LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
A7
Shooting
range
expands
its buildings
Granges
oppose
daylight
saving time
designations
U
Multipurpose
building
now Jenkins
Compiled by Cheryl
being constructed
By BILL BRADSHAW
7 ¿U County
G UG
Wallowa
Chieftain N
U SS U
E S
ENTERPRISE
— U The
S
Eagle Cap Shooters
are
U
U on a E new,
making progress
7
E S
G
multipurpose
education
G U at their shooting U
center
US
range north 7 of S Enterprise,
G to a $50,000 grant
thanks
U from
] G the National S Rifl G e
S Association
U S U S U Foundation.
, The group received
SS
E U July
UN 26, got ) the
the check
U building
( USU permit
Y U the next
U G
G
E
day E and broke ground
the
¿ day after
G that,
[ said
SU Bill
, Oli-
E ver, president
U G G of U the E Eagle
Y U Shooters Associa-
UG
Cap
U the prop-
SU
tion, N which owns
E G buildings
U U T at G the
erty and
7
U said
G Wednes-
range.
He
S U Aug. 4, that
0 G the foun-
day,
UG was to be poured the
dation
S day
5 / and
5 they EU hoped
next
GT U U com-
+
to U have U the building
S N ¿U
G G a
pleted
by Sept. 11, [ when
U e event
SU Y called
E
precision Y rifl
G Border Wars
G will be held U at
G commemorate
7
the range S to
SU
9/11. GGU G
U “We hope
U to U have it done
Y
U Oliver
N said. S U
for that,”
G
U
He U emphasized
that vir-
tually all the construc-
tion work was done with
donated labor, although the
shooters covered the cost of
materials.
“We’ve had tremendous
community support,” Oliver
said.
Two groups of
shooters involved
Two similarly named
groups are involved with
the range — the association
and the Eagle Cap Shoot-
ers Educational Alliance.
The latter was created as
a nonprofi t organization to
receive donations for the
range.
“The alliance has an
educational mission,” said
Stephen Wolfe, president
of the alliance. “We are a
501(c)3 so we can get the
grants and fund these proj-
ects for the association”
The new building will
be 40 feet by 60 feet with
20-by-40-foot porches on
each end, Oliver said.
He said the county
— in the building per-
mit application — val-
ues the building at about
$350,000, but with the
donations of both money
and the work of local con-
tractors, the cost isn’t near
that amount.
“The educational alli-
ance was donated $43,000
from an estate out of Pasco,
Washington, three years
ago and we went to work
and started doing some
fundraising and got that up
to $60,000,” Wolfe said.
“So when the price of lum-
ber started going up this
spring, I said ‘buy.’ We used
our money that we already
had and bought the mate-
rial package, we bought
the trusses, we bought the
sheeting, we bought the
roofi ng and we paid cash
for that. We had our money.
We needed this grant to fi n-
ish this off .”
*U
*U
UG G
G S G
G
N
Y
U
7
U
Y
SS
U
UU
U
N
G
+
U
7
Y
G UG
U
UN 0 [ 5
U
U
U
U
7
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G7
U
“All law enforcement
gets free use of the range,”
Straughan said.
In addition to the new
multipurpose building, the
range includes a rifl e house
from which shooters can
aim at targets at 100-yard
increments up to 1,000
yards. There’s also the pis-
tol bay with targets up to
50 yards away. The targets
include reactionary targets,
metal targets and frames for
paper targets.
U
G
]G
G SU G
G YU
G
U
NG
G UG
Membership
T N
G U
U
¿[
U
G
To join the Eagle Cap
Shooters and have use of the
range, members pay a basic
$75 per person fee. Other
fees are listed at the range’s
website at https://eaglecap-
shooters.com.
New members undergo a
basic orientation to learn the
rules of the range, includ-
ing where they can and can-
not shoot. There are about
9 N + at the G range
6
370 members
GU % are N given the
U M combina-
G G
who
U at the range’s
tion to S the lock
U
4
entrance,
Wolfe said,
add-
G they U are G allowed S to
ing that
G
bring guests. G Y
/ He
G % said that
U once N mem-
G Y are indoctrinated, they
bers
7 N 7 become
NU
G range
0U
essentially
0 UN U U G offi cers 7 who
G
enforcement
can “shut down the range” if
they see improper or unsafe
activities.
“Safety is our fi rst and
most important issue,” he
said.
U
,
S
G
S
- activities
N + NU
Alliance
G U said the
U fundrais-
U
U S
Wolfe
U activities
(
U
ing
of the U edu-
U
U alliance
S are S cru- G
cational
U
US
cial to keeping
the range
operating.
One of the highlights
of the year is the annual
6 0 of
U
-U
U
Friends
the ( NRA
SU
U U UG
banquet.
S
0 been
G
*
“We’ve
doing
U banquets U for many
Friends
years,” he said.
7 year,
6 it will be Oct.
This
U at G the Cloverleaf Hall
16
S Enterprise.
U
SU
U
in
The doors
SU U with S dinner
UG
open at 4 G p.m.,
served about 6 *U
p.m. During
) U dinner,
the two hours before
%
there are numerous 5 games,
U GG
raffl es - and S drawings.
U
Y the
U
“The U Cloverleaf’s
G
G building in the G county G
only
- G hold
(U all
9 the peo-
7
that’ll
UG U who
¿ usually
G
G
ple
come,”
U
G
Straughan
said. G
' He said
*U the event
%
'
Y
usu-
6 U draws
U - from
S 250
G to 300
ally
G
people.
G “Even
U 5 N 6 during
U
COVID;
( did
USU two
+ banquets
6
)) to
they
S U up the U crowd
% M about
% G
divide
Y
UN Wolfe
U said, G
a month
apart,”
0 he’s
G still U not sure if
though
UY U this
G year
that will U happen
S it U did last U year.
))
UN
like
U ) the growing
S U popular- U
But
0 U of 0
UG
G
ity
the ) 20-year-old
range
U G ceases
S to amaze
U those
never
who currently run it.
“I’m pretty sure the peo-
ple who founded this never
expected
(membership)
to grow that large,” Wolfe
said.
G
G UG
G Y
Bill Wolfe/Contributed Photo
+ Shooting
G S
S U ongoing
0
Work has been
on a new multipurpose educational building 7 at the Eagle Cap
G From
U north
U of Enterprise. G On Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, workers poured U the stem 0 walls.
Range
( U and G Aaron
UG Eggart,
G
[ John Harris
U G operates G the
U
S Curt Huston
left, are U Donnie Rynearson,
while
G U
S truck and
U spout.
SG
SS U ' N G '
Y
2
¿U
6 N
,
YU
N G
Y
N S
U U
0
SU
U
+ U
be completed
online. Kids
< U.
-
S N
N UU
U study
U
U
. and U
pay U $10,
online
U
U
G
T
G . come (Y to the range
U M G to G
then
*U
< U
U 6YU SU
S
fi nish. Where
it U used to
, G
U
UY U
U
YU
require
18 hours G of % class-
room work, now it’s just
2 hours, the fi nal test and
another couple of hours on
the range, Teece said.
Law enforcement offi -
cers also will fi nd the new
building — and the rest of
the range — valuable.
“We’ve already talked
with the new (Enter-
prise Police) Chief Kevin
McQuead about hosting
Ed Energy
Staub
& Sons
training for offi cers from
Community Service.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain the west side (of Ore-
Stephen Wolfe, president of the Eagle Cap Shooters gon),” Wolfe said. “Nor-
Educational Alliance, takes aim from the rifl e house of the mally, our guys have to go
shooting range with a Ruger 10/22.
to great expense and time
to go to some place on the
Uses of the buildings
he said. “I’ve been teach- west side. So now, they can
The new, fully-enclosed ing out of all these diff erent host training sessions and if
Time to snuggle up with...
building is expected to be places, it’s nice to fi nally they need to shoot, the pis-
a place for fi rearms-related have a place here and have tol range is right there.”
classes, as well as the pos- all the materials right here.”
City police, the Wallowa
sibility of air-rifl e shoot-
He also looks forward to County Sheriff ’s Offi ce and
201 East Hwy 82
ing, archery and possibly having the range right out- Oregon State Police get free
Not just propane!
Enterprise, OR • 541-426-0320
trap shooting off one of the side the classroom. Once use of the range to train.
porches, Wolfe said. They the students get through the
also hope to have cater- coursework, they can hit
ing so those participat- the range.
ing in activities at the new
“They’ll see how pro-
building can eat, said John fi cient they are and how
HIGH SCHOOL
Straughan, secretary of well they handle the fi re-
the association’s board of arm,” said Teece, who also
directors.
is a certifi ed instructor with
1951
Mike Teece, the group’s rifl e, pistol and shotgun and
Hunter Education instruc- a range safety offi cer.
Having breakfast at Main Street Motors and
tor with the Oregon Depart-
He noted that state law
ment of Fish and Wildlife, requires everyone younger
invite others to come and visit with us.
is looking forward to hav- than 18 to complete Hunter
ing a single place to hold Safety before getting a
classes.
hunting license. Classes are
Take in the
“I’ve been teaching out usually held just prior to
taking place in Enterprise, August 21st
of the American Legion in spring and fall hunting sea-
Joseph, out of the Baptist sons. He said it has become
Church in Joseph and out of simpler now that the major-
the VFW (in Enterprise),” ity of the coursework can
E
Cooler nights are
just around the
corner!
Wallowa
County Fair
Kraftworks Contracting
ENTERPRISE
Class OF
of 1958
CLASS
1958
th
Reunion
Main Street Show & Shine Car Show
Jack B. James (The Jackel)
CDR, USN, Ret., US Navy Seal
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Veterans Services Officer (VSO)
Cell: 360-509 2985
Email: jackaljames15@gmail.com
“The only easy day was yesterday.”
August
August 21st
18th @
@ 9AM
Main Street Motors
Old Fashioned Values
Sales & Service
Come join us at the Elks
Breakfast and the Main
Street Show & Shine
Car Show
inside
every
Inside Wednesday
every
Summer is ending!
hursday
Make sure your child’s immunizations
would like to invite
you to an open
are up to date before house
they
celebrating
the completion of
head off to school!
the Courthouse
remodel and our
new elevator. Come
check us out and
en�oy �inger foods�
beverages� as well as
guided tours of our
newly remodeled
facilities!
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on.co
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