A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
A golden weekend
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
A ‘healing’ visit
to Walla Walla
for Stella the
goldendoodle
By JEDIDIAH MAYNES
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— The “town so nice they
named it twice” truly was
twice as nice for Stella the
dog.
Stella, a goldendoodle
from Anacortes, Washing-
ton, got to visit Walla Walla,
Washington, recently while
taking a break from cancer
treatments at Washington
State University Veterinary
Teaching Hospital.
It was a golden weekend in
September when Stella came
with her family. Lisa Strand-
berg, who’s had Stella for 10
years, wasn’t in the greatest
of spirits before the visit. In
July, Stella had been diag-
nosed with “very aggres-
sive cancer” in her face — a
tumor above her eye that was
the “size of a golf ball.”
Strandberg’s veterinarian
told her to take Stella to the
WSU hospital, renowned for
its work.
So Stella was spending
five days a week at the hos-
pital and getting “breaks” on
the weekends.
“It was a pretty major sur-
gery,” Strandberg said. “Her
whole face and radiation
and everything. Just like a
human.”
Strandberg and her part-
ner, Patrick Neri, made the
four-hour trek across the
state one weekend to visit
Stella and opted to take a
detour to Walla Walla, a
place Strandberg became
familiar with on previous
visits with friends.
But this visit would be
different. Little did Strand-
berg know how different it
would be, and in a good way.
“It was all about (Stella)
and where she was gonna
be comfortable,” Strandberg
said. “It ended up being even
more relaxing in so many
ways.”
They called ahead of time
and asked some wineries if it
was OK to bring Stella. Not
only did they welcome Stella,
they invited the dog to run
free through the vineyards.
“They would say, ‘Oh,
go sit out in the grass and
let your dog run through the
vines,’” Strandberg said with
a laugh of disbelief. “I mean,
where else can you get that?
“If I were to come back as
a vineyard dog, that’s how I’d
wanna come back. That’s the
life, let me tell you, and she
got to live it for a weekend.”
The goldendoodle got to
gallop alongside the grapes at
Rasa Vineyards, Woodward
Canyon and Tero Estates, to
name a few.
And then there was the
bacon — Bacon & Eggs, to
be specific.
The well-known break-
fast spot on East Main Street
was recommended by staff at
the Visit Walla Walla down-
town information kiosk. The
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/Contributed Photo
Stella the goldendoodle cuddles with her stuffed toy, gifted by the staff at Bacon & Eggs of
Walla Walla, Wash.
Contributed Photo
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/Contributed Photo
Staff members and owners at Bacon & Eggs hang out with
Stella the goldendoodle. Back row, left to right: Michelle
Giannunzio, Kylie Woody and Michelle Adams. Front row:
Dawn Olsen with Stella.
restaurant staff took note
immediately of Stella as she
came with Strandberg and
Neri.
The three got settled on
the dog-friendly patio and
Stella was treated to water,
bacon and affection.
“They were so nice, like,
incredibly nice,” Bacon &
Eggs co-owner Michelle
Adams said of Strandberg
and Neri. “It really was
mostly two of my employees
who just connected. I know
it really meant a lot to them.”
Dawn Olsen, a server,
and co-worker Kylie Woody
immediately grew fond of
Stella.
“I’m just a huge dog per-
son,” Olsen said. She said
she gets playful with basi-
cally every dog that comes to
the patio.
Olsen heard Stella’s story
and was compelled to do
more.
“The whole story just
really touched my heart,”
Olsen said.
Strandberg and Neri said
they’d be coming back the
next day for more breakfast,
so Olsen hatched a plan and
Woody got on board.
After leaving the restau-
rant that morning, the cou-
ple got to see a full day of
Stella running free, soaking
in the September sunshine
and shunning any sickness or
sadness.
Good on their word,
Strandberg and Neri returned
to Bacon & Eggs the next
morning.
They expected more good
food and perhaps more bacon
for Stella. They received
much more than that.
“Their kindness, it brings
me to tears,” Strandberg
said, pausing to reflect on the
moment.
Stella was presented with
a bedazzled collar, made by
Woody, that read “I beat can-
cer.” Gifts also included a
new stuffed animal, some
of Stella’s favorite treats and
even some canine-approved
CBD treatments to help
relieve the pain of the tumor
and surgery.
Then Adams, along with
wife and co-owner Michelle
Giannunzio and the rest of
the staff, offered their meal
for free.
“If you own a restaurant,
(I think) you should do kind
things that you can finan-
cially handle doing,” Adams
said.
Strandberg,
knowing
how hard hit restaurants are
right now during COVID-
19-related restrictions, could
hardly believe it.
“I couldn’t stop cry-
ing, overwhelmed with this
kindness,” Strandberg said.
“This girl, Dawn, works two
jobs and she was going to be
working late that night.”
Strandberg, Neri and
Stella left the Walla Walla
Valley overwhelmed by the
kindness of its people. When
Stella returned to WSU, the
students at the school told
Strandberg that Stella had a
spring in her step.
“You can just tell they
have a really cool vibe,”
Strandberg said of the staff.
“They’ve just got something
going on and we ran into that
a lot in Walla Walla, which
was a surprise.
“There’s
something
you’ve done over there to
keep your businesses alive;
it really shows a community
effort and that was surprising
to us.”
Two months later, not
everything is quite a happy
ending yet.
After being given the all-
clear on Stella’s cancer, the
family found a new growth
on her.
Meanwhile, Bacon &
Eggs has been closed entirely
for a few weeks because of
the latest pandemic shut-
down. Adams said they’ve
been selling rum cakes to
meet rent this month.
But the memory of the
experience lingers, like a
streak of blue sky on gray
day.
Strandberg is hopeful the
new growth is nothing seri-
ous and will get it checked at
WSU.
Adams said the rum cakes
have been selling like hot-
cakes and they are hopeful to
open again soon. The state’s
ban on indoor dining lifts
Dec. 14. Those interested in
getting a rum cake can email
the restaurant at baconande-
ggswallawalla@gmail.com.
The toy and the collar
Woody and Olsen gave Stella
will always be a token to
Strandberg and her family of
a place so nice they named it
twice.
“It was a really cool expe-
rience,” Strandberg said. “A
healing one.”
Film fest to include 48-hour challenge
Lostine theater
group hosting
online film and
photography festival
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
LOSTINE — Closing out
2020 on a note of creativity
and connection, MidValley
Theatre Co., of Lostine, is
hosting an online film and
photography festival, with
submissions to run Dec.
26-28.
A broad range of submis-
sions are welcome, includ-
ing short films (less than
seven minutes), ultra-short
films (less than one minute),
nature, art and other still
photography. General entries
will be accepted starting
Tuesday, Dec. 15, and can
include original work done
throughout the calendar year.
The festival will also include
a traditional 48-hour film
challenge.
The challenge is a film
competition in which teams
of filmmakers are assigned
a genre, a character, a prop
and a line of dialogue, and
have 48 hours to create a
short film containing those
elements.
“There just haven’t been
a lot of theatrical oppor-
tunities this year, and this
seemed like the perfect out-
let,” said Jennifer Hobbs, the
event organizer and a board
member of MidValley The-
atre Co. “We’re encouraging
people of all ages and experi-
ence levels to participate, and
there are a ton of possibilities
for what you can choose to do
— films, music, skits, jokes,
photos, very short vignettes
— we just really want peo-
ple to enjoy themselves and
share their creative visions
and energies.”
The deadline for submis-
sions is Dec. 28. Prizes will
be awarded Dec. 30, with the
hope that local merchants
can contribute toward them,
Hobbs said. An online gal-
lery of entries will be made
available to the public to
help ring in the New Year.
Thanks to an $1,800 grant
from the Wallowa County
Cultural Trust Coalition,
entry is free.
MidValley was founded
in 1995 based in Lostine,
where its president lives.
Although the group has no
physical home, it has his-
torically used the Lostine
Grange, the Lostine Presby-
terian Church and primarily
— for many years — the old
Lostine school gymnasium
for performances. It also
has used the OK Theatre in
Enterprise, most recently for
its original show “Common
Threads” in November 2019,
the Josephy Center for Art
and Culture in Joseph and
the Enterprise Odd Fellows
Hall for shows.
The event is a new one
for MidValley and a one-
off because of the COVID
pandemic.
Hobbs emphasized it is
not an attempt to replace the
Ruby Peak Film Festival or
even plan to make it a regu-
lar part of MidValley’s nor-
mal offerings.
“But since we can’t do
normal, live theater this
year, this seemed like the
best way, under the circum-
stances, to offer a theatrical
opportunity for both actors
and audiences,” she said.
“We look forward to return-
ing to live theater as soon as
we can do so safely, but in
the meantime, this is the next
best thing.”
For more information or
to request an entry form,
email jhobbs@eoni.com or
call 541-398-1055.
“Aloha Rodeo” by David Wolman and Julian Smith will
be featured at December’s First Draft Writer’s Series, via
Zoom.
First Draft to
feature ‘Aloha
Rodeo’ via Zoom
PENDLETON — The
First Draft Writers’ Series
is returning to the Pendle-
ton Center for the Arts as
a Zoom-bBased offering
on Thursday, Dec. 17, at
7 p.m. Journalists David
Wolman and Julian Smith,
both of whom have pub-
lished work in some of the
country’s most high-pro-
file publications, will read
from their book “Aloha
Rodeo.” The book won the
Oregon Book Award for
2020 and was on the NPR
list of best 100 books.
In August 1908, three
unknown riders arrived in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, their
hats adorned with wild-
flowers, to compete in the
world’s greatest rodeo.
Steer-roping virtuoso Ikua
Purdy and his cousins Jack
Low and Archie Ka’au’a
had traveled 3,000 miles
from Hawaii, of all places,
to test themselves against
the toughest riders in the
West.
Dismissed by whites,
who considered them-
selves the only true cow-
boys, the native Hawai-
ians would astonish the
country, returning home
champions — and Amer-
ican legends. An unfor-
gettable human drama set
against the rough-knuck-
led frontier, “Aloha Rodeo”
unspools the fascinating
and little-known true story
of the Hawaiian cowboys,
or paniolo, whose 1908
adventure upended the
conventional history of the
American West.
Those wanting to attend
the event via Zoom are
asked to email director@
pendletonarts.org before
noon on Dec. 17 to receive
an invitation. There will be
spots for up to 10 attend-
ees to read from their own
3-5 minute original works
during Open Mic.
Those not familiar with
how to use Zoom may
attend a one-hour Introduc-
tion to Zoom class offered
Tuesday, Dec. 15, for free.
More information is avail-
able at pendletonarts.org or
by calling 541-310-7413.
Hermiston assistant
principal named to
ODE committee
HERMISTON
—
Armand Larive Middle
School Assistant Princi-
pal Juan Rodriguez has
been selected to serve on
the Oregon Department
of Education’s Latino/a/x
Advisory
Committee,
which will advise ODE on
educational matters affect-
ing Latino/a/x students
and families, in an effort
to address systemic ineq-
uities experienced by these
students, through focused
investments and commu-
nity part-
nerships.
Rod r i-
g u e z
applied to
serve on
the com-
mittee. The
Rodriguez
process
included an application
form and a letter of inter-
est, in which he outlined
his experience, explained
issues affecting this sub-
group of students in the
Hermiston community, and
shared insights as to why
he wanted to serve. Rodri-
guez may serve two, 2-year
terms.
“The Hermiston Lati-
no/a/x population continues
to grow, and we need to find
a way to best support these
families and students,” said
Rodriguez in a press release
from the Hermiston School
District. “I was a first-gen-
eration college student and
a naturalized citizen. My
path to where I am now is
not too dissimilar to many
of our students. I hope that
my service will give me the
ability to understand more
of what families need, not
just in my own community
but statewide.”
The Latino/a/x Advi-
sory Committee, part of
ODE’s priorities under the
Student Success Act (SSA),
depicts ODE’s commitment
to improving access and
opportunities for Latino/a/x
and MesoAmerican Indige-
nous students. In light of
the COVID-19 pandemic,
ODE states that this group
of students is experiencing
disproportionate impacts
due to health, social, and
economic effects of the
virus, which is compound-
ing inequities already fac-
ing these students.
Rodriguez grew up in
HSD schools and gradu-
ated in 2005 from Herm-
iston High School. He is
married to Amanda, a West
Park Elementary School
teacher, and they have three
students: Sofia (11), Jakoby
(9), and Kamila (5). This is
his 11th year working for
HSD.
Agape House
plans final 2020
garage sale
HERMISTON — The
final garage sale of 2020
at Agape House, 500 W.
Harper Road, is planned
for Saturday, Dec. 16, from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cen-
ter’s parking lot. The food
bank also will be open that
day from 9 a.m. to noon
and 1-3 p.m.
Mark Gomolski, the
new Agape House direc-
tor, reports the center will
be closed on Dec. 24-25 in
observance of the Christ-
mas holiday. For more
information, call him at
541-567-8774 or email
agapehouse@eotnet.net.
— EO Media Group
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