Get ready for the Fair
44-page special section | INSIDE
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 10
June 21, 2017
• MT. HIGH BRONCS AND BULLS •
ONE FOR THE
RECORD BOOKS
$1
THE
STINK
IS OFF
Communities solve solid
waste disposal issue
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Photos by Ellen Bishop for the Chieftain
A horse makes a break for it in the Wild Horse Race at the 2017 Mountain High Broncs and Bulls event.
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
I
t was a year for the record book at the
2017 Mountain High Broncs and Bulls
event in Enterprise June 10.
It started off big in a small way with
a record 33 entries in the muttonbust-
ing event.
Despite their desire to “live life large,” as
announcer Lee Daggett put it, not one child
made the buzzer. Kreb’s big Suffolk rams
were sheared this year so the grip wasn’t as
good and some of the big rams could really
bounce.
Bull rider Cody Ford of Hermiston also
made the record book with the fi rst back-to-
back Mountain High Bull Riding Champion-
ship, winning the buckle this year with a sin-
gle ride high-rise score of 86.
John Pitts of Panama City, Fla., took second
with 75 points and River Stephenson of Black-
foot, Idaho, tied for third with Jory Markiss of
Redmond, Wash., with a score of 69.
Winner Cody Ford cowboyed up to give
the crowd an encore, strapping down on top
the bull “Popo” for a fi nal ride even after
he’d been declared winner based on his pre-
vious rides. He didn’t ride Popo, but the crowd
approved his generosity.
Western States Ranch Rodeo Association
Ranch Bronc Champion of 2015 and 2016
Justin Quint, from Valentine, Neb., rode two
real good horses for a total of 156 to take the
win in the broncs. Last year’s to competitors
Miles Binger and Barry O’Leary tied for sec-
ond this year with 149 each.
Rahn Sanitary of Enterprise is coming out
smelling like a rose as the cities of Wallowa
County deal with the stink of budget cuts that
ended county solid waste transfer stations.
Wallowa
County
Commissioners
announced in late May that they would be
forced to close all fi ve transfer locations
by the end of June. The Ant Flat Land-
fi ll and Fish Hatchery Lane recycle
station in Enterprise will remain in
service.
Brian and Amanda Rahn, own-
ers of Rahn Sanitary in Enter-
prise, contacted Joseph,
Lostine and Wallowa and
offered options.
Under consider-
ation was creating a
city garbage service
and taking bids from
a La Grande sani-
tary service, but in
the end handing off
the responsibility to a
trusted local company
for a reasonable price
won the day.
Rahn Sanitary will now have a contract
for service with every city in the valley.
“All of the transfer sites will be oper-
ated basically the same,” said Brian Rahn.
“It’s been great working with the communi-
ties. What we want is to be able to provide
more options for the county to get rid of their
waste.”
See TRASH Page A7
Wallowa Hometown
Project moving
toward completion
Eagle Cap Excursion Train
back in Wallowa’s future
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Above: Cody Ford of Hermiston
rode this black bull for a score
of 86 points tand the Champi-
onship buckle. Ford won last
year as well for the Mountain
High Broncs and Bulls’ first
ever back to back win.
Left: Justin Quint of Valen-
tine, Neb. puts in a good ride
on his second horse to go for
the Ranch Bronc win at the
2017 Mountain High Broncs and
Bulls event.
The Wallowa City revitalization project
begun in late 2016 continues to push toward
its goals.
Both the Friends of the Joseph Branch
and Wallowa Union Railroad Authority have
been working to bring the Eagle Cap Excur-
sion Train to Wallowa by July 22, a process
that might prove easier than originally antic-
ipated, according to Wallowa Hometown
Project spokesman Garrett Lowe.
Lowe is a Wallowa businessman, a city
council member and a member of the rail-
road authority board, in addition to serving
as the spearhead for the Wallowa Hometown
Project.
More photos at Wallowa.com
See RODEO Page A16
See TRAINS Page A7
Meeting transit needs for Wallowa’s veterans
Program logs half-million miles annually
Oregon’s Highly Rural Transporta-
tion Program, a federal, state and local
partnership that is helping meet the
urgent transportation needs of veterans
who live in extremely rural areas, has
logged more than a half-million miles
in its fi rst two years of operation.
That’s farther than the distance to
the moon and back.
Veterans have been transported all
over the Pacifi c Northwest to see doc-
tors and receive medical care. Federally
funded and administered by the state
and its partner agencies in the 10 par-
ticipating counties, including Wallowa,
the program is tailored to the needs of
rural veterans who often do not have
adequate access to medical care in their
communities.
Connie Guentert, Wallowa County
manager for Community Connection of
Northeast Oregon Inc., knows the chal-
lenges better than most. Community
Connection is the Oregon Department
of Veterans Affairs partner agency for
the Highly Rural Transportation Pro-
gram in both Wallowa and Baker coun-
ties. Guentert and her dedicated staff
grapple with the diffi culty of serving
highly rural veterans and other clients
every day.
“We’re very remote out here,”
she said. “We have very large land
expanses, minimal medical facilities,
and the only public transportation in
the county is us,” she said. “Our drivers
face long winters, adverse weather and
road conditions, rock slides, deer, elk,
even bears on the road.”
The trips are rarely short. Because
of the scarcity of services, Wallowa
County veterans must travel to appoint-
ments in La Grande, Walla Walla, Boise
and even as far as Portland or Tacoma
— a round trip of more than 700 miles.
Funding comes in the form of
annual grants from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs. A maximum
of $50,000 may be awarded to any
counties classifi ed as “highly rural,”
which means fewer than seven resi-
dents per square mile.
Oregon has 9 such counties in addi-
tion to Wallowa –– Baker, Gilliam,
See VETERANS Page A7
“WE’RE VERY REMOTE OUT HERE. WE HAVE VERY LARGE LAND EXPANSES, MINIMAL
MEDICAL FACILITIES, AND THE ONLY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE COUNTY IS US.”
CONNIE GUENTERT | Wallowa County manager for Community Connection of Northeast Oregon Inc.