A12
LOCAL
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
34th Summer Fishtrap Week is next week
Writers from
around the West
share online,
in person
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE — Most
of Summer Fishtrap is being
held virtually this year during
Fishtrap Week from Monday
through Saturday, July 12-17,
but that doesn’t mean one
can’t join in and enjoy it from
the comfort of home or even
at Wallowa Lake.
Each day, Fishtrap will
livestream readings from
some of the fi nest writers in
the West. Most events are
free and can be attended live
as they happen, or you can
access the recordings after-
wards. Visit fi shtrap.org to
learn more.
Summer Fishtrap is off er-
ing two in-person events
during Summer Fishtrap
Week.
The Summer Fishtrap
Youth Showcase will take
place at 1 p.m. Friday, July
16, at Joseph Charter School.
It will showcase what Fish-
trap youths have created
during their week of writing
and discovery during youth
workshops.
A Yearlong Writers Work-
shop Reading will take place
at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at
Wallowa Lake Lodge. Partic-
ipants are invited to the newly
renovated lodge to hear what
students in the workshop have
created during their intensive
writing program. The lodge
will be serving cold drinks
and snacks for purchase.
Both of these events will
be available to view online a
few hours after the event.
Listed are a portion of the
speakers. The full schedule
can be seen at fi shtrap.org:
• Monday, July 12: 4 p.m.
Opening day presenta-
tion with Fishtrap’s Shan-
non McNerney and inspira-
tion from Jason Graham aka
MOsley WOtta, Bend’s cre-
ative laureate.
• Tuesday, July 13, are fac-
ulty readings. Anis Mojgani,
Oregon’s poet laureate at
1 p.m.; Frank X Walker at
3 p.m.; and Beth Piatote at
4 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 14, fac-
Contributed Photo
Frank X Walker will give the keynote address, Resilience, at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 17, 2021, as
part of Summer Fishtrap.
ulty readings by Joe Wilkins
at 1 p.m. and by Whitney
Chandler at 3 p.m.
• Thursday, July 15, fac-
ulty readings by MOs-
ley WOtta at 1 p.m., Nina
McConigley at 3 p.m. and
Ellen Waterston at 4 p.m. The
Courthouse Concert hosted
by Wallowa Valley Music
Alliance will be livestreamed
beginning at 5:30 p.m.
• Friday, July 16 faculty
readings by Leni Zumas at
3 p.m. and by Sharma Shields
at 4 p.m.
• Saturday, July 17 will
feature the week’s keynote
address on Resilience by
Frank X Walker at 4 p.m.
Tickets must be purchased
for the keynote address at $25
and are available at fi shtrap.
org.
Since 1988, the Summer
Fishtrap Gathering of Writ-
ers has taken place annu-
ally at Wallowa Lake. Each
year, authors and instructors
join from around the country
to provide intensive instruc-
tion and inspiration to a small
group of writers. The con-
ference features weeklong
workshops in fi ction, nonfi c-
tion, poetry, memoir, essay
and special workshops just
for youths.
Classes are limited to 13
students, giving each writer
the chance to share their work
in an intimate and supportive
environment.
In addition to morning
writing workshops, writ-
ers have the opportunity to
attend daily craft talks, panel
discussions and read at open
mic sessions. Each evening,
everyone gathers under the
big tent to hear readings from
Summer Fishtrap faculty —
the best writers in the West.
Due to the ongoing public
health crisis, the 2021 confer-
ence is taking place online.
What makes Summer
Fishtrap unique among writ-
ing conferences is the empha-
sis on the creative process.
Temperatures in Wallowa
County way above normal
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Tempera-
tures were far above normal
statewide at the end of June,
and Wallowa County was no
diff erent.
After meandering in the
70s and 80s much of June,
the temperatures recorded
in Joseph by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration surged to the
90s, reaching 94 and 99 on
June 27-28, then touching
100 and 98 on June 29-30,
respectively.
For the month, the aver-
age temperature (compiled
from the highs and lows of all
30 days) was 62.1 degrees,
which is 5.7 degrees above
normal. High tempera-
tures averaged 79.5 degrees,
which was 9.4 degrees
above normal for the month
of June, and lows were at
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an average of 44.6, just two
degrees above normal.
The 100 degrees recorded
on June 29 not only was the
hottest day of the month, but
was more than 25 degrees
above the average for the
fi nal day of June, which has
been around 75 degrees.
There were seven days
during the month where
the high temperature was
20 degrees or more above
average.
On 23 of the 30 days in
June, the high temperature
was above the average for
the day. Six days, the tem-
perature was below average,
and on one day, it was at the
average. Seventeen days saw
the temperature reach 80 or
higher.
While much above nor-
mal, Wallowa County didn’t
reach nearly the extremes
that other Northeast Ore-
gon cities did. Highs reached
as much as 118 degrees in
Hermiston on June 29, 117
in Pendleton on the 29th,
and 108 in La Grande on the
30th.
Measured precipitation
was much lower than aver-
age for the month, continu-
ing a trend that has taken
place this year. In June,
Joseph received 0.43 inches
of rain, much lower than the
average of 1.75 inches.
For the year, just 3.55
inches of precipitation have
fallen. That is less than half
of what the city usually
records, as Joseph is 5.74
inches below normal.
Much of the same is likely
in July, with NOAA predict-
ing warmer than normal tem-
peratures and a climate that
is drier than normal. Average
high temperatures in Joseph
in July are 80.6 degrees, and
on average there is 1.4 inches
of rain during the month.