2A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019
LOCAL
UNION COUNTY BUSINESS
D aily
P lanner
La Grande travel trailer builder
TODAY
Today is Monday, Oct. 14,
the 287th day of 2019. There
are 78 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Oct. 14, 1947, U.S.
Air Force Capt. Charles E.
(“Chuck”) Yeager became
the first test pilot to break
the sound barrier as he flew
the experimental Bell XS-1
(later X-1) rocket plane over
Muroc Dry Lake in Califor-
nia.
ON THIS DATE
In 1912, Theodore Roos-
evelt, campaigning for the
presidency, was shot in the
chest in Milwaukee. Despite
the wound, he went ahead
with a scheduled speech.
In 1939, a German U-boat
torpedoed and sank the
HMS Royal Oak, a Brit-
ish battleship anchored at
Scapa Flow in Scotland’s
Orkney Islands; 833 of
the more than 1,200 men
aboard were killed.
In 1960, the idea of a
Peace Corps was suggested
by Democratic presidential
candidate John F. Kennedy
to an audience of students
at the University of Michi-
gan in Ann Arbor.
In 2001, as U.S. jets
opened a second week
of raids in Afghanistan,
President George W. Bush
sternly rejected a Taliban of-
fer to discuss handing over
Osama bin Laden to a third
country.
In 2003, John Allen Mu-
hammad pleaded not guilty
to murder as the first trial
in the deadly Washington-
area sniper rampage got
under way in Virginia Beach,
Virginia.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $4 million
3-21-22-25-30-38
Mega Millions: $65 million
14-22-30-37-60-8-x3
Powerball: $100 million
CELEBRATES
10 YEARS
■ ■ Outdoors RV honors
milestone with
Anniversary Edition
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
In the spring of 2009, Ron Nash
saw an opportunity with the closing
and bankruptcy of Fleetwood Enter-
prises Inc. and bought the assets of the
company he had previously worked
for. At the former Fleetwood plant, at
62582 Pierce Road in La Grande, he
started Outdoors RV manufacturing,
and for the last 10 years the company
has been making premium hitch-on
trailers based on Nash’s vision of pro-
viding quality four-season RVs for the
rugged Pacific Northwest. To celebrate,
Outdoors RV are releasing a new line of
Anniversary Edition trailers.
Outdoors RV’s sales and product
manager, Darin Nelson, had been a
Fleetwood employee, and he has been
with Outdoors RV since the beginning.
Recalling his start at Outdoors RV,
Nelson said, “Ron sat me down, and
when I asked what direction he would
like me to take, he said, ‘We don’t build
junk,’ and it’s been that way ever since.”
When Nelson compares his previ-
ous and current employers, he said has
found pride in the work he does now,
building and manufacturing top-of-the-
line RVs.
“A lot of the work at Fleetwood was
based on the numbers,” Nelson said.
“Here it is focused on providing what is
best for the customers.”
In order to achieve this goal, Out-
doors RV spends more money purchas-
ing better materials. While this ends
up costing customers more money, the
trailers they buy last longer and work
better, according to Nelson. This was
part of what Nash wanted when he
started the company.
“There is a customer out there look-
ing for something that is better made,”
Nelson said.
The other part of Nash’s vision,
Nelson said, was listening to what cus-
tomers want. The manufacturing plant
gives tours of the facility daily, providing
potential customers the opportunity to
give input on what they are looking for
Sabrina Thompson / The Observer
Outdoors RV created a special series of trailers to celebrate its 10th an-
niversary. The units have new features and will only be made for a limitted
time before the company resumes regular manufacturing.
in an RV.
“We want to show you all of the ele-
ments,” Nelson said. “We are proud of
what we are building.”
Because of that, he said, the company
creates trailers that have been selling
out since the beginning.
“Business isn’t rocket science,” Nelson
said. “Just listen to the customers.”
Employees have a hand on every
element of the RV along the produc-
tion line, from building the walls and
framework to installing furniture and
fixtures. Outdoors RV employs around
200 people from the local community,
and all the units are built here. As part
of the process, the trailers are tested for
quality and function.
Most of the materials come from
the United States and Canada. While
Nelson said some components you just
can’t get made in America, everything
the company can get, it will. He said
this helps ensure the quality of the
trailer because the company isn’t look-
ing to cut costs through buying inferior
products from overseas.
Once a unit has been tested for qual-
ity and reliability, and it passes all of the
inspections, it is shipped off to dealers in
the Northwest. The closest local dealer
is in Pendleton.
After Ron Nash passed away in
August, his wife, Sherry Nash, took
over the company. Like many of the
employees of Outdoors RV, she lives in
La Grande. Nelson said it is great that
so many employees are local because
it helps keep the money in the local
economy.
In celebrating Outdoors RV’s 10th
anniversary, the company has devel-
oped a new line of trailers, acknowledg-
ing the milestone on the inside and out-
side. The plant began building the line
in September, and once the trailers are
completed in October that line’s design
will not be built again. The units have
special features including new graph-
ics, fiberglass front tops and a new auto
leveling system that will be standard in
all the company’s anniversary trailers.
“We are looking forward to the next
10 years,” Nelson said.
Win for Life: Oct. 12
Robin Wortman resigns from UCSCC
6-8-31-76
By Sabrina Thompson
12-29-34-53-65-23-x2
The Observer
Pick 4: Oct. 13
•1p.m.:1-6-5-8
•4p.m.:9-4-1-9
•7p.m.:9-4-4-4
•10p.m.:8-5-1-6
Pick 4: Oct. 12
•1p.m.:6-3-4-9
•4p.m.:0-2-1-1
•7p.m.:6-9-2-9
•10p.m.:0-1-6-0
Pick 4: Oct. 11
•1p.m.:0-3-8-4
•4p.m.:7-9-1-1
•7p.m.:2-7-2-6
•10p.m.:3-2-4-3
NEWSPAPER LATE?
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manner. Occasionally condi-
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more difficult.
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before5:30p.m.Ifyoudonot
receiveyourpaperby5:30p.m.
Monday through Friday, please
call 541-963-3161 by 6 p.m.
If your delivery is by
motor carrier, delivery
should be by 6 p.m. For calls
after 6, please call 541-975-
1690, leave your name,
address and phone number.
Your paper will be delivered
the next business day.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If a problem cannot be
solved, enlarge it.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
After eight years with the
Union County Safe Com-
munities Coalition, Robin
Wortman will be leaving the
coalition and returning to her
family in Wallowa County. As
coalition coordinator, Wort-
man has been responsible for
organizing activities involved
with UCSCC’s federally
funded drug free community
grant. The county is accepting
applications to fill her role
until Oct. 18.
“I am excited for her, for
this opportunity she has for
a new adventure, and sad
for us that we are losing her,”
DeAnne Mansveld, coalition
colleague and substance
abuse and tobacco prevention
coordinator for UCSCC, said.
“We’ve grown a lot together
through the years. It’s a new
chapter for the coalition as
well.”
UCSCC is an organization
dedicated to making Union
County a safe, healthy and
drug-free community, accord-
ing to its website, especially
for the youth of the county.
“Kids are our future,” Wort-
man said. “It is important
Come in today
and let our
“People Who Care”
1123 Adams Ave
La Grande
541-963-5741
redcrossdrugstore.com
CARING
they have the best start in life
possible.”
Wortman joined the coali-
tion eight years ago when the
position first opened up. She
said she saw it as an oppor-
tunity to do noble work that
could have a positive impact.
She also said she liked the
idea of working with people
who had a common mission
in making the community
free of drug, alcohol and sub-
stance abuse.
In addition to the satisfac-
tion of working toward the
coalition’s goals, Wortman
said, she has enjoyed working
with the UCSCC team.
“The hardest thing will
be leaving all the wonderful
people I have been working
with,” Wortman said. “We
have such a supportive com-
munity. I am going to miss
interacting with my cowork-
ers and the people of Union
County.”
As coordinator she has
helped in the organization
and implementation of com-
munity events like October’s
Red Ribbon month and an
annual multimedia confer-
ence for seventh-graders
to teach them about online
safety and the dangers of
substance abuse. She is also a
member of the Safe Commu-
nities Youth Council and has
worked with various com-
munity organizations includ-
ing police, GRH, the school
district, fire departments and
more to facilitate events.
“Losing someone with
her level of expertise and
experience, it will be hard to
find someone to fill that role,”
UCSCC Co-chair Stu Spence
said. “We have a busy and
ambitious outreach schedule.
We will need someone who
can mobilize these different
sectors.”
With youth as a focus for
the organization, Wortman
is in charge of the Youth
Council, which works directly
with high school students to
By Ellen Morris Bishop
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE — Steel-
head season is a cold-weather
institution for Wallowa
County fishermen. But this
year’s steelhead run is going
to be small, according to
ODFW fishery biologist Kyle
Bratcher.
“We’re well into the steel-
head run this year and we’re
getting a clearer picture of
what returns will look like,”
he said. “It’s going to be a
pretty tough year.”
So far this season, only
about 3,700 steelhead that
are bound for the Grande
Ronde, Wallowa and Imnaha
rivers have made it over
Bonneville Dam. Usually the
number is about 10,000 by
now.
Ocean conditions have
been adverse for steelhead
and most salmonids, Bratcher
said. Ocean waters have been
warm, reducing upwelling
that provides nutrients and,
ultimately, food for growing
steelhead. Warmer ocean wa-
ters also mean that predatory
species like mackerel, that
often favor warmer water,
hang around in steelhead
territory longer. They compete
with steelhead for food — and
also dine on the younger
steelhead. And there just isn’t
much food, Bratcher said.
“NOAA and others monitor
how the fishery is doing,” he
said. “The fish they found
this year are not in good
condition.”
Because of overall low
return numbers, the Colum-
bia and Snake rivers are shut
down to angling for steel-
head. Many of the steelhead
bound for Wallowa County
rivers are still moving up
through the Columbia and
Snake rivers. Oregon, Wash-
ington and Idaho biologists
are monitoring those move-
ments as they make their
way to Lower Granite Dam.
“My projections suggest we
can have a steelhead season
on our rivers in Oregon and
still get enough fish back
to the hatcheries to make
broodstock goals,” Bratcher
said. “Maintaining a one-fish
limit on steelhead will help
ensure this.”
The one-fish limit pro-
vides a slight advantage for
wild fish, Bratcher said. He
estimates that about half the
returning fish are hatchery-
produced. So if fishermen can
keep just one fish, and it’s
a hatchery broodstock, that
will leave more wild fish to
spawn.
At present, there’s a
temporary rule that ends
steelhead season on Dec. 31,
with a bag limit of one fish.
HAS REOPENED!
Closing for the Season
Tuesday, October 15th
Come see
our end of
season
specials
Monday-Tuesday
11:30-8:00 pm
staff help your FALL be
HAPPY & FESTIVE!
create messaging that peers
will respond to.
Wortman said the job of
coalition coordinator var-
ies from day to day, week to
week and month to month.
Depending on the needs of
the coalition, Wortman could
be doing anything from
writing grants to interacting
with people at a booth during
a fair.
“I am not a decision
maker, however,” Wort-
man said. “My job is to
help implement and move
forward the commission’s
decisions.”
Wallowa
County’s
steelhead
run small
602 Adams Ave. 541-962-7856
Same delicious menu
and wonderful
atmosphere
Come see us soon!
2711 Bearco Loop, La Grande
(541) 962-0825