Weekly Newsish Roundup, December 12, 2016
Weekly Newsish Roundup, December 12, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 12 Minutes and 12 Seconds!
Check out this the Weekly Newsish Roundup for December 12 to 16, 2016!
In the news this week:
- Musical Messiah: Handel’s Messiah Comes to La Grande!
- Fashion in La Grande: Underground Marketplace Hosts a Fashion Show
- Coffee With Will and Jason Link
- Brent Chats with Clay Winton
- Upcoming Events
- Local Sports
- Around the Mountain (EOU Sports)
Hey La Grande Alive This is your Weekly Newsish Roundup, brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde hospital, and Direct Music Source.
Musical Messiah: Handel’s Messiah Comes to La Grande
Handel’s Messiah is coming to La Grande. Handel’s Messiah is a piece of Baroque music that was written around 1750 by George Frederick Handel. And when you mix one choir, one grand Rond Orchestra, a bunch of soloists plus a 250 year old oratorio, you get a 30 years of Christmas classical coming back to La Grande for yet another year. Now, Messiah is a religious work of art, all of the text is taken directly from the King James Bible. So for those of you who melt At The Mention Of Jesus or God or any other religious subjects, you should probably stay home. But for everyone else, religious or not, anyone with a heart open to experiencing the beauty of music, the organizers of the event said you can appreciate and take part in this beautiful piece.
As I said, 7 p.m., this Sunday, December 18th, at the La Grande High School auditorium, which is Beautiful, by the way. La Grande Alive will be streaming the performance live on our Facebook and on our web page at LaGrandealive.TV.
Fashion in La Grande
And speaking of classy stuff in La Grande, fashionable isn’t exactly a word you would use very often to describe our little town. But leave it to the New Town Square to, once again, class up our streets with their first-ever fashion show in the Underground Market Place last week at which La Grande Alive grabbed the highlights.
Now, the Fashion Show is part of the greater mission of the New Town Square to give artists and Artisans a place to make money with their craft. They have studio space for rent at really cheap prices, and the entirety of the market is an architectural testament to the quality of local artists and tradesmen. If you’re interested in the marketplace, just walked downstairs and see it. It will blow you away in the best possible way, unlike the frigid winds we’re getting here in the Valley these days.
Coffee With Will and Jason Link
Now, religion and art or two of my most favorite things in the whole wide world. And this week I got to talk to someone who shares my obsessions, local writer and youth pastor, Jason Link. And boy, was the conversation good! Rather than, like many other religious writers, putting his faith overtly in his works of art, Jason prefers not to purposefully evangelize and his work. Instead, he’d rather write stories with no explicit religious agenda and simply let the story speak for itself.
Jason thinks that, instead of having any sort of agenda, good art makes you feel things and stimulates discussion.
Overall, the conversation was a quirky, quick, goofy and occasionally profound back and forth on the nature of Art and how religion fits in. For the entirety of this discussion, visit our Facebook page or LaGrandealive.TV.
Brent Chats with Clay Winton
But I wasn’t the only person chatting it up this week in the studio. Brent also got into the chat act with Clay Winton, owner of Crosshair Customs in Baker City, Oregon, a local gun manufacturing company up and coming in our little valley. Now, Clay is into AR15s which I personally know nothing about. But he certainly does.
The conversation was a shop-talk-turgid back and forth about guns, the gun manufacturing business, and other gun topics which are sure to be interesting to firearm nuts far and wide. The rest of this discussion can be found on our Facebook or on our website at lagrandealive.tv.
Upcoming Events
Alright, what else is happening in the valley? The next two weekends are the last for the acclaimed Elgin Opera House show, a Christmas Story. Currently shows are sold out, according to Steve Hendrix, one of the lead characters in the play, but the Elgin Opera House has added another show next Thursday December 22nd at 7:30 pm. On Saturday, there’s what’s called a “Country Christmas Celebration” at the Art Center at the Old Library in La Grande. Not sure what a “Country” Christmas celebration is, other than a bunch of hillbillies with big hats to catch the snow square dancing to all your favorite Christmas songs, but I guess you’ll have to go to find out. And in other odd musical gathering news, there’s a Coalition of Union County Ukuleles Strum Circle, 7pm at 1802 Adams Avenue. In related news, the strum circle has now officially tied last week’s pipers circle for weirdest musical gathering award of the year.
Local Sports
In sports, high school basketball has continued into non-league play before the holidays, or tried to at least. For the boys, two games were cancelled because of the weather. Too darn cold, the coaches said in much more sportsy ways. Elgin, on the other hand, and a game closer to home that wasn’t blocked by snow and won 43 to 60 last Friday against La Grande’s junior varsity team at the Enterprise Winter Classic Tournament. The next day, Elgin, down but not out, went on to beat Pine Eagle 55 – 33. The Union boys went 1-2 last weekend, first winning against Echo, 59 to 33 then losing against Umatilla, 45 to 57, and Pilot Rock, 36 – 51. Imbler got one and one, losing vs Baker 52 to 55 but winning against Powder Valley 49 to 39.
For the girls, Elgin lost Enterprise Saturday 29 – 62 and then lost against the La Grande JV 48 to 39. The Union girls, on the other hand, doubled up on the wings, beating McLoughlin 49 to 27 and Arlington 42 to 29. And lastly, Imbler lost two, the first versus Baker 41 – 51 and the second against Powder Valley 56 to 60.
Around The Mount (EOU Sports)
And now for your eou sports with our favorite sports guys, Evan and Chris, who, this week, have been downright taken by the festive spirit of the holidays.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics
This is a special, holiday version of Around the Mountain in about 90 Seconds!
Coming off an upset win over No. 8 College of Idaho last week, the EOU Men’s basketball team took to Walla Walla to take on the Wolves. The Blue and Gold started off slow, shooting only 34 percent from field goal range in the first half. However, the Mountaineers got things going in the second half, scoring 61 points in the last 20 minutes while shooting 66 percent. The win not only is the fourth in a row for EOU, it also cards Bryan McGriff his fourth double-double of the season as the senior scored 23 points. The Mounties host CCC-foes Corban this Friday evening at 7:30 and Northwest Christian on Saturday at 7:30.
The EOU WBB defeated WALLA WALLA Saturday 109-45! Junior guard Payton Parris scored a season-high 25 pts while freshman Kate Hogan tallied a career-best 24 pts making 11 of her 13 shots. The Mountaineers improved to 8-2 on the season and 2-0 in CCC play. They Blue and Gold will face Corban this Friday and NCU Sat. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 pm
The EOU men’s wrestling team took on historic powerhouse North Idaho College on Friday.
Facing the pesky foe on the road was tough, however the Mountaineers showed some strength securing four wins. However, EOU would eventually fall to the Cardinals 30-12. The Mounties notched wins from Mhar Caballa at 125, Brendon Vladic at 141, Ryan Middleton at 157 and Brandon Davidson at 165. The men compete again this weekend, traveling to Reno, Nevada for the Tournament of Champions.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, we hope you all have a great holiday season and that you’ll join us again in January, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Direct Music Source!
For more local content, visit our website at Lagrandealive.tv!
Tags: La Grande, OR, Handel’s Messiah, Fashion, Gun Manufacturing, Underground Marketplace
Category: Newsish
For more information, visit EOUsports.com! Happy Holidays!
Snow Sports can be a religion for some people around here. Every year, after pining away and saving all of their extra cash all summer, as soon as those hallowed wooden doors open and the lift creaks to a start, these devout flood in droves to to give their tithes and receive their annual season pass, hit the slopes every possible weekend at their Mecca, Anthony Lakes, rince and repeat until the season ends. But it’s not grace or bad potluck food that retains these snow worshippers, it’s the small close-knit community at the resort and the blissful experience of hitting the slopes that keeps them coming back year after year after year.
So, here’s a story for you: Last December Cindy and Jeff Martin are standing on the side of the road near Ladd Canyon doing a good deed — helping a trucker put on their chains — when suddenly, another massive truck slams into their car. The car slides quickly and hits Cindy straight on. Jeff has to jump out of the way to avoid injury. Cindy is severely injured. And this isn’t the only time this kind of thing has happened. This is just the story The Observer used this week in their story to highlight the danger the truckers are facing during this season of putting on their chains on the highway. And we thought it was a good enough message to repeat it, so here’s a fact for you: it is illegal not to pull over to the left lane if a police or tow truck is parked on the side of the road. Here’s another fact: it’s not illegal to not pull to the left when a truck is pulled over. But you know what it is? Common courtesy. Especially, also according to the Observer, when snow is built up on the road margins, forcing the trucker’s further out into the highway when changing their chains. So here’s La Grande alive weekly PSA: if you pass a trucker chaining up, slow down, merge left, and you’ll be doing right! For the full story, see the Observer’s Wednesday paper.
And now here’s our titular trio Jeannie, Josh, and Bridger to bring you this week’s Grande film review trailer on Moana, Disney’s most recent princess movie.
In sports, the La Grande boys and girls basketball teams had their first games this last week. The boys came home with an early Christmas present, but the girls went home with coal. The boys played Vale Saturday, winning 58-35, pulling ahead early in the game and never falling behind. THe girls, played Tuesday and, even though they came home with black on their hands, it wasn’t because they were bad by any stretch of the mind. The game was close right up to the end, going back and forth, back and forth before a late-fourth period loss of Lacy Miles to injury put them down and out by several points at the end of the game. Final score, 42-40. THe girls next game is against Vale January 3rd at home. The boys will travel to Baker City for their first game of 2017 on January 6th. Both games will be broadcast live on lagrandealive.tv.
The holiday season has begun. The season of exorbitant Christmas lights on houses and trees. The season of Christmas tunes on every business playlist and radio station. The season of anxious present lists and really bad holiday sales to satisfy them. And, first and foremost, the season of everyone’s favorite love-hate Christmas movies. And for the next 3 weekends, Elgin opera house is going to be commemorating the season by taking one of these holiday favorites and converting it to the stage.
In other news, an elk poacher is on the lam after killing and de-antlering two bulls in Elgin last month. Two suspects in the crime have been detained, but one, Nathan Crouch, is still running from the cops. Now, for those of you who don’t know, poaching elk is essentially killing an elk for its antlers, which makes just about as much sense as throwing away a Happy Meal once you get the toy. And Elgin residents are not happy. According to the Observer, one Elgin resident wants to make a statement to the young people by putting the perpetrators away for a long, long time. This is not to be tolerated here, he said. So if you see this guy, Nathan Crouch, running around or have any information about his whereabouts, contact the Oregon State Police. And eat your happy meals, kids! If you want the prize, you’ve got to eat your fries!
And speaking of being a good person, this week I got to sit down and talk to a Catholic priest. Specifically, father Saji Thomas, priest of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in LaGrande. And, I’ve got to say, for being a membe of the Carmelites, a Catholic order dedicated to Simplicity, quietude, and service, this guy had one impeccable sense of style.
I hate Black Friday. Maybe it’s the crowds of people shoved into small spaces. Maybe it’s the smell of sweaty nerds out for their once-a-year soiree. Maybe it’s the fact that the day that could have been a celebration of vibrant and deep ethnic culture groups is instead a day for peddling massive football-watching apparatus at the lowest prices. For whatever reason, I hate it, but when I can get on board with is Small Business Saturday. Small business Saturday is a nationwide celebration of small town businesses and spirit that happens every year after Black Friday. It’s complete with discounts, handouts, and open doors all along the downtown strip with sales for everyone at your local small-town businesses. And this week we had the opportunity to sit down with the planners and some local business persons and ask them why, exactly, people should head down and participate in small business Saturday.
The members of The Grand Optimist Club are probably a little more optimistic after last week. What happened last week? Last week they won the Volunteer Service award in Portland for their distinguished service to the La Grande Parks and Recreation Department. Specifically, for building and helping to maintain Optimist field at Pioneer Park for over 50 years. The Optimist Club is a group of citizens here in La Grande dedicated to investing in the community. Casual handyman jobs, up keep on public lands, and just generally helping around the community are all things these guys and gals help with Both financially and practically. And here at Brent Clapp Media Services, we got to sit down and talk to them and make this movie celebrating the event.
So, what’s going on in the valley this week? Well, if you’d like to be a little bit more pinky out then sweatpants, hot pockets, and a Netflix original this weekend, the La Grande Symphony is performing in Baker this friday. Their concert is titled magic, mystery, and majesty, and they’re holding it at 7 p.m. at Baker high school. And I’m just kidding about the sweatpants thing. Patty Sandoz, president of the Symphony Association, actually said you could wear them if you want, but leave your Hot Pockets at home. The tuba should be the only thing belching in this event. And if the symphony is your thing, maybe the orchestra will be. The Baker Community Orchestra is also performing just down the street at the South Baker Intermediate School, also at 7 o’clock on Friday at the same time as the symphony. The LaGrande High School is putting on the play “Almost, Maine,” Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school in La Grande. According To Go magazine, the play’s multiple storylines are about love and heartache, subjects we all know that teenagers snow infinitely more about than we do. Also, this Saturday there’s two holiday bazaars on 4th Avenue in LaGrande. One of them has homemade pie and the other has biscuits and gravy. So thank God you don’t have to pick one or the other to attend. Also on Saturday, after you’re done stuffing yourself with pie and gravy, go run it off at the Turkey Trot 5K period registration starts at 9 and the race starts at 9:30 at Mountain Valley Fitness.
In sports, but LaGrande High School track and field teams rocked it at State this year, the girls placing second and the boys placing 10th overall, both much higher than anticipated. And this week LaGrande alive got an opportunity to sit down and talk to Sean and Alma Crow, the coaches of the cross country teams, about this recent win for the LHS cross-country teams.
La Grande, OR, La Grande Optimist Club, Local Sports, Eastern Oregon University, EOU, LGA TV
