The Harney County Historical Society and the Mill House celebrated the founder of Hines by holding the first Edward Hines Day at the Hines Park on Saturday, July 27. 

The celebration featured historical displays, complimentary ice cream floats, prize raffles and free Harney County Museum passes to the first 20 guests that were donated by the Mill House.

Roger Hodge, owner of the Mill House, wrote and read his poem to those in attendance, honoring Edward Hines.

An Ode of Thanks to Edward Hines, The King of Lumber

By Roger H. Hodge II

Probably

As we have gathered here,

In the smoke and haze

And we cast our eyes upon a red sun,

That has marked our sky for days

The smoke we have now, comes not from that

Smokestack of Hines, as that has not smoked for years

When the mill shut down many moons ago,

We were not here but I know there was sadness and tears.

But though the mill has closed,

And people have come and gone

I can see that the spirit of the people and this community,

Has forged ahead and carried on.

Edward, None of us would be here…

Without the efforts of You and Loretta, your Wife

Our Towns and Harney as One are blessed,

And day by day, we continue on with Life.

You Probably check in on us,

Maybe once in awhile

Or send a messenger of sorts, Like your Great Grandson,

Because maybe that is more your style.

Looking back, as You entered that office at age Fourteen,

As a clerk and Tally Boy

Did you have the vision…or were you just in the know

That you would bring so much prosperity and joy?

Towns all over…From Wisconsin to Illinois to Mississippi to Oregon, still bear your last name

And you sought to help individuals and families (and probably make a buck or two of course) and through these actions you found fame.

Now it wasn’t probably all fun and games,

There were injuries and strikes and tough times

But your employees were even tougher,

And they forged on through those picket lines.

When that other guy, Herrick, Probably Shrugged,

As he ran out of funds, favors and Friends

You had the know how and the money,

And the contract was yours in the end.

And when some in Burns didn’t want the mill there,

This is probably how it went down

You said “Fine be that way,

We’ll go over there and make our own town!”

It’s fun to imagine You and Your Friend and Competitor, Weyerhauser…Coming up with the plans for your mills

You probably sought to one up each other,

The buildings each being as strong as your wills.

You and Loretta visited here, 

But alas you could not stay and returned to your home

But from your direction and Loretta’s town Design,

Hines, Oregon continued on, but was never alone.

You knew that the workers,

And their Families were probably going to be okay

Your sons, Ralph and Charles would continue your empire, 

And Hines has been here, in one form or another, to this very day

Now we could probably go on and on,

About your history and your awesomeness

But I would probably start to ramble,

And this whole thing would become a mess

So we…Hines and Burns and Harney as a whole

Are so very thankful for what you gave us

We will do our best to keep Hines on the Map,

And sometimes we will smile, and sometimes we will cuss.

We have the pictures…Both Physical and in our Minds

We have the stories and yearn for more

We have had the Yesterdays…We have Today

And we look forward to our tomorrows…What is in store?

Now you probably may not have noticed

That I just said the word ‘Probably’ a lot just now

And there is a reason why,

And I am about to close, and I know how.

I like to imagine that

As they all stood on the steps of the office,

There in front of those magnificent Buildings and SmokeStack

Somebody ‘Probably’ asked Edward…

“Do you think this place will last…and will you ever come back?”

And as Edward looked forward at the camera, 

He simply said…

Definitely