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2025 Dallas Days Photos

AudioFlex Makes Concert Series Debut

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Wednesday July 30, 2025 | Volume 150, Issue 31

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Sheriff’s office cuts water patrols due to budget cutbacks

Dallas Days

County Fair features new attractions for the entire family By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Every year, the fair board picks an animal to have the community revolve suggestions around for that year’s theme. This year they chose sheep and ewes. This year’s winner “Wool See Ewe There at the Polk County Fair.” Just one problem. “The kid who submitted the winning slogan, Tristan, only gave his first name. No last no or phone number,” said Tina Anderson, fair manager. “So I have still not been able to tell him. So, Tristan won, and we’d love it if he’d call us.” The Polk County Fair, which runs Aug. 6-9, schedules its attractions to be family friendly. While the fair runs Wednesday through Saturday, the biggest draws take place in the arena. To accommodate maximum attendance, the fairboard rented out additional bleacher seating. The area now holds about 3,500 people. “And for us at our little fair, that’s great,” Anderson said. Back for their sixth year on Thursday night is the Hell on Hooves Rough Stock Rodeo and Anderson just renewed their contract for another three years. “I love working with them. They’re fantastic to work with,” she said. Hell on Hooves Rough Stock Rodeo has 10 other stops in their year-long tour with competitors from around the region entering events in saddle bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. Then they send out the invite to the audience for the next generation of riders to enter the youth Mutton Bustin’ contest. The youth who holds on longest to the back of a sheep as it tears across the arena wins. “Everybody loves the rodeo. When they do the barrel racing, a lot of those ladies are local. I just think it’s a fun event that the fair does,” Anderson said. Back on Friday night for its second year is the FMX RAMPAGE Motocross Show. The arena once again filled to standing room only last year when Adam Jones, an 8-time X-Games medalist, Dew Tour Champion, Red Bull X Fighters winner, and a current Nitro Circus Athlete, brought his high flying, motocross extravaganza. The performance includes breathtaking backflips, in-helmet commentary by Jones himself on the microphone as he completes astonishing aerial stunts. “They’re really a great group of people. They really get the kids involved. They go out and talk to the kids, and the kids talk to them. It’s just a really good show,” Anderson said. And new this year on Saturday is the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, with two performances, at 3 and 5 p.m. Anderson said the show is more of an exhibition of logging skills with their own performers than an See FAIR, page A2

David HAYES I-O Editor

PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES

Eli Peck, 12, raises his hand in victory after winning New Morning Bakery’s youth pie eating contest Saturday during Dallas Days. After downing the homemade marionberry pie the fastest, Peck, of Monmouth, won 12 more cupcakes. Ian Paddock, 44, of Dallas, won the adults’ competition. For more photos from the annual three-day festival, see page A8.

Dallas Police regains bragging rights in Battle of the Badges By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Early on July 15, a large contingent of officers from the Dallas Police Department were called to an incident at the Grocery Outlet. They couldn’t get their designated response squad activated until corresponding representatives from Dallas Fire & EMS arrived on scene as well. It wouldn’t do to begin the third annual Battle of the Badges Grocery Dash without both teams at the starting line. Jason Thornton, Dallas and Monmouth Grocery Outlet owner, once again welcomed the participants, cheering squads and onlookers. The goal of the friendly competition, Thornton said, is to raise as much money as possible for the families in need. “That’s the whole reason we do this. In July it’s been successful. As a company, we’re close to the $4 million mark. Over 500 stores. Each store is pushing hard to help its own community. Which is nice, because it all stays in our prospective community. We get the money at the store and give it directly to the foodbank,” Thornton said. He explained overall donations to the Dallas Foodbank came close to $10,000, while this year was a little shy. “We might come in around $6,000 to $7,000. It feels a little light, but people are still giving. It’s a good thing,” he said. The competition’s premise is simple. Dallas Food Bank director Eddie Nelson makes up a list of needed items, finds them on the Grocery Outlet shelves, then mixes them up so they won’t be easy to find by the teams. “To win, they have, one, to be the first ones done, two, complete the list completely and three, have the exact quantities of each item required (five),” Thornton said. He added the event is one of his favorites.

IN THIS ISSUE Voices Corrections Obituaries Puzzle Solutions Social Public Records Classifieds Puzzles

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PHOTOS BY DAVID HAYES

Dallas Police Officer Courtney Baker stuffs items into her cart as teammate Dect. Jane Lauderback checks items off the list during the annual Battle of the Badges. The recipient of their efforts, Dallas Food Bank Director Eddie Nelson, cheers them on in the background. “I love it. The community is the biggest reason for why I do what I do. Just because we give back. Be here to offer inexpensive groceries to families with lower budgets. So it’s been really beneficial,” Thornton said. Detective Jane Lauderback, participating in her second go around in the Battle of the Badges, was joined by competition rookie Officer Courtney Backer. Lauderback manned the clipboard with the checklist, marking off each item as it was found on the shelf. Backer did the maneuvering of the shopping cart, undeterred by a wobbly wheel. “She shops here. I don’t, so I just go with her,” Backer said afterwards. ‘I think it was fun. The competition aspect. Trying to find everything on the list was difficult. They mixed everything up on the list to make it harder.” She added their strategy was to go isle by aisle, rather than hop all over the place, saving time. It worked, as the Police Squad finished first.

However, the fire squad managed to tally a higher overall total in groceries thrown into their carts. The police team’s final receipt was $680.20 while the firefighters came in at $755.42, for an overall total of $1,435.62 in much needed groceries that were immediately delivered to the Dallas Foodbank afterwards. Nicole Schmidt, Dallas Fire & EMS firefighter and paramedic, explained the discrepancy in the receipts between the two teams. “We bought the good stuff,” she said. Her teammate Brian Nordyke, Division Chief of Training and Retention, has volunteered for the grocery dash all three years. He said another reason their carts ended up with more value was they grabbed some items by the case, rather than individually. He added he doesn’t mind coming back every year, even if it does end up on the losing team. See BATTLEPAGE A2

During his quarterly update to the County Commissioners July 15, Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton let them know he had to cancel one of his patrol programs due to state cutbacks. Garton said the Sheriff’s Office canceled the marine patrol this year, ending an agreement with the Oregon State Marine Board. “The reason - they cut funding, again, 30 percent,” he said, adding this meant a hit to the fuel and maintenance budget. “Originally, I had about $30,000 in staff costs, they were going to cut that another 30 percent.” The 30 percent cut across the board came for most agencies, except state police Garton said. “I made the decision to stop that because we can’t afford to keep doing the same amount of stuff for less money,” he said. The PCSO will still be responsible for search and rescue activities on the water. To keep that up, they’re working to replace all the boats, as they originally came from the Marine Board. In the meantime, it is unclear who will now patrol the Willamette River. “To be honest, they don’t know, I don’t know, who’s going to be responsible for the river,” Garton said. “It hasn’t been dictated by the Marine Board, so I don’t know if it’s going to be Yamhill, Benton or Marion county, or if they’ll backfill with state police. They haven’t told us.” The rest of his report was a summary of his office’s activities and calls for service from May 7 through July 8. “Deputies responded to a wide range of incidents, from traffic enforcement and crash investigations to welfare checks and criminal investigations, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to the safety and well-being of the Polk County community,” Garton’s report read. In traffic safety and enforcement, deputies conducted 438 traffic stops for various violations, including excessive speed, driving while suspended, and driving uninsured. In one notable instance, a driver was stopped for traveling 91 mph in a 55-mph zone. Deputies also responded to 37 reported crashes. Garton said it was important to note that a “reported crash” does not always meet the criteria for a state-reportable crash under Oregon law. These incidents ranged from minor, non-injury events to more serious collisions, including: - Several vehicle versus deer crashes, a common occurrence in our rural areas. - A single-vehicle rollover where the driver swerved to avoid a deer. See SHERIFF PAGE A2

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