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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2017)
REGION Tuesday, July 4, 2017 Faces of the Rainbow Gathering attracts people from all corners of U.S. PENDLETON Food stamps worth double at farmers market this month The Eagle/Rylan Boggs “Shuttle” went to the first Rainbow Gathering in 1972 and said he keeps returning to help keep the people safe at the gathering. Food stamps will literally go further than they used to at the Pendleton Farmers Market. During July, the market and Umatilla County Public Health will offer up to $10 in matching funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recip- ients who buy fruits, vege- tables and other unprepared foods at the weekly market. Hal McCune, the nonprofit’s president, said the farmers market has accepted SNAP benefits, better known as food stamps, for the past 10 years, “It really gives some of these folks a lot more buying power than they used to have,” he said. McCune said market patrons spend about $800 in food stamps every month in an exchange system where money from the SNAP elec- tronic benefits transfer card is exchanged for tokens that can be spent at market stalls. SNAP users typically save the last of their monthly allotment of benefits for the farmers market, McCune said, but the matching program will allow them to potentially double the budget they can spend at the market. “It’s like Christmas in July,” he said. According to a market EO file photo Sunlight falls on a some cherry tomatoes on display at a booth at the Pendleton Farmers Market. press release, the Oregon Food Bank conducted a community food-system assessment in Pendleton in March, which identified the farmers market’s SNAP match program as a need. The assessment resulted in a $2,000 grant from the food bank and the county’s health department. The Pendleton Farmers Market is the only farmers market in Umatilla and Morrow counties that accepts a SNAP card, although the county is also providing funding to the Milton-Freewater Farmers Market to acquire a card machine. Even though the SNAP match program will close at the end of the month or when the grant funding runs out, McCune said it was an The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Khy and his dog, Lady. Gas station and mini-mart coming to Highland Avenue East Oregonian The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Zia Martinis, right, and “Papa Bear” stand for a photo outside the Rainbow Gathering. Man dies at Rainbow Gathering; identity still unknown EO Media Group Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer is investigating the death of an unidentified male at the Rainbow Gathering southwest of John Day. Multiple officers from the Forest Service, Oregon State Police and Grant County Sheriff’s Office responded to the gathering off of Forest Road 24, according to a July 2 press release from Palmer. An unidentified man collapsed near a makeshift medical station at the gathering. An emergency room doctor from Kentucky who was attending the gathering provided medical treatment, and CPR was attempted for 15-20 minutes without success. The sheriff’s office is attempting to identify the man. Investigation at the gathering provided no leads to identify the deceased. The man was removed from the scene and transported to Driskill Memorial Chapel in John Day where finger- prints were obtained. The fingerprints will be sent to the Oregon State Police Identification Bureau. Once the sheriff’s office determines the man’s identity, the office will attempt to notify next of kin. Hermiston is getting a new gas station on the corner of Southwest 11th Street and Highland Avenue. The project at 1120 W. Highland Ave. will include a mini-mart, fuel station and laundry facility run by the owners of the Metro Marts in the Tri-Cities area. Carrie Sullivan, project manager from LCR Construction of Richland, said they are hoping to finish construction by the end of October. A building permit filed with the city shows plans for a 3,826- square- foot convenience store and 1,554-square- foot laundromat plus fuel canopy. According to a recent report compiled by Assis- tant City Manager Mark Morgan for the city’s public infrastructure committee, while Hermiston experi- ences about 31 percent more Staff photo by Jade McDowell LRC Construction works on a new mini-mart, gas station and laundromat on the corner of Highland Avenue and SW 11th Street/Highway 207, Hermiston. retail sales than expected for a town of its size, it sells 35 percent less fuel. A 2013 study showed gasoline sales within the Hermiston city limits were $7,682,993 at the time. The city council recently added multi-family residen- tial and mini storage units as conditional uses for roughly and basket designs when designing the logo and met with CTUIR member Thomas Morning Owl, who shared the Umatilla, Walla Walla and Cayuse tribes’ creation story. In the logo, the individual tribes are depicted through three mountains. “Reoccurring themes of nature, this idea of land- scape, mountains within the creation story that Thomas shared was really what I was trying to achieve with this concept in taking a look at the bigger picture, the area in which the tribe is located and its direct connection to the people and applying that to a contemporary and clean design,” Pascual said. The current logo was hand drawn by Lonnie Alexander, a Yellowhawk nurse who worked there for more than 20 years. RED HOT O SALE! Up to 15% off... Pa�o Covers Pergolas·Awnings FREE es�mates! Sun Rooms 541-720-0772 Solar Shades & Visit our showroom: More!! 102 E Columbia Dr. From all of us at Kennewick, WA 99336 www.mybackyardbydesign.com License #188965 Hurry! Sale ends 7/18/17 eight acres of property along Highland Avenue running west of 11th Street, including the corner prop- erty where the Metro Mart will go. Eastern Oregon Development, LLC just got the final plat approved to build a mini-storage facility on Highland just west of the gas station project. SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at 333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-966-0818 with questions. Yellowhawk Health Center unveils new logo When the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center opens its new clinic this fall, it will come with a new logo. Yellowhawk unveiled its new logo, which will be paired with the new Umatilla Indian Reservation facility. “We really felt that it was time to update our look as we move into our brand-new clinic,” said Shawna Gavin, chairwoman of the Confed- erated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Health Commission, in a statement. “We are very pleased with this logo and the connection it displays to our community.” According to a press release, the logo was designed by Navajo graphic designer Victor Pascual, who is based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pascual researched histor- ical documents, beadwork important promotional tool to inform the community that the market accepts food stamps. SNAP is a federal program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture that provides money for food to low-income fami- lies, a majority of which live well below the poverty line. The USDA has found that $1.84 in gross domestic product is produced for every dollar of SNAP bene- fits. McCune said SNAP enjoys support from local food vendors because it allows them to expand their customer base. The market is 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Friday on the 300 block of South Main Street. There will be four markets in July. HERMISTON MISSION East Oregonian Page 3A East Oregonian By RYLAN BOGGS EO Media Group Shuttle “Shuttle” never counted how many Rainbow Gather- ings he’s been to, but he was at the first one in 1972. He’s worked on the parking crews and estimates he’s helped park three quarters of a million cars. He strives to make the gath- ering a safe and enjoyable place for people to attend, and tries to greet people at the gate with a joke. “If you drive 3,400 miles with two kids in diapers, the last thing you want is some- body aggro at the gates. You want somebody who makes you laugh,” Shuttle said. Now 64, he cannot breathe much dust for health reasons. Instead he helps with safety, making sure everyone at the gathering is properly hydrated and touring camps with fire pits to ensure they have a shovel and at least five gallons of water on hand. “My whole goal, over my lifetime with the family, has been to keep the family safe. From each other, from the police and from outsiders,” Shuttle said. Zia This is Zia Martinis’ first annual gathering. She first experienced the Rainbow Family at a regional gathering in Maui 1999. A young mother on the island with a military husband, she felt isolated. Then, someone invited her to the Rainbow Gathering and told her “you can come home.” “It was freedom. It was family. It was like I felt like I belonged,” she said. The feeling of family is what attracted her to the gathering, but it has also taught her valuable life skills. “I’m an urban girl. I’m a black woman born in Berkeley, but I get to come out here,” she said. “I’ve read my books. I know how to build my fires. I know how to take care of my woods.” She said, in a world reliant on electricity and infrastructure, being able to survive outdoors is a valuable skill. Khy Khy prefers life on the road. He said he’s tried the whole “adulting thing,” but after his house burned down and he was laid off from his job, he decided it wasn’t for him. This is his first national gathering, but he said he attended a smaller one in Florida. “It’s a way to get away from Babylon and all the nonsense of the world,” he said, describing “Babylon” as modern society and the dollar. Without it, he is less stressed. He travels with his dog, Lady, hitchhiking where he can and walking when he can’t. Over the last nine months, he has traveled from Florida to Oregon to attend the gathering. East Oregonian Family Fun! Rotary Breakfast Vendor Booths Classic Car Show in the Park Eastern Oregon Art Show Club 24 Glow Run Chain Saw Wood Carvers KOHU/The Q Cash Machine Kids Zone Cultural Event to follow Fun Fest
