INSIDE
OFFICIAL SHORTAGE STILL LINGERING HEADING INTO WINTER SPORTS SEASON |
November 20, 2021
SPORTS, A7
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
New mayor
has legacy
of public
service
By DICK MASON
The Observer
NORTH POWDER — New
North Powder Mayor John Frie-
boes is new to the North Powder
City Council but not to public
service.
Frieboes, who was voted
mayor by the city’s council on
Monday, Nov. 1, was the chief of
the North Powder Fire Depart-
ment for eight years starting in
the late 1980s through much of
the 1990s. He took the depart-
ment’s reins after serving as
a volunteer fi refi ghter for the
department for two years.
The new mayor headed the fi re
department during the time North
Powder became part of Union
County’s 911 emergency dispatch
system. Frieboes said the 911
system has greatly sped up and
simplifi ed the process of alerting
fi rst responders of emergencies.
He said that before there was
a 911 system in North Powder,
people had to dial a number that
went to the North Powder Fire
Department or a North Powder
motel connected to the city’s
emergency communication
system.
“The motel was part of the
system because it was always
open,” Frieboes said.
The North Powder resident
was also fi re chief while the rural
city’s fi rst responder system
was being created. Emergency
medical personnel who volun-
teer as fi rst responders provide
patient care before ambulances
from the La Grande, La Grande
Rural or Baker City fi re depart-
ments arrive. Frieboes said the
fi rst responder system is helping
patients receive critical emer-
gency care more quickly.
Frieboes said that although he
helped with the development of
the fi rst responder and the local
911 systems, his role was minor.
“Many other people did more
than I did,” he said.
It is fi tting that Frieboes is a
former North Powder fi re chief
since as mayor he is helping the
city plan a move into the old fi re
department building in which
he once worked. The city is pre-
paring to relocate its library and
city hall at the former fi re station
at 340 E St.
The moves are needed, Frie-
boes said, because North Pow-
der’s city hall and its library
are in buildings that are many
decades old and are deteriorating.
See, Mayor/Page A5
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kristen Hunter, an Oregon Health & Science University student pursuing a nursing degree, folds blankets as she volunteers at the Union County Warming
Station in La Grande on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. The shelter will open this winter when there are enough volunteers.
Keeping warm
Lack of volunteers could delay opening of Union County Warming Station
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — With
winter weather on the horizon,
the Union County Warming
Station is set to open its doors.
Plans for the start of operations
come with a caveat, though.
The warming station’s debut,
originally planned for Sunday,
Nov. 21, may be delayed
because of a lack of volun-
teers, said Lisa Ladendorff , a
member of the Union County
Warming Station Board.
Ladendorff said three vol-
unteers are needed for it to
open Nov. 21 and a total of 10
more are needed for it to be
open through its fi rst week.
The facility, on Third Street
in La Grande, needs a total of
fi ve people to work each eve-
ning and morning session.
The staff works rotating shifts
between 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.,
in addition to the volunteers
who bring in dinner each
night for the warming station’s
guests.
People who want to volun-
teer or make donations to the
warming station may call 541-
786-8779 or visit its Facebook
page.
Ladendorff said the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Tanner VanLeuven, a nursing student at Oregon Health & Science
University, places clothes and stuff ed animals on a shelf at the Union County
Warming Station in La Grande on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
warming station’s operations
will be on more solid ground
once a manager is hired. The
individual will be the fi rst paid
staff the shelter has had in its
fi ve-year history. The posi-
tion is being funded by grants
from the Oregon Community
Foundation, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of America
and the Eastern Oregon Coor-
dinated Care Organization.
Ladendorff said having
a paid staff person will
strengthen the warming
station.
“It will bring us a lot more
stability,” she said. “It will be a
huge help.”
Ladendorff noted that
having a manager for the
facility will take stress off of
volunteers, who in the past
have been responsible for mul-
tiple duties, including setting
up for each shift.
“This means everything
will be ready when volunteers
come in,” she said. “Volunteers
will be able to focus on inter-
acting with guests.”
The Union County
Warming Station is being
run this season with major
assistance from the North-
east Oregon Network, which
has its offi ces in the building
that houses the winter-weather
shelter.
Ladendorff said NEON
wants to help the warming
station maintain its stability,
which can be diffi cult with
only volunteers.
“Making the transition to
a paid staff is a big leap for an
all-volunteer organization,”
Ladendorff said.
The Union County
Warming Station oper-
ates out of the third home it
has had in its fi ve-year exis-
tence. The shelter was fi rst
at the Zion Lutheran Church
in 2017-18 and in a Willow
Street building in 2018-19.
The warming station did not
operate in 2019-20 because of
issues related to the move to its
Third Street location but was
able to open its doors there in
2020-21.
The Union County
Warming Station’s current
site off ers much more space
than it had at its previous loca-
tions. This allows it to provide
See, Warming/Page A5
Holiday turkey will make it to the table
Local grocery owners optimistic about this year’s Thanksgiving
By ALEX WITTWER
and DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Supply chain issues grip-
ping the nation have led
to shortages in every-
thing from semiconductors
to paper trays at school
cafeterias, but Thanks-
giving looks to be running
smoothly and on time,
according to grocery stores
in rural Oregon cities.
Marco Rennie, owner of
Market Place Fresh Foods,
La Grande, said hangups
in the supply chain have
aff ected grocers across the
board, but his store is ready
to help customers meet hol-
iday meal needs.
“It has been more diffi -
cult,” Rennie said, but he
added, “We’ve been fortu-
nate that we secured tur-
keys in advance.”
TUESDAY
See, Turkey/Page A5
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
Rennie and Market Place
Fresh Foods has ordered
its share of turkeys as well
as reaching out locally
in order to fi ll any poten-
tial shortages. The store is
partnering with Bellamy
Family Farm in Summer-
ville to provide locally
sourced turkeys ahead of
Thanksgiving.
“We’ve been really
Outdoors ......B1
Horoscope ....B3
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A3
Opinion .........A4
Sports ............A7
State ...............A6
Sudoku ..........B5
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Janine Thomas selects a turkey at Grocery Outlet in Island City on
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. Local grocery stores have well-stocked
shelves as Thanksgiving approaches despite supply chain woes.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
28 LOW
46/30
Partly cloudy
Mostly sunny
THE BANKING CORNER OF DOWNTOWN LA GRANDE
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 136
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page A4.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com