REGION
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Happy Canyon picks first female director
Three new directors
join Night Show board
East Oregonian
Happy Canyon has named
three new directors. One of
them is the first female ever
to sit on the board of the
100-year-old organization.
“Happy
Canyon
is
honored to have Casey
Evans, Casey Hunt and
Becky Waggoner join our
Board of Directors,” said
Happy Canyon President
Corey Neistadt. “They all
have deep roots in our show
and our community.”
Neistadt
welcomes
Waggoner, who will direct
the Happy Canyon Night
Show, to the fold.
“We’d have a hard time
finding anyone more quali-
fied than Becky Waggoner,”
he said.
Waggoner,
a
Pilot
Rock resident, is a fourth
generation Happy Canyon
Night Show participant and
Round-Up volunteer. She
began volunteering in the
show at age 3, as one of the
children who pop out of a
Waggoner
Hunt
Evans
trunk just unloaded from a
stagecoach. She since played
several roles in the show, and
for the last 17 years plays a
nurse in the doctor scene.
Fond of the show and its
colorful history, Waggoner
last August released her book
“Happy Canyon: A History
of the World’s Most Unique
Indian Pageant and Wild
West Show.”
Neistadt said change
is sometimes hard for the
century-year-old
Happy
Canyon organization, but
said that “we’re at a different
stage in society. We need
diversity ... to be an effective
organization.”
Waggoner waved off any
accolades, except to say,
“I’m absolutely humbled
and honored to serve Happy
Canyon and its rich heritage.”
Besides cattle ranching
and working part-time for
Mautz and O’Hanlon, LLP,
Waggoner serves on the
4-H Advisory Board and
as Umatilla County Cattle-
women president. She and her
husband, Allen — a former
Happy Canyon director and
past president — have three
children, Kyle, Kaleigh and
Riley, all show participants.
Evans has a history
of
involvement
and
volunteerism with Happy
Canyon and the Pendleton
Round-Up. He has acted in
the show since 2007. The
Heppner native, who works
for the Oregon Department
of Transportation, moved to
Pendleton after high school
to attend Blue Mountain
Community College. He and
his wife have two daughters,
Finley, 8, and Adilynn, 4, and
reside outside of Pendleton
with a dog and a few horses.
Evans will serve as bar
director for Happy Canyon.
“Having the privilege to
serve on the Happy Canyon
Board with the selected indi-
viduals is an honor,” Evans
said. “They are all driving in
the same direction to keep the
Happy Canyon Night Show
and Pageant an amazing
family event that everyone
wants to attend.”
Hunt will serve as Happy
Canyon’s court director,
overseeing the princesses.
He follows in the footsteps of
his father who was appointed
to the board in 1983. Hunt
started acting in the Happy
Canyon Night Show at age of
4, playing a swim kid before
transitioning to different acts.
Hunt works as a financial
advisor for Edward Jones in
Pendleton. He and his wife,
Whitney, have two children,
William, 4, and Charlotte, 2.
The Happy Canyon Night
Show and Pageant takes
place each night after the
Pendleton Round-Up.
HERMISTON
Early morning house fire puts family out of home
East Oregonian
A fire in Hermiston did extensive
damage to a duplex early Tuesday
morning, putting a family of six out of
their home. No one was injured.
Umatilla County Fire District 1
responded at 3 a.m. Tuesday to the 900
block of Orchard Avenue to put out the
fire. Scott Goff, a UCFD volunteer, said
there was fire, heat and smoke damage
in one of the units and smoke damage
in the other.
Goff works for the Oregon State Fire
Marshal’s Office, but was speaking on
behalf of the UCFD. He said the fire
appeared to have been started by a
malfunctioning furnace.
The American Red Cross is
providing aid to two adults and four
children, according to a news release.
The Umatilla Rural Fire Protection
District also sent firefighters to support
the effort, Goff said.
The fire was the third in a local home
in as many days.
A couple near Hat Rock State Park
lost their home Sunday to a fire, and a
blaze damaged a home Sunday around
4:50 p.m. at 39047 Missouri Gulch
Contributed photo
Firefighters work to contain a duplex fire early Tuesday morning on the
900 block of Orchard Avenue, Hermiston.
Road, about 16 miles northwest of
Pendleton.
Delbert Gehrke, chief of the Echo
Rural Fire Protection District, said the
fire engulfed the basement and spread
to the main floor. One occupant suffered
some smoke inhalation, he said, but
was not seriously injured.
Cello recital
features student
performers
Education
foundation offers
scholarships
HERMISTON — Four
scholarships in the amount
of $2,500 each are available
from the Hermiston
Education Foundation.
The awards will be given
to seniors from Hermiston
High School who will
attend college or university
academic programs.
Important factors in the
evaluation of applicants
include academic scholarship,
community service,
ECHO
Local Kiwanis Club
celebrating 10 years
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Echo Kiwanis Club
is celebrating its 10th anni-
versary next week.
By some standards the
club is small — a little over
20 members at any given
time — but in a town of
700, it has an unusually
high per-capita rate.
Mike Duffy, club pres-
ident, said people seemed
to want to join Kiwanis
Club in Echo to serve their
community and network
with others.
“The basics are to find
people who want to be
involved in things and
ask them to join, and then
treat them respectfully, as
volunteers deserve to be
treated,” he said.
As the service club
celebrates a decade in
Echo, Duffy said several
of its charter members
are still active in the club.
Right now they meet the
first and third Thursday of
each month at 6 p.m. in the
Masonic Lodge, but they
are discussing a return to
their roots by meeting at
the Buttercreek Coffee-
house and Mercantile,
which opens for business
Friday. The club’s original
meetings 10 years ago
were held in the building
back when it was the Red
Express.
The Echo Kiwanis Club
runs Chester’s Food Pantry,
named after the late Chet
Prior after he showed up to
a meeting and announced
the club needed to reduce
hunger in Echo. The pantry
gives food boxes to dozens
of families in the small
community each month.
The club also helps with
events like the Red 2 Red
bicycle race, and hosted
an Oktoberfest celebration
last year to raise money for
restoration of the historical
St. Peter’s Catholic Church,
built in 1913.
“It’s not used as a church
anymore, but it’s a real dear
landmark,” Duffy said.
Echo Kiwanis raises
about $7,000 per year
for scholarships for local
students, and volunteered
to run the city’s annual car
show this year and donate
the proceeds to Echo
School. Students from
the school’s mechanics
program usually run the
show as a fundraiser, but
the program is taking a year
off due to construction at
the school and Duffy said
Kiwanis Club members
didn’t want to see the “ball
drop.”
The club also runs the
BUG program, which
stands for “bringing up
grades.” Duffy said they
look at grades partway
through the year and then
provide an ice cream social
and prizes for students
who manage to raise their
grades.
“It’s a really simple
program, but it works,” he
said.
The Echo Kiwanis Club
is celebrating its 10-yer
anniversary with a dinner
party on March 16 at Sno
Road Winery, catered by
H&P Cafe and featuring
a speech by past Kiwanis
International
president
Sylvester Neal. There will
be no-host wine and beer
starting at 5:30 p.m. and
dinner at 6 p.m. Cost is $20
and attendees must RSVP
to Duffy (541-379-4880)
by March 9.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
PENDLETON
BRIEFLY
PENDLETON — Cello
students of Loree McKenna
will perform a recital in
Pendleton.
The free event is Friday at
4 p.m. at the Pendleton First
Presbyterian Church, 201
S.W. Dorion Ave. Everyone is
welcome to attend.
Those performing are
Elizabeth Zurbrick, Elijah
Spencer, Sage Wyland,
Matthew Estrada, Owen
Easley, Paige Pitner,
Ashtyn Larsen, Caleb
Picken, Caleb Greenhalgh,
Reilly Lovercheck, Kieric
Speakman, Sam Coleman and
Jenna Harrison.
The program also includes
two ensembles: a cello duet
with Caleb Picken and Paige
Pitner, and the Umatilla
String Quartet, featuring Tyler
Simpson and Ithea Engum
Corral on violin, Kristen
Gregg on viola and Jenna
Harrison on cello.
Sue Nelson provides
accompaniment and Bruce
Walker, a cellist and director
of A Sharp Players, will give
feedback to the performers.
For more information,
contact McKenna at 541-276-
4237 or loree5645@gmail.
com.
Page 3A
File photo
Cello teacher Loree McKenna demonstrates how to
properly hold the bow to a group of students. The pub-
lic is invited to a recital featuring current cello students
Friday at the Pendleton First Presbyterian Church.
School bond sale
saves money
leadership and financial need.
The application is due
by Friday, March 24,
with interviews to follow.
Applications are available at
the high school counseling
office or the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce, 415
S. Highway 395.
For more information, call
George Clough at 541-314-
3182 or write HEF, P.O. Box
1096, Hermiston, OR 97838.
UMATILLA — A
successful bond sale for
Umatilla School District will
translate into fewer taxes for
Umatilla residents.
The rate on the bonds,
which will pay for expansions
and upgrades at Umatilla
schools, was more favorable
than expected, meaning
taxpayers will pay about
$2.77 per assessed value
instead of $3.13. That rate
will begin when the current
Umatilla High School bond
is paid off in 2023 and will
continue through 2035.
High demand also turned
into higher net proceeds for
the school district, which will
have $10.8 million instead of
the expected $10.2 million to
work with.
The bond sale was signed
last week, and the school
district is now in the planning
phase. The district expects
to make drawings available
sometime this spring and will
solicit public feedback then.
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
said in a statement that the
district was excited about the
favorable sale and committed
to being good stewards of the
money.
City council and CTUIR
board to meet at airport
East Oregonian
After the Pacific North-
west National Laboratory
launches its new drone at the
Eastern Oregon Regional
Airport Wednesday, the
Pendleton City Council and
the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation Board of Trustees
will look to relaunch their
relationship.
The council and board
will hold a joint public
meeting at the airport from
2:30 to 4 p.m.
Although the city of
Pendleton and the Umatilla
Indian Reservation essen-
tially border one another,
their respective govern-
ments haven’t met formally
in two years, according to
CTUIR spokesman Chuck
Sams.
“I don’t think there’s
any particular reason (we
haven’t met recently),”
Pendleton city manager
Robb Corbett said. “We get
busy and we didn’t think
about it.”
Sams echoed Corbett’s
comments, adding that
joint meetings between the
two bodies used to happen
annually and the board of
trustees is looking to restart
the tradition.
Corbett said the tribes
reached out to him a few
months ago looking to set
up a meeting. With there
being mutual interest in
the Pendleton Unmanned
Aerial Systems Range,
the city and the CTUIR
decided to meet after the
drone launch.
The two sides expect to
cover a lot of ground in an
hour-and-a-half.
The agenda’s discussion
topics include the Pend-
leton city goals, the CTUIR
goals, economic develop-
ment, the Pendleton UAS
Range, tourism, housing,
the Vert Auditorium and
Kayak Transportation.
The end of the agenda
includes discussion on
topics and meeting dates
for a future meeting,
suggesting the council and
board will try to make these
meetings a regular habit.
You’re Invited to a
retirement celebration for
Kathy Youngman
Saturday, March 11th
from 3:00 - 5:00 pm
at Buttercreek Salon
Kathy’s goal in high school was to become a beautician. She went to school in
Pendleton and started working as a beautician in Hermiston in 1973 after her and her
family moved here. She bought the Buttercreek Salon in 1983 and owned the salon
for 14 years when she sold it to Pam Monger. Pam sold the salon to Terri Hymas after
almost 14 years, who is the current owner.
Kathy says it is time for her to spend time with her husband, Glenn, to do whatever
comes their way. She has enjoyed her time serving her clients and making friends with
many people of the community.
541-567-2911
315 SW 11th Street
Hermiston, OR 97838
Majenta • Rosita • Phyllis • Mo • Kathy • Stacey
