Queen Coronation & Grand Marshal Introduction
2025 Pioneer Queen Margaret Hansell
I have been able to trace my Oregon pioneer roots on my mother's side back to when my ancestors left three different European Countries to come to America. The three ancestral families came from Germany, France, and England, and they all came together in the Aurora/French Prairie area of the Willamette Valley.
My great great grandparents William and Elizabeth Whitney emigrated to America from England, first William in 1830 and two years later his wife Elizabeth joined him. They eventually settled in Indiana and became parents of 6 children. In early 1847, they joined General Joel Palmer's train of emigrants and came to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. Elizabeth was pregnant with my great grandmother Rehuemah, who was born one month after they arrived in Oregon on October 15, 1847. They settled in French Prairie, where he took out a homestead claim of 640 acres.
My French ancestor, Francis Feller, came to Oregon by ship from France, around the Horn in1857. He settled in the French Prairie area. He married the youngest Whitney daughter Rheuamah in 1865. One of their daughters, Arda, was my grandmother.
The final strand of Oregon Pioneers have their roots in Germany, and were part of the Aurora Colony.
My German Great Great Grandparents, Michael and Elizabeth Kraus were born in Germany, and settled in Alleghany County, PA, when they emigrated to America. They joined a German Religious Colony under the leadership of Dr. Willliam Keil. When the colony relocated to Bethel Missouri, they also moved with their five girls and two boys. One of the sons was George Kraus, who would become my great grandfather.
George was 22 when the colony moved again, this time to Aurora, Oregon in 1863. By this time, he was one of the Colony leaders, and was the bootmaker for the group.
In 1879 George married fellow colony member Elizabeth Giesy, and born to this union were five children including my grandfather Arthur in 1882.
All three strands come together in my grandparents, when Authur Kraus and Arda Feller were married in 1912. My mother Ruth Eversaul, who lived to be 98, was the third of their four children.
If you visit the historical Aurora Museum today you will see prominently displayed, including the Kraus House, a lot of my family's pioneer heritage. There is a Feller Road that has a sign off of I-5 named for my family. I am proud to be a 5th generation descendant of multiple Oregon pioneer families.
2025 Parade Grand Marshal Bill Hansell
I am the descendent of two families that came to Oregon on the Oregon Trail in 1852. Both the Stafford and Pell families settled in the Mohawk Valley near Springfield, Or. Albert Stafford and Rose Anne Pell both children of their respective families later married and moved to Umatilla County near Centerville. Albert was part of the committee that renamed Centerville to Athena, in 1889. One of their children Clara May Stafford married George Hansell on December 15, 1881, three years after George had arrived in Centerville. George came west with his family in 1876 via the train, and after three years in Benton County, Or., he took a boat up the Columbia River, disembarking at Umatilla Landing and walked in his cowboy boots to Centerville. He was the first Hansell to call the Athena/Weston area home. Five generations of Hansell Family are descendants of George and Clara May, and have or do call the Athena/Weston area home. Family members of five different generations have their final resting place in the Athena Cemetery.
Children’s Parade
Kids are invited to join in this short parade from Suzi’s Market to Elliott Memorial Park.
Pioneer Picnic Parade
We are looking for individuals, groups and organizations to participate in our annual parade.
The parade will form at the north end of Weston, from the stop sign on Hwy 204 proceeding south into town.
The route is approximately 1.5 miles long directly through the center of town.
Entry deadline is May 20, 2025
Contact Jenny Hagey (509-301-4705 or jlhagey@hotmail.com) for more information
Complete this form and return to PO Box 42, Weston OR 97886 or jlhagey@hotmail.com by May 20, 2025 to participate in the parade!
Park Activities
FREE Kids Games
~~~
Entertainment: Ladd Canyon Ramblers
~~~
Barbeque Lunch
~~~
Vendor Booths
Complete this form and return to PO Box 42, Weston OR 97886 by May 20, 2025 to participate as a vendor!
Quiet Neighbors: Kees Cemetery
Quiet Neighbors: Kees Cemetery is a guided tour of the historic pioneer cemetery, established in 1875.
The tour will include occupants of note, a history of the cemetery, and remarks on resident plants and animals.
“This is an opportunity to tour the historic Kees Cemetery and meet figures from Weston’s interesting past,” organizer Heather Culley said. “This is a respectful view of their lives; humanizing but not insulting.”
The tour will run from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 7th. This event is free.
Quiet Neighbors is a joint venture between the Weston Public Library, Kee’s Cemetery, and the Umatilla County Historical Society.
Alumni Dinner
Potluck dinner for all those who attended Weston Union High & Weston McEwen High School.
Doors open at 5:00 PM for visiting.
Dinner at 6:00 PM.
Queen Coronation & Grand Marshal Introduction
2024 Pioneer Queen Mari Sams Tester
Mari Sams Tester, the Queen of the 130 th Pioneer Picnic, was born in 1943 on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Her family has a strong history in the area. The Sams family arrived in the Walla Walla Valley from Missouri after joining a wagon train on the Oregon Trail in 1843. Mari already had relatives living in the valley as she comes from the lineage of Chiefs on her paternal side. Mari’s paternal great grandfather, John B. Duffy grew up in Frenchtown and later moved to Walla Walla. He married Clara Bonifer, who was a Chippewa Indian. They had several children including Mari’s paternal grandmother, Mary Delvina Duffy who married Charley Sams. Mari’s great grandparents farmed near Thorn Hollow.
Mari’s parents, Chuck and Ruby Sams both attended boarding schools. Her father Chuck was born and raised at Thorn Hollow and moved to Weston in 1947, living there until his death in 1998. Her mother Ruby was born and raised on the Fort Peck Reservation and was South Dakota Souix. They had 10 children. Mari attended grade school and high school in Weston, graduating in 1961. She moved to Arizona for a short time, then in 1962 moved to Pendleton where she met John Tester. They married and in 1965, welcomed a daughter, Tonyia. Mari worked for Pacific Northwest Bell and the family moved to Portland and Seattle and had many opportunities to travel. Mari retired in 1998 and moved to Walla Walla in 2005.
Queen Mari Tester has fond memories of the Pioneer Picnic. She remembers the races, setting up the pavilion and getting out of school to attend the show. She loves returning each year to reconnect with family and friends.
2024 Parade Grand Marshal Sheldon Delph
The first members of Sheldon Delph’s family arrived in the Weston area in 1877. The Taylors, McCorkells, and Fachnies settled on Read and Hawley Mountain, around the Fairview School community, and several family members still own those original homesteads. Sheldon’s great-grandfather served on the school board for Fairview School on the mountain for nearly 40 years, and his wife Emily Warner was occasionally the teacher there, as were at least two of his nieces.
Sheldon’s maternal grandfather, Don Johnson, and maternal grandmother, Lauretta McCorkell Johnson, graduated from Weston High School in 1926 and 1930, respectively. Sheldon’s parents, Bob Delph and Lyn Johnson, graduated in 1949, and Sheldon graduated in 1969.
Sheldon’s parents owned the Weston Market (grocery store), and as a young guy with energy, Sheldon’s dad served with the Umatilla County Pioneer’s Association from 1952 until his death in 2010. Sheldon’s mom continued to be active with the Association until shortly before her death in 2016. Bob and Lyn were Queen and Grand Marshal in 1996.
Sheldon is the oldest of six kids. His siblings are Duane, Tom, Rick, Ed and Janet.
He began his relationship with the Pioneer Picnic in 1957, at just six years of age, when his parents had him sit outside the Weston Market at the corner of Main and Water Streets, at a card table selling candy. He continued to work with Pioneer Picnic, working on the Parade and the barbeque, both of which began in the early 1960s, until he moved to Packwood, Washington in 1985.
Upon moving back to Weston in 2010, Sheldon resumed working with the Pioneer Association, writing grants, working on the new barbeque, and helping cater meals to support the organization.
Sheldon is also the only remaining original active member of the Saling House Restoration Committee, which began in 1975. He also served the City of Weston from 2012 to 2021 as the grants co-ordinator, securing nearly $7 million in grants for the City and its commissions, historic preservation projects, other organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Weston Cemetery and Kees Blue Mountain Cemetery, the Pioneer Association, the Memorial Hall, the Weston Food Pantry, and property owners in and around Weston.
Sheldon taught school for 37 years, served as choir director for multiple congregations, and was ordained a preacher in the Church of the Brethren. He attended the University of Oregon as a music major before transferring to Willamette University as a history major and graduating in 1973. He received his Master of Education from St. Martin’s University in 2001.
Sheldon married Annie Hubka in 1979 and has two incredible kids from that marriage: Betsy, aged 44, and Tim, 41. They each have a daughter, Windilyn and Sawyer.
Annie and Sheldon divorced in 2000, and Sheldon married Heidi Scott in 2014. She has two sons: Kenny Sanwald and Chris Sanwald. Chris and his wife Siera have three girls - Helaina, Mila, and Elliana - who are also family to Sheldon.
Over the course of 25 years, Sehldon cared for 37 foster kids, mostly ages 12-18. He has worked in farming, construction, choir directing, teaching from 5th grade through college, call centers, historic preservation, and grant writing. His current major project is a history of Weston.
From Sheldon: I have known this year’s Queen my entire life, and while my ancestors settled here nearly 145 years ago, Mary’s ancestors precede mine in this region by nearly 25,000 years. I am so happy that this celebration is recognizing the people who were here before the Europeans, and I am incredibly honored to be this year’s Grand Marshal.
Queen Coronation & Grand Marshal Introduction
2023 Pioneer Queen Connie O’Harra
The O’Harra family was among the first settlers to call Weston home. Daniel and Clarrisa O’Harra orginally farmed in Indiana and raised a family of nine boys and one girl. As the Civil War heated up, they moved their family to Missouri, but two of the oldest boys joined a wagon train heading west and eventually landed at a stage station called Weston in Oregon. They sent word back that this area had fertile land and would be a good location to call home, so the rest of the family came west in the Spring of 1865.
The homestead was purchased in the foothills of the Blue Mountains where the family raised wheat and cattle. Today the same land is farmed by Jeff O’Harra, the sixth generation of O’Harras to work this Century Farm. Lelan O’Harra, Jeff’s father, continued to raise cattle for some years, but eventually moved the farming operation to strictly agriculture. Although the products produced by the farm have shifted somewhat over time, the fundamental characteristics of the family have not – in the main, they have all been farmers; hard-working, community-supportive people.
2023 Parade Grand Marshal Charles Betts
Charles Reeve Betts grew up on the farm near Adams. His grandparents, Charles and Fannie Betts, moved from New York to Helix following their marriage in 1901. Charles worked for a mercantile store in Helix. Kohler was born in 1904 and his brother Reeve was born three years later at their home in Athena where they had moved to operate another store owned by the same family in Helix. In 1915 the Betts family made a decision to start farming, partially because of Charles’s health. They rented 300 acres near the forks of the Walla Walla River. Good neighbors helped in guiding and assisting the newcomers to life on the farm, where horses provided the power for all transportation and pulling farm equipment. Kohler and Reeve attended Forks Elementary School.
In the year 1918 an opportunity came to buy the farm near Adams-Athena that has now become Betts Ranch. Kohler and Reeve rode horseback to school in Athena and later they both attended Willamette University. Reeve went on to become a doctor and Kohler came home to assist his parents on the farm and eventually took it over. Kohler married Belle Anderson and they had two children, Charles and Kay. Kohler lived to be 99 and then the farm was passed on to Charles. Charles and his wife Shireen raised three children on the farm, Melinda, Molly and Andy. They all helped out on the farm growing up.
Charles has continued to farm for many years raising crops of wheat, peas and canola. Andy has taken over all the farming responsibilities for the last few years along with his daughter Alex.
Charles is honored to have been chosen 2023 Grand Marshall of the Pioneer Picnic.
Become A Volunteer
Contact Jackie Gentry to learn how to get involved with the Umatilla County Pioneer Association!
gentry.jacke1967@gmail.com