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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com June 3, 2015 A3 Joseph’s Corral No. 5 opens the gate By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain JOSEPH — Corral No. 5, owned by JoJean Hinkley, recently opened its doors at 13 S. Main St. in Joseph. The Corral specializes mainly in affordable, western-style clothing and accoutrements for women. The Corral also carries some urban styles. Hinkley comes by her western and fashion interests honestly, having grown up in the Wallowa Valley. “My dad, Cliff Hinkley, had a ranch starting in 1948 on the Chesnim and Zumwalt (prai- rie). I grew up on the ranch and went to school in Lewis- ton, but I spent all my sum- mers over here, and when I got out of high school I came back. I’ve been in and out of here ever since,” Hinkley said. 7KLV LV +LQNOH\¶V ¿UVW venture into the retail world. “I’ve been in the cattle and horse business all my life,” she said. She is not currently in the livestock business. The store in Joseph was not how Hinkley originally envi- sioned her retail business. “I was going to do this in a trail- er and go to fairs and rodeos. In January, my pickup caught ¿UH 1R SLFNXS ² QR WUDLOHU Now I have a brick-and-mor- tar store,” Hinkley said. The store came by its un- usual name because of an inci- Steve Tool/Chieftain Corral No. 5 is now open and ready for business. dent on her parents’ ranch. She was helping her mother weigh a shipment of steers when an overly excited group of steers hit the gate, which in turn hit +LQNOH\ DQG VHQW KHU À\LQJ into mud and cow manure. Hinkley wasn’t hurt in the incident, but was covered in muck. “My mom, who is al- ways immaculately dressed, stuck her head out the scale house door and said, ‘You’ve JRW \RXU FRUUDO QXPEHU ¿YH on, honey.’ The reference is a pun on the classic Chanel No. 5 perfume. “I lobbed a big hunk of mud at her,” Hinkley recalled. The incident became an inside family joke. Unlike many western stores, Hinkley offers her clothing in a variety of sizes. “I’ve been a size 4 and a 24 and everything in between. I think if you’re going to have something like this, you need to carry every size because real women come in every size. Realistically, most wom- en wear sizes 14 to 24, and those clothes are tough to ¿QG´+LQNOH\VDLG Catering to local needs is Hinkley’s priority. “This is for the everyday gal who has lived in Wallowa County for most of their life who needs a good pair of jeans or boots or tennis shoes and maybe some fancy clothes for when she gets dressed up if she works in a bank,” Hinkley said. Keeping her prices afford- able is a Hinkley priority. “My prices are pretty good. My jeans are $52 and capris are $37. My most expensive piece of clothing is only $80. Most of my boots and purses are offered below the manufac- turer’s suggested retail price,” Hinkley said. She added that rather than periodic sales, she’ll eventually have a $25 table of goods. Hinkley will donate some unsold cloth- ing to “Dress for Success,” D QRQSUR¿W WKDW SURYLGHV economically disadvantaged women with professional at- tire and other amenities. Corral No. 5 store hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, although Hinkley will open on Sundays by appointment. The store’s number is 541- 398-8239. “You don’t have to OHDYHWRZQWR¿QGJRRGFORWK- ing,” Hinkley said. Art-loving Phinneys thrive in gallery biz By Rob Ruth Wallowa County Chieftain JOSEPH — Malcolm and Tami Phinney’s art gallery may be the newest in the gal- leries lineup along Joseph’s Main Street, but already it ap- SHDUV¿UPO\HVWDEOLVKHGLQWKH local arts community. +HDGLQJ LQWR LWV ¿UVW IXOO KLJKWUDI¿F VHDVRQ 3KLQQH\ Gallery represents approx- imately 20 regional artists, some of them local. The Phin- neys say that’s a number the gallery can comfortably serve. “You get too much work (on display) and it gets di- luted. You don’t give enough representation to everybody,” Tami Phinney said. She added, “I wish we could show more, but it just doesn’t work.” At this time last year, Phin- ney Gallery didn’t exist. Mal- colm Phinney, who worked in the gallery at Valley Bronze for more than 20 years, left that position in mid-June of 2014. In mid-July, he and wife Tami opened Phinney Gallery at 17 S. Main, in the building that had most recently housed The Country Store. Preparations during the intervening month proceed- ed at a frenetic pace, with the couple transforming the business space. Among other measures, they switched the existing primary wall colors for more muted tones, add- HG QHZ ÀRRULQJ WR WKH IURQW section, and designed the gal- lery’s external sign painted by Bird Dog Signs above the front entrance. Artist Malcolm, the sign’s designer, also put in time that month building all the pedes- tals they would need to dis- play their artists’ works. The couple also had help from family members — some of whom live in Wal- lowa County (including Ta- mi’s sister, Bee Charmed owner Wendy Stewart), and others from La Grande (Ta- mi’s parents) and Cove (Mal- Rob Ruth/Chieftain Gallery owners Malcolm and Tami Phinney beside a sculpture by Tim Norman. On the wall behind them, a painting by Leslie Leviner. colm’s parents). The Phinneys were still scrambling upon launch. “We VROG VRPHWKLQJ WKH ¿UVW GD\ we opened and we didn’t have bubble wrap at that moment,” Tami recalled. So they ran to a couple of other Joseph galler- ies that provided them some. Malcolm says Joseph gallery owners tend to be mutually supportive. Rela- tionships among them are “really good,” he explains, due at least in part to every- one’s awareness of the pitfalls of going it alone in a remote location like Wallowa County. “The consensus is we all need each other to make it a draw up here,” he said. “Nobody wants to come up just for one gallery.” And as art lovers, the Phin- neys and other gallery own- ers derive pleasure simply from exposing the public to art, which means they don’t expect all their visitors to be shoppers. First and foremost, Malcolm says, all artists “want their work to be seen.” In an area that attracts so many campers, Tami adds, there’s opportunity to reach those among them who ha- ven’t previously paid much attention to art. She said it’s rather gratifying when they’re visited by campers “who’ve never been in a gallery in their life and it’s a good experience for them.” Phinney Gallery is open seven days per week, year- round, but if that sounds like a grind to most people, the Phinneys don’t see it that way. During winter, tourism’s RIIVHDVRQ 0DOFROP ¿QGV more time to devote to his own artwork, created in his studio on-site. He’s primarily a painter in oils. Malcolm, who has an art degree from Eastern Oregon University, is the main per- son running the gallery, con- tinuing in a long career that he enjoys. He said it started in the mid-1980s when he worked with the Phillips Gal- lery in Salt Lake City, and he and Tami had their own gal- lery during the early 1990s in Coeur d’Alene. In 1993, the couple moved to Wallowa County, and it’s here that they raised their kids. Some of the artists Phin- ney Gallery represents were previously served by the Val- ley Bronze gallery, and sev- eral others have come over from Kelly’s Gallery, which closed after tourist season last year. More recently, artist Tim Norman, who is foremost a sculptor, came aboard after closing his own gallery down the street. “He can also come in and demonstrate when he’s having shows,” Malcolm says. Before setting up their business in Joseph, Malcolm DQG 7DPL EULHÀ\ FRQVLGHUHG establishing it in either Hood River or Cannon Beach, but they say keeping it in Wal- ORZD &RXQW\ ZDV GH¿QLWHO\ the right call. “We’re really happy with the way it turned out,” Mal- colm said. On the Web: phinneygal- lery.com. 504 NW 1st St Enterprise, OR 97828 Summer FUN • Summer SAVINGS Consumer Event: Hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies! Door Prizes every hour! Games and More Saturday June13th 9am-3pm ATVs are recommended for those aged 16 years and older. YAMAHA recommends an approved training course. See your dealer or call 1-800-887-2887. ATV’s can be hazardous to operate. ©2012 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved. • yamaha-motor.com Sharon’s Bouquet of the Week Many thanks to Dan the Appliance Man who coached me through learning to shut my clothes dryer! God Bless You! Love , Sharon Sherlock