BASKETBALL SEASON UNDERWAY
Enterprise, Oregon
See Page 13
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 34
December 6, 2017
$1
Dunn steps up for commissioner slot
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bruce Dunn, a forester for
R-Y Timber and chairman of
the county’s Natural Resources
Advisory Council, has filed for
the county commissioner post
soon to be vacated by commis-
sioner Paul Castilleja for health
reasons.
Dunn was born in Mich-
igan, where he grew up and
attended college, earning a for-
estry degree at Michigan Tech.
He went to work for the U.S.
Forest Service in eastern Idaho.
He quit the USFS for a private
sector job but ended up back at
Health
clinic in
Enterprise
ready to roll
By Paul Wahl
Wallowa County Chieftain
All systems are go for con-
struction of a $6.5-million inte-
grated health services building
in Enterprise.
The project is a coopera-
tive venture between Wallowa
Valley Center for Wellness and
Winding Waters, a nonprofit
community health center.
Supporters of the project
recently received an update
from a fundraising consultant
who has been determining the
level of community appeal for
the clinic. Additional money is
expected from major founda-
tions and the state.
Mike Wilson, senior asso-
ciate with Westby Associates
in Vancouver, Wash., spent
months interviewing around
90 county residents regarding
financial support. He believes
between $364,000 and around a
million can be raised from local
donors. He is in the process of
securing those donations this
week.
A total of around $3.5 mil-
lion total is anticipated from all
three sources, leaving roughly
$3 million to complete the
clinic.
Wilson said the funding
plan was a three-legged stool
–– money from state govern-
ment, private foundations and
the public.
Two-thirds of the remaining
costs would fall on the wellness
clinic and the other third on
Winding Waters –– roughly $2
million and $1 million, respec-
tively –– representing the per-
centage of the building each
would plan to utilize.
“We’ll do this through local
fundraising, applying to large
foundations, applying for any
federal grants that may or may
not become available, and as a
last resort by taking on a limited
See CLINIC, Page A10
the forest service when a dam
failure destroyed the mill where
he worked.
“My job washed away,”
Dunn said with a laugh.
He found his way to Ore-
gon in 1986 when a former
sawmill manager suggested he
apply at Sequoia Forest Indus-
tries in Joseph. Dunn was given
the forester position at the mill,
which eventually became R-Y.
It closed in 1995. Everyone lost
their jobs except Dunn.
“I stayed there to manage
the land, which I’m still doing,”
he said.
Dunn kept a steady inter-
est in the county’s manage-
ment, partic-
ularly
land
managment.
He joined the
planning com-
mission and
stayed
until
Bruce
1999. Among
Dunn
his
accom-
plishments was the creation of
the Wallowa County and Nez
Perce Tribe Salmon Recov-
ery Plan to preclude the endan-
gered species listing of chinook
salmon.
The plan was later made
into Article 36 of the coun-
ty’s ordinances. Because much
technical input was needed to
implement the plan, the com-
missioners formed the coun-
ty’s Natural Resources Advi-
sory Committee, which has two
facets: A technical committee
that reviews projects and makes
recommendations, and a stand-
ing committee that develops
recommended policy on natu-
ral resource issues for the board
of commissioners.
“I’m the chairman of both
committees,” Dunn said. “I was
chairman of the technical com-
mittee from the beginning and
chairman of both committees
since 1998.”
Dunn said he’s running for
commissioner because he’s
been asked a number of times
to do so. But until a year ago,
his employers didn’t like the
idea. Eventually, the company
relented because Dunn isn’t as
busy anymore. With Castilleja
soon out of the picture, Dunn
said the time is right.
“I think it has to be done,
and I’m willing to do it.” he
said.
Because of his NRAC posi-
tion and attendance of many of
the meetings, Dunn said he’s
familiar with the commissioner
duties and issues. He also has
some ideas of his own.
As an example, Dunn said
he’d like to see the county form
an ad hoc committee of self-
made entrepreneurs like Tyler
Hays, Brian Coughlan and
Deve Wolfe to brainstorm ideas
to bring in as many businesses
as possible that will employ
5-15 people.
“We help ourselves move
forward,” he said. “We don’t
look for another government
program or money.”
Dunn added that the
employees of these businesses
will increase the tax base and
alleviate problems such as
Joseph street repair and library
funding.
See DUNN, Page A18
THE
EYES
HAVE IT
Courtesy photo
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
All that remains of Kathy Jenkins sight is scant peripheral vision in one eye. It’s difficult for her to read even a text on her phone. The eSight glass-
es gave her 20/20 vision and the illusion of looking straight ahead. TOP IMAGE: Kathy sees her sister-in-law, Sharon Grote, across the room and
Sharon captures the event during a recent trial run.
Fundraiser underway to purchase vision device for Joseph resident
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
K
athy Jenkins of Joseph has risen
above tragedy continuously through-
out her life. When she was five, her
father was killed and her sister Eliza-
beth Grote permanently handicapped
in a car crash. Throughout it all, Jenkins survived
and made a life in Joseph as a hairdresser operating
her own business, Kathy’s Korner Beau-Tique, for
the past 25 years.
The latest challenge, however, has nearly
proven to be a knockout punch. Jenkins is blind,
suffering from both macular degeneration and
a rare genetic condition called pseudoxanthoma
elasticum or Grönblad–Strandberg syndrome. As a
result, she can only see very poorly through a tiny
area in her peripheral vision.
“I can’t read anything. I have a 10x magnify-
ing loop and that’s about the only way I can read a
phone text right now,” she said.
She first learned she had the rare disease when
she went to optometrist and specialist Doc Peterson
in Enterprise in 1980.
“He looked in my eyes and said, ‘Oh, boy,
Kathy. Do you have a problem,’” she recalled.
Unfortunately there was no treatment for the
disease at the time. So, Kathy just went on with life.
She lost vision in her right eye in 2006.
She lost vision in her left eye in 2012.
“I gave up driving and gave up my business,”
Kathy said. “It was one of the hardest things that
I had to do because I loved going to work every
day. I loved all my clientele.”
Her vision deteriorated to the point where she
could no longer live alone and in 2013, her sister,
See EYES, Page A8
Boggan’s Oasis may be rebuilt
Insurance settlement will make the determination
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Boggan’s Oasis is at the junction
of Dreamz Road and the Grande
Ronde River. Just up the private
road, the Vails live and manage
cabins and camping spots.
Up on Dreamz Road, off
to the left before you cross
the bridge over the Grande
Rhonde River between
Enterprise and Clarkston,
Wash., Bill and Ferrel Vail
have just returned from a trip
to Lewiston.
Bill has made his way
slowly into the couple’s dou-
blewide trailer, feeling for
the support handles a friend
recently installed throughout
the house to help him main-
tain his independence.
Ferrel Vail is opening a
new bag of catfood on the
porch to feed the plush, out-
door cat. She and Bill have
just completed an exhaust-
ing day of chasing down
insurance details in the after-
math of a fire that destroy
their café, Boggan’s Oasis,
Nov. 18. More appointments
are set for the next day.
When it’s all said and
done, the Vails may rebuild.
That’s fabulous news for
three generations of custom-
ers, many of whom have
been mailing and calling the
couple since the news of the
fire spread.
“It was such a special
spot for them. Everybody
thought it was just a special
place,” Ferrel said.
But what will it mean to
Bill and Ferrel Vail, who in
their early 80s and were plan-
ning to retire to Palm Springs?
“We don’t know, yet,”
said Bill. “It depends on a lot
of things. But that’s going to
See BOGGAN’S, Page A18