LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019
Giving the gift of giving
■ Santa Mall set for
Dec. 14 at Blue
Mountain Conference
Center
By Dick Mason
The Observer
Observer fi le photo
The Cook Memorial Library, La Grande, now offers its
patrons the movie streaming service Kanopy.
Cook Memorial
Library gets Kanopy
■ La Grande library
brings on free movie
streaming service
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Movie
lovers in La Grande now
have access to more than
30,000 fi lms for free as
the result of a new service
available through the Cook
Memorial Public Library. The
library has added Kanopy, a
movie streaming platform, to
the list of services available
to all library card holders.
“Kanopy provides library
patrons with access to fi lms
of unique social and cultural
value, (such as) fi lms that
are often diffi cult or impos-
sible to access elsewhere, and
programming that features
diversity, with a wide array
of foreign language fi lms and
fi lms on race and current
affairs,” according to an an-
nouncement Tuesday from
Cook Memorial Library.
Available fi lms include
award-winning movies that
touch on issues, classics and
documentaries, from “Hunt
for the Wilderpeople” to 1980’s
“Night of the Living Dead,”
from “Sands of Iwo Jima” to
“Seven Samurai” and “Moon-
light,” best picture Academy
Awards winner for 2016. The
streaming service also offers
Kanopy Kids, which fi lters the
fi lms for children and family
appropriate titles.
“The world of cinema is vast
and diverse, but it’s not well-
represented on the library’s
DVD shelves,” Cook Memorial
Library director Kip Rober-
son said, and Kanopy allows
the library to provide access
to fi lm titles that otherwise
wouldn’t be in the collection.
Kanopy lets patrons expe-
rience cinema that often only
gets exposure in large cities.
“Why shouldn’t patrons in
La Grande and Union Coun-
ty have exposure to indepen-
dent and foreign language
fi lms too?” Roberson contin-
ued. “We think patrons will
enjoy the breadth and depth
of video offerings, the smooth
user experience, and the high
number of apps and devices
through which patrons can
access the collection.”
Patrons whose library card
is in good standing can sign
up for the service through
http://cityofl agrande.kanopy.
com, and check out up to 10
movies per month, although
children fi lms are unlimited.
Content can be streamed on
any streaming-capable de-
vice including TV, computer
and smartphones.
LA GRANDE — Young Christmas
shoppers will be fl ocking to the Blue
Mountain Conference Center 10 days
from now. The center, at 404 12th St.,
La Grande, will be the site of the an-
nual Santa Mall on Dec. 14, an event
in which all children, including those
from lower income families, have the
opportunity to buy gifts for family
members.
The Santa Mall, open to all chil-
dren and adults, will run from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Santa will be at the event
from its start until almost 2 p.m. and
will pose for photographs with chil-
dren throughout his visit. People will
have the option of taking their own
photos of St. Nick or having a Santa
Mall photographer take them. The
cost to have a picture taken by the
Santa Mall photographer will be $2.
Fifty-fi ve vendors signed up for the
Santa Mall, and openings still are
available. Children from families in
need will receive Santa Bucks to use
as currency to purchase any item from
vendors at the mall. For information
on purchasing Santa Bucks for a child
or serving as a vendor, call 541-805-
6835.
The Santa Mall program has about
$4,000 in money for Santa Bucks, up
$1,000 from a year ago. The money
was raised from donations and
money paid by vendors a year ago,
said Shelia Evans, director of the
Santa Mall.
“The community has been very
generous this year,” said Evans, who
has directed the Santa Mall the past
three years.
Items at the Santa Mall include
toys, crafts, blankets and movie boxes.
Each movie box has popcorn, treats
traditionally purchased at a theater,
and a DVD the gift buyer will choose
from an available selection.
Evans likes the opportunity the
Santa Mall provides children to give
back to their families. She said it gives
them a sense of fulfi llment.
The Santa Mall has been conducted
for about 20 years. Its home was the
Riveria Activity Center until it moved
to the Blue Mountain Conference
Center three years ago.
The annual event also will again
provide free gift wrapping.
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November temps
warmer than
normal for area
By Phil Wright
The Observer
PENDLETON — La
Grande was a little warmer
than usual for the month of
November, according to the
National Weather Service in
Pendleton.
The preliminary weather
data showed La Grande’s av-
erage temperature was 38.8
degrees, which is 0.7 degrees
above normal. High tem-
peratures averaged 51.2, a
full 5 degrees above normal.
The month’s high was 62 on
Nov. 6.
Low temperatures aver-
aged 26.3 degrees, which was
3.6 degrees below normal.
The lowest was 9 on Nov. 30.
November had 22 days
with lows below 32 and one
day when the high stayed
below the freezing point as
well.
La Grande’s precipitation
totaled .71 inches for the
month, 1.32 inches below
normal. Eight days had
measurable precipitation —
at least .01 of an inch — with
the heaviest, 0.2 inches, on
Nov. 19. Precipitation for
the year has reached 19.14
inches, which is 4.28 inches
above normal. Since October,
the water year precipitation
at La Grande has been 2.13
inches, 1.19 inches below
normal.
The Weather Service
estimated snowfall at 1 inch.
The heaviest snowfall was
half an inch on Nov. 26.
The outlook for December
from the federal Climate Pre-
diction Center calls for above
normal temperatures and
above normal precipitation.
Normal highs for La Grande
fall from 40 at the start of
December to 37 at the end,
and normal lows fall from 26
to 23. The 30-year-normal
precipitation is 1.66 inches.
The National Weather
Service is an offi ce of the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration, an
agency of the U.S. Commerce
Department.
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