A10
LOCAL
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
World War veteran laid to rest with military honors
OUT OF THE PAST
Compiled by Cheryl Jenkins
100 YEARS AGO
Aug. 4, 1921
With military honors at
the grave, the body of Gro-
ver C. Eckley was laid to
rest in the Enterprise ceme-
tery. He was killed in action
in the Argonne, Sept. 28,
1918 and buried temporar-
ily not far from the battle-
fi eld. His body was removed
later to an American ceme-
tery in France, and then was
brought to the homeland by
the government last month.
A pleasant open air nata-
torium has been evolved out
of the creamery pond, a short
distance south of Enterprise.
The water was drained off
and teams deepened the
basin. The water was turned
in again and it is about six
feet deep at the deepest.
Dressing rooms have been
provided and 2 dozen bath-
ing suits have been ordered.
In the winter the sheet of
water will become a skating
pond.
75 YEARS AGO
Aug. 8, 1946
The Joseph Garden club
has joined with 300 other
organizations in Oregon to
“adopt” one of the under-
nourished and underclad
children of France. The club
will undertake to send two
or more packages of food
and clothing each month to
the child.
The fi rst serious forest
and range fi re of the 1946
season broke out on the
Snake river and swept over
an estimated 1500 acres of
brush and range before it
was extinguished by a crew
of 70 men.
Bert Caudle of Los-
tine discovered the coal in
the bin joining the Lostine
school gym was on fi re Mon-
day morning. Melvin Crow
showed up with an extin-
guisher and the blaze was
soon subsiding. In the after-
noon Harley Caudle found
that the coal was smolder-
ing and it became imper-
ative to remove the entire
contents of the bin. As there
were 25 tons of treated coal,
the men worked well into
the night getting it spread on
the cement fl oor of the ten-
nis court.
50 YEARS AGO
Aug. 5, 1971
Fire struck at the Clyde
and Kenneth Wulff ranch at
the edge of Flora, burning a
hay barn and all its contents
to the ground. The metal
barn contained about 5000
bales of hay, for a loss of
$12,000.
Eight to twelve thou-
sand acres of range and
crop land in the Lost Prai-
rie and Troy areas are in dire
need of spraying as millions
of grasshoppers are chew-
ing a wide path of destruc-
tion that could virtually strip
the infested areas of all plant
life. However, it’s too late
for a successful spray since
the grasshoppers are begin-
ning to lay eggs.
One hundred seven-
ty-fi ve people assembled
at the Wallowa Church of
Christ, including old timers
and charter members of the
church who came from all
over Oregon and eight west-
ern states. The occasion was
a week long family encamp-
ment on the South Fork of
Lostine River at Irondyke.
25 YEARS AGO
Aug. 1, 1996
The Imnaha Store reports
that the rattlesnake count
is increasing rapidly. The
bear and rattlesnake feed is
coming up in September, so
bring your snakes in.
Gene Palmer, a cowboy
from Terrebone, scored an
88 aboard Major Wolf, top-
ping a fi eld of 47 bull-riding
entrants at last weekend’s
Chief Joseph Days rodeo.
He took home $1,853.71 of
an $18,500 jackpot.
The Wallowa Senior
Center patrons are negotiat-
ing on how their center will
be managed. The Wallowa
seniors have been fi ghting
to keep their new facility a
senior center and not a com-
munity center.
The Wallowa County
Court met for a special ses-
sion on the topic of siting
an Oregon state correctional
facility in Wallowa County.
The facility would be a
men’s minimum security
prison (work camp) hous-
ing a maximum of 400 beds.
A committee was formed to
study the situation.
Wallowa County hits one-day record for COVID cases
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Cases
of COVID-19 were up in
Wallowa County last week
— and on Friday reached the
highest one-day total to date
since the start of the pan-
demic. And at least two busi-
nesses in the county have
already been aff ected by the
spike.
The
Oregon
Health
Authority on Friday, July
30, reported 10 new cases
of COVID-19 in the county,
surpassing the previous one-
day record of nine back in
February. However, there
was just one new reported
case over the weekend,
despite the state announcing
2,056 new cases in that time.
The county’s total since
the start of the pandemic in
early 2020 is at 239.
Brooke Pace, Wallowa
Memorial Hospital commu-
nications director, encour-
aged residents to follow the
current Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and
Oregon Health Authority
guidelines of masking up.
“The precautionary mea-
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
The Red Rooster Cafe had to close indefi nitely Friday, July 30, 2021, after posting that members
of its staff had been exposed to COVID-19 and had to quarantine.
sures have not changed,” she
said. “Get a vaccine, wear a
mask indoors, avoid crowded
areas.”
Red Rooster Cafe, on
Main Street in Enterprise,
posted a note Friday after-
noon saying the restaurant
was going to be closed “until
further notice” and that part
of its staff had been exposed
to COVID and was in quar-
antine. R&R Drive-In in
Joseph was closed Saturday
during Chief Joseph Days.
A recorded answer to their
phone said R&R will be
closed until Thursday, Aug. 5
because of coronavirus.
Additionally, the Josephy
Center for Arts and Culture
in Joseph canceled last Fri-
day night’s opening recep-
tion for “Instance in Time,”
which was set to kick off an
art display by Rick McE-
wan and Adele Buttolph.
The gallery is still open, an
email from the Josephy Cen-
ter said.
Throughout the pan-
demic, Wallowa County has
been one of the locations
with a relatively low num-
ber of cases, due in part to
its sparsely populated nature
with roughly 7,000 people
living in the county.
Even with the number of
overall cases still below the
state average — less than
3.5% of the county’s popula-
tion has tested positive, com-
pared to more than 5% of the
state — the number of recent
cases has caused that total to
swell. The county had 196
total cases at the start of July,
and didn’t have its 200th case
reported until July 19.
Since that day, though,
39 more cases have been
reported — a 19.5% increase
in total cases close to two
weeks.
Health offi cials have
pointed to the Delta vari-
ant as part of the reason for
a statewide increase — Ore-
gon reported more than
1,000 new cases in three days
during a last four-day stretch
last week, including 1,076
on Friday. Earlier last week,
offi cials said they believed
the Delta variant — which
they have said is much more
transmissible — is respon-
sible for about 80% of new
cases.
All four northeast Ore-
gon counties, in fact, are see-
ing a rise, with the biggest
of the spikes being in Uma-
tilla County. It has had more
than 100 new cases a day in
recent days, Friday reported
82 cases and had another
112 over the weekend. Both
Baker and Union coun-
ties had 22 cases on Friday.
Union County had 41 more
over the weekend, but Baker
County added just nine.
Jackson County had the
highest total in Oregon Fri-
day with 188 new cases, and
132 more over the weekend.
Multnomah County reported
340 over the weekend.
In Wallowa County,
48.6% of the entire popu-
lation has been vaccinated,
and 58.3% of those 18 and
older have received a shot of
a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those who statistically
are more susceptible to hos-
pitalization or death — the
60 and older population —
have made up the major-
ity of those getting vacci-
nated in the county. As of
Friday, OHA data showed
that age group in Wallowa
County has accounted for
57.4% of the county’s vac-
cine total, despite being just
41.4% of the population. In
all, just over two-thirds of
that age bracket — 67.5%, or
1,998 people out of 2,962 —
have received a COVID-19
vaccine.
Residents have 60 days to comment on moraine management plan
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE — Wal-
lowa County residents will
have the next two months
to comment on the man-
agement plan for the East
Moraine. A 60-day pub-
lic comment period on the
current East Moraine Com-
munity Forest Management
Plan has been announced by
the Wallowa County com-
missioners and begins today,
2021 FALL SOCCER
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
AUGUST 6TH
Register online at:
clubs.bluesombrero.com/wallowavalleyysa
Don’t miss out
on the FUN
Are you ready to
 Purchase a Home in Town?
 Refinance?
 Purchase a Rural Home
with Acreage?
Wednesday, Aug. 4, and runs
through Saturday, Oct. 2.
The moraine, a parcel of
land of roughly 1,800 acres,
was purchased and moved
to county ownership in Jan-
uary 2020. A draft manage-
ment plan has since been
worked on by the Wallowa
Lake Moraines Partnership
— made up of Wallowa
County, the Wallowa Land
Trust, Wallowa Resources
and Oregon Parks and Rec-
reation — and members of
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
and the Nez Perce Tribe cul-
tural and forestry divisions,
as well as community mem-
bers. The fi nal plan will ulti-
mately be what governs
management and steward-
ship of the property.
“Securing the RY Tim-
ber preserved the opportu-
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Horseback riders and their dogs enjoy a ride on the East
Moraine above Wallowa Lake. The Wallowa County Board of
Commissioners has opened a 60-day public comment period
on the East Moraine Community Forest Management Plan.
nity for the public to access
and enjoy the East Moraine
and is a huge win for the
community, preventing per-
manent development of
this iconic landscape,” said
Kathleen Ackley, executive
director for Wallowa Land
Trust. “We invite the public
to review the draft plan and
provide comments to ensure
the future management of
the property is in line with
the community’s vision.”
An opportunity for the
public to comment is neces-
sary, Commissioner Susan
Roberts said.
“Purchasing the property
was a big step, but only the
fi rst, in providing economic
and recreational opportuni-
ties while taking into con-
sideration the overall health
of the landscape,” Roberts
said.
The plan can be found
to review online at co.wal-
lowa.or.us under the “News
and Announcements” tab,
or there is a single bound
copy that can be read onsite
at the commissioners’ offi ce
on the third fl oor of the Wal-
lowa County Courthouse.
An online survey is also on
the county site as a place
for comments. Comments
can be submitted to east-
morainecommunityforest@
gmail.com or to 101 S. River
St., Enterprise, OR 97828,
attention: East Moraine
Community Forest Manage-
ment Plan.
A name, contact informa-
tion and reference to a page
and section of the plan must
be included in any comment
for them to be considered. A
meeting for public input is
set 6 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Wal-
lowa County Fairgrounds.
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