OctoberOct. 6: Chief Joseph Days is named Rodeo of the Year for medium-sized rodeos by the Columbia River Circuit of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Says Board President Terry Jones: “It’s always great to be recognized. It makes you feel like everyone’s efforts were recognized.”

Oct. 7: Gov. Kate Brown visits Wallowa to view the hail damage still evident in the town from the Aug. 11 storm. “It’s unbelievable,” she says. “We have some friends who live here and they showed something on Facebook. It was tennis ball-size hail. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Oct. 10: In memory of Daniel Hanson, who “loved play” and those he played with, a new playground is dedicated Monday, Oct. 10, at Enterprise Elementary School. Dozens of Enterprise Elementary School students swarmed onto the new playground after Daniel’s sister, Emma, helped cut the ribbon with Damiana Maxwell, who spearheaded the project with fellow early intervention specialist Sara Hayes of the InterMountain Education Service District. Daniel died Sept. 7, 2020, during an accident he suffered while riding his bicycle, his stepfather, Justin Harvey, said. The 5-year-old boy was set to enter kindergarten at Enterprise that month.

Oct. 10: The Wallowa County Museum is trying to raise $19,000 to purchase propane stoves to replace the old wood-fired stoves that used to heat the building. The museum was forced to remove the wood stoves because the old ones weren’t up to current building codes.

Oct. 19: It’s a relatively quiet election season, but an unusual race for the Enterprise City Council is generating noise: The only candidate on the ballot for Position No. 1, Devon Maxwell, is facing a write-in challenge from Eric Stangel. Stangel says he was prompted to run by social media posts from Maxwell; he says the posts don’t align with the community’s values. Maxwell says the posts, which have been removed, were part of a research project she’s working on in her master’s program at Northwestern University. Stangel goes on to notch an easy election win over Maxwell, who continues to serve on the city’s Planning Commission.

Oct. 19: Enterprise residents and public officials put their heads together to try to solve a longtime problem: the town’s housing shortage. About 50 people attend a town hall-style meeting in person at the conference room in the new Hearts for Health building. Another 10 or so participated online. The meeting was hosted by Autumn Wilburn, who chairs the city Planning Commission, along with Mayor Ashley Sullivan and city Administrator Lacey McQuead. Officials were thrilled with the turnout, but said the meeting was just a first step.

Oct. 21: The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture celebrates its 10th anniversary as a nonprofit organization with a gala event at the center. The center got rolling in 2009, when Rodd Ambroson suggested Joseph could benefit from having an arts center and that a vacant log building would be a great location.

Oct. 27: Funding delays and rising costs are pushing back the construction start date for the refurbished Wallowa Lake Dam by a year, but design and funding progress are underway, according to Dan Butterfield, president of the Wallowa Lake Irrigation District. Butterfield says groundbreaking on the dam is expected to take place in fall 2024, after irrigation season concludes.

November

Nov. 5: Lostine Canyon residents and partners of the area’s Firewise Community put their heads together Saturday to mull over what well during the summer fire season and areas that could be improved. For the most part, community members agreed their preparedness before the fire season and their response to the Sturgill, Goat Mountain, Nebo and Double Creek fires in August and September went well. “It’s official. I think it’s safe to say fire season is over,” says Michael Eng, resident leader of the Lostine Canyon Firewise Community — as a snowstorm rages outside the South Fork Grange in Lostine, where the meeting was held.

Nov. 7: In a quiet night for local elections, Wallowa County voters approve a ban on psilocybin services in unincorporated areas of the county. They also approve a proposal from the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners to establish a road district for the county. Only two local city council races are contested in the county: Wallowa City Council incumbent Karen C. Josi fends off a challenge from Quinn T. Berry. In Enterprise, write-in candidate Eric Stangel defeats Devon Maxwell.

Nov. 12: The 27th annual Healthy Futures dinner auction returns live after two years of virtual presentations due to COVID-19 restrictions. This year’s dinner and auction event raises about $143,000 toward a new $170,000 cardiac ultrasound system for the Wallowa Memorial Hospital. Nearly 240 people came to the event to hear hospital CEO Larry Davy say that the hospital has weathered the challenges posed by COVID.

Nov. 15: Wallowa County Sheriff Joel Fish joins a growing number of sheriffs across Oregon who say they won’t enforce at least parts of the controversial gun-control Measure 114, which state voters narrowly approved. “I cannot enforce laws that I believe to be unconstitutional, and we already have court decisions stating that this portion of the measure is unconstitutional,” Fish said in an email. He was referring to recent rulings from the 9th Circuit Court in California that a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, which is part of Measure 114, violates the Second Amendment.

Nov. 15: One of the principal buildings from the former logging town of Maxville is being restored in Enterprise in preparation for its reassembly at the Maxville townsite next year. The town, about a dozen miles north of Wallowa, existed as a company logging town from 1923 to 1933 and was home to African-American loggers at a time when Oregon’s Constitution included a provision excluding Blacks from the state. Maxville’s main lodge — which served as the town’s administrative building — was built in 1923. It has been dismantled and will be rebuilt at the site in the spring, which will be the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Maxville. The building is undergoing restoration at Bronson Log Homebuilders in Enterprise.

Nov. 16: Denine Rautenstrauch, the face of the Enterprise Library for 22 years, is honored for her service and dedication at a retirement party at the library. She says she is looking forward to becoming a patron of the library and describes it as “the living room of the community.”

Nov. 23: Saying that an indoor aquatic center could be a boon for area residents, Wallowa County health officials launch an effort to gauge the feasibility of such a facility — including how much it would cost to build and maintain. Larry Davy, the CEO of Wallowa Memorial Hospital, and Chantay Jett, executive director of the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness, have launched a survey for community members to say what they would like to see in an aquatics facility — and their willingness to pay for it.

DecemberDec. 1: Some eight years after a devastating fire, members of South Fork Grange in Lostine plan a slate of events to celebrate their centennial — but longtime Grange stalwarts say new members are essential if the organization is going to endure for another century. The Grange’s centennial-year celebration kicks off unofficially with a pie and cake auction on Thursday, Dec. 1 at M. Crow.

Dec. 6: After receiving more than $200,000 in grants and donations to fund restoration work on its historic building, the Enterprise Order of Odd Fellows’ building in downtown Enterprise is now available to rent as an event venue. The building, constructed in 1920, is located at 105 NE First St. and features a newly renovated kitchen area and accessible bathroom, a new roof, restored windows and an improved entry area.

Dec. 2: The snow started falling in Wallowa County in late October, with the first flakes continuing into early November. That was good news for recreationists who count on ample amounts of snow. But, warns Victor McNeil, director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center in Joseph, it’s a scenario that increases the risk of avalanches. That’s part of the reason why more than 50 people brave icy temperatures to hear McNeil offer a briefing about avalanche risks.

Dec. 14: Employees at the Enterprise office of Wheatland Insurance Center donate 1,306 pound of food — gathered as part of an annual food drive — to the Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank. It was part of an annual contest to see which Wheatland office could collect the most food, per employee; the Enterprise office won the contest. Like other food banks around the state, the Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank is experiencing increased demand.