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LA GRANDE — An annual local National Guard event is set to be revived under a different name next weekend.

La Grande will be the site of Reunion Weekend on Oct. 13-14 for the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry National Guard Unit. The event is open to the public.

The centerpiece of the reunion weekend will be an informal dinner on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the armory of the Blue Mountain Conference Center, 404 12th St., La Grande. The speaker at the dinner will be Brig. Gen. Charles Yriarte, of Burns, who served as commander of the 3-116th from 1996-1998.

“He was a very popular commander,” according to Lou Gerber, a retired member of the 3-116th who is helping organize the Reunion Weekend.

Yriarte is a recipient of the prestigious Bronze Star medal and served in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.

A graduate of Eastern Oregon University, he also has a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

The Reunion Weekend is a revised version of the former Hail and Farewell dinner for the 3-116th that was held from 2015 to 2019 before it was put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hail and Farewell is a traditional military event whereby those coming to and departing from an organization are celebrated. Gerber said the Reunion Weekend will be a little less formal than the Hail and Farewell event was.

He stresses that even though the focus will be on La Grande’s National Guard unit, it is open to everyone.

“It is not just for the 3-116th,” Gerber said.

Members of the public who are particularly encouraged to participate include those who have supported the 3-116th during past deployments.

The 3-116th Reunion Weekend in La Grande will start with a pool tournament at the American Legion Hall, 301 Fir St., at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. The tournament will have a $10 buy-in and prizes will be awarded.

The dinner event will start at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, with a no-host bar at the Blue Mountain Conference Center. Tickets for the dinner are $26 and people are asked to RSVP by Oct. 10 calling Master Sgt. Greg Musgrove at 541-975-3566.

Casual dress is encouraged at all Reunion Weekend events.