LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
A3
Enterprise Elementary Playground updated in honor of student
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE — In
commemoration of Dan-
iel Hanson, a fund in honor
of his love for play was set
up and dedicated to adding
more equipment to the cur-
rent Enterprise Elementary
School playground. Daniel
was set to enter kindergarten
in Enterprise but died in an
accident in 2020.
What began as adding a
few pieces of play equipment
soon sparked the idea of add-
ing equipment more appro-
priate for preschoolers and
young elementary students.
Ideas soon became plans,
and plans became action.
With Damiana Maxwell and
Sara Hayes, early intervention
specialists with InterMoun-
tain Education Service Dis-
trict guiding the project, the
addition to the current play-
ground shifted its focus to a
truly inclusive playground for
all ages and abilities.
Key elements of the play-
ground plan included smooth
surfacing and transitions to
allow for even walking and
assistive equipment. Equip-
ment was selected from
input of elementary students
and staff , occupational ther-
apists, physical therapists,
playground design consul-
tants and other key experts
to ensure all elements were
included in the design.
With tremendous gener-
Contributed Photo
A rendering of what the fi nished playground in Enterprise will
look like. It is being improved in memory of Daniel Hanson.
osity from the community,
$14,000 was raised and given
toward the playground proj-
ect in memory of Daniel, who
attended the Enterprise Col-
laborative Preschool. Local
grant awards of $38,000 and
fundraising eff orts have been
contributed so far, includ-
ing fi nancial support from
Enterprise Education Foun-
dation, Lion’s Club, Wallowa
County Local Community
Health Partnership, Pacifi c
Power and an organized can
drive.
Another $135,000 in
grant and monetary awards
within Eastern Oregon have
been awarded or are pend-
ing including: the Wildhorse
Foundation, the Ford Fam-
ily Foundation, Lewis &
Clark, Oregon Community
Foundation and InterMoun-
tain ESD. The generosity
of Wallowa County shines
through with donations
including that of Rahn’s
Sanitary in providing stor-
age space for the new equip-
ment and Enterprise Electric
in the use of machinery.
The project broke ground
July 5 with the installation of
the new equipment to be the
week of Chief Joseph Days.
The project team remains
hopeful all construction will
be concluded by the fi rst day
of school in August, accessi-
ble for students during school
hours and the community
before and after school hours.
The inclusive playground
will allow for children and
adults of all ages and abilities
to enjoy what Daniel cher-
ished most, play.
If interested in more infor-
mation or in contributing to
the project, please call Max-
well at 541-531-9535 or
Hayes 541-263-0690.
County commissioners discuss work needed on Upper Imnaha Road
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Upper Imnaha Road has
some treacherous areas that
the county is being asked
to fi x, the Wallowa County
Board of Commissioners dis-
cussed at its meeting Wednes-
day, July 20.
Commission Chairwoman
Susan Roberts addressed an
email she’d received from
Elizabeth Kelley of Dia-
mondhead Ranch on Upper
Imnaha Road who asked
the commissioners to con-
sider repairs to the road. Rob-
erts had forwarded a copy
of Kelly’s email to the other
commissioners.
At least two of the com-
missioners said they had vis-
ited the site and agreed it
needs work, particularly to
accommodate today’s larger
vehicles, and it should be
either rerouted or the problem
area blasted through.
“That road was built
somewhere in the ’20s when
vehicles were not very big,”
Roberts said.
Roberts said in 2011, the
county had engineers look at
the road and at that time, they
estimated it would cost $30-
40 million. She estimated it
would have gone up consid-
erably since then.
“I’m not exactly sure what
we can do about it,” she said.
“I do know that the people on
the upper river can take care
of themselves.”
“It isn’t anything we can
do immediately,” Com-
missioner Todd Nash said.
“Those agencies move
extremely slow and to blast
that stuff — it’s really normal
for rocks to roll off those hills
into those waters. It’s been
happening for millennia. But
for a human to do that, oh my
gosh.”
Roberts spoke to a lady
who said the rumor she’d
always heard is that no one
wants to take on the road
project and that it would
entail blasting out rocks that
might fall into the river and
possibly hurt fi sh.
“She said, ‘I have no idea if
this is true, but if it is, I would
like to believe that the safety
of the community — kids on
buses and visiting tourists —
would be a priority,’ It would
be for the three of us, but it’s
not for National Marine Fish-
eries,” Roberts said.
She believes the Nez Perce
Tribal Fisheries wouldn’t
object because fi sh could
adapt to any changes in the
river.
Nash agreed, saying tum-
bling boulders down into the
streambed would provide
more areas where the Chi-
nook can spawn.
Roberts explained this to
the lady and the county would
be willing, but they come up
against a federal agency “that
absolutely prohibits that.”
Commissioner John Hill-
ock brought up the question
of how to fund such a project.
Nash has been in touch
with the National Marine
Fisheries Service, which
objected to any potential
blasting that would disrupt
the Imnaha River and the fi sh
there. He said he had a county
employee look at it and blast-
ing an area was considered,
but that would mean debris
going into the river.
He suggested all the agen-
cies involved should visit
the site to see what could be
done.
“I was politely blown off
— and come to think of it, it
wasn’t all that polite,” he said.
Roberts emphasized that
the road repair isn’t a matter
of just a county decision.
“There are multiple fed-
eral agencies involved,” she
said.
Nash said he still wants a
site visit by multiple agencies.
“Certainly the human-
safety factor has to outweigh
the conditions in the stream
— you would think,” he said.
Other business
In other matters, the
commissioners:
• Were told by Nash that
the River Democracy Act
was scheduled for a hear-
ing the next day but it had
been pulled from the docket.
“That’s good news,” Nash
said. In the past, the com-
missioners have expressed
their opposition to the bill
that would add nearly 4,700
miles of rivers and streams in
Oregon to the Wild and Sce-
nic Rivers System. The com-
missioners see it as more
federal intrusion into local
matters and tying up private
and public land alongside
those streams.
• Raised the tipping fees
at the Ant Flat Landfi ll by
$10 a ton. This aff ects pri-
marily large loads, such as
those dumped by disposal
services. The commission-
ers agreed in December to
raise the tipping fees July 1.
The delay gave solid waste
disposal companies time to
adjust their own rates.
• Enacted a 2% cost-of-
living pay increase for all
county employees.
• Promoted William
“Billy” Wells to chief dep-
uty with the Wallowa County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce. He replaces
Fred Steen, the last chief
deputy, who retired Jan. 6,
2021.
• Rehired Jeremy Dodd
as a 911 dispatcher, who had
been on medical leave.
• Promoted Susan Moody
from a 911 telecommunica-
tor to 911 sergeant.
• Hired Larry Wightman
as a maintenance worker
with the county Public
Works Department.
• Hired three tempo-
rary youth workers with the
Department of Youth Ser-
vices: Angel Castro, Gage
Gordon and Brice Harmon.
• Approved a resolution
to appoint Steve Anderson
to the county’s local public
safety coordinating council.
• Approved an easement
for Ziply Fiber Northwest to
do work on and around util-
ity poles along Hurricane
Creek Road.
• Approved an easement
for Ed Powers to install
a water line across road
three-quarters of a mile south
of Wenaha Bridge.
• Approved occupancy
agreements
for
Wind-
ing Waters Medical Clinic,
Umatilla Morrow Head
Start and Community Con-
nections of Northeast Ore-
gon at the Wallowa County
Community Service Cen-
ter. The agreements are rou-
tine annual contracts. Rob-
erts said this year is for the
usual one year but she hopes
to increase it to fi ve years
each next year.
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This week’s featured book
IN BRIEF
Haunt Camp
returns to
Josephy Center
JOSEPH — Haunt Camp
is back, starting Wednesday,
July 27, at the Josephy Cen-
ter for Arts and Culture.
The Halloween-themed
creative outlet is free for stu-
dents going into the ninth
through 12th grades. Partici-
pants will design and build a
haunted house to open Hal-
loween weekend.
The class is taught by
J.R. Rymut, who spends
half the year building fi lm
sets and museum exhibits in
Los Angeles. Rymut devised
Haunt Camp as a way to
introduce teens to creative
skills used in the entertain-
ment industry. Last fall,
they ran the Creature Cre-
ation Workshop that taught
sculpting, molding and cast-
ing special-eff ects makeup.
While the time schedule
is still to be announced, it is
to be fl exible to accommo-
date school sports, work and
summer vacations.
For more information, go
online to www.hauntcamp.
org or follow @hauntcamp.
Rymut can be contacted
directly by email at haunt-
camp@gmail.com.
ONPA to host
governor forum
ENTERPRISE — The
three leading candidates in
the race to become Oregon’s
next governor will appear live
at a forum Friday, July 29,
hosted by the Oregon News-
paper Publishers Association.
Republican
nominee
Christine Drazan, Demo-
cratic nominee Tina Kotek
and unaffi liated candidate
Betsy Johnson are all sched-
uled to debate starting at
2 p.m. in Welches.
The forum is moderated
by Pamplin Media Group
President Mark Garber.
Questions will come from
editors of newspapers across
Oregon.
The debate will be lives-
treamed on the Wallowa
County Chieftain’s website,
beginning at 2 p.m. July 29.
Weer honored
by Soroptimist
International
ENTERPRISE — Maria
Weer of Building Healthy
Families received the Sorop-
timist International Ruby
Award on June 21 from the
Soroptimists of Wallowa
County.
The Ruby Award of $500
is given each year to a local
woman who has made a sig-
nifi cant diff erence in the lives
of women and girls in Wal-
lowa County.
Weer has been with Build-
ing Healthy Families for 14
years. During that time, she
has built programs and posi-
tive relationships across East-
ern Oregon. While her work
has reached beyond women
and girls in our community,
she has been able to build,
manage, and expand train-
ing and educational programs
that support girls and women.
Examples of her work
include Girls on the Run of
Eastern Oregon, collaborat-
ing with schools and partners
to support Girls Circles, sup-
porting teen mothers through
the Alternative Education
Program/Early Head Start
and working with Building
Health Families staff to pro-
vide home visits, mentoring,
parent education, and tan-
gible resources to mothers
and their families across our
communities.
For
more
informa-
tion about how Soroptimist
improves the lives of women
and girls, call Sue Wagner at
541-426-6423.
Two honored by
Soroptimists
ENTERPRISE — The
Soroptimists of Wallowa
County recently announced
the winners of two scholar-
ship awards.
Hannah Schmidtke was
honored with the 2022 Fel-
lowship Award. The Fel-
lowship Award is a $2,000
award presented to a Wallowa
County woman practicing her
business or profession who
is continuing her education
through a postgraduate (Mas-
ter’s or Ph.D.) program.
Schmidtke seeks to con-
tinue to learn, grow and
develop a professional career
as an infl uential educator
and role model within her
community. To that end, she
is seeking a master of arts
degree in elementary educa-
tion, at Western Governors
University. Schmidtke has
served as a volleyball and
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basketball coach in Wallowa
County, a substitute teacher
and will start a position at
Joseph Charter School this
fall.
Gracie Niezen won the
2022 $5,000 Continuing Edu-
cation Scholarship.
Niezen is currently attend-
ing OHSU School of Nursing/
Eastern Oregon University.
She intends to earn a bache-
lor of science degree in nurs-
ing, which is a three-year pro-
gram located on the Eastern
Oregon University campus
in La Grande, and has com-
pleted two years of prerequi-
site coursework toward this
degree. Niezen was inspired
by her parents, a special edu-
cation teacher and a volun-
teer fi refi ghter, to pursue a
service-related career. She
has always been interested
in nursing and did a long-
term job shadow at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital during her
senior year in high school.
— Chieftain staff
Horse
A Novel
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541-426-3351
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Chief Joseph Days and the
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