A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1494, during his second
voyage to the Western Hemi-
sphere, Christopher Columbus
landed in Jamaica.
In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte,
51, died in exile on the island of St.
Helena.
In 1925, schoolteacher John T.
Scopes was charged in Tennessee
with violating a state law that pro-
hibited teaching the theory of evo-
lution. (Scopes was found guilty, but
his conviction was later set aside.)
In 1942, wartime sugar rationing
began in the United States.
In 1945, in the only fatal attack
of its kind during World War II, a
Japanese balloon bomb exploded
on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon,
killing the pregnant wife of a min-
ister and five children. Denmark and
the Netherlands were liberated as a
German surrender went into effect.
In 1961, astronaut Alan B.
Shepard Jr. became America’s
first space traveler as he made a
15-minute suborbital flight aboard
Mercury capsule Freedom 7.
In 1973, Secretariat won the
Kentucky Derby, the first of his
Triple Crown victories.
In 1981, Irish Republican Army
hunger-striker Bobby Sands died
at the Maze Prison in Northern Ire-
land on his 66th day without food.
In 1994, Singapore caned Amer-
ican teenager Michael Fay for van-
dalism, a day after the sentence
was reduced from six lashes to four
in response to an appeal by Presi-
dent Bill Clinton.
In 2009, Texas health officials
confirmed the first death of a U.S.
resident with swine flu.
In 2014, a narrowly divided
Supreme Court upheld Christian
prayers at the start of local council
meetings.
In 2016, former Los Angeles
trash collector Lonnie Franklin
Jr. was convicted of 10 counts of
murder in the “Grim Sleeper” serial
killings that targeted poor, young
Black women over two decades.
In 2020, Tyson Foods said it
would resume limited operation
of its huge pork processing plant
in Waterloo, Iowa, with enhanced
safety measures, more than two
weeks after closing the facility
because of a coronavirus outbreak
among workers. Facebook said
it had removed several accounts
and pages linked to QAnon, taking
action for the first time against the
far-right conspiracy theory circu-
lated among Trump supporters.
Ten years ago: Five Guanta-
namo Bay prisoners, including
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the
self-proclaimed mastermind of the
Sept. 11 attacks, were arraigned in
a proceeding that dragged on for
13 hours due to stalling tactics by
the defendants.
Five years ago: President
Donald Trump signed his first
piece of major legislation, a $1 tril-
lion spending bill to keep the gov-
ernment operating through Sep-
tember. The Labor Department
reported a burst of hiring in April
2017 as employers added 211,000
jobs.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Pat
Carroll is 95. Country singer-mu-
sician Roni Stoneman is 84. Actor
Michael Murphy is 84. Actor Lance
Henriksen is 82. Comedian-actor
Michael Palin is 79. Actor John
Rhys-Davies is 78. Rock correspon-
dent Kurt Loder is 77. Rock musi-
cian Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) is 74.
Actor Melinda Culea is 67. Actor
Lisa Eilbacher is 65. Actor Richard E.
Grant is 65. Former broadcast jour-
nalist John Miller is 64. Rock singer
Ian McCulloch (Echo and the Bun-
nymen) is 63. Broadcast journalist
Brian Williams is 63. Rock musician
Shawn Drover (Megadeth) is 56.
TV personality Kyan Douglas is 52.
Actor Tina Yothers is 49. R&B singer
Raheem DeVaughn is 47. Actor
Santiago Cabrera is 44. Actor Vin-
cent Kartheiser is 43. Singer Craig
David is 41. Actor Danielle Fishel is
41. Actor Henry Cavill is 39. Actor
Clark Duke is 37. Soul singer Adele
is 34. Rock singer Skye Sweetnam
is 34. R&B singer Chris Brown is 33.
Figure skater Nathan Chen is 23.
CORRECTIONS
The Observer works hard to be
accurate and sincerely regrets
any errors. If you notice a
mistake in the paper, please call
541-963-3161.
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THuRSday, May 5, 2022
Dragon
boats
prepare
to return
to lake
Raising
the bar
Eastern Oregon Beer Festival will return
to the Union County Fairgrounds this June
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon Beer Fes-
tival is set to return to its
regular scheduling fol-
lowing impacts from
COVID-19 over the last
two years.
The festival will be
held at the Union County
Fairgrounds on Saturday,
June 25, from 1-7 p.m.
The event, which is in its
eighth rendition, aims to
serve as the premier beer
festival in Eastern Oregon
for local beer enthusiasts
and tourists alike.
“We’re definitely
hoping to see our atten-
dance grow back to pre-
COVID levels,” said
Taylor Scroggins, execu-
tive director at La Grande
Main Street Downtown.
“We’re hoping for that to
include a really healthy
mix of locals who have
grown to love the festival
every year, while also
drawing in tourists from
out of the area to bring
in those tourist dollars to
support the community.”
La Grande Main Street
Downtown is organizing
the event after moving
the festival to August last
year and canceling it as a
whole in 2020. With low-
ered COVID-19 restric-
tions since the last fes-
tival, attendees will have
the choice of wearing a
mask or not in the beer
house this year.
Scroggins expects
dozens of beers to be
available at this year’s
festival, including brew-
eries from Oregon, Idaho,
Washington and Cali-
fornia. Last year’s event
included 10 brewery rep-
resentatives and beer and
cider from more than 30
breweries. According to
Scroggins, last year’s ren-
dition drew a crowd of
roughly 450 attendees
after the festival was can-
celed in the previous year.
“For that first year
back, it was really excel-
lent,” he said. “We’re
looking to once again have
a pretty good selection of
beer from a bunch of dif-
ferent brewers, with many
brewers in attendance
The Observer, File
Jake Hines, owner of Hines Meat Co., slices up barbecued meats at
the Eastern Oregon Beer Festival at the Union County Fairgrounds
on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021.
By BILL BRADSHAW
The Observer, File
Festival-goers claim their seats as The Wasteland Kings prepare
to perform at the August 2021 Eastern Oregon Beer Festival at the
Union County Fairgrounds in La Grande.
MORE INFORMATION
On the EObeerfst.org website, presale general admission and VIP
tickets are currently available. VIP passes allow participants to enter
the event early and take part in a VIP event on the evening before
the festival — the goal of the VIP pass is to connect beer aficionados
with representatives and experts who are attending the event. Last
year’s prefestival party took place the night before on the rooftop of
Market Place Fresh Foods, creating a one-on-one environment for fes-
tival-goers to mingle with visiting brewery representatives.
“That seemed to go really well,” Taylor Scroggins, executive director
of La Grande Main Street Downtown, said. “Our VIPs seemed to really
enjoy getting to try some beers before the actual festival and getting
to rub elbows with beer reps and other aficionados. We’re definitely
looking to have something similar this year.”
serving their beer.”
The beer tasting
will primarily revolve
around the beer house at
the Union County Fair-
grounds, but the entire
venue will serve as part
of the larger event. Local
food and craft vendors
are set to be positioned
throughout the fair-
grounds, while La Grande
Main Street Downtown is
in the process of finalizing
local bands to play live
music during the festival.
Scroggins noted that
the event serves as a great
opportunity for the city
to bring in tourist dollars,
which benefits future local
event planning through
La Grande Main Street
Downtown. The stream of
out-of-town attendees also
adds a monetary boost
and increased exposure
for vendors, sponsors and
bands at the event.
This year’s festival is
back to its regular time
frame, ending at 7 p.m. —
last year’s festival exper-
imented with a later end
time, but Scroggins noted
that the primary attendance
of the event was earlier in
the afternoon and evening.
In its eighth year, the
Eastern Oregon Beer Fes-
tival continues to grow
as a local favorite in La
Grande. Scroggins noted
that the organizers are
fond of the event’s growth
and hope to see it continue
to evolve as the go-to beer
festival in this region.
“It has really grown
and developed,” Scrog-
gins said. “It’s hard to
put into numbers since
COVID kind of threw
things off, but I do think
we’re on track to see the
festival grow and to have
it become a tourist-des-
tination event while still
being very welcoming to
the locals. It is already,
but it can grow even more
into being the premier
beer festival in Eastern
Oregon.”
Wallowa County to-go senior meals now cost $14
Senior centers prefer people
to come in and socialize
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — As the
COVID-19 pandemic winds down,
not everyone is benefitting; those
who received free to-go meals
from the senior centers in Enter-
prise and Wallowa are being
charged a suggested donation of
$14 per meal.
“They were free, by donations,”
said Danielle Brockamp, interim
manager of the Enterprise-based
Community Connection of Wal-
lowa County. “There was a sug-
gested donation of $4.”
But since the senior centers are
no longer closed because of the
pandemic, Community Connection
has deemed it necessary to charge
for the to-go meals, which it did
not regularly provide before the
pandemic.
“If someone wants a meal to go,
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Senior citizens line up for a meal at the
Community Connection of Northeast
Oregon meal site in Enterprise.
Community Connection prefers having
seniors come in to socialize while eating,
rather than take advantage of to-go
meals, which now cost $14.
they’re required (to) pay $14 now,”
Brockamp said.
She said the senior nutrition
program’s goal under the Older
Americans Act of 1965 is to see
that seniors are well fed. But
there’s another goal.
“It’s more than just for a meal.
It’s for seniors to get out and have
somewhere to go,” she said. “Now
that COVID cases are declining,
we want to get back to pre-COVID
socialization.”
The senior meals are served
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
starting at 11:30 a.m. in Enterprise
and at noon at the Wallowa Senior
Center. Both places cease serving
at 1 p.m., Brockamp said.
Community Connection started
offering the to-go meals in late
March 2020 after meal sites
were shut down because of the
pandemic.
Brockamp said from six to 12
to-go meals were served daily from
the Enterprise meal site and 15-20
in Wallowa. About 20 people come
into the Enterprise site, she said.
But without any subsidization
to help pay for the meals and the
cost of food rising, Brockamp said
Community Connection needs to
implement the charge. The same
$14 donation is suggested regard-
less of the age of the recipient.
“The fully allocated price of a
meal is more than we’re charging,”
she said.
IN BRIEF
Hospital names new La Grande my home and
am honored to be able to
senior director of
join the amazing team I
human resources
have come to know and
LA GRANDE —
to admire here at Grande
Grande Ronde
Ronde,” Dagnon
Hospital in La
said in the press
Grande announced
release. “I am pas-
sionate about
the hiring of new
working together
Senior Director of
for the benefit of
Human Resources
our organization
Kathy Dagnon on
Dagnon
and the communi-
Tuesday, May 3.
ties we serve.”
Dagnon fills the
Dagnon earned a mas-
position after previously
ter’s of business admin-
serving as the interim at
the position twice over the istration with a human
resources emphasis in
last few years. She served
2005 at the University
as interim HR senior
of Phoenix. She also has
director for a brief stint
undergraduate experi-
in 2018 and has also held
the position since last Jan- ence in social work and
uary. According to a press psychology.
release from the hospital,
Before joining Grande
Dagnon is eager to take
Ronde Hospital, Dagnon
on the position full-time
worked for a national
and move to Northeastern recruiting firm and was
Oregon.
located in Oregon, Cal-
“I am so happy to call
ifornia, Arizona, Wis-
consin and Texas.
Dagnon later worked as
vice president of human
resources for the Ector
County Health Care Dis-
trict in Odessa, Texas,
before opening her own
human resources con-
sulting firm.
Coming off the two
stints as interim senior
director of human
resources, Dagnon is now
set to take on the position
full-time at Grande Ronde
Hospital.
Circle 100 Club
moving closer
to birthing bed
purchase
ENTERPRISE — The
Circle 100 Club has raised
more than 75% of the
funds needed to purchase
a new bed for birthing
mothers, with much of that
funding coming during
a recent annual meeting
and fundraising event on
Thursday, April 7.
The club, sponsored
by the Wallowa Valley
Heath Care Foundation,
is buying the new bed,
which has an estimated
cost of about $20,000.
About 40 women attended
the annual get-together,
which was the first time
the event had been held in
person since 2019, prior to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
So far, about $15,400
has been raised for the
bed, said Stacy Green,
WVHCF director.
“It was so nice to see
everyone,” Green said in
a press release. “We really
missed getting together.”
For more informa-
tion about Circle 100,
contact the WVHCF at
541-426-1913.
— EO Media Group 
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA LAKE —
After being mothballed since
2019 because of the COVID-19
pandemic, the dragon boats
that regularly appear on Wal-
lowa Lake are getting ready to
breathe fire again.
The Dragons on the Lake
Paddle Club had a meeting
Tuesday, April 26, and is plan-
ning a ceremony to “resurrect”
the boats in coming weeks,
said Trudy Turner, one of the
organizers of the club.
She said this time around,
the club will include more
than the dragon boats, such as
kayaks, outriggers and canoes.
The participants also will
focus more on physical fitness
than just racing.
“We wanted a club that was
more recreational and not so
race-focused,” Turner said.
Work day planned
But to get the new version
of the club launched will take
some work. The club is plan-
ning a work day Saturday,
May 7, to get the dragon boats
fit to go in the water, Turner
said.
“Before we can get them
into the water, we have to get
them waterworthy,” she said.
The boats have been stored
behind the old Edelweiss Inn
at the base of the Wallowa
Lake Tram. Turner said she
needs volunteers to help move
them to her place in Joseph,
where there is a shop and they
can sand, refinish, repair and
pressure-wash the 41-foot-long
crafts.
Each boat has a beam
(width) of just over 45 inches
and weighs 551 pounds. They
have 10 seats for the oarsmen.
“We’ll get them all sea-
worthy and ready to go,” she
said.
Turner said she hopes to
have the dragon boats ready
to go by International Dragon
Boat Day on June 12. How-
ever, if they can’t make that
deadline, they’ll just get them
ready as soon as possible.
“We will have an ‘awak-
ening ceremony’ and launch
right after (they’re ready),”
she said. “All that is contin-
gent upon having the boats
waterworthy.”
She said that ceremony con-
sists of a special finish to the
boats.
“You awaken the dragon by
painting its eye so he can see
on the water,” she said.
Turner said the plan is to
launch the boats at the gated
dock near the Wallowa Lake
Marina where the club has two
slips where the boats tie up.
Racing and fitness, too
The boats generally are
crewed by 22 people, who
sit in close quarters rowing.
Each boat has a helmsman to
steer and a caller who sets the
pace for the oarsmen. Smaller
dragon boats have 12-person
crews, Turner said.
The boats lift a bit out of
the water during the race,
which is a quick, one-minute
sprint. She said they race at
about 45 mph.
“The boat has to rise out of
the water and get to the other
end quickly,” she said. “It’s
quite a popular sport.”
The racing aspect of dragon
boats “burns a lot of calories,
like running fast,” Turner said.
“We’re hoping to have involve-
ment from physical fitness
trainers to help improve not
only our physical bodies but
also our paddling skills.”
But, she said, it’s not all
about racing. She said dragon
boat crews use not only their
arms to row — their legs and
hips get a workout, too, as they
twist and move to use the oars.
“It has a lot of fitness
effects,” she said. “This year
we’re more of a recreational
team and focusing more on fit-
ness. There are several of us
who race and use (the club) as
practice.”