WOODEN IWO JIMA MEMORIAL FORMER BANKER NOW
COMES TO WALLOWA IN HER ELEMENT
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$1.50
BUSINESS, A6
GRADUATION
IN PHOTOS
LOCAL, B1
137th Year, No. 8
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
MEMORIAL DAY 2021
Remembering the fallen
Prayers said,
salutes given,
fl ags planted
Kit
Tyler
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise
COVID made
her ‘more
aware’
ENTERPRISE — Kit Tyler has lived in
Enterprise for 45 years, having moved
here with her now-late husband, Den-
nis Tyler, from the Portland area for the
opportunity of him teaching school in
Joseph.
Dennis taught there for 32 years,
while Kit worked in medical records at
Winding Waters Clinic for about 18 years.
The Tylers raised three children
here and have one grandchild. They’ve
all moved on from Wallowa County,
however.
She recently shared her thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
E
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Representatives of veterans’ groups salute as taps is played Monday, May 31, 2021, during Memorial
Day ceremonies on the lawn of the Wallowa County Courthouse. From left are Jim Henson, Bob Masters,
Melanie Harvey and John Roberts.
What’s your favorite thing about
Wallowa County?
I would say the beauty, the quiet,
the people, everything about it, actually.
I’m not too crazy about winter, but other
than that, I like it.
What are your thoughts
on multiple allegations of
harassment of employees by
Joseph City Council and its
alleged “dysfunction’?
I have not paid a lot of attention to it.
I’ve read about it, but I really don’t have
any thoughts on it. I’m just glad it’s not
happening in Enterprise. I wouldn’t want
to see it happen anywhere.
How has the COVID-19
pandemic aff ected you?
It’s made me more aware. It’s some-
thing I didn’t want, but I see some good
that’s come out of it, such as being more
careful, which we all should be about
being around others. I have had my fi rst
shot and get my second shot next week.
The Pfi zer shot.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
That it’s a very caring community of
people. It’s nice to live away from all the
hubbub (of big cities) and that people
are willing to help each other.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about moving
here?
Make sure there will be a job wait-
ing for them, I think. Once you move
here, there’s a chance to fi nd a job, but I
think that to have plans ahead would be
a good idea.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Melanie Harvey, adjutant for VFW Post 4307,
places a wreath at the VFW memorial in Enterprise
during a Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May
31, 2021.
VFW Commander, Jim Henson, salutes after planting
a U.S. fl ag before wreaths on the lawn of the Wallowa
County Courthouse on Monday, May 31, 2021, during
Memorial Day ceremonies remembering those who
gave their lives for their country.
NTERPRISE — More
than 40 Americans from
Wallowa County who
had fallen in service to
their country were remembered
Monday, May 31, during solemn
ceremonies on the lawn of the
Wallowa County Courthouse.
The ceremonies were led by
members of veterans’ groups,
including the local Veterans of For-
eign Wars and American Legion
chapters. Taps was played and a
prayer read by Randy Morgan.
Among the 45 wooden “head
stones” laid out on the courthouse
lawn were the names and home-
towns of veterans from wars dat-
ing back to the Black Hawk War
— a brief, 1832 Indian war in Illi-
nois and Michigan Territory that
gave Abraham Lincoln his only
military experience, although he
saw no combat. Also listed on the
head stones were veterans of the
Mexican War, both sides in the
Civil War, the Indian Wars of the
late 1800s, the Spanish-American
War, both World Wars, the Korean
War and the Vietnam War. The
veterans listed came from all over
Wallowa County.
More than 50 people showed
up Monday to hear the tributes to
the fallen veterans and the Guard
of Honor as its four members took
turns fi ring a shot as each name
was read.
See Fallen, Page A1
Hands reaching across the continent Merkley
addresses
issues during
town hall
Wallowa County,
Costa Rican county
seek Sister Cities tie
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY —
Wallowa County is reaching out
internationally and hoping to
establish a sister cities relation-
ship with a city and county in
Costa Rica, where top-quality,
premium coff ee beans are grown
and processed.
On Thursday, May 27, offi -
cials in Wallowa County and
Tilaran Canton (county), Costa
Rica, met to discuss the proposal
via a Zoom conference.
Lyman Warnock, of Enter-
prise, has joined with an old
friend — and his wife, Mildred’s
uncle — Gustavo Rodriguez, to
spearhead the project. They’ve
approached city and county offi -
cials, as well as those of the
chambers of commerce in both
counties.
“It’s part of the Sister Cit-
ies program,” Rodriguez said
Wednesday, May 26. “Tilaran has
other Sister Cities already. One
of them is Durham, North Caro-
lina, and now after about a year
and a half, I fell in love with this
place so I told Lyman this would
be a nice town to see if we can
get a Sister City with Enterprise
or Joseph.”
Similarities to
Wallowa County
Tilaran, Costa Rica, is the
county seat of Tilaran Canton. It
is located in Guanacaste, a state
in the northwest portion of the
country. Like Wallowa County, it
has a rural lifestyle that is based
largely on agriculture and tour-
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Costa Rican has had
years to become familiar with the
United States.
“I love this Oregon state since
ENTERPRISE — Thanks for his
past work, forest, climate change,
the Snake River dams — and the
ever-increasing price of candy —
were among the
focuses of a vir-
tual town hall held
by U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley, D-Ore-
gon, on Tuesday,
June 1, that was
attended by more
Merkley
than 20 callers.
“My dad told
me there used to be penny candy,”
said one Enterprise sixth-grader.
“Why is the price going up?”
Leave it to a sixth-grader to fl us-
ter a U.S. senator.
“I’ve never been asked about the
price of candy, but you’re right, it
goes up,” Merkley agreed.
He recalled similar stories from
his mother of inexpensive goods
during the Great Depression. Ulti-
mately, he blamed it on infl ation.
“There’s no such thing as
penny candy anymore,” the sena-
tor agreed, saying infl ation is now
low and he doesn’t expect it to go
up much.
“The good news is you won’t see
price of candy going up too much,”
he said.
Introduced by Wallowa County
Commissioner Todd Nash, who
expressed the commission’s appre-
ciation the work of Merkley and his
fellow Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden
in facilitating the moving of fed-
See Hands, Page A9
See Merkley, Page A9
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Reaching out to Tilaran, Costa Rica, locals held a Zoom teleconference
Thursday, May 27, 2021, to discuss the possibility of establishing a Sister
Cities relationship the the Central American city and county. From left,
are Lyman Warnock of Enterprise, Gustavo Rodriguez of Tilaran, Scott
McDonald of Enterprise and Wallowa County Commissioner John Hillock.
ism. Also like Wallowa County,
Tilaran has a sizeable lake —
Lake Arenal — that, at nearly 33
square miles, has a much larger
area than Wallowa Lake’s 2⅓
square miles. But both lakes draw
considerable numbers of tourists
to their communities, whether
for water sports, hiking or bicy-
cling around the lake. Tilaran also
boasts horse races, rodeos, music
festivals
“Tilaran trying to boost their
tourism,” Warnock said, adding
that the city hopes to get ideas
from Joseph on how to do that.
“They’ve got a big lake like
ours, only bigger,” Warnock said.
“It’s 85 miles around,” Rodri-
guez added.
Another element of exchange
is education. Warnock told of a
businessman in Imnaha who sold
his holdings here and plans to go
to Costa Rica to set up a school to
teach people trades.
Tilaran’s agriculture is largely
cattle — beef and dairy — as well
as hay, though not alfalfa like
most of that found in Wallowa
County.
“For example, the ranches
here have a lot of cows,” Rodri-
guez said. “In my country, we
produce a lot of cows for milk
and for meat, and agricultural
products like hay and fruits and
vegetables. Also, horses.”
Both counties are strongly into
the arts, Warnock and Rodriguez
agreed. Also, both counties have
active recycling programs.
“Those similarities are the
ones that make an interest in the
possibility of a sister city,” Rodri-
guez said.
Getting to know us