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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2017)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Friday, July 28, 2017 COACH: Worked for 32 years at the district Continued from 1A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Phil Hamm, director of the Hermiston experiment station, talks about the benefi ts of locating the new Precision Irrigated Agriculture Center in the HAREC campus in Hermiston. BMCC: Is the second of three BMCC bond projects to be completed this year Continued from 1A the world, according to Fred Ziari with IRZ Consulting in Hermiston. Ziari’s company special- izes in helping farmers adopt precision irrigation practices, though he said the devel- opment of new technology has outpaced the ability for companies to fi nd qualifi ed experts in the fi eld. Ziari said he approached BMCC seven or eight years ago about developing a curriculum to train the next generation of tech-savvy farmers. “I can see, with a little bit of effort, that this can become a global center for teaching irrigation technology,” he said. “There’s no place like this.” The Precision Irrigated Agriculture Center is the second of three BMCC bond projects to be completed this year. The fi rst, the Workforce Training Center in Boardman, celebrated its grand opening in April. It houses the college’s indus- trial systems and data center programs. The bond is also funding the new Facility for Agricul- tural Resource Management, or FARM, on the BMCC Pendleton campus. President Cam Preus said the college should be ready to unveil that building by late September. Rather than build the Precision Irrigated Agricul- ture Center next to BMCC’s other Hermiston facilities, it was located at the Hermiston agricultural experiment station through a long-term lease with OSU. Phil Hamm, who directs the station south of town, said they are already using the same irrigation equipment that farmers use commercially in their fi elds, meaning students will leave the program ready to jump right into the local workforce. “This is just a tremendous opportunity for OSU and BMCC to partner and provide something that’s never been done before,” Hamm said. Ziari said he is already looking forward to hiring the program’s fi rst graduate. “Precision irrigation has been growing dramatically throughout the U.S.,” Ziari said.“This is a great oppor- tunity for students to learn knowledge that is globally in need.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. DAIRY: At full capacity is expected to generate 187M gallons of wastewater and manure annually Continued from 1A petition for reconsideration, asking regulators to take a closer look at whether the permit does enough to protect surface water and ground- water sources. On Tuesday, ODA and DEQ issued a 10-page order denying the request and potentially setting the state for a future lawsuit. Ivan Maluski, policy director for Friends of Family Farmers in Salem, issued a statement saying attorneys are reviewing Tuesday’s order. He said there is a “clear indication that Oregon has a broken system for CAFO permitting,” while specifi - cally criticizing ODA, DEQ and Gov. Kate Brown. “These mega-operations pollute the air with no envi- ronmental oversight, they put our limited groundwater at risk, and though Oregon has lost nearly 40 percent of our dairy farms over the past decade with small and mid-sized farms getting hit the hardest, the governor and her agencies are bending over backward to open the door for out-of-state factory farms like Lost Valley,” Maluski said. Lost Valley Farm is owned by Greg te Velde, a California dairyman who has been milking cows in Oregon since 2002. He used to run Willow Creek Dairy on land leased from Threemile Canyon Farms before relocating and expanding his business, which sells milk to Tillamook Cheese at the Port of Morrow. In the lead-up to permitting, ODA and DEQ were fl ooded with 4,200 public comments, mostly in opposition to Lost Valley. The campaign was spearheaded by a coalition of environmental, animal rights and small farms groups including Friends of Family Farmers, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Columbia Riverkeeper, Food & Water Watch, Humane Oregon, Humane Society of the United States, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and Oregon Rural Action. They argue that Lost Valley — which at full capacity is expected to generate 187 million gallons of wastewater and manure annually — poses a signifi cant risk of groundwater and surface water contamination, while also exacerbating elevated levels of groundwater nitrates in the lower Umatilla Basin. Regulators have insisted their permit for Lost Valley is the most protective of any to date, requiring 11 ground- water monitoring wells and a minimum of three annual inspections. Te Velde has also defended the farm’s management prac- tices. Wastewater is stored in lagoons on site and then mixed at specifi c agronomic rates with irrigation to help grow feed crops for the cows. Monitoring wells are supposed to ensure the soil is not being overloaded with the nitrogen-rich water. Lost Valley has been operating for several months now, so far bringing in 16,000 total animals with 8,700 being milking cows. The dairy expects to gradually build its full herd of 30,000 animals over the next several years. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825. The solar eclipse is coming August 21 Come get the coolest eclipse glasses in town at your nearest East Oregonian office, or come visit us at our Umatilla County Fair booth, Aug. 8-12. D L SO T U O $1 EACH Best deal in town! Pick some up for your friends and family while supplies last. East Oregonian 1-800-522-0255 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton 333 East Main St. Hermiston machine, uniforms and some extra bats and balls. The girls practiced on the fi eld near the Round-Up Grounds, the site of Indian Village, so the infi eld was grass — save one circle cut out for home plate. To power the pitching machine, Prouse donated a noisy generator, parking it behind the restrooms to muffl e the sound. The fi eld was in close proximity to an enclosure containing some ornery livestock. “I remember a playoff game at the fi eld when a ball rolled in with the bulls,” she said. No one retrieved the ball, she said, though one boy offered, sure that he could quickly grab the ball before the bull jumped to its feet. His dad said no. There weren’t too many teams in the area to play that opening season. “We played Hermiston eight times that fi rst year,” she said, laughing, adding that the team won two and lost 15 games in all. The next year, after joining with the Intermountain Conference, the team went 11-8. In her 15 years as head coach, the team topped the conference four times and made it to state every year except that fi rst one. Coach Prouse was IMC Coach of the Year in 1993. Three decades later, Prouse has retired. Over the 32 years at the district plus previous years in Beaverton, she coached volleyball at various levels for 39 years, basketball for nine, softball for 21 and golf for 11. She also served as assistant women’s softball coach at Blue Mountain Community College for four seasons. In high school softball, she amassed 199 wins. Three of her volleyball teams — two JV and an eighth-grade team — had undefeated years. In addition, she taught PE to thousands of children from kindergarten through high school. Prouse never had children of her own. “My kids were the kids I coached,” she said. “I took care of them like they were my own.” But that didn’t mean she babied them. Kelli (Chandler-Read) Bullington recalled Prouse coaching her freshman volleyball team. Bullington described Prouse as smart, focused, motivating and demanding. “I remember practice being hard. She was pretty stern,” Bullington said. “If you could make Coach Prouse smile that was really cool.” Coach Prouse’s favorite phrase for when something went wrong, Bullington said, was “it’ll all come out in the wash.” The coach’s love of athletics started early, possibly in the womb. She recalls regularly running three miles around her Beaverton neighborhood with her sister just for fun. As a third-grader, she begged her father to install a basketball hoop in the driveway and he promised he would as soon as she grew as tall as her mother’s shoulder. Prouse measured daily and fi nally her dad put up the hoop. “We’d shoot until dinner and then go out again after- wards,” she said. Prouse went on to run track and play basketball and volleyball at Beaverton High School. Summers she played slow pitch softball. As a senior, she was named “Girl Athlete of the Year.” That same year, her softball team traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, for nationals and got fourth. At Portland State University, she played volleyball, basketball and softball. As a teacher, Prouse liked to mix it up for the young students in her PE classes. She coaxed out physical talent and honed eye-hand coordination with activities such as mini-marathons, juggling, lacrosse and cup stacking. (Her students earned Guinness Book world records for cup stacking seven years in a row.) Prouse also made up original games such as “healthy heart tag.” Her ingenuity spilled into the regular classroom, too. During one downsizing spell in the late ’80s, she was asked by the district to step outside her comfort zone and teach high school sewing classes. Though Prouse didn’t sew, she refused to panic, knowing she had a secret weapon. “At the time, I lived with my grandma who was an excellent seamstress,” Prouse said. Each night, Nellie Jones would tutor her grand- daughter on button holes, zig-zag seams and other sewing skills. “I would have a lesson each night and go the next day and teach what I learned,” she said. “I stayed one step ahead of them.” Fellow teacher Karen Schimmel marveled at Prouse, who taught and coached Schimmel’s children and grandchil- dren. Prouse, Schimmel said, found ways to teach successfully even when budgets were tight at the three schools (Lincoln, Washington and West Hills) where she taught PE. “Ms. Prouse packed up her SUV on a daily basis and transported the more expen- sive items to each school,” Schimmel said. Prouse is preparing to move to Beaverton, where she plans to work on her golf game. She’ll coach freshman volleyball at Beaverton High School and volunteer at Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation. “I want to keep busy,” Prouse said. “And I like kids.” Looking back on the years of coaching and teaching, she refl ected on the hundreds of Pendleton kids who came into her orb. “I always expected the kids to try,” she said. “I loved it when they made their fi rst basket or ran in and jumped rope for the fi rst time. I loved it when their eyes lit up.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. ؏ EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ؏ Part Time - Inside Salesperson Great work environment. Super awesome team. Good base pay PLUS commissions. Retirement plan. Weekends off . Interested? We are looking for a motivated, self-confi dent individual to join our inside sales team at East Oregonian in Pendleton. We have an opening for a part time inside salesperson position. No newspaper experience? No problem, as long as you understand the importance of great customer service, working hard and a desire to enjoy your job. Could this be you? We are seeking a dynamic salesperson to make prospecting phone calls to potential customers and businesses of all types, service existing accounts, be organized and have excellent computer and communication skills. If you’ve been looking for the opportunity to excel in a sales environment, this is it! The right candidate will be organized with a high attention to detail, have a desire to learn and grow their skills and work well in a team environment. Must be very accurate and detail oriented plus have excellent customer service and communication skills. Job qualifi cations include accuracy and speed when typing and spelling, excellent organizational, phone and communication skills. No sales experience required. Part-time, wage plus commission. Benefi ts include Paid Time Off (PTO) and 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group, PO Box 2048 • Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com Come work with us! We are an awesome team.
