Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2006)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 15,2006 Irish road bowling added to Respected musician, Cal Scott, to perform with Chamber Chatter _ . . . By Claudia Hughes, Chamber Exe. Director Wee Bit O ’ Ireland weekend the Trail Band at Heppner St. Pat s festivities By Peg Willis Welcome to Hepp celebration schedule ner all visiting readers. ‘Tis A St. Paddy’s leprechaun tries her hand at road howling A first-time event comes to this 24th Annual Wee Bit O ' Ireland celebration in Heppner. Road bowling, an old Irish sport, makes it debut on Sunday, March 19. “The St. P at’s C om m ittee is confident, after researching the sport, that participants and spectators will have more than a wee bit o ’ fun on Sunday,” reports committee Chair Doris Brosnan. “Though none of us has played, we can see that the basics are simple, so I think it will appeal to alm ost everyone who has a drop of competitive blood. Simply put, the object of the game is to cover a designated course on a road or street with the fewest tosses of the “bowl.” ’ Teams of two to three members can enter by showing up at the steps of the Morrow County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. This year’s event will be limited to a maximum of 10 teams, since the St. Pat’s Committee will have just 10 bowls for teams to use, donated by Tim Daly, who first brought the sport to the attention of the committee. And the committee will only have the bowls for adults. The Irish have road bowled since the 1600s, and today, passion for the sport is especially strong in County Armagh, in the north, and Cork, in the south. The origins are unclear - perhaps brought from England by weavers or from Holland by William of Orange’s troops, or maybe started by Irish patriots' taking of small English cannonballs and rolling them home by the light of the moon. Irish troops in the Civil War brought the sport to America. In 1954, international com petitions were recognized, and in 1985, a world-association set of rules were adopted by the governing body, Bol Chumann na hEireann. Ireland, West Virginia, added Irish Road Bowling to its Irish Spring Festival in 1995, and now Oregon is among the states that have organized-bowling groups. The West Virginia Irish Road Bowling Association has been the source of information and encouragement for the St. Pat’s Committee, and the rules used by that association will guide Heppner’s Sunday event: A 28-oz iron-and-steel bowl (also called “bullet” ) about the size of a tennis ball is hurled underhanded down a road to a finish line. For a few reasons, this year’s event will be played on an in-town series of streets. The team with the fewest shots to the finish line wins. A “trophy of distinction” is planned, with the winners’ names engraved, to be displayed in a local, “prominent place.” A small entry fee of $5 per participant will be used to pay for the trophy, and the remaining amount will be split 50-50 between the St. Pat's fund and the winning team. “As we get better at this, we will surely acquire strategies and skills, in organizing and playing, but this year, we just want to get acquainted with the sport,” says Claudia Hughes, St. Pat’s Committee Chair. “Our planned course will offer a variety of straightways, curves right and left, and a hill.” The course will cover 1.1 miles, which could take about two hours to complete, according to available information. Participants will receive specific course information when they arrive at the courthouse steps on Sunday. To sign up in advance, a person may contact the Chamber Office in city hall, at 676-5536, or call Doris Brosnan, 676-5382. More information is available at the Chamber of Commerce office on Thursday and Friday. Welcome to Hcppr icr TTic 1 risk Capitel of the Northwest! Enjovf the St. Patrick's Celebration! 4 Peterson’s T P y jj Heppner $ He grew up in East ern Oregon. And now Cal Scott's name is known and respected nation-wide for his m u s ic a l p e rfo r m ances, com posi tio n and p ro d u c tion of f i l m sco res. How did it happen? Cal Scott Cal S c o tt’s early y ears w ere sp en t in La Grande, during the relative peace and security of the ‘50’s. Home, family, neigh borhood - all figured prom inently in his life. “It was a pretty ideal place to grow up - in that era particularly.” Both of Scott’s par ents were musical. His fa ther, D on, was the high school band teacher, and su perintendent of music for the La Grande schools (1952 till 1965). Scott’s mother, Pol ly, had been c la ssic a lly trained on piano, and though she did not focus on perfor mance as an adult, Scott grew up in a home surround ed by music. “From the time we were little we would sing along with the family. There was Beethoven or Bach or Mozart on the hi-fi every morning. As far back as I can remember, that's how we woke up.” This early expo sure to the masters played a big part in Scott’s musical education. M usic w a sn ’t the only thing in Scott’s life. “I liked Scouts and church youth group and playing baseball, but really, music was the main thing. It was what I really wanted to do.” Scott’s formal musi cal education began at age seven with piano lessons. He soon added trum pet and clarinet. Scott bought his first guitar from The Fix It Shop in La Grande. “It was ancient - a 1915 Gibson L 1 arch-top with an oval sound hole. It wasn’t a great sound ing guitar, but it was a real guitar. My dad helped me glue it back together and it was very cool.” By junior high age, Scott became involved in his first band outside of school. “I traded that old Gibson for a horrible imported electric guitar. Seems really dumb now, but hey, I was a kid.” T h is band, The Sceptres, ‘“did pretty well for 14-year-olds. We played for a high school dance - but they were kind of em bar rassed to have a bunch of junior high kids, so they put us on the upper level of the gym - with no lights, so we wouldn’t be seen.” A m ajo r tu rn in g point in Scott’s musical en lightenment came when... “I was practicing a simple ver sion of the Chorale from Beethoven's 9th Symphony on piano. Somehow 1 dis covered that I could play it in a different key. T hat’s when the door opened. I spent the rest of the week playing that one tune in dif ferent keys. It was a really big deal for me. But my pi ano te ac h e r w a sn ’t im pressed. She just wanted to know why I hadn’t practiced my other pieces.” Playing music is just one part of what Scott does now. He is also a well known composer and owns his own recording and production studio. He has done over 30 specials and documentaries for PBS. Recent projects in clude Great Lodges of the N atio n al Parks, and the themes for Oregon Art Beat and Oregon Field Guide. “This is a dream job for me. The reason I’m mak ing a living is because I’m the composer and musician and recording engineer - all in one person. I’ve made a liv ing at this for 20 years. I feel so blessed - so lucky.” The Trail Band, a big part of Scott’s life, came to gether in the early ‘90’s for just one perform ance - a stage play in Cleveland. But the band just co u ld n 't be stopped! “It's the only band I’ve ever been in that took off on its own. We’ve kept playing because we enjoy playing together - and enjoy each other. I think that still shows.” Audiences all over the Northwest would agree. The Trail Band is one of the Northwest’s most powerful and sought after musical groups. Their music, som e o f it com posed by Scott who is also the musi cal director of the group, is varied, widely acclaimed and irrepressible. M arv R oss, the band’s founder, says “Cal is the most versatile member of The Trail Band, a n d t ha t ’s saying a lot. He moves f r o m tru m p et to piano to guitar to m an- d o 1 i n whi l e The Trail Band ■missing nary a beat.” And Scott m oves just as freely among musical styles. Be it classical, jazz, Celtic, ragtime, blues, reg g a e... Scott nails it with class. Scott, who lives near Tigard with his wife, Sue, seems to have inherited his father's desire to help young sters find and enjoy their music. Going out of his way to encourage young musi c ian s, S c o tt’s ad v ice is “Practice. You’ve got to love it.” So, did he practice because he loved it - or be cause his parents made him? HEPPNER ELKS 358 676-9181 "H here Friends Meet" 142 North M a in S im ple answ er: “ Y es.” Sometimes we have to be made to do what we don’t feel like doing. W hat in stru m en t should an aspiring musician learn? “1 like to see kids play a linear instrument like a horn or a fiddle, and a chord al instrument like piano, and the guitar. I really think it’s best if they can do all three. You get different things from each of them - really differ ent things. ” To aspiring compos ers Scott says, “First of all, copy your hero’s style. Write som ething in exactly the same form. And finish it - no matter how bad you may think it is. You can’t start your second song till you’ve finished your first.” Of the many facets of his profession, Scott says the thing he enjoys most is the com posing. “ I'm alw ays looking at a visual image (film) thinking “what kind of music’s going to go here?’ It’s the emotional link to the viewer. I sit down with the d irecto r and we go over where there’s going to be music. We develop what’s called a cue list - where the music goes. And w e'll talk about the nature of the mu sic they want - orchestral or small, jazz or whatever. I go write it.” S cott’s personality may be as much a factor in his success as his musical ability. Ross says, “He’s a consummate pro, a gentle man, and an artist - I con sider myself lucky to work and play with him.” W hat's up next for Cal Scott? H e's currently performing and recording with Kevin Burke, renowned Irish fiddler. And of course, there's the Trail Band. And new film offers come regu larly. T h e re ’s not m uch chance of an early retirement for this gifted musician. Scott will perform with the Trail Band on Sat urday, March 18, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Heppner Elementary School gym. The performance is funded by the M orrow C ounty U nified Recreation District. To learn more about Cal Scott and his music visit his web site: www.calscott music.com or the site for The T rail Band: w w w .trail band.com. DEADLINE FOR ALL ARTICLES & ADVERTISING MONDAYS AT 5 :0 0 P.M. glad we are to have you back in Heppner where everyone is Irish for the weekend. For answers to your questions, stop by the green information booth beside the Post Office where you can purchase your button for the $100 lucky button drawing. Now did ye know that you have become one of 33.7 million residents of the U.S. who have Irish ancestry and can legitim ately wear the green? And, with that, like a smattering of lucky clo vers, I share the following: A mischievous lepre chaun was out and about this past week blowing flags to and fro and turning Father Condon’s upside down. Some wee folk have been seen climbing into the H eppner TV window and checking out the variety of baskets for the casino night auction and raffle. They want everyone to know that win ners aren’t limited to gam ing enthusiasts: one and all have a chance to win “bas kets” . Follow the le p re chauns upstairs Friday night at the Elks. The Luck O ’ The Irish Casino Night proceeds keep the celebration ongo ing and help market O re gon’s Rugged Country in the Willow Creek Valley. (That’s why the H eppner le p re chauns are bigger than those ordinarily found under the toadstools; they have lots of work to do.) Congratulations to Dr. R obert R olen, w ho, th o u g h not Irish to our knowledge, has run a busi ness for twenty years taking care of eyes in our commu nity. May he have many more successful years in Heppner. The Heppner Cham ber continues to meet every Thursday and should ye be early in town, join us this T h u rsd ay , M arch 16, at John’s Place, noon, to hear a p re sen ta tio n by Steve Brucker of Oregon Interna tional Speedway. He will give a presentation and an swer questions regarding the race track that may come to M orrow County, west of Boardman. Plans are for rac es by 2008. Do you suppose leprechauns are allowed to participate in major league racing? Brucker plans to come to Heppner this week end and enjoy the festivities, so ask him. And should ye have such a great time this week end, what with the entertain ment, races, first ever road bow ling and all, we can promise you an equally fine time if you join us April Fool’s weekend for a repeat of Trivia Night. It's happen ing in Heppner. T h o u g h t fo r the week: “May the road rise up to meet you, the wind be al ways at your back, the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall gently upon your fields... and until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.” .. ..a version of the Irish blessing. Jewelers/ 676-9200 Saturday, M arch IStli Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner starting at 6 p.m. Live music with the Little McKay Creek Band starting at 8:30 p.m. Have fun during the St. Patrick“* weekend celebration! LEXINGTON AUTO BODY IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH LOOSLIE AUTO BODY. Lexington A uto Ikxly is doing A uto B ody R epair, G lass R epair an d R eplacem en t Towing.
