SPRING
FORWARD
Daylight Saving Time
begins this weekend.
Move your clocks ahead
one hour Saturday night.
SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN FEAST COMMUNITY FORUM
GOES BEFORE COMMISSIONERS TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY
LOCAL, A3
$1.50
LOCAL, A6
ATHLETES
RETURN TO
THE COURT,
FIELD AND
COURSE
SPORTS, A12
136th Year, No. 48
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Second vaccine reaches county;
fi fth COVID-19 death reported
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Robin
Hamilton
Enterprise
ENTERPRISE — Robin Ham-
ilton moved to Enterprise in the
mid-1980s because her mother
and brother were here from Santa
Barbara, California, both to be near
family and to fi nd a simpler life
style.
A retired ladies masseuse, she
and her now-deceased husband
ran three health spas in Califor-
nia. When they moved to Wallowa
County, they helped her stepfather
and mother Sam and Jean Sidoti
operate the Gold Room restaurant,
where they brought the fi rst pizza
to the county. They also operated
the Second-Hand Rose shop, both
in Joseph. She has one daughter
and no grandchildren.
Hamilton recently shared her
thoughts on living in Wallowa
County.
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
Looking at those gorgeous
mountains and the sparkling snow
— it’s all white and fl uff y.
What challenges do you
believe Wallowa County
faces?
Keeping things quiet — I just
don’t like traffi c; that’s why I moved
here. Santa Barbara just got to be
too much. Also, I think we need a
swimming pool both for the old
and the young in Enterprise.
How has the COVID-19
pandemic aff ected you?
It seems to be OK. A couple of
my nephews had it, but they’re OK
now. One’s in Texas and the other is
in Sacramento.
Do you plan to get the
vaccine against COVID-19
or are you hesitant as some
people are?
Yes, but I haven’t gotten it yet.
My daughter in Bend has gotten it.
ENTERPRISE — Wallowa County resi-
dents now have a second COVID-19 vaccine
available to them.
The recently approved Johnson & John-
son vaccine arrived last week at both Wallowa
Memorial Hospital and at Safeway in Enter-
prise, and the retail store already has been put-
ting it to use.
Safeway Pharmacy Manager Nancy Stan-
gel said individuals who come in to get vacci-
nated at the pharmacy may have an option to
get one vaccine or the other so long as both are
on hand.
“If I have them both on the day they are
signed up for, sometimes they can choose what
they (receive),” Stangel said.
Stangel said because of the one-shot nature
of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, many peo-
ple are opting for it.
“I’ve had several people who have requested
that (vaccine) if we have it — I have them on a
list,” she said.
Wallowa Memorial Hospital will be set-
ting up appointments for the Johnson & John-
son vaccines, according to Brooke Pace, WMH
communications director.
The hospital will be opening the phone
lines, 541-426-5437, at 8 a.m. on Thursday,
See COVID-19, Page A11
Youths to add to skateboard park
Alternative school kids
drive to add half-pipe
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
E
NTERPRISE — Students at the Wal-
lowa County Alternative Education Pro-
gram are working to install a half-pipe at
the Enterprise skate park, the fi rst major
addition to it the 20 years since metal ramps
were added on the concrete pad.
“What the students want to do is build
a half-pipe and we presented an idea of a
wooden ramp that is specially designed by a
company out of California and the city, I think,
is on board in moving forward with this idea,”
said Ron Pickens, county alcohol and drug pre-
vention coordinator one of the teachers at the
school who is overseeing the project.
The Enterprise City Council on Mon-
day, March 8, heard a presentation by Pick-
ens during which he gave cost estimates to the
council. Pickens had made an earlier presen-
tation on the proposed half-pipe at the coun-
cil’s February meeting. On Monday, he told
the council the initial plans for a wooden half-
pipe are estimated at about $3,000. He also
received an estimate for a metal half-pipe from
Stangel Industries & Machine Shop in Enter-
prise of $15,000. That’s about half the cost of
another estimate from a company in the Mid-
west, Pickens said. He also had investigated
a concrete half-pipe, but the cost for that was
deemed beyond what is possible.
Pickens also received an estimate for a
cover for the wooden half-pipe to protect it
from the elements. The cost for the cover from
Mark Borgerding Contracting of Enterprise
came in at $10,000, Pickens said.
Alternative school senior Mason Griffi n told
of a coating that can be obtained to help protect
the wooden half-pipe from the elements.
Pickens said the alternative school received
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Ron Pickens, a teacher at the Wallowa County Alternative Education Program, center, and student
Theo Noble measure off the distance needed to install a proposed half-pipe at the Enterprise
skate park. From left, are students Mason Griffi n, Cash McQuown and Christian Morris.
a $3,000 grant from Community 101 to cover
the bulk of the cost of the half-pipe. They also
expect to raise extra funds, he said, but was
unclear about the amount.
Pickens said the council on Monday said
they planned to have the Public Works Com-
mittee meet in two weeks to review the options.
Before then, he plans to have a short question-
naire posted on the Facebook page of Building
Healthy Families — which oversees the alter-
native school — and the Wallowa County Pre-
vention Facebook page for the public to pro-
vide input on the skate park improvements.
Since cost estimates are higher than the
amount they have, Pickens said they may have
to refi gure their plans and consider possible
fundraising options.
What have you learned
from living in Wallowa
County?
I think everybody’s so friendly
and kind.
What’s your advice for
people who are thinking
about moving here?
You’ll never want to leave. …
It’s such a fun place. The water’s
sweet. The air is clean. The sky is
blue. I’d like to see people ride
more horses.
— Bill Bradshaw, Wallowa
County Chieftain
David P. Howard/Creative Commons Contribution
Wallowa County Alternative Education Program students are hoping to erect a half-pipe at the
skate park near the Enterprise High School football fi eld this spring or summer. The half-pipe they
propose will be about 3 feet tall, 20 feet long and 10 feet wide.
“The way I’m seeing this … is we’ll get
additional funds from Building Healthy Fami-
lies (which oversees the alternative school) and
have about $4,500-$5,000,” Pickens said.
He said that should cover the cost of the
half-pipe, paint and a protective coating.
A half-pipe, as the name suggests, is a ramp
curved up at each end with a U-shaped cross
section used by skateboarders, rollerbladers or
bicyclists to jump and perform tricks.
Five high-schoolers from the alternative
school are actively working on the project,
as well as three or four from Joseph Charter
School. The boys are designing stickers to pro-
mote it, Pickens said, and they hope to have
helmets to give away.
“They’re kind of a promo, a kickoff for the
skate park when it’s all said and done,” he said.
Until this week’s council meeting, they
were mainly concerned with getting the cost
estimates for the park’s new feature.
The youths also are likely to help with the
labor involved if they go with the wooden half-
pipe, Pickens said.
“We’re just trying to fl esh out the numbers
to know which way we’re going to go,” he
said. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern.”
He said the current layout of the skate park
would allow room for the addition of a wooden
or metal half-pipe, although some rearranging
of the two current quarter-pipes and a four-way
center ramp. Plans call for a half-pipe that is
3 feet tall, 10 feet long and 20 feet wide that’s
small enough and appropriate for all age and
skill levels.
Two of the four alternative school students
have no experience at skateboarding, and none
have tried a half-pipe.
See Skate Park, Page A11
City Council postpones Summerfest to next year
Hears CETRA
grant pitches for
various events
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — There will be
no Summerfest in Enterprise this
year, the city council agreed during
its Monday, March 8 meeting, pre-
ferring to wait until 2022 to give
time for a larger event, according to
a press release.
Councilwoman Christie Huston,
of the Projects Committee, said that
since the event is normally held in
June, most council members are new
to the council and given the COVID-
19 troubles of the past year, it is bet-
ter to wait until next year to hold the
event.
Huston also discussed options
for memorializing Michele Young, a
prior city administrator. The council
decided to name the Council Cham-
bers in her honor, ask Young’s fam-
ily for permission to hang a large
picture of her in the chambers with a
plaque showing her years of service.
Young, who died in September,
served 31½ years as city administra-
tor before retiring in 2018.
Plans call for the design of a
plaque to recognize all former and
current mayors, which Young was
working on prior to her leaving.
In another matter, the coun-
cil heard a presentation on the Wal-
lowa County Smoke Management
Community Response Plan by Lisa
Mahon. A similar presentation was
made to the Wallowa County Board
of Commissioners on Wednesday,
March 3. See that story on page A3.
The council also considered
applications for Community-Eco-
nomic-Tourism Related Activities
(CETRA) grants to help fund com-
munity events. Grants up for consid-
eration would provide $2,000 each to
Juniper Jam, the Courthouse Concert
Series, the Woodlands and Water-
shed Festival, Alpenfest, Mountain
High Broncs and Bulls and Main
Street Show and Shine. Represen-
tatives of each event were given the
opportunity to make a pitch for the
grants. After the presentations, city
Administrator Lacey McQuead said
the CETRA/Motel Tax Committee
would meet and prepare a recom-
mendation for grant awards to be
heard during the April meeting.
In other business, the council:
See Council, Page A11