La Grande reporter Davis Carbaugh’s report on the La Grande Middle School Wildcat Lifting Club shined a light on a club that is pushing limits and setting personal bests.

La Grande Middle School history teacher Nico Veloz Espinola started the Wildcat Lifting Club this school year. A student-teacher through Eastern Oregon University, Veloz Espinola saw an opportunity for a competitive lifting group at the middle school.

“When I got here I saw that they had lifting equipment, but no lifting going on,” Veloz Espinola said.

Among the many traditions that were temporarily postponed due to the pandemic is Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s annual youth tour of Washington, D.C. Four high school juniors receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital to learn about the legislative process, tour historical sites and meet members of Oregon’s congressional delegation. The tour returns for 2022, and a La Grande High School student, Marissa Lane, is one of the juniors chosen to participate.

The Eastern Oregon Car Club is celebrating its one-year anniversary, drawing in local car owners with a mutual love for cars of all kinds. The club is set to celebrate its one-year anniversary with a car show at Riverside Park Sunday, March 20, from noon to 4 p.m. 

“Our whole goal is to have a wide range to make everyone feel welcome,” said Selena Giambitti, a co-founder of the Eastern Oregon Car Club. “Even if maybe you’re not interested in cars at first, we definitely have a place for you to be there and hang out.”

Next week look for a story from Dick Mason about a Summerville resident who while doing research for a book about Union County road names learned there was a timeshare home on Palmer Junction Road where Roy Rogers had once lived.