REGION
Friday, March 17, 2017
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
BRIEFLY
41 years in the field
Alan Kendrick retires
from parks board,
leaves legacy in town
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Alan Kendrick knew he had been
on the Pendleton Parks and Recreation
Commission for a long time. When
he recently decided to retire from the
advisory board, he asked a secretary to
research the exact duration of his tenure.
The final tally — 41 years.
Since moving to Pendleton in 1970,
Kendrick has spent almost his entire
time on the commission.
Growing up in Gooding, Idaho, a
town of about 3,500 near Twin Falls,
Kendrick, 76, said the only real choices
for sports were basketball and skiing.
Kendrick chose the former but he
got a chance to learn the latter when he
moved to Pendleton to work as a phar-
macist at St. Anthony Hospital.
At that time, the parks and recreation
department sponsored bus trips to Toll-
gate and Anthony Lakes and Kendrick
eventually started volunteering to help
lead them.
Eventually a spot on the commission
opened up and he was asked to join
in 1975. Established in 1961 as the
parks, recreation and cemetery board,
the commission is tasked with creating
rates of services, policies and plans for
the city’s park system and recreational
facilities.
It wasn’t long before Kendrick faced
his first challenge as a commissioner.
Although McKay Creek’s Commu-
nity Park is well established today,
replete with two picnic shelters, two
playgrounds, a tennis court, a disc golf
course and a water fountain, it received
some pushback when it was first
proposed.
Kendrick said he went on a local
radio station and did a call-in segment,
where a neighborhood resident called in
to express worry over the traffic the park
would bring to the area, preferring the
land be used for housing.
Kendrick argued that the city had
received a significant grant to establish
the park.
“If it takes 20 years, it’s still going to
be a park,” he recalled telling the caller.
The land did become Community
Park, and other major parks and recre-
ation projects followed in the ensuing
decades thanks to capital improvement
bonds like the Pendleton Aquatic Center
and the Helen McCune Gymnasium.
Kendrick said these projects got done
because both staff and the commission
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Alan Kendrick walks over the bridge at Community Park, the first park
he helped implement as a member of the Pendleton Parks & Recreation
Commission. Kendrick served on the commission for 41 years.
always had people willing to come up
with new ideas.
Kendrick said Pendleton parks and
recreation also succeeds because of
community support, highlighting Amy
Bedford’s efforts to turn the Umatilla
River levee into the Pendleton River
Parkway and the volunteers from
Altrusa and elsewhere that lined up to
construct the Pioneer Park playground
and then reconstruct it when a fire
burned it down.
After 33 years of working for
St. Anthony, Kendrick retired from
pharmacy work, having already passed
down the pharmacy tradition to his
children and grandchildren.
Despite two knee and one hip
replacement, he still golfs and skis,
although a fall caused by a blocked shot
during a basketball game means he’s no
longer shooting hoops.
“I had a fast break, but I wasn’t very
fast,” Kendrick quipped.
Parks and recreation director Donnie
Cook remembered Kendrick as a “good
man with a smart mind” during his time
on the commission, a member who
would check in with the department the
day before a meeting to see how things
were going.
Whenever a member retires from the
commission, Cook said it’s standard for
them to get a plaque as a parting gift.
For more than four decades of service,
Cook said Kendrick will be honored at
the commission’s next meeting.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
FAIR: EOTEC staff will handle maintenance of new fairgrounds
Continued from 1A
fair management duties to
EOTEC’s yet-to-be-named
general manager.
Larry Givens, a county
commissioner who also sits
on the EOTEC board, said
the county does not plan to
hire a new fair manager.
“We’re staffed now up to
what we’re going to staff it,”
he said.
That includes admin-
istrative assistant Angie
McNalley and activities and
sponsorship
coordinator
Cyndie Driscoll, who was
hired for the new position
in late 2016. Both have an
office at EOTEC but are not
EOTEC employees.
Givens said since the
county fair will merely be a
tenant of EOTEC — albeit an
anchor tenant with a $25,000
per year lease — EOTEC
staff will handle maintenance
of the new fairgrounds. If
the current staffing structure
turns out to be wrong, Givens
said the county will look at
what changes may need to be
made.
“We have not had the fair
and rodeo at that EOTEC
site, so there will be adjust-
ments as we go through that
process,” he said.
Gay Newman, chair of the
“We have not had the fair and rodeo at
that EOTEC site, so there will be adjust-
ments as we go through that process.”
— Larry Givens,
county commissioner and EOTEC board member
Umatilla County Fair board,
said the first year at the new
fairgrounds will “probably
double” the workload for
fair board members, staff and
volunteers. But once they
figure out how to adapt to the
new location, Newman said
being a tenant at EOTEC
should save them time and
effort.
The old fairgrounds in the
center of town have caused
a lot of headaches for fair
staff and board members
as they try to shoehorn as
many things as possible into
a space that the fair outgrew
long ago, then get electricity
and water everywhere that
needs it and keep the failing
infrastructure together.
“It will actually be a little
easier for us, because we
don’t have to worry about
‘oh, there’s not enough
power, there’s not enough
water,’” Newman said.
“Having power and having
room to move things around
without being on top of
each other, that’s what we’re
Page 3A
excited about.”
He said groups like 4-H
are also excited that exhibits
will be inside an air-condi-
tioned event center.
The move to the new
venue also comes with
some challenges, however.
Newman said right now
volunteers know exactly how
certain halls and barns are set
up, but the new space means
the fair will be starting from
scratch on figuring out a
layout for everything. They
also won’t know how many
people will be needed to keep
all the bathrooms stocked
and cleaned, or where foot
traffic will be heaviest.
He said that Knerr
Construction and Hendon
Construction are “going to
town” on the project trying
to get it done as soon as
possible, but the fair board
still can’t count on a for-sure
date when construction will
be wrapped up enough to
start the set-up process.
“Is construction done soon
enough we can do it, or are
we going to have to scramble
to get a lot of people in to do
things at the last minute?” he
asked.
Driscoll is working hard
to get sponsorships and
also figure out everything
from how many tents they
will need to how many feet
of fence will be needed
around the entertainment
areas, Newman said, but an
increase in volunteers will be
important to help the move
up to EOTEC go smoothly
this year.
“We would more than
appreciate any help we can
get,” he said.
He said the fair board is
confident that construction
will be finished in time for
the 2017 fair, but they also
know the first year could be
a little rough as things come
up that no one had taken into
account.
“I’m
excited
and
nervous,” he said.
The Umatilla County
commissioners and Herm-
iston City Council will
meet in a joint work session
Monday at 6 p.m. at EOTEC
to discuss the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Del’s Feed and
Farm Supply
closing its doors
Heppner Ranger
District recruiting
teens for jobs
HERMISTON — Del’s
Feed and Farm Supply
is closing its doors in
Hermiston this fall.
The store’s parent
company, Tractor Supply
Company, announced
Thursday that it had made
the decision to close the
Hermiston location and all
other Pacific Northwest
locations later this year.
John Logan, regional
vice president for Tractor
Supply Company, said in a
statement the decision was
based on “many business
factors” after “much
analysis.”
He and Hermiston store
manager Jeremy Miller
both thanked customers
for their support.
“On behalf of the
entire Del’s team, we are
extremely grateful to our
Hermiston customers
for their many years of
patronage,” Miller said.
Tractor Supply
Company also owns and
operates Petsense, which
recently opened a new
location in Hermiston.
Despite the loss of
Del’s, and the loss of
Pendleton Grain Growers’
retail store in late 2014,
Hermiston will gain
another “rural lifestyle”
retail store in Ranch &
Home, which plans to
build on South Highway
395 this year.
HEPPNER — Students
between the ages of
15 and 18 are eligible
to apply for summer
jobs through the Youth
Conservation Corps on the
Heppner Ranger District
of the Umatilla National
Forest. Work is hands-on
and may include noxious
weed removal, fence
removal and construction,
trail maintenance,
campground maintenance,
slash piling and fire line
construction.
Applications will be
accepted through 2 p.m.
April 14, and are available
at the Forest Service office
in Heppner and local high
schools. The program will
last eight weeks beginning
June 19, and pays the
Oregon minimum wage.
No previous experience is
required.
To apply, teens must
meet the age requirement,
have a valid Social
Security number and
permission from their
parents or legal guardian.
Successful applicants will
be selected via random
drawing at 4 p.m. April
14.
For more information,
contact the Heppner
Ranger District at
541-676-9187.
Horse plowing
competition
coming to EOTEC
HERMISTON — The
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center will host a
horse plowing competition
and exhibition March
25-26 in Hermiston.
Prizes will be awarded
for teams on both walking
and riding plows, and
members of the public can
even get in on the action,
walking behind one of
the plows for a small
donation.
Event sponsor Lee
Carlson said horse
plowing is becoming a
lost art, and he hopes the
competition will help
renew interest.
“We’d like to get more
younger people involved
in this,” Carlson said.
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s good
people.”
Carlson said at least 12
teams are already slated
to participate, and more
are likely to sign up.
The event is open to the
public.
Judges will grade the
teams based on how deep
they plow, how straight
the rows are and how well
the team works together.
It’s an intense job, Carlson
said, and one that could
use some fresh faces.
“We need to promote
it, to get more people
involved in wanting to do
this,” Carlson said.
Donations are encour-
aged to help raise funds
for EOTEC and the event
itself. The competition
begins Saturday, March 25
at 10 a.m.
For more information
or to sign up, contact
Carlson at 541-571-4045.
Learn to spot
storms without
leaving home
PENDLETON — The
National Weather Service
will offer storm spotter
training online, on
April 4 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Participants can learn how
to assist meteorologists
in providing information
about storm activity.
To register for the
training, go to www.
weather.gov/pendleton
and the “2017 Spotter
Training Classes” link.
Participants must have
a dedicated internet
connection and a phone
line.
Contact Dennis Hull
at 541-276-7832 for more
information.
Indoor soccer
for kids opens
registration
HERMISTON — Kids
too young to play in
local recreational soccer
leagues can try the sport
on for size thanks to
Hermiston Parks and
Recreation.
Indoor soccer for ages
3 through first grade will
introduce youngsters to
the sport in a fun and
low-key way. Practices
are held just prior to each
game and the season lasts
seven weeks, starting
on April 8 and running
through May 20.
Deadline to register
is March 24. For more
information, call the Parks
office at 541-667-5018.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire
reports, and press
releases. Email press
releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
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Friday, March 17
Saloon Open Early at NOON
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OVER 150 NORTHWEST ARTISANS
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