Enterprise, Oregon
135th Year, No. 16
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
$1
CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS
Ellen Morris Bishop
The bull Omaha takes revenge on his tormentor at the very end of the Saturday evening rodeo. The rider was unharmed, thanks to the courage of the bullfighters. In 2017,
Derek Kolbaba rode Omaha for a full eight-second ride, but this rider couldn’t make the buzzer.
Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
F
rom the opening day Bucking Horse Stam-
pede through Joseph to the final bullride five
days later, action and fun summed up the
74th annual Chief Joseph Days rodeo that
took place July 23-28. Six days of activities
and four days of rodeo. Saturday’s parade
featured Grand Marshal Bill Wells, along with the
members of many previous courts, including 1949,
1964, and 1999.
Joseph Branch Rails
with Trails project
withdraws application
Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Joseph Branch Rails
with Trails project with-
drew its application for a
six-mile trail along the Wal-
lowa Union Railroad Author-
ity tracks between Joseph
and Enterprise. Ranchers had
protested the idea, claiming
that traffic on the trail would
interfere with their ranching
activities, which is protected
under Wallowa County’s
“Right to Farm” ordinance.
Wallowa County native
Natalie Millar is spokes-
person and treasurer for the
JBRWT. She said the July
2 decision to withdraw the
application was not an easy
one. She noted that the group
had heard the concerns of
ranchers, many of which
Millar described as valid.
“It was a long discussion,”
Millar said. “We talked for
almost an hour and talked to
our lawyer, too.” She said the
withdrawal vote was nearly
unanimous.
The trail group’s attor-
ney, Garrett Stephenson, also
advised the group that its
appeal did not face the best
of odds. The attorney advised
the group that spending a sig-
nificant amount of time and
money for a possible ‘no’
on the appeal was not in the
group’s best interest. Transi-
tions within the board mem-
bership of the group also
made the going difficult.
“We decided it would
make more sense if we made
this less of a political bat-
tle, and try to get some more
evidence of people using the
right-of-way respectfully,”
Millar said. “We’re kind of
taking it as kind of a chance
to regroup as a group and
make sure we’re not over-
extending ourselves. We’re
a volunteer board and we’re
See Trail, Page A7
Bridwell Pro Rodeos supplied all the stock for
the rodeo, which kept all the cowboys on their toes.
For example, only two bulls were ridden over the
four days. Plenty of cowboys in roping events found
that cattle don’t always run slow or in a straight line,
which meant plenty of empty loops. But that meant
that winners won big. Steers participating in the steer
wrestling events often either stepped on the accelera-
tor or slammed on the brakes, leaving the “lineback-
ers of pro rodeo” holding air and eating dirt. Thanks
to active rough stock, plenty of cowboys didn’t make
8-second rides either, but the ones who did took home
a fat purse.
This rodeo seemed to be a safe one all around.
While riders suffered the usual bumps, scrapes, slings
and arrows of life riding rough stock, there were no
See Chief Joseph Days, Page A9
Enterprise and Wallowa school
districts begin facilities assessments
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Schools are among the most import-
ant components of rural communities.
In Wallowa County we rightly take
pride in our athletic teams and our aca-
demic achievements. The Enterprise
and the Wallowa school districts are
taking steps to ensure that their aging
buildings, along with their educational,
and athletic capacities can prepare their
students to succeed in the future.
Both districts successfully applied
for grants to participate in the Ore-
gon Department of Education’s Tech-
nical Assistance Programs (TAP). TAP
funds both long-range facilities plan-
ning and facilities assessments. The
funds provide inventory and inspection
of a school’s physical plant by a team
of mechanical and structural engineers,
architects, and other professionals to
determine what repairs are needed,
and what classroom upgrades might
be appropriate to the school’s long-
range educational plan. In both dis-
tricts, a committee chosen to represent
the community will review the consul-
tant’s reports, and will make recom-
mendations to the school boards after
listening to the counsel of teachers,
custodial staff, and students. Then, for
the needed repairs and improvements,
it is likely that bond initiatives will be
on the ballots in 2020, with matching
funds from the Oregon Schools Capital
Improvement Monies (OSCIM).
The Enterprise school board will
hold a special meeting on August 5 at
7:30 p.m. in the high school library to
present the results and recommenda-
tions of their month-long assessment by
the consulting firm The Wenaha Group.
Enterprise school
district presents
assessment Aug. 5
Wallowa School
District begins
its assessment
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wenaha Group consultants
and the Enterprise school board
will present findings of the month-
long assessment of Enterprise’s
facilities at the high school library,
Monday, August 5, at 7:30 p.m.
with a new roof as high priority.
The Enterprise School Dis-
trict received a $45,000 grant for
assessment of the school’s facili-
ties and environmental hazards.
The results of that assessment,
completed by Wenaha Group of
Pendleton, Oregon, will be pre-
sented at a public meeting Mon-
day, August 5.
“The fact that the high school’s
roof was leaking was kind of a
wake-up call that the school build-
ings and facilities needed atten-
tion,” said Enterprise superinten-
dent Erika Pinkerton. “It was, and
is, in dire need of replacement.
We patched it last year. But then
it sprang new leaks.”
They applied for a TAP grant
and after receiving the funds in
May, contracted with The Wen-
The Wallowa School District
began its TAP application about
the same time as Enterprise, and
received $95,000 in funding for
assessments of facilities, seismic,
long-range planning and environ-
mental conditions in the school.
“It’s a good opportunity to repair
our school and ensure that we are
equipped to meet students needs
in the future,” said Superinten-
dent Jay Hummel. Hummel is
concerned that the ancient heating
system might give out on some
cold winter day. “Jake MacDon-
ald, who does our facilities main-
tenance, has done an outstanding
job of keeping everything run-
ning, but a system can’t last for-
ever. I’ve been looking into where
we could hold classes around the
community should we lose the
heating system,” Hummel said.
So far he’s found spots to hold
classes in the public library, in
churches, and other places. “I’d
rather not have to do that, but we
are going to have school even if
See Enterprise, Page A7
See Wallowa, Page A7
The Wallowa school district is pres-
ently just starting their assessment.
Superintendent Jay Hummel antici-
pates a meeting to present the results
and recommendations to the commu-
nity in late September.