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PREP BASKETBALL PREVIEW
Enterprise, Oregon
www.wallowa.com
Issue No. xx
December 2, 2015
$1
Details for lodge purchase emerge
Micro-investors entice larger investory who
‘really want to be part of something’
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
An early dream of having mi-
cro-investors ($500/share) pur-
chase shares in the Wallowa Lake
Lodge has been somewhat modi-
fied, but the largest group of in-
vestors to date are still in at the
minimum: $1,000 for a single
share.
“We have probably 30 people
who are $1,000 investors,” said
James Monteith, manager of Lake
Wallowa Lodge LLC, which is rais-
ing money to purchase the Lodge.
The historic lodge at the head-
waters of Wallowa Lake went up
for sale in June after the death of
managing partner Steve Larson.
Remaining partners Marc and
Nancy Zwerling listed the 9.22-
acre property and lodge with an
asking price of $2,750,000.
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
View of Wallowa Lake Lodge from the lake side.
It was their hope that new own-
ers would share their dedication
to preserving the lodge and the
surrounding property, rather than
taking advantage of the zoning that
allowed extensive development.
Shortly after the listing went
out, a discussion at a party at the
Joseph office of Wallowology —
the education arm of Eastern Or-
egon Legacy Lands Fund — re-
vealed that persons with an interest
in keeping the lodge in local hands
and preserving its unique ambiance
were willing to put their money
where their mouth was.
Ten days later, in mid July,
the newly-formed Lake Wallowa
Lodge, LLC made an offer on the
lodge.
See LODGE, Page A6
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Chuck Garrett is stepping back from his
double duties as director of both the
Oregon Mountain Cruise and the Bronze
Blues and Brews festival. This year he will
serve as co-director of the blues festival for
2016 before completely stepping away.
Festival
maestro
takes
a bow
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
This Christmas-
themed pickup was
an entry in the 2015
Jingle thru Joseph
Parade on Saturday
night. See Page A8
for additional Jingle
Thru Joseph photos.
Also, our Community
Calendar, packed with
local holiday events
including Winterfest in
Enterprise, starts on
Page A5.
would be a tremendous turnout,
but Wallowa County traditionally
has a 90 percent turnout, accord-
ing to Roberts.
Nevertheless, “voting is a
privilege and they all received a
ballot in the mail,” Roberts said.
“If you didn’t vote, that was a
choice.”
See HEARING, Page A9
See GARRETT, Page A9
ANNUAL PARADE KICKS OFF CHRISTMAS SEASON
PICTURES ON A8
Pros and cons presented
at pot opt out hearing
By Kathleen Ellyn
Only a handful of people
showed up to speak at the Wal-
lowa County Commissioners’
Nov. 24 hearing on potential
marijuana businesses in the
county, but those who did attend
came prepared.
The deadline for counties to
opt out of licensing marijuana is
Dec. 31. Wallowa County qual-
i¿ ed to consider the opt out be-
cause more than 55 percent of the
vote in the county went against
Measure 91, which legalized re-
tail marijuana in the state.
Commissioner Susan Roberts
”
THE COUNTY DOES NEED REVENUES. I WOULD HATE
TO SEE THE COUNTY COMPLETELY SAY NO TO IT
WITHOUT AN OPTION TO SAY YES AT A LATER DATE.”
said it’s possible the community
already has weighed in on the
matter. The vote against legaliz-
ing marijuana in Wallowa Coun-
ty was 61 percent against.
David Carpenter of Enterprise
pointed out that all of Wallowa
County did not vote — there are
4,700 registered voters and only
3,735 voted.
In most other counties that
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The man behind two of Wallowa County’s
premier summer events — the Oregon Moun-
tain Cruise and the Bronze, Blues and Brews
festival — is taking a break after more than two
decades at the helm.
Moonlight Graphics Co. owner Chuck
Garrett founded and served as director of the
Cruise, a June classic car cruise and show en-
tering its 27th year, and the BBB festival, an
August event focusing on music, art and beer
that will celebrate its 20th year next summer.
Garrett’s daughter will be graduating from
the University of Oregon on the same weekend
as the 2016 Oregon Mountain Cruise, and he
decided it was a good time to step down.
“We’ve been wanting to pass that off and
we found somebody (Andy Osborne) to take it
over,” Garrett said. “We’ll help him get going
on it, but we won’t be here for the car show this
year,” though he still intends to produce T-shirts
for the event.
“We started the car show with one other
couple. Part of the plan was just to sell T-shirts.
I was making T-shirts for the National Hudson
Terraplane Club and met this guy from Lewis-
ton who was into old cars and we decided we’d
do a little car show. It was something to do.”
Garrett’s transition away from the blues fes-
tival will be more gradual. This year he’ll serve
as co-director with Wendy McDaniel, who
previously served as secretary/treasurer.
“I’m still doing the graphics and all that,
but I’ve already made my decision to step
away and limit my role,” Garrett said. “I’m
trying to leave slowly, so we can keep these
events going.”
Garrett credited Marty Hamilton for com-
ing up with the idea for the Bronze, Blues and
Brews festival.
“We’d had the Jazz at the Lake festival,
which had already quit, but we needed anoth-
er music festival. We were into blues music,
so we said, ‘Let’s put on a blues fest.’”
Regarding the festival’s 20th year, he said:
“I can’t really say who, but we’re working
with two big-name performers who have been
here and want to come back.
ALL THE WAY
Wallowa County Chieftain
Garrett steps back from
Oregon Mountain Cruise,
Bronze, Blues and Brews
Commissioner Susan Roberts