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TUESDAY EDITION
June 15, 2021
Pride
event
returns
Civics
bill is
timely
For the first time in
at least 30 years,
La Grande hosts
LGBTQ celebration
La Grande educator
said it will help
students know how
government works
By CARLOS FUENTES
By DICK MASON
The Observer
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
According to Terrance
Cambell, a volunteer at the
Pride Family Fun Day at
Riverside Park on Friday,
June 11, this was the fi rst
Pride event in La Grande in
more than 30 years.
Cambell said that the
event is only going to grow.
On June 4, La Grande
Mayor Stephen Clements
declared June as Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Trans and
Queer month in the city,
to be celebrated on June 4
starting in 2022.
“When I was younger, I
knew I wanted to see some-
thing, but I never thought I
was going to be the one to
start anything,” said Brit-
tany Cambell, event orga-
nizer and Terrance Cam-
bell’s wife. “There’s so
many resources that people
are unaware of, so I decided
to get those resources out,
and then it blew up into
this.”
Brittany Cambell is the
local community outreach
coordinator for Free Mom
Hugs, a national nonprofi t
with the aim of “empow-
ering the world to celebrate
the LGBTQIA+ commu-
nity through visibility, edu-
cation, and conversation,”
according to its website.
The event brought in
dozens of people over the
evening with free hot dogs,
snacks and drinks, as well
as games and arts and
crafts tables.
Cambell has volunteered
with Free Mom Hugs for
nearly two years, which is
about the same amount of
time that she spent plan-
ning the Pride event. The
couple planned to hold the
Pride event in June of 2020,
but COVID-19 restrictions
forced them to postpone it.
Along with the games
and children’s activities set
up under the pavilion, there
were a handful of booths
LA GRANDE — La
Grande High School social
studies teacher John Lam-
oreau believes it is critical
that students learn how the
legislative process works.
This is why he is among
the educators who are
strong supporters of Ore-
gon’s new civics bill. The
bill — Senate Bill 513 —
will require all high school
students to take half a credit
of civics before they can
graduate starting in 2025.
The legislation was passed
by the House and Senate
and signed by Gov. Kate
Brown on June 3.
Lamoreau believes the
bill will help introduce
more students to how gov-
ernment works at a time
when many are apathetic
about the subject.
“People are not as inter-
ested in how government
works as they once were.
Polls show that between
one-fourth and one-third of
adults do not know what the
three branches of govern-
ment are,” he said.
The educator attributes
this in part to the internet
and the misinformation it
provides.
Lamoreau believes
people need to learn how
government works so they
can defend our democracy.
“History tells us that
societies do not last for-
ever,” he said. “If we love
our society, we need to to
protect it in order to keep it
fl ourishing.”
See, Pride/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Eastern Oregon University graduate Megan Demirjian poses from the back of a pickup truck moments before exiting to receive her
diploma on Saturday, June 12, 2021. The university held drive-in commencements this weekend as opposed to in-person gradua-
tions such as those held by nearby high schools.
Eastern Oregon University honors more than 230 graduates
By CARLOS FUENTES
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Most
years, Eastern Oregon
University’s gradua-
tion takes place in Com-
munity Stadium, with
extra stands brought in to
accommodate the large
number of families and
friends in attendance.
This year, there were
no extra seats brought in
— in fact, there were no
seats at all.
The 2021 commence-
ment was a drive-thru
ceremony, meaning that
each graduate could only
bring a car full of people
to watch them walk
across the stage to receive
their diploma from Uni-
versity President Thomas
Insko before returning
to the car and exiting the
school.
The ceremony, which
took place on Sat-
urday, June 12, on the
west side of the EOU
campus, was the result
of months of deliberate
planning, according to
Vice President of Univer-
sity Advancement Tim
Seydel.
“We came up with the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Elysa Nason pauses for a photo with her family from the back of a pickup truck during her gradua-
tion at Eastern Oregon University on Saturday, June 12, 2021.
idea of the hybrid drive-
thru, which decreased all
of the in-person contact
but still gave students the
chance to walk across the
stage,” he said. “When
we talked to students,
they were really excited.
We didn’t want to push it
off again, so doing it in
person was a big hope.”
Walking out of cars
adorned with balloons,
banners and other dec-
orations, 236 gradu-
ates crossed the stage for
more than 2-1/2 hours,
including a few 2020
graduates who had a vir-
tual commencement last
year.
“It feels very surreal,”
said Megan Brown, who
graduated in 2020 with a
degree in business admin-
istration. “Having an
actual ceremony feels so
much better than the three
second blip last year. I
worked really hard to
graduate a year early, so
it feels good for my son
to be here and watch me
cross the stage.”
This year’s ceremony
also included graduates
from Oregon State Uni-
versity’s Agriculture and
Natural Resource Pro-
gram at EOU and Oregon
Health & Science Univer-
sity School of Nursing La
Grande Campus, which
Understanding
elements
The LHS teacher
believes it is critical to
understand elements
like the story of the First
Amendment’s Bill of
Rights which reads: “Con-
gress shall make no law
respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting
See, Grads/Page 5A
‘It’s a prett y critical one’
The fi re lookout on the
summit of Mount Ireland,
8,346 feet, is staff ed
each summer. This year,
though, the Forest Service
is having a hard time
fi nding someone to take
the job. The lookout has
a view that extends over
parts of three national for-
ests — Wallowa-Whitman,
Umatilla and Malheur.
The metal building
replaced a wooden
structure in 1957.
Forest Service officials scramble to find a
fire lookout to work on Mount Ireland
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Joel
McCraw needed to fi nd
someone willing to spend
the summer atop a moun-
tain that has a three-state
view but is far out of sight
of any coff ee shop or gro-
cery store.
His task wasn’t as
daunting as it might sound,
thanks in part to Facebook.
The job is fi re lookout
on Mount Ireland. The
8,346-foot peak is the apex
of a granitic shoulder that
extends several miles west
from the spine of the Elk-
horn Mountains and forms
the divide between the
Powder River and North
Fork John Day River basins
See, Lookout/Page 5A
INDEX
Classified ...............3B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............3B
Dear Abby .............8B
Home & Living .....1B
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest/Contributed Photo
WEATHER
Horoscope .............4B
Letters ....................4A
Local........................2A
Lottery ....................2A
Record ....................3A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
Sports .....................7A
State ........................6A
Sudoku ...................7B
See, Civics/Page 5A
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
44 LOW
76/47
Clear
Sunny and
warmer
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Issue 69
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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