From the editor’s desk
Published 9:15 am Monday, February 28, 2022
- The John Day totem pole is showing its age, but the city has plans to clean it up and refinish it this spring. There are also discussions about possibly moving it to a more prominent location.
I told you last week that I was crossing my fingers, hoping some of the many phone messages I had left would bear fruit in the form of key pieces of information I needed to write a story on the John Day totem pole for our Wednesday, Feb. 23, edition.
Well, I got lucky. Shortly after writing those words on Friday, Feb. 18, I got a callback from former Mayor Chris Labhart, who had been involved in the placing of the totem pole and was able to describe the blessing ceremony that took place in downtown John Day on Aug. 25, 1995. It added a lot to the story.
I got lucky again at about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, when I got a callback from Gary Burke, son of the late Chief Raymond Burke and now himself a chief of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He regaled me with wonderful stories of his father’s friendship with the Mountain Man, Ralph White, who carved the totem pole.
Unluckily, however, it was now 30 minutes before press deadline! I had a paper to put out, so I had to cut the conversation short and was unable to get any of the new information Chief Gary Burke had given me into the story, which appeared in the next day’s edition.
On the other hand, I might just have enough material for a follow-up!
In case you missed it, here’s a link to my story on the John Day totem pole.
Another highlight of last week’s Eagle was Steven Mitchell’s coverage of the High Desert League District Basketball Tournament, including plenty of photos of the Prairie City boys and girls teams, who both finished third to punch their ticket to the state 1A tournament.
We also had an update on the John Day-Grant County police funding negotiations as well as reports on a campaign appearance by U.S. Senate candidate Sam Palmer and a virtual town hall by sitting Sen. Jeff Merkley.
Coming up this week: Look for stories on plans to put a $4 million pool bond on the ballot, a confusing sign on a local bridge, the Grant Union dance team, and how local prep athletes fared in postseason competition.
As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you!
