LOCAL
Thursday, May 14, 2020
ThE OBsErVEr — 5A
ESPORTS
Continued from Page 1A
may look vastly different, esports
has all the makings to provide stu-
dents with the same experiences
and life lessons.”
The team actually has roots
dating to 2016, Melville said,
when the 1 Up Game Club, which
was founded that year, began to
push for a startup of an esports
program.
The actions of EOU alumni
and professional competitor Geoff
Butterworth also helped set the
groundwork.
“While attending school, (he)
would often host competitive
Super Smash Bros tournaments
here at the university,” Mel-
ville said of Butterworth. “His
efforts, alongside others from
EOU students, predated our offi-
cial founding as a program but
were instrumental in laying those
foundations and really showing
that bringing esports to EOU was
attainable.”
Melville said 1 Up Club offi-
cers made efforts to get the
activity noticed by the school
and received help from staff
members “who have gone above
and beyond in supporting us in
growing this program, even if
they may have been confused
as to what exactly esports is as
well,” he said. Melville, who is
a club officer, added, “They lis-
tened to our students and showed
genuine interest in learning more
about esports and are devoted
to helping bring programs to
EOU that students are passionate
about.”
Photo contributed by Ethan Melville
The Eastern Oregon University esports team, which officially formed
last fall, has nearly 30 members.
Esports offers different
completion avenue
While esports is an arm of
the athletic department at some
schools, EOU’s program, which
has 27 members, is overseen by
Student Affairs faculty and the
Center for Student Involvement —
though Melville believes the long-
term goal is to have activity “be
brought into the fold of the ath-
letics department.”
Melville calls the formation of
esports an important step for the
school, and noted his own expe-
rience as a former high school
athlete who had “a hard pill
to swallow” when he realized
playing collegiately wasn’t in the
cards for him.
His freshman year, he was
turned on to a game called Dota 2
and was “hooked.”
“It had everything that I was
missing from my time on different
sports teams,” he said, including
“the responsibility of learning
individual skills and learning
my role in a team of five players,
communicating effectively as a
team member, players within the
community who inspired me to
push myself and to grow, and the
opportunity to overcome adver-
sity as an individual and as a team
to win when the odds are stacked
against you.… I can honestly say
that the time I’ve spent with the
game has done a lot to help me
improve as a person.”
That statement could easily
lend itself to a sense of skep-
ticism, which Melville also
addressed.
“I definitely understand that
some people might be skep-
tical about the values that can be
learned from playing video games
in a competitive setting,” he said.
“I think that beyond the profi-
ciency in a sport itself, where ath-
letes really benefit from competi-
tion are the lessons they learn that
are applicable for a lifetime. And
when you boil down the differ-
ences of individual sports, there
are some universal lessons to be
learned: finding a place within
a team, building a culture that
values growth and development,
and dealing with adversity. I’m
confident that any athlete will be
able to point to a specific story in
which they learned one of these
skills while competing.”
He pointed to a tournament in
Seattle the team traveled to, and
what he learned about personal
responsibility in playing a 1-on-1
game.
“When you find yourself
competing in a 1-on-1 setting,
the thrill of winning is over-
whelming, but similarly, when
you experience loss, you have
to contend with the fact that the
responsibility for that is on you
alone,” Melville said. “It can be
hard to handle a loss when there
are no other excuses or team-
mates to share in that loss. What I
noticed from my time competing,
and losing, in Seattle is that I had
grown and matured a lot from
my time wrestling in high school,
where when I would lose, I would
often be upset, both with my
opponent and with myself.”
Game specifics dictate
play
Although some games are
played in a 1-on-1 format, the
majority are team-based, Melville
said. He said of those that take
place in a team setting, players
specialize “in specific team roles
and (are) working together under
the leadership of a team captain
to grow during practices, and
(they) compete in a series of col-
legiate leagues (with) universi-
ties across the U.S. and Canada.
These leagues can use a number
of different formats but usually
involve a best-of-3-game match
each week as part of a regular
season,” before the top team or
teams in each region head to the
playoffs.
He said the specifics of the
game dictate how they are played
competitively, but that “games
that are developed with compe-
tition in mind often follow tradi-
tional sports models for leagues
and tournament formats, and so
spectators with little experience
with the world of esports would
still be able to follow it pretty
well.”
What is the ultimate takeaway
for esports members?
“At the end of the day, what I
want someone to take away from
their time as an esports player at
EOU is the understanding of how
important things like diversity,
tenacity, emotional intelligence,
and professionalism are, and how
to develop a culture in which
these skills are cultivated,” Mel-
ville said.
CEMETERY
HOBBIES
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
not had any vacant niches
or crypt space for about five
years.
Anderson said the future
columbarium center will
occupy ground that could
not be used for burial plots.
“It is hard ground and
rocky. It is not good for
burial plots,” Anderson
said.
The addition of the
columbariums and
gazebo are being funded
with money from the La
Grande Cemetery District.
Anderson said she began
setting aside money for this
work in a reserve fund five
years ago.
“I wanted to continue
to give that opportunity
of music,” Hoke said. “At
a time when things are
crazy and you don’t know
what is going to happen,
they still have music.
Music is not closed, and
we are continuing.”
With gyms and
yoga studios closed for
in-person workouts and
instructions, Peak Life-
style, La Grande, has
taken to creating virtual
memberships, which grant
access to online classes
and instruction. Colleen
McIntosh, Peak owner
and instructor, said the
new format has been well
received and presented
new challenges.
“When we thought we
might have to go online,
my husband went out and
bought all the recording
equipment. From there
we went off of what did
and didn’t work,” McIn-
tosh said. “Initially we did
Facebook Live classes,
but there wasn’t enough
accountability in it, so we
switched to Zoom.”
McIntosh said 50 to
80 people put their mem-
bership accounts on hold
until the studio reopens,
and about five people can-
celed their memberships
when the pandemic pre-
vented in-person classes.
There have been 20 people
who signed up for virtual
memberships so far.
When the studio
reopens she anticipates
keeping some form of
virtual membership
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Contractors Michael Brock and his son Eric, both of Sherwood, work on the construction
of a gazebo Tuesday afternoon at Grandview Cemetery, La Grande. The project is among
other upgrades to La Grande cemeteries that have been five years in the making.
DRIVE-IN
Continued from Page 1A
Social distancing rules
will be in place during all
of this weekend’s show-
ings. Moviegoers must
stay in their cars except
to buy concessions or use
restroom facilities.
“Nobody will be
allowed to sit outside in a
lawn chair,” Johnson said.
She pointed out this
also means individuals
will not be allowed to view
the movie while sitting in
the back of their pickups.
To meet social dis-
tancing standards, the
business will allow no
more than 125 vehicles in
per showing. This is about
half of the site’s capacity.
Entry into the drive-
in’s concession building
also will be limited to a
specific capacity. Once
this capacity is reached,
nobody will be allowed in
until someone exits.
The cost for entrance
will be $7 for each person
age 6 and older. Children
younger than 6 will get in
free.
Johnson said that later
in the season when double
features are shown, the
cost will be per car load
instead of per person.
Following Sunday’s
showing of “Onward,”
the drive-in will re-open
Wednesday, May 20,
through Sunday, May 24,
for the showing of “The
Call of the Wild,” a 2020
Staff photo by Dick Mason
La Grande Drive-in manager Patty Johnson prepares the
venue’s concession stand for its opening this weekend.
The drive-in is showing the animated family film “On-
ward.”
American adventure film
based on the Jack London
1903 novel of the same
title.
The La Grande
Drive-in will maintain
its Wednesday through
Sunday schedule through
its summer season.
Johnson said she hopes the
week night showings will
reduce crowding during
weekends.
Exceptions to the
Wednesday through
Sunday schedule will be
the evenings of May 30,
June 5 and June 6, when
movies will not be shown
because the drive-in will
be the site of high school
graduation activities,
including the showings
of senior slideshows. The
activities were moved to
the drive-in because of
COVID-19 concerns.
The drive-in is expected
to continue operating this
season through early Sep-
tember, Johnson said.
The La Grande Drive-in
has been showing movies
since 1951, when the film
lineup included “Tarzan’s
Peril” and “Bedtime for
Bonzo,” which starred
future president Ronald
Reagan. The venue is one
of about 70 that oper-
ated in Oregon during the
1950s, when the popu-
larity of drive-in theaters
was at its peak. Today, it
is among three commer-
cial drive-ins from the
1950s still operating in
Oregon. The others are the
M & F Drive-in in Mil-
ton-Freewater and 99W
Drive-in in Newberg. The
M & F Drive-in opened
in 1953 and 99W Drive-in
began operating in 1954,
according to DriveIn-
Movie.com. This means
La Grande’s drive-in is the
oldest in the state.
Oregon also has a
fourth drive-in, Drive-in
Movie Experience, which
opened at Sutherlin in
Douglas County in 2005. It
is based at Hi-Way Haven
RV Park and the show-
ings of its films are free
for everyone staying at
the RV park, according to
DriveInMovie.com.
La Grande’s drive-in
theater is a year from
turning 70, but it fea-
tures a state-of-the-art
digital projector. Rem-
nants of its past include
the yellow metal poles that
once supported speakers
for vehicles. Now viewers
tune into a movie’s sound
through FM radio. Johnson
said the poles still serve an
important purpose — they
provide guides for where
drivers should park their
vehicles.
FAMILY
OWNED
available, particularly for
those who can’t come to
La Grande every week for
a class.
McIntosh said having
this membership option
available has meant every-
thing for keeping the busi-
nesses open and running,
as she still has to pay
instructors and rent for the
studio.
Being out of work
and stuck at home has
people bored, according
to Josiah Brown, owner
of The Hobby Habit in La
Grande. The store, which
sells puzzles, games and
arts and crafts supplies,
has seen an increase in
sales, as more people look
for things to do while at
home.
“I wouldn’t say people
are expanding into new
hobbies but (are) having
time to do more of the
hobbies that they already
enjoyed,” Brown said.
Game nights used to
be a popular event at the
store, where people could
meet and play tabletop
games. However, the
store in March canceled
the events until further
notice. Brown said people
have continued the board
games via video chat.
La GRANDE
AUTO REPAIR
975-2000
www.lagrandeautorepair.com
MOST
ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
AVAILABLE
Joe Horst
ACDelcoTSS
“Shop Responsibly,
Shop Local”
Our local businesses
need us and we’ll get
through this together
www.VisitUnionCounty.org
A S Y OUR
C OMMISSIONER
• Fiscal Responsibility
• Support Small Business
• Accessible to Public
WORKING FOR ALL OF
UNION COUNTY
541-786-8984
Alliance Self Storage
2105 E L Ave., La Grande • allianceselfstorage123@gmail.com
215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440
northwestfurnitureandmattress.com
Paid for by
Beverage for
Commissioner
DONNA
BEVERAGE
FOR
C OUNTY C OMMISSIONER