2021: YEAR in REVIEW
C8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
NEWS PHOTOS 2021
Gerald Hopkins, president of the Elgin Historical Society,
pauses for a moment under a lantern Saturday, May, 1, 2021,
within the former Elgin Jail at the Elgin Museum.
Spectators along the track hold balloons, ready to release them at kickoff at the Elgin High School football fi eld Monday, March 29,
2021. Four teams gathered to play in an exhibition match against the Elgin Huskies in remembrance of the late football coach and
athletic director Jeff Rysdam, who died March 9.
Photos by Alex Wittwer
Cowpokes fi ll up the chutes and prepare for the mutton busting event at the Elgin Stampede’s
Family Fun Night on Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
Grande Ronde Rappeller Tulley Bloom, left, checks over Micah Olivera’s gear prior to a fi refi ghting
operation northwest of Mount Emily in La Grande on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. A wave of wildfi res in
Oregon burned through more than 800,000 acres and more than 150 homes in 2021.
Firefi ghters with the La Grande Fire Department respond to a
structure fi re at the Oregon Department of Transportation sign
shop the morning of Monday, March 29, 2021. There were no
reported injuries.
La Grande High School student Moss Morris works on a mug during
an art class led by Rich McIlmoil on Thursday, May 27, 2021. While
there is some concern, most local educators say the pandemic hasn’t
had a major impact on the education of their schools’ students.
Alex Boyé sings at the Union County Fairgrounds, La Grande,
on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Nearly 200 attendees made their
way to the fairgrounds for the internationally known musician
in support of suicide prevention and awareness.
Bull riders wait for their turn on Thursday, June 10, 2021, in the
pens behind the arena at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show
in Union.
A young girl seeks shelter from the sun underneath the
bleachers during open sheep judging at the Union County Fair
on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.
Mastyn Allen, 9, looks up with a face full of cherries at the
pie-eating contest during Cove’s Cherry Fair on Saturday,
Aug. 21, 2021.
Brittany and Ethan Benge pose for a photo atop their converted
Thomas FS-65 school bus on Friday, July 30, 2021. The couple
left Dunedin, Florida, in March 2020 after the beginning of the
pandemic and have traveled across the United States for the past 18
months — including an elopement in the mountains of Colorado.
A thin plastic sheet separates the intensive care unit from the
COVID-19 ward at Grande Ronde Hospital on Monday, Aug. 30,
2021. The rate of infection in Eastern Oregon remained steady
into the fall, and individual hospitals were left with the task of
implementing their own crisis care standards.
Kachira Phillips tearfully receives her crown and becomes the
2021 Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Queen on Tuesday, June
8, 2021. The Eastern Oregon Livestock Show returned after a
year hiatus due to the pandemic and drew competitors from
across the nation.
Immature wheat grass grows
along Lyons Ferry Road on
Sunday, May 30, 2021.