INSIDE
WALLOWA COUNTY BUSINESSES SEE PROMISE OF REBOUND DURING TOURISM SEASON | BUSINESS & AGLIFE, B1
te
Celebra
r at
su mme
July 14, 2022
WW W.G
0,
JUL Y 13-2
OEA STE
RNO REG
Miners e
Jubile
ON.C OM
2022
INSIDE
lagrandeobserver.com | $1.50
THURSDAY EDITION
o
Delicios
INSET:
a
nt had
restaura
fl oat in
colorful
1 Miners
the 202
parade.
Jubilee
MINERS JUBILEE RETURNS TO BAKER CITY
OUND:
Days
PA GE 4
PA GE 6
PA GE 14
Ronnie Allen/Contributed Photo
A $1 bill is one of the items included in the time
capsule of a 1906 Oregon Trail marker on Thursday,
June 30, 2022, in La Grande.
A message
placed for
the future
New time capsule sealed within
1906 Oregon Trail marker on
Walnut Street in La Grande
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Mike Daugherty, left, dean of students, presents Peggy Anderson with a plaque commemorating the dedication of Eastern Oregon University’s
new softball fi eld in 2008 in Anderson’s honor. Anji Weissenfl uh, EOU’s women’s basketball coach, is at right.
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A piece of paper cur-
rency may be the talk of La Grande a cen-
tury from now.
A $1 bill was placed in a new time cap-
sule at 110 Walnut St. on Thursday, June 30,
with other items in the time capsule space
of the stone marker fi rst installed by Oregon
Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker in 1906.
The marker is the same one opened
on June 23 and found to be empty before
a crowd of about 150 people. Many had
thought the time capsule space in the marker
would have contents dating back to 1906
because Meeker mentioned it in his journals.
The $1 bill was put in the marker’s time
capsule space along with an Oregon Trail
brochure, a copy of the Overland Journal
(a quarterly publication of the Oregon-Cal-
ifornia Association) plus items that are or
recently have been integral parts of our daily
lives, including two face masks, a COVID-19
home test kit and an iPhone.
Most of the new materials in the time cap-
sule were placed in a protective bag. Now
they must withstand the touch of Father
Time’s corrosive hand.
“We do not want it opened for 100 years,”
said Ronnie Allen, of La Grande, an Oregon
Trail historian who helped lead the eff ort
to have the new time capsule items placed
within the stone marker.
Dale Counsell, of La Grande, who also
helped Allen set up the new time capsule
project, said a sealant was applied to the area
where the stone marker was attached to its
foundation. The sealant should help protect
the contents of the time capsule.
The stone marker is among at least 35
Meeker set up along the Oregon Trail during
the three journeys he made across the United
States to promote eff orts to preserve the
overland route. It was one of three Meeker
put up in Union County. The two others were
Opening doors
Peggy Anderson’s role
in reaching gender
equity at EOU will be
honored in October
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
L
A GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon
University athletic
director Anji Weissenfluh
said Title IX was woven into
the culture at the university
long before she arrived in La
Grande.
“I have been fortunate in my time at
Eastern,” she said. “My predecessors,
Peggy Anderson and Rob Cashell,
have been building it for decades. I
think Eastern is a leader in gender
equity. Eastern has been at the fore-
front in making sure everything was
equitable from locker rooms to facili-
ties and sports. I have been able to con-
tinue that.”
EOU will hold a Title IX celebration
Thursday, Oct. 22, during its home-
coming celebration. At that time, they
will honor Anderson.
“We are excited to celebrate
Anderson and her impact on wom-
en’s sports,” said Weissenfl uh, who has
seen lacrosse and wrestling added to
the women’s sports lineup over the past
few years. “She is going to come back
and we are going to celebrate her and
what she did at Eastern. She coached a
lot of sports and added sports.”
Anderson, 81, who resides in Van-
couver, Washington, said she is excited
to go back to La Grande.
“I want to encourage people my age
or older to come,” she said. “We are the
pioneers. Title IX opened the door in a
number of areas, but there is still work
to do.”
Title IX, which was crafted by
Oregon Rep. Edith Green and Hawaii
Rep. Patsy Mink, marked its 50th anni-
versary last month. The document is
just 37 words, but they are powerful:
“No person in the United States shall,
on the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the bene-
fi ts of, or be subjected to discrimina-
tion under any education program or
activity receiving Federal fi nancial
assistance.”
A long history
Things have changed a lot in the
past 50 years, mostly for the good,
when it comes to women’s athletics.
According to a recent report, co-au-
thored by Dr. Courtney Flowers, a
sports management professor at Texas
Southern University, 3 million more
high school girls have opportunities to
participate in sports now than they did
before Title IX.
The latest numbers show women
make up 44% of all college athletes,
compared to 15% before Title IX.
In Oregon, 30,995 female ath-
letes participated in sports during the
2021-22 school year. The numbers do
not include band, choir, orchestra or
speech and debate.
The amount of female athletes is
down from years before, but that is
not uncommon, according to Oregon
School Activities Association Assistant
Executive Director Kyle Stanfi eld.
“The numbers are provided by the
schools,” he said. “The data is there
for the national federation data. We are
cognizant that the numbers are down,
but it’s cyclical. In a couple of years the
numbers may go up.”
Oregon has held state champion-
ships for girls since 1948, but it wasn’t
until after Title IX that mainstream
sports like basketball and volleyball
had a state tournament.
The fi rst Oregon state champion-
ship for girls was swimming in 1948.
Tennis followed in 1949, track was
See, Equity/Page A3
See, Capsule/Page A3
Local ski scene could return to Tollgate
Umatilla National Forest seeks interested parties to
operate and manage Spout Springs Ski Area
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
TOLLGATE — For the last
six winters, the slopes at Spout
Springs have been empty — but
that could change in the near
future.
The Umatilla National Forest is
seeking proposals from interested
entities to operate and manage
the Spout Springs Ski Area, near
Tollgate.
“Spout Springs has been a cor-
nerstone of the local ski scene on
the Umatilla National Forest since
the 1950s. This is a special place
and the Forest Service wants to see
the site operating and once again
providing recreation opportunities
for our communities,” said Darcy
Weseman, public aff airs offi cer for
the Umatilla National Forest.
The site, which had its fi rst public
ski season in 1956, is situated in the
Blue Mountains of Northeastern
See, Skiing/Page A3
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ........B1
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Spiritual ........A6
Sudoku ..........B5
Weather ....... B6
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Spout Springs Ski Area has been closed since 2016, but the sign for the recreation
area still stands along Oregon Route 204 near Tollgate on Saturday, July 9, 2022. The
Umatilla National Forest is looking for qualifi ed parties to reopen and manage Spout
Springs year-round.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
61 LOW
91/58
Mainly clear
Sunny and warm
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 84
3 sections, 32 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page A4.