Marcus Larson's Photo Gallery

Derek Noel and Duane Van Dyke and their draft horse teams, cross paths as they compete in the Farm Fest plowing competition Saturday afternoon. Contestants were judged not by how quickly they plow their section, but by how straight and well-plowed it is. Farm Fest is the biggest draft horse competition in the state, drawing dozens of teams each spring to the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center. 4/16/13

Celeste Garcia examines braids of hand-dyed merino silk fiber Saturday at the Fabulous Fiber Fair in Carlton. The inaugural event featured two dozen vendors. 3/1/13

Four deer graze in the local Masonic Cemetery on a frosty Saturday morning. Temperatures were below freezing for most of the weekend, as dry, icy conditions created myriad wintry scenes around the valley. 1/15/13

Falconer Kort Clayton uses a technique called lure stooping, in which he swings a piece of quail meat on the end of a string, causing the falcon to divebomb in at a very high rate of speed trying to get the meat. Here you can see falcon Zinc flying in, wings perpendicular to the ground. 11/30/12

After the traditional tree lighting Friday evening in downtown McMinnville, children like Lucy Kearns tell Santa what they want for Christmas. 11/27/12

“Rock star” John Horne runs through the crowd of excited Yamhill-Carlton Elementary School students Friday during a celebratory concert. Horne, the principal, joined teachers and staff on the stage. 11/13/12

Small beagle Olivia eyes the final goal as she makes her way through the obstacle course during “Oregon’s Got Talent and Pets Do Too!”, a fundraiser for Homeward Bound Pets held Saturday at Scott and Lisa Neal’s Coeur de Terre Vineyards near McMinnville. 10/3/12

Kaiden Pryor dances to his heart’s content during a Carlton Walk in the Park musical performance by Leaves Russell. Pryor’s mother is good friends with the Portland-based band’s drummer and they try to catch the band’s performances whenever they can. 8/22/12

Cowboy Wyatt Bloom goes horizontal as he hangs on for eight seconds in the bareback riding competition this week at the Yamhill County Fair & Rodeo. Competition wrapped up Friday night. 8/4/12

Corina Torgeson paints a bright yellow and orange sun in front of The Self Express bus, which is being prepared for a cross-country tour to promote and learn about sustainability. 6/11/11

A McMinnville assistant fire chief gives out orders for the plan of attack Friday night as firefighters from multiple agencies fight the fire engulfing an apartment building on Trade Street in Amity. The building was also home to the Camino Real Mexican Restaurant. 2/26/11

McMinnville swim coach Jason Hafner, center, took the traditional spill into the pool, fully clothed, after his team’s victory Saturday. This year, members of the team joined him in the water in celebration of Mac’s twin district championships. 2/16/11

Some excited children climbed the Evergreen rocket play structure all the way to the top to view the McMinnville Jaycees fireworks show at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. 7/7/10

Willamina catcher Gecy Bowman jokes with ace pitcher Caralyn Chewning about hiding the game ball and keeping it for herself after the final out was recorded Saturday, giving the Bulldogs the 3A state softball championship. 6/9/10

Amity’s Jade Bachmeier gets a face full of sand Friday during the West Valley League district meet’s long jump finals at Linfield. Bachmeier, a sophomore, just missed out on advancing to state, placing third. 5/15/10

Construction workers slowly lift the 320,00-pound Boeing 747 to the top of its new home on Evergreen’s new water park. The lift took a little more than an hour and several more to weld it into place. 5/5/10

Abby Brown reaches for an Easter egg sitting in the empty TOW missile launcher of a Bell AH-1F Cobra attack helicopter during the Evergreen Easter egg hunt Saturday. 3/31/10

The vibrant fall colors of nearby trees are reflected in a pond off of Highway 47. The autumn scenery should be glorious today, as weather forecasters are predicting a dry day, but may be less showy when rain returns on Sunday. 10/24/09

Aerobatic pilot Noel Jones takes his Yak 52 into a 360-degree roll above the farm fields of Yamhill County, demonstrating moves he will be performing Saturday during the McMinnville Air Show and Fly-in. 9/2/09

As onlookers watch, Sheep judge Floyd Bauer looks up and down a row of sheep being presented at the Yamhill County Fair before deciding on a winner. Bauer has been judging farm animals for 49 years. 8/1/09

McMinnville Jaycees volunteer Scott Bailey reacts as the rocket he just lit explodes out of its tube and into the sky. 7/8/09

Student Nic Miles performs an alien-themed song on his guitar for Queen Jenny and her court at the Amity High May Day celebration. 5/9/09

Jackson Darling and his daughter, Audrey, enjoyed an afternoon picking the flowers at Karen Fanning’s daffodil-laden farm, during Amity’s annual Daffodil Festival. 4/11/09

Mark Smoot shovels sand into a bag held open by his wife as rain pours down on a group assembled Thursday night to make sandbags to protect their property. 1/3/09

Mona Loner surveys the damage to her horse arena off Baker Creek Road in McMinnville after half of it collapsed under the weight of snow followed by flooding. None of Loner’s 21 horses was injured. 1/1/09

Young Cierra Christensen is filled with excitement Saturday as she receives a present from Santa, played by Byron Johnson, at the Seeds of Hope Christmas party at the Nazarene Church on the Hill. The event hosted by the “See Ya Later” foundation, helped spread holiday cheer to 10 local families who have faced medical crises this year. 12/16/08

A bustling crowd of ¡Salud! attendees fills the spacious barrel cellar at Domaine Drouhin, sipping, nibbling and deciding which wines to bid on. 11/13/08

McMinnville resident Herb Blasier, right, watches as firefighters inspect the wreck of a car that was traveling south at a high rate of speed Wednesday afternoon down Westside Road. The car lost control on the wet road, flipped a few times, then landed in Blasier’s front yard. “It doesn’t surprise me at all.” Blasier said. “This is the fourth accident in 10 years that has happened near my house.” 11/13/08

Operators of the cannon, Ben and Zach Williams, help young Jimmy Langholtz press the button to fire a pumpkin a distance of about half a mile. 10/23/08

McMinnville High School’s Karina Nyquist runs past the Joe Dancer skate park during the Grizzlies’ first home meet of the year Wednesday evening. Nyquist was the team’s top finisher. 10/2/08

Young Mailey Foley smiles with delight as she gets her hand painted by volunteer Jessica McMillan while Destiny Gash watches. 9/20/08

Corey Tharp of Technical Security Integration accesses data from one of the hard drives that records and stores images taken by the 1,200 video cameras in Spirit Mountain Casino’s state-of-the-art surveillance system. It takes an entire room to house the array of hard drives. 9/13/08

Ghostly figures appear during a night spin on the Zero Gravity carnival ride. 7/15/08

Mac’s Andrew Willis attempts to clear 13 feet, 6 inches during a jump-off for first place in the pole vault. Willis finished in second place for the Grizzlies. 5/1/08

Linfield coach Scott Brosius hits balls to Wildcat infielders on Thursday afternoon at Roy Helser field. 4/26/08

Chaplin Russell Poston surveys what’s left of a 1996 Toyota Camry after it lost control on Wallace Road and slammed into a 60-foot blue spruce tree at a high rate of speed. Five of the seven people riding in the sedan were killed in the Tuesday crash about 10.5 miles south of Dayton. 3/27/08

McMinnville’s Bailee Niehus lines a pitch into center field during batting practice. 3/8/08

Larry Pekkola of Carlton examines a crushed wheelchair that he struck Friday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 99W and Northeast McDaniel Lane. The wheelchair was occupied by James Jones of McMinnville. He was transported by Life Flight helicopter to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and listed in serious condition. 3/1/08

Several McMinnville teachers hold informational picket signs in front of the school district office as traffic speeds by on Baker Street. Bargaining teams for the teachers and the district met all day Tuesday and Wednesday in hopes of settling a new, three-year contract. 1/17/08

Owner of A&R Tree Service Shaun Slowik, hired to help save the Old Oak, stands in the crater made by the tree after it fell Tuesday afternoon. After inspecting the condition of the root system, Slowik determined that the tree truly was beyond saving. 1/10/08

Property Superintendent Shawn Rollins works at sweeping up the shattered glass left on the floor of the UPS Store after a car drove through the storefront Friday morning. 12/22/07

A live ensemble, led by music director Robin Pederson, plays beneath the feet of Scrooge (Adam Ewing) as he sings a robust melody. 11/22/07

: Laika, a drug-sniffing McMinnville police dog, searches through a car prepped with drugs as her handler, officer Erik Newhouse, watches during Oregon police canine Association training Wednesday in Hillsboro. Canine teams from throughout the state participated in the three-day conference. 10/25/07

Kindergartner Colin Furch, center, along with the rest of Judi Bixby’s St. James School class, are shocked and astounded after they return from recess to find their gingerbread cookies missing from the oven. The class then proceeded to search the school, eventually finding the cookies had “run off” to the fifth-grade classroom. 9/18/07

Before and after photo of a dog at the annual Homeward Bound wash your dog event. 8/30/05

Cindy Garvin practices her breaking skills for Watch This, a local pool team, before a matchup with another team Thursday. Watch This will be going to Las Vegas to participate in the APA National 9-Ball Team Championships. 8/13/05

Trainer Penny Harvey plays with her dog, Ruger, reflected in her sun glasses, on a hot Saturday afternoon at the Gotta Dog! competition at the Yamhill County Fairgrounds. Ruger had just given one of his best performances ever. 8/11/05

Cate-Lynn Jacks, 4, buries her face in a large piece of watermelon Saturday at the Dayton Old-timers Celebration. She proved her prowess in the watermelon eating contest by winning the age 4-7 division title for the second year in a row. 8/2/05

Several dotson’s line up peering through a gate watching their owner intently.

Misty Cranford and daughter Skylynn take a wild ride on The Inverter, a machine that reaches more than 100 feet into the air and flips riders around in giant vertical circles. “I had to bribe my mom to ride it with me,” Skylynn said. 7/12/05

Flashing Glowsticks are seen as they are carried by participants in the Relay for life night walk. 6/27/05