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wallowa.com
March 18, 2015
Wallowa County Chieftain
Students keep on reading in Battle of the Books
By Rich Rautenstrauch
Wallowa County Chieftain
For over a decade the people
of Wallowa County have been
celebrating their children at the
annual Battle of the Books. The
latest battle, held in the Enter-
prise High School Commons
room Friday evening, March
13, is in its eleventh year and
this year there were more kids
in it than ever with another
standing-room-only crowd.
For Enterprise City Librar-
ian Denine Rautenstrauch,
event organizer, the evening
was more than she could ask
for. “I am so grateful for the
support the Battle of the Books
receives. There’s so many peo-
ple involved and everybody
does their jobs and we have an
event like this that grows.”
The Battle of the Books
is rather like the old College
Bowl show on TV. Students in
each of the three main Wallowa
County schools, Enterprise, Jo-
seph and Wallowa, read four
books chosen by librarians
and then get together after a
few months of reading and are
questioned on what they have
read. A stage is set up with
buzzers for the kids to ring in
and the show begins.
The class range for the
battle is second through sixth
grades. Sets of books are dis-
tributed to each city’s pub-
lic library and to each of the
three participating schools for
the students to read. The kids
check out the books and share
them with one another. For the
younger grades, easier books
are available, while older kids
may be reading chapter books.
All of the public librari-
ans are involved in the event:
Genene Kingsford of Joseph,
Debbie Lind of Wallowa, and
Enterprise’s Rautenstrauch.
Enterprise school librarian Jes-
sica Anderson, Wallowa school
librarian Heather Howard and
individual teachers and vol-
unteers from each community
work with the kids and hold
practice sessions for the stu-
dents.
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are handed out to each student
who participates. Medals are
awarded to each member of a
winning class. This year in the
second grade competition there
was a three-way tie and about
30 kids came off the stage to
each receive a bronze on a lan-
yard.
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funded by donations from the
Hurricane Creek Grange and
an individual, Bernice Bernotat
of Joseph. Linda Kruger Ebbert
is Rautenstrauch’s right-hand
person in helping organize the
event.
For Denine it’s all about the
kids. She loves to watch them
line up in front of the stage.
She also relishes the noise and
the excitement the kids bring
to the event. She added, “One
of my favorite parts of the bat-
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up and the books are delivered
to the library. The kids come
racing into the library. They’re
all excited and they want all
the books now. With the books
having to be distributed right,
this doesn’t happen, but it’s
fun to watch. It’s just great
to see the kids excited about
reading.”
County Commissioner Su-
san Roberts also helped, keep-
ing score at the Battle of the
Books.
Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain
The Enterprise Outlaws battled for second place in the fifth grade contest. All of the students particpating wear donated
Battle of the Book shirts to the event.
Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain
Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain
Wallowa fifth graders, from left, Lane Tanzey, Skylar
Norton, Dylan Jennings and Ryder Goller contemplate
Willie Gibbs’ answer to one of the questions in the battle.
The all-boy team won, celebrating with chest bumps
afterwards.
Joseph fourth graders took home the gold, winning their grade
level in this year’s Battle of the Books. Pictured, front row from
left: Brandon Charlton, Zachery Powers, Keelan McBurney, James
Burney, Kale Ferguson and Blade Suto. Back row: Maggie Miller,
McKinzie Keffer, Rachel Lester, Mary Thiel and Molly Curry.
Business advice now comes through BMCC
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ness counseling service that’s
coached a total of 892 local
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nesses in the past 14 years has
gone away, but its replacement,
according to retiring Wallowa
County Business Facilitator
Catherine Matthias, “is a nice
step forward for the county.”
Since Oct. 20, 2014, when
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entrepreneurs and small business
owners in Wallowa County than
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business facilitator who’ll live
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lowa County. And that will hap-
pen soon, says Hill, adding that
applications for the 10-20 hour-
per-week job have closed and
the interview process will begin
within the next few weeks.
Making SBDC an improved
resource for those from Wallowa
County desiring to enter or enhance
their effectiveness in the business
world, says Hill, is SBDC’s vast
network of statewide and national
resources and professionals easily
available to them through modern
telecommunications.
Like the 14-year-old Wal-
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tation effort that’s met so much
success through the years, Hill
says the most valuable com-
ponent of SBDC “is advising
business owners in one-on-
one sessions. ... You can offer
workshops until the cows come
home,” he adds, but nothing can
match the personal touch of ad-
dressing clients individually.
Hill says accessing the ser-
vices of the SBDC is as simple as
phoning the center in Pendleton
at 541-276-6233 to schedule an
appointment with a local advisor.
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tilla counties, says Hill, but once
the newly trained advisor begins
working in Wallowa County,
seven SBDC advisors and Hill
will serve a geographical area
stretching from Boardman to
Baker, and from Milton-Freewa-
ter to Wallowa Lake.
Wallowa County Business
Facilitation served 526 new
businesses since its 2001 launch
by Myron Kirkpatrick, accord-
ing to the Wallowa County
Chamber of Commerce. Mat-
thias took over the part-time role
from Kirkpatrick in 2011.
“The biggest thing I learned
during those years simply was
to listen,” said Matthias. “It takes
time for people to get their story
out.” Another valuable lesson she
learned and wished to share was
to stand back “and let them take
ownership of their own project.”
An author of six children’s
books published when she was a
single mother in the 1980s, Mat-
thias says she’s now writing chil-
dren’s book No. 7 and enjoying
her time while doing so.
The former facilitator ex-
presses no anxiety about clients
of hers that have been handed off
to SBDC. “It’s almost better for
(Hill) to take them,” she says.
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