Index: Remembering Charlie Romans
The Lord has called Charlie Romans home.
His life long goal of being with the Lord has been accomplished!
Charles E. Romans (Charlie)
08/03/1925 — 05/01/2026
100 years old!
Farm Boy, B-25 Pilot, Street Car Driver, Long Haul Truck Driver, School Bus Driver, Photographer, Book Publisher, News Paper Contributor, Writer, Steens Mountain Running Camp Bus Driver.
Lover of People and Lover of God.
Speaking for Steens Mountain Running Camp, Charlie meant so much to so many people. His recipe for life was contagious!
After our first bus driver, Art Crook was killed by lightning, I drove the camp bus for a few years until I hired Charlie. What a hire!! He drove for Steens for over 10 years until his wife’s Libby Jane’s health required him to move back permanently to their home in Morgantown, Kentucky.
In 2019, his love of Steens Mountain Running Camp brought him back for visit. At age 94, Charlie drove solo his newly purchased used older Buick over 2000 miles to Camp. Along the way he slept in his car at Truck Stops he had stopped at years earlier as a long haul driver. He said the Apple Pie was just as good at one truck spot as it was 50 years ago!
He was a hit at camp!
Post camp and 2000 miles back to Morgantown, Charlie by chance, ran into our very own Melody Fairchild and Dakota at an Evanston, Wyoming gas station. Melody called it “Beautiful Steens Synchronicity”.
He also ran into a guardrail while driving at night. He pulled the damaged car off the road and “slept like a baby” until morning and called a tow truck. The small towns repair shop fixed the damaged fender so it wouldn’t rub the tire. Said he met the nicest people at the breakfast place and loved their Ham and Eggs! He made it home without further ado.
For the next 6 years he sent a letter us (Kay and HY) a letter a week. We saved everyone of them!
His wish and goal was to come back to camp this summer 2026 at age 100.
His example was inspiring and infectious. Charlie was and will continue to be a Steens Mountain Running Camp Legend.. In terms of driving our camp bus for over a decade. I can testify Charlie smiled through every one of those thousands of safely driven bumpy miles. If he wasn’t smiling, he was entertaining our Coaches and Campers alike telling “Charlie” jokes, stories, singing songs or quoting a Libby Jane poem. He Loved his wife Libby Jane Romans. She preceded him in death in 2018 at the age of 101. No doubt, He has reunited with Libby Jane. One can only imagine what that reunion looked like!! Hallelujah and praise the Lord!
No matter the obstacle, Charlie was Always The Eternal Optimist. “Can’t Do” was never part of his mind set. Rather the circumstance provided the opportunity for a “Can Do” and an enjoyable and therefore a life learning experience. Therefore there was nothing he couldn’t do or at least try to do.
Life experiences to Charlie, were nothing more than opportunities to serve the Lord. How did he do that?
By just being Charlie 24/7
He was lovable, optimistic, forgiving, unselfish, giving, willing to help, kind, never a bad word about even those who may have deserved it. He lived the qualities of the beatitudes..
Thanks Charlie for your example and a recipe for living our lives!
We will miss you.
Harland Yriarte
Index: Meet your 2026 Tent Assistants
Index: Biography of Camp
The Oregon Desert Land Trust out of Bend, OR wrote a very Cool Biography on Steens Camp titled “Be the Mountain” that we’d like to share! From Basque Sheepherding to “how it all started” to Camp Life today, this article summarizes things very well.
We highly encourage you to take a look when you can, we think it’s worth your time!
Index: A letter from our friends in Homer, AK
We had an amazing Regional Championships this weekend. Both Boys and Girls teams won our Region!
Our Girls team has a great group of young talent that has been recovering from injuries, thankfully, no overuse injuries, but ankle and hip sprains from rough courses. I think our girls were the only ones who truly knew and understood how good they are. They haven’t run all together as a full team all season and when they did run we had the brakes on them to give the injuries time to recover. We’ve been telling them all season that they’re a great team and to keep believing in themselves and their team. Myra, who sprained her ankle on Big Day, had her second race back and ran a huge PR and made top 15.
All season our D2 (small school) Boys team has regularly beat the Div 1 (Big school) team that won their region. We’ve had a monumental season, only lost to one of the giant Anchorage schools all season, and that one was close. At this region meet, all 7 of our boys were ahead of the 5th place finisher for the second place team! We scored only 25 points and broke their 7 year winning streak.
It was a muddy, rainy day on a rough course, and the Steens Warriors ran even stronger. See the attached pictures; 5 of the top 15 boys were campers, and 3 of the top girls. With Steens camper Olive Jordan winning and Etta Bynagle second place. Also, the Boys overall champ has a Steens Warrior, Jake Moe, as his coach. They’re living the lessons Steens Mtn has taught them.
Thanks for all you’ve done with kids; they really need people like you in their lives to inspire and challenge them. I truly appreciate it, personally, with my own kids and also my team and the coaches I’ve brought with me over the years. Coach Lucas was with me at camp last year, and it changed the way he communicates and connects with kids. It has been profound to see him develop. I saw Lucas’s talent when he and I first met, but at Steens,you two and the coaches there were such amazing examples and inspiration for his coaching skills. Please read below, Lucas’s message to the team this morning…what a great message!
Thank you all again for creating and maintaining the high and challenging standards we all need.
Message From Lucas to the team this morning
Oh my goodness, you guys! What an amazing weekend! Beyond the two team Region 3 titles, we witnessed amazing individual achievements from so many. Here’s a summary:
– We have now had eight athletes break 18 minutes at some point this year.
– This weekend, we had five freshmen boys break 20 minutes. Two of those freshmen and one sophomore broke 19 minutes for the first time!
– We have now had three girls run sub-21 this season, with one more knocking on the doorstep!
– The last time our girls won regions in 2022, the average time among our seven varsity runners was a 23:08, with the fastest time being a 21:06. This year, that average time was a 21:17, with the fastest time being a 20:02. Holy Cow!
– Collectively, we had 22 Personal Bests, and an additional 6 Season Bests.
You guys are peaking at the right time. Let’s stay focused, intentional, and disciplined this week and show that we can perform just as good or better at state. Grace Christian, Seward, Sitka, and MCCA are not going to let up. They want what we have, so we need to remain composed and do the small things right this week. Take care of your body, eat well, drink well, and stick to a good sleep schedule!
JV Athletes, thank you for an amazing season. You are the future of this program and have incredible potential. We would love for you to continue practicing with us, but you are not obligated to. Alternates and seniors planning to travel with the team are still expected to practice.
Index: Melody Fairchild Coaches U18 World Youth
“I blinked and I’m in Europe again, to co-coach our U18 World Youth Mountain Running Championship teams of 4 girls and 4 boys, this year in Donovaly, Slovakia. This year’s race is for the strong of heart and limb: 3 miles UPHILL. Mountain Running keeps the body and mind guessing! So good for the Soul. Let’s Gooo!”
Index: Ruby Ihmels Races to 4th at Footlocker
3 Time Steens Camper/Tent 10/ RUBY IHMELS RACES TO 4TH PLACE at FOOTLOCKER NATIONALS/Balboa Park San Diego/ Congratulations from all of us at STEENS!
P.S. – Guess who still holds the girls record…our very own Meadowlark
Girls: 16:39.8 – Melody Fairchild (’90)
Index: The Steens Traverse
Watch Max King and Jackson Brill traverse the Steens fault-block.
Index: Friends Before…Friends After
Here is a Baker XC Invite post-race photo of STEENS Tent 4 (Session Two) Tent Mates who exemplified:
“FRIENDS BEFORE THE RACE, FOES DURING THE RACE, TENT 4 FRIENDS AFTER THE RACE!”
Brown; Burns HS – Tanner Joyce; Vale HS–Trevor Stewart, Duncan Fritts; Burns HS – Tim Banks and Talon Morris.
WELL DONE TENT 4 – KIGER NIGHTS!
P.S. – here’s a pic of them from camp
Index: Announcing Steens Results from World Mountain and Trail Running Championships Innsbruck Austria
Wesley Shipsey – U20 Mountain Running – 41st place – 4th Best American Finisher.
Michael Maiorano – U20 Mountain Running – 15th place Best American Finisher
Jackson Brill – 40K Short Trail Running-30th place – 3rd Best American Finisher
Max King – 40K Short Trail Running-19th Place – 2nd Best American Finisher
Jason Bryant – Team USA Coach (and a Steens Coach 2014)
Congratulations!
Note of Interest: In 2014 Coach Jason Bryant helped Boise High’s Jackson Brill out of the Blitzen Gorge on The Big Day!
Index: Who says Steens is just for runners!
Meet Breanna Raven from Thurston HS
MVP Midwestern 5A TF Championships!
Why?
– 19’ 6” Long Jump.
– 37’6” Triple Jump
– 25.31 200 Meters
– Anchored Thurston Winning 4×100 Team
Runners credit success to the Altitude. I guess Jumpers credit leaping over Sagebrush, Rocks and Aspen Logs!
Breanna is coached by John Gillespie, former Oregon Asst. Coach and many time Steens coach. She is one of 80+ Steens Campers to compete in the OSAA State TF Meet held this weekend at Eugene’s Historic Hayward Field.
We at Steens give our very best to all campers including those from 14 other States.