Alcoholics Anonymous meets Sunday at Foursquare Church for 12X12 study, at 7 p.m.

The Harney County Health Department will be available at the Harney County Senior Center, 17 South Alder, to check blood pressure the fourth Monday of each month from 1-3 p.m. There is no charge for the clinic and results can be forwarded to a physician or nurse practitioner at your request.

Order of Eastern Star meets the second and fourth Monday of each month at the Burns Masonic Hall, 1210 West Taylor, at 7:30 p.m.

HDH Sports & Physical Therapy will offer a free athletic injury clinic at that facility, 559 West Washington, every Monday from 5-6 p.m. A physical therapist will assess and treat athletic injuries and provide education for athletes and parents on self management of injuries. For more information, call 573-1543.

The Hines Volunteer Fire Department meets at the Hines Fire Hall each Monday at 7 p.m. (except the last Monday of the month). Prospective members may contact Fire Chief Bob Spence at 573-7477 or 573-2251.

The Burns Lions Club meets each Monday at noon at the Burns Elks Lodge, 118 N. Broadway, for lunch. Those interested in serving the community are welcome.

Narcotics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Monday at 7 p.m. at Foursquare Church.

The Breast Cancer Support Group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Harney District Hospital Conference Room. For more information, call HDH Outreach Coordinator  Sonni Svejcar at 573-5750.

Tai Chi is held every Tuesday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Patient Assist, Needy Med Program trained volunteers will be at the Harney County Senior Center each Tuesday, from 1-4 p.m. For appointments call the Senior Center at 573-6024.

Boy Scout Troop 440, sponsored by the Burns Lion’s Club, meets each Tuesday from 7-8:30 p.m. at the LDS Church in Hines. Boys ages 11-18 are welcome to join.

Alcoholics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Tuesday at Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.

Catherine Fine and Ted Campbell will take their thrones Saturday, June 13, for the Pioneer Day festivities

Queen Mother Catherine Fine

By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

“It took me 86 years to become a queen,” said Catherine Fine, who was named the Queen Mother for the annual Pioneer Day celebration to be held Saturday, June 13, at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center.

Fine hails from Frenchglen and has lived there for the majority of her 86 years. She and her brother, Finley, spent their childhood helping their folks, Joe and Jennie McDonald, run the Frenchglen Hotel. “Things were very primitive in the hotel in those days,” Fine said. There were no flush toilets. She remembers when it cost $.75 for a room, $.50 for a family-style meal and $1 to board your horse.

Fine attended grade school in Frenchglen and high school at St. Francis in Baker City. She lived in a dorm and rode the train back and forth from school to home, though students were only allowed to go home for holidays. While in high school she played basketball but noted that “there wasn’t much stuff for girls to do in those days.”

After high school, Fine wanted to go on to veterinary school. “But they wouldn’t accept women, so I got married. Next best thing, I guess,” she said.

She and her new husband, Jack, worked for Roaring Springs Ranch until they saved enough money to buy their own ranch.
The couple had four children, Annette, Joe, Susan and Ross.

Jack died in 1963 in a gun accident, and Fine chose to raise the four children and ran the ranch herself. Both daughters grew up to be registered nurses. Joe works in mining and Ross was in the Marines.

With her children grown, Fine turned her attention to creating a new business, Joe Mamma’s, an espresso stand in Frenchglen. Her son Joe built the drive-thru building, and Fine said the original idea was to help her grandsons (she has seven and one granddaughter) run the small business. “Then they grew too big and grew out of it. It was just me,” she said.
When she’s running Joe Mamma’s, Fine drives the 70 miles to Burns about once per week for supplies. Occasionally, she’ll get requests for odd coffee drinks. “Some of them I don’t know, but I just tell them (customers) to tell me how to make it, and I’ll do it,” she said.
Joe Mamma’s offers a wide array of espresso drinks, but that’s not what draws in the locals. “Hamburgers is what we specialize in. Big ones,” she said.

When she’s not running Joe Mamma’s, Fine enjoys watching the Portland Trail Blazers (“They finally shaped up and got their heads out of their butt this year,” she said) and once in a while likes to visit the casino.

Fine looks forward to seeing her family and friends during the annual Pioneer Day festivities on June 13 at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center.

 •••

Pioneer President Ted Campbell

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

This year’s Pioneer President Ted Campbell’s history with Harney County actually began before he was even born.

Campbell said his grandparents were living in Missouri when they hired a “land locator” from Silver Lake to find them a place to live in Oregon. After rounding up the money to purchase the land, Campbell’s grandfather sent it off to the land locater, and the family headed west.

When the family, including Campbell’s father Edward, arrived in Burns, they discovered that the land locater had received their money, as well as money from others, and then had fled the country.

With no land and no money, the family went to John Day, where a rancher gave them a place to live.

Campbell’s mother, Ruth Winn, and her family were  living in La Grande at about the same time, and her parents decided to try their hand at homesteading in the Catlow Valley. “People told them there was water near-by, but what they didn’t tell them it was 300 feet down,” Campbell laughed.

The Winns then moved to Voltage, where Ruth’s father  freighted wool for the sheepmen.

They decided to move back to La Grande, but made it only as far as John Day before their stock wore out. As luck would have it, Edward Campbell would meet Ruth Winn and the two married and moved to Seneca in 1926 to work for a rancher.

The early years

Ted Campbell was born June 15, 1927, in Prairie City with a midwife present. “My birth certificate has Seneca listed as my official birth place, and Seneca wasn’t even a town until 1932, I think it was,” Campbell said.

While in Seneca, Campbell’s father drove a tie-truck for the railroad. “But he wanted to be a hunter,” Campbell said. “His friend Sam Wade had a cabin, and the two of them went hunting coyotes.”

His mother, however, decided cleaning coyote hides was, “no way to make a living,” and wanted them to get their own place. Campbell said his parents contacted Milt Davis, who lived near Drewsey, and leased some land about three miles past the present-day Pine Creek School.

In January 1928, Campbell’s family loaded up their Willys Knight touring car, crossed a snow-covered Bear Valley, and moved into a two-story house on Davis’ property, where they lived for more than six years.

After deciding to homestead on nearby property,  the Campbells lived in a tent while building a log home. “I was 7 years old and was peeling the logs,” Campbell said. “Back then, if you could get to the table to feed yourself, you could work.”

Campbell’s brother Jack was born when Ted was 7, and two sisters, Virginia and Charlotte, came along in 1937 and 1945, respectively.

For elementary schooling, the Campbells rode about 10 miles on horseback to Wolf Creek, and in 1941, Campbell enrolled at Crane. “My junior year my dad pulled me out of school,’ Campbell said. “He thought that once a kid was educated, they wouldn’t work.” Campbell did eventually return, and graduated from Crane High School in 1947.

“Two years later, my dad and I had a disagreement, so I loaded up my car, had $20 in my pocket, and went to Portland to seek my fortune,” Campbell said.

It was a tough job market in 1949, but Campbell was able to land a job with Superior Cheese Co., a subsidiary of Safeway.

Campbell said the company had just one opening and there were a number of applicants. “I went in for the interview, and the guy asked me when I could start,” Campbell stated. “I told him I could go to work right now, and he said, ‘You’ve got the job.’ He handed me some keys and told me to open in the morning.”

The military calls

Hearing the Forest Service had a job opening, Campbell moved back to Harney County, and married Jeanette Frost in June 1950. Later that year, Campbell went to work at a ranch near Prineville.

“In 1951, with the Korean War going on, the U.S. military decided they operated without me for as long as they could,” Campbell smiled. He went to Portland for a physical, and then signed up for the Air Force before his draft notice could show up.

Campbell went through basic training at Laughlin Air Force Base (AFB) near Del Rio, Texas, was sent to Wichita Falls, Texas, where he graduated from aircraft and engine school, and then received orders to go to Korea. “Korea must have a lot of diseases because when I was told I was going there, I got I don’t know how many shots,” Campbell said. “But I was No. 11 on the list of those trained in our field to go, and they only needed 10.”

So rather than making the trip overseas, Campbell was sent to B-36 bomber school, and received orders for Korea a second time. “But there weren’t any B-36s in Korea, so they asked me where I wanted to go. I said, ‘Home?’ ” Campbell joked. “They gave me a choice of Spokane (Wash.) or Rapid City (S.D.), and because I wanted to be closer to home, I told them Rapid City. They did what I expected and shipped me to Spokane.”

Campbell arrived in Spokane in October 1951, where he served as Crew Chief, and was later promoted to Staff Sergeant.
In July 1954, his son Bruce Wayne Campbell was born at Fairchild AFB, and a year later, Campbell was released from active duty, and he returned to Burns.

Campbell worked as a police officer for several months until he got an offer from his dad. “My dad bought a bigger outfit and wanted me to help run it,” Campbell said. “He said if I helped, when my brother, Jack, got out of the Navy, he’d sell the place to us, which he did.”

Moving on

In 1966, Campbell sold the ranch to Buck Taylor, and moved to Seneca, where he took over the Standard Oil dealership. After he and his wife divorced, Campbell moved to Bend and went to work for Mid-Oregon Iron as a pre-fab man.

In December 1973, Campbell married Lavonne Mattis, and then took the manager’s job at Fort Rock Ranch, where he stayed for 10 or 11 years.

Looking for some long-term security for he and his wife, Campbell bought a home in Payette, Idaho, and began driving truck for Ore-Ida.

After two-and-a-half years in Payette, Campbell landed a job with the Bend Park and Recreation District, where he remained before retiring in 1993.

Campbell and his wife then purchased their home in Burns, where they reside today.

“That’s the quick version of my life,” Campbell said. “I can tell you a whole lot of other stories, like the time in 1966 when we were roping horses and one of them rolled over on me. I had a skull fracture, broken leg and numerous lacerations, abrasions and contusions.”

Campbell is honored to have been selected as Pioneer President and is ready to share his tales with everyone. “I’m at that age where there’s very few left that can contradict me,” he laughed.

•••

PIONEER DAY

WHAT: Annual event that honors community pioneers with a program and potluck.
WHEN: Saturday, June 13; registration begins at 10 a.m., the potluck at noon and the program at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, 17 S. Alder

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

Emily Mues can’t remember anything about Oct. 12, 2007, but it’s likely a day she’ll never forget.

On that particular Friday in the fall, Mues, who was attending University of Portland, was driving back home to Burns for a week-long break from school. One mile east of Sisters on Highway 20, Mues was involved in a serious crash. “I don’t remember the accident, or even driving that day,” Mues said.

Having suffered severe head injuries, Mues was taken by helicopter to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, where she was placed in the critical care unit. “I had a traumatic brain injury, which caused swelling in the brain, so they had to remove part of my skull,” Mues said. “And doctors said from here down (pointing to just above her eyebrows), my face was pulverized.”
Mues was placed in an induced coma to keep her motionless while the swelling subsided. She remained in the critical care ward for 10 days before being transferred to intermediate care.

Twelve days after the accident, Mues regained consciousness. “I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was in Corvallis at a friend’s house,” Mues said. “I had to go to the bathroom, and I started to get out of bed. My dad was there, and had his hand on my arm, and he woke up when I started to move.”

Her dad, Dave, then had to try to get her to stay in the bed, as well as explain to her where she was, and what had happened. “It’s a good thing he was there because I probably would have just headed for the bathroom with all these tubes attached,” Mues laughed.

Mues was released from the hospital on Nov. 12, but the reconstruction of her face and rehabilitation continued. After 12 surgeries, Mues now sports titanium cheeks, a titanium chin, titanium left eye socket with a nylon plate that supports the eyeball, a titanium plate above her left eyebrow and titanium plates throughout her skull. “I’m sure I’ll set off the alarms in an airport,” she said with a smile.

Mues still has two more surgeries coming up to implant three of her front teeth.

Mues said she has chronic headaches, double vision, which is corrected with prisms in her eyeglasses, and has pretty much lost her sense of smell. “I put a lot of spices on my food,” she said.

Mues stated the support she received during her time in the hospital, and when she returned home, was special. “The community was great,” she said. “The hospital even had to kind of change their visitation rules a little. There were only supposed to be a certain number of visitors in a room at a time, and then the whole volleyball team comes in at once.”

Because flowers weren’t allowed in her room while she was in critical care, her mom, Debbie, took photos of every bouquet she received and then passed the flowers on to another patient.

Mues returned to the University of Portland campus in the fall of 2008 to continue her pursuit of a nursing career. “It’s kind of funny, I’m getting better grades now than I did before the accident. All ‘A’s for the fall semester, and ‘A’s and a ‘B-plus’ this semester,” she said.  She has also been officially accepted into nursing school.

While some people might feel overwhelmed by such an experience, Mues has shown her character by taking it in stride. “It’s just something that happened, just another step you have to take in life,” Mues said with her unwavering smile. “You have to appreciate everything you have.”

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

The Hilanders’ season-ending spring sports awards ceremony was held Tuesday, June 2, at Burns High School.

All teams were represented except for the softball team, which held their awards ceremony the following Tuesday, June 9.
Special award-winners for each sport are as follows:

Track and Field: Outstanding Male Athlete — Carraig Colahan; Outstanding Female Athlete — Maddye Dinsmore; Most Improved Male — Michael Martin; Most Improved Female — Natalie Wassom; Freshman of the Year — Dylan Stanwyck.
Golf: Outstanding Male — Andy Hammon; Outstanding Female — Maggie Thompson; Most Improved Male — Harold Knieriem III, Dylan Thompson, Sam Fitzpatrick, Jeff Nelson; Most Improved Female — Jessica Berry.

Tennis: Most Outstanding Player — Tyler Fenton; Most Inspirational — Christian Lassen.

Baseball: Most Valuable Player — Caleb Feist; Lynn Brinkley Memorial Trophy — Patrick Stampke; Most Improved — Casey Heinz, Zach Adams, Casey Thein; Lew Herrera Award — Zach Dobson.

Year-end Awards: Most Inspirational Female Athlete — Breanna Ribeiro; Most Inspirational Male Athlete — Patrick Stampke; Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year — Courtney Toney, Mattea Zabala; Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year — Caleb Feist, Michael Martin.

Dr. Richard A. Thompson, 81, died on June 2 after many years of failing health.

He was born on Oct. 25, 1927, in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to James and Edna Thompson. He was the third of four children.

Thompson graduated from high school in Grandview, Wash. He entered college in Ellensburg, Wash., before enlisting in the United States Army in December 1945. He served in Korea and was honorably discharged in May 1947. After returning home he attended Pacific University in Forest Grove and graduated with a Doctor of Optometry degree in 1952.

He met the love of his life during the summer of 1948 while working in Seattle, Wash., and he and Laberta were married in June 1951.

Thompson started his career practicing optometry in Payette, Idaho, in 1952. In 1954, they moved to Burns when he purchased Dr. John Easley’s optometric practice. For the next 40 years he provided eye care to the residents of Harney County. He retired in 1994.

Thompson was a member of the Kiwanis Club for 30 years, the Elks Lodge, The Masonic Lodge, the Shriners, Scottish Rite and Order of Eastern Star. Youth of the community were also important to him and he served on Burns and Hines school boards and was a big supporter of the Rainbow Girls and the Girl Scouts. He tried to make certain that everyone who needed eye care received it, by supporting the Elks and Lions vision programs.

Thompson enjoyed living in Harney County. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed sharing it with family and friends. He liked to hunt, fish, camp and go rock hounding. He also enjoyed traveling and showing his children the country. After his retirement he and his wife continued to be adventurous and traveled to Alaska for a summer in their trailer.

Thompson is survived by his wife of 58 years, Laberta; children, Mary Raines and husband, Dwane of Woodburn, Nancy Stangel and husband, Dick of Enterprise, Pat Thompson and wife, Heidi of Sisters, and Mike Thompson of Vancouver, Wash.; eight grandchildren; brother, Fred Thompson of Renton, Wash.; and 11 nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, John Thompson; and an infant son, David.

Masonic services for Thompson were held on June 5. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Harney County Hospice, the Shriner’s Hospital, or a charity of one’s choice, in care of LaFollette’s Chapel, P.O. Box 488, Burns, OR 97720.

Laura Ann Dowlan, 41, died suddenly on May 24 in Hines.

She was born on July 13, 1967, in Show Low, Ariz., to Joseph Alfred and Sandra Ann (Miller) Wright. She was adopted by her stepfather, Loren Graves.

Dowlan was a graduate of Stayton High School in Marion County and Oregon State University in Corvallis. She worked as a Recreation Planner for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at the Salem District from 1991 to 2006, and at the Burns District BLM from 2006 until her death.

She met her husband, Stephen Dowlan at the Salem District BLM, and was married on July 3, 2004, at Cook Forest State Park, Clarion County, Penn. The couple moved to Hines in June 2006.

Dowlan loved animals, but she shared a special enthusiasm for horses with her family and friends throughout her life. She treated her three Tonkinese cats as if they were her children. She also loved reading, movies, bird watching, traveling, camping and hiking.

Dowlan had a kind and generous soul and was always ready to help friends and strangers in need. She was admired for her professional attitude and passion for natural resource management.

Dowlan is survived by her husband, Stephen Dowlan of Hines; mother and father, Loren and Sandy Graves of Mehama; aunts, Leslie Miller of Carmel, Calif. and  Nancy ZeBarth of Twin Falls, Idaho; and her children, of Twin Falls.

A memorial service will be conducted by Burns BLM staff at a local Harney County park. Her ashes will be scattered at places where she found peace and inspiration. Contributions in Dowlan’s name may be made to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

An organizational meeting for a Burns FFA Alumni Chapter will be held on Wednesday, June 10, at 6 p.m. at Glory Days Pizza. Anyone wishing to provide support to the Burns FFA is invited; you do not need to be an ex-FFA member to join. For more information, contact Jimmy Zamora at 573-2044 or jjzamora@harneyedu.net.

The Harney County Cancer Support Group meets the second Wednesday of each month at Glory Days Pizza, on Highway 20 in Burns, at 4 p.m. For more information, call Tonny Calloway, evenings, at 573-7867.

Burns City Council meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Burns City Hall, 242 South Broadway, at 6 p.m.

Storytime for preschoolers is scheduled at the Harney County Library, 80 West D St., each Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Contact the Harney County Library for more information 573-6670.

Burns Fire Dept. meets each Wednesday at the Burns Fire Hall at 7 p.m.

Burns Elks Lodge, 118 North Broadway, meets each Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets each Wednesday at the Foursquare Church at 7 p.m.

Auditions for Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Harney County School District No. 3 administrative building (former Lincoln Jr. High) on North Court in Burns. All ages welcome.

The local chapter of the Oregon Veterans Motorcycle Association (OVMA) meets at Egan’s, on Highway 20 in Hines, the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. The OVMA was established to promote Veterans, Veterans issues and motorcycling. The public is welcome to attend. As weather permits they will be conducting weekend motorcycle runs throughout the local area.

The American Legion Harney County Post #63 meets at the 63 West “C” Street, the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.

Dr. Tom Fitzpatrick and the Mobile Health Clinic, sponsored by Harney District Hospital,will be at Fields on Thursday, June 11, at the Fields School. Call the High Desert Medical Center at 573-8894 to schedule an appointment and bring your insurance information to assure proper billing.

Tai Chi is held every Thursday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Kiwanis Club of Burns-Hines meets for a no-host luncheon each Thursday at Glory Days Pizza, 690 Oregon Avenue, at noon.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly meets each Thursday at Hines City Hall, 101 East Barnes, at noon. Call 573-2896.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets each Thursday at the Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.