REGION
Friday, December 23, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
PENDLETON
Agape House receives Christmas donations
“People donate
clothes and food.
This is a great com-
munity to be in.”
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Agape House received
two large gifts on Thursday
morning from Swain Motors
and Harley Swain Subaru —
a cash donation of $3,500 and
625 pounds of canned and
packaged food. The supplies
were collected by employees
and customers of the two
companies, and will help the
food bank during the coldest
time of year.
Mike Boedigheimer of
Harley Swain Subaru and his
brother Jeff of Swain Motors
started the food drive at their
businesses on Nov. 15 and
collected donations from
customers and employees for
one month. Swain Motors
donated $1,850 and Harley
Swain Subaru contributed
$1,650.
“We tried this a couple of
years ago, and it didn’t go
that well,” Jeff said. “So this
year we offered customers a
— Claudia Abney,
volunteer at Agape House
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Several volunteers help unload a donation of 625
pounds of canned food from Swain Motors and Harley
Swain Subaru Thursday morning at Agape House.
discount on service and parts
if they donated six cans, and
employees donated as well.”
Jeff said he was happy with
the outcome of the food drive.
“I think it’s something we’re
going to do next year,” he said.
Winter is a busy time of
year for the food bank, with
increased need and more
donations coming in from the
community. As volunteers
unloaded boxes and cans
of food, Brian Mack and
Michelle Lanigan pulled up in
a pickup truck and unloaded
150 wool blankets and 100
cotton blankets.
“This is really important
this time of year,” said Dave
Hughes, director of the Agape
House.
Claudia Abney, a volunteer
at Agape House for the past
year and a half, said the food
bank gets regular donations
from many stores in the
community, as well as private
citizens.
“We go to Wal-Mart five
times a week, and Safeway on
Fridays,” she said, adding that
other stores donate as well.
“People donate clothes and
food. This is a great commu-
nity to be in.”
Photo contributed by Andrew Wilson
Four people escaped with their lives Wednesday
near Pendleton after the Ford Excursion they were
in lost traction on an icy patch of Interstate 84 and
ended up in the path of an semi-tractor pulling two
trailers.
Pregnant mother
recovering after crash
Vehicle hit by semi
after sliding on ice
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
An icy freeway crash
Tuesday
afternoon
near Pendleton injured
three people, including
a 25-year-old pregnant
mother.
“I’m sore,” Josette
Wilson said, “but I’m
alive.”
Her unborn child also is
healthy, said Wilson, who
is confined to bed rest until
her doctor says otherwise.
“I have a small tear in
my placenta, and as long as
I don’t lift anything heavy
and stay in bed as much as
I can, it should be fine,” she
said.
Wilson and her husband
of six months, Andrew
Hayden Wilson, 19, were
heading home to La Grande
from work at Keystone RV,
Pendleton. Their friends
and co-workers, Isaiah
Harris of La Grande and
Christopher Burry of
Summerville, also were in
the Ford Excursion.
Wilson said she was
leaving the Dead Man
Pass rest area about 18
miles east of Pendleton
and driving back onto
Interstate 84 when the
Ford hit a patch of ice in a
shady area. She lost control
and over-corrected, she
said, and the vehicle spun
toward the median.
Just then, she said, a
FedEx semi-tractor pulling
two trailers came around
the corner and crashed into
the Ford’s driver side. She
said she blacked out for a
few moments.
“I had my head split
open from going through
the driver side window,”
Wilson said.
Wilson said the wreck
trapped her, and Andrew
called her uncle, Frank
Meeks, a supervisor at
Keystone who also was on
the interstate to La Grande.
He reached the crash
scene and helped free her
feet, she said, then medics
arrived, tore out the broken
center console, and pulled
her from the passenger side.
The crash also banged
up Burry, and ambulances
took him and Wilson to St.
Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton. Wilson said her cut
took 16 staples to close. St.
Anthony spokesman Larry
Blanc said the doctors
treated and released the pair
that night.
Harris suffered a gash on
his head and hair-line frac-
tures in an arm and knee,
Wilson said, and an emer-
gency aircraft flew him to
a Walla Walla hospital. But
he, too, was back at home
Thursday.
Wilson said she was
dealing with the pain, and
her husband also ached,
but otherwise he was fine
and taking care of her two
children.
“He didn’t have a
scratch on him,” she said.
Oregon State Police Lt.
Mike Turner in Pendleton
said the semi driver, Jeffery
Shawn Martin, 45, of Port-
land, was uninjured. Turner
said witness statements
matched the evidence at the
scene and there would be
no citations.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
LIGHTS: Randy said best places to buy decorations are yard sales
Continued from 1A
cover every inch of a prop-
erty.
His philosophy, despite an
ever-growing collection of
decorative options, is that less
is more, leaving many of his
displays and lights in storage.
“We keep things a little
separated,” he said. “We’ll
have a little theme over here,
a Disney theme over there. I
don’t like it all bunched up.”
Each year Randy would
lead the family effort of
hauling dozens of decorations
out from under the house at
1317 SW Gamma Court and
setting them up in different
configurations around the
yard and home. His wife,
Sharon, and son Tyler would
pitch in.
But four years ago, with
Tyler off as a freshman at
Montana Tech and daughter
Sarah Marlene living out
of town with her husband
and children, Randy, who
works seven nights a week at
Newlywed Foods, decided to
take a break.
“It’s such a hassle to get it
all out from under the house,”
he said. “(Tyler) normally
helps me every year, and it’s
not too bad when everybody
helps.”
This year, the family is
back together. Tyler is back
from college and finishing up
classes online, Sarah and her
husband moved to Pendleton
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hamley Steakhouse & Cafe won best business display in the in the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas lighting contest.
with their two children and
everyone got together in
November to set up and plug
in the display.
The family brought back
the tradition at the right time.
This year the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce
revived its city-decorating
contest and on Wednesday
evening a panel of judges
picked the Bigots’ house as
the best classical residential
display. Harper and Kimberly
Jones’ home at 376 NE Owen
Court was picked as the best
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!
30% OFF
Fri., Dec. 23rd
All
Collectablen
After
Chrintman Sale
50% off ntorewide!
excluding all fresh flowers
select items
each day!
Sat., Dec. 24th
All
Chrintman
Put a nmile on the heart with
the power of flowern.
contemporary
residential
display, complete with lights
timed to music. And Hamley
Steakhouse & Cafe at 30 SE
Court Ave. was deemed the
best business light display.
The Bigots won a $75 gift
card to Hamley Steakhouse
for his efforts and the Joneses
were awarded $75 to Virgil’s
at Cimmiyotti’s.
The most unique element
in Randy’s display is the
mailbox to allow a letter
addressed to Santa to fly out.
Props like this aren’t avail-
able in retail stores anymore,
he said, even though he just
bought it about 10 years ago
at K-Mart.
The best places to buy
classic Christmas decorations
now are yard sales, and he
said he and friends keep an
eye out for unique displays
all year round.