Greenwood Elementary School’s Gym has a new scoreboard thanks to a previous school neighbor and community partnership.
Eldon W. Chandler lived in a house near the school for more than 20 years and enjoyed being a part of the school neighborhood. As a child, Chandler lived out of town (Chandler Loop is named for his family) and attended Island City Elementary. However, he visited the Greenwood Gym often in his youth for basketball games and Boy Scout meetings. It bothered him that Greenwood was the only elementary school in the district without a scoreboard in their gym and he wanted to change that.
Chandler is the grandfather of Missy Rinker, Music Teacher at Greenwood. She knew him as “Papa,” and after he passed away at the age of 93, she wanted to make the scoreboard a reality.
Greenwood was able to procure an old scoreboard from the district’s Annex, which was torn down a few years ago. Shaw’s Auto Body donated the repainting of the board; Rick Foster at Vomela donated all the graphics on the board; Lance Rinker and crew from Northwood Manufacturing donated time to transport the board; and LGSD facilities installed it and wired it with a new antenna.
The scoreboard says “In memory of Eldon Chandler,” who went on to graduate from La Grande High School in 1948.
The scoreboard looks great and works great. “I am incredibly happy that this project came to fruition and that Papa’s name is on it. Also, because of generous community partners, the school didn’t have to pay for it,” Rinker said.
The new scoreboard was unveiled in January.
