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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2016)
REGION Tuesday, October 25, 2016 East Oregonian BOARDMAN Page 3A PENDLETON Staff photo by Antonio Sierra Oregon National Guard Chief Warrant Oficer 2 Jeremiah Williams of Baker City shakes hands with Rep. Greg Walden while his son Wyatt watches at a decomissioning ceremony for the First Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Pendleton Saturday. National Guard regiment comes home to praise Photo by Antonio Sierra Runners participating in A Very Poplar Run make their way through the course at the Boardman Tree Farm Saturday. More poplar than ever About 1,200 turn out for final running of annual race By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Jenny McHill can cross the Very Poplar Run off her bucket list. And not a year too soon. Having grown up in Spokane, Washington, and now living in Portland, McHill had passed by the Boardman Tree Farm and its seemingly ininite rows of poplar trees many times. McHill had considered just stopping by and visiting it one day, but she and her wife, Courtney, plan to run a 5K once a month for the entire year and made the two-and-half hour trip to Boardman to check this one off the list. The couple joined around 1,200 registered participants at the tree farm Saturday morning, almost triple the amount from last year as people tried to log a few more miles amongst the poplars at the sixth and inal race. Runners still had patches of poplars to run through — striking shades of red and orange melded with green leaves still resisting autumn’s pull — but the tree farm’s slow fade-out was clearly felt, not only in the Very Poplar Run’s premature end but also in the sudden expanses of barren land and corn crops. GreenWood Resources sold the farm’s 25,000 acres to AgriNorthwest of Tri-Cities in February, the new owners intent on replacing the poplars with more conventional Eastern Oregon scenery, including a large dairy farm and crop- land. Andrew Bourque, Green- Wood’s director of resource information systems, was one of the run’s progenitors and organized the race each of its six years. He’s moving to Portland to work in GreenWood’s headquarters, but he was grateful for the time the company allowed him to not only work amongst Board- man’s trees but organize a race. “This is very unique and I’ve been privileged to call this my playground for 18 Photo by Antonio Sierra 10K runners get a start on the course at the Poplar Run at the Boardman Tree Farm Saturday. For race results see page 3B. “This is very unique and I’ve been privileged to call this my playground for 18 years.” Andrew Bourque, GreenWood’s director of resource information systems; race organizer Photo by Antonio Sierra A woman grabs some water during her run at the Poplar Run at the Boardman Tree Farm Saturday. years,” he said. While it might not be as enmeshed as some other Eastern Oregon events, it was special enough for people from across the Northwest to pay it tribute. Joyce Hughes of Pend- leton ran the course twice before, but she brought her children and grandchildren to the event this year. Having “suffered” through the Portland Mara- thon two weeks ago in the rain, Hughes was happy that the weather had cleared up for the Morrow County run. As he waited for the 5K to start, Doug DeBok of Pendleton said runs were starting to disappear from Eastern Oregon, with locals needing to drive to Tri-Cities H AMLEY S aloon Halloween Pary LIVE MUSI C for a larger race. He preferred the Very Poplar Run’s forgiving soil and natural scenery to some of the urban races. “Take a look around,” he said. “It’s great.” During its lifespan, the Very Poplar Run has func- tioned as a fundraiser for the Agape House, the Herm- iston nonproit that supports the homeless and needy. Executive Director Dave Hughes said he wasn’t sure if the unique atmosphere of the Poplar Run could be replicated, but that didn’t mean Agape House was out of the racing game. Agape House took over the Columbia River Best Dam Power Run over the McNary Dam and organized both races as a sort of transi- tionary period. While the Best Dam Power Run was put on this year mostly to keep the event in the public consciousness, Hughes hopes its reputation will eventually equal that of its predecessor’s. “Hopefully, in six years, we’ll have as many as we do today,” he said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. Bring in or mention this ad and receive 20% OFF! excludes fresh fl owers T H E H O L I DAYS ARE J ER! UST AROUND THE CORN Purses • Candles • Clothing • Decor & Much More Ceremony guests include Rep. Walden and Mayor Houk By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian While some of Oregon’s top dignitaries were impressed with the freshly decommissioned Oregon Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment’s accomplishments in Kuwait and Iraq, it was all in a day’s work for the soldiers’ commander. Eastern Oregon welcomed back the detachment from the year- long tour at a ceremony at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Pendleton Saturday, as hundreds of people gathered to pay tribute to the 60 men and women who acted as support staff to all three branches of the armed forces. The ceremony was presided over by Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel, Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden and Pendleton Mayor Phillip Houk, many of whom cited the 1.1 million pounds of supplies and more than 10,000 personnel they transported throughout the Arabian Gulf region. Those who spoke at the ceremony weren’t shy about sharing the regiment’s exploits, like an instance where they transported a Black Hawk helicopter that ran out of a fuel on a sling load. “Hopefully you got some good photos of that so you can show you buddies in the (Willamette) Valley so they know where they are in the food chain,” Walden said. Although the regiment may have helped the armed forces in their quest to defeat Islamic State, “a true enemy of mankind” as Atkins described the terrorist organization, Capt. Will Liebhaber said tasks like the Black Hawk transport were fairly routine. “It’s not that big of deal,” he said. Whether Liebhaber was simply being modest or not, his regiment has been busy for the past year. The 168th lew Chinook helicopters during their missions, traditionally the most requested transports. Liebhaber said they lew at least one mission per day, which isn’t the case with every regiment. The 168th also had another unique statistic to it — two pairs of brothers serving together in the regiment. Chief Warrant Oficer 2 Jacob Radke and Sgt. August Radke of Walla Walla were one of those pairs. Jacob Radke was previ- ously deployed to Iraq in 2004 without his brother, but found some solace in a familiar face this time around. “It makes it more bear- able,” he said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. Share the warmth with clothing collection site East Oregonian Residents in south Morrow County are encour- aged to look in their closets and drawers for gently used winter apparel to donate to those in need. A collection container is available through Thursday at Ione Community School, 445 Spring St. At the end of the day, donated items will be taken to Agape House for its upcoming Winter Coat Sharing Days, which are Saturday, Oct. 29 and Tuesday, Nov.1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 500 Harper Road, Hermiston. For more information about making a donation, contact Lani Bass at lani.23409@gmail.com. For more about the sharing days, call 541-567-8774. FREE FRIDAY MEDICARE MADNESS Medicare Open Enrollment Oct. 15 - Dec. 3 Join us for this FREE event! FREE Medicare Counseling & Information from trained SHIBA volunteers. October 28 November 4, 11 & 18 December 2 9:00am - 1:00pm GSMC conference rooms 5 & 6 (by the GS Cafeteria) *Bring a list of all the medications you take. FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS + PRIZES - ALL NIGHT 9 PM OPEN AT 4P WITH HAPPY HOUR “Corsair Cowboy” SATURDAY, OCT. 29 COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541-278-1100 - Midnight WITH MURRAY DUNLAP HWY 395, HERMISTON 541-567-4305 Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5pm Put a smile on the heart with the power of flowers. www.cottagefl owersonline.com For information call (541) 667-3507 or email cherrera@gshealth.org
