There are two things of which you can be certain in life; there's no place
like home and there's nobody like, Annie. With the heart of the tin man
and the roar of the lion, Annie Clark of Canyon City, Oregon has clicked
her heels together and is off to the Emerald City.
Having been born in Canyon City, a descendant of an early pioneer family,
Annie has devoted much of her life to the preservation of Grant County
history. As a member of the Grant Co. Genealogical Society and a volunteer for many
years at the "Grant County Museum," her call to duty can easily be compared to that
of her great-grandfather, Martin Anderson Lucas, who first arrived at Camp Watson in Wheeler Co.,
abt. 1864, in continuation to the service of his country.
Yes indeed, this is a family who's roots run deep and by which spirit and pride the state
of Oregon was founded.
Annie Clark along with her side-kick Sammie Laurance, are the silent brain and
brawn behind this website. Without their continuous support and generous donations
of material, this website would lack all substance.
And now like Dorothy, Annie is leaving behind her Kansas today. Having resided in
Canyon City for 60+ years, it's time for her to pack-up her Toto, brush away
the tears, and head on down that yellow brick road. So this is my tribute to
Annie ...
God bless her and God bless Prineville ... for the Eagle is about to
land!
ANNIE HITS THE BIG TIME!
Article from The Blue Mountain Eagle
By Dean Rhodes - Editor
Thursday, Nov. 27th, 1997
Ann Clark of John Day is proving you don't have to slaughter your neighbor's cows to
end up in The Washington Post.
Clark, 61, a part-time waitress at Patty's Tattered Apron in John Day, is being featured
in The Washington Post for a good deed she performed 17 years ago while she was
running The Canyon Pastime restaurant in Canyon City.
Post columnist Dr. Gridlock writes an annual good Samaritan column where readers
submit letters about good deeds done to them by strangers.
A couple living in Arlington, Va., wrote about Clark feeding them a free Thanksgiving dinner
in 1980.
When the couple stopped at The Canyon Pastime [The Golden Dragon's current location], they
found that Clark had prepared a Thanksgiving feast for her regular customers because many did not have
anywhere to go on Thanksgiving Day.
"I used to do that all the time," Clark says. "I had single men who wanted a home-cooked
meal. I said I would cook it for them if they bought the food, and we kind of just potlucked it."
Clark fed the hungry travelers and in the best holiday hospitality, refused to take any money. The travelers went on their
merry way and Clark says she forgot about the incident until being called by The Post reporter last week.
Clark was scheduled to be the lead color photo for 10 weekly and extra sections for The Washington Post's Thanksgiving
feature along with the couple's letter.
"I really don't know what all the fuss is about," she kept saying last week while getting her picture taken
for The Post
It'll be the second time Grant County has been featured prominently in The Washington Post this year.
In March, reporter Tom Kenworthy from The Post's Denver office wrote a feature about Dr. Patrick Shipsey, who
shot 11 cattle owned by Mt. Vernon rancher Robert Sproul.
The Washington Post is the fifth-largest U.S. daily newspaper with a circulation of 775,894.
©1998 Roxann Gess Smith
All Rights Reserved
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