ELGIN — Friday about 6 a.m. firefighters and engines were dispatched from Elgin, Imbler and the La Grande Rural Fire Department in response to a mutual aid house fire at 200 S. 20th St. The uninsured tenant lost all his personal property and three dogs.

Bill Howell was renting the 1910 home (four bedrooms and one bath) from property owner Sam Horrell of Sammyville. According to tax records, its market value was $14,040.

On the day of the fire, Howell rose at 5:30 a.m. to let out the dogs, a 4-year-old Cocker named Buddy, a 10-year-old Chihuahua named Boo and a 5-year-old Chiweenie named Shadow. After letting them back in the house, he left for work at Northwood Manufacturing.

“I didn’t even build a fire that morning,” Howell said. “I’ve been running through my mind what could have started the fire, but I can’t think of anything. The computer was on, but I

didn’t use any kitchen appliances. I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

Soon after Howell left for work, a neighbor spotted the flames and reported it. Howell said that he heard his name over the sound system at work and took a phone call from an ambulance driver who told him that his house was totally engulfed in flames.

FAMILY seeks community help after a fire destroys the Bill Howell home on 20th Street in Elgin last Friday. Pictured are, from left, David Roberts (the children's stepfather), Billy Ray Howell, Jeannine Hunt, Jody Dakota Howell, Bill Howell and Cindi Howell. – Photo/Trish Yerges“I raced home and tried to get the firefighters to let me go call the dogs, but they wouldn’t let me,” Howell said. “They told me the dogs were probably gone already.”

Howell stood by helplessly watching his house burn. Once the roof had caved in and the living room wall was cut and knocked over, the fire was effectively extinguished.

“They brought Buddy out first,” said Howell. “He was right by the door. I got permission to look for the other two through the back of the house. They found Boo in the living room and brought him to me. Hours later, my daughter, Cindi, found Shadow under a bunch of rubble.

“The firefighters’ wives brought us blankets for us and to wrap our dogs in. They were very, very nice. The dogs were part of my family. Material items can be replaced but memories — can’t ever get those back. I will always have the fear of fire now.”

One of the dogs, Buddy, belonged to Howell’s girlfriend, Jeannine Hunt of Elgin. She had raced over to his home from her 15th Street apartment after receiving a phone call shortly after 6 a.m.

“I was frantic, thinking Bill was in there,” she said. “I wanted to get closer to the house, but the firefighters kept me away. Then Bill showed up from work. I was so relieved.”

Fire Chief Pat McDonald said that he was not present at the fire. Firefighter Kevin Silvernail was the incident commander. No cause has been determined, but the investigation is ongoing. McDonald came onto the property two times on Friday to talk to Howell and take photographs of the charred home.

Jared Rogers of the Red Cross also came to the scene early to offer Howell some help.

“They gave me money for clothes, food and to buy my medications, including insulin for my diabetes,” said Howell.

Hunt and Howell remembered that he had some insulin stored in the refrigerator, and surprisingly this supply was still intact when he pried the door open. The Veterans Administration will aid him in getting all his medications refilled locally, Rogers said.

Howell’s two sons, Billy Ray, 17, and Jody Dakota, 9, stayed with their father in the home every other weekend and attended Elgin schools. They were with their mother, Barbara Roberts of Elgin, at the time of the fire, but they also lost personal possessions.

“Kids at school told me they were really sorry,” said Billy Ray, a senior at Elgin High School.

Classmates are planning a penny war to raise funds for the Howell family. They will need community help to rebuild their lives. As they look for a place to live, some individuals have offered the family used furniture and a washer and dryer. WC Construction will give Howell one month free rent on his storage unit to help out.

“The management at Northwood gave me some shirts, trying to help out,” said Howell. “A lot of people at work were asking what I need.”

A few days after the fire, Howell is still shaken and sleep-deprived. He goes to work and then returns to the ashes of his home to salvage anything he can find of his belongings. The soot has stained the palms of his hands.

His daughter, Cindi, is spearheading some fundraising efforts. She will be placing contribution jars at each store on Eighth Street. She and Hunt are also going to set up an account at the Community Bank for community donations. They also hope to have the community’s help in organizing a feed to raise money for the family.

Anyone wishing to offer help may call Cindi Howell at 541-663-6379.

ELGIN — Fifty-seven years have passed since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to scale Mount Everest.

Fifty-seven years have also passed since Elgin’s Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial was first dedicated on Alder Street. Elgin’s memorial, in contrast to Mount Everest, gradually faded into the shadows, standing largely forgotten at a relatively obscure site for years.

Today, though, the memorial’s supporters should feel like they are on top of the world.

The memorial has been moved to a far more visible site at Clarence Witty Park and is dramatically enhanced. The relocated memorial was dedicated at a ceremony Saturday afternoon conducted by Union’s High Valley VFW Post 4060. Elgin area veterans were saluted by Bob Levesque, commander of the High Valley VFW Post at Saturday’s ceremony.

“May their deeds live on forever,’’ Levesque said.

Saturday’s ceremony was the culmination of a yearlong project led in part by Christy Piercey, president of the Elgin Chamber of Commerce. Piercey said she had been disheartened to see how the memorial, installed by Elgin’s old Indian Valley VFW Post, was disappearing from the public’s consciousness. Piercey said it was meaningful only to individuals who had been in Elgin long enough to know the story of its origin.

To those who did not know the memorial’s history “… it seemed to have been something out of place along the sidewalk downtown,’’ Piercey said at Saturday’s dedication.

Today the relocated memorial is not out of place but rather a striking centerpiece of Clarence Witty Park. Its original commemorative marble memorial and flag pole are complemented by two semicircular stone benches, a brick paver stone foundation and three sunken well lights. The lights are allowing the memorial’s flag to fly at night.

It is a far cry from the site of the old memorial, Piercey said. Noting that she is the proud daughter of an American veteran, Piercey said she could not stand to watch Elgin’s VFW memorial fade into oblivion.

She and others in the community thus put together a “recovery mission’’ with a single objective: “to bring this memorial and our American flag back to a prominent and respectful location in our community. This memorial should be a reminder to all of us of the sacrifice and pride with which our service men and women have given to all of us and are still giving today.’’

State Rep. Greg Smith, R-Dist. 57, of Heppner, right, talks with Don and Patty Tusten of La Grande following the ceremony for the relocated veterans memorial in Elgin. Don Tusten is a member of High Valley VFW Post 4060, which conducted Saturday’s dedication. – The Observer/CHRIS BAXTERSacrifices made by veterans were also addressed by State Rep. Greg Smith, R-Dist. 57, at Saturday’s ceremony. Smith spoke of his great uncle, Thomas Albert Gillen, who served in the U.S. military during World War II and was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for several years on Wake Island during this time.

Gillen had entered the military as a strapping man at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Upon his return home Gillen weighed just over 130 pounds, Smith said.

“I can’t imagine any greater sacrifice than serving your country. … It takes such a significant emotional, physical and intellectual toll,’’ Smith said.

The concluding remarks at Saturday’s ceremony were presented by Levesque following a flag-raising ceremony. He addressed the significance of our nation’s colors.

“The flag is the symbol of all that is sacred to us,’’ Levesque said. “If reflects what we are and what we hope to be.’’

In speaking of the flag he encouraged people to remember that the white stripes represent purity of purpose; the red stripes courage and our willingness to die if necessary for American ideals; and the blue represents the tranquility upon which our states are united “to hold intact all that is truly ours.”

The High Valley VFW Post Levesque represents takes in Elgin, Union, North Powder and Cove. Elgin’s veterans joined it after the Indian Valley VFW Post disbanded many years ago.

Bob Levesque, commander of VFW High Valley Post 4060, above, gives instructions to his post’s members before the start of a dedication ceremony Saturday for Elgin’s relocated veterans memorial. – The Observer/DICK MASONThe memorial relocation project was completed three weeks ago and cost $3,500. Sponsors of it included the Elgin Chamber of Commerce, the Elgin Lions, the Elgin Women’s Service Club, Elgin EDGE, W.C. Construction, Indian Valley Properties, Nancy Crawford of Elgin, EONL Nursery and the city of Elgin. The city of Elgin’s contribution was spearheaded by Public Works Director R.L. Christian, who dug up the memorial stone and its flag pole and transported them to Clarence Witty Park, where he installed both.

Additional landscaping work will later be done at the new memorial site and a retaining wall will be put in. Much of the site will be illuminated at night by the three well lights that will remain on throughout each evening through sunrise, Piercey said.

“This memorial represents the fact that Elgin, Oregon, is proud of its veterans in such a way that those who visit our community or travel through on this highway (by Witty Park) know that day or night our veterans are appreciated, they are recognized and they are always in our hearts,’’ Piercey said.

ELGIN — The capital committee for the renovation of the Elgin Opera House is seeking new funding sources with the help of Elgin Community Bank. Large corporate donors are closing their purses to grant applicants, stating that funds have dried up for this fiscal year. Consequently, the capital committee has been encouraged to “apply again next year” in hopes that a recovering economy will reboot their grant programs and allow them to be more generous. Some donors, like the Ford Family Foundation, which was targeted to generate an award to Elgin in the range of $200,000 to $250,000, don’t hold out any grant promises for next year. “The Ford Foundation is not granting any money right now,” said Mayor John Stover. “They may not have any grant funds available for a couple of years.” Consequently, the city of Elgin is checking into some alternative grant and loan sources. That’s where the local Community Bank stepped into the picture. Attending Tuesday night’s meeting with the capital committee were Community Bank representatives Jeremy Gilpin, a commercial loan officer at the Baker City Community Bank and Nancy Crawford, manager of the Elgin Community Bank. Crawford is also a member of the Friends of the Elgin Opera House and performed as the tea cup in “Beauty and the Beast” last year. She has an interest in seeing that the renovation effort is successfully completed for the 2012 centennial celebration of the Elgin Opera House. Crawford and Gilpin have offered to put together a proposal for a low-interest loan that will allow the city to complete the five-phase renovation project. Phase one, the reconstruction of the front steps, will be performed by GCT Land Management this month. The remaining phases of the project may be funded by a Community Bank low-interest loan. “We’re looking at getting a $240,000 low-interest loan to finish all five phases of the renovation,” said Stover. To date, the city has spent about $30,000 on various renovation-related projects and services, including the replacement of the furnaces, stage lighting, interior painting and architect fees. Each year, the city budgets $25,000 for the maintenance of the opera house, and these funds will aid the city in paying off the proposed loan if needed. The committee is waiting to hear if it will be awarded a grant from the Park and Recreation Department’s Save America’s Treasures. The grant application was written and submitted by committee member Evelyn Spikes. A second grant application will be submitted to the Rural Energy for America Program through the USDA. This program awards grant money for weatherization projects, including roofing, window replacements, tuckpointing, siding, air conditioning and duct work. Under the management of Terry Hale, the historic opera house has seen increasing attendances at its live performances, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Wizard of Oz.” Hale reported that last month, more than 1,800 people attended performances of “The Wizard of Oz.” Interest in performing on the historic stage has also heightened. Volunteer performers from Union and Baker county have drawn an entourage of family, friends and musical enthusiasts. The capital committee would like to thank the community for its contributions and will accept any donation made toward the renovating. The committee would like to have all the renovations done in time for its 2012 centennial celebration. Checks may be made out to the City of Elgin and mailed to P.O. Box 128, Elgin 97827.