A10
NEWS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
H.S. Choir, church team up for fundraiser
Music Alliance Christmas
Concert coming on Dec 22
at the Josephy Center
By Janis Carper
For the Chieftain
Ellen Morris Bishop
The Enterprise High School Choir performed Christmas and holiday favorites Thursday, Dec. 5, at the 60th annual soup and pie
luncheon. The event, held at the Enterprise Community Congregational Church, was attended by more than 80 people. It raised
money for the choir and for Community Connection’s Fuel and Senior Meal programs. In this photo, six of the 17-student strong
choir perform a slightly jazzy version of Jingle Bells. The Enterprise High School Choir, along with the 7-12 Band and 6th-grade
band, will perform their offi cial Christmas Concert Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. in the high school multi-purpose room (aka cafeteria).
Wallowa Valley Music
Alliance and Josephy
Center for Arts and Cul-
ture present their annual
Holiday Concert Sunday,
Dec. 22, at Josephy Cen-
ter for Arts and Culture,
2:00 p.m.
Join the Wallowa Val-
ley Music Alliance in cele-
brating the holiday season
with a variety of holiday
music on Sunday after-
noon, Dec. 22, at Josephy
Center for Arts and Cul-
ture, 403 N. Main, Joseph.
This year’s performers
include The Brann Family,
Jessie Borgerding, Randy
& Katie Morgan, Ghost
Wind, Jezebel’s Mother,
the Lindsey Family, Kelly
McDonald, Heidi Muller
& Bob Webb, Caleb & Ari
Samples, Nick Porter &
Friends and Gail Swart.
The Music Alliance
and Josephy Center have
partnered several times in
Ellen Morris Bishop
Heidi Muller and Bob Webb
will be playing, along with
many other favorites, at the
Music Alliance Christmas
concert Dec. 22.
recent years, pairing music
with visual art to bring
an even richer experience
to their patrons. These
two leading arts nonprof-
its appreciate this oppor-
tunity to express thanks
to the community for the
support of their programs
year-round. Sunday’s con-
cert starts at 2:00 p.m.,
doors open at 1:30. Holi-
day treats will be served.
Admission to the concert
is by suggested donation
of $10, proceeds benefi t-
ing both the WVMA and
the Josephy Center.
Evelyn Swart pens children’s book, plus wildlife tales
‘Polly Rides
an Elephant’
designed to help
the younger set
learn reading
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Evelyn Swart has only
ridden an elephant once, but
on that ride, she found the
inspiration for a book that
might help young children
learn to read. Swart and art-
ist-collaborator Leita Bar-
low will sign their book,
Polly Rides an Elephant, at
the Bookloft, Saturday, Dec.
14, from 1-3 p.m.
On a trip to Thailand
several years ago, Evelyn’s
husband, Don, decided to
go for an elephant ride. He
persuaded Evelyn to come
along. Their four-year-old
granddaughter, Emi, insisted
in joining them. “I thought it
would be a short ride,” Eve-
lyn said. “But Emi had a dif-
ferent idea.” The four-year–
old wanted a long ride on the
elephant, and, the only Thai-
speaker among the three
of them, she refused to ask
the Thai mahout (elephant
trainer) to turn around. And
so they continued for quite
a long distance until the trail
reached a river. “I had the
vision of the elephant taking
us all for a swim, or maybe
fi lling her trunk with muddy
river water and squirting us
all,” Evelyn said. ‘It was
turning out to be not a pleas-
ant experience.” But the
mahout’s better sense pre-
vailed and with a grin, he
turned the elephant around
and they ambled back to the
trailhead.
“Since then, I’ve wanted
to write the story of a some-
what petulant and deter-
mined girl who defi es the
odds and does what she has
in mind,” Swart said.
The result is a charming
book, captivatingly illus-
trated by friend, poet and
Wallowa County artist Bar-
low. It tells the story of what
might have happened if Emi
could have continued the
adventure she seemed to
have in mind that day in the
Thai forest.
Swart wrote the book
partly to help young read-
ers learn to understand
and navigate the written
page. She has a deep back-
ground in teaching reading,
including B.A. and M.Ed.
degrees in education, more
than a decade as principal
and superintendent in rural
Idaho school districts, four
years as an elementary read-
ing specialist with the Idaho
Department of Education,
and several years as a read-
ing education instructor at
Boise State University. “It’s
been really important work
for me,” she said.
After moving to Wal-
lowa County in 2001, Swart
joined a Fishtrap-based writ-
ing group for women, aptly
named Write Women. The
group included Janie Tip-
pett, Pamela Royes, Kath-
erine Stickroth, and Barlow.
Swart found inspiration and
began writing more, includ-
ing stories about animals,
some poetry, and some cre-
ative non-fi ction. But she
always dreamed about pro-
ducing the ideal book to help
children learn to read.
Barlow seemed a nat-
ural to illustrate the book.
With a degree in art (“a
million years ago…” she
noted…) and a penchant for
poetry, she and Swart shared
creative interests in the
Ellen Morris Bishop
Evelyn Swart (left) combined her adventure with
granddaughter Emi and a career of teaching reading in her
new book, Polly Rides an Elephant. The book comes with
suggestions for how parents and friends can use this book
and others to encourage young readers. Enterprise artist Leita
Barlow (right) illustrated the book. The Bookloft is hosting a
book signing for Swart and Barlow on Sat. Dec. 14, 1-3 p.m.
that also includes Swart’s other new book, Critter Chronicles.
Write Women group. Bar-
low divided Swart’s book
into illustrative segments,
including brief encounters
with a snake, a crocodile and
a tiger, and created watercol-
ors to tell the tale visually.
The book’s forward pro-
vides Swart’s suggestions
for helping young readers
learn. Chief among them is
talking about the pictures
and predicting where the
story might lead. “The pic-
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tures are an essential part
of telling, envisioning and
understanding the story,”
Swart said. “Discussing the
pictures prior to reading the
story helps build the neces-
sary vocabulary for reading
comprehension.”
The book’s graphical lay-
out was completed by Tara
Porter. Ed Pitt and his Art
West Press published the
book.
The Dec. 14 book sign-
ing will also include Critter
Chronicles, another of Eve-
lyn Swart’s books, hot off
the Art West press. It con-
tains ten heartwarming sto-
ries of how animals may
view the world, includ-
ing “Squirrels dither on the
environment,” and “Basil
the Bear wakes too early.”
They are great stories to read
aloud, and fun for, as Swart
noted, “…anyone from age
7 on up.”
Disclosure: The Chief-
tain editor helped with pho-
tography and initial layout
of Polly Rides an Elephant,
but receives no monetary
compensation for this work.
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Dec. 12th, 2019
5:30-7:30
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