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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2015)
A6 Veterans Day wallowa.com November 11, 2015 Wallowa County Chieftain Divide Camp brings veterans together By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Local veterans support organization Divide Camp is celebrating a successful year after providing 24 veterans in 2015 with a variety of outdoor adventures. 7he local nonpro¿t is committed to helping combat veterans heal physical and emotional wounds through immersion in nature and re- lated activities. The camp itself is located between Big and Little Sheep creeks in the Wallowa Mountains, but Di- rector Julie Wheeler recently oversaw the addition of a new main of¿ce in Joseph, which ¿gures heavily into services Divide Camp can offer now and in the future. The quest for a headquar- ters fell Àat earlier in the year when Divide Camp and the city of Wallowa could not come to terms on a lease agreement for vacated U.S. Forest Service buildings in Steve Tool/Chieftain The rustic, yet comfortable interior of the new Divide Camp headquarters and veterans center located at 603 N. Main St. in Joseph. the city’s possession. Divide Camp acquired its Joseph headquarters, a large log cabin located at 603 N. Main St., in July. The owner of a trucking company in Spring¿eld heard about the organization’s need for a main of¿ce and offered a lease at a good price. “Our plan is to have a vet center for all vets to socialize, hang out, host speakers and offer classes, Wheeler said. “We have a couple of Ày-ty- ing classes scheduled for next year.” The agency also hopes to offer woodworking and other classes if instructors are available, and the addition of books to the center’s library also is a priority. Divide Camp is having an open house at the new head- quarters from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Veterans Day. Volunteer Ramona Phillips will host. “We’re having cookies and coffee and offering a chance for people to see the new building,” Phillips said. “I think a lot of people in the county still don’t know what Divide Camp is, and we’re hoping those people will come in so we can let them know a little more about what we do.” One project already under- way is a rotating military his- tory exhibit. Wheeler encour- ages people in the community to bring memorabilia for dis- play when the center opens full time this spring. She also is considering hosting an oc- casional veterans storytelling circle. “They can share stories about their military experi- ences, and we have some re- ally cool veterans in the area with exciting stories to tell,” Wheeler said. In other Divide Camp news: • As hunting is one of the main activities the camp of- fers, Wheeler was pleased that this year’s hunts have proved very successful with three of four veterans ¿lling their ar- chery tags with one elk and two deer. • Divide Camp is seeking volunteers for spring to staff the new building a few hours per day. Wheeler also is look- ing for managers for the camp who can cook and do main- tenance in exchange for free food and rent. Wheeler noted that the camp is empty every other week. • Starting Dec. 5, volunteer Saralyn Johnson is hosting a monthly game night, but the center needs another volun- teer for that project starting in February. • Divide Camp recent- ly started an online pledge drive in which hunters donate money based on Boone and Crockett points on an Elk tag in possession of local veter- an James Nash. People can pledge a certain amount of money per point until the mid- dle of December. “It’s our last fundraiser of the year, and we need to get some mileage out of this,” Wheeler said. “It’s a giving time of year in a giving coun- ty, so we hope to do well.” For more information, vis- it https://rallyup.com/3fa8b3/ Campaign. Reader shares WWII letter from USS Cecil Wallowa County Chieftain Chieftain reader Karen Mason of Enterprise wanted to share this family letter as part of our Veterans Day con- tent. The letter was written by her husband Vern Ward Ma- son, who was aboard the USS Cecil in the Paci¿c during T HE B OOKLOFT AND S KYLIGHT G ALLERY Finding books is our specialty 541.426.3351 • 107 E. Main • Enterprise • www.bookloftoregon.com ACROSS DOWN 1. Cronkite's network 4. Fire insect 7. Gas usage measurement 10. Express pleasure 11. Humbug 12. Every 13. Capital is Valletta 15. Copycat 16. Bound book sheets 19. Steps to an upper floor 22. Local school organizations 23. Old English 24. Atomic #73 25. Cheerless 26. The bill in a restaurant 28. Singer ___ Lo Green 30. Domesticated 33. Mammary gland of a cow 37. Honorable title (Turkish) 38. Alias 39. Emblem of a clan 42. Edouard __, Fr. painter 44. Short-term memory 46. Used to speak to the Queen 47. Vertical spar for sails 50. Expresses surprise 52. Morning 53. A long narrative poem 57. Minor punishment 61. Ice or roller 62. GE founder's initials 63. Moses' elder brother 64. Beak 65. A major division of geological time 66. Fuss & bother 67. Young women's association 68. Feeling sorrow 69. Straggle 1. Bog arum lily 2. Thin plain-weave cotton fabric 3. Thick rough piled carpet 4. A way to lessen 5. Amazon river tributary 6. Larceny 7. Make ale 8. Begged 9. White of egg 13. Road travel guide 14. Aircraft tail 17. Italian monk title 18. Sino-Soviet block (abbr.) 20. Goblin 21. A baglike structure in a plant or animal 27. Date 29. I, Portuguese 30. Design on the skin 31. Time before 32. Free from gloss 34. V.P. Quayle 35. Supplement with difficulty 36. Tell on 40. Landed properties 41. Metric ton 42. One thousandth of an ampere 43. Former __ Hess, oil company 45. Siemans conductance unit 46. Woman (French) 47. More (Spanish) 48. Request 49. Group jargon 51. Stakes 52. In advance 54. Yiddish meat pie 55. Equal, prefix 56. Box (abbr.) 58. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates 59. Scarlett's home 60. S. branch of the Lower Rhine World War II. Vern was a pharmacist in the Navy, and he owned Wallowa Pharmacy for many years after the war. October 11, 1944 Dear Virginia, Art and Family, Well, at last I am at sea, after many months on shore. This will probably be an odd letter, as I cannot write any names of places we have been or are going to, so bear with me. I may get accustomed to writing censored letters after a few months. So far the trip has been fairly pleasant, no real rough water, although lots of the men including our young doctor, got seasick. We have our department fairly well squared away, and are having drills every day. I have some sore muscles from carrying a fellow up ladders for practice yesterday. The sea is really beautiful in these parts-a deep blue, and last night I happened out on deck about 10 o’clock and thought someone was playing lights on the water, but it was phosphorescence, and sure pretty. The wake glowed like there lights under the water, and occasionally there would be bright sparkles and ÀDVKHV:KHUHYHUDZDYH broke there would be a glow of white light, and along the sides of the ship were borders of white light. An airplane swooped over us and blinked it’s lights-I’ll bet he could see us plainly. Have seen some beautiful sailboats along the line, and it sure makes me wish I had one. You could sure enjoy a trip like this in a 40 ft sailboat. Another idea I have sprouted is to get one of these Higgins boats after the war and build a cabin on it. They KDYHVRPH¿[HGXSWKDWZD\ in some of the harbors, and they make swell launches or cruisers. They have Gray Diesels, 6 cylinder engines, and I sure think they are swell. All in all, this is not a bad life, if you like waiting in line for everything, and I do mean everything-Mail, chow, ship’s service store, bathroom, and are the bathrooms something! About 40 men for every facility. I sleep on a folding bunk, or rather shelf about 20 inches wide and have quite a time staying in it in a rough sea. I keep thinking how nice this trip would be in peace time, as a civilian, with deck chairs, sport clothes, tall drinks, dancing, and a blonde alongside. Maloney and Thomas still talk about the good time we had with you. They are VWDQGLQJWKLQJVZHOOEHH¿QJ as much as everybody. Some of our men may be transferred off, as the ship is overrun with Hospital Corpsman, but I think I will stay. Have been too busy to do much writing or reading, but will get caught up soon, I hope. Write when you can. Love to all- Vern Ward Mason USS Cecil Grants available for vets, memorials Wallowa County Chieftain The Oregon Heritage of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is offering grants for the construction or resto- ration of veterans and war me- morials. “The program is designed to honor Oregon’s soldiers and veterans by commem- orating their service to the country,” said Kuri Gill, coor- dinator for the program. “Lo- cal governments may apply to build or repair monuments on public land.” New monuments should recognize veterans and wars not already recognized. Grants for restoration could be used for broken monu- ments, missing elements of monuments, or the related de- sign elements of monuments for veterans of earlier wars such as World War I. Details and the application information are available at http://tinyurl.com/q3ht8br. The application deadline is Dec. 15. For more information, contact Gill at 503-986-0685 or Kuri.Gill@oregon.gov.