REGION
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
Festival fosters local artists
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston’s efforts to
foster an arts scene were
on exhibit Saturday at the
Eastern Oregon Arts Festival
downtown.
Local artists — and a few
from Washington — showed
off their talents and talked
about how they got their
start in art.
Alana McWilliam, of
Umatilla, said she has only
been painting for four years.
“I was retired, and then I
had a heart attack and almost
didn’t make it,” she said. “I
thought, ‘Well I’d better start
doing something to keep
busy.’”
She took a few local art
classes, then ordered some
tapes from famed artist Bob
Ross to learn how to reine
her technique. She said she
“still can’t draw,” but has
managed to become a good
enough painter for people to
regularly buy her landscapes
at the Saturday Market in
McKenzie Park.
Saturday was her irst time
participating in the Eastern
Oregon Arts Festival, which
doubled as a season opening
of the market. She said she
was excited to meet the other
artists who have been at their
craft longer than she has.
“It’s just fun,” she said.
“It gets me out of the house
and I’ve met some really
nice people.”
Sandra Spencer of Herm-
iston, who was displaying
a selection of colorful oil
paintings, said she started
painting in 2000 as a hobby
and found she quite enjoyed
it.
“There’s a moment when
it comes together and you
know everything is balanced,
and it’s just working,” she
said. “It’s probably like a
Jewell
Hermiston man
charged with
hate crime
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
“Death is the Road to Awe” by Sandra Gunn.
“Guardian” by Chris Huffman.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Gina May of Pasco shows off the paper lowers she
makes and sells during the Eastern Oregon Arts Festi-
val in Hermiston.
“Drinking Buddies” by Sandra Spencer.
runner’s high.”
Spencer said it was fun to
come out and people-watch
and meet other artists.
“It’s great to see people
bring out their children, so
their children get an interest
early,” she said.
Dan Earp of Hermiston
said he has been drawing
since he was a kid, but
photography was more of
a recent hobby. He was
displaying a collection of
pencil drawings and nature
As part of the event, the
city of Hermiston had a set
of posters on display asking
for feedback on ideas for a
city art plan. Spencer said
she hoped the city follows
through on beginning to
install more art around the
city.
A few of the public
art location suggestions
included Newport Park, Belt
Park, Riverfront Park, the
Hermiston Public Library,
Main Street, Hermiston
photography.
He said it was his fourth
time participating in the
festival, which is in its 12th
year. So far he has just stuck
to local events but said he
would like to try his hand at
a few bigger shows later in
the year.
He said he appreciated
the Eastern Oregon Arts
Festival because there was
“plenty of room to grow” for
Hermiston’s arts commu-
nity.
Avenue, Highway 395, West
Park Elementary and the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
Types of art suggested
included murals, large and
small sculptures, decorative
fencing, “functional art”
such as decorative benches,
“yarn bombing” and artistic
signs.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
PENDLETON
Happy Canyon memorializes original home
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Memories from 100 years of
Happy Canyon were shared all
around on Saturday, as the pageant’s
directors and supporters unveiled
a new plaque commemorating
wild west show’s former home on
Emigrant Avenue.
“This is a very special day for all
of us,” Happy Canyon President JJ
Spriet said.
The celebration took place in
the parking lot of Baxter Auto
Parts in the 300 block of Southwest
Emigrant Avenue, where wooden
grandstands, an arena and dance hall
housed Happy Canyon from 1916
until 1954. The original arena —
now just a memory — seated 4,800
people in a semicircle. It was the irst
of its kind in Eastern Oregon and
also hosted the irst car show in the
region.
The Indian pageant and night
show moved to its current location
next to Round-Up Stadium in 1955.
Emile Holeman, the pageant’s
Former Happy
Canyon pres-
ident Emile
Holeman, left,
prepares to
cut the ribbon
on a new
plaque com-
memorating
the pageant’s
former loca-
tion while
longtime
Happy Canyon
actor Fritz Hill
makes a toast.
Staff photo by
Jade McDowell
oldest living president, was on hand
to cut the ribbon around the plaque
and reminisce about the days that he
lived in the stone house just across
the street as a little boy.
“I spent many hours with a tennis
racket and tennis ball bouncing it up
against the wall of Happy Canyon,”
he said.
Chief Gary Burke, who represents
the fourth generation of Burke men
to participate in Happy Canyon, said
when he was growing up the pageant
was something he looked forward to
every year — and still is. He called
it an honor to portray his ancestors
in the show.
Fritz Hill, a former actor and
director for Happy Canyon, said he
made an impromptu and uninvited
debut in the show as a child.
“I came with my dad and
watched on the sidelines, and when
I was seven or eight I had enough
of watching and just walked on,” he
said. “It’s been really a journey.”
He was formally invited back the
following year.
Jim Duff, who served as Happy
Canyon president during its 75th
anniversary, said his irst involve-
ment with the pageant was as a
teenager collecting discarded beer
bottles from under the grandstands.
He said he considers Happy Canyon
part of his family’s heritage.
“I sure hope it goes another
hundred years,” he said.
His wish was met with cheers
from supporters, followed by
a ceremonial ribbon-cutting by
Holeman, accompanied by the
Hick Band.
But irst, Fritz made a toast —
with Pendleton Whisky, of course.
“Here’s to Happy Canyon!” he
said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4536.
MISSION
Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board briefed on project
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Oregon Hanford
Cleanup Board met Monday
at Tamástslikt
Cultural
Institute in Mission, where
members were briefed by the
Department of Energy on an
underground storage tank that
recently leaked thousands
of gallons of nuclear waste
between its double shells.
Stephen Pfaff, with the
DOE’s Ofice of River
Protection, discussed the
situation with Tank AY-102,
which leaked 8 inches of
sludge into its annulus — the
2-foot-wide space between
shells — in April. Pfaff said
they’ve since pumped some
of that leaked material back
into the primary tank.
AY-102 has been slowly
leaking since 2012, but last
month’s discovery marked
a dramatic increase from
about 70 gallons to more than
3,000 gallons, according to
the Tri-City Herald. Workers
at Hanford were already
pumping out the sludge to
move it into another sturdier
double-shell tank.
Pfaff said they do not
know why AY-102 suddenly
began leaking more rapidly,
though there is no indication
the material breached the
outer shell into the environ-
ment. There is also no indi-
cation of any leaks at Tank
AY-101, where radioactive
particles had been measured
at elevated levels.
As for the 42 Hanford
workers evaluated for expo-
sure to chemical vapors, Pfaff
said an assessment team has
been looking into better tools
and training that should be
incorporated beginning next
year. All workers have since
been released and returned to
work.
In a separate presentation,
Pfaff discussed the proposed
setup and operations of a
low-activity waste plant
at Hanford that must be
commissioned by no later
than 2023, per court order.
The facility is part of the
overall Waste Treatment and
Immobilization Plant, where
waste will be made into
glass. Pfaff said they are still
working on overcoming tech-
nical issues and ine-tuning
designs.
The board will meet again
Tuesday at Tamástslikt from
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The
public is welcome to attend.
HERMISTON — A
Hermiston man is in
custody after allegedly
assaulting a black
Pendleton man because
of his race.
Vernon Allen
Jewell, 52, approached
Eddie Scott at about 6
p.m. Saturday in the
parking lot of Foxwood
Apartments on Orchard
Avenue.
According to a
Hermiston Police report,
Jewell was “belligerent”
and calling Scott racial
slurs.
Jewell swung at
Scott, again calling him
a racial slur, according
to the report. As Jewell
continued to come
aggressively at Scott, he
punched Jewell in the
mouth in self-defense.
During the
investigation, Jewell was
identiied as the primary
aggressor.
When Jewell was
being taken into custody,
he resisted arrest, but
oficer Carlos Balli and
another cop were able to
gain control of him.
Jewell was charged
with second-degree
intimidation (aggravated
assault), second-degree
disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest. The
misdemeanor assault
charge is considered a
hate crime because the
attack was because of the
victim’s race.
As of Monday,
Jewell was lodged in the
Umatilla County Jail with
a $15,000 bail.
Two-vehicle crash
closes lane of I-84
BOARDMAN — A
two-vehicle crash closed
one westbound lane
of Interstate 84 near
Boardman Monday
afternoon.
Morrow County
Sheriff Ken Matlack said
a minivan and a semi-
truck were involved in the
crash. An air ambulance
was sent for at least one
of the four victims.
The crash took place
about 2 p.m. Monday
afternoon near exit 159 to
Tower Road.
The cause of the crash
wasn’t immediately
known.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire
reports, and press
releases. Email press
releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
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