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Wednesday, November 17, 2021
WALLOWA.COM
Adrian
Widener
Enterprise
Job gives time to
go bow hunting
ENTERPRISE — Adrian Widener has
lived in Enterprise all of his 24 years.
“I graduated from Enterprise High in
2017,” he said proudly.
Nowadays, he works in masonry for
his grandfather, Dave Melville.
“I do all the mixing; I’m a hod carrier,”
he said. “In my position, I have to do all
the cleaning and mixing. It’s tough work,
but it’s good for archery season.”
He said the times he’s kept working
allow him free time to go hunting.
His dad, Scott Widener, is a nurse
practitioner in La Grande and a volun-
teer fi refi ghter here. His mom, Brenda
Widener, works for the school.
Widener is still single, but would one
day like to marry. He said he doesn’t yet
have a girlfriend.
He recently shared his thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
What’s your favorite thing about
Wallowa County?
The hot weather. Because I don’t
have to bring in fi rewood during the
summertime. Our propane heater broke
down. And there’s all these stores where
everybody knows me well. With my par-
ents, everybody knows me and I don’t
get in trouble.
With winter looming, are you
looking forward to anything
about it?
When it’s winter, I go sledding with
the family. That’s fun.
What will you be thankful for on
Thanksgiving?
That I have a really nice family who
keeps me out of trouble and an amazing
dad who actually helped me out with a
crisis I had a few years ago.
Are you concerned about the
coronavirus pandemic?
No, my family and I are OK. Dad, at
the hospital in La Grande, he deals with
it so we don’t have to. I got vaccinated in
May because we had a family reunion in
the summertime.
What do you think of
government mandates on face
masks and vaccinations?
I don’t listen to the government so
much. When my mom and dad tell me
I need a mask, I just put my mask on.
I listen more to my parents than the
government.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about moving
here?
It’s a nice place and everybody can
get to know you well, and the schools
are nice.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Connie Guentert, manager of Community Connection of Wallowa County, shows some of the items that will go in “turkey boxes”
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, that will be distributed ahead of Thanksgiving.
Community off ers help
to stave off hunger
Churches, Community
Connection prepare
donations ahead
of Thanksgiving
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
E
NTERPRISE — Generosity is show-
ing itself again ahead of Thanksgiv-
ing as community outreach orga-
nizations and churches in Wallowa
County are trying to make sure county resi-
dents have enough to eat.
Community Connection of Northeast Ore-
gon in Wallowa County is off ering turkey
boxes at its Enterprise and Wallowa locations
this week, according to Tammy Odegaard,
an offi ce specialist at the Enterprise outlet.
She said the boxes will be distributed from
1-4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, and all day
Thursday, Nov. 18, except for the lunch hour.
Odegaard said Wednesday, Nov. 10, the tur-
key boxes being handed out have, in the past,
included a turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing,
gravy, fruit, a vegetable and canned pumpkin.
She said Wednesday it was a little early to be
sure exactly what will be in this year’s boxes.
Got fi rewood? Volunteers
donate to those in need
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE — Food donations
aren’t the only thing to help keep peo-
ple warm as the weather gets cold;
volunteers are working to provide
fi rewood to those in need in Wallowa
County, according to Community
Connection of Northeastern Oregon.
“This program is to help seniors
and people with disabilities who are
low income and can’t get out into
woods anymore,” said Connie Guen-
tert, manager of Community Connec-
tion’s Enterprise offi ce.
With such a large percentage of
county residents relying on wood
heat, a need is out there and volunteers
are trying to meet that need, Guentert
said.
“It’s wonderful, but it’s not much
wood,” she said. “We can get a cord
of wood to a person, but when you’re
talking 10 to 30 people a winter, that’s
a lot of wood.”
Jim Zacharias of Jay Zee Lumber
in Joseph donates most of the wood
and space in his mill yard. But he’s not
alone, he said.
“Others have donated, including
my father, Bob Zacharias of Zacharias
Logging,” he said.
Mike Hayward, one of the volun-
teers, said the program has been going
on for about 10 years. Once recipients
are vetted for their need, volunteers
deliver it, he said.
“The theory behind it is some peo-
ple don’t have the money to buy wood
or don’t have any way of getting it,” he
said. “I’m just one cog in the wheel.”
The operation is a partnership
between Community Connection,
Zacharias and other volunteers and
Wallowa Resources. Guentert said
Nils Christoff ersen, executive direc-
tor of Wallowa Resources, facilitates
the program.
“There are a lot of awesome peo-
ple in our community,” Guentert said.
“We couldn’t do it without volunteers.
Those guys are amazing.”
For more information, call Com-
munity Connection at 541-426-3840,
Wallowa Resources at 541-426-8053
or email Guentert at connie@ccno.org.
See Hunger, Page A5
Trail-with-rails project gets $272K in grants
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The Joseph
Branch Trail Consortium, the
nonprofi t working to establish a
63-mile trail-with-rails between
Elgin and Joseph in northeast Ore-
gon, announced Tuesday, Nov. 9,
it has received two grants totaling
more than $272,000 that will fund
construction of the fi rst trailhead
and inaugural trail segment, as
well as fi nal planning and design
for another 13-mile segment.
The trail has been in the plan-
ning stages for about 10 years and
will eventually off er a nonmo-
torized alternative transportation
route to Highway 82 in the form
of a trail that will run beside exist-
ing railroad tracks in the railroad
right-of-way owned by the Wal-
lowa Union Railroad Authority.
With one end in Elgin, the other
Joseph Branch Trail Consortium/Contributed Photo
See Trail, Page A5
Members of the Joseph Branch Trail Consortium help with trail cleanup along the tracks. A recent grant will help
fund the fi rst 13 miles of a trail that will ultimately run from Elgin to Joseph.