REGION
Thursday, December 15, 2016
HERMISTON
Local trio spreads Christmas spirit
Santa, Mrs. Claus and
elf make rounds to
assisted living facilities
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Santa’s load is made a
little lighter this holiday
season thanks to a Hat Rock
couple and a Hermiston
woman.
Richard Scarlett and
Wanda Hunt are donning
their Santa and Mrs.
Claus wardrobes to spread
Christmas joy for the 11th
year. And, Helen McAfee is
in her second season as an
elf.
While living in Okla-
homa, Scarlett and Hunt,
who are now both 66,
were inspired to personify
Santa and Mrs. Claus
after watching an elderly
neighbor enjoy doing it so
much.
“I said, ‘I just love what
you do, going out and
spreading cheer. When
you pass, you need to will
us your costume,’” Hunt
recalls telling the then-octo-
genarian.
Hunt laughs as she
recalls the woman, who is
now 95, telling them to get
their own costumes because
she planned on living
until she was 100. After
the couple moved back
to Eastern Oregon, their
former neighbor purchased
a Santa costume for $50 at
a Goodwill and mailed it to
Scarlett for his birthday.
Scarlett donned the thrift
store outfit that first year
and Hunt wore a spectacular
dress designed by Tina
Cullers of Hermiston. The
next year, Cullers surprised
the couple by creating a
magnificent new red velvet
quilted Santa outfit for
Scarlett.
“The first costume I had
was ratty tatty,” he said.
“Now my costume actually
has gold thread in the jacket.
I put it on and I’m, like,
‘Wow!’”
While the couple enjoys
holiday events that focus
on kids — serving as Santa
and Mrs Claus in recent
years during the Hermiston
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Richard Scarlett, Wanda Hunt (as Santa and Mrs. Claus) and Helen McAfee, an elf,
spread Christmas cheer during a Tuesday visit at Brookdale Hermiston.
“I just love to see the people smile.
It brings out the kid in everyone.”
— Helen McAfee, elf
Festival of Trees Family
Day — they have a special
place in their heart for older
adults in assisted living
facilities and nursing homes.
“The reason we love
seniors is that generation
was the greatest generation.
They went through the
Depression and World War
II,” Hunt said. “We have
better lives because of what
they went through.”
The couple hopes others
are inspired to visit local
facilities. And, they even
provide opportunities for
people to do so. After Donna
Meade — the couple’s
longtime elf — died several
years ago, they coaxed
Helen McAfee to join them
as Santa and Mrs. Claus’
helper.
Receiving a basic outfit
from the couple, McAfee
has added her own personal
touches with a blinking
light necklace, Christmas
bulb earrings and curly-
toed shoes. Although this
is just her second season as
an elf, the 73-year-old has
excelled in the role — she’s
even been asked to wear
the costume during a pair
of upcoming performances
with the Hermiston Chris-
tian Center.
“I’m normal most of the
time,” McAfee said with a
laugh. “I just love to see the
people smile. It brings out
the kid in everyone.”
For the past 10 years,
The Has Been Wanna Bees,
a group of singing octo-
genarians, joined Scarlett
and Hunt when they visited
facilities in Hermiston.
However, as the members
continued to age and some
passed away, they recently
bowed out of the perfor-
mances.
Always wanting to get
more people involved, Hunt
called Hermiston High
School to see if some choir
students could come and
sing. Music teacher Jordan
Bemrose-Rust was thrilled
by the invitation. Tuesday
morning, two busloads of
band and choir students
crowded into the lobby of
Brookdale Hermiston.
Ruby Halvorson, Bob
Warmuth and Nick Demos
were among the residents
who wore bright smiles
throughout
the
hour-
long performance. The
91-year-old Halvorson glee-
fully sang along during the
final set of Christmas carols.
“I love it,” she said. “This
is so great. I love all the
equipment — the piano, the
horns and the drums. And,
the singing was wonderful.”
Like Santa’s elves, who
happily do their part in
spreading holiday cheer,
Scarlett, Hunt and McAfee
enjoy seeing the fruits of
their labor. McAfee summed
up the central theme shared
by many who give of their
time and talents during the
holiday season.
“It’s making people
smile,” she said. “It’s all
about spreading joy.”
———
Contact
Community
Editor Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
Two festival street designs ready for review
Two different designs
for Hermiston’s planned
festival street will be
examined by the Downtown
Festival Street Committee
on Thursday.
The project — planned
for 2017 — will transform
two blocks of Northeast
Second Street next to city
hall into a landscaped,
pedestrian-friendly
gath-
ering area that can be
blocked off to vehicle traffic
during events.
According to a city
news release, both designs
that will be considered on
Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at
city hall include interactive
water fountains, shade trees,
large off-street gathering
areas and a mechanism for
closing off the street.
Clint
Spencer,
city
planner, said in the release
that the interactive water
feature will provide a
constant attraction for
Page 3A
Recovering
commissioner
leaves Gilliam
court shorthanded
on the court’s agenda, he
said there needs to be a full
court in place.
“By and large, just two
The Gilliam County
Court has found itself short- (on the court) isn’t going to
handed going on six months do the county a whole lot of
as longtime commissioner good,” he said.
Specifically,
Gilliam
Dennis Gronquist, of
Arlington, recovers from a County — population
1,947 — is working to set
stroke suffered in July.
Gronquist, 69, remains aside money for a fiber
at a care facility in Portland, and broadband internet
leaving Gilliam County project in Condon, and
Judge Steve Shaffer and could also see a decrease
in fees collected
commissioner
from solid waste
Michael Weimar
brought
into
to carry on his
the
Columbia
absence.
Ridge
Landfill
It
remains
— should the
uncertain
how
Portland metro
the situation will
area decide to
play out. Despite
send more of its
his current condi-
trash elsewhere.
tion, Gronquist,
Shaffer admits
a
Democrat,
being without one
won re-election Gronquist
commissioner,
after
running
unopposed in the both May a part-time position, has
primary — two months been challenging, but so far
before his stroke — and there haven’t been any real
November general election. contentious issues resulting
The only way he can lose in a deadlock. No decisions
his seat while in office, have been tabled, he said,
according to Shaffer, is if he though it has increased
workload and influenced
dies, resigns or is recalled.
Shaffer said he is unsure the people’s perceptions of
of Gronquist’s long-term county government.
“I would prefer that we
health, but is willing to give
him more time to decide if have three,” he said. “It’s a
and when he will return to lot easier for three people to
gather all the information
the court.
“Time is something we needed to make a long-term
can afford to offer,” Shaffer decision.”
Mike
McArthur,
said.
Gronquist has served executive director of the
a combined 20 years as Association of Oregon
Gilliam County commis- Counties, said he is aware
sioner, representing the of the situation in Gilliam
north end of the county. County. The court’s hands
He was also the mayor of are tied, he said, though
he is confident Shaffer and
Arlington for seven years.
“He is just what I Wiemar can continue to
consider to be an impec- hold down the fort.
“I’m not the least bit
cable leader,” Shaffer said.
they
can’t
While Shaffer said there concerned
is no rush for Gronquist to handle it. It just makes their
make his decision, others workload greater,” McAr-
feel the county needs to thur said.
Laura Pryor, who lives
move forward quickly.
Les Ruark, who works in Salem and served as
as a farmhand south of Gilliam County judge for
Arlington, recently wrote nearly 20 years before she
an open letter to Gron- retired in 2006, said a recall
quist’s family urging them could be “very damaging”
to submit a resignation on in such a small community,
and it may ultimately fall
his behalf.
“It’s reached a point on the family to act.
Like McArthur, Pryor
where this cannot continue,”
Ruark told the East Orego- said she is confident in the
nian. “The family needs to court to conduct business,
recognize there’s a public but it won’t necessarily be
service aspect to this that easy. Not only do they have
needs to be put forward.” to be careful of stalemates,
Gronquist’s son, Kelly but make sure both the ends
Gronquist, did not return of the county feel they are
being represented.
calls seeking comment.
“It’s a tough issue for
Ruark said he met Gron-
quist in 1984, describing those folks,” Pryor said.
him as open-minded and “I don’t envy that court
forward-thinking. It is a figuring out what to do with
delicate situation, Ruark this.”
———
said, since nobody wants to
Contact George Plaven
be seen as forcing the fami-
ly’s hand. But with several at gplaven@eastoregonian.
significant matters looming com or 541-966-0825.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
families to come downtown
during warm weather, but
will also be able to be turned
off and used for an off-street
vendor area or for the
Christmas tree in the annual
Winter Festival.
Both designs would
redistribute parking spaces
in the lot across from city
hall; one would add three
spots and another would
reduce the total number of
parking spaces by two. The
city is also looking at adding
eight spots to downtown by
changing some spaces from
parallel parking to diagonal
spaces.
The designs by Green-
Works Landscape Archi-
tects are available online at
hermiston.or.us.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said in the
release that the festival
street is the centerpiece of
Hermiston’s urban renewal
plan, which uses property
tax money gathered from
the city’s Urban Renewal
District.
“The
number
one
‘to-do’ currently listed on
the website for the new
Holiday Inn Express which
just opened in downtown
Hermiston is to, ‘explore
the wild west with a trip to
nearby historic Pendleton,’”
Morgan said. “If a hotel just
spent $6 million to bring
50-100 people per night
in to our downtown, and
they’re telling their guests to
make an hour round-trip out
of town for something to do,
then we obviously need to
provide them with a better
reason to stay.”
The Urban Renewal
District also uses money
for facade grants in the
downtown
area. After
Monday’s city council
meeting, the council met as
the Urban Renewal Agency
and approved a $3,507
facade grant for Julissa’s
Meat Market. The new
business is renovating the
former Napa Auto Parts on
292 W. Hermiston Ave. and
will use the money to make
improvements to the portion
of the building facing Herm-
iston Avenue.
The money represents
a 40 percent match for the
total project.
On Monday city council
also adopted an ordinance
adopting more unified rules
for city committees. Among
the changes, the ordinance
clarifies that elected officials
(namely city councilors and
the mayor) are merely liai-
sons to the committees they
serve on and are not voting
members.
It also requires basic
background checks for
committee
members,
changes the maximum
number of committees a
person can serve on from
one to two and reduces the
number of Hispanic Advi-
sory Committee and Faith
Based Advisory Committee
members to five.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Columbia Grange, Pendleton
Bird Club cancel events
East Oregonian
As a precaution due
to the National Weather
Service’s winter storm
warning, a couple of
area gorps have canceled
upcoming events.
The Pendleton Bird Club
canceled their Thursday
program and meeting
and Columbia Grange
canceled its Friday night
turkey dinner event due to
inclement weather.
For more information,
contact the bird club at
pendletonbirdclub@gmail.
com or 541-215-0761 and
for the grange, call Doris at
541-567-8663 or Clare at
541-278-0615.
BMCC board seeks to fill vacancies
East Oregonian
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College hopes to fill
vacant positions on its Board
of Education and budget
committee.
The board positions include
Zone 3 in Pendleton and Zone
5 in Hermiston. Vacancies
come following recent resig-
nations of Eddie De La Cruz
and Ed Taber. Zone 3 includes
Pendleton precincts 107, 110,
112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 137,
141, 142 and 143. Zone 5
includes Hermiston precincts
103, 126, 127 and 128.
Interested citizens may
apply for the board positions
until Jan. 5. The BMCC Board
of Education plans to screen
and appoint applicants at the
next meeting. Those selected
will serve in the positions
through June of this year.
To be considered, a candi-
date must be a registered voter
in Umatilla County, as well as a
resident of one of the precincts
in that zone. Applicants must
submit a letter of interest to the
BMCC Board of Education,
P.O. Box 100, Pendleton, OR
97801, by January 5.
The budget committee
position runs for a three-year
term. In an effort to provide
geographical representation
across BMCC’s three-county
district, community members
from the Hermiston and
Morrow County areas are
encouraged to apply.
The committee consists of
the seven elected members of
the BMCC Board of Educa-
tion, as well as seven appointed
community
members.
Members are eligible to serve
two three-year terms on the
committee. Newly appointed
members will receive an
orientation sometime during
April and May.
Interested
applicants
should send a letter of interest
with a description of their
fiscal background and experi-
ence to the BMCC President’s
Office. Appointments to the
committee are made by the
board.
The Budget Committee
will begin its review of the
proposed budget in May, and
normally meets twice for two
to three hours.
For more information,
please contact the BMCC
President’s Office at 541-278-
5951.
1100 Southgate
Suite 6
541-215-1564
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