NEWS
Continued from Page A1
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
The CJD board has wres-
tled with the decision to can-
cel or to hold the rodeo since
early March when it became
apparent that lots of pub-
lic events were likely to be
scratched due to state-man-
dated COVID-19 social dis-
tancing requirements and
stay at home orders. “The
fi rst thing we thought of was
that we would have to cancel
this year. That would have
been the easy thing to do,”
Jones said.
But as they considered
the economic and social
repercussions of cancel-
ation, it became evident
that the “easy” solution was
rife with complications. For
one, Jones said, 18-25 per-
cent of the total tourism rev-
enue for businesses in Wal-
lowa County, especially
restaurants, bars, and lodg-
ing, is generated during
Chief Joseph Days. That’s
a lot of fi nancial support for
local businesses and spon-
sors that are already strug-
gling mightily. It’s pretty
Coronation is tentatively scheduled for June 6th. Court
members will continue selling tickets until at least May
22nd. Selling tickets has been a new and challenging ex-
perience for the girls this year. “No door to door sales were
allowed this year,” Jones said. “But the girls have worked
very hard and are doing well under the current conditions.”
Tickets will be fully refunded should the rodeo be canceled,”
Jones added. “The court girls will however still get paid for
their commissions even though the ticket sales may have
to be refunded. You can still support the court members by
purchasing tickets from them by phone or on their website.”
Your ticket purchase through the court-members’ websites
or with a phone call serves as a vote for Queen for the court
member of your choice.
On CJD website: http://www.chiefj osephdays.com/ro-
deo/7531/three-special-messages-from-the-2020-chief-jo-
seph-days-queen-contenders/
Casidee Herrod: Website is casideeharrodcjd2020.com,
Phone: 541-263-1605
Brianna Micka: Website www.briannamickacjd.com,
Phone: 541-398-0710.
Destiny Wecks: Website: destinywecksrodeo.wixsite.com/
cjd2020, Phone: 541-263-1497
big,” Jones said. So if Chief
Joseph Days was canceled,
especially this year, Jones
thought the economic con-
sequences could be a poten-
Grants
GET INVOLVED
Donations to the Wallowa County Business Fund:
Continued from Page A1
Gifts in any amount are accepted by 501c3 non-profi t
Wallowa Resources, and are tax deductible to the extent
allowed by law. Mail checks, payable to Wallowa County
Business Fund to WCBF, Wallowa Resources, 401 NE 1st St.,
Enterprise, OR 97828, or through the Wallowa Resources
website: https://www.wallowaresources.org/donate-1 Do-
nations in any amount may also be made at any Community
Bank, with the caveat that no receipt for your donation will
be available.
Applications:
To be eligible, a business must demonstrate being nega-
tively aff ected by COVID-19, be legally organized in Oregon,
have a physical location in Wallowa County and have or an-
ticipate a 25% or greater decline in revenue. “If you applied,
but didn’t get PPP or EID money, you’ll have a little bit of
preference,” Hillock said.
be,” Hillock said, “that a
restaurant has managed to
make enough to pay the
rent, but then doesn’t have
enough cash to buy food so
they can serve their (take-
out) menu.”
“Some of the relief
money we are working on
at the county level is so
restricted it will never get to
the small, local businesses
that need it the most,” Hill-
ock said. “We wanted to
make funds simpler to get
and quickly available. And
show local businesses that
the whole community sup-
ports them.”
“If people could make
their donations before May
18th that would be great,”
said Wallowa Resources
Development Director Larz
Stewart. “That way we can
award grants to businesses
by the end of this month.”
Seeds Potting
Berries
Annuals ‘n
Perennials
Fruit Trees &
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GREAT
POTATO
DRIVE
Custom
om hanging
baskets and
bask
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HA
5T
TICKET PRICES
21
2
ST - 6TH,
2
For Tickets Call: 541-263-1497
Email: destinywecksrodeo@gmail.com
Facebook|Phone Sales|Mail Order
WEDNESDAY - FAMILY NIGHT $15
THURSDAY - TETWP $15
FRIDAY - PRCA RODEO $ 17
(Friday tickets may be upgraded to Saturday
general admission or Friday/Saturday
reserved seating)
Send Local Potatoes to the Food Bank!
$50 delivers a 50# bag of fresh organic
Joseph potatoes. Help sustain local
farming and the Food Bank.
Checks payable to
Rotary Foundation of WC
P.O. Box 555, Enterprise OR 97828
Info call: Randi Jandt, 541-426-7131
541-426-4502
Don’t forget to write
“PANDEMIC POTATO DRIVE”
on your check
WALLOWA COUNTY
WEDNESDAYS
7 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
Noon Grace and Dignity
(Womens Mtg) Joseph
United Methodist Church
301 S. Lake St., Church
Basement
7 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
THURSDAYS
12-1 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
7 p.m. All Saints
(Mens Mtg)
113.5 E Main St.
FRIDAYS
7 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
64934 Alder Slope Rd.
Enterprise, Oregon 97828
541-426-3317
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Follow us on Instagram
@alderslope nursery • alderslopenursery.com
Located 2
of
miles south
Enterprise
JOSEPH Cont.
MONDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
PLEN OF
PLENTY
ROOM TO
SHOP
Medical, Dental &
Mental Health Care
for Our Community
7am - 7pm Mon - Fri
9am - 1pm Saturday
12-1 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
7-8 p.m. Enterprise Group
(Big Bk Study)
113.5 E Main St.
6 ft
days — a couple of weeks
before we make a decision
on that.”
Roberts
addressed
Brown with concerns
about Chief Joseph Days.
“We and other commu-
nities out here have some
important events coming
up in July,” Roberts said.
“I know you don’t want
to set a date, but what are
we supposed to tell those
folks?” she said. “They’ve
got to be able to start work-
ing toward those events the
fi rst of June.”
NNIVERSA
R
603 Medical Parkway, Enterprise
Rotary of Wallowa County
and just go with any avail-
able talent or stock? Jones
is concerned that the qual-
ity of the rodeo and its
entertainment would be
much lower, and it just
wouldn’t be the same.
“People wouldn’t be very
happy with it,” he said. And
a later date would confl ict
with other Wallowa County
summer events already
planned.
So the CJD board is
sticking with their tradi-
tional, last weekend of July
dates. And keeping their
fi ngers crossed that by then,
the state will be more open,
allowing generous crowds
to fi ll the grandstands, the
riders, ropers, and per-
formers to assemble, along
with the broncs, bulls, and
steers. “We owe it to our
sponsors, the community,
the businesses and all the
wonderful people who have
put this rodeo on now and
for all the years it’s been
going,” Jones said. “It’s not
just a rodeo. It’s about peo-
ple and this community. We
owe it to them to make this
the best rodeo and gather-
ing we can — especially
this year.”
C hief Joseph Days Rodeo Queen Candidate
TUESDAYS
AVAILABLE
EASY
ORDERNG BY
PHONE
Pendleton Roundup.
Brown’s
response,
“We’re working on that
and it’s on our radar screen.
September is a ways off.
The challenge for Oregon
is to predict these things.
We don’t have a sense of
what will happen when
we start to open. So we
need to look at the science
behind that. It will be a few
ENTERPRISE
Ornamentals
SPEEDY
CURB-SIDE
PICKUP
Continued from Page A1
Your Mother’s Day gift
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While the WCBF was
started with the idea of
making a single donation
to support the immediate
needs of small business,
there’s the potential for a
longer-lived project, Hill-
ock said. “If people want
to provide support for how-
ever long this may last,
they can make additional or
even monthly donations to
the fund.”
Open
A7
Y
Eligible businesses are encouraged to fi ll-out a simple
application form at: https://forms.gle/VHpaLd5TJCcndUNc6.
If you need a paper copy of the application, you can pick
up an application at the back door of the Wallowa County
Courthouse on the bulletin board. If you have questions,
you may address your questions to lisadawson@neoedd.org
or 541-426-3598. Applications received by 5 p.m. on May 18
will be included in the initial review. Awards are expected to
be $1,000 or less.
The coalition’s goal is
to put community dona-
tions into the hands of local
businesses, including sole
proprietorships, as quickly
as possible to meet any
needs they might have. Any
legally registered business
based in Wallowa County
that has been measurably
impacted by the efforts to
curtail COVID-19 is eli-
gible for support. At this
time, the fund will not be
used to support nonprofi ts.
Soroptimist and Rotary
will help garner donations.
NEOEDD will set up and
receive all applications,
determine eligibility based
on the criteria set up, and
the meetings of the partners
to award grants.
Wallowa Resources will
accept the funds, and write
the checks. Donations to
the WCBF will be accepted
at any Community Bank
drive-up window as well as
Wallowa Resources’ web-
site and of course, by mail.
“We want to keep it sim-
ple, we want to get it out
quick, we want to help peo-
ple,” Hillock said.
“I think this shows how
the community recognizes
that our small businesses
are a vital part of Wallowa
County and that many of
them have been left behind
by the federal government,”
Dawson said. “I’m really
proud to be part of Wallowa
County. People care.”
from them.” This particu-
lar court, he said, was com-
posed of three very talented,
very well-qualifi ed young
women who would do a
superb job of representing
CJD at all the events they
normally would attend,
from the St. Paul rodeo to
the Spokane lilac festival.
“It’s not fair to deny them
the chance to represent CJD
elsewhere, or, especially,
here at home,” he said.
Could the CJD board
just postpone the rodeo for
a few weeks? Or more?
That’s
not
likely.
Everything—livestock,
announcer, fi lming crews,
entertainers, and every-
thing else — has been con-
tacted for that specifi c, last
weekend in July, Jones said.
“We have top national per-
formers who are in demand
across the country,” Jones
said. “They’re already con-
tracted through the summer,
so once rodeos can start
up again here and across
the country, we wouldn’t
be able to get them signed
for a later date.” The same
would be true of the cow-
boys and barrel-racers.
Could they reschedule
LY
JU
NEOEDD’s Lisa Dawson.
“But here, we don’t have
the government resources
to respond in the same way.
This is a Wallowa County
way of responding.”
The organization is the
brainchild of Wallowa
County commissioner John
Hillock.
“What spurred me to do
this was that Commissioner
Roberts and Lisa Dawson
of NEOEDD were working
on a USDA grant to support
local business. But when I
looked through the appli-
cation, it was so full of cri-
teria that most local people
aren’t going to be able to
qualify,” he said.
When Hillock got his
$1200 coronavirus check,
he realized that a lot of
small businesses needed
that money more than he
did. And, he thought, there
were probably others in the
county who’d also be will-
ing to give their govern-
ment largess to keep some
Wallowa County busi-
nesses afl oat in these hard
times. He sent out an email.
In response, eight people
promptly offered to donate
their CARES payment.
With about $10,000 prom-
ised as a start, WCBF was
on its way to being born.
Hillock
not
only
rounded up willing donors,
but also took the idea of a
locally sourced fund to the
Wallowa County nonprof-
its that could help gener-
ate, accept, administer, and
award the funds.
“They were all enthusi-
astic,” he said. The fund,
they agreed, would provide
small grants of under $1000
to businesses that desper-
ately needed cash. “It could
Vegetable
Herb Starts
tial disaster for business.
“You might just as well hit
‘em over the head,” he said.
“I think this year a lot of
people are looking at the
revenue from Chief Joseph
Days visitors as their profi t
for the year, like my family
did when they ran Russell’s
at the Lake long ago.”
For another, CJD is more
than a rodeo. For many, it’s
a time when far-fl ung fam-
ily and friends visit. It’s
time when Wallowa County
expats—those who were
born here, but now live in
distant place--return home
for a week.
“For the economic
impact alone, we just
couldn’t cancel,” Jones
said. “Then we began
thinking of all those other
things, and we just had to
hang on and hope.”
The fates of the three
young women on the CJD
rodeo court proved another
consideration.
Casidee
Harrod, Brianna Micka
and Destiny Wecks have
invested a tremendous
amount of time, energy,
and thought into preparing
for court activities, includ-
ing preparing talks, training
their horses, and of course
selling tickets. “For each of
them, it’s been a life-long
dream,” Jones said. “We
just couldn’t take that away
0
THE CJD COURT, CORONATION, AND TICKETS
02
CJD
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
7
Wallowa.com
SATURDAYS
7 p.m. Enterprise Group
113.5 E Main St.
JOSEPH
MONDAYS
6 p.m. Grace and Dignity
(Womens Mtg) Joseph
United Methodist Church
301 S. Lake St., Church
Basement
THURSDAYS
5:30 p.m. Grapevine Meeting
Joseph United Methodist
Church
301 S. Lake St., Church
Basement
Al-Anon Family Group
(support for family and
friends of alcoholics)
meets Tuesday evenings
at the Joseph United
Methodist Church
(basement on north),
6pm-7pm.
WALLOWA
SATURDAY
Noon Wallowa Meeting
Church of Christ
504 W 2nd Street
SUNDAY
5 p.m. Wallowa Meeting
Church of Christ
504 W 2nd Street