REGION
Saturday, July 30, 2016
East Oregonian
ATHENA
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Longtime piper packs up his bag EOTEC rodeo
arena bids come
in above budget
Pyle steps down
after 46 years with
music program
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Steve Pyle spent decades
teaching bagpipes to the
students of Weston-McEwen
High School, but the art of
piping didn’t come naturally
to him.
After 30 years as the
school’s band director and
music teacher and 16 years as
a volunteer, Pyle is stepping
away from the program that
irst familiarized him with
the Scottish instrument.
Originally born in Los
Angeles, Pyle’s family
moved to Crawfordsville, a
small community southeast
of Corvallis. He graduated
with a music degree from
Eastern
Oregon
State
College, now known as
Eastern Oregon University.
Pyle took the job in
Athena in 1968 and, after
a short stint as a draftee
with the Army in 1970, he
started work on building
up the band. The band was
constructed very differently
back then.
Before Title IX, a federal
law passed in 1972 that
prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sex, it was an
all-girl pep band known as
the “Highland Lassies.” Pyle
said the Lassies’ ranks had
dwindled to 23 members by
the time he got there, and
their bagpipes were in poor
shape. He asked the school
board for $1,200 for 12 new
bagpipes and was able to pay
them back by the end of the
year.
Even though the program
had new equipment, it
still needed the knowhow.
Although Pyle was proicient
in many instruments, he was
Bids for construction
of the new rodeo arena are
in, but the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center
board held off awarding
the bid on Friday so legal
counsel could review them.
The low bidder was
Bothum Construction of
Hermiston at $4,477,138.
The other bid came from
Kirby Nagelhout Construc-
tion of Bend at $4,740,000.
At a meeting earlier in
July, John Frew of Frew
Development Group said
there was only $3.8 million
on hand for the arena and
if contractors couldn’t do
it for that amount then they
were “wasting their time”
on a bid.
“The bad news is both
base bids exceed the
budget,” Frew told the
EOTEC board Friday.
However, the board does
have $700,000 budgeted
for pens and panels, and
both bids included panels
as an alternate add-on for
less than $400,000, freeing
up some extra cash — but
not quite enough.
Frew did not mention
where the board would
come up with the rest of
the money. But when bids
for construction of the
barns came in more than
$1 million over budget, the
company began simplifying
the barn’s design to bring
down the cost.
Frew told the EOTEC
board
that
Bothum
Construction was the
apparent low bidder in
every case as different
add-ons were included or
subtracted. However, he
said he was not ready to
make a recommendation
because the bids had only
come in on Wednesday
and he had not yet been
able to get some questions
answered by EOTEC’s
legal council.
“There are always issues
to resolve,” he said. “We
have a number of them, and
we need some time to do
that.”
The owner of Bothum
Construction is David
Bothum, who was on
the EOTEC board until
February, when he resigned
with the express purpose of
bidding on the rodeo arena
in the future.
Bothum was one of the
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Steve Pyle has spent the last 46 years teaching students how to play the bagpipes
at Weston-McEwen High School in Athena.
Contributed photo
Band director Steve Pyle (irst from the right) poses
with the 1976 Weston-McEwen High School band.
a novice at the bagpipes.
“It’s the most dificult
instrument I’ve ever played,”
he said.
While he learned the
bagpipes on the job, a
bagpiper from Condon
helped and he sent students
to a piping school in Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho.
As the band grew and
improved, others started to
take notice and the band
expanded its audience.
In 1985, the TigerScot
band represented Oregon at
the National Independence
Day Parade in Washington,
D.C.
More than 30 years later,
national travel is now pretty
normal for the Weston-
McEwen
band,
which
recently performed in Boston
and New York.
When Pyle retired from
teaching in 2000, he passed
on his knowledge of the
bagpipes to his successor,
Rob McIntyre.
“I had never played a
bagpipe when I came on,” he
said. “I appreciate his will-
ingness to teach me that.”
Pyle continued to help the
pipers on a volunteer basis,
but he started feeling burned
out by the weekly practice
and decided it was the right
time to go.
But before leaving, he
traveled with the team one
last time in July.
During an East Coast tour,
Pyle and his grandson, now
a piper in the band, played
at the base of the Statue of
Liberty.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
BRIEFLY
Park may be designated for drones
PENDLETON — The Pendleton City Council has given
a place for drone operators to work, and they could soon give
them a place to play.
At a meeting Tuesday, the council will consider creating an
“air park” at Grecian Heights Park, a designated space where
hobbyists can ly their unmanned aerial vehicles.
The park is being requested by Pendleton Props RC Club,
an organization dedicated to the “promotion, development,
education, advancement and safeguarding of modeling
activities,” according to the group’s website.
In a report to the city council, Donnie Cook, director of
parks and recreation, said the club will provide fencing and a
runway for the park. The city will install signs at an estimated
cost of $400.
Pendleton Props has ambitions beyond establishing the park.
Cook wrote the club wants to host a lying competition and
start a program with the parks and recreation department to
teach youth and adults how to safely use a UAV.
The council meeting will be held Tuesday at the council
chambers in city hall, 500 S.W. Dorion Ave.
Training event offered for landlords
PENDLETON — Landlords can gain information about
how to complete proper paperwork and deal with collections or
small claims with problem tenants.
From Inspections to Evictions, a training is being offered by
Christian Bryant, president of the IRC Real Estate Enterprises.
The event is Saturday, Aug. 6 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the
Eagles Lodge, 428 S. Main St., Pendleton. The cost is $40 for
members of the Umatilla County Rental Housing Association
and $45 for non-members. In addition, lunch can be purchased
at the lodge for $6.
Those planning to attend must register with Let’er Rent by
Thursday. For more information or to register, call LaVonne or
Teri at 541-215-1770.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT CELEBRATIONS
HERMISTON
In it’s 18th year of partic-
ipating in National Night
Out, people are hosting
block parties on Tuesday
in a number of Hermiston
neighborhoods. City oficials,
local police and ire personnel
hope to visit as many parties
as possible.
First responders and city
oficials will serve attendees
during an ice cream social
block party Tuesday at 6:15
p.m. in the Southeast Eighth
Street/Banker Drive neigh-
borhood of Dorothy and Dave
Smith. Dorothy found the
hidden medallion during the
National Night Out treasure
hunt.
It’s not too late to
schedule a party. For more
information, contact Erica
Sandoval, Hermiston Police
Department crime preven-
tion/youth services oficer, at
541-667-5112 or esandoval@
hermiston.or.us.
ECHO
In its 10th year of cele-
brating National Night Out,
Echo will hold its event
Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
A portion of Dupont Street
will be closed off and the
event will take place in and
around George Park and the
Echo Masonic Lodge, 200 S.
Dupont St.
Free hot dogs, chips,
cookies and cake will be
served. Also, there will be
giveaways and door prizes.
People can play bingo, get
their face painted and visit
with irst responders and
other public oficials.
“Also, we will honor local
police and show our support,”
said Diane Berry, city admin-
istrator.
Additional volunteers and
donations are being accepted
for the event.
For more information, call
541-376-8411.
PENDLETON
Due to a shortage of
manpower and lack of volun-
teers, this year’s event has
been canceled.
With the
extra money,
my dream
car became
a reality.
Fri. Aug 12 • Starts at 8pm
Also Featuring:
Tormenta De Durango
Domador De La Sierra
Become an
East Oregonian
Carrier.
211 SE Byers Ave.
Pendleton
or call:
541-276-2211
1-800-522-0255
founders of the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo and has put
a considerable amount
of volunteer work into
renovation and upkeep of
the current arena behind
Hermiston High School
over the years since.
According to ORS
244.047, a person who
ceases to hold a public
position cannot have a
direct inancial beneit
from a public contract that
was authorized by them
for two years after they
stepped down. The state’s
ethics rulebook deines
“authorized” in that case as
performing “a signiicant
role in the selection of a
contractor or the execution
of the contract ... including
serving on a selection
committee or team, or
having the inal authorizing
authority for the contract.”
When Bothum left the
board the rodeo designs
were not complete and no
bid package had yet been
created.
The EOTEC board is
aiming to have the new
arena inished in time for
the 2017 Farm-City Pro
Rodeo, but designs for
the arena — done by Jim
Michaels of Michaels
Design in Hermiston —
were inished months later
than expected.
Frew
told
board
members at their last
meeting that he had
concerns about the tight
timeline but believed it was
still possible to have the
arena ready for 2017 with
“the right contractor.” He
said Frew Development
or its local partner Knerr
Construction might need
to help with some of the
pens and grounds around
the arena in order to let
the contractor focus on the
arena itself.
On Friday the board
agreed to have a special
meeting sometime next
week as soon as Frew was
ready to make a recom-
mendation on which bid to
accept. Frew told the group
he would probably be ready
to present updated designs
for the barns on that day
too.
The board’s next regular
meeting is scheduled for
Aug. 12.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.