Community Means Paying It Forward For Smiths

Words or actions? For Julie Mansfield Smith it’s both.

Smith has been a land sale broker in Eastern Oregon for 30 years, and that kind of longevity suggests success. Smith credits it to her lifestyle because she sells what she lives.

But words without actions ring hollow. Fortunately, Smith and her husband, Brad, do more than run Mossy Oak Properties Cupper Creek Land Company, where Julie sells large agricultural, farm, ranch and recreational riverfront and timbered retreats.

Shooting sports fundraisers

The Smiths lend their land and range to a variety of worthy community causes every year to host shooting fundraisers. It began about 20 years ago and has become as much a staple of the area as the dirt and rock roads that lead to the places Julie sells.

“It really has become our identity in the community because when our name comes up, we are the people who do the shoots and fundraisers,” Julie said. “It started because our grandkids shot, and then it just moved into whoever wanted to do it. We forged a lot of important friendships this way.”

The shoots raise anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. It’s $3 a shot at clay pigeons at the range and the rest of the money comes from bake sales, concessions and auctions of donated items. Generosity of others make them a success.

The Smiths host shoots for worthy causes where they feel the money raised will do the best. They are not designed to get someone out of credit card debt, they lead to experiences children may not otherwise have or reward a community fixture who was thrown a curveball in life that may have knocked them down, not out.

“We don’t take any cash, we do fundraisers for other nonprofits,” Julie said. “We get shooting clubs from all over central Oregon and we put it all over social media, so we never know who is going to show up. Each shoot brings a different crowd.”

The shoots are popular for the families that come near and far from ages 8 to 80 because it fits with the identity of the area as a recreational haven away from big-city issues. But the shoots are even more important because of the causes they serve.

Community

The Smiths host four shoots a year with some of the biggest for 4-H, Grant County Fair and Rodeo, Spray Rodeo and Monument Fourth of July Fireworks. Where they see a need, the Smiths try to lend a helping hand because that is what people in small communities do.

“This is our chance to pay it forward with these shoots,” Julie said.

The Smiths have shoots for youth at Monument schools, Monument Senior Center, Silent Wave Horse Rescue and the Monument EMTs.

“They had a fundraiser for the Monument EMTs — who are all women — and they wanted to get a stair chair to safely carry patients downstairs,” said Justin Davis, a senior reporter with the Blue Mountain Eagle. “There was a prevailing sense of community and everyone was there to have fun and help.”

Davis said it is a community that wants to come together and help each other. The Smiths are happy to provide them the opportunity. The tradition is established and they hope it will continue for a long time because of the community it builds as much as the funds raised.

Mossy Oak

One of the biggest reasons Julie brought the first Mossy Oak Properties franchise to Oregon is the connection the brand and Eastern Oregon share. Julie sells land but it is just a piece of the life she lives and the contributions she makes.

Since Mossy Oak Properties inception in 1999 and franchise expansion in 2002, the mission has been to align with the best and most honorable land specialists in the industry, and provide them with a platform to be successful, which in turn benefits the buyers and sellers of rural land.

The unique combination of brand strength, quality of people, national marketing and services creates a powerful platform for facilitating rural land transactions. The company values of lifestyle, integrity service and teamwork help ensure when a Mossy Oak Properties land specialist like Julie is contacted, buyers engage a partner in achieving their goals.