OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Parks:
Continued from Page A1
the commission and Wallowa
County.
Lockhart is president of
the Wallowa Lake Tourism
Association.
“I talked a little bit about
how tourism has grown expo-
nentially … and we have a bit
of an issue now in that tour-
ism is outpacing our ability to
provide the infrastructure to
take care of our guests prop-
erly,” he said June 15.
Lockhart noted that the
lack of infrastructure is not
just lodging, but everything,
parking, stores, restaurants
and other amenities.
“We wouldn’t have (the
infrastructure) if it wasn’t
for the tourism that supports
them during the summer sea-
son,” he said. “It’s import-
ant to address the local needs
of the people so it doesn’t
become a burden on them.”
Events center
Early June 14, Mac Free-
born, manager of Wallowa
Lake State Park, led the
group on a tour of various
sites at the lake, including the
site of the proposed events
center at the marina, the site
of a proposed property acqui-
sition, the Upper Wallowa
River that is slated for res-
Teacher:
Continued from Page A1
toration, the Wallowa Falls
Campground, the Little Alps
day-use area and the Iwetem-
laykin State Heritage Site.
The fi rst site — the pro-
posed events center — is
slated to be built just east
of the current buildings in a
couple of years and likely
will incorporate some of the
current parking lot.
Although it is still early
in the planning stage, Free-
born said, a cost of $3.5
million is estimated for
the
3,000-5,000-square-
foot building with another
$400,000-$450,000 for archi-
tectural fees.
It will have a 360-degree
view with many windows,
a small kitchen, restrooms,
changing rooms and dividers
so it can be turned into sev-
eral smaller rooms or opened
to one large room.
But the cost won’t all
come from state coff ers,
Freeborn said.
“We’d have to do a lot of
fundraising,” he said. “That’s
where the stakeholders are
coming in. They’re going to
be key in raising money for
this.”
Specifi cally,
Free-
born mentioned Lockhart
and Chuck Anderson, who
heads the annual Oregon’s
Alpenfest.
Alpenfest, which is reg-
ularly held in late Septem-
ber and early October, used
to be held in the century-old
Edelweiss Inn. However,
that building has become too
dilapidated and would be too
costly to restore, Lockhart
has said in the past. Instead,
he said June 15, he and his
partner, Bill Whittemore,
have decided to dismantle
it and have off ered to let the
Parks Department use parts
for the events center.
Lockhart and Ander-
son both expressed their
hopes for the center after the
meetings.
“We think it would be a
good deal for the parks and for
everybody,” Lockhart said.
Anderson said that with
craft of writing.
“It’s like making a neck-
lace and every word is a
stone, a precious gem that
you’re stringing,” she said.
“And you’ve got to make
sure you pick each one
carefully.”
Through all of her years
putting eff ort into educating
School District, taught fourth
grade at Enterprise Ele-
mentary with Fischer at the
beginning of his career. He
recounted how in every inter-
view he’s had as an admin-
istrator, he’s waited for the
teacher to say that they love
working with kids, attrib-
uting this to the devotion
of the job, explaining how
important it is for a teacher to
put the eff ort in.
“Every grade, you’re
that piece,” she said. “When
you’re that person in their
life, you have to make the
puzzle complete so when
they’re done they have a full
puzzle.”
Having been at the school
as a student when they just
started using computers,
to leaving the school as a
teacher when the whole class-
room has laptops, Fischer
sees the coming years of edu-
cation in her hometown as a
slightly diff erent version of
the fundamentals.
“I think that the future will
just be similar to what it is
now, kids learning and teach-
ers teaching.”
“I THINK THAT THE FUTURE WILL JUST
BE SIMILAR TO WHAT IT IS NOW, KIDS
LEARNING AND TEACHERS TEACHING.”
— Lorri Birkmaier Fischer, former elementary school teacher
her students as well as grow-
ing up in the school system,
Fischer has recognized how
much importance a public
school can hold in a small
town like Enterprise.
“The community, the
town revolves around the
school,” she proclaimed.
Tom Crane, the super-
intendent of the Enterprise
displayed by his former
co-teacher.
When describing Fischer
in one word, he emphasized
how much his colleague
cares.
“Passionate, because her
whole life is about helping
kids,” he said.
Fischer choked up when
talking about this aspect

Evacuation access
The commissioners also
met in the Cloverleaf Hall
in Enterprise to conduct rou-
tine business and hear public
comments.
One of the written com-
ments submitted involved
improving access to the south
end of the lake. Currently,
only Highway 82 along the
east side of the lake provides
access.
In an emailed copy of a
letter submitted by Thomas
F. Kennedy, the South Wal-
lowa Lake Community
Firewise Committee has been
alerted that the area is one
of “extreme risk” in case of
fi re. There had previously
been three exit routes, two of
which have been eliminated
— partially due to Parks
Department actions. The let-
ter stated that committee rep-
resentatives have met with
Freeborn and a letter has been
written to Sumption, but “no
apparent action to mitigate
these risks, has been taken.”
Lockhart, too, expressed
interest in improving evacua-
tion access.
“The state parks has been
awarded a piece of ground
that is contiguous to the west
side of the mountains,” he
said. “That way they’d have
the west end road and the
east end road. … It would be
only used in case of an emer-
gency. … It would be a gated
situation.”
No action on the matter
was taken by the commission
during its meeting.
RTICIPANTS
RANCH RODEO PA the week goes
of
This week’s athlete deo participants at
to all the ranch ro h Broncs and Bulls
the Mountain Hig eat to see people
event. It was gr d the cowboys
an
back in the stands d not disappoint
di
s
and cowgirl
t.
in a big local even
OF
THE
Aliyse Shetler, and her kin-
dergarten class from Joseph.
She thought that big proj-
ects like these were the secret
to teaching some of her kids.
“They would be doing
what you want them to do,
but yet they didn’t really feel
like it was hard work because
it was fun.”
And it’s this style of learn-
ing that may cause her to
resonate with the students
in Enterprise, even when
they’ve gotten older.
“One girl said to me from
junior high the other day
‘Mrs. Fisher, you’re leaving
us, how can you leave us?’”
For Fischer, who prides
herself on having a reading
endorsement, literature is
near and dear to her heart.
She remembered what she
would tell her students
about how to perfect the
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
The Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission met and heard reports and testimony at
the Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. From left are Ashley Schahfer,
Steve Gasty, Director Lisa Sumption, Chairwoman Jennifer H. Allen, Johnathan Blaser, Victoria
Berger, Liz Hill and Doug Deur.
no viable venue at the lake,
Alpenfest will be held Sept.
29 to Oct. 2 at the Chief
Joseph Days Rodeo grounds
in Joseph.
“I was there to lobby
them to move as fast as
they can with their planned
events center at the state park
because when that’s built,
we’re hoping for it to be
the new permanent home of
Oregon’s Alpenfest,” Ander-
son said. “One commissioner
asked, ‘What are the dates? I
want to come.’ I passed on a
brochure to the commission-
ers and I’m hoping to see a
few of them.”
Freeborn said the parking
lot at the events center likely
will have to be redesigned.
He also said the beach area
is likely to change with the
planned refurbishment of
Wallowa Lake Dam.
Ground is expected to
be broken on the $21 mil-
lion project the fall of 2023,
according to Dan Butter-
fi eld, president of the Wal-
lowa Lake Irrigation District,
which owns the dam.
Freeborn said that once
completed, the water level
of the lake could rise by 2-4
feet, which will fl ood some
of the current beach area.
A7
udly
Pro onsore d b y
p
S
Would like to thank all of our local sponsors and donors that helped make our
1st Annual Kokanee Derby and Benefit Dinner a success!
Viridian Property Management , Wallowa County Ace Hardware
Adam Stein Construction, Valley Bronze, Wallowa County Grain Growers,
ODFW, Wallowa Lake State Park, Wallowa Lake Marina, Sports Corral,
Stein Distillery, The Joseph Market Place, Joe Basile, Carolyn Dawson,
Paul Harlan, Ken Stein, Fusion Fabrication, Bronson Log Homes,
Full Cirlce Consulting, Summer Derrickson,
Shirley Snook, G & K Creations and everyone else that contributed to this event.
Thank you all for your continued support!

With Sincere
Thanks
Mark Borgerding Construction
Regards,
The Cross the Divide Team
Early Deadlines for the
July 6th Edition
Space Reservation Deadline is
June 30th at NOON
Copy Deadline is July 1st at 10 am
All ads approved for print by NOON
on July 5th
Chieftain office will be closed 7/4/22
in observance of the 4th of July
After a total loss of our garage, I couldn’t have asked for a better
company to rebuild for us! Your hard work and dedication to
completing this project has been truly amazing and you all
are so appreciated!
~ Thank you, Bobbi Chitwood
JAC’s Innovative Sales and Marketing Solutions
Contact Jennifer Cooney TODAY!
jacs.isms@gmail.com • 541-805-9630