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137th Year, No. 46
Loni
Benson
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
WALLOWA.COM
Racing in
Patagonia
Enterprise
Local equestrian to participate in
Westerner says endurance race in South America
be prepared
for extreme
weather
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Loni Ben-
son has only lived in Enterprise
for a couple of months, but she
already feels at home here.
She moved here from New-
port to be closer to family. She
has a couple of sisters, a daugh-
ter and two grandchildren here.
Two other children and their
families live in western Oregon.
In total, she has seven grandsons
and two step-granddaughters.
One sister used to own a café
in Joseph, another lives in Wal-
lowa and her daughter moved
here four years ago.
She recently landed a job as
a receptionist for Alpine Chiro-
practic in Enterprise.
Benson recently shared her
thoughts about living in Wal-
lowa County.
f enthusiasm had a scale from
1-10, then Brenda Johnson
would be at about a 12. John-
son is preparing for a 10-day
endurance horse race, called
the Gaucho Derby, that takes place
in Argentinian Patagonia, March
3-13. Riders ride for 311 miles,
using seven diff erent horses, rely-
ing on a map and a GPS tracker,
and must fi nish in 10 days. There
are no trails.
The race is a test of horse and
rider endurance, navigation and
survival skills.
She is in an elite group. There
were over 400 applicants and only
I
35 were chosen to compete.
So why is she doing it? She
laughs at the question. “Cuz I’m
crazy!” she said.
She explains, more seriously,
that she has always wanted to do it
and is, “just doing it to do it.”
There are riders from around
the globe including Europe, the
United States, South Africa and
Australia participating.
The experience is costing her a
great deal of money — more than
$14,500, to be exact. In addition,
there is air fare, gear, food, a tent
and sleeping bag. Specialized gear
for the weather she will encounter
all had to be purchased new. Since
Brenda Johnson/Contributed Photos
Brenda Johnson is set to compete in the endurance horse race called
the Gaucho Derby in South America’s Patagonia March 3-13, 2022.
See Race, Page A5
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
I’d have to say my family. I can
get together with my sisters, my
daughter and my grandsons on
a regular basis.
Are you getting cabin
fever yet?
No. I like the winter. I’ve
spent the last two winters here,
visiting from Newport — on
the beach — where it’s 40-50
degrees in the winter.
What are you looking
forward to once the
weather warms?
Mostly walking with my dog.
I have a 7-year-old male pit bull.
What’s your advice for
people who are thinking
about moving here?
It’s a great place; I like it. But
be prepared for the extreme
weather.
— Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
County urges businesses, workers to apply for grants
Another extension on
COVID aid approved
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Business
owners are being urged to apply
for the latest round of COVID-
19 assistance from a Community
Development Block Grant that
Wallowa County received in July
2020, the Board of Commission-
ers said at its Wednesday, Feb. 16,
meeting.
The commissioners met via
Zoom with Lisa Dawson, exec-
utive director of the Northeast
Oregon Economic Development
District, who was asking the com-
missioners to apply to the state
for a six-month extension on the
grant. NEOEDD’s role is to assist
businesses to apply for the grants,
determine if they qualify and assess
how much funding they could be
eligible to receive. Both low-mod-
erate income business owners
and employers of low-moderate
income workers can apply.
The commissioners approved
an extension until Aug. 15 but only
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Lisa Dawson, executive director of the Northeast Oregon Economic
Development District, top, discusses via Zoom renewing a Small Business
Development Grant for microenterprises with the Wallowa County Board of
Commissioners at its meeting Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. The commissioners,
shown below, are, from left, John Hillock, Susan Roberts and Todd Nash.
gave the NEOEDD until March
31 to recommend a fi nal round of
businesses to receive grants and
requested that NEOEDD make
aggressive eff orts to get the word
out in the next 45 days.
Commission
Chairwoman
Susan Roberts recalled that the
original grant was for $150,000
and the period for applying for aid
under the grant expired Feb. 15.
“There’s still $107 and some-
odd thousand in it,” Roberts said.
“We have extended it once. Lisa,
would you explain why you’re
asking for another extension?”
“There are two reasons that
we’re asking for an extension. One
is similar to what Commissioner
(Todd) Nash just explained about
ARPA (American Rescue Plan
Act) funds. There are many restric-
tions on federal funding that’s
coming through related to the coro-
navirus pandemic. … One of the
restrictions … is that new grants
to businesses cannot duplicate
any other pandemic-related fund-
ing that a business has received.
Since most of that other pandem-
ic-related funding is long gone at
this point and businesses are still
experiencing things like staffi ng
shortages and times when maybe
they’ve had to close down because
See County, Page A5