Business
AgLife
B
Thursday, August 26, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
SUZANNAH
MOORE-
HEMANN
Aid may
offset
drought,
fire losses
CHAMBER CHAT
Get on board
to truly make
a difference
isten, I know you’re busy.
Things truly continue to
be so hard — just, gen-
erally hard. It’s difficult to find
extra time to take on addi-
tional work, projects or any-
thing. It’s even difficult to
find the energy sometimes to
commit to one more thing. I
get it; I’ve been telling myself
the same thing.
I won’t lie — there are
definitely times I find myself
whining or complaining about
all of the sacrificed hours
given to volunteering for an
organization’s board of direc-
tors. There is always a con-
stant barrage of emails, volun-
teers for tasks to be rounded
up, or projects to take on.
There always seems to be end-
less meetings, which feel like
they do nothing more than
result in scheduling another
meeting. There are definitely
always the days when I walk
away thinking to myself how
I have my own work to do
and can’t take on the work of
something else.
But there are also the
days, after a long work ses-
sion or huge project is com-
plete, you simmer in satisfac-
tion with your cohorts. You
develop deep bonds with other
people — people whom you
might have never come across
in your regular day-to-day
life. It’s not always glorious
moments of classy afternoon
tea with those little sand-
wiches and edible flowers, no.
I have fallen asleep leaning
back-to-back with another
volunteer as we prepared to
embrace the late shift of a
major event. There have been
times we’ve wrestled with
cleaning up broken, over-
flowing garbage bags. There
are the other times meetings
run so late in the evening and
start so early in the morning,
days will go by in between
seeing friends and family.
Now, anyone who knows
me knows how I love to
write. I even volunteer to take
meeting minutes all day long
(just promise to look for the
“Easter eggs” I leave behind
— writing is always worth it
when it’s fun). But, when I sat
down to think about “board
service” and how to enu-
merate what it means — why
it’s important — it was so hard
to put into words. Joining,
serving and volunteering for
an organization’s board of
EO Media Group
L
See, Chamber/Page B2
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer
Jeanne and Davis Williamson stand outside the recently purchased Maridell Center in downtown La Grande on Saturday,
Aug. 21, 2021. The couple plan to use part of the space for their labeling company, as well as opening the upstairs ballroom
and downstairs area for community events.
High hopes
La Grande couple purchase Maridell Center hoping
it will continue to serve as a community centerpiece
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A La
Grande focal point has been
given new life.
Jeanne and David Wil-
liamson purchased the his-
toric building at the corner of
Washington Avenue and Depot
Street on Friday, Aug. 20. The
La Grande couple plan on run-
ning their labeling business on
the first floor of the former Elks
Lodge and using the rest of the
space for community events.
“We’re really excited about
it,” Jeanne Williamson said.
“For the last few years, I’ve
been looking at that building
and it’s just been driving me
nuts.”
The Williamsons own Ever-
mine, a Portland-based custom
labeling company that ships
across the country and over-
seas. The duo travel back and
forth to Portland, but spend
most of their time in La Grande
since moving to the area three
years ago.
The couple have big plans for
the big building, most recently
the home of the Maridell
Center, but the projects may
take a number of years. The ini-
tial plan is to move Evermine
from Portland to La Grande,
utilizing the first floor as pro-
duction and office space. The
Williamsons intend to renovate
the ballroom on the top story
of the building, as well as bring
new life to the basement area.
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer
Jeanne Williamson on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, points out a vintage photograph
of the building that previously housed the Elks Lodge and a recreation center.
Heading east
GOT ANY IDEAS?
The Williamsons have owned
Evermine for 20 years, keeping
residence in the Portland area for
most of that time. After falling
in love with La Grande, they are
looking to fully move to the city
and bring their company along
with them.
There are several roadblocks
currently in the way, such as
gaining permission from the
city, figuring out staffing and
adjusting the company’s ship-
ping. The business moving to
La Grande could open up new
job opportunities in the area,
which David Williamson says is
Jeanne and David Williamson are
looking to change the name to reflect
the La Grande community. Readers
can send name suggestions to the
Williamsons at their email address,
Jeannew@evermine.com.
a major goal.
“We have roughly 20
employees and we could antici-
pate about a third of them would
move over here, another third
that would work remotely and
the other third would likely be
local hires,” he said.
See, Hopes/Page B2
PORTLAND — Agricul-
tural operations in Oregon have
been significantly affected by
wildfires and ongoing severe
drought, and the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture has tech-
nical and financial assistance
available to help farmers and
ranchers recover.
Affected producers should
contact their local USDA Ser-
vice Center to report losses
and learn more about program
options available to assist in
their recovery from crop, land,
infrastructure and livestock
losses and damages.
“Production agriculture is
vital to the state’s economy, and
USDA stands ready to assist in
the recovery from these wild-
fires and extreme drought con-
ditions,” said Gloria Montano
Greene, deputy undersecretary
for Farm Production and Con-
servation. “I assure you that
USDA employees are working
diligently to deliver FPAC’s
extensive portfolio of disaster
assistance programs and ser-
vices to all impacted agricul-
tural producers.”
Ranchers who lost livestock
due to wildfire or extreme heat
might be eligible for the Live-
stock Indemnity Program.
For both wildfire and
drought recovery, the Emer-
gency Assistance for Livestock,
Honeybees and Farm-Raised
Fish Program provides eligible
producers with compensation
for feed losses as well as water
hauling expenses associated
with transportation of water to
livestock.
Ranchers might also be eli-
gible for the Livestock Forage
Disaster Program for 2021
grazing losses due to drought.
LFP benefits may be available
for loss of grazing acres due to
wildfires on federally managed
lands on which a producer is
prohibited, by a federal agency,
from grazing normally per-
mitted livestock.
Additionally, eligible
orchardists and nursery tree
growers may be eligible for
cost-share assistance through
the Tree Assistance Program
to replant or rehabilitate eli-
gible trees, bushes or vines lost
during the drought.
USDA Service Centers in
Northeastern Oregon:
• Baker City: 3990 Midway
Drive, 541-523-7121 extension
106
• La Grande: 1910 Adams
Ave., Suite 6, 541-963-4178
• Enterprise: 401 NE First
St., Suite E, 541-426-4521
Farm-related business sweats because of drought
By BILL BRADSHAW
FARM SUPPLY
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — In
a year when farmers are
hurting because of the
drought, related businesses
also are feeling the heat as
producers are struggling to
harvest the meager crops
that shippers such as Farm
Supply take to market.
“It’s a year like no
other,” co-owner Craig
Willis said. “The har-
vest this year, as near as
we can tell, is about 65%
of normal in Umatilla
County. It’s just getting
going here (in Wallowa
County), but I’m sure it’ll
be affected here also.”
Farm Supply not only
ships grain to market, but
hauls fuel, chips, fertil-
izer, logs, cattle and nearly
every commodity grown in
the Northwest. The com-
pany, which Willis owns
Owners: Craig and Candi Willis
Where: 319 Golf Course Road,
Enterprise
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 541-426-5915
Email: farmsupply@eoni.com
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Farm Supply owners, from left, Candi and Craig Willis, stand with daughter, Kylie, near one of the trail-
ers at their Enterprise operation. Like agricultural producers, related businesses such as Farm Supply are
feeling the heat from this year’s drought.
and operates with his wife,
Candi, ships throughout
Oregon, Idaho, Wash-
ington, Utah and Northern
California.
“We haul ag commod-
ities everywhere,” Craig
said.
“If it fits, it ships,”
quipped daughter Kylie.
Craig is even seeing
ranchers shipping their live-
stock early, moving them
from summer to winter pas-
ture earlier or to feedlots.
“Normally, we don’t haul
a lot of cattle this time of
year, but this year ranchers
are getting them off of
pasture or moving to dif-
ferent pastures” because
of the drought, he said.
“We’re doing a lot of cattle
shuffling.”
In addition to Craig and
Candi Willis, Kylie helps
out in the office and her
husband, Klint, drives truck
part time and takes care of
the cows, while Craig and
Candi’s son, Skyler, and his
wife, Amber, take care of
most of the farming.
Farm Supply has about
55 employees, 50 of whom
are drivers of their 50
trucks. Most of the others
are mechanics who keep
the trucks operating, as do
some mechanics the com-
pany contracts with.
“We are thankful for
the employees we have and
couldn’t provide great ser-
vice without them,” Candi
said.
The Willises have owned
the business since 2004.
Craig went to work there in
1977, but the company dates
to 1938.
“It’s an old, old com-
pany,” Craig said. “I used
to drive a lot. I drove every
day for 32 years before I
bought the company, and
then I continued to drive
and dispatch trucks as we
built the company until
about 2010.”
“Now he just has to be
within phone range because
he’s on the phone all the
time,” Candi said.
The Willises both are
See, Drought/Page B6