FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022
Membership elects Baum, Miller, Chase to OTEC board
Two Union County positions, one Baker
County position were up for election
The Observer
BAKER CITY —
Oregon Trail Electric Coop-
erative has announced the
results of its May board of
directors election.
David Baum, a La
Grande attorney and a part-
time farmer, won the elec-
tion for Position 8, a Union
County seat, defeating
Dennis Myhrum of Cove.
Baum received 2,452
votes to Myhrum’s 1,243
votes. Baum has served on
OTEC’s board since 2005
when he was appointed to a
Baum
Miller
position on it.
Cory Miller, of La
Grande, a certifi ed arborist
with Miller’s Tree Service,
won the race for Position 7,
also a Union
County berth.
Miller held off
Steve Lyon, of
Cove. Miller won
with 2,078 votes,
while Lyon
Chase
received 1,690
voters. Miller replaces
Greg Howard on the board.
Howard did not seek reelec-
tion to the board.
Charlene Chase, a retired
educator, was reelected
to Position 9, with 3,315
votes to win an uncontested
race. Chase has served on
OTEC’s board of directors
since 2013. Position 9 is a
Baker County seat.
Baum, Miller and
Chase were all elected
to three-year terms and
will be up for reelection
in 2025, according to the
OTEC website. Their new
terms started earlier this
month.
The OTEC Board of
Directors has nine members
that represent the cooper-
ative’s service territory in
Baker, Grant, Union and
Harney counties.
The election results were
announced during OTEC’s
Annual Meeting of the
Membership on Saturday,
May 21, in Baker City.
Photos by Dick Mason/The Observer
Kyle Kahut, above, a volunteer, and David Matott, below left, commander of La Grande’s American Legion Post 43, assemble fl ags on Friday, May 27, 2022, in preparation for the Memorial Day Avenue of Flags at
Grandview Cemetery. Bottom right, at Grandview on May 28, Lowell Knopp, left, a volunteer, and John Craig, a member of American Legion Post 43, install one of the more than 100 fl ags that fl ew throughout
Memorial Day weekend in honor of fallen veterans.
FLAGS
Continued from Page A1
The fl ags were illumi-
nated May 28-29 by por-
table lights provided free of
charge by Eastern Oregon
Rental and Sales.
A federal resolu-
tion, which the American
Legion wrote and Congress
adopted, requires illumina-
tion to identify American
fl ags on display after dark,
according to John Craig,
fi nance offi cer of American
Legion Post 43.
The Avenue of Flags
weekend concluded on
Memorial Day, May 30,
with a memorial service
that started at 11 a.m. and
featured the singing of the
National Anthem by the
La Grande High School
A Cappella Choir, songs
played by LHS band mem-
bers, the presentation of
the colors by Boy Scout
Troop 514 and an address
by Roger Cochran, pastor of
Trinity Baptist Church, La
Grande.
Cochran has been giving
presentations at the Avenue
of Flags for almost 25 years.
Cochran again read from a
collection of his 18 favorites
quotations about patriotism,
all listed in the Avenue of
Flags program, including
one by Joseph Campbell
— “A hero is someone who
have given his or her life to
something bigger than one-
self” — and one from an
anonymous source, “Home
of the free, because of the
brave.”
Growing popularity
Loveland noted that the
Avenue of Flags has become
so popular that families will
come for the Memorial Day
service even if the fallen
veterans in their families
are not buried at Grandview
Cemetery.
“They realize that this
ceremony is saluting all vet-
erans,” Loveland said.
Lou Gerber, of La
Grande, a member of Amer-
ican Legion Post 43, said the
continuing popularity of the
Avenue of Flags is in part
due it being an event that
veterans and the community
put on as one.
“Everyone works
together,” he said. “We sup-
port each other.”
Lowell Knopp, a volun-
teer from La Grande, credits
the longevity of the Avenue
of Flags to a community
that is dedicated to serving
veterans. He foresees it con-
tinuing for many years.
“I have never thought
of it ending,” said Knopp,
whose son, Justin, is in the
U.S. Marine Corps.
Many of the fl ags on
display have the names of
fallen veterans sewn into
them.
“All of the fl ags are per-
RANCHES
Continued from Page A1
agriculture, giving them
something in common.
“Beyond having a won-
derful time with ranchers
from Lane County, we had
relevant discussions on
issues of the day,” Nash said.
Top issues
Chief among those
issues, according to Nash
and others who attended,
were wolf depredation
on livestock and wild-
life, drought, federal forest
issues, grazing allot-
ments and general predator
discussions.
Ron Weiss, president of
the Lane County group, was
impressed with the tour.
“That was probably one
of the best put-together
Todd Nash/Contributed Photo
Dennis Sheehy, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Wildlife Committee
chairman, discusses the local elk herds during a ranch tour of
Wallowa County local stockgrowers hosted Saturday, May 21, 2022,
for their counterparts from Lane County.
ranch tours I’ve been to in
the past 25 years,” he said
in a telephone interview
May 26.
Weiss said the issues that
struck him the most were
those surrounding wolves
and the ongoing drought.
“We feel you’re getting
run over the coals by the
wolf predation situation. …
You guys are really getting
sonal for somebody,” said
David Matott, commander
of American Legion Post 43.
Bob Kennon, second
vice president of American
Legion Post 43, agrees and
noted that the Avenue of
Flags helps keep alive the
memories of fallen veterans.
LHS athletes do the
heavy lifting
The large fl ags displayed
at Grandview Cemetery
were assembled the after-
noon of Friday, May 27, at
American Legion Post 43
and were attached to posts
before being taken to the
cemetery on the morning of
May 28. Each fl ag pole was
supported by heavy rebar,
put in by La Grande High
School athletes, including
(it) and we’ve got your back
as an association,” he said.
Lane County, he noted,
is well west of the north-
south dividing line that
separates federally pro-
tected wolves from those
in the east that can be shot
if caught harassing cattle.
He said there are wolves in
his area, but they’re not yet
going after cattle.
“Right now, the wolves
in Lane County are dimin-
ishing our elk herds,” he
said. “They haven’t gotten
to our cattle yet, but it’s just
a matter of time.”
Weiss also was
impressed with how Wal-
lowa County ranchers are
dealing with the drought
and “keeping fat cattle” in
its midst.
“We were impressed
with how you guys run your
ranches, especially under the
many football players.
Matott said the help was
greatly appreciated.
“If we had put in the
rebar, many of us would
have needed CPR,” he said.
Members of the La
Grande Lions Club assisted
American Legion Post 43 in
preparation for the Avenue
of Flags by placing small
fl ags next to the headstones
of the many veterans buried
at Grandview Cemetery on
Thursday, May 26.
According to Brent
Lewis, a member of the La
Grande Lions, “We wanted
to participate in a civic ser-
vice to honor our veterans.”
drought conditions,” he said.
Kevin McCadden, one
of the vice presidents of the
Wallowa County Stock-
growers, showed the group
his ranch on Alder Slope
where he raises breeding
stock, Gelbvieh-Angus
cross Balancer bulls.
According to the Gelb-
vieh website, Gelbvieh and
Balancer cattle are well
known throughout the beef
industry for their maternal
strengths and superior
growth.
said. “We have diff erent
challenges.”
McCadden said he
believes the greatest ben-
efi t to the ranch tour was to
foster unity with producers
from across the state and
better understand the chal-
lenges each faces.
“Now we have a better
understanding in what’s
going on in everybody’s
operation, not just our neck
of the woods,” he said. “As
we become more aware of
what everyone’s up against,
we can become a more uni-
fi ed organization.”
Neither stockgrowers
group has yet decided if
there will be a reciprocal
visit from Wallowa County
to Lane County. But the
possibility is open.
“We can do that,” Weiss
said of hosting Wallowa
County in the future.
Fostering unity
In addition to telling
about his own operation,
McCadden was eager to
hear from the Lane County
ranchers.
“It was interesting to
listen to them and hear
about their ranches where
it’s pretty fl at country,” he