NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, August 20, 2022
North Powder Community United Methodist Church nears milestone
By DICK MASON
The Observer
NORTH POWDER — It may
be the most memorable dollar ever
spent in North Powder’s history.
In 1882, Sarah and James W.
Welch sold a block of property in
North Powder for $1 to the United
Methodist and Episcopal churches,
according to records. The Meth-
odists and Episcopalians built a
church on the block in 1883, which
they shared for four years before the
Methodists assumed full ownership.
Today, the North Powder
Community United Methodist
Church is on the verge of joining a
select circle — a limited number of
other churches in Oregon to have
operated in the same building for at
least 140 years.
It is not hard to imagine what
the church looked like in 1883. The
building is filled with links to its
past, including about three wooden
pews believed to be the same ones
the church first had in the 1880s and
a bell in a tower that congregants still
ring with the pull of a rope before
every weekly Sunday service.
These vestiges to the past are
in a well-maintained building that
looks much like it did 139 years ago,
according to Jeff Nielsen, a member
of the church’s congregation.
“It is pretty unique. Most
churches this old have at best been
remodeled at least five times,”
he said. “It is an original pioneer
church. It is pretty phenomenal.”
The church also has ledgers
filled with the names of almost all
the members of the church’s congre-
Dick Mason/The Observer
Susanne Watson, left, checks an earring worn by Linda Dixon on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022, in the sanctuary of the
North Powder Community United Methodist Church.
gations dating back to the 1800s.
“If these walls could talk, they
could tell so much about the gener-
ations of people who grew up here,”
he said.
The North Powder Commu-
nity United Methodist Church has
about twice the square footage it
had when it opened in 1883, accord-
ing to Linda Dixon, a member of
the church’s congregation. The
space was added in the 1940s when
an east side addition was built on.
Today, this addition houses the
church’s Sunday school program,
one temporarily shut down after
the COVID-19 pandemic, and the
community’s food bank.
SUNDAY
instead reliant on a wood stove in
the winter.
“It can get so hot that it almost
drives people out of here,’’ Dixon
said with a smile.
Older is sometimes better
A focal point of services in the
sanctuary are Bible-centered talks
given on alternating weeks by
Dixon and Susanne Watson, also a
congregation member.
Watson said she feels blessed
to be able to help give the talks
because preparing for them has
been so enriching.
“I have lear ned so much
more about the Lord and the
In an ironic twist, operating the
older half of the building is today
less expensive than running its
newer half, since the older section
has no plumbing. This means it does
not need heat to keep water pipes
from freezing, said Joyce Lawyer,
a member of the church’s congrega-
tion for more than 60 years.
The church’s sanctuary is
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
The food bank, an outreach of
the church, is run with major help
from Dixon and her husband, Floyd,
who travel to Island City each month
to pick up food from the Northeast
Oregon Regional Food Bank.
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MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Messages to remember
Wallowa resale shop steps up
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Sunny to partly
cloudy and hot
Mostly sunny and
hot
95° 63°
98° 65°
Partly sunny
Hot with plenty of
sunshine
Hot with plenty
of sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
93° 63°
94° 63°
97° 65°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
98° 63°
98° 65°
96° 64°
94° 60°
OREGON FORECAST
100° 64°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. Fri.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
78/60
Olympia
72/59
90/56
97/60
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
95/67
Lewiston
79/58
99/63
Astoria
71/58
Pullman
Yakima 96/62
78/55
98/69
Portland
Hermiston
83/62
The Dalles 98/63
Salem
Corvallis
84/54
Friday
Normals
Records
La Grande
92/58
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
89/54
92/56
95/55
Ontario
98/65
Caldwell
Burns
93°
66°
90°
56°
106° (1967) 42° (1973)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
85/54
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
97/63
0.00"
0.02"
0.10"
7.50"
2.46"
5.24"
WINDS (in mph)
94/62
94/54
0.00"
0.04"
0.19"
11.17"
4.35"
8.50"
through 3 p.m. Fri.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 88/56
86/57
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
95/63
93/65
94°
71°
88°
58°
109° (1897) 37° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
78/57
Aberdeen
94/64
95/67
Tacoma
Friday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
Today
Sun.
WSW 8-16
W 7-14
WSW 4-8
WNW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
93/52
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
Full
Last
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 106° in Redding, Calif. Low 34° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
Aug 27
WALLOWA — Joining
with other businesses and
individuals to step up and
help in the current emer-
gency in Wallowa, the
Wallowa Community Resale
Store is expanding its hours
with the help of volunteers.
“We’re only able to do
that because of the gener-
osity of the community in
donating their stuff,” owner
Deborrah Reth said.
T h e Re s a le St o r e ,
which sells a wide variety
of second-hand clothing,
household goods, books
and other items, may have
just what Wallowa resi-
dents need after the storm
that pummeled the town
with hail and wind Aug. 11.
The hail broke windows on
nearly every west-facing
side of Wallowa’s build-
ings, sending shards of glass
inside and across beds and
other furniture.
Mayor Gary Hulse has
recommended that residents
replace such furniture rather
than trying to excise the
6:01 a.m.
7:55 p.m.
none
3:58 p.m.
First
Sep 3
Sep 10
Sep 17
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Bible,” she said.
The North Powder Community
United Methodist Church today
has a congregation of fewer than 20
people — much smaller than what it
once had. Nevertheless, the church’s
future appears solid because it
has a long-running tradition as a
focal point for community events.
This means that whenever help is
needed to keep the building operat-
ing, people step forward instantly,
many of whom are not members of
the congregation.
“Whenever we need help, all we
have to do is ask,” Dixon said.
Volunteers who help the church,
but are not members, include Ted
Golden, who picks up food in Island
City each week and brings it to the
food bank.
The church also hosts commu-
nity events, such as the annual silver
tea that has happened for 102 years,
Lawyer said. Pews are temporar-
ily removed from the sanctuary to
make room for the tea, which draws
at least 50 people each year.
Another popular event at the
church is its annual Easter egg hunt,
which attracts about 100 children.
This year’s Easter egg hunt, Dixon
said, was run with several inches of
snow on the ground.
Such events are under the
direction of a congregation that is
remarkably close, Watson said.
“The people who attend are not
just friends and neighbors, we are
more like a family,” she said.
A family with no shortage of
generosity.
“We want to help as many people
as we can,” Watson said.
glass and continue to use it.
Although the Resale Store
doesn’t have beds — there’s
just not room — it does have
bedding and pillows. It also
can serve as a clearinghouse
for people who have such
items to donate. They can
call the shop and Reth or one
of the volunteers who is help-
ing can help match up donor
and recipient.
“A lot of people are still
assessing what their losses
are,” Reth said.
She said she was fortu-
nate in that the shop has no
west-facing window
With a new school year
just around the corner,
parents also can come into
get school clothes for their
kids. That comes in handy
for those whose cars were
damage by the hail.
“There are people who
don’t have cars to go to
La Grande to get school
clothes,” she said.
A major change at the
Resale Store is that during
the emergency, it’s stay-
ing open all week long.
Normally it’s open Thurs-
day th rough Sat urday,
THE COMMUNITY
RESALE STORE
Who: Deborrah Reth
What: Second-hand shop
Where: Highway 82 and
Pine Street, Wallowa
Phone: 541-398-0137
Email: deborrahreth@
gmail.com
but now it’s open Monday
through Wednesday, as well,
Reth said.
“We’re open all week
for anybody who needs
to replace their damaged
things,” she said.
“The county needs this,”
said Hilary Miller, one of
the many volunteers helping
stretch the Resale Store’s
hours.
Reth, who has run the the
Resale Store for about 10
years, has been doing well
since the pandemic, partic-
ularly since it has wound
down.
“Last winter, we were so
busy because people needed
to shop coming out of the
pandemic,” she said.
IN BRIEF
125 miles east of Baker City.
Bend Fire & Rescue officials said Daniel
Harro was an avid flight enthusiast. The
YELLOW PINE, Idaho — A Bend fire- type of aircraft involved in the crash was not
fighter and his twin brother were killed in a immediately available.
small plane crash Monday morning, Aug. 15,
Prior to joining Bend Fire & Rescue,
near Yellow Pine, Idaho.
Daniel Harro worked with the Scap-
The cause of the crash that killed
poose Fire Department.
engineer Daniel Harro, 38, and his
Since joining the Bend fire depart-
brother, Mark, also 38, is under inves-
ment, Harro has been involved with
tigation, according to a release by
the agency’s rescue team and served
Bend Fire & Rescue, where Daniel
on the local firefighter union’s execu-
Harro has worked since 2014.
tive board.
Daniel Harro was the plane’s pilot. Daniel Harro
According to the department,
“This is just so shocking for our
Harro was a strong paramedic who
family,” Bend Fire Chief Todd Riley said. worked with department administrators
“Daniel was well-loved and well-respected and physician advisers to update emergency
by everyone who worked with him. We will medical service protocols.
miss his presence every day.”
Harro is survived by his wife, Elisif.
Engineer Harro and his brother Mark were
The department is coordinating honor
returning to Bend from a back-country plane services with the Oregon Fire Service Honor
camping trip near McCall, Idaho, about 40 Guard and Harro’s family.
miles west of Yellow Pine. McCall is about
— EO Media Group
Twin brothers from Bend
die in Idaho plane crash
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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0s
showers t-storms
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20s
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50s
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