LOCAL & STATE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
‘Christmas Star’ to be visible
during winter solstice Monday
■ Jupiter and Saturn will appear to cross paths for the first time in 800 years
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
“Christmas Star” will become
apparent for the fi rst time in
nearly 800 years and — hope-
fully — will be visible over
Baker County on Monday, Dec.
21, to coincide with the winter
solstice and brighten up the
darkest night of the year.
About 45 minutes after
sunset Monday, Jupiter and
Saturn, the two largest gas
giants in the solar system, are
expected to appear to cross
paths in the southwestern sky.
Not since 1226 have they ap-
peared so close, although they
are in reality millions of miles
apart.
In 1226, Genghis Khan was
taking over parts of Russia
and the 5th Crusade was try-
ing to recapture land in Egypt.
According to kgw.com, the
visible distance apart of the
two planets can be measured
by degrees. Jupiter and Saturn
will be about 0.1 degree away
from each other, making them
appear basically as one bright
light in the sky. For perspec-
tive, the width of the full moon
is about 0.5 degrees. The
distance between Jupiter and
Saturn from our perspective
will be about 1/5 the width of a
full moon.
In the Northern Hemi-
sphere, just after sunset, look
in the southwest sky and
you’ll be able to see the two
Pixabay/Contributed Photo
It won’t be quite this bright in Baker County, but a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in
the southwest sky on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, will create a “Christmas Star” about 45
minutes after sunset. It’s the fi rst time the two have come together in about 800 years.
neighboring lights above the
horizon. Jupiter will be on the
left and Saturn will be on the
right.
The sun sets in Baker City
around 4:13 p.m. Monday.
According to the Bible, it
was a similar event at the time
Jesus was born that guided
magi to Bethlehem, where the
child was. Magi were a type
of priest in ancient Persia. Al-
though the Bible does not say
how many magi visited Christ
after his birth, it is assumed
there were three because they
brought three gifts: gold for
COVID-19
his being a king, frankincense
for his being a high priest and
myrrh looking ahead to his
death.
According to nbcnews.com,
it was a conjunction of Venus
and Jupiter about 2,000 years
ago, not Saturn and Jupiter.
“Keep in mind that while
the two gas giants may ap-
pear close, in reality they are
hundreds of millions of miles
apart,” NASA writes. “This will
still be quite a striking sight,
but you will need to look fast
as both planets will set shortly
after sunset.”
positivity rate of less than 10% during
that period.
Continued from Page 1A
The next such period will be Dec.
Restaurants will be limited to takeout 13-26.
and delivery, or outdoor dining, so long
As of Friday, Dec. 18, the county’s new
as Baker County remains in the ex-
case total for that two-week period was
treme risk category.
at least 25, and Staten said that number
To move down into the high risk cat- could rise depending on the latest report
egory, which would allow indoor dining update for Friday.
with a maximum of 50 people or 25%
Staten said she hopes that the free
of capacity, whichever involves fewer
COVID-19 testing event that OHA and
people, the county would have to record the county conducted on Wednesday,
fewer than 60 new cases during the two- Dec. 16, will lower the county’s test
week period monitored by the Oregon
positivity rate.
Health Authority (OHA), and have a test
A total of 130 people were tested
Weather Not
Promising For
Viewing of
Christmas Star
The proximity of Jupiter
and Saturn might not be
visible from Baker City
Monday evening due
to clouds. The National
Weather Service is
forecasting mostly
cloudy skies, with a
chance of rain showers.
during the event, and results should be
available this weekend.
Staten said a recent testing event in
Union County yielded eight positive
tests out of 140 people tested. The posi-
tive rate of 5.7% is lower than Union
County’s overall rate over the past
month, which has ranged from 8.8% to
17.9%.
Staten said Baker City’s testing event
also could have the benefi t of identify-
ing people who are infectious but don’t
have symptoms. The sooner those people
know they’re infected, and thus should
isolate from others, the better, she said.
ELK
Continued from Page 1A
“Acting like they’re going to
starve to death,” Marvin said.
Marvin can laugh because
the storms that brought a
couple of feet of snow to the
mountains the fi rst half of No-
vember didn’t actually imperil
the elk.
Yet the animals have be-
come so accustomed to Marvin
and his crew doling out alfalfa
when the snow lies deep, that
sometimes they arrive before
he’s ready to start bucking
bales.
This was one of those years,
said Marvin, who’s starting
his third winter as manager
of the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW)
Elkhorn Wildlife Area.
The state started the project
in 1971, and Marvin, who
has worked for ODFW since
2005, is just the third full-time
manager.
ODFW created the Elkhorn
Wildlife Area to feed elk and
deer each winter but the impe-
tus is not what it might seem.
The project’s purpose isn’t to
spare animals from starva-
tion but rather to keep them
from munching hay that cattle
ranchers in the Baker, Bowen
and North Powder Valleys put
up each summer to feed their
herds.
Because the Elkhorns lack
a foothill zone where elk and
deer can fi nd suffi cient natu-
ral forage during winter, the
animals adapted to treat the
valleys as their winter range.
But once farmers and
ranchers began settling in
those valleys in the second
half of the 19th century, the
confl ict between their opera-
tions, and the hungry wild ani-
mals, was all but inevitable.
The Wildlife Area consists of
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald File Photo
Dan Marvin, photographed here in December 2018, is starting his third winter as man-
ager of the Elkhorn Wildlife Area, a network of elk-feeding stations.
10 sites along the base of the
Elkhorn Mountains, ranging
from Auburn at the south end
to Shaw Mountain northwest
of North Powder.
Marvin said he doesn’t start
setting out alfalfa until after
Dec. 1, regardless of early
storms.
That’s because the Wildlife
Area’s sites are open to the
public, including elk hunters,
until that date.
While hunting season is
ongoing, Marvin said, state of-
fi cials don’t want to entice elk
to a specifi c area.
“We don’t want to create a
baiting situation,” he said.
The elk, in any case, didn’t
loiter long after the early
November tempests.
Once more typical mid-
autumn weather returned,
and some of the snow melted,
the elk drifted back into the
mountains, Marvin said.
After the Wildlife Area
closed to the public on Dec. 1,
small herds of elk showed up,
but interest among the ani-
mals was “kind of hit or miss,”
he said.
But when wintry weather
resumed the second week of
December, the elk began their
seasonal migration, and this
time in larger numbers, to the
feeding sites.
“They know where the hay
sheds are at,” Marvin said.
Signifi cant numbers of elk
arrived the weekend of Dec.
12-13, with close to 300 head
at the Auburn site and 100 to
150 at the Anthony Creek site
near the Wildlife Area head-
quarters, about 10 miles west
of North Powder.
Those numbers are pretty
typical for early winter, Marvin
said.
Come January, unless the
winter is abnormally mild, the
Wildlife Area crew likely will
be feeding about 500 elk at
Auburn and 250 at Anthony
Creek.
Numbers vary at the other
sites, some of which also at-
tract deer.
The Auburn and An-
thony Creek sites are the two
publicly accessible properties
with maintained roads where
people can park and watch the
big herds of elk, which usu-
ally include multiple mature,
branch-antlered bulls.
To get to the Auburn site,
drive south of Baker City on
Highway 7 for about 7 miles,
and turn right on Old Auburn
Lane. Follow this gravel road
(maintained in winter) for
about 3.5 miles where a sign
marks the Wildlife Area. The
elk are fed on a knoll south of
the road.
To reach the Anthony Creek
site, from North Powder drive
west on River Lane for about
8.5 miles. The elk are fed in a
meadow south of the road. You
can also reach River Lane via
Haines and the Anthony Lakes
Highway.
VIRGINIA
Continued from Page 1A
Virginia also organized the St. Elizabeth Hospital
Auxiliary’s annual bazaar, and she sewed Christmas
stockings given to the babies born at the hospital dur-
ing December.
The Baker County Chamber of Commerce honored
Virginia as Legacy Woman of the Year for 2012.
Virginia’s record of selfl ess service defi nes her char-
acter, Ritch said.
“She treated everyone as an equal,” Ritch said. “She
never, ever looked down on anyone.”
Ritch said she met Virginia in 2007 while attending a
fi tness class at the Baker City Senior Center. Virginia,
then in her early 80s, was a fi tness group leader there
for many years.
Ritch said she was immediately drawn to Virginia’s
personality.
“She had a great sense of humor, and she laughed a
lot,” Ritch said.
Ritch said her friendship with Virginia strengthened
when Ritch became
“She had a great sense
treasurer of the Baker
County Historical
of humor, and she
Society, the organiza-
laughed a lot.”
tion Virginia had been
— Jessie Ritch, talking
involved with for many
about her friend, Virginia
years.
Kostol, who died Dec. 13
Over time, Ritch said
she learned more about
the extent of Virginia’s activities and talents — things
Virginia herself never boasted of.
“She was a fantastic mathematician,” Ritch said.
Virginia, who earned a bachelor of science degree
in Home Economics and Education at the University
of Washington, also received a fi fth-year certifi cate
in Education and taught at Hoquiam High School in
western Washington and at Parkrose Junior High
School in Portland while Carl was fi nishing his intern-
ship and residency.
Virginia grew up at Hoquiam and was valedictorian
of her high school class, graduating in 1943.
Ritch said she learned just a few years ago that
Virginia also worked as a seamstress for a local interior
decorator.
“She was a beautiful seamstress,” Ritch said.
Ritch said Virginia often spoke happily about the
trips she and Carl took, and about their shared love of
skiing and golfi ng.
“They were an inspiration to be around,” Ritch said
of the Kostols.
Colleen Brooks of Baker City, who played cards with
Virginia at the golf course, said Virginia was “a great
person.”
“I really thought very highly of her,” Brooks said.
Suzan Ellis Jones, who worked with Virginia for
about 40 years on the Baker County Republican
Central Committee, said one of Virginia’s most notable
characteristics was that she was “innately kind.”
“That was Virginia’s nature, she was always cheerful,
smiling,” Jones said.
Jones said that when she and her husband, Keith,
joined the GOP in the late 1970s, both Virginia and
Carl were key members of the party in Baker County.
“They were kind of our mentors,” said Jones, who is
the current chairman of the Baker County Republi-
cans.
Virginia served as secretary for the central commit-
tee for many years.
“She was the glue that held the committee together
for a long, long time,” Jones said.
Jones said she and her husband had a relationship
with both Kostols that extended beyond their mutual
involvement in Republican politics.
Jones said the Kostols were supportive when Keith’s
father, Gilbert, died in 2011, and when Jones’ mother,
Bebe Racey, passed away in 2017. Gilbert attended
school with Carl’s father, Lars.
“They’ve just always been there,” Jones said of the
Kostols. “This is so sad. I wasn’t expecting this.”
Jones said Virginia not only relished being involved
in many activities, but she was a “stickler for the rules”
and always completely competent.
“She was going to get the job done, and if Virginia
was involved it would be done right,” Jones said.
Jones said she and Keith tried to visit Virginia occa-
sionally at her Baker City home after Carl died in 2018.
But the pandemic got in the way this past year.
“I regret that,” Jones said.
She’ll also miss delivering the annual bounty of
huckleberry jelly, a longtime tradition.
“They loved huckleberry jelly,” Jones said of the
Kostols. “I always gave them jelly at Christmas. I guess
I won’t be doing that this year.”
Roger LeMaster will also miss his frequent visits with
Virginia.
LeMaster and his wife, Diane, have lived next door to
the Kostol home for 18 years.
“She was a great neighbor, her and Carl both,” Roger
LeMaster said.
He said the Kostols were friends as well as neighbors.
LeMaster said he usually would visit with the couple
on Thursday afternoons — a tradition he continued
with Virginia after Carl died.
LeMaster said he spent about an hour talking with
Virginia on Thursday, Dec. 10.
He said he tried to check in on Virginia frequently to
make sure she was doing fi ne, and to share a laugh with
her.
“We always had a good laugh,” LeMaster said. “That’s
Virginia.”
Ritch said the weekend card games with Virginia and
other friends were a highlight for more than a decade.
Virginia’s age simply wasn’t a factor, Ritch said.
She continued to drive herself around town, Ritch
said.
LeMaster said Virginia’s house and yard were al-
ways “immaculate.”
And her card-playing skills, Ritch said, never dimin-
ished, even on the fi nal day of her life.
“She never missed a trick on Sunday,” Ritch said.
Ritch said it seems to her perfectly appropriate that
in Virginia’s last hours she was the same energetic
companion, the same special friend, she had always
been.
“She just lived a beautiful life.”