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UNION
Church
status
remains
in doubt
■ ■ Union United
Methodist Church
complex faces
uncertain future
By Dick Mason
The Observer
The future use of the
Union United Methodist
Church building complex,
which dates back to 1905, is
in doubt.
All that is known for
certain is the Oregon-Idaho
Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church,
which oversees all Method-
ist churches in Oregon and
Southern Idaho, will have the
final say in what happens.
The Conference assumed
ownership of the Union
United Methodist Church
building and its fellowship
hall and parsonage in July
after the Union United Meth-
odist Church closed in June
due to declining member-
ship. Until July, the Union
United Methodist Church
complex had been owned
by its congregation. Owner-
ship, however, automatically
reverted to the Conference
after the church closed.
The Union United Method-
ist Church’s fellowship hall
remains in use today as a
community center where
senior meals are served.
The church building is now
no longer in use, but it did
serve as the site of services
for a Lutheran Church group
through mid-September. The
Lutheran Church group had
rented the Union United
Methodist Church building
for about a year, according to
LaVon Hall, a member of a
local committee the Oregon-
Idaho Conference which
helps run the Union Method-
ist Church buildings.
The Oregon-Idaho Confer-
ence is considering a number
of options including selling
the church complex buildings
or renting them, according
to Rev. Dan Wilson-Fey, the
Conference’s treasurer, who
spoke during an open house
at the Union church Friday.
A number of people,
including Geneva Williams of
Good day to our valued subscriber Robert Page of La Grande
Honoring the legacy of a
SKI PATROL
LEGEND
■ ■ Mike Gooderham,
who passed away
last month, fixture in
the community
By Dick Mason, The Observer
The Observer
Photo courtesy of Heather Gooderham
Mike Gooderham and his wife Patty are shown their
youngest granddaughter, Kara, during a La Grande
soccer match in 2018.
See Gooderham / Page 5A
■ ■ Next Step PRC
honoring babies
who have passed
with event Oct. 15
By Sabrina Thompson
Mike Gooderham knew that his trip to Chiemsee, Germany, in June of 1992
with his wife, Patty, would be unforgettable.
After all it was the couple’s first trip to Europe.
What Mike, who passed away Sept. 24 at age 78, did
not know as he prepared for the trip was that he and
Patty were on the cusp of making National Ski Patrol
history.
The couple went to Chiemsee to attend a meeting of
the National Ski Patrol, which has divisions in the United
States and portions of Europe. There the Gooderhams
received news more exhilarating than a perfect jaunt
down Anthony Lakes’ Rock Garden run — Mike was
named outstanding alpine patroller and Patty received
the outstanding auxiliary patroller award for 1992.
It marked the first and only time in the National Ski
Patrol’s 82-year history that a husband and wife team
received the prestigious awards the same year.
The announcement elevated Mike and Patty to emo-
tional highs.
“When you get married and have kids … it’s that kind
of feeling,” Mike told The Observer in 1992. “The only
thing more rewarding would be saving a life. That would
be the top of the pinnacle.”
Mike would go on to reach that pinnacle later in a
Program
aims to
help
families
Observer file photo
Mike Gooderham, left, takes the blood pressure of Gene Paul of La Grande at an American Red Cross clinic
about 10 years ago. Gooderham was on the Union County Red Cross Board for more than 50 years.
Being a new parent can
be a scary and difficult time.
Fortunately, there is a free lo-
cal service that can help. Next
Step Pregnancy and Relation-
ship Center seeks to assist
new moms and dads, not only
providing physical items ba-
bies need, but the knowledge
and tools for raising their
children as well as building
successful relationships.
“There is a need, and we
want to be here as a non-
profit,” Kylee Torrico, director
of development at Next Step
PRC, said. “We want to equip
families to be successful.”
You don’t have to be a
parent or parent-to-be to
make use of Next Step PRC’s
services. Anyone can visit
the center, at 902 D Ave.,
La Grande, and sign up for
the Earn While You Learn
program. This program uses
books and videos with work-
sheets to educate people on
a variety of topics. According
to Next Step PRC’s website,
topics include fertility and
reproductive health, healthy
relationships, STDs and
STIs, the female reproductive
system, prenatal develop-
ment, preparing for child-
birth, breastfeeding, parent-
ing, first-year milestones for
children, common childhood
illnesses, childhood emergen-
cies, car seat safety and potty
training.
For each lesson completed,
a person can earn money
to be used in the Next Step
Boutique. The boutique is a
collection of new or gently
used donated items such as
clothes from premature new-
born to 2T, maternity clothes,
men’s clothing and the essen-
tials for raising a baby.
In addition to this pro-
gram, the center offers a
memorial garden for anyone
to visit, 24/7. The gate to
the garden is closed but left
unlocked. People may come to
See Program / Page 5A
See Church / Page 5A
New nonprofit kicks
off with dinner for vets
■ ■ Conrad Skinner Veterans Memorial Program
wants to help veterans, families in three-county area
By Jade McDowell
EO Media Group
HERMISTON — As Sue Long-
Hosek watched veterans bond with
each other after a golf fundraiser last
year, she knew she wanted to create
more opportunities like the one
unfolding before her eyes.
Long-Hosek’s first husband was a
Vietnam veteran who struggled with
severe post-traumatic stress disorder
from the time he returned home up
to when he took his own life in 2014.
Afterward, she tried to do what she
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could to help veterans like him by
hosting golf tournament fundraisers
to benefit national veterans orga-
nizations and the local American
Legion.
“That’s why this is a passion of
mine,” she said. “That’s why I want to
help in any way I can.”
She and her current husband,
Ron Hosek, have started the Conrad
Skinner Veterans Memorial Pro-
gram, with the goal of acting as a
“stopgap” for veterans and their
families in Umatilla, Morrow and
Union counties if they have needs
that aren’t being met by other orga-
nizations.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Tuesday
46 LOW
52/30
Showers around
A shower
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NAMED
Their mission statement says they
plan to provide “opportunities and
support for Veterans and their fami-
lies in time of crisis or need.”
“This is not in conjunction with the
VA, it is not to take the place of the
VA, but it is kind of a supplement for
things that the VA might not be able
to address on an immediate basis,”
Long-Hosek said.
They will announce specific servic-
es they have in mind at a Veterans
Appreciation Dinner cosponsored by
the new nonprofit, American Legion
Post No. 37, Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce and
See Veterans / Page 5A
CONTACT US
HAVE A STORY IDEA?
541-963-3161
Call The Observer newsroom at
541-963-3161 or send an email to
news@lagrandeobserver.com.
More contact info on Page 4A.
Issue 119
2 sections, 18 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Online at lagrandeobserver.com