Wallowa County Blog
Welcome to our blog-
June 24, 2011
June 22, 2011
Weekly Update 6-22-2011
THE WALLOWA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR GENEROSITY AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE “SHAKE THE LAKE” FIREWORKS DISPLAY!
WEEKLY UPDATE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, June 22nd
13 ASSASSINS at the OK Theatre – 7:00 p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
The Art Film Series 2011 Begins! This Special Engagement will include Kiyomi with green tea, genmaicha, AND Japanese snacks for purchase. Japanese cult director Takeshi Miike delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan’s feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war torn future.
Admission: $7.50/$6.50/$5.50 (advance tickets are available online: www.theok.tk)
Thursday, June 23rd
COURTHOUSE CONCERT SERIES PRESENTS LADDIE RAY MELVIN at the courthouse gazebo – 5:30p.m. – 7:00p.m. Enterprise
Original folk, comfortable as a well-worn heirloom quilt. FREE and open to the public. A perfect opportunity to pack a picnic, bring family, meet up with friends and enjoy the music!
For more information contact: Wallowa Valley Music Alliance – 541-426-3390
WALLOWA COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKET on the courthouse lawn – 4:00p.m. – 7:00p.m. Enterprise
Featuring produce, plant starts, foods, and craft items. As in past years, the Enterprise market will be held in conjunction with the free courthouse concert series on the Courthouse lawn.
For more information call: 541-432-0209
THE MIRACLE OF GREENS LECTURE at Calderas Restaurant 6:00p.m. – 8:00p.m. Joseph
If you have ever wondered how greens can give you vibrant health as well as which wild plants are edible…this is your event!
For more information: 541-432-0585 www.calderasofjoseph.com
13 ASSASSINS at the OK Theatre – 7:00 p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
The Art Film Series 2011 Begins! This Special Engagement will include Kiyomi with green tea, genmaicha, AND Japanese snacks for purchase. Japanese cult director Takeshi Miike delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan’s feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war torn future.
Admission: $7.50/$6.50/$5.50 (advance tickets are available online: www.theok.tk
Friday, June 24th
7TH ANNUAL WALLOWA RESOURCES’ WATERSHED FESTIVAL at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds – 12:00p.m. – 5:00p.m. Enterprise
The Watershed Festival is a celebration of our natural and cultural resources in Wallowa County: our mountains, canyons, forests, rivers, lakes, animals, grasslands, and people. Wallowa Resources coordinates and sponsors this event in partnership with the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance. Listen to some great music while you explore the wonderful exhibits with your family. Lineup of entertainment includes young songwriter Natalie Zeigler, the sweet old-timey stringband Homemade Jam, singer/songwriter/guitarist Janis Carper, and special guest from Washington state, Laura Love.
For more information contact Holly Akenson: 541-426-8053
THE MIRACLE OF GREENS LECTURE: WILD EDIBLES WALK at Joseph City Park 4:00p.m. – 6:00p.m. Joseph
If you have ever wondered how greens can give you vibrant health as well as which wild plants are edible…this is your event!
For more information: 541-432-0585 www.calderasofjoseph.com
4TH ANNUAL COUNTDOWN TO CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS RANCH RODEO at Harley Tucker Memorial Arena 2:00p.m. – Joseph
The trail ride, which is open to all who wish to participate leaves the rodeo grounds for the top of the Moraine. After refreshments at the top, a return trip to the rodeo grounds will go through downtown Joseph. Following the trail ride there will be a cocktail hour, with music from ‘The Last Call’ from Imnaha. A beef dinner will be served in the Thunder Room at the rodeo grounds, by the Outlaw Restaurant & Saloon and everyone is welcome. Get your tickets early for the dinner as it will be limited to 200 People. Tickets for the dinner, the Calcutta and auction on Friday night is $15 for adults and $7.50 for kids under 10. After dinner the rodeo teams will auctioned off and 75% of the auction proceeds will be split by the lucky bidders if their team places in the aggregate. This benefit raises money for scholarships for local high school seniors
For more information contact Robin Lewis: 541-432-5943
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES at the OK Theatre – 7:30p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
Admission: $6.50-Adults, $5.50-Senior/Military/Student, $4.50-Children 3-11
Saturday, June 25th
AMY HAFER RACE FOR AWARENESS & HEALTH FAIR at Wallowa Memorial Hospital – 8:00a.m. Enterprise
Sponsored by the Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation Check in time: 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Race Starts: 9:00 a.m. Place: Wallowa Memorial Hospital Cost: $30 with t-shirt $20 without t-shirt This is a breast cancer awareness run/walk. The race starts and ends at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. There is a 1 mile course and a 5k and 10k run. Event includes refreshments, awards, and door prizes.
Contact: Stacy Green: 541-426-1913 or stacy.green@wchcd.org
WALLOWA COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKET on Main and Joseph Streets – 10:00a.m. – 2:00p.m. Joseph
Featuring Lynn Sampson Curry’s Summer Slaws for Barbecues and Picnics. Fresh-from-the-producer vegetables, fruit, meat, prepared foods, flowers, plants and crafts.
For more information call: 541-432-0209
4TH ANNUAL COUNTDOWN TO CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS RANCH RODEO at Harley Tucker Memorial Arena 3:30p.m. – Joseph
Tickets for the rodeo on Saturday will $5.00 at the gate. The group will be selling raffle tickets during the events for a 4 days, and 3 nights at the South Point Hotel and 2 performances of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada in December. The mutton busters start the action 4:30 pm, with team action at 5:00 pm. Events begin with a branding contest where paint is used instead of a hot iron, followed by team penning, team roping, ranch team muggin’ and ranch style saddle bronc riding.
For more information contact Robin Lewis: 541-432-5943
LIVE MUSIC: BROTHERS BRANN BAND at Calderas Restaurant 6:00p.m. – 9:00p.m. Joseph
For more information: 541-432-0585 www.calderasofjoseph.com
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES at the OK Theatre – 7:30p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
Admission: $6.50-Adults, $5.50-Senior/Military/Student, $4.50-Children 3-11
Sunday, June 26th
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES at the OK Theatre – 2:30p.m. & 6:00p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
Admission: $6.50-Adults, $5.50-Senior/Military/Student, $4.50-Children 3-11; $4.50 ALL Seats Sunday Matinee
Monday, June 27th
SPECIAL SCREENING: EXPEDITION INSPIRATION at the OK Theatre – 7:00p.m. 208 West Main Street, Enterprise
Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation and Expedition Inspiration, a national nonprofit, will join forces to raise money for local cancer screenings and national cancer research with a special free showing of a documentary on breast cancer survivor Laura Evans and the founding of Expedition Inspiration. The screening is free, but donations are encouraged to support the causes.
–Other Announcements–
VOTE FOR THE OK!
The OK could win $25,000 towards facade restoration
Please support The OK Theatre, the oldest continuously operating theatre in Oregon, in its quest for a $25,000 restoration prize in the This Place Matters Community Challenge. Vote for us at: http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/community-challenge/places/enterprise-hometown.html
WALLOWA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE YOUTH AMBASSADORS FOR THE CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS PARADE
Nominations are open from June 20th-July 20th
Here is a great opportunity to nominate that adorable little boy and/or a girl (ages 5 to 7) to represent the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce as youth ambassador and to ride in the Chief Joseph Day’s Grand Parade.
Details:
- Nominations can be made at all Wallowa County banks.
- The nomination application is simple, but must include all requested info.
- One boy (age 5-7) and one girl (age 5-7) will be selected in a random drawing one week prior to the parade.
- Families will be contacted immediately and provided with instructions for the parade.
- These kids will ride in the parade as Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce ambassadors.
- Their pictures will be in the chamber newsletter and hopefully in the Chieftain.
- The girl ambassador will receive a tiara and the boy ambassador will receive a scepter as souvenirs.
This is a lot of fun for the kids and we take lots of pictures. This may be their first community experience representing Wallowa County. We invite all families to nominate their children, nieces, nephews, grand children, etc. to serve as our next 2011 Chamber Ambassadors! Thank you for participating.
Nominations: 3 Community Banks, Sterling Savings Bank, and Bank of Eastern Oregon.
Courtesy of the Wallowa County Humane Society: The Wallowa County Humane Society can help you find a new pet. For more information call: 541-432-1630 or visit www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org or facebook
For more information about upcoming events and activities, please visit our community calendar online:
http://www.wallowacountychamber.com/event_cal/community_event_cal.php
Have a great week!
~Bridget
Bridget Brown
Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
309 South River Street, Suite B * P.O. Box 427
Enterprise, Oregon 97828
Phone: 541.426.4622 * 800.585.4121
August 9, 2010
Where To Go After the Fire
After the Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center on highway 82 burned on July 11th, visitor information moved across the street to the Chamber of Commerce building. The main phone number for the visitors center, 541-426-5546, is now functional once again.
Plans are to rebuild and the staff would love to hear your input for the new visitor center for the Wallowas. Please leave your comment here or contact the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center by phone at 541-426-5546.
August 2, 2010
A Great Escape Near Joseph
How often can you access a sanctuary right off the highway?
You’ll find the spot off state highway 82 in eastern Oregon outside of Joseph. Named in Nez Perce after the tribe that summered at the edge of the lake, the county’s newest park is called Iwetemlaykin (ee-weh-TEMM-lye-kinn). Here’s a map.
From the parking lot, follow the trail that winds up the glacial moraine and you’ll quickly reach a remote and tranquil place. The trail is less than a mile long overall, but feels longer as it meanders through the grasslands and along waterways with likely wildlife encounters. Within minutes you’ll reach a reflecting pond with views of Chief Joseph Mountain worthy of a strenuous all-day hike.
The 62-acre preserve, once known as the Marr Ranch, was slated for housing development. It opened to the public in 2009, a joint triumph for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, the Nez Perce tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Colville and the Oregon State Parks. (more…)
July 26, 2010
See Bronze Artisans at Work
Wallowa County is loaded with bronze. The life-size bald eagle in front of the courthouse in Enterprise and the cowboys, cougar and wolf bronzes in Joseph, only hint at the wealth of art in this corner of eastern Oregon. You can browse the galleries all along Main Street in Joseph to see even more. But to get a fascinating look into the process of creating these monumental sculptures, sign yourself up for a foundry tour.
Wallowa County is home base for four renown bronze foundries. Artists from around the country send their work to these trusted artisans for molding and casting. The bronzes–from table-top sizes to some so large they ship out on flatbed trucks–are for public art projects, installations and private collections from Seattle to Washington, DC. (more…)
July 18, 2010
Nez Perce Pow Wow: A Homecoming Celebration
Dancers at the annual Tamkaliks Celebration and Friendship Feast
For the 20th year, there is drumming, dancing and feasting at the Nez Perce pow wow in Wallowa–and everyone is invited.
Located on the site of the Wallowa Band Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center, this celebration is called Tamkaliks, meaning “from where you can see the mountains.” Over the course of the three-day event, there is so much to see, from toddlers to elders in traditional Native American dress, the horse parade and teepees along the Wallowa River. All of it is in celebration of Nez Perce culture, history and its deep roots in Wallowa County. (more…)
July 12, 2010
Sunrise Iron’s Private Collection is Open to the Public
One of the agricultural artifacts at Sunrise Iron
When you approach Sunrise Iron on a gravel road above Enterprise, the scattering of antique farm equipment only hints at what’s in store. From the property owned by Erl and Mary Ann McLaughlin, fantastic views clear over to Idaho in the east and to the northern Zumwalt Prairie distract you from the main attraction–a regular, old metal hay barn.
Only when Erl opens the door do you realize that this outbuilding houses a one-of-a-kind private history museum. Inside, is a treasure trove of tractors and other agricultural machinery dating from the last century. There is not a parking space left, and visitors wend their way through mint-condition machinery–the life work of Erl, rancher, collector, restorer and artisan.
“It started with one tractor,” says Mary Ann. “You could say it’s a hobby run amuck.”
Erl agrees with a smile that a single steel tractor was the beginning of lifelong love of agricultural artifacts. ”I have a fascination with preserving our heritage. It’s kinda going away, and I just like agricultural things.” (more…)
July 5, 2010
Summer Adventure in a Day
photo by Dave Jensen
Have you ever hiked a moraine? Worked on a ranch? Followed a river? From July through September, a series of adventure-based trips take you on out-of-the-ordinary experiences.
Two local natural resource organizations are hosting exciting weekly field trips to diverse destinations throughout the county. Complete with guides, including geologists and biologists specializing in plants, wildlife and fish, the trips get you up close and personal with nature. (more…)
June 25, 2010
Maxville Ghost Town Comes Back to Life
Maxville Interpretive Center founder Gwen Trice at the new center in Enterprise
Once upon a time, a railroad logging town called Maxville was one of the largest towns in Wallowa County. Now, it doesn’t exist.
What happened in that town, and to the loggers and their families who inhabited it during the 1920s, is a story that Gwen Trice is dying to tell.
A native of LaGrande, Oregon, Trice took years to learn about her African-American ancestors who emigrated from Arkansas to the company town near Wallowa, Oregon. There, they endured the winters living in railroad cars and used their steam locomotive and crosscut sawing skills alongside their white peers. By 1926, the 400 residents in Maxville included roughly 50 African-American families. One of the residents was Trice’s father, Lafayette, “Lucky.”
The unique and isolated community contained segregated schools for whites and blacks, a company store, hotel, medical center, post office, and social center. When the town officially closed with the lagging lumber market during the Great Depression, Lucky moved to LaGrande and later established himself as a businessman active in many civic affairs. It took his daughter, Gwen, years to learn about his past–and her family’s legacy. (more…)
June 18, 2010
Wallowa Lake’s World Record Fish
For the Nez Perce, a great carniverous serpent inhabited the middle of Wallowa Lake. Now, another creature from this glacial lake in eastern Oregon is creating legends, this time among sport fisherman all over the country.
After a string of four Oregon state record-breaking kokanee catches this past winter and spring, Ron Campbell of Pendleton hauled out the biggest fish to date on Sunday, June 13th. At 9.67 pounds and over 27 inches long, this kokanee looks as big as its wild river-running sokeye salmon. The catch breaks the world record, last set in British Columbia. (more…)