OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, August 5, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 11A
FAIR: Illegal parkers
could face fines, towing
Continued from 1A
Photo courtesy Nate Rivera
Hermiston Mayor David Drotzmann lines up for his
turn in a watermelon seed spitting contest Friday, Aug.
4, at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. Portland
Mayor Ted Wheeler, at right, watches.
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Hermiston Mayor David Drotzmann hands out the first
melon at the watermelon giveaway Friday in Portland.
WATERMELONS: Event started in
1991 by former mayor Frank Harkenrider
Continued from 1A
in the world and there’s
no reason to get melons
shipped from anywhere
else,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler also spoke
about other facets of Eastern
Oregon’s largest city.
“Hermiston is a thriving
city,” he said. “While we
think
of
watermelons,
there’s lots of good employ-
ment opportunities. They’re
working very hard under
this mayor on economic
prosperity. It’s good to
take a fun day like this and
remember that we are one
state.”
Drotzmann, too, said he
was glad to be showcasing
Hermiston’s most famous
crop on the west side of the
state.
“Normally when we’re
here, we’re a hundred deep,”
he said. “We’ve got a lot of
good produce to give away.”
Debbie Pedro, president
of the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce, estimated
they were giving away nine
bins of melons, each of
which contained between 20
and 30 melons.
Drotzmann added that
partnering with Portland
was important for both
cities.
“It’s interesting because
Portland is larger than us by
about 650,000. So we think
they have different issues —
but when we sit down with
them, the issues we have are
very similar. We’re thinking
about economic develop-
ment, public safety, housing,
water. How do we, as a state,
continue to be prosperous?”
After the brief remarks,
Drotzmann, Hermiston city
councilors Lori Davis, Rod
Hardin and Jackie Meyers
started handing out melons.
They were joined by Herm-
iston Energy Services super-
intendent Nate Rivera and
Debbie Pedro, Josh Burns,
Shirley Parsons, Ian Coyle
and Cindy Meyers from
the Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce.
Though the crowd wasn’t
as thick as some councilors
recalled in past years,
there was a steady stream
of people throughout the
giveaway. Burns stood at
the corner of Pioneer Court-
house Square, advertising
the presence of free melons
to Portlanders walking past,
which brought in several
waves of eager customers.
Some, though, came
prepared.
Kathy Leichleiter and
Brenda McSweeney were
the first ones in line, waiting
with a small cart with
wheels.
“We’ve come before,”
McSweeney said. “Maybe
10 or more times.”
McSweeney said she
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Hermiston city councilors, chamber members and Mayor David Drotzmann pose
with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler before the watermelon giveaway in Portland
on Friday.
“When it comes
to economic
development, it’s
really exciting
to have friends
across the state.”
— Debbie Pedro,
president of the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler spits a watermelon speed
in his first ever watermelon seed-spitting contest at
the Hermiston watermelon giveaway on Friday.
buys Hermiston melons
when she can, and that her
family loves the fruit.
“They’re nice and sweet,”
Leichleiter said.
Wheeler was scheduled
to meet Drotzmann, Hardin
and Meyers for dinner on
Thursday night, but canceled
about an hour before due
to a Portland City Council
meeting that ran long.
“We
take
public
comment, and it included
use of force issues,” Wheeler
explained of his absence.
“Unfortunately, I was not
able to go to dinner.”
Though this was Wheel-
er’s first watermelon give-
away event as mayor, many
of the Hermiston councilors
and representatives have
been coming for years.
“Over the years, we
would have people up in
their offices, looking down
on the square and waiting
for us to get out here,”
Pedro said. “We’ll recognize
people who’ve been coming
for years.”
Pedro said it’s important
to keep building a partner-
ship with Portland.
“It’s very important to
share the concerns we have
in rural areas and they get
to let us know what’s going
on here,” she said. “When
it comes to economic devel-
opment, it’s really exciting
to have friends across the
state.”
The event, which was
started in 1991 by former
Hermiston Mayor Frank
Harkenrider and former
Portland Mayor Bud Clark,
petered out in the late 2000s,
and was revived three years
ago by Drotzmann and
then-Portland Mayor Charlie
Hales.
Drotzmann remembered
Harkenrider, who passed
away late last month, in his
opening remark at the events.
“He never knew an
enemy,” Drotzmann said.
“He served on our city
council for over 50 years,
and he was the pioneer of
this event.”
Hardin remembered some
of the earlier events, and the
The Irrigon Watermelon Festival would like to thank all the
individuals and businesses who sponsored the Festival. With special
thanks to our major sponsors, Morrow County Unified Recreation Dist
and Bellinger Farms. Please suppport our sponsors by patronizing
their businesses and letting them know how much we appreciate
their community support. Without the tremendous support of our
volunteers,we would not have such a successful event.
Morrow County Unified
Recreation District
Bellinger Farms
Watts Brothers / Lamb
Weston Boardman
Fiesta Foods
Umatilla Electric
Desert Springs Bottled
Water
Jennifer Smith 31 Bags
Morrow County Grain
Growers
Portland Spirit
Silverwood
Dust Devils
Wildhorse Casino
Pendleton Round Up
Walker Furniture
Bi Mart
Wednesday watered and
smoothed the gravel on
Ott Road to prepare it for a
dust abatement application,
and the county is going to
clear away some brush and
weeds along Airport Road
to give better visibility.
Airport Road will be
the only access to and from
the new fairgrounds from
Highway 395, and Little-
field said it is too narrow
for parking on either side.
Drivers who do could be in
some trouble.
Illegal stopping, standing
or parking is a class D traffic
violation under Oregon law,
according to a statement
Thursday from the sheriff’s
office.
“Violators can receive
a minimum fine of $110
and their vehicle can be
towed away without prior
notification,”
according
to the statement. “Please
avoid being a violator by
refraining from parking
in the No Parking Zone
or by blocking a private
driveway.”
Littlefield said the agency
will make efforts to contact
drivers that park illegally to
give them the opportunity
to move their vehicles. The
sheriff’s office doesn’t want
to rely on towing cars unless
it has to, he said.
Fellows and Littlefield
advised fair goers to pay
extra attention when driving
to and from the fair. The
new venue will not be
familiar to everyone, so a
bit of extra precaution could
go a long ways to prevent
any problems.
Parking at the fair-
grounds will cost $5
for each entry, but Mid
Columbia Bus Company
will run free shuttles on
Friday and Saturday from
2-10 p.m.
The shuttles will stop
at the Hermiston Confer-
ence Center, city hall, the
Wal-Mart parking lot near
McDonald’s and Hermiston
High School en route to the
Eastern Oregon Trade &
Event Center.
Law enforcement also
will have a presence at
the fair just as in years
past. Littlefield said other
agencies, such as the Walla
Walla County Sheriff’s
Office, provide extra police
power to keep on eye out.
Having officers on site, he
said, has proved an effective
approach for curtailing any
problems early.
He said it comes down
to having police on site and
not needing them versus
needing them when they are
not there.
Barnett & Moro
Smitty’s
Tri City Americans
Simply Divine Salon &
Day Spa
Rick’s Car Wash
Les Schwab
Pet Sense
Wal Mart DC
Tillamook Cheese
Sage Center
Port of Morrow
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Sergio’s Mexican
Restaurant
Garners, Pendleton
Wesco Paint
Hermiston Auto Parts
(Napa)
Community Women’s
Club
AJ’s Printing
Boardman Foods
Pendleton Round Up
RDO Equipment
Strebin Farms
Columbia Harvest
Foods
Irrigon High School
Cheerleaders &
Gem’s Cheer
Irrigon High School
Wrestlers
Irrigon High School
Key Club
Irrigon High School
Band
Irrigon School
Administrators
Irrigon Rural Fire
District
FOIL, Friend’s of the
Irrigon Library
Morrow County
Sherriff’s
Department
Life Flight
The Irrigon Moose
Lodge
William Pullen & Crew
for Kids Games
Family Worship Center
Stokes Landing Senior
Center
Don & Donna
Eppenbach
Special Thanks to Irrigon Marina Park Board, Caretakers Keith & Brenda Curnutt & Staff, Irrigon Wate rmelon Festival Board,
Committee Members and Advisors Entertainment and advertising funded by Morrow County Unified Recreat ion District
two flamboyant founders of
the watermelon giveaway.
“Bud was kind of a
controversial mayor,” he
said. “I think they (Harken-
rider and Clark) were a
perfect fit. One from a small
city, one from a big city. But
both, you never knew what
was going to come out of
their mouths.”
He recalled one particular
gathering, a few years ago.
“Bud Clark rode his
bicycle to the event, and he
showed up with a water-
melon (bicycle) helmet,”
Hardin said. “That was
the last one they were at
together.”
Hardin said the event is a
good way to remind people
in Portland of the role the
east side of the state plays in
their daily lives.
“It’s mainly to remind
them, most of your food
comes from our direction,”
he said.
———
Contact Jayati
Ramakrishnan at
jramakrishnan@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4534
Contributed photo by ODOT
This salt shed in Jordan Valley is being replicated
by ODOT at eastern Oregon locations, including
Pendleton and Irrigon.
SALT: Is not effective
when it gets too cold out
Continued from 1A
magnesium chloride de-icer
and other tools but will plan
to use salt in certain hard-to-
clear areas in the mountains
when other methods aren’t
cutting it.
“It’s not going to be the
first resort, or even neces-
sarily the second or third,”
Murphy said.
He said the salt won’t
necessarily prevent all
Cabbage Hill closures,
but should make closures
shorter. One of the prob-
lems along Interstate 84 in
Eastern Oregon is the lack
of truck parking in areas
like Baker City, which
pushes the closures farther
and father west as there
becomes nowhere for trucks
to pull off safely even if the
road is clear enough to drive
on.
Although most states
use rock salt on their roads,
including all of Oregon’s
neighbors, Oregon has long
avoided the practice due
to its corrosive effect on
asphalt, bridges and vehi-
cles, as well as concerns
about runoff polluting
nearby soil and streams. But
rock salt is also particularly
effective in quickly melting
through a layer of snow and
ice, which helps prevent the
kind of crashes and closures
that plagued Interstate 84 all
winter.
Murphy said salt isn’t
a cure-all, and in certain
conditions when it gets too
cold it isn’t effective at all.
Use of salt on problem areas
will be left up to the discre-
tion of ODOT’s district
managers.
Cities and counties also
have to grapple with ques-
tions of how best to clear
snowy roads during the
winter. Ron Sivey, Hermis-
ton’s street superintendent,
said that the city does
not use rock salt because
getting set up to store and
use it is too expensive for
the city. The city uses a
liquid de-icer on the roads,
and “will continue to use
that,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
First Aid, Choking
Adult & Infant CPR/AED
Classes Given Monthly
When: Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Where: St. Anthony Hospital
Rooms 3 & 4 • 12pm-5pm
$60-per session:
Includes Manual
Registration Required
Call Emily • 541-278-2627
2801 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, OR. 97801
www.sahpendleton.org