BUSINESS
Wallowa County Chieftain
A6
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Knox retiring after 12 years at chamber
A replacement?
BIZZ
BUZZ
By Bill Bradshaw
E
NTERPRISE — Vis-
itors will only have
until the end of April
to see Diane Knox’s smiling
face greet them at the offi ces
of the Wallowa County
Chamber of Commerce in
Enterprise. After that, she’ll
be out in the woods enjoy-
ing her retirement.
After 12 years as the
chamber’s administrative
assistant, Knox is stepping
down.
“There’s other things
I want to do,” she said. “I
have family I want to go
see and there are diff erent
projects I haven’t gotten to
because I’m too busy here.”
She said Thursday,
March 31, she hopes to
do more hiking, huckle-
berry-picking and looking
for morel mushrooms, in
particular.
“You know, get out in the
woods more, no longer sit-
ting at a desk,” she said.
Knox’s background
Having moved to the
county in 1986, Knox’s
retirement plans take her
back to what she spent most
of her working life doing.
For 20 years, she worked
for the U.S. Forest Service
in wildlife management, as
a silviculturist and in refor-
estation. Her Forest Service
work was mostly here, but
also in the John Day area.
After leaving the Forest
Service, she spent a couple
years working for the Wal-
lowa County Nursery before
landing the chamber job.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Diane Knox, administrative assistant at the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce, left, works at her desk as chamber Executive
Director Jennifer Piper looks on Thursday, March 31, 2022. Knox will be retiring at the end of April.
The job
Knox said that although
she prefers to be outside,
she’s found her work at the
chamber interesting.
She said she’s liked
“working with diff erent
members, the diff erent busi-
nesses and getting them
to work more on our web
page, putting more about
their businesses because
we’ve enhanced our web-
site so they can have a bet-
ter description. They can put
a photo gallery for them dis-
playing their businesses and
working with them trying to
promote them.”
That doesn’t mean she’s
necessarily a computer guru.
“I don’t know if I’d go
that far, but I know enough
to get where I need to be,”
she said.
The most interesting part
of the job, Knox said, has
been meeting all the diff er-
ent people who stop in to
learn about what the county
has to off er.
“I’ve been working with
a lot of visitors, giving them
ideas of where to go and
what to go see in the county,
promoting all the local busi-
nesses that we have here so
that they can fi nd them,” she
said. “Diff erent people want
diff erent things. Sometimes
we’ll promote the barn tour,
sometimes businesses at the
lake, hiking trails and tell-
ing them where to get more
information, etc.”
She said she’s visited
with not only people from
elsewhere in the country,
but from foreign countries,
as well.
“People come here from
all over the world and that’s
pretty cool,” she said. “I’ve
had people in here from
Australia, South Korea,
China, France, Germany,
Austria, Sweden, the United
Kingdom, all over the
world.”
Wallowa County has sev-
eral features the foreign vis-
itors fi nd intriguing, Knox
said.
“I’ve seen a lot of them
come for Hells Canyon,
because it’s the deepest can-
yon (in North America),”
she said. “One of the things
that they really pick up on
is that, especially the peo-
ple coming from out of the
country. They (also) want to
know about Wallowa Lake
and I have them check out
the lake. I always explain
to them that the lake was
formed by glaciers and still
has the intact moraines,
which is pretty cool because
a lot of them don’t have
those anymore.”
She also tells them about
the Wallowa Mountains and
the tram up Mount Howard.
Personally, it’s that
diverse terrain Knox fi nds so
intriguing about the county.
“You can go down in the
canyon country and up to
high elevations,” she said.
“That’s what I really like
about it, all that diversity.”
& Skylight
Gallery
Church
Directory
Finding books is
our specialty
CLUES ACROSS
1. “Let’s get this show
on the ___”
5. Covered up
8. Greeting to a matey
12. R&B star India.___
13. Exalting poem
14. Leia’s twin
15. Designation for the
Nelson-Atkins Museum’s
~19-foot-high shuttlecocks
18. 2009 Miranda Lambert
song about a cheater
19. Scared
22. Game spelled by
removing “w” from
“Twister” and rearranging
the rest
26. “Birds of ___”
27. Third-smallest country
31. Prefix for “dynamic”
32. Group of whales
33. “You serious?”
35. 2021 WNBA champs
36. Roster of people hoping
to be admitted
39. The ___ (New York
City borough)
41. Donkey, biblically
42. Far from excitable
45. West African currency units
47. Understands
48. Ultimately became
50. “You couldn’t find
any more?”
51. Mo. when the new year
festival Quviasukvik starts
52. All-out brawl
54. Game with Reverse cards
55. Sports stat that’s a hint
to the initials and mean-
ings of 15-, 18- and
36-Across
60. In-flight guesses: Abbr.
61. Rowboat tool
62. Lightsaber fight
63. Given a new hue
64. Pig’s place
65. Fried okra, e.g.
Chamber Executive
Director Jennifer Piper
said Knox won’t be easy to
replace.
“Diane is what has kept
everything running and has
been a tremendous help
and resource to me and get-
ting myself established in
this role,” said Piper, who
has been in her post since
December 2020. “She has
very big shoes for some-
one to fi ll. … I’m making it
sound a little bit intimidating,
but we’re excited to fi nd the
next person as the chamber
continues to evolve in a new
phase of the organization. We
know the right fi t is out there.
I just really appreciate every-
thing that Diane has done in
my time at the chamber and
prior to my time. She’s given
a lot to this organization.”
Knox dismisses the diffi -
culty in replacing her.
“There’s a lot of talented
people out there,” she said.
“Just have to fi nd the right
one.”
Piper said she hopes to
have someone on board
before Knox leaves so Knox
can show her replacement
the ropes.
“That is the plan,” Piper
said March 31, adding that,
“We do have strong appli-
cants and plan to move for-
ward the fi rst half of April.”
Will Knox miss working
at the chamber?
“Yeah, I’ll miss it,” she
said. “But I’ve worked all
my life, so I’m ready to
retire.”
———
Bill Bradshaw is a
reporter for the Wallowa
County Chieftain. Have a
business tip? Contact him
at 541-398-5503 or bbrad-
shaw@wallowa.com.
Joseph United
Methodist Church
Grace Lutheran
Church
3rd & Lake St. • Joseph
409 West Main - Enterprise
10 AM Worship
Online AND In Person
SUNDAY
WORSHIP
For More Info
541-432-3102
JosephUMC.ORG
at 9am
Pastor Cherie Dearth
Pastor John B. King Jr
phone (message): 541-426-4633
web: gracelutheranenterprise.com
Enterprise
Christian Church
St.
St. Patrick’s
Patrick’s
Episcopal
Church
Episcopal Church
85035 Joseph Hwy • (541) 426-3449
We have ‘In-person worship” @ 9:00 am
(Guidelines observed)
Sunday School at 10:30
Parking Lot Radio/Facebook @ 9:00
100 NE 3rd St, Enterprise
NE 3rd & Main St
541-426-3439
Worship Service
Sunday 9:30am
David Bruce
Pastor, Enterprise Christian Church
Lostine
Presbyterian Church
Summit Church
Discussion Group 9:30 AM
Worship Service 11:00 AM
at the Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise
Childrens program during service
Blog: dancingforth.blogspot.com
CLUES DOWN
1. Uncooked
2. Gold, in Spanish
3. Route for a plane
4. India’s capital territory
5. Amber Ruffin, for “The Amber
Ruffin Show”
6. Inactive
7. “I accept your offer!”
8. Organisms in birdbaths
9. Labor leader Dolores
10. Signs off on
11. Thus far
16. Failed to
17. Religious ceremony
19. Grindr, e.g.
20. To’s counterpart
21. Silicon Valley location named
for a tree business
23. “Don’t worry ...”
24. Annoy
25. ___ latte
28. Piece in an opera
29. Vases with bases
30. Authorities’ rules, for short
33. “There, it should work now”
34. Oct. 20 zodiac sign
37. Author Moody or Bronte
38. Wooden strip
39. Didn’t stay colorfast
40. Kept for another season
43. Tool for making yarn by hand
44. This, in Spanish
46. Japanese wrestling form
47. Clarified butter in biryani
49. Mexican money
50. Novelist McMillan
53. Aspiring attorney’s exam
56. Scottish no
57. “Acid”
58. Music holders in cases
59. French yes
107 E. Main • Enterprise • 541-426-3351
www.bookloftoregon.com
Sundays at 10 am
Pastor: David Pendleton
541.398.0597
Hwy 82, Lostine
www.summitchurchoregon.org
Stephen Kliewer, Minister
Cloverleaf Hall • 668 NW 1st St. • Enterprise, OR 97828
Wallowa
Assembly
of God
702 West Hwy 82
Wallowa, Oregon
541-886-8445
Sunday School • 9:am
Worship Service • 10:am
Pastor Tim Barton
Visit Us on
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church & School
Christ Covenant
Church
Pastor Terry Tollefson
Church Office: 541-263-0505
Family Prayer - 9 AM
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:30 AM
723 College Street, Lostine
Enterprise Community
Congregational Church
Join us at the
BIG BROWN CHURCH
305 Wagner (near the Cemetery)
P.O. Box N. Enterprise, OR 97828
Church 541-426-3751
School 541-426-8339
Pastor David Ballard 503-810-9886
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Bible Study:
Sundays, 9:30 am
Worship Hour
Interim Pastor Rev Dr. Craig Pesti-Strobel
10:30 a.m. - Noon
301 NE First St. • Enterprise, OR
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