NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
A3
Quilts of Valor
Piecemakers guild
honors local vets
By RICHARD F. LAMOUNTAIN
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
MT. VERNON — Veterans Day is more
than two months away. But on Saturday,
Aug. 20, at the Grant County Piecemak-
ers’ quilt giveaway at Clyde Holliday State
Recreation Site, it seemed the holiday had
already arrived.
Gathering to celebrate the service and
sacrifi ce of local military veterans, some
115 people dined on burgers, brownies and
watermelon. And they witnessed the Piece-
makers’ presentation of quilts — all of which
were designed, pieced, quilted and bound by
the group’s members — to men and women
who have answered their nation’s call.
“It’s important to honor and recognize
our veterans,” said Karen Hinton, the Piece-
makers’ president, in her opening remarks.
“They’re our heroes and they need to know
that. Our respect and admiration for our vet-
erans are what keep us going.”
Before the giveaway, Laura Kuffl er of
the American Warriors Veterans Association
presented a $220 check to the Piecemak-
ers. Hinton and her associates then awarded
quilts to 26 recipients, who included:
• Richie Colbert, a Vietnam veteran who
spent 20 years in the Air Force.
• Kit Kern, another Vietnam veteran,
who served with the 3rd Marine Amphibi-
ous Force between 1969 and 1972.
• Ronda Metler, a 12-year Navy veteran.
Like her father, who also served in the Navy,
she worked as a Morse code operator.
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan pos-
es in front of the Prairie Wood Products sign on Wednesday,
Aug. 17, 2022, in Prairie City.
Drazan makes case
for governorship
• Jerry Thomason, a paratrooper with the
Army’s 82nd Airborne Division who served
between 1982 and 2002.
Several recipients took the microphone
to express their gratitude. “Thanks for this
exquisitely crafted quilt — a real piece
of Grant County Americana,” said Tom
McAuslan, who served in the Navy between
1973 and 1978.
“It’s a privilege and honor to receive this
quilt,” seconded Mark Naber, whose Army
service stretched from 1973 to 1976. “Thank
you to the Piecemakers.”
Further summarizing recipients’ senti-
ments was Army veteran Don Mooney: “I
want to thank everyone who did this fi ne
work. I will never forget it.”
The Piecemakers held their fi rst quilt
giveaway in 2018 and, with the exception of
a one-year COVID hiatus in 2020, have done
so every year since. Recipients are selected
by a random drawing of names submitted by
local veterans’ families and friends.
The giveaway is held in conjunction
with the national Quilts of Valor program.
Since 2003, activists associated with Quilts
of Valor have presented 300,000 quilts —
all made by volunteers who donate their tal-
ent, time and money — to American mili-
tary veterans.
The event’s sponsors were the Grant
County Veteran Services Offi ce, American
Legion Post 106, Chester’s Market, Gardner
Enterprises, Bare Bones Outback Smoke
Shop, AAA Thunderbolt, Prospector Ice,
Juniper Arts Council and Clyde Holliday
State Recreation Site.
The Grant County Piecemakers are led
by Hinton, Vice President Ersela Dehiya and
Secretary Cheri Bellmore. In addition to the
summer quilt giveaway, the group organizes
and hosts an annual quilt show at Trow-
bridge Pavilion.
To join, donate to or inquire further about
the Grant County Piecemakers, call 541-620-
0120 or email gcpiecemakers@gmail.com.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24
Hospital
district
board
meeting
• 5 p.m., boardroom, Blue
Mountain Hospital, 170 Ford Road,
John Day
The board will hold its regu-
lar monthly meeting. The agenda
includes a fi nancial report for July,
the swearing-in of a new board mem-
ber, the resignation of the hospi-
tal’s outpatient and provider services
director and a discussion of housing
issues. The public can attend online
via Google Meet using meeting ID
meet.google.com/qju-xzcd-yqj or by
phone at 786-681-1963 using PIN
657 818 876#.
THURSDAY, AUG. 25
Parks and Rec meeting
• 4 p.m., 845 NW Bridge St.,
John Day
The John Day/Canyon City
Parks and Recreation District board
will hold a public meeting at the
board offi ce. The public can also
attend via Zoom at https://us06web.
zoom.us/j/81333358820?pwd=ZX-
JwZllMT0pxWHhkK0V4Ymlw-
MWk1Zz09. Use meeting ID 813
3335 8820 and passcode 851764.
Yoga in the Park
• 6 p.m., Canyon City Park,
Highway 395 North at Park Street
Instructors Ashley Stevick and
Amanda Moss of Namaspa Yoga
Community lead this free yoga class
for people of all skill levels.
SUNDAY, AUG. 28
Silvies Sunday Slam
• 11:30 a.m., The Retreat and
Links at Silvies Valley Ranch, 11
miles south of Seneca on Forest
Road 3930
Couples date: Any two peo-
ple play for $50 each (husband/
wife, boyfriend girlfriend, father/
W HAT’S
HAPPENING
daughter, mother/son, etc.). Sunday
Slams, open to all Grant and Har-
ney County residents, include golf,
cart, range balls and a hotdog lunch.
Check-in at the gatehouse starts at
11:30 a.m., with the fi rst tee time at
1 p.m. Call 800-SILVIES to sign up.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 1
Yoga in the Park
• 6 p.m., Canyon City Park,
Highway 395 North at Park Street
Instructors Ashley Stevick and
Amanda Moss of Namaspa Yoga
Community lead this free yoga class
for people of all skill levels.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 4
Silvies Sunday Slam
• 11:30 a.m., The Retreat and
Links at Silvies Valley Ranch, 11
miles south of Seneca on Forest
Road 3930
Labor Day weekend: Wear your
biggest, brightest belt buckle, and
you and your partner play for $50
apiece. Sunday Slams, open to all
Grant and Harney County residents,
include golf, cart, range balls and a
hotdog lunch. Check-in at the gate-
house starts at 11:30 a.m., with the
fi rst tee time at 1 p.m. Call 800-SIL-
VIES to sign up.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 8
Yoga in the Park
• 6 p.m., Canyon City Park,
Highway 395 North at Park Street
Instructors Ashley Stevick and
Amanda Moss of Namaspa Yoga
Community lead this free yoga class
Thank you
to Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home.
Tami and Stephanie, we cannot thank you
enough for you compassion, professionalism,
kindness, efficiency and help with taking care
of our beloved William Railey. Once again you
have proven to be a light in one of our families
darkest times. Words cannot express how
grateful we are for you both and your services.
Sincerely, The Railey Family
for people of all skill levels.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10
Grant Union Class of ‘72
reunion
• Noon, Gleason Park, Ing-Hay
Way, John Day
Members of the Grant Union
High School Class of 1972 are
invited to a 50th reunion. The fes-
tivities will begin at noon with a
casual brown bag lunch at the old
City Park (now part of the Kam
Wah Chung State Heritage Site).
There will also be a no-host gath-
ering at 7 that evening at the John
Day Elks Lodge, 140 NE Day-
ton St. For more information, call
or text Cathy Newbrey Hodges at
360-200-3879.
tration opening for the live
and silent auctions. At 1 p.m.
there will be live music along
with horseshoes, cornhole, face
painting and other diversions,
with prizes for the kids. The
live auction starts at 3 p.m. At
5 p.m., a dinner of salmon and
elk with all the trimmings will
be served, followed by a des-
sert auction at 6. The cost for
dinner is $20 per person or $35
per couple. Children 6-12 are
$7.50, and kids under 6 eat free.
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.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 15
Yoga in the Park
• 6 p.m., Canyon City Park,
Highway 395 North at Park Street
Instructors Ashley Stevick and
Amanda Moss of Namaspa Yoga
Community lead this free yoga
class for people of all skill levels.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 22
Yoga in the Park
• 6 p.m., Canyon City Park,
Highway 395 North at Park Street
Instructors Ashley Stevick and
Amanda Moss of Namaspa Yoga
Community lead this free yoga
class for people of all skill levels.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 24
Monument Buckaroo Festival
and Harvest Auction
• Noon to 7 p.m., Monu-
ment Senior Center, 269 Main St.,
Monument
Food, music, games, more
food and auctions mark this fifth
annual fundraiser for the Mon-
ument Senior Center. The fes-
tivities begin at noon with a 4-H
booth serving tacos and regis-
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MyEagleNews.com
S286526-1
PRAIRIE CITY — The
Republican nominee for gov-
ernor says Oregonians are
hungry for change after years
of Democratic control that
have seen an explosion in
crime, homelessness and the
state budget.
Christine Drazan, who
emerged from a crowded
GOP fi eld in the May pri-
mary, was in Prairie City on
Wednesday, Aug. 17, to tour
the recently reopened Prairie
Wood Products mill during
a campaign swing through
Eastern Oregon.
In an interview with the
Blue Mountain Eagle, Dra-
zan laid out the reasons she is
running for a post that hasn’t
been won by a Republican
since 1984.
Democrat Tina Kotek,
independent Betsy Johnson
and Drazan are the leading
contenders for the governor-
ship, the fi rst election in the
state’s history when the top
elected offi ce was virtually
guaranteed to go to a woman.
All three women have previ-
ously served in the Oregon
Legislature.
Drazan has released a
“Roadmap for Oregon’s
Future” that outlines the steps
she would take to address
various issues throughout
the state including homeless-
ness, drugs and mental health,
police funding, tax cuts,
deregulation, school reforms
and government accountabil-
ity. Details of her plan can be
found at christinefororegon.
com/roadmap.
The
former
House
minority leader said a monop-
oly of state government by
Democrats has led to a desire
for change among Orego-
nians, change Drazan feels
she is capable of providing.
“Over the course of the
last 10 years, Oregonians
know their lives have got-
ten worse and not better,
and what we’re experienc-
ing right now — whether or
not it is in our school settings
or on our streets or in our
communities, whether or not
people feel safe, or whether
or not a loved one is suff er-
ing from addiction — all of
those things have happened
under the leadership of the
Democrats that are running
for another term,” Drazan
said.
“There is a need in our
state to have good govern-
ment — that we give peo-
ple back this sense that the
government is for the peo-
ple and by the people and
not to the people and at the
people. That’s what we’ve
been experiencing lately.
I’m committed to addressing
homelessness and improv-
ing the quality of life for all
Oregonians across our whole
state. … I want every part of
Oregon to feel respected and
that they have a seat at the
table,” she added.
Drazan said she isn’t con-
cerned about a scenario in
which she wins the gover-
norship while the Llegisla-
ture remains overwhelm-
ingly Democratic, which
could hamper her agenda as
governor.
“I’m not worried about
that at all,” she said. “I think
that the benefi t of our polit-
ical life is that the gover-
nor’s offi ce has a unique role
to provide balance. That is
an opportunity for Demo-
crats, if they should keep the
majority in the Legislature,
to be able to negotiate with
someone with a diff erent
philosophical approach to
government than they have.
“I believe in limited gov-
ernment that is effi cient and
eff ective and performs core
functions — strong social
safety net, strong schools,
good roads — and also gov-
ernment isn’t everything to
everybody. We allow for that
space where people have
choices and they live the con-
sequences of those choices.
That’s not the Democrats’
approach. That’s how our
state government has dou-
bled in size in one decade.
… Our little state budget for
Oregon to serve 4.2 million
people is well over $100 bil-
lion, and that’s happened
over 10 years.”
One of Drazan’s fi rst acts
as governor would be to
declare a homelessness state
of emergency.
“There is a list of things
I’m going to do on Day
One and that is one of them
because I believe the cri-
sis that we’re seeing on our
streets can be addressed and
must be addressed,” Drazan
said.
A housing fi rst approach
to homelessness doesn’t
provide accountability when
addiction and mental health
are directly tied to home-
lessness, according to Dra-
zan. Giving communities the
ability to enforce the ordi-
nances that are on the books
and protecting their quality
of life are some of the ways
Drazan thinks homelessness
can be addressed in a better
way than it is now.
Drazan also said she
would rescind Gov. Kate
Brown’s cap and trade exec-
utive order, calling it an
abuse of power. Another
action Drazan said she
would take is asking for
the resignations of various
agency heads.
“We need to have a real
conversation about func-
tioning government. The
DMV needs to work. ODOT
needs to build roads. Our
foster care system needs to
take care of kids. We should
have an expectation that
government serves Orego-
nians and functions at its
highest possible level, and I
need to be able to have con-
fi dence in the leadership
of those agencies,” Drazan
added.
S283676-1
139101
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Richard F. LaMountain/Contributed Photo
Clyde Holliday State Recreation Site near Mt. Vernon was the site of a quilt giveaway
honoring veterans on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022.
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710