LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
On Dec. 21, 1988, 270 people
were killed when a terrorist
bomb exploded aboard a Pam
Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie,
Scotland, sending wreckage
crashing to the ground.
In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the
Mayflower went ashore for the
first time at present-day Plym-
outh, Massachusetts.
In 1864, during the Civil War,
Union forces led by Maj. Gen.
William T. Sherman concluded
their “March to the Sea” as they
captured Savannah, Georgia.
In 1891, the first basket-
ball game, devised by James
Naismith, is believed to have
been played at the Interna-
tional YMCA Training School
in Springfield, Massachusetts.
(The final score of this experi-
mental game: 1-0.)
In 1914, the U.S. government
began requiring passport appli-
cants to provide photographs
of themselves.
In 1945, U.S. Army Gen.
George S. Patton, 60, died in
Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days
after being seriously injured in a
car accident.
In 1968, Apollo 8 was
launched on a mission to orbit
the moon.
In 1969, Vince Lombardi
coached his last football game
as his team, the Washington
Redskins, lost to the Dallas Cow-
boys, 20-10.
In 1976, the Liberian-regis-
tered tanker Argo Merchant
broke apart near Nantucket
Island off Massachusetts almost
a week after running aground,
spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil
into the North Atlantic.
In 1991, eleven of the 12
former Soviet republics pro-
claimed the birth of the Com-
monwealth of Indepen-
dent States and the death of
the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics.
In 1995, the city of Beth-
lehem passed from Israeli to
Palestinian control.
In 2012, the National Rifle
Association said guns and
police officers were needed in
all American schools to stop
the next killer “waiting in the
wings,” taking a no-retreat
stance in the face of growing
calls for gun control after the
Newtown, Connecticut, shoot-
ings that claimed the lives of 26
children and school staff.
In 2015, the nation’s
three-decade-old ban on
blood donations from gay and
bisexual men was formally
lifted, but major restrictions
continued to limit who could
give blood in the U.S.
Ten years ago: The U.S. Army
announced charges against
eight soldiers related to the
death of a fellow GI, Pvt. Daniel
Chen, who apparently shot
himself in Afghanistan after
being hazed. (Of the eight, five
received prison sentences and
two received demotions; four of
the eight faced dismissal from
the service.) Green Bay Packers
quarterback Aaron Rodgers was
selected the 2011 AP Male Ath-
lete of the Year. Baylor’s Robert
Griffin III was selected The Asso-
ciated Press college football
player of the year.
Five years ago: Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump
declared that the deadly truck
attack on a Christmas market in
Germany that killed 12 people
two days earlier was “an attack
on humanity and it’s got to be
stopped”; he also suggested he
might go forward with his cam-
paign pledge to temporarily
ban Muslim immigrants from
coming to the United States.
LOTTERY
Friday, Dec. 17, 2021
Megamillions
21-32-38-48-62
megaball: 10
megaplier: 3
Jackpot: $171 million
Lucky Lines
3-8-9-15-17-22-27-32
Jackpot: $49,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 5-3-1-0
4 p.m.: 3-1-3-6
7 p.m.: 6-7-5-3
10 p.m.: 5-0-7-5
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021
Powerball
2-6-24-51-61
Powerball: 1
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $363 million
Megabucks
8-12-17-20-22-30
Jackpot: $7.2 million
Lucky Lines
1-5-10-14-19-23-27-29
Jackpot: $50,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 2-5-9-5
4 p.m.: 5-0-0-7
7 p.m.: 4-5-2-6
10 p.m.: 9-9-9-7
Win for Life
1-12-56-71
Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021
Lucky Lines
2-6-9-16-18-21-27-31
Estimated jackpot: $51,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 4-8-9-6
4 p.m.: 7-8-0-6
7 p.m.: 1-0-6-4
10 p.m.: 0-6-5-2
TuESday, dEcEmBER 21, 2021
Memorial installed in Elgin Glass art
given to
county
employees
Granite bench honors
nearly 75 people in the
Elgin area who have
died the past two years
By DICK MASON
The Observer
ELGIN — The downtown
decor of Elgin has a new addi-
tion, one which may prove to be as
timeless as the memories of those
it honors.
A memorial granite bench has
been installed on Main Street
between the Elgin Opera House
and the Elgin Museum. The
memorial is in memory of those
who died in the Elgin area in 2020
and 2021. The granite bench is
a complement to a service that
took place in August honoring the
approximately 75 people in the
Elgin area who have died the past
two years.
The service was conducted
to give people a chance to honor
family and friends in the Elgin
area for whom services were
not conducted because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, which has
prevented many large gatherings,
according to Lauri Ferring, pastor
of the Elgin Harvesters Naza-
rene Church, who helped lead the
project.
“They were not allowed the
service their family and friends
clearly needed. We wanted
everyone to have a chance to say
goodbye,” she said.
The new granite bench cost
more than $2,500 and was pur-
chased with donated funds, many
of which were contributed by
local businesses and the families
of loved ones the August service
was for.
“It was amazing how people
stepped forward to assist,” Fer-
ring said.
The granite bench, which fea-
tures polished engraved lettering,
was purchased from La Grande’s
Memorial Monuments. Kevin
Loveland, the owner of Love-
land Funeral Chapel, said granite
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
dick mason/The Observer
The Elgin memorial bench, installed in December 2021, sits between the
Elgin Museum and the Elgin Opera House and honors those who died over the
past two years.
memorials are known for holding
up well.
“When they are polished they
will last for hundreds of years,”
said Loveland, who officiated as a
volunteer at the August service.
The polishing of a granite
stone’s engraving is done after the
cutting of the granite. This pro-
cess, which includes sanding, pre-
serves the stone by keeping out
water that would otherwise settle
into the pores of the stone.
Ferring said the memorial is at
an ideal location in Elgin because
the opera house and museum are
popular places for people to visit.
She anticipates that many people
going to the venues will see and
use the bench.
Ferring said volunteers hope to
later make additions to the memo-
rial bench site, such as a display
with the names of those who it
honors. Options being consid-
ered include installing bricks in
the ground around it bearing the
names of the deceased.
The August memorial ser-
vice was originally scheduled to
be held at the Elgin Stampede
Grounds. However, the service
had to be moved to Elgin High
School when wildfire crews com-
bating the Elbow Creek Fire in
Wallowa County had to set up
camp there. The service at EHS
was attended by about 100 people.
“It was truly amazing. People
were in tears and giving each
other hugs,” Loveland said.
The program at the service
listed the names of 31 people
whose families and friends
requested be honored at the
memorial event. Others in the
Elgin area or with roots in the
community, who had died in 2020
and in the first eight months of
2021, were also honored.
Ferring said the service was
possible in part because of the
help received from four funeral
homes in Union, Umatilla and
Baker counties. The funeral
homes sent letters to families of
those in the Elgin area who died
in 2020 and 2021 asking them if
they would like their loved ones
to be recognized at the service.
The funeral homes were Love-
land Funeral Chapel and Cre-
matory, of La Grande; Dan-
iels Knopp Funeral Cremation
and Life Celebration Center, of
La Grande, Munselle-Rhodes
Funeral Home, of Milton-Free-
water; and Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home and Cremation
Services.
Ferring hopes that other towns
will do something similar in the
future because she believes it will
bring people closer together.
“This is a healthy thing for
communities to do,” she said.
Woodlot warms homes and hearts
Neighbors Together
gives away 30-50
cords each year
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A 1-acre lot
in northwest La Grande has no
holiday decorations or lights, but
the Christmas spirit was present on
Saturday, Dec. 18.
The site was Neighbors Togeth-
er’s emergency woodlot, where a
monthly giveaway of firewood was
in full swing. Anyone who drove
to the woodlot could collect a load
of free firewood with the help of
Nod Palmer, co-director of the
woodlot.
Those who came included
Lonnie Dayley, of La Grande,
who loaded a pickup with wood.
He later brought it to the home of
a Union County senior who lives
alone and is dependent on fire-
wood to keep his home warm each
winter. Dayley delivers several
loads of wood to his friend each
winter.
“I’m so lucky to be able to
come here and pick up wood for
him,” he said.
The firewood giveaway, con-
ducted by Neighbors Together
at 3309 N. Umatilla St., is held
the third Saturday of each month
from October through March.
The program, which is a contin-
uation of one conducted by the
former Neighbor to Neighbor
organization, has been operating
about 15 years.
ENTERPRISE — Tipping
fees at Wallowa County’s Ant Flat
Landfill will increase by $10 a ton
beginning July 1, 2022, according
to a decision by the Wallowa
County Board of Commissioners at
its meeting Wednesday, Dec. 15.
“We’ve been thinking about this
for a while and we had some dif-
ferent thoughts at the last meeting,”
Commissioner Todd Nash said. “I
still think we should probably be
looking at increasing that to $60
and putting it out there to the first
of July, having six months to mes-
Five years an artist
Webb worked with Ford for two
years in his shop in Wallowa. When
Ford retired, Webb purchased his
equipment and opened up shop in
Enterprise.
“The first time I turned on my
open sign was Jan. 1 three years ago,”
he said.
He’s grateful to for the support of
his wife, Emily Bright, who with her
mother, Brenda Bright, operates B.
Bright Vintage in Joseph.
“She helped me take care of my
mother while I started blowing glass
and helped me chase my dream,”
Webb said.
He move to the county 12 years
ago to take care of his now-deceased
mother, Mary Plumlee.
“It ended up being a 10-year care-
giving job,” he said, “and Emily
helped me raise my daughter.”
Webb has been a glass artist for
five years. He was introduced to
the craft while working at Terminal
Gravity Brewery and Pub in Enter-
prise and saw a pint glass produced
by Ford’s shop.
“That changed my life,” he said.
“It’s functional art and I like that it
gets used.”
Each is a ‘one-off’
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Lonnie Dayley loads up a cord of wood for a friend at Neighbors Together’s
emergency wood lot in La Grande on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021.
The wood is available to
everyone regardless of income
level. However, the limit for each
October to March period is one
cord of wood.
Palmer said as many as 40 dif-
ferent people come each fall and
winter season to pick up fire-
wood. Many come multiple times
a season. Altogether, the woodlot
gives away 30-50 cords of wood.
The Neighbors Together lot
has enough wood to easily make it
through March 2022, Palmer said.
He noted, though, that there have
been years in which he was wor-
ried about running out.
Palmer and fellow co-director
Jack St. Clair work throughout the
year collecting wood from sites,
including those where trees have
been trimmed, blown down during
storms and cut down during tree
thinning operations. Wood pro-
vided at the lot includes tamarack,
popular, red fir and maple. Palmer
said maple is one of the best woods
for fires because it burns so slowly.
“A maple log will last a whole
evening,” he said.
Palmer doubts that any of the
wood picked up during giveaway
days is ever wasted.
“The majority of the people
who come depend on wood for all
of their heat,” he said.
Palmer said that some people
are so desperate for it that they will
pack it into the trunks of their cars.
Everyone who comes to get the
wood is gracious.
“It is very heartwarming. They
are very thankful,” Palmer said.
“Some people have hugged me.”
He said anyone who would
like to assist as a volunteer at the
woodlot should contact Neighbors
Together at 541-963-9126.
“We can never have too many
volunteers,” Palmer said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Wallowa County to raise
fees $10 at landfill
ENTERPRISE — About 130
people gathered Thursday, Dec. 16,
at Cloverleaf Hall, Enterprise, for a
Christmas party thrown by the Wal-
lowa County commissioners.
Of that number, 93 employees
received hand-blown pint glasses pro-
duced by Stirling Webb of Moon-
shine Glass Art, Enterprise.
“It was a special moment for me
to see people with the glasses in their
hands and who got what glasses,”
Webb said Friday. “It was a huge
honor for me to be a part of the coun-
ty’s Christmas celebration. This place
is really special to me (and) I got to
make about 100 individual glasses for
the employees who take care of this
place that I love so much. I’d just like
to say thank you Wallowa County
for letting me make their Christmas
gifts.”
He also had a few other people he
wanted to thank.
“I’d like to add a special thank you
to Russell Ford, who started Moon-
shine Glass 30-plus years ago, and
Jake Kurtz, a friend who introduced
me to Russell’s shop.”
sage that and everybody being able
to adjust. That puts us still at the
lower end of the spectrum of a tip-
ping fee for our adjoining counties.
It’s appropriate that we monitor it
going forward where we need to
adjust. That’s my recommendation,
but the discussion’s open.”
He said at the board’s Dec. 1
meeting that Solid Waste Manager
Ed Gomes offered comparisons
with other landfills in Northeastern
Oregon. Gomes said Baker County
charges $57 a ton, Union County
charges $64.40 a ton and Pendleton
charges $66.30.
The fee increase is for large dis-
posals and won’t directly affect the
$10-per-barrel fee many individ-
uals pay, Nash said.
The other commissioners con-
sidered incremental increases until
reaching the $60 level, but they
ended up agreeing with Nash.
“I think, and this is my own
opinion, to just rip the Band-aid off
and get it up there to where it needs
to be,” Nash said. “Rather than
muddy the waters with incremental
increases, I think it’s more respon-
sible for us to just raise it to $60.
We’re still at the lower end of the
spectrum of our adjoining coun-
ties of Baker, Union and Umatilla
counties.”
— EO Media Group
But the craft is not easy and Webb
attempts to make each work unique,
calling each a “one-off.”
“There’s a high failure rate. I don’t
do things twice,” he said. “When
you’re experimenting, they’re not all
home runs. Sometimes they break.
But it keeps me feeling intrigued.”
County Commissioner Susan Rob-
erts said Thursday that Webb had
expressed his appreciation for getting
to make the Christmas presents the
county gave its employees.
“He said it was wonderful that he
was able to use every technique he’s
learned in the past five years,” Rob-
erts said.
She said the previous day that
she was glad the county was able to
have the annual affair this year. Last
year’s Christmas party was canceled
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just really nice that we’re able
to get together again,” she said.
Webb estimated the pint glasses
are valued at an average of $45. He
said that on the average, they take
about 30 minutes from start to finish.
“If I’m working by myself, 10 cups
a day is a good day,” he said.
People can watch
Webb welcomes people to attend
classes he teaches and to just stop in
and watch.
“That’s what I do,” he said. “I
share that art with people and I try
to share it as best as I can. I give a
play-by-play explanation (and) people
seem to like that.”
Welcoming people in helps build
his customer base and helps them
understand the value of his work.
“Anybody, if I’m here, is welcome
to come watch,” Webb said. “I’ll tell
them to come on back and I’ll explain
the whole process. When people see
that, they understand the value and
the creativity and the skills.”
Webb said he was told numerous
times during Thursday’s party by
recipients of his work how much they
liked them.
“People were really excited to pick
out their glasses,” he said. “I had sev-
eral people tell me how much they
appreciated them.”