Far out!
Nearby towns ambivalent about Rainbow Family gathering
Residents of Harney, Baker Counties weigh in on unpermitted gatherings
JOHN DAY For the approximately 13,000 people who attended the Rainbow Family of Living Light's counterculture gathering, the road to Babylon runs along U.S. Route 395, a two-lane highway that winds through remote, forested parts of Eastern Oregon.
In the jargon of the Rainbow Family, a loose-knit community that annually hosts temporary gatherings in national forests, Babylon is the world beyond their own communal existence, where people eat dinners together in a massive meadow, defecate in shallow trenches dug in the dirt, use hallucinogenic mushrooms and other drugs freely and, above all, abstain from using money.
But Rainbow Family members often travel to Babylon Eastern Oregon, in this case for food and other supplies. When they do, they often find small, rural communities that are skeptical about their presence. And this year, they found people still scarred by a very different type of occupation a year prior.
"I wish they would have waited a year or two before coming here," Paul Gray, emergency manager for Harney County, said of the Rainbow Family.
Nearly a year and a half after armed militants occupied several buildings within the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, to the southeast of Burns, Eastern Oregon's residents learned their region was chosen for another unauthorized gathering on public land. The Rainbow Family gathering, which officially lasts from July 1 through July 7 each year, occurred in a portion of the Malheur National Forest around an hour northwest of Burns, in Grant County.
While Gray acknowledged the Rainbow Family gathering is very different from an armed occupation, he said the amount of unexpected traffic through Burns dredged up painful memories for some community members.
"I have some old ladies in town who are going through PTSD," Gray said.
In Grant County's cities and towns, the impact is more tangible. Shopkeepers have benefited from the thousands of visitors, even as a minority of the Rainbow Family members caused problems for stores and their customers.
Rainbow Family member Gary Stubbs said the group typically contributes between $350,000 and $500,000 to the economy during a gathering, in the form of fines paid to the U.S. Forest Service and purchases from local stores.
"They fear us when we show up, and they love us when we leave," Stubbs said.
Rainbow Family gatherings have a negative reputation with the communities where they set up shop, for a variety of reasons. The gatherings are free and open to all, and can attract people on the fringes of society. As of July 5, there have been four felony arrests and two confirmed deaths at the gathering. The names of the dead attendees have not yet been released.
Harney County Judge Pete Runnels said he wasn't familiar with the Rainbow Family until he found out in early June its members were coming, and read about them on social media.
"There's a lot of horror stories," Runnels said. "But then there's well, they're mostly horror stories."
In Harney County, at least, Runnels said the reality hasn't matched the stories. While he said there's been some panhandling and minor crimes in Burns, it has not reached the heights he expected.
"We haven't experienced the hype that was brought up about it," Runnels said of the gathering.
In John Day, and other communities closer to the gathering itself, the story is different.
Chester's Thriftway, a grocery store located near the center of John Day and one of the largest shops in the city of just over 1,700, has evolved into something of a way station for Rainbow Family members. In the parking lot and the store itself, it's common to find attendees buying supplies, looking for rides to other parts of the state and country and, in some cases, panhandling for gas money.
Store manager Robert Hunt said the store has seen nearly 300 extra people per day since Rainbow Family members began arriving in June in preparation for the gathering.
"Most of them were fairly decent, and pleasant and polite to talk to," Hunt said.
Still, Hunt acknowledged there have been problems, including petty theft and attempts at panhandling inside the store itself. Police have been called a few times, but store staffers have been able to resolve conflicts by talking to Rainbow Family members.
"We tried to do everything as politely as we could," Hunt said. "And for the most part, it went pretty well."
Down John Day's Main Street, a nearby Dairy Queen has also seen plenty of traffic from passing Rainbow Family members. Pete Teague, owner of the Dairy Queen, said he's had problems with visitors making a mess in the bathroom, and stealing from the dumpster, but added that only 20 or so of the "several hundred" visitors who have come through the store have been a problem.
"I think they're like most groups," he said. "You have good (members) and you have bad."
Chrystle Baker, another member of the Rainbow Family, said it discourages panhandling because that feeds negative stereotypes about the group.
"They are bringing a bad name to Rainbow," she said.
Still, not every interaction with the local community has been a mixed blessing. Pamela Francis manages Bear Valley Mini Mart, the only convenience store in Seneca, a Grant County town with fewer than 200 residents about seven miles from the turnoff for the gathering. Francis said Rainbow Family members spent about $1,000 in the first couple days of the gathering, which prompted the store to put up a sign reading "Welcome Rainbow Family." She said the gathering helped the store after a slow winter.
"I have nothing bad to say about them," she said. "They have supported our store, and nothing bad's happened here."
Gig 'em! '90
