Jim McClure of Legacy Ford (left) has been donating his own time to help stranded motorists Robert and Marion Killans resume their journey to California. The elderly couple have been staying in their motor home at the Walmart parking lot the past week. McClure has been assisting with repairs. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Parts and service worker at local Ford dealer comes to aid of pair after their Chevrolet RV breaks down and leaves them stranded at Island City Walmart 

Sojourners Robert and Marion Killans found out recently that Union County isn’t the worst place in the world to end up in times of trouble.

The elderly couple set out from Sweet Home on March 26, bound for Yucca Valley in California by way of Burley, Idaho. They were traveling in an older Chevrolet motor home and hauling a Grand Torino automobile, a gift for the daughter of a friend in Burley.

GARY BOTTGER, who plays Captain Hook in the Elgin Opera House production of “Peter Pan,” poses for a picture along with his wife, Kate.

ELGIN — The red carpet was rolled out March 14 for the annual Elgin Chamber of Commerce Awards banquet.

A full sell-out crowd descended on the Elgin Community Center to honor the men and women who contribute to the community, but also to honor the upcoming 100th birthday of the Elgin Opera House.   

RUSSEL HUNT, OWNER of RAH manufacturing, runs some tests during a Water Pal training session in West Virginia with Dr. Lynell Braught. In La Grande, Hunt is manufacturing the Water Pal water softening device that Braught designed.

Summerville couple turns out device that makes water softer, better tasting

TAYDIE McANDIE takes her turn on the runway during the fashion show portion of Saturday’s N.E. Oregon Bridal Show Saturday at the Blue Mountain Conference Center in La Grande. CHRIS BAXTER / The Observer photos

Brides-to-be connect with local businesses at Northeast Oregon Bridal Show 

Diana and Scott Thatcher, owners of the Ace hardware store in the La Grande Town Center, employ five people in their new sporting goods section and 20 people throughout the store. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Ace Hardware in the La Grande Town Center on Island Avenue is growing, and in a way that should please people who love the great outdoors.

On March 1, owners Scott and Diana Thatcher opened their new sporting goods department, a store-within-a-store that looks and feels like the outdoor emporiums shoppers find in much larger towns.  

Jeni Kayoa, left, and Jeff Clark were two of about 30 people who joined a “Cash Mob” last Friday, marching on Bella Mercantile on Adams Avenue and spending $1,100 in an hour of shopping. Cash Mobs are cropping up all over the United States and Canada, encouraging people to shop local. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

About 30 people who feel passionately about shopping local let their wallets do the talking last week, marching on Bella Mercantile in downtown La Grande and doing over $1,000 worth of business there in about an hour. 

Together, the participants were a “cash mob,” taking part in a “Shop Local” movement that seems to be sweeping the nation. 

AT GRANDE RONDE HOSPITAL’S open house for its newly-opened Regional ENT (ears, nose and throat) Clinic and Regional Orthopedic Clinic, Rob and Chris McNeil receive a guided tour of the clinic from nurse and moonlighting tour guide, Pam Canavan. In this procedure room, Canavan provides information about some of the latest cutting-edge equipment available for patients visiting the clinic’s recently-hired MD, otolaryngologist Dr. Brian Affleck. CHRIS BAXTER / The Observer

The Grande Ronde Hospital Foundation hosted an open house at the hospital’s Regional Medical Plaza Friday, unveiling the new ear, nose and throat clinic and orthopedic clinic for the public, and introducing the clinics’ physicians. 

GRANDE MANOR RIBBON-CUTTING: From left, Beth Leake, Union County Ambassadors; Randy King, Union County Chamber of Commerce president; Alan Keffer, New Day board president; Joe Brogdon, New Day board member; and Zee Koza, New Day executive director, participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 21 at Grande Manor — New Day’s recently completed residential facility. CHRIS BAXTER / The Observer

New Day Enterprises, the local non-profit agency serving the needs of the area’s developmentally disabled adults, celebrated another milestone last week as it opened its Grand Manor residential home at 701 16th St. 

AMBER AND SHAWN Parker decorated the walls of both of their restaurants with historical photos. Here at The Stoplight, the photos behind them of Union came from the Union Museum. The Cove Drive In photos came from the Cove History Center. MIKE SHEARER photo

UNION — Hard work is the key to starting a business in a small town in hard times. That’s the message of the success of Shawn and Amber Parker of Cove.

The couple owns and operates both the Union Stoplight and the Cove Drive In. Amber takes the lead in managing the two restaurants because Shawn manages their High Valley Road family ranch in Cove, which currently is home to 160 “mother cows,” as he calls them.

Nobody knows when or if some big company will choose to build a manufacturing plant in La Grande, but it pays to be prepared.

That's the idea central to a joint Union County-City of La Grande work session scheduled Monday at the Earle C. Misener Conference Room on Fourth Street.