INSIDE
LA GRANDE BEEKEEPER SELECTED FOR STATEWIDE ACCELERATOR PROGRAM |
July 1, 2021
BUSINESS & AG, B1
$1.50
THURSDAY EDITION
Gett ing
a break
from the
heat
UNION COUNTY FOURTH OF JULY
La Grande
bans all
fi reworks
City bans fireworks,
as well as outdoor
recreational fires for
foreseeable future
Cooling stations around
La Grande offer respite
from record-breaking
temperatures
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
By CARLOS FUENTES
festival will be conducted
this year, though, because
of the pandemic. Doug Wig-
gins, Union’s city adminis-
trator, said that because it
was unclear what COVID-19
safety restrictions would be
in place on the Fourth of July
until recently, there wasn’t
enough time to organize
pre-fi reworks activities.
Those arriving early for the
fi reworks show will have an
opportunity to visit a number
of evening yard sales and
enjoy dinner in Union, Bev-
erage said. She said that at
least two restaurants will be
open in Union prior to the
fi reworks.
The fi reworks show will
launch just after dusk and run
30 to 40 minutes. It will be
put on by Western Fireworks
Display, a Portland-area
company that has run all of
LA GRANDE — The city
of La Grande Fire Department
announced on Tuesday, June
29, that fi reworks and outdoor
recreational fi res will be pro-
hibited in La Grande until fur-
ther notice.
The ban comes in the wake
of abnormally high tempera-
tures for this time of year
in Eastern Oregon. The use
of fi reworks and all outdoor
burning will be prohibited for
the foreseeable future, with
citations being given to viola-
tors of the ban.
“I know it’s upsetting to
some people or probably frus-
trating, but I just feel like it’s
the right thing,” La Grande
Fire Chief Emmitt Cornford
said.
The decision comes just
days before the Independence
Day holiday, which is the main
focus of the fi re department’s
ban on fi reworks. The depart-
ment is aiming the ban toward
lowering the risk of fi re due to
the current state of tempera-
tures and high risk of wildfi re.
“We have shut down
burning in the past early, but
I can’t recall a season where
it’s been this dry this early
and we’ve had temperatures
like this,” Cornford said. “It’s
just extra precaution to make
sure we don’t have any unwar-
ranted problems in town.”
According to the La Grande
Fire Department, the decision
is preemptive and does not
address any rise in wildfi res
caused by fi reworks or open
fi res throughout the month of
June. However, the department
typically deals with a steady
fl ow of fi rework-related inci-
dents throughout the summer
months and offi cials are wor-
ried the extreme tempera-
tures can expand the potential
damage exponentially.
“My concern would be
that wildfi res would be more
extreme this year and could
get more out of hand than
years in the past,” Cornford
said.
The fi reworks sales that
normally take place in tents in
front of Safeway in La Grande
and Walmart in Island City
have also been shut down this
year. They are usually run by
the La Grande High School
band program as a fundraiser
for trips and other fees.
“Because of extreme heat
and fi re risk, the LHS Band
has decided to cancel its sale
of fi reworks this summer to
support the LG Fire Depart-
ment and to be as safe as
possible,” Alex Justice, the
director of the LHS band, said
in a statement. “This annual
fundraiser has been crucial for
paying for trips and festival
costs on a yearly basis. If you
are interested in supporting
See, Fourth/Page A5
See, Ban/Page A5
The Observer
LA GRANDE — With
recently high temperatures
forcing residents to turn their
air conditioners to full blast,
several organizations in the area
have opened their doors to the
public as cooling centers, with
cool air, water and charging sta-
tions readily available.
The Union County Warming
Station, 2008 Third St., La
Grande, is off ering space for
anyone who wants to cool off .
The station opened Monday,
June 28, from noon to 5 p.m.
on any days that are over 90
degrees.
Taylor Gould, chair of the
warming station’s board, said
the building has the capacity
for 20 people and has snacks,
water and entertainment readily
available.
“We will be open on these
hot days as long as we can get
two volunteers, and we have
books and puzzles and we’re
looking to set up a movie pro-
jector so people can come inside
and cool off a bit,” Gould said.
According to Matt Cal-
lihan, a meteorologist with
the National Weather Service
in Pendleton, several cities
in Union and Wallowa coun-
ties have broken temperature
records for the month of June.
“We’re seeing these high
temperatures much earlier than
we would normally expect
them,” he said. “For example, in
La Grande, there’ve been two
instances in the past of tempera-
tures being over 100 degrees for
consecutive days, but they’ve
always been in July, not June.”
La Grande reached a high
of 106 on June 29 — the fi fth
overall hottest day in the city’s
recorded history.
Wallowa County has also
seen record highs. Temperatures
in Enterprise on June 29 peaked
at 102 — the eighth highest in
city history and the hottest tem-
perature recorded in the month
of June.
City of Union/Contributed Photo
Fireworks will be launched from Buff alo Peak Golf Course in Union for the 2021 Fourth of July display and a por-
tion of the course will be available for people to watch the show.
For first time, Buffalo Peak will be
site of Fourth of July fireworks show
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION — Pioneers were
still trekking to the Northwest
on the Oregon Trail when one
of the fi rst documented Fourth
of July fi reworks shows in the
Grande Ronde Valley took
place in 1876.
The show was conducted
in Union after a ball attended
by 101 people at Union’s old
Centennial Hotel. An adver-
tisement for the formal dance,
whose writer may have been
prone to hyperbole, stated
that the ball would “eclipse
anything of the kind ever
given east of the Cascades,”
according to the book “Ore-
gon’s Flamboyant Fourth” by
Doris Huff man.
No formal dances are
scheduled in Union County
during this year’s Fourth of
July celebration, still it will be
memorable — and historic.
This year’s fi reworks show
will be held for the fi rst time
at Union’s Buff alo Peak Golf
Course after being run in
the vicinity of Union High
School’s sports complex in
2018 and 2019. Fireworks will
be launched from the golf
course and a portion of the
course will be available for
people to watch the show.
The location of the Union
fi reworks show, not con-
ducted in 2020 because of
the COVID-19 pandemic,
was moved to Buff alo Peak
because the course is on
higher ground so fi reworks
launched there can be seen
throughout the town.
“It is a perfect spot,” said
Donna Beverage, a Union
County Commissioner and
president of the Union County
Chamber of Commerce,
which is in charge of the
country’s fi reworks show.
The fi reworks show is one
of two major Fourth of July
events set to be conducted in
See, Cooling/Page A5
INDEX
Business & Ag.......B1
Classified ...............B4
Comics ....................B7
Crossword .............B5
Dear Abby .............B8
The Observer, File
Fireworks light up the night sky July 4, 2018, over Union. The 2021 fi re-
works show will be held for the fi rst time at Buff alo Peak Golf Course after
being run in the vicinity of Union High School’s sports complex in 2018
and 2019.
Union County. The fi rst will
be the annual Fourth of July
parade in Imbler, which starts
at noon. The event was can-
celed in 2020 due to the pan-
demic. The Imbler Chris-
tian Church, following the
parade, will be providing free
hot dogs, soda pop, chips and
cotton candy.
Many people attending
the parade will likely also
travel to Union for the fi re-
works show. Sites from which
people are being encouraged
to observe the fi reworks show
include Union High School’s
athletic complex.
“That would be a great
place for people to bring blan-
kets and chairs and watch the
show,” Beverage said.
Previous fi reworks shows
in Union included a small
family-oriented festival at the
UHS athletic complex, which
featured live music and the
awarding of prizes. No such
WEATHER
Horoscope .............B5
Local........................A2
Lottery ....................A2
Obituaries ..............A3
Opinion ..................A4
SATURDAY
Records ..................A3
Spiritual Life..........A6
Sports .....................A8
State ........................A7
Sudoku ...................B7
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
66 LOW
99/60
Partly cloudy
Sunny; very hot
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Issue 76
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La Grande, Oregon
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