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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com October 21, 2015 A11 Friends of NRA banquet raises $114K By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE Maybe it’s because we’re leading up to an election, or maybe it’s because there are a couple hundred gun-toting Wallowa County residents who want to have some retail therapy in the company of like-minded folks, or maybe . . . the rea- sons for NRA membership are diverse. In any case, 276 folks bought out tickets to the Wal- lowa County Friends of NRA Banquet almost a month be- fore it happened; the event was Saturday, Oct. 17 and it was sold out by Sept. 28. The event grossed $114,000, half of which will come back to the Oregon Friends of NRA State Fund Committee to be used for grants and scholarships. “(Our banquet) was a tremendous success,” said a beaming Stephen Wolfe, chairman of the Wallowa County Friends of NRA. “I’m so tickled. It exceeded my ex- pectations. I can’t thank the community enough for their tremendous support.” The chapter is even thank- ing more than 100 people who never made it to the event. There are over 100 who sponsored, underwrote or do- nated to the banquet but were unable to attend because of limited seating, Wolfe said. “In addition to those peo- ple, there were even more people who would have liked to come,” Wolfe said. “We could have sold another 100 Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Approximately 280 people gathered to enjoy a night of bidding, socializing and eating at the 2015 NRA Banquet, Oct. 17. Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Queen candidates Lauren Makin and Sarah Aschenbrenner help out at the banquet. Rep. Barretto socializes with one of his constituents at the NRA Banquet. tickets easy if we’d had room to put the people.” Fifty-six guns were awarded, sold or rafÀed at the event along with thousands of dollars of other items. Bruce Bliven of Enter- prise was the big bidder of the night, purchasing the landowner preference youth cow hunt tag in Sled Springs (hunt came with a Reming- ton 0.06 riÀe wscope); and all the “key” items that gave him a key that might open the padlock on the Rossi Model 2 RiÀe with an NRA Coin inset. He took no chances, even negotiating a deal with a fellow who outbid him on one key item. In addition to his Rossi, he won a bonus Funding NRA funds come into the county in some of the following ways: Divide Camp got a grant for an all terrain track wheelchair to al- low disable veterans to hunt; range improve- ments have been made for Eagle Cap Shoot- ers Association and Wallowa Rod and Gun Club; for the last two years WC NRA has prize of a Chiappa 1873-style revolver. After a ¿ne dinner catered by Tammy Couch of Enter- prise and featuring prime rib bought at Dollar Stretcher and cooked by Randy Gar- nett’s Apple Flats Catering, attendees began sharing their opinions about gun owner- ship with table mates. Les Bridges of Enterprise uses his guns for hunting. He got his tickets to the event early and was at the event awarded three $1,000 scholarships per year to local high school seniors; and the Educa- tion Summit Scholarship is open to for high school students - a winner is chosen every June to take a three-day trip to Salem to see how government works, and vie for a trip to Wash. D.C. because “our second amend- ment rights are the most im- portant thing to me and I ap- preciate how active the NRA is in protecting those rights.” Gail and Doug Wickre of Joseph have been NRA members for 45 years. Gun ownership was natural to the Wickres, who have lived in Juneau, Alaska and other re- mote locations where carry- ing a ¿rearm is recommended for those going into the wil- derness. GARAGE D00R Also specializing in INSTALLATION AND REPAIR Call Paul Vlietstra If you call a contractor yourself, that still counts as DIY. Look to a U.S. Bank Home Equity Line of Credit for your next major project. You’ll be greeted with competitive rates, flexible payment options and people who genuinely care. HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT Introductory Rate for 5 months Rates as low as % 1.50 APR* Rate available 9/12/15 – 11/20/15. Rates are subject to change. Variable rate after Introductory period % 3.99 APR* Actual rates may vary. Visit your local branch or usbank.com. usbank.com/dreambig | 800.209.BANK (2265) *1.50% Introductory Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is available on Home Equity Lines of Credit with an 80% loan-to-value (LTV) or less. 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An annual fee of up to $90 may apply after the first year and is waived with a U.S. Bank personal Platinum Checking Package. See the Consumer Pricing Information brochure for terms and conditions that apply to U.S. Bank Package Checking accounts. Member FDIC ©2015 U.S. Bank. All rights reserved. 150859 9/15 541-263-1247 Licensed Bonded & Insured CCB#200036 The Wickres are ready to discuss issues of access to ¿rearms, background checks and more – that ‘more’ in- cludes pointing out that gun ownership is meant to come with some heavy responsibil- ities. “My granddad used to carry his gun to school, hunt- ing on the way in and on the way home,” Doug Wickre re- called. “There were no school shootings in his day and his daddy would have thumped him if there had ever been a mishandling of ¿rearms.” As Doug Wickre sees it, the current misuse of fire- arms is indicative of a prob- lem of values. In a rural so- ciety there’s no anonymity, he said. In the city, individ- uals can own guns and no one knows about it or about them. “It’s a problem I see with thuggery,” he said. “One of the biggest methods of teach- ing responsibility in a rural society is in teaching proper behavior around handling a gun.” Individuals who want to attend next year’s 2016 WC Friends of NRA banquet can purchase tickets right now, Wolfe said, though where he’ll put all the people next year is an open question. “We’ve looked at renting a tent,” he admitted. The Chieſtain says, Think Pink The Chieftain will be donating all pink ad color proceeds from the month of October to the Wallowa Memorial Hospital. The money will go towards mammography exams for those unable to afford them in Wallowa County. Show your support by placing your business ad in PINK in the month of October. Call or Email Jennifer today! 541-426-4567 jpowell@wallowa.com