LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
A3
Wallowa farmer suff ers losses due to hailstorm
Storm leaves 150
chickens dead
By ANDREW CUTLER
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Mary
Hawkins was outside wash-
ing crates when she noticed
a storm building up on the
horizon.
“When the hail started I
was like, almost giggly, like
‘Ha ha, it’s hailing. I’m gonna
hop inside,’ ” said Hawkins,
who owns Hawkins Sisters
Ranch with her sister, Nora.
Within moments her deci-
sion proved to be correct as
one of the worst hailstorms in
modern Wallowa County his-
tory suddenly descended on
her chicken processing facil-
ity on Bear Creek Road.
Hawkins said the outside
work at the processing facility
was over by the time the storm
hit and much of her stock of
chickens was under cover.
Still, she had several hundred
IN BRIEF
Goat wounded
by wolves in
Wallowa County
WALLOWA COUNTY
— An adult female goat was
wounded in a wolf attack by
members of the Bear Creek
Pack in the Allen Canyon
area of Wallowa County, the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife reported Friday,
Aug. 5.
ODFW’s report stated that
the attack occurred the pre-
vious evening when the live-
stock owner had gathered his
fl ock for the evening from a
private pasture and noticed
one animal was missing.
The missing ewe goat
returned the following day
with partially healed injuries
consistent with wolf attacks.
The injuries were on both
hind legs, ODFW reported.
Allen Canyon is between
Wallowa and Lostine south of
Highway 82.
County reports
42 new cases of
COVID-19
SALEM — The Oregon
Health Authority reported
15,716 new cases of COVID-
19 from July 24 to Aug. 6 in
its biweekly report released
on Wednesday, Aug. 10.
The two-week total rep-
resents a 15.4% decline from
the previous biweekly total of
18,567.
During the two-week
period of July 24 to Aug. 6,
test positivity was 13%, down
slightly from 13.8% in the
previous two-week period.
During the same two-
week reporting period Wal-
lowa County has reported 42
total cases, with high-water
marks of 21 cases on Aug. 3
and 10 cases on Aug. 9 and
July 25. Wallow County has a
seven-day average of 4.4 new
cases.
Wallowa County did not
record any COVID-related
deaths during the most recent
two-week reporting period.
Since the start of the pan-
demic, Wallowa County has
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Mary Hawkins, along with sister Nora, manages Hawkins Sisters Ranch in Wallowa. The sisters
raise turkeys and Cornish cross chickens to butcher and also off er custom butchering for many
local hobby farm breeders in the county.
trotted out to the pasture.
What she saw was carnage.
Hundreds of dead chick-
ens littered the fi eld. Many
of the chickens were grouped
together where they died as
the hail hammered them.
“In addition to getting
crushed by the ice, they prob-
ably got smacked, smothered
by one another,” Hawkins
said.
As she stared at the fi eld
littered with dead chickens
she said “my fi rst reaction
was to just turn around and
walk away.”
Over the next hour, said
Hawkins, many other chick-
ens died from the injuries sus-
tained by the hail.
Some, though, she thought
might be dead were up and
about.
“Half of them is up and
fl uff y again,” she said.
Still, by the end of the day
Hawkins said she composted
150 dead chickens.
As Hawkins and her
employees began to clean up
— clearing broken glass and
other debris — she slowly
began to take stock. She real-
ized the hailstorm meant a
signifi cant fi nancial loss to
her business.
The dead chickens were
no longer viable products for
sale, she said.
“Can’t process them.
There is just no way to dress
them out and get them cold.
The body condition would
be grotesque, and they were
laying out in the fi eld for two
hours. They’re not really edi-
ble,” Hawkins said.
Most of the chickens, she
said, were “nearly fi nished.”
“I have several thou-
sand dollars into those chicks
and their feed. I like to raise
them until they dress out at a
4-pound average,” Hawkins
said.
The image of a fi eld cov-
ered in dead chickens still lin-
gers for Hawkins.
“It’s just the emotion of
like, wow. They just got pum-
meled to death,” she said.
The workshop brought
together 12 young people
from indigenous communi-
ties who have called this area
home for centuries, with a
meaningful introduction to
photojournalism as a career
and a platform to share their
voices.
The theme of the camp
focused on ways that the Wal-
lowa River and other water-
ways connect communities in
the region.
For more information,
call 240-421-9520 or email
jeff adl@ngs.org.
— Wallowa County
Chieftain
chickens still outside, under
the deluge of hail. About 300
of her Cornish Cross chickens
were out in a pasture.
The chickens, said Haw-
kins, tend to sit and wait out
inclement weather.
“If anything, they pile up a
little bit,” she said.
When the storm passed,
Hawkins and her employees
immediately went into dam-
age control mode. Hawkins
checked her horses and vehi-
cles and equipment and then
recorded 1,401 cases and 17
deaths.
The health authority’s
COVID-19 Biweekly Con-
gregate Care Setting Out-
break Report shows 206
active outbreaks in care facil-
ities, senior living communi-
ties and congregate care liv-
ing settings with three or more
confi rmed COVID-19 cases
or one or more COVID-19-
related deaths.
ruled out. On Aug. 17, club
President Angela Mart will
make a presentation before
the commissioners.
Also at the meeting, Peter
Ferre of the Friends of Wal-
lowa County Recycling will
make a presentation.
The commissioners also
are expected to:
• Hire Theresa Spaur as
an executive assistant for the
grants manager.
• Approve an intrafund
transfer from the General
Fund to American Rescue Act
funds.
• Approve an intrafund
transfer to EMS to for a one-
time bonus .
• Approve an interfund
transfer for public transit to
STIF and STF to STIF.
the state.
• Consider a resolution to
amend the wastewater project
loan amount.
• Hear department and
committee reports.
in maintaining your own
bike and perhaps volunteer to
upgrade bikes with the club
team, contact the club.
ENTERPRISE — The
Wallowa Mountains Bicy-
cle Club has secured a grant
from the Lewis-Clark Val-
ley Healthcare Foundation to
support getting used, donated
bikes to underserved kids
throughout Wallowa County,
according to a press release.
Club volunteers will repair
and upgrade donated or dis-
carded bikes and then work
with local schools and social
service agencies to identify
youths who would benefi t
from having a bike.
“The benefi ts to bike rid-
ing for kids goes way beyond
the fun they provide,” said
Angela Mart, WMBC board
president. “Biking regu-
larly improves cardiovascu-
lar health, reduces the risk of
diabetes, increases autonomy,
builds confi dence, strength-
ens social connections and
gets kids outdoors.”
The club aims to have 20
bikes donated in the com-
ing year to deserving youth
throughout Wallowa County.
Anyone with an unused
bike to donate can reach out
to the club at wallowamoun-
tainsbicycleclub@gmail.com
or call 503-703-2001 or if
you’d like to build your skills
graphic Photo Camp Oregon
will take place at 5 p.m. Sat-
urday, Aug. 20, at the Josephy
Center for Arts and Culture,
403 N. Main St., Joesph.
The camp is led by
National Geographic Explor-
ers and photographers Sara
Hylton and Tailyr Irvine.
Alpenfest seeks
volunteers, food
and craft vendors
JOSEPH — Back after
two pandemic years, Ore-
gon’s Alpenfest is looking
for volunteers and asking
for food and craft vendors to
apply to sell at the West’s only
Swiss-Bavarian cultural festi-
val Sept. 29-Oct. 2.
Alpenfest, which is held in
Joseph at the Joseph Rodeo
Grounds, is asking for vol-
unteers to pour beer and
wine, provide kitchen and
meal service and perform
various logistical and safety
duties. Each volunteer gets
a free admission ticket and a
bratwurst sandwich.
The 42nd edition of the
festival will feature The Pol-
katones dance band, the Tiro-
lean Dancers of Oregon,
Swiss yodeler Shelby Imholt,
accordionist Toby Hanson
and alphorns.
To inquire, contact Chuck
Anderson at alpenmeister@
mail2oregon.com or call 541-
398-1096. Food and craft
vendors may apply to Lynn
Wolf at lakesidelynn@eoni.
com or 503-692-5050.
Joseph council to
take applications
for planning
commission
JOSEPH — The Joseph
City Council will review
applications for people to
serve on a planning commis-
sion when it meets Thursday,
Aug. 18, at 7 p.m.
The city has no planning
commission, an absence that
has created controversy in
recent months.
Also on the agenda, the
council will:
• Consider an applica-
tion by Adam Saxton to fi ll a
vacant City Council seat.
• Consider a resolution on
revenue to be received from
This week’s featured book
The
Bodyguard
by Katherine Center
107 E. Main St. Enterprise OR
541-426-3351
manager@bookloft.org • bookloft.org
S teve K erby
ESTATE AND RETIREMENT PLANNING
SOPHISTICATED, UNBIASED SOLUTIONS
SAFE MONEY CHOICES
kerbyofg@AOL.com
503.936.3535
Coming soon to Old Mill Storage in Wallowa
Summer
is Here!
Bike club to make
presentation before
commissioners
ENTERPRISE — A pre-
sentation by the Wallowa
Mountains Bicycle Club will
be heard Wednesday, Aug. 17,
by the Wallowa County Board
of Commissioners, according
to a press release.
The club has been lob-
bying for land on which to
locate a pump track in Enter-
prise. However, all potential
sites within the city have been
Photo camp plans
Bike club wins grant fi nal show Saturday
JOSEPH — The fi nal
for Bikes to Kids
show of the National Geo-
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Heaters and other HVAC Parts & Services
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• 541-426-0320
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Labor Day Picnic
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12 Noon - 3pm
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