A4
Opinion
wallowa.com
October 25, 2017
Wallowa County Chieftain
Classroom
parties can be
fun, healthy
Is it possible to have a healthy classroom party for your
child and still make it fun? In a word –– yes!
Classroom parties are a part of a child’s school experience.
They can be healthy, too, and not full of sugar-laden cookies,
candies, cupcakes and soft drinks.
Years
ago
no one thought
twice about send-
ing frosted cup-
cakes to school
for a class party.
This was before
Ann Bloom
people were con-
cerned about satu-
rated fat, sugar and sodium and before childhood obesity was
considered an epidemic. Today, it is important to balance out
the less-than-healthy snack choices for class parties with some
healthier options.
Here are some ideas:
• When it’s your turn to bring snacks, consider bringing in
pre-cut vegetables with low-fat ranch dip or hummus, cut up
fresh fruit or the makings for an activity such as Do It Yourself
Trail Mix. Vegetables and fruit can also be used to make fun
food art on a paper plate.
Give children cut up fruits and vegetables and let them
make animals, faces, a house or their pet. Then they can eat
their artwork.
• Yogurt parfaits –– yogurt layered with fruit and granola in
a plastic cup –– are another activity the whole class can enjoy.
Smoothies, many of which contain fruits and vegetables, are
an interactive classroom snack choice.
With a little help from adults, children can make their own
smoothies. Other appropriate snacks include nuts and sun-
flower seeds, crackers with low-fat cheese and lean slices of
meat.
• When it comes to drinks, skip the sodas and offer water,
sparkling water, water flavored with fruit slices or 100 percent
fruit juice. An eight-ounce serving of most soft drinks contains
approximately 15 teaspoons of added sugar. Energy and sports
drinks are not much better. Juice drinks, while they may seem
like a good idea, contain only about five percent fruit juice; the
rest is sugar water.
• Also consider nonfood items. Stickers, pencils, erasers or
coloring sheets are fun. An art project to celebrate the event is
also fun and the results can be hung in the school hallways for
others to see. Singing and dancing to a CD can incorporate a
physical element into the party.
Children should be aware that parties can be fun even with-
out the sugary treats. Let them know it is OK to have treats
occasionally, but it is important to eat nutritious food first.
As always, check with your child’s teacher before bring-
ing in food from another source. Many children have allergies
to wheat, dairy and nuts for example, or are diabetic. Some
schools have policies against bringing in food that is not in its
original packaging.
GUEST
COLUMN
Ann Bloom is a nutrition program assistant for the OSU
Extension Service in Wallowa County. She can be contacted
at 541-426-3143.
etters to the Editor are subject to editing and
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sonal attacks. It’s acceptable, however, to attack (or sup-
port) another party’s ideas.
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You can submit a letter to the Wallowa County
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OR 97828; by email to editor@wallowa.com; or via the
submission form at the newspaper’s website, located at
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L
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Contents copyright © 2017. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Volume 134
1 Year
$40.00
$57.00
Autos were king 50 years ago
It’s difficult to imagine today, but 50
years ago, new car advertising filled the
pages of the Chieftain. Car dealerships we
grouped around downtown Enterprise.
Some of you remember the vehicles of
the late ‘60s. A few of you may still own
one of those vehicles.
Milligan Motors was at 108 NE First
St. in Enterprise.
The ’68 Nova, Camaro, Chevelle and
Impala, not to mention the Corvette, were
billed as the “essence of modern design.”
In its advertising, Milligans touted
“the most sophisticated computers” to iso-
late and deal with noise and vibration. I
wonder if anyone back then ever dreamed
one day an onboard computer would
control the essential functions of every
automobile.
Milligans also carried the Oldsmobile
line, or as it was called its advertising, the
“young mobile.”
Joseph Sales Co. Inc. was also on First
St. in Enterprise. Their line included Ram-
blers. Remember those?
Most Ramblers were known for their
push-button transmission, an idea that was
much ahead of its time.
The big push for the season was the
Javelin. The 1968 model was the first
production year for that vehicle made by
American Motors Corp.
WAHL TO WALL
Paul Wahl
It was considered a muscle car. Also on
hand at Joseph Sales were the Ambassa-
dor and Rebel.
Over at Moffit Ford Sales, the push
for the season was, what else, the Mus-
tang. Affordable and sporty with long
hoods, these cars were introduced in 1962,
and you could drive one home for around
$2,500.
This was the first model year for the
Ford Torino, as well, which essentially
replaced the Fairlane. It morphed into the
Gran Torino in 1972. You might recall the
movie that debuted in 2008 with the same
name as the car.
Gettings-Lynch Motors in La Grande
made a serious play for the Wallowa
County auto-buying market with week
after week of large advertisements.
The Pontiac Le Mans was the featured
car for the ’68 model year, along with the
“wide-tracking” Gand Prix.
The custom for auto dealerships 50
years ago was to hold a huge open houses
inviting everyone in to see the new models
and enjoy refreshments.
I remember the Chevy dealership in
my hometown hosting a huge beef stew
feed every fall to encourage folks to shop.
My parents attended out of community
loyalty but with no intention whatsoever
of purchasing a cursed Chevy.
The ‘60s was also the decade Ameri-
can car manufacturers decided small cars
were okay after Fiat, Renault, Datsun and
others began eating into their market.
My aunt, who died recently, bought
one of the first Chevy Corvairs with its
rear mounted air-cooled engine. I remem-
ber the thrill of riding in the tiny hatch that
replaced a traditional trunk in the rear of
the vehicle.
My first car, purchased in 1978, was
a baby blue 1962 Volkswagen Beetle. It
had a half-million miles on it, but ran like
the Energizer Bunny and sipped gasoline.
Of course, gas was only 39 cents a gal-
lon at the time, but I was always the fru-
gal sort.
I loved that car, but this was northern
North Dakota and the Beetle essentially
had no heater. After one winter of freez-
ing cold temps inside the car, I decided
to trade it for something with a more
traditional heating system but far less
panache.
Beautiful golf course needs revisions
My apologies in advance to any read-
ers who have no interest in golf. For those
of you who have a casual onlooker’s curi-
osity or who make some frustrated effort
to master the game, I offer my assurance
that I am more an addict than an expert at
this diabolical invention.
On a good day, I am what is known as
a “bogey golfer,” which means that my
average score per hole is typically one over
par (the score a pro would be expected to
shoot). I feel triumphant any time I score
below 90 on an 18-hole round.
My introductory comments will be
intended more for those of you who are
unfamiliar with our local nine-hole course,
Alpine Meadows. My closing diatribe and
suggestions will be aimed more for the
local golfers who, like me, have struggled
with one of our course’s most challenging
holes.
Alpine Meadows is a beautiful course
on the outskirts of Enterprise, situated
on relatively level acreage within the
boundaries of rolling hillsides, ranches
and mountain backdrops. It is common-
place to see deer grazing on fairways, to
be accompanied by low circling birds or
even to spot an occasional cow or coyote
that wanders onto the grounds.
The course is well maintained, and
the greens roll fast and true. They are
exceptionally challenging both for pitch-
ing to and for putting on, because most
We appreciate ‘other
side’ of the wolf story
I just got the Chieftain from last week.
(I get it from my mother when she’s done
with it.) I was delighted to see the great
headline article on the wolf depredations.
It is reassuring to know that there
are those who at least report the rancher
side of an issue that is becoming so
devastating.
There are many reports and thoughts
thrown out about the wolves, but so many
of those are not grounded in fact because
they are developed to encourage support
for the wolves by pushing a narrative that
makes ranchers look bad.
So few people in Oregon really know
what it’s like to live in a rural lifestyle and
raise animals that they can be easily led
astray into thinking that ranchers don’t
care for their animals.
So my family really appreciates it
when an article can be written that states
the facts like the two on the front page do.
There are lies going around about our
POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
John McColgan
greens are slightly dome-shaped and
taper off toward the edges. The result is
that many decent approach shots will trail
off the green, while downhill and sidehill
putts require a careful combination of the
proper read and speed.
A creek winds its way through the
course, and crosses or borders holes 1, 2,
3, 7, 8 and 9. A pond has been added in the
past few years at the intersection of holes
3, 4, 6 and 7. The creek is far more likely
to come into play than the pond, especially
where it crosses the seventh and ninth
fairways.
For right-handed golfers like me who
play with a left-to-right slice, the out-of-
bounds to the right of holes 6, 7, 8 and 9
pose a challenge, as do the trees and creek,
which crowd the tees of the left side of the
third and ninth holes.
But my main nemesis at Alpine Mead-
ows (not counting Greg Oveson, the
course superintendent, who has an inti-
mate knowledge of every ridge and knoll
on every green and a knack for finding the
most dastardly pin locations imaginable),
LETTERS to the EDITOR
compensation program, lies about cattle
being put in “wolf denning territory,” lies
about how little a depredation costs us. I
just appreciate the truth in dealing with
this wolf issue.
Your article was factual and probably
made a few people squirm, reading about
the necropsy, but that’s life here with
wolves. I don’t like to see dead animals
either, but these poor animals suffer, and
city folks need to read it and see it.
Thank you for your frankness in print-
ing those articles.
Jim and Connie Dunham
Enterprise
Oregon’s Alpenfest is
not shutting down
A rumor has found its way to me that
Oregon’s Alpenfest is shutting down. I
want the community to know that there is
is the seventh hole.
If you check the scorecard and the rat-
ing of difficulty for each hole, you will
find that 7 is ranked as the third hardest
hole on the course, trailing behind tough-
est rated 9 and second place 2. But espe-
cially since the seventh green was recon-
structed several years ago, my experience
has been that 7 easily surpasses 2 and
might even be harder than 9, primarily
because it simply is not as fair.
In my opinion, while 9 is a tough hole,
there is nothing unfair about it. You need
to hit a good drive that avoids the trees and
creek on the left and the OB on the right,
but the fairway is wide enough to do that.
A well-aimed second shot will get you
over the creek if you can avoid hitting the
tree that hangs over the creek to the left of
the fairway. Then with a chip and a two-
putt, a golfer with my ability can earn a
well-deserved bogey.
But 7 is a different challenge altogether.
The tee shot that avoids the pond on the
left and the OB on the right is not usually
problematic, because the fairway is plenty
wide. But I think the most difficult shot of
the entire round is the approach shot that
follows.
The tall tree that guards the left half
of the green probably blocks more shots
every day than a good goalie, while the
See GOLF, Page A5
no truth whatsoever to the rumor.
I don’t know how this stuff gets started,
but I do know that I want to stop it. Fake
news? Yes, this is it.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary
of our Swiss-Bavarian festival, and in fact
we are planning a bit of an expansion. We
already have a tentative program of enter-
tainers in mind and have drafted a poster
design.
Among those of us responsible, there
has been no discussion at all about ending
or even curtailing the event.
It took an enormous infusion of time
and energy by committed citizens to
revive Oregon’s Alpenfest in 2012, and
we’re not stopping now.
The Alpenfest Board of Directors will
meet Nov. 1 to outline plans for next year.
We hope everyone in Wallowa County
will turn out for our anniversary edition
in September 2018. Stay tuned for details.
Chuck Anderson
Enterprise
Anderson is president and Alpenmeis-
ter of Oregon’s Alpenfest.