>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Adhering to their “cowboy camp” theme, Dutch oven artists Sherry Candwell of Union and Jenny Lambert of La Grande prepare cowboy beans, chicken and dumplings, peach-berry cobbler and pineapple upside down cake at the cook-off in Cove. - Photos/AMBER GLAZE

The event is a fundraiser for the camp, with this year’s proceeds going to the completion of a new restroom facility.

Looking for reasons to feel hopeful about the youth of today and the future as a whole?

Stop by La Grande High School’s track Saturday.

The track will be the site of the 11th annual Drug Free Relay, a celebration involving people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to make the community a better place.

Looking for a creative and proactive way to celebrate Oregon’s upcoming 150th birthday?

Then think about attending SOLV’s community meeting at the Cook Memorial Library Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The event is partly meant to prepare for Take Care of Oregon Days, a collaboration between SOLV, Rural Development Initiatives, Oregon Volunteers and Oregon 150.

Twist of Fate: La Grande beautician Paulette Cooksey, second from left, and her husband Ladd Horn met close relatives of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a chance encounter. Pictured with Cooksey at a mall in the Tri-Cities are Palin’s aunt Katy Johnson (left), her uncle Tom Johnson (behind Cooksey) and her mother, Sally Heath (front right). The other woman is a family friend identified only as Mary Ellen. - Submitted photo

It happened that way for Paulette Cooksey, a La Grande beautician and businesswoman who took a trip to the Tri-Cities on Sept. 9.

WALLOWA — Locals and visitors alike joined together Saturday at the Nez Perce TamKaLiks grounds to celebrate 100 years of rail service between Union and Wallowa counties.

Revelers had the opportunity to take one of two two-hour, round-trip rides on the Eagle Cap Excursion Train from Wallowa to Lostine. Volunteers known as the “Friends of the Joseph Branch” played host on the train as well as at the event.

La Grande’s leading citizens will be “behind bars” Sept. 30 for a good cause.

They’ll be supporting the research and education programs funded by the March of Dimes. The programs help mothers and babies, those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive.

The March of Dimes is the leading organization for pregnancy and baby health. Its mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

ENTERPRISE — Building on the success of this spring’s standing-room-only introductory solar workshop in Enterprise, Wallowa County residents can follow up those basics Oct. 11 with two in-depth workshops on Solar Hot Water Heating and Solar Electric.

The workshops are part of a Green & Solar Renewable Weekend schedule of events now coming together in the valley for that weekend. Wallowa County receives nearly twice as much solar energy as Germany, the world’s largest solar installer.

ENTERPRISE — A total of 127 volunteers contributed their time during Cycle Oregon’s Sept. 12 “rest day.”

During the “Friends of the Forest Day’’ they restored 17 miles of trails in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and built a bridge.

The event took place on the fifth day of Cycle Oregon’s annual week-long bike tour, this year in the northeastern corner of the state.

WALLOWA — Successful grant writing has resulted in of 86 new books for children and young readers at the Wallowa Public Library.

Through the Libri Foundation Grant, 64 books were chosen from a list of 700 recommended and award-winning books, according to grant writer and library volunteer Sally Goebel.

“This was a two-for-one matching grant and the Friends of the Wallowa Library came up with $350 and the Libri Foundation matched it two-for-one. So we got $1,054 worth of books,” she said.

JOSEPH — My bird of the month for September is the common, but strikingly colorful, American goldfinch.

When we were kids we always called them “wild canaries,” which was quite appropriate, not just because of the golden plumage of the males, but also their vibrant song is not unlike that of the tame canaries that people used to keep in cages.

We only get them occasionally at our sunflower seed feeder, so I grabbed my camera when I spotted this guest at our tube feeder. The bird-lovers who put out thistle seeds in their feeders attract the most goldfinches, as weed seeds from thistles and dandelions seem to be their favorite foods.