LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, dEcEmBER 2, 2021
Wallowa
County
Longhorn
featured in
calendar
TODAY
On Dec. 2, 1859, militant
abolitionist John Brown was
hanged for his raid on Harpers
Ferry the previous October.
In 1697, London’s St. Paul’s
Cathedral, designed by Sir
Christopher Wren, was con-
secrated for use even though
the building was still under
construction.
In 1823, President James
Monroe outlined his doctrine
opposing European expansion
in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1942, an artificially created,
self-sustaining nuclear chain
reaction was demonstrated for
the first time at the University
of Chicago.
In 1954, the U.S. Senate
passed, 67-22, a resolution
condemning Sen. Joseph R.
McCarthy, R-Wis., saying he
had “acted contrary to senato-
rial ethics and tended to bring
the Senate into dishonor and
disrepute.”
In 1957, the Shippingport
Atomic Power Station in Penn-
sylvania, the first full-scale com-
mercial nuclear facility in the
U.S., began operations. (The
reactor ceased operating in
1982.)
In 1970, the newly created
Environmental Protection
Agency opened its doors under
its first director, William D.
Ruckelshaus.
In 1980, four American
churchwomen were raped and
murdered in El Salvador. (Five
national guardsmen were con-
victed in the killings.)
In 1982, in the first operation
of its kind, doctors at the Uni-
versity of Utah Medical Center
implanted a permanent artifi-
cial heart in the chest of retired
dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who
lived 112 days with the device.
In 1993, Colombian drug lord
Pablo Escobar was shot to death
by security forces in Medellin.
In 2000, Al Gore sought a
recount in South Florida, while
George W. Bush flatly asserted,
“I’m soon to be the president”
and met with GOP congres-
sional leaders.
In 2001, in one of the largest
corporate bankruptcies in U.S.
history, Enron filed for Chapter
11 protection.
In 2015, a couple loyal to the
Islamic State group opened fire
at a holiday banquet for public
employees in San Bernardino,
California, killing 14 people and
wounding 21 others before
dying in a shootout with police.
Ten years ago: U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
and Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi vowed to
work together to promote dem-
ocratic reforms in Suu Kyi’s
long-isolated and authoritarian
homeland.
Five years ago: A fire that
raced through an illegally con-
verted warehouse in Oakland,
California, during a dance party
killed 36 people. President-elect
Donald Trump spoke with Tai-
wanese President Tsai Ing-wen
in a highly unusual move that
was bound to antagonize China.
One year ago: Britain
became the first country in the
world to authorize a rigorously
tested COVID-19 vaccine, giving
the go-ahead for emergency
use of the vaccine developed
by American drugmaker Pfizer
and Germany’s BioNTech. In a
video released on social media,
President Donald Trump stood
before a White House lectern
and delivered a 46-minute dia-
tribe against the election results
that produced a win for Demo-
crat Joe Biden, unspooling one
misstatement after another to
back his baseless claim that he
really won. Issuing a final rule
covering animals on airplanes,
the Transportation Department
said only dogs could fly as ser-
vice animals, and that pets used
for emotional support didn’t
count.
Today’s Birthdays: Former
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is
82. Movie director Penelope
Spheeris is 76. Rock musician
Rick Savage (Def Leppard) is 61.
Actor Lucy Liu is 53. Singer Nelly
Furtado is 43. Pop singer Britney
Spears is 40. Pop singer-song-
writer Charlie Puth is 30.
LOTTERY
Monday, Nov. 29, 2021
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Lucky Lines
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4 p.m.: 2-9-2-6
7 p.m.: 1-7-0-2
10 p.m.: 1-1-5-5
Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021
Mega Millions
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mega Ball: 17
megaplier: 2
Estimated jackpot: $112
million
Lucky Lines
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Pick 4
1 p.m.: 6-0-4-6
4 p.m.: 8-8-3-2
7 p.m.: 2-6-1-2
10 p.m.: 4-0-6-9
By ANN BLOOM
For EO Media Group
dick mason/The Observer
Al Dockweiler, left, and Todd McCrae of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative install La Grande’s 2021 Christmas tree on Nov. 29, 2021, at
Max Square. The tree will be lit on Friday evening, Dec. 3, following a holiday parade.
Community to ring in holiday season
La Grande
Holiday Parade,
Christmas tree
lighting ceremony
set for Dec. 3
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
The Christmas season in
La Grande will kick off
Friday, Dec. 3, with the
return of two popular tra-
ditions — the La Grande
Holiday Parade and the
Christmas tree lighting
ceremony — which went
silent in 2020.
A tree adorned Max
Square last year, but the
parade and tree lighting
events were canceled
because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
“It is really exciting
to have these tradi-
tions back,” said John
Howard, a member of the
La Grande Main Street
Downtown, which is spon-
soring the parade and the
tree lighting ceremony.
The parade begins at
5 p.m. at Hemlock Street
and Adams Avenue and
run a half a mile west to
Max Square. The lineup
for the parade will start at
4 p.m. People who want
dick mason/The Observer
Al Dockweiler of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative puts a string
of lights on the 2021 Christmas Tree at Max Square on Nov. 29,
2021, in La Grande. The tree’s lights will be turned on at a cer-
emony on Friday, Dec. 3, following a holiday parade, which be-
gins at 5 p.m. and concludes at Max Square.
to sign up for the parade
can call La Grande Main
Street Downtown at
541-963-1223.
People riding floats
will not be allowed to
toss candy to specta-
tors, according to Mary
Ann Miesner, chair of
La Grande Main Street
Downtown’s Christmas
Committee. Organizers
are also asking that
nobody participating in the
parade dress up as Santa
since the parade already
has its own St. Nick.
“It would confuse the
children,” Miesner said.
The parade route
will be more decorative
thanks to Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative
staff and Tyson Brooks
of La Grande who will
be installing angels and
snowflakes decorations
on poles along Adams
Avenue this week. The
decorations have been
maintained by the La
Grande Lions Club, said
Miesner, who also is a
member of the La Grande
City Council.
The annual tree
lighting ceremony will
take place at Max Square
immediately after the
parade. The La Grande
High School a cappella
choir will perform and
Santa Claus will be a
guest.
The tree to be lit this
year is an approximately
35-foot tall grand fir. The
tree was donated by Ves
and Lois Doty of Sum-
merville. It was selected
by Howard who helped
transport it to Max Square.
OTEC staff, including
Al Dockweiler and Tadd
McCrae, with the help of
a line truck, then installed
the tree and attached the
lights.
Max Square’s holiday
look is being enhanced
by the La Grande Rotary
Club, which is decorating
the site this week.
Following the tree
lighting ceremony free
horse-drawn carriage rides
will be provided through
town by Henneke Farm
Carriage. The rides are
first come, first served.
Additional free carriage
rides will be offered from
1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec.
11, and from 2-4 p.m. on
Saturday, Dec. 18.
OTEC not expecting rate increases through 2022
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Member-owners of
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative should not
expect any increased
rates in the coming year.
According to a press
release from OTEC on
Tuesday, Nov. 30, rates
will not see any jumps
in 2022. The cooperative
announced that mem-
ber-owners should not
expect any rise in prices
in the midst of pandem-
ic-related economic chal-
lenges that have affected
many industries.
“Because of the value
of hydropower and the
dams that supply this
clean, carbon-free and
affordable resource, we
can continue providing
some of the lowest rates
in not only Oregon, but
in the nation, for many
years to come,” OTEC
Chief Financial Office
Heidi Dalton said.
The notice stated that
OTEC will continue to
provide top-tier service
for its membership while
attempting to control
alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Maaike Schotborgh, safety and loss control manager with Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, mod-
els protective equipment for students at Greenwood Elementary, La Grande, on Tuesday, April 20,
2021, during a career and safety training day at the school. The cooperative announced on Nov. 30
the member-owners should not expect any increase in price rates through 2022.
costs. The announcement
was made in conjunction
with Bonneville Power
Administration, OTEC’s
wholesale supplier of
electricity. OTEC’s
power supply costs com-
pensate for about 50% of
the company’s costs.
The release included
a statistic from the U.S.
Energy Information
Administration showing
that the mean cost of
cents per kilowatt hour
stood at 13.15 across the
country. In Oregon that
average was 11.17, while
OTEC says it sustained
an average rate of 10.12.
Dalton stated in the
announcement that
OTEC is committed
to saving its members
money while still pro-
viding top-quality clean
energy.
NEWS BRIEF
OHA reports one new
COVID-19 death, two cases
in Union County
SALEM — The Oregon Health
Authority’s daily COVID-19 report
on Tuesday, Nov. 30, showed one
new death in Union County.
A 70-year old woman from
the county tested positive on
Nov. 20 and died on Nov. 29 at
Grande Ronde Hospital. The
woman reportedly had underlying
conditions.
Union County has totaled 55
COVID-19 deaths since the start of
the pandemic.
The Nov. 30 report showed
two new cases in Union County
and three new cases in Wallowa
County. To date, Union County has
counted 3,387 total COVID-19 pos-
itive cases, and Wallowa County
has tallied 757.
Across the state, 1,054 new con-
firmed and presumptive cases were
reported — Oregon’s total since the
start of the pandemic has reached
391,099 cases. OHA reported 19
new deaths, bringing the state’s
total to 5,161.
Tuesday’s report listed 404
patients hospitalized with
COVID-19 in Oregon, which is an
increase of eight patients from the
previous day’s report. Out of 687
adult ICU beds in the state, 52 were
reported to be available. There are
317 open adult non-ICU beds out of
4,118 in Oregon.
Oregon’s seven-day running
average of vaccination doses stands
at 13,576.
— The Observer
WALLOWA — Texas Long-
horn cattle are not something
you see everywhere in Wallowa
County. Wallowa’s Rocking M
Ranch is the exception. What also
sets the ranch apart from other
ranches is that it is home to “Mr.
Blue.”
The 2-year-old bull is also well
known in Longhorn cattle circles
for his appearance as the bull for
the month of October in the 2022
calendar published by Dickinson’s
Cattle Co.
Mr. Blue’s owner, Jeremy
McCulloch, who operates the
ranch with his uncle, Donald
McCulloch Jr., said the calendar is
“pretty exclusive. You have to be
offered a spot.”
He explained that a bull, or a
herd, “can be showcased as long as
you want.”
The calendar’s publishers
reached out to McCulloch for
the photo to be featured in the
calendar.
The ranch supports 225 regis-
tered Texas Longhorns, with nine
major herd sires and 150 mother
cows. Most of the bull calves go to
the ranch’s beef program, as does
the occasional heifer.
The bull calves that are not
reserved for breeding go to the
meat program.
McCulloch and his uncle
decided to diversify and do some-
thing specific, “and it grew from
there,” he said. This was in 2008.
“We’re the largest breeder
west of Colorado now for regis-
tered stock,” he said. The Rocking
M Ranch works well with Dick-
inson’s, said McCulloch, and got
their start from them. Breeding of
Longhorn cattle is more concen-
trated in the West.
“There are not as many east of
the Mississippi,” he said.
Longhorn cattle vary in hide
color, weight and horn length,
which as McCulloch explained is
due to genetics. Mr. Blue’s horns
measure just over 73 inches from
tip to tip, but will increase as he
matures. He will be fully mature
at 5 years old and will be used for
breeding purposes. His hide is blue
roan with darker gray ticking. Hide
color on Texas Longhorns varies
from red to roan, from dun to red
and white, to tricolor and other
combinations.
“It’s important to balance out
the traits. You want cows over
1,000 pounds and 60 inches tip to
tip on horns, bulls a ton and over
80 inches tip to tip,” McCulloch
said.
The meat of a Longhorn steer
tastes the same as any other breed
of cattle but is leaner. McCulloch
said it is heart healthy and full of
omega-3 fatty acids. The meat ben-
efits from long, slow cooking, like
bison, “but obviously tastes like
beef,” he said.
Although many think of Texas
and the Southwest when they think
of Longhorn cattle, places that are
customarily hot and arid, Long-
horn cattle do well in Wallowa
County. McCulloch explained that
they “almost never need help with
calving” and can tolerate the coun-
ty’s cold winters. He said he gives
the cattle minerals to support hide
health and horn growth. He said
they have, “a docile temperament,”
though he was quick to add that
any aggressive tendencies or fence
jumping “won’t be tolerated.”
Cattle displaying those character-
istics are relegated to the beef pro-
gram for sale.
McCulloch admits Longhorn
cattle raising is a “niche market.
It’s not for everybody.”
The ranch values customer ser-
vice and values its buyers, and has
a lot of repeat buyers. He said the
ranch provides cattle for starter
herds and provides replacement
bulls and seed stock.
“It’s not simple, but it works for
us,” he said.
The skulls and horns are also
available for sale. The skulls and
horns are sold together. A skull-
horn set that is finished at the taxi-
dermist (the flesh and hide are
removed, and the skull and horns
polished) can run $700-$1,500.
He said if artwork is involved —
painting for example — the price
can rise to more than $4,000.
Information on cattle for sale
and beef prices can be found on the
ranch’s website at www.rockingm-
cattleco.com.