8 a.m. on opening day.
Not much of a story.
This year I drew
another tag and began
dreaming about big bucks.
I asked a friend for per-
mission to hunt his ranch
and he was kind enough
to agree. He hadn’t done
much hunting before and
asked me if he could tag
along on my hunt.
On the fi rst evening we
kicked around and turned
up a few bucks, but noth-
ing to get excited about.
The next morning we were
up and at it again. None of
the bucks we found were
anything to get excited
O utlook
SENI
R
Prairie City -- First,
I have to rectify a
couple of omissions
from last week. I
forgot to mention
our sponsor for the
Asian meal. It was
Rose Coombs
the Friends of Prairie
City. Then I forgot
the signature of an Asian meal, the fortune cookie! We each got
two. One of mine said “Burnt bridges are hard to cross.” Can’t
argue with that!
Found out what the orange square — plus blue triangles and
red circles — was all about. “They” are going to put a bus stop
sign someplace around the center. Hmm. Don’t we get any say
in the matter? We’re not against it, but it would have been nice
to have some input. The one that I saw someplace else was quite
nice.
A new scent is in the air in Prairie City since the mill started
operating — cut wood. And it is heartening to hear the whistle
throughout the day. We’re not a ghost town yet!
The $$ from the state finally arrived, and we have signed off on
the first project: kitchen countertops. The cooks can hardly wait!
And our cooks — Pam and Pam — did a bang-up job today!
We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, cottage
cheese/fruit salad, and then — drum roll, please — strawberry
shortcake for dessert. Everyone commented on how good it
all was. And for the first time in I don’t know how long, we
had 70 names in our registration book! Thanks so much for
coming, you all. The sponsor for the day — Joel Coombs
General Contractor — even ordered a meal to be delivered to
him by Derrol. (He was working a little too far out for our other
volunteer drivers to go to.) The winner of the gift certificate
donated by Chuck’s Little Diner was Gunther Clark. Thanks,
Valeria, for doing this.
Our volunteers included Mary, Carla, Tom, Josiah, Theresa,
Chris, Gwynne and Ginger. Tom’s birthdays of note included
Davy Crockett and Mae West. The table that got to go through
the serving line first had to answer the question of how old was
Davy Crockett when he died. I guessed 46, but the answer was
53. That was actually a fairly old age in those days. You do know
that he was killed at the Alamo...
Just had an interruption. A phone call from a person in the class
of 1960 at Prairie High who reads the BME in California! He
and wife and sisters plan to be in Grant County soon to see the
old stomping grounds. Stay tuned.
We extend our condolences to the family of LaTrona Smith. She
was a sweet lady and we will miss her gentle presence.
Jude 1:24, 25 To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great
joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.
August is half over
and
once again we
John Day
wonder where the
time went. Since
Seniors
June I have been so
busy I cannot even
remember what I did.
Elise Huskey
Hmmmmmm.
On Monday, Aug.
15, Darlene Nodine and Carol Roe greeted 22 in-house diners to
check them in and get their names in the drawings for the day.
Darlene was the announcer. Millie Lysne led the flag salute
and asked the blessing. Carolyn Stout, Kathy McPheeters, and
Millie Lysne from the Living Word Church were our servers and
delivery drivers for today. Thank you, ladies, for all your service
and dedication to our community. They delivered 54 fresh meals
and 35 frozen meals. We had a total of 111 meals today. Our
volunteers put in 14½ hours today. Great job, Shay and Kim, for
preparing, packaging, serving and cleaning up for all of the mess
made while in preparation. Today we had taco salad, chips and
dip, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. This meal was made
especially for Angie Uptmor as we heard these were her favorite
foods. Angie is retiring from being our senior service agent for
the past three years here in Grant County. We wanted to honor
her service and send her off with our best wishes. Some diners
from Monument and Prairie City were in attendance to share in
this celebration. Congratulations to Angie for all the years she
has helped in this capacity. She is so friendly and helpful to all of
us, so we will miss her smiles and comforting help. Thank you,
Angie.
Along with the donations from Chester’s Market, there are also
greeting cards on the back table for anyone to have if they want.
The winner of the Len’s card was Deda Porter and the free meal
went to Elsie Huskey. Congrats to both of us.
On Thursday, Aug. 18, Carol and Darlene were at the desk to
greet the 11 in-house diners, register them and put their names
in the drawing for the day.
Deda Porter led the flag salute and Sherri Fieger asked the
blessing. The server today was from the Methodist church: Sherri
Fieger. Thanks, Sherri, for doing a fantastic job today. Sherri
served us cheeseburger pizza, fruit, and brownies. The whole
meal was delicious, but that dessert was the best sendoff to a great
meal. Thanks, Kim. Shay and Kim do a great job preparing tasty
food for all who attend and take out and get delivered to.
Our delivery drivers for today were Michael Shockley, Peggy
Melnick, Cindy Combs and Mike and Patty Davis. They
delivered 54 fresh meals today. Forgive me if I have spelled your
name wrong. The total meals from our kitchen today were 65.
Shay and Kim are responsible for getting these meals ready for
the drivers. There is a lot of work entailed in this service for our
community.
Scott Knepper won the Len’s card and Judy Thomas won the
free meal. Congratulations!
Volunteers are needed to help at our greeting desk. This is a
pleasant time spent and not much physical activity needed, so
anyone could do this. Consider giving it a try so we can give
Carol and Darlene a break. Thanks.
Linda Stoltz, our librarian and decorator, needs our help. On
Thursday, Aug. 25, right after lunch, she would like us to meet
together to help her with some flower arrangements for our
building. Please mark this on your calendar and not let Linda
down. She has done a great job and seldom asks for help. Thanks
in advance.
Tomorrow, Aug. 25, we will dine on meatloaf and baked
potatoes, salad of cook’s choice, and peach pecan cake. Sounds
yummy. On Monday, Aug. 29, we will be served pork chops,
garlic mashed potatoes (yum), fruit, and chocolate cream pie.
Oh, that makes my mouth water! Come enjoy this meal with us.
See you there.
Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12 I am chosen by God, forgiven and
justified through Christ. I have a compassionate heart, kindness,
humility, meekness and patience.
For some reason,
I
thought we were
Monument
going to have the
meal that we are
Seniors
going to have in
another week. Nope,
we had meatball sub
Soo Yukawa
sandwiches, curly
french fries, fresh
green salad, and fruit cobbler for our dessert. We thank our cooks
Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell immensely for preparing for us
these delicious meals.
Our greeters at the table were Bob Cockrell and Sue Cavender.
Sue checked in the guests and did the paperwork, Bob collected
and counted up the money. We thank our volunteers for their
help. Bob led us in the flag salute and Judy Harris made the
announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.
Don’t forget that we have the Buckaroo on Sept. 24.
There are two raffles going on. The two items are a quilt made
by Jeannie Strange and a battery-operated chain saw donated by
Aaron Harris and Ray Davis. These raffles are in support of our
Monument Senior Center.
I still have my friend’s mini-donkeys. They are proving to be an
asset to my little farm. My hubby and I went down to investigate
some weird crying sounds by the goat pen and barn. It was pretty
dark so we had to wear our headlamps. We thought they sounded
like coyote pups. We took one of our dogs with us.
The donkeys and the wild male goats were all hunkered
down for the night under the barn but of course they came to
investigate why we were there. Hubby went out into the field to
have a look around and I told our dog to go with him. So I was
waiting around by the barn when the dog came back.
Well, Eeyore the donkey did not like the dog and started
chasing him! I think Eeyore was ready to bite and kick our dog.
I had to call the dog over to me and tell Eeyore that he was not
a predator. We could not find where the crying sounds were
coming from and it was super-dark so we just called it a day. But
now I know those donkeys are protective of my goats! Go figure.
Ha.
A young neighbor came by and saw my baby goats and was
falling in love with them. I think she may purchase a few to help
eat down the foliage around her house. Since my goats are on the
smaller side, they are easier to manage.
Sometimes they can be a pain in the butt, though. They eat
what you don’t want them to eat. I put Shay and Kiki a little
too close to a young peach tree. The next thing I know, they
had pushed in the wired fencing around the tree and ate all the
leaves off the bottom part of the tree! Ugh! I am coming to the
realization that one must fence off what you don’t want them to
eat as well as fencing them in where you want them. In case they
escape, they can’t get to what I don’t want them to eat.
Psalms 25:1 O LORD, Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee, I will
Praise Thy name, for Thou has done wonderful things. Thy counsels
of old are faithfulness and truth.
Prairie City
Seniors
A11
about. I
did try to
get a shot
at one,
but the
sagebrush
was just
Rod
too dang
Carpenter
tall and
I could
never get a steady shot.
We fi nally bumped the
herd and they took off . My
friend thought he knew
where they were headed
and we took a long walk
trying to fi nd them. No
luck. As we headed back
to the side-by-side we had
to go through a fi nger of
timber. He had just asked
if antelope ever hang out
in the timber when we
jumped a buck.
He wasn’t spooked and
was trotting in a circle in
front of us from right to
left. He stopped often, but
was always screened by
brush. Finally he stopped
in a little opening about
200 yards away. I leaned
up against a tree and he
dropped at the shot.
I knew how big he was
well before I decided to
shoot him, and knew that
he was no monster. I could
have hunted a few more
days looking for a big-
ger buck, but my buddy
had to get back to work. It
had been a fun hunt and I
made the decision to end
it with my friend at my
side. After a few pictures
and a quick tutorial on
how to clean a big game
animal, we took him back
to the ranch.
I dream of big bucks
and bulls just like every-
one else, but what I really
value are the experiences
I collect along the way. I
rarely tell the story about
my big buck, but my
buddy and I will be laugh-
ing and talking about this
year’s hunt for the rest of
our lives.
Rod Carpenter is a hus-
band, father,and a hun-
tin’ fool.
We offer a wide range of primary
care and medical treatment.
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DO • Emily
DO
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FNP • Sickler,
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FNP-C Lieuallen,
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MD
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MD • Shawna
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MD
Available Monday - Friday
180 Ford Road, John Day • 541-575-0404
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