LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
SaTuRday, May 29, 2021
Elgin seniors say farewell to high school
Today is Saturday, May 29, the
149th day of 2021. There are 216
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On May 29, 2020, fired
Minneapolis police officer der-
ek Chauvin was arrested and
charged with third-degree
murder and second-degree
manslaughter in the death
of George Floyd. (He would
be convicted in april 2021
on those charges as well as
second-degree unintentional
murder.)
Greg allen/Associated Press, File
Country music recording artist
Toby Keith is set to headline
the Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest July 10, 2021, at the historic
Pendleton Round-Up Grounds.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1790, Rhode Island be-
came the 13th original colony
to ratify the united States
Constitution.
In 1914, the Canadian
ocean liner RMS Empress of
Ireland sank in the St. Law-
rence River in eastern Quebec
after colliding with the Norwe-
gian cargo ship SS Storstad; of
the 1,477 people on board the
Empress of Ireland, 1,012 died.
(The Storstad sustained only
minor damage.)
In 1953, Mount Everest
was conquered as Edmund
Hillary of New Zealand and
Tensing Norgay of Nepal
became the first climbers to
reach the summit.
In 1973, Tom Bradley was
elected the first Black mayor
of Los angeles, defeating
incumbent Sam yorty.
In 1977, Janet Guthrie
became the first woman to
race in the Indianapolis 500,
finishing in 29th place (the
winner was a.J. Foyt).
In 1985, 39 people were
killed at the European Cup Fi-
nal in Brussels, Belgium, when
rioting broke out and a wall
separating British and Italian
soccer fans collapsed.
In 1988, President Ronald
Reagan and Soviet leader
Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened
their historic summit in
Moscow.
In 1998, Republican elder
statesman Barry Goldwater
died in Paradise Valley, arizo-
na, at age 89.
In 2009, a judge in Los
angeles sentenced music pro-
ducer Phil Spector to 19 years
to life in prison for the murder
of actor Lana Clarkson. (Spec-
tor remained in prison until
his death in January 2021.)
In 2014, Starbucks closed
thousands of stores for part
of the day to hold training
sessions for employees on
unconscious bias, in response
to the arrests of two Black
men in Philadelphia at one of
its stores.
In 2015, the Obama ad-
ministration formally removed
Cuba from the u.S. terrorism
blacklist.
In 2019, in his first public
remarks on the Russia investi-
gation, special counsel Robert
Mueller said charging President
donald Trump with a crime
was “not an option” because of
federal rules, but he empha-
sized that the investigation did
not exonerate the president.
Ten years ago: a week
after Joplin, Missouri, was
nearly leveled by the deadliest
tornado to strike the u.S. in de-
cades, President Barack Obama
visited the city to offer hope to
survivors and promises of help.
JR Hildebrand was one turn
away from winning the India-
napolis 500 when he skidded
high into the wall on the final
turn and dan Wheldon drove
past to claim the win.
Five years ago: an army
veteran of two afghanistan
tours killed one person and
wounded several others
during a shooting rampage
in west Houston before being
gunned down by a SWaT
officer. alexander Rossi won
the 100th running of the
Indianapolis 500.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $3.2
million
1-4-12-18-19-48
Powerball: $236 million
2-8-21-34-62 — PB 16
x2
Mega Millions: $20
million
14-21-31-34-54 — MB
11 x3
Win for Life: May 26
1-19-21-49
Pick 4: May 27
• 1 p.m.: 2-3-8-7
• 4 p.m.: 2-8-7-2
• 7 p.m.: 1-1-3-2
• 10 p.m.: 4-2-4-7
Pick 4: May 26
• 1 p.m.: 2-9-2-1
• 4 p.m.: 1-0-1-5
• 7 p.m.: 7-3-4-9
• 10 p.m.: 4-4-5-8
Pick 4: May 25
• 1 p.m.: 7-1-8-9
• 4 p.m.: 6-0-7-0
• 7 p.m.: 4-5-9-7
• 10 p.m.: 3-0-9-0
Toby Keith
headlines
Pendleton
Whisky
Music Fest
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Members of Elgin High School’s class of 2021 celebrate their graduation by throwing their ceremonial caps to the sky during commence-
ment at the football field behind Elgin High School on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. The class of 2021 met in the classroom of late athletic
director and teacher Jeff Rysdam before going to the football field to receive their diplomas. In addition to annual scholarships from orga-
nizations like the Lion’s Club, a special scholarship was awarded in honor of Rysdam, who passed away earlier this year.
Clare Dunn, Clay
Walker and Cole
Swindell also take
to the stage in
return of event
The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Elgin High School student Xzavion Schultze has his graduation cap
tidied up by a fellow classmate prior to graduation Wednesday, May
26, 2021.
Elgin High School Class President Jacob Webb, left, pauses to take
a photo Wednesday, May 26, 2021, with former Elgin teacher Deb
Horrell following the graduation ceremony.
OTEC awards college scholarships
Two Union County
students land
OTEC-EOU Rural
Scholarship awards
Miller
Brown
Stirewalt
Higgins
Zamora
Wiggins
Cole
Brogoitti
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Sev-
eral Union County gradu-
ating seniors and current
college students received
academic scholarships
ranging from $2,500 to
$5,000
from
Oregon
Trail
Electric
Coopera-
tive.
Coston
Two
students,
Imbler
High
School’s
Erin
Coston
and La
Robinson
Grande
High
School’s Hayden Robinson,
received the OTEC-EOU
Rural Scholarship, which
pays all tuition and fees
for four years at Eastern
Oregon University in La
Grande.
“We are
very excited
about the
second year of
this partner-
Hickey
ship between
OTEC and
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity,” said Lea Hoover,
OTEC’s director of admin-
istration and strategic ser-
vices. “By allocating four
of our scholarships to this
program and leveraging a
matched investment from
EOU we can invest into
our local communities
directly, support local stu-
dents and return value to
OTEC member-owners
through the internship
projects that the students
will complete throughout
their four years at EOU.”
The OTEC Member
Foundation is a new 501c3
charitable foundation that
now oversees OTEC’s
scholarship programs.
Eligible applicants for
scholarships must be an
active OTEC member in
good standing with the
cooperative or a depen-
dent or tenant of an OTEC
member.
“We congratulate all
the 2021 scholarships
recipients and are proud
to reward the students for
their academic success and
dedication to their commu-
nity,” Hoover said. “As a
not-for-profit cooperative
and 501c3 foundation, one
of our guiding principles is
‘Commitment to Commu-
nity’ and we can’t think of
a better way to give back
to the communities we
serve and encourage local
students to be involved in
their own community.”
Other graduating
seniors in Union County
who received a scholar-
ship are Gage Brogoitti,
Katie Brown, Josie Hig-
gins, Taryn Miller, Jayden
Wiggins and Elizabeth
Zamora, all of La Grande
High School, and Powder
Valley’s Bailey Cole.
OTEC also offers schol-
arships to returning college
students. This spring the
college student recipients
are Joel Hickey, who is
attending Treasure Valley
Community College in
Ontario, and Katelyn Stire-
walt, an OSU student.
Counties set to celebrate Memorial Day
Outdoor events
make comeback
following 2020
cancellations
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
year ago, COVID-19
caused the cancellation
The Observer, File
of most events, including
Flags fly in remembrance at La Grande’s Grandview Cemetery in this
those celebrating Memo-
2013 photo. The Avenue of Flags begins at 11 a.m. Memorial Day,
rial Day weekend. With
Monday, May 31, 2021, hosted by American Legion Post 43.
the spread of vaccina-
tions and lowering of
and the playing of Taps.
tery begins at 11 a.m. on
cases in 2021, several out-
door events are returning
The Memorial Day cere-
Memorial Day, hosted by
mony concludes with the
to Union and Wallowa
American Legion Post 43.
reading of the names of
counties to celebrate the
Trinity Baptist Church
veterans who are buried in Pastor Roger Cochran will
holiday.
Union Cemetery.
In Union, the Veterans
be a keynote speaker, while
One of La Grande’s
of Foreign Wars High
the La Grande High School
Valley Post 4060 is holding most popular Memorial
A Cappella Choir will sing
a Memorial Day ceremony Day remembrance events,
the national anthem.
the Avenue of Flags, is set
at 9 a.m. Monday, May 31,
Those wishing to par-
take in the opening cere-
for a return this year. Last
at the city park.
mony will be required to
year, the Avenue of Flags
The event will feature
wear masks and social dis-
speeches, honoring the flag was scaled back signifi-
cantly due to the pandemic. tance while in attendance.
from each branch of the
The 38th annual event
The 160 flags at Grand-
service and service hymn,
followed by a rifle salute
at Grandview Ceme-
view will be on display
throughout the holiday
weekend.
In the Imbler area,
the Summerville Baptist
Church decorated veteran
markers with flags on May
28. The church will hold
a Sunday morning service
honoring military service
personnel, in addition to
Memorial Day services in
the Summerville Cemetery
at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.
In Wallowa County, the
VFW of Enterprise will be
hosting ceremonies hon-
oring fallen veterans at
several local cemeteries.
The organization will place
memorial flags and per-
form a 21-gun salute at
9 a.m. at Bramlet Memo-
rial Cemetery in Wal-
lowa, 10 a.m. at Lostine
Cemetery and 11 a.m. at
Alder Slope Cemetery in
Enterprise.
The VFW will then
meet at 1 p.m. at the Wal-
lowa County Courthouse,
101 S. River St., Enter-
prise, to read the names of
departed veterans from the
past year.
PENDLETON — Pend-
leton Whisky Music Fest
is ready to thrill again.
Songwriters Hall of
Fame inductee and two-
time Academy of Country
Music Awards Entertainer
of the Year Toby Keith
will headline the annual
summer event July 10,
2021, at the historic Pend-
leton Round-Up Grounds.
Country music’s Clare
Dunn, Clay Walker
and Cole Swindell
also are slated to per-
form, according to the
announcement from Pend-
leton Whisky Music Fest.
Organizers canceled
the 2020 festival due to
the coronavirus pandemic.
The new lineup of 2021
performers will replace
the original headlining
artist Eric Church, who is
now set to perform at the
Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest in 2022, along with
Macklemore.
Whisky Fest will take
place in front of a live
audience, but there will be
differences from previous
years.
Pendleton Whisky
Music Fest, according
to the press release, will
follow all health and
safety guidelines per the
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention as well
as local and state govern-
ment health officials. This
year’s main event will
have a reduced capacity
of 12,000 fans, and
title sponsor Pendleton
Whisky will provide face
masks at each entrance to
festivalgoers.
The event has show-
cased some of the big-
gest names in the music
performance industry,
including Maroon 5, Blake
Shelton, Pitbull and Post
Malone.
This year’s festival
will kick off as usual
with a Friday night party
in downtown Pendleton,
featuring musical per-
formances by Kurt Van
Meter, Precious Byrd and
DJ Sovern-T.
TICKETING
INFORMATION
all tickets and camping pack-
ages purchased for the original
lineup through the Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest ticketing
page and box office will be hon-
ored for the new date featuring
Eric Church and Macklemore
on July 9, 2022, with no action
required.
Ticket holders who are unable
to attend the event for the
new date in 2022 can request a
refund and also will receive pri-
ority access beginning June 3 to
purchase tickets to see the new
lineup for this year’s event.
Tickets for the new 2021 lineup
will go on sale to the general
public Friday, June 4, 2021.
For updates on the 2021 and
2022 events, including ticket
information, visit www.pendle-
tonwhiskymusicfest.com.