LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
A11
Summer lunch program a huge hit with children
Building Healthy
Families has given
out more than
1,650 lunches
this summer
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
summer lunch program
through Building Healthy
Families is booming.
In the fi rst four weeks,
which is the midway point
of the eight-week pro-
gram, there have been
1,658 lunches distributed
to youths at three locations
throughout the county, an
average of about 415 each
week, according to Susie
Polumsky, lunch program
coordinator for BHF.
“Just as families rely
on school lunches during
the school year, summer
lunches help families stretch
their food budgets while
providing nutritious healthy
meals for their children,”
Polumsky said in an email to
the Chieftain.
The program, which BHF
has been running since 2016,
started this year on June 14,
and runs through Aug. 5.
“The summer lunch pro-
gram has so many positive
impacts. Not only does it put
healthy meals into the hands
of kids, it also provides an
opportunity for positive
connection, getting kids out-
side and building commu-
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Andrea Mildrexler with Building Healthy Families, right, passes lunches to Trinity, left, and Tessaray Schoeszler on Wednesday,
July 7, 2021, at Enterprise City Park.
nity,” said BHF Executive
Director Maria Weer. “It is
defi nitely one of my favor-
ite programs that Building
Healthy Families off ers.”
Due to the lingering
COVID-19 pandemic, the
lunches are being distributed
in a grab-and-go fashion.
Pulomsky said each meal
has to meet a required list
of items: meat, grain, fruit,
vegetables and milk.
A menu of what is com-
ing each week is published,
and Polumsky said BHF has
been able to largely stick to
the planned slate.
“This year the fruit has
been a little tricky,” she said,
noting some supply-chain
issues with fruit have led to
changes in that portion of
the menu.
Polumsky said the num-
ber of kids who pick up
lunches
at
Enterprise
City Park varies daily. On
Wednesday, July 7, 30
youths had lunch in Enter-
prise through the program,
and more than 100 were
given out across the county.
She said the highest number
in one day at Enterprise this
summer has been 56.
“It’s a slower day here
today, but some are like
that,” she said. “But we’re
getting kids food.”
In all, 600 lunches have
been distributed in Joseph,
544 in Enterprise and 514 in
Wallowa.
Paul Schoeszler of Enter-
prise was with his daughters,
Tessaray and Trinity, as the
girls picked up their lunches
Wednesday afternoon.
He said the girls usu-
ally get lunch there a couple
times each week, and added
it’s a much healthier option.
“The benefi t of it is (it’s)
organized, healthy food ver-
sus on-the-fl y food” you
would get from a deli, he
said. “They love it.”
Another benefi t, he said,
is “it’s easy on anybody’s
pocket book.”
Schools across the county
also utilized the program to
serve lunch to students who
were in their summer enrich-
ment programs.
“The school programs
have increased the usage of
the summer lunch program
this year,” she said.
Polumsky said many
families — and children —
are glad to have the option
during the summer.
“I started doing this
like three years ago. It’s
like ‘What do you want to
eat? What’s your favorite
food? This one little boy
says, ‘Whatever you feed
me is my favorite thing,’”
she said. “The families are
really grateful to have this
service is the message we
get back.”
Weer noted that while the
USDA provides reimburse-
ment for the program, food
costs are the primary source
of that refunding. Donations
make up the diff erence.
“Staffi ng, transportation
and activities require extra
funding. Summer Lunch in
the Park would not be pos-
sible without the amazing
support of our community,”
she said. “Each year civic
groups, partner agencies and
individuals provide mone-
tary donations that allow us
to feed kids across Wallowa
County.”
Minam and Wallowa rivers see fl ows below average
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
MINAM — Streamfl ow
in Wallowa County’s rivers
is running well below nor-
mal for this time of year.
It’s not, however, at his-
torically low levels.
Data from the US. Geo-
logical Survey taken at
two locations in Wallowa
County — on the east fork
of the Wallowa River close
to Joseph and on the Minam
River near Minam — shows
the rivers are fl owing any-
where from about two-thirds
of their normal rate to as low
as 30-35% of average.
The conditions on the
Wallowa, while concern-
ing, are not terribly bleak.
Data taken at 11:45 a.m.
Friday, July 9, showed the
river’s fl ow at 28.6 cubic
feet per second. The aver-
age on that day, taken from
47 years worth of data from
the USGS, shows the fl ow
is typically at about 44 cfs,
putting the 2021 numbers
at about 65% of average. A
year ago at this time, it was
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
The Wallowa River is shown near the confl uence with the Minam River at Minam on Saturday,
July 3, 2021. Both rivers have fl ow rates below normal, with the Minam River currently running
at about 30% of its typical rate.
fl owing at around 55-60 cfs.
On Monday afternoon,
July 12, the fl ow was 27.1
cfs, about 75% of average.
It is, however, still well
above the lowest fl ow for the
river on that day, which was
just 6.5 cfs in 1977.
The fl ows historically
decrease over the course of
the summer, so the numbers
reaching under 30 cfs is not
a surprise. However, it typi-
cally doesn’t reach that point
until around July 18-19. By
the end of July, streamfl ow
historically is under 20 cfs,
though last year it was at
about 25 cfs on July 31.
The picture is a lot worse
on the Minam River.
Flow rates at noon Friday,
July 9, were at just 232 cfs,
not quite 30% of the daily
average, which based on
data from the last 56 years
is 799 cfs. And while not
Bond project update shared at school board meeting
WALLOWA — School
offi cials shared an update
in the bond process and two
new board members took
their oath during a meeting
of the Wallowa School Dis-
trict Monday, July 12.
Tammy Jones, the dis-
trict’s
superintendent,
shared an update of where
the school is with the bond
that voters approved in
May to pay for $11 million
in upgrades — $7 million
of which comes from the
bond and $4 million grant
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education.
“We are working (on)
fi nding a consultant,”
Jones told the Chieftain.
“We are doing the prelim-
inary offi cial statement sec-
ond draft, which is what
happens when you go into
bond work. … The prelim-
inary offi cial statement is a
document that tells about
our fi nancial history. You
make sure you are telling
the story of who you are
as a district, as a school”
so bond purchasers know
what they are buying.
The board voted for an
intent to award manage-
ment of the bond project
to McBurney Management
Services, LLC.
“He has a really amaz-
ing track record of keeping
projects of this size and big-
ger under budget and even
fi nishing things up ahead of
schedule,” Jones said.
The
superintendent
also said that in coming
weeks, the district will put
out an request for propos-
als to hire an architect for
the bond project, will have
core samples drilled to test
the stability of concrete for
the gymnasium seismic
project, and will have demo
work done on the ceiling of
the gymnasium to inspect
the structural integrity of
trusses and arches. A tem-
porary ceiling will then be
put in place.
The board on Monday
also saw newly elected
school board members
Zachary Lathrop and Mark
Moeller take their board
member oath, and selected
Woody Wolfe as the board
chair and Marty Stevens as
the vice chair.
The COVID operational
plan for 2021-22 was also
discussed based on the lat-
est guidance from the ODE.
The board voted that
masks will not be man-
dated, but still will be
optional for those students
and staff who wish to wear
them.
June between about 1,850-
1,890 cfs, and earlier this
year was actually running
above that mark. Around
June 5, recorded streamfl ow
briefl y reached above 3,000
cfs. Even just four weeks
ago, the river was running
above average, touching
close to 2,000 in mid-June.
It has been on a steady
decline since.
The water temperature in
both rivers is higher, as well.
In the Minam at the USGS
datasite, the temperature has
been ranging between about
58-74 degrees in early July,
well above the 47-58 degree
range it was at this time a
year ago.
In the Wallowa, the range
in the fi rst nine days of July
this year has been between
48-59 degrees. A year ago, it
ran between 41-53 degrees.
GABE MCKAY
r
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As we close in on Ch ck to Mountain High
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this month, we look ne and the performance
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saddle bronc riding
champion in ranch 21 champion in the
repeated as the 20 es of 74 and 81 to
event with scor aim the title.
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Pro onsore d b y
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OF
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By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
quite to the record low fl ow
of the day, it’s much closer
to the low mark of 145 cfs
recorded in 1977.
It’s also what the river’s
level typically is at toward
the end of July. At midday
a year ago on July 9, the
Minam was at about 900 cfs.
By Monday, July 12, the
fl ow had dropped below 200
cfs to 190, still above the
low for the day of 130 in
1977. It’s at about 34% of
the average rate for July 12.
The river historically sees
a major drop in fl ow during
the month of July. On aver-
age, it runs at about 1,100
cfs at the beginning of July,
and decreases to an average
of 232 by July 31, putting
its current level about three
weeks ahead of schedule.
On average, the river’s
fl ow typically peaks in early