Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
THREE
minutes with ...
Brian Coughlin
BRIAN COUGHLAN
Brian Coughlan is a fi fth-generation Wallowa Coun-
tian who graduated from Joseph High School, went away to
begin his career and came home in 2001.
After graduating from Joseph High, he earned a degree
in psychology from the University of Oregon and went to
work managing assisted living group homes in Portland. He
leaped into a new career in Internet marketing in New York
City. There he met his wife, Cheryl, who is now executive
director at the Josephy Center. The couple has two children,
Ella, 16, and Henry, 13.
June 28, 2017
They didn’t want to raise children in New York City, so
Brian told his wife they could move anywhere they wanted
–– and she chose Portland. But they came to Wallowa County
fi rst and never left. Coughlan owns Eastern Oregon Land-
scaping, employs 15 people seasonally, and plows snow in
the winter.
He’s very active with the Lions Club International and
works as the ski hill manager at Ferguson Ski Ridge. His
wife is involved in Wallowa County Rotary International.
He’s also director of the North East Oregon Aviation Foun-
dation and works at increasing awareness of aviation within
the county and helps the foundation toward its goal of estab-
lishing aviation education in all of the schools in the county.
His services as a landscaper are also valuable for com-
munity projects. He spent countless hours working on the
Joseph Park project and recently fi nished installing the irri-
gation and sod there. He sponsors many events and does “a
million other things school-related.”
Oh, and he’s a gravedigger.
Q. You’ve seen some sights and experienced some
different cultures in your lifetime. What made Wal-
lowa County attractive to you?
A. Family and lifestyle defi nitely, that’s what keeps us here.
For me this lifestyle gives me time to be with my kids and
family and friends. Being here allows me to go skiing and
do the things I like. I can live my lifestyle more so than in
the city.
Q. How did you decide to go into landscaping as a
way to make a living in the county?
A. I worked for Terry Bates at Wallowa County Nursery on
Fish Hatchery Lane through high school and college and
knew the business. When I came back, and we decided to
A9
stay here, I had to decide what to do, and this is what I knew
here, and there was a need for it. So, I started the company.
I like meeting the people I get to meet and most of the
time it’s creative. I like the creative aspect of it. It’s the new
installations I like best.
At one point, I expanded to a big landscaping and nursery
in La Grande and had 50-some employees, but I sold out of
that and came back to this.
Q. What changes have you seen in Wallowa County
and what do you think of them?
A. Wallowa County has defi nitely transformed. There has
always been tourism, but having Joseph rebuilt and having
the image upscaled was a change in culture. It’s not just log-
ging as it used to be, it’s not resource based –– it’s service
based, which can be good or can be bad.
The other big thing is the Internet because you can be in
Joseph and have access to the world. You could never do that
before. I wouldn’t be here if the Internet didn’t exist. The
Wallowa County lifestyle is great but I want access to the
world.
Now you’re seeing a lot of people move here that are able
to because they work remotely, they work in San Francisco
and live in Joseph. You get all of the benefi ts of a small town
but some of the benefi ts of a big town. There are defi nitely
more viewpoints, which in general is good.
I hope my kids just have a choice. Without the Internet,
growing up, I felt I had no choice because you only saw what
you saw here. That’s no longer the case.
My kids can choose. They don’t have to sit in a car and
look at streetlights all day long. If you want to you can, but
you don’t have to. You can work in an offi ce or not –– I just
want to give them a choice.
Wallowa County Pride event organizers go public
First event was
held in a private
home last year
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Safe Harbors welcomes LGBTQ youth to a Safe
Space Youth Program the third Thursday of each
month 6:30-8 p.m. at Safe Harbors, 401 NE First
Street, Suite B, in Enterprise.
By Kathleen Ellyn
To become a volunteer advocate with Safe
Harbors, call 541-426-4004 or email safe@eoni.
com.
Wallowa County Chieftain
Upwards of 70 people ––
up from 15 last year –– showed
for Wallowa County’s second
annual Pride Celebration Sat-
urday at Joseph City Park.
Hosted by Wallowa Coun-
tians Kyrie Weaver and Ste-
fanie Duncan, the event was
a barbecue potluck with live
music.
“We decided we needed to
be transparent and invite our
allies and friends from the
community to join us,” said
co-organizer Megan Bowen of
Enterprise.
“We wanted this to be an
affi rmation of support from
the community no matter how
they identifi ed.”
Several information boards
were set up near the entrance
of the park, nearly 100 veg-
gie-burgers and hamburgers
were cooked, and multiple
tables groaned with the load of
potluck dishes.
Many in attendance wore
rainbow fl ag capes and other
colorful attire.
It was a family friendly
event and children played
on the new park equipment.
Gianna Espinoza of Enter-
prise brought her daughter,
Nyahla Simmons, 6, who was
having a great time with a
friend, Kaylee Kvasnikoff, 6,
RURAL COMMUNITIES NEED TO
KNOW THAT WE AREN’T SCARY,
WE’RE JUST HUMAN, AND WE LOVE
WHO WE WANT TO LOVE.
Gianna Espinoza
Pride Celebration attendee
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Ayahla Simmons, 6, daughter of Jessica Espinoza of Enterprise, and Kaylee Kvasnikoff, 6,
daughter of Megan Smith enjoy the Pride picnic at Joseph Park on June 24.
daughter of Megan Smith of
Enterprise.
Both girls were dressed for
a party, sporting rainbow col-
ors and were satisfi ed with the
age-appropriate explanations
they had been given for the
event.
Kaylee said she knew the
party was to celebrate being
whoever you want to be.
Nyahla added it was to cele-
brate being who you want to
be and loving whom you want
to love.
Gianna Espinoza was
pleased to see so many allies,
individuals who support gay
rights, at the party.
“When I moved here, I
really wanted to join the Gay-
Straight Alliance here,” she
said. “Rural communities need
to know that we aren’t scary,
we’re just human, and we love
who we want to love.”
The “scary” worked both
ways for many in the LGBTQ
community
in
Wallowa
County when they fi rst arrived.
Many rural communities
have a reputation for intoler-
ance and open rejection, Espi-
noza said.
But this year’s event went
off without a hitch, and the
port in Wallowa County as
well.
“We felt it was really
important to take a stand and
say we are here, we are part of
the community,” she said.
Duncan’s coworker, Kyrie
Weaver of Wallowa, was glad
the decision had been made to
be more public, as well.
“We’re so often not pub-
lic,” she said.
“Usually in this county, we
hold our pride behind closed
doors. I think it’s important
that we’re visible. It’s hard
for youth to see there is some-
one like them when we’re
invisible.”
201
East Hwy 82
541-426-0320
Enterprise,
OR 82
97828
201 E. Hwy
541.426.0320
Enterprise, OR
When it comes
Maxville center gets
$8,180 grant for kiosks
Maxville Heritage Inter-
pretive Center in Joseph has
received an $8,180 grant for
developing and installing
kiosks with an interactive con-
nection to web-based infor-
mation. The grant, awarded
by Oregon Heritage, is one
of eight totaling $55,140 to
museums across the state.
Maxville donors and volun-
teers matched the grant with
$4,000.
Oregon Heritage grants are
LGBTQ community enjoyed
the company of allies that out-
numbered them by more than
three to one.
Co-host Duncan of Enter-
prise was the quiet celebrity
of the day. Though few out-
side the community know
it, Duncan, who works as an
advocate at Safe Harbors, was
recently named Gay and Les-
bian Archives of the Pacifi c
Northwest “Queer Hero” for
her work in advocating for
individuals.
Her primary work is with
children and families experi-
encing domestic violence, but
she is the face of LGBTQ sup-
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made for collections and tour-
ism or education related proj-
ects. Most grants awards range
between $4,000 to $10,000.
The competitive grant pro-
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spring.
The Oregon Heritage
Commission represents Ore-
gon’s heritage and geograph-
ical diversity. There are nine
advisory representatives from
state agencies and statewide
organizations.
George &
Donna
Floyd
July 8, 2017
Outlaw Restaurant
Joseph, OR
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