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GOODBYE GRILL: BIDDING FAREWELL TO SUMMER
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
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THE OBSERVER
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TUESDAY EDITION
September 14, 2021
Local
leaders
note
fi ring
Still going strong
Superintendents
reflect on removal
of Adrian School
District
superintendent
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION COUNTY
— The fi ring of Adrian
School District Superinten-
dent Kevin Purnell by his
school board on Monday,
Aug. 30, dismayed area
school leaders.
Purnell
was fi red for
not following
board direc-
tives, Adrian
School Board
chair Eddie
Hislop
Kincade told
the Malheur Enterprise.
Kincade declined to elab-
orate but there are many
indications, the Malheur
Enterprise
reported, that
the board
wanted Purnell
to take a stand
against Gov.
Pettit
Kate Brown’s
COVID-19
mask and vaccination man-
dates for schools. Purnell,
though, insisted on fol-
lowing the rules and this
is believed to
be the reason
the board fi red
him.
“It was very
shocking that
something
Wells
like that hap-
pened so close to home,”
said Union School Dis-
trict Superintendent Carter
Wells. “It would be hor-
rifi c if that happened in this
valley.”
North Powder School
District Superintendent
Lance Dixon said he is dis-
turbed that a superinten-
dent could be dismissed for
following state rules. Pur-
nell was with the Adrian
School District for 14 years
and had been its superin-
tendent for three years.
“I know Kevin. He is
a great guy,” the North
Powder superintendent
said.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Dorothy Trice, center, pauses for a photo with members of her family at her home in La Grande on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Standing from left are her great-grandson
Isaiah Trice-Collette, grandson Jordon Trice and son Lafayette Trice.
Dorothy Trice, 95, continues to be a vibrant part of the community
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Dorothy Trice does not
know exactly when she fi rst heard the song
“Near the Cross” played on a piano, but she
does know this — the experience ignited a
passion that has yet to dim many decades
later.
“I wanted to learn how to play the song
right after I heard it,” said Trice, who was
about 17 at the time, lived in Florida and did
not know how to play the piano.
Trice then began taking piano lessons and
teaching herself, putting herself on the road
toward becoming a skilled pianist. Today,
Trice, who celebrated her 95th birthday on
Sunday, Sept. 12, is still playing. She can
be heard almost every Sunday at Amazing
Grace Fellowship church in La Grande,
where she plays songs before Sunday
morning services.
Trice is a popular and familiar face at the
church, just as she is in La Grande, where
she has lived since 1945 after moving from
Florida. She smiles broadly when asked
what inspired her to move here.
“I fell in love with a handsome soldier,”
said Trice, referring to her future husband,
Lucky Trice, whom she met when he was
stationed in Florida while with the U.S.
Army.
Lucky, who grew up in Northeastern
Oregon, and Dorothy were married in the
1940s. Lucky operated many businesses in
La Grande before he died in 1985 at the age
of 82. The businesses he owned included a
shoeshine service, a furnace cleaning fi rm
and a janitorial service. all which he oper-
ated with the help of his wife, Dorothy, and
their fi ve sons and two daughters.
The Trices’ shoeshine business was run
on the 1200 block of Adams Avenue. Dor-
othy said shining shoes was tiring and diffi -
cult but it became much less so when elec-
tric shoe polishers became available.
“They made it so much easier,” she said.
The furnace cleaning work was also chal-
lenging, and unlike shoe shining, it posed
some risks. Dorothy Trice will never forget
the time one of her sons was cleaning a fur-
nace when it unexpectedly came on. He
jumped out quickly.
“He was not hurt but it was frightening,”
she said.
Trice was able to attend school only
through seventh grade while growing up.
She worried after her husband died in the
1980s that she might need to apply for work
and was told her applications may not be
considered if she did not have a high school
diploma. This inspired Trice, at age 62, to
begin taking classes for her GED, a high
school equivalency certifi cate.
See, Trice/Page A5
See, Purnell/Page A5
Forest owners’ group revived
Local chapter of Oregon
Small Woodlands
Association now
includes Baker, Grant,
Union, Wallowa counties
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Private
forest owners in Baker County
are reviving an organization that
helps members better manage their
timber ground, and this version has
expanded its geographic bound-
aries considerably.
The newly constituted North-
east Oregon chapter of the Oregon
Small Woodlands Association
covers four counties, said Jacob
Putney, extension forester for the
Oregon State University Exten-
sion Service in Baker and Grant
counties.
Besides those two adjoining
counties, the new chapter includes
members in Union and Wallowa
counties.
“We all share the Blue Moun-
tains, and although there are diff er-
ences, for the most part the forest
Baker City Herald, File
See, Revived/Page A5
Lyle Defrees looks over his family’s forested property in Sumpter Valley, about 20
miles southwest of Baker City.
INDEX
Classified ...............B4
Comics ....................B7
Crossword .............B5
Dear Abby .............B8
Home ......................1B
WEATHER
Horoscope .............B5
Letters ....................A4
Lottery ....................A2
Records ..................A3
Obituaries ..............A3
THURSDAY
Opinion ..................A4
Sports .....................A6
State ........................A8
Sudoku ...................B7
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
50 LOW
72/39
Mainly clear
Partly sunny
GETTING READY FOR WINTER
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 108
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com