K ALEIDOSCOPE
B ASEBALL E YES S TATE
International visitors
lend a hand to FISH
See hoodrivernews.com for results
of Tuesday’s game v. Pendleton
B1
M IDWEEK E DITION
Vol. 109, No. 44
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
■
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015
75 cents
2 Sections, 22 Pages
www.hoodrivernews.com
Suzanne VanOrman takes the helm at Adult Center
BY TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Photo by Trisha Walker
SUZANNE VANORMAN has been hired as the new executive director at the
Hood River Valley Adult Center. Her first official day was June 1, although she’s
been serving as interim executive director since January.
“We’ve changed direction.”
That’s what Suzanne VanOr-
man, Hood River Valley Adult
Center board president and inter-
im executive director since the be-
ginning of the year, had to say
about becoming the center’s exec-
utive director as of June 1.
Her resume includes 20 years of
experience as a past executive di-
rector of the Mid-Columbia Chil-
dren’s Council — now Head Start
— from 1984 to 2006, a representa-
tive of House District 52 in the
Oregon State Legislature from
2009-2011, and numerous positions
on community boards, including
an elected seat on the Hood River
County Library District, where
she’s currently serving as presi-
dent.
Her experience is helping her
“clean up,” both literally and figu-
So long and
‘See You Again’
ratively, the building, the center’s
finances, and its policies and pro-
cedures. The center lost its 501c3
non-profit status in 2010, regain-
The Hood River Valley Adult
Center is open daily for lunch,
Monday through Friday from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m., for everyone
— not just senior citizens, said
board president Kristi Thomsen,
for a $5 suggested donation.
ing it in 2014. The board has since
terminated former executive di-
rector Collice Martens-Sinclair,
with VanOrman stepping into the
role until a new director could be
hired.
VanOrman was one of a num-
ber of qualified candidates to
apply for the position, said board
vice president (now president)
Kristi Thomsen, and she under-
we n t a r i g o r o u s i n t e r v i e w
process.
“The board … needed someone
with a strong financial back-
ground, because that’s where all
of our troubles have been,” said
Thomsen.
“We couldn’t lose on the candi-
dates we had apply, so that was
heartening,” she added. “We had
a couple other good applications
that we really liked also, and it
was nice to see that there was a
pool of experienced people to
draw from. We had redone the job
description and tightened it up.
We set the standards pretty high.”
The position was a natural fit
for VanOrman, Thomsen said,
who was hired by the full board.
“Suzanne had been doing the
See CENTER, Page A9
Odell celebration honors
school, community leaders
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
News staff writer
The time is nearly here: commencement
events for the Class of 2015.
Hood River Valley High School passes out
diplomas in a service starting at 7 p.m. Friday at
Henderson Community Stadium – rain or shine,
though prime weather is in the forecast. Bleach-
er space is based on availability after students’
families are seated.
On Saturday at 2 p.m. Horizon Christian
School holds its ceremony in Mark Boyden Gym-
nasium in the campus at 8th and Pacific on the
Heights.
For HRVHS, Diana Lachino (Spanish) and
Megumi Hosaka (English) will give the welcome.
Keynote speakers are Janelle Pedroza (Spanish )
and Cayla Sacre (English). This year, about 313
diplomas will be given out.
The new HRV Alma Mater, written by Mark
Steighner will be sung by the Chamber Singers;
this will be Steighner’s last time directing the
singers at graduation, as he retires this month
after 36 years.
The class song, title to be announced, was writ-
ten by the senior Chamber singers. Program
cover art is original by senior Eva Kahn.
The Eagles’ class motto is “If you want to go
fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
The recessional song will be “See You Again” by
Wiz Khalifa.
At 18 graduates, the Horizon Class of 2015 is
one the school’s largest. Student speakers were
chosen for best exemplifying the private school’s
goals of academics, Biblical integration, and
character development. They are Hannah Lingel
and Shaun Wang, a student from China complet-
ing his third year at Horizon.
Adult speakers will be Pastor Jack Andersen,
grandfather of graduate Nick Andersen, and
Christopher Layton, English teacher at the
school.
A diverse cast of leaders was
honored at Mid Valley Elementary
School in Odell Thursday night.
The school teamed up with the
Hood River County Prevention De-
partment and the Odell Hispanic
Coalition to recognize educators
and community members who
make a positive impact in the local
Hispanic community.
“We asked the community to
come up with names of people who
they wanted to honor and we came
up with a list,” said Luz Oropeza of
the Hood River County Prevention
Department, who led the event.
“What you see here are people who
the whole community wanted to
recognize.”
The 43 honorees represented a
wide array of sectors including ed-
ucation, law enforcement, health
and business.
About 30 of the recipients were
present at the celebration, includ-
ing Hood River County Sheriff
Matt English, Mayor Paul Black-
burn and numerous leaders in edu-
cation and health throughout the
county. Each received a certificate
See AWARDS, Page A10
No need for election
‘rolling of the dice’
Photo by Patrick Mulvihill
HRVHS SENIOR Cristian Betancourt soaks up the sun at his last
luau at the high school. Come Friday, he’ll be swapping the
beach ball for a diploma, and the sunhat for a graduation cap.
(See A11 for more on the school’s luau.)
Results in a local water district
election bubbled up clear enough
to avoid the decision by dice.
Larry Brown, 331 votes, edged
Bill Munk, 328, in late vote tabula-
tion in the Crystal Springs (near
Parkdale) Water District election,
from the May 19 county-wide Spe-
cial Districts election.
Four men ran for three spots,
with Mike McCafferty (539) and
Mick Swyers (460) the clear lead-
ers on May 19. Brown and Munk
were locked in a tie, which meant
the matter would be decided once
the late-arriving ballots from
other counties arrived by June 2
and could be counted, along with
remaining “question” ballots.
Had the deadlock remained
after the late votes came in, the
question would have been decided
by Munk and Brown rolling the
dice at county Elections Office.
See the Elections website on
June 3 for official results on all of
the May 19 races: www.co.hood-
river.or.us/elections.
HRV Engineering Fair highlights
long list of First Friday events
BY KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
A unique “pizza” par ty is
p l a n n e d fo r d ow n t ow n H o o d
River on Friday.
High school graduation will not
be the only big event in Hood
River on June 5, and the entire
weekend promises plenty of ac-
tivity around the community.
First Friday brings a number of
anchor events, including the 4:30
p.m. ribbon cutting on State
Street to celebrate the official
conclusion of the 18-month
U r b a n Re n ew a l P ro j e c t t h at
transformed State Street from
Sixth to Front Street, and Oak
from Front to First. Just up State,
Riverside Church gets into the
First Friday act with drumming
on the newly-widened sidewalk.
Part of Oak Street will be
closed from 5-8 p.m. for the sec-
ond annual Hood River Engineer-
ing Fair (details below). Oak from
First to Second will be the only
sections of any street closed for
this First Friday.
Quadcopters, a T-shirt shooter,
mini wind turbine kits from Co-
lumbia Gorge Community Col-
See EVENTS, Page A9
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
ROBOTICS STUDENT Victoria Kohner-Flanahan displays laser-etched items
created by Engineering students; at right is a student-built robot.
Four To Go
Boda’s Kitchen to
celebrate third year
‘Community Mental Health’
roundtable June 4
Boda’s will celebrate its three year
anniversary with a party on June 7
from 4-8 p.m. in the parking lot west of
the store.
Entertainment includes music by
SmudgePot Manja Warner of Shining
Faces Face Painting, wine by AniChe
Cellars, hard apple cider from Rack &
Cloth, and Boda’s barbecue. All are in-
vited.
Gorg e Ecumenical Ministries
(GEM) is sponsoring a roundtable
meeting at Rockford Grange, 4262 Bar-
ret Drive, on Community Mental
Health as part of its ministries round-
table series.
Guests from the National Alliance
for Mental Health, and Hood River,
Wasco, and Klickitat county communi-
ty mental health agencies will lead the
presentation and discussion. The
meeting is open to the public; for more
information, call 503-241-6671.
7
05105 97630
3
‘A Local Hero’ June 7
Anson’s Bike Buddies Bike Drive June 6
Sarah Segal and her Hood River Mid-
dle School students will share their
story of learning about local unsung
hero Minoru Yasui and developing
ways to share his life and accomplish-
ments with the Hood River community
and beyond.
The presentation will take place June
7 at 10 a.m. at the worship service of
the Mid-Columbia Unitarian Universal-
ist Fellowship, held at the Rockford
Grange, 4262 Barret Drive. For more in-
formation, contact Judy Zimmerman at
541-402-1860.
Eight-year-old Anson’s goal is that every child
have a bike of their own, and to that end,
Anson’s Bike Buddies will hold a bike drive on
June 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Crates
Building, 3591 Klindt Drive, The Dalles. Anson
and his crew will collect used bikes or bike parts
for area children ages 6-18.
Anson’s Bike Buddies is a non-profit and part-
ners with local bike shops, who donate repair
work. Anson was the top prize winner in Febru-
ary’s Gorge Soup for Kids event, which awarded
him $1,400 to start his project. Bikes are given to
local agencies for distribution.