REGION
Thursday, September 14, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Fire crews save South Hill homes
Good Shepherd adds
two more surgeons
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Pendleton
firefighters
Wednesday
morning
quenched a field blaze that
threatened multiple homes
and an apartment building.
The fire occurred around
10:30 a.m. on the brush-cov-
ered hill above Southeast
Goodwin Avenue at Southeast
Third Street. The burn moved
toward homes both up the hill
and along Goodwin.
Residents helped each
other before police or fire
crews arrived. Liv and Gary
Wyatt said a neighbor warned
them to get out of their house
at 208 S.E. Goodwin. They
joined others across the street
in front of the Pendleton
Animal Welfare Shelter and
watched the flames reach into
a tree near their back yard.
Liz Wyatt said they moved
into the home in April, and
they had survived a home fire
in the 1970s when they lived
in Condon.
“We were almost statistics
in (that) fire,” Gary Wyatt
said.
Shannon Blood said
she was on the deck of her
house on the 600 block of
Southeast Third Street and
smelled smoke but didn’t
think too much of it, due to the
increase in haze from regional
wildfires. Then she saw some
puffs of smoke, and then ash.
“These hills get really dry
around this time of year and
there’s nothing you can do
about it,” Blood said.
She, her husband and their
daughter live in a large house
with five chickens, five dogs
and two cats — and they
were all safe. The couple’s
two sons live in the smaller
house next door and Blood
described how she “pounded
and pounded” on the their
door to get them out.
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton firefighters battle a brush fire burning on a hillside off Southeast Third
Street and Hailey Avenue on Wednesday in Pendleton.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A Pendleton firefighter sprays down a wooden retain-
ing wall while battling a brush fire on a hillside near
Southeast Third Street and Hailey Avenue on Wednes-
day in Pendleton.
Pendleton police arrived
within moments, Blood said,
and told her to leave the area.
Pilot Rock and the Umatilla
Indian Reservation fire depart-
ments joined Pendleton in the
effort to contain the blaze, as
did the Oregon Department
of Forestry. Teams primarily
attacked from above to keep
flames from an apartment
building, Blood’s property
and other homes.
Pendleton Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo said the fire was strong
when they arrived, so crews
took on “point protection” to
keep flames from houses.
“It appears we’ve been
successful thus far,” he said
on scene. “We haven’t lost
any structures.”
Establishing the control
line, however, took some time
because finding water supplies
was a challenge. Crews were
able to get on the fire “right
away,” he said, but the dearth
of personnel meant letting the
fire burn west, although that
posed no threat to homes.
Even so, firefighters
contained the blaze within an
hour, but Ciraulo said plenty
of work remained and they
stayed on the scene into the
afternoon.
Liz Wyatt said she was
thankful her old home’s
windows don’t open and thus
kept out the smoke. Blood
said the smoke damage might
force her family to repaint.
Ciraulo also said the fire’s
cause is under investigation.
HERMISTON
Disc golfers get ready to drive in the desert
Hermiston has two new
surgeons in town.
Patrick Harrison, D.O.,
has joined Advanced Ortho-
pedics and Sports Medicine
from Kearney, Nebraska,
where he has been prac-
ticing since 2015. He is now
accepting new patients.
Good Shepherd Medical
Group Vice President Troy
LeGore said in a statement
that having another ortho-
pedic surgeon is good news
for Umatilla and Morrow
counties, because the area
is facing an active, but
aging population. Medical
journals project that in the
next 20 years there will be
a 174 percent increase in
patients in need of a hip
replacement, and a 673
percent increase in knee
replacements.
“The addition of Dr.
Harrison will help with the
demand for care that our
community already has,”
LeGore said.
According to a news
release
from
GSMG,
Harrison has been practicing
the anterior approach to hip
replacements, custom-cut-
ting guides approach to
knee replacements and
platelet-rich plasma injec-
tions for osteoarthritis, all of
which improve the patient
experience by reducing time
in surgery and/or recovery.
Harrison brings with him
a wife and three children,
one of whom is in college.
His hobbies include golfing,
hunting and fishing.
To schedule an appoint-
ment, call 541-298-7075.
Earlier in the month Good
Shepherd also welcomed
R. Todd Jones, M.D., who
is working as a general
surgeon. He will work with
primary care physicians,
emergency room physicians
and hospitalists to provide
procedures for a variety of
conditions, and has exten-
sive specialized training in
treating venous disease such
as varicose veins, ulcers and
deep vein thrombosis.
Jones is a native of
Bellingham, Washington,
and recently completed his
residency at Metropolitan
Hospital of New York. His
wife Jennifer Poste, M.D., is
a local endocrinologist.
“Working in a smaller
community really gives me
a chance to have a more
intimate relationship with
my patients and their fami-
lies — something that ‘big
city’ medicine would never
have to offer,” he said in a
statement.
To schedule an appoint-
ment, call 541-667-3804.
BRIEFLY
Pendleton grief
support center to
hold open house
PENDLETON —
Cason’s Place, a nonprofit
grief support center based
in Pendleton, will hold an
open house on Sept. 24
from 2-4 p.m.
“Community
members, families, school
representatives, pastors,
counselors, and all others
are encouraged to drop in
to see the talking rooms,
volcano room, theater
room, hospital room, art
room and other therapeutic
activity rooms and to find
out more about the grief
support services now
offered to children and
families in our region,”
Debbie McBee, a Cason’s
Place board member and
publicity chairman, wrote
in a press release.
Cason’s Place provides
grief support to children,
teens and their families
who have experienced the
death of a loved one. The
nonprofit acquired its 1416
S.E. Court Ave. facility, a
former hospice, from St.
Anthony Hospital earlier
this year.
The first grief support
meeting will be held Oct.
19. For more information,
call 541-612-0828 or visit
the organization’s website
at www.casonsplace.org.
with a preview night for
members of the library
friends. It is Thursday,
Sept. 21 from 5-7 p.m. at
the library, 235 E. Gladys
Ave. Memberships can be
purchased at the door.
The regular hours are
Friday, Sept. 22 from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Saturday, Sept. 23 from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which
features all the books you
can stuff into a bag for $1.
The selection includes a
large variety of fiction and
non-fiction titles.
For more information,
call 541-567-2882 or visit
www.hermistonlibrary.us.
While
returning
a
boomerang Richmond acci-
dentally tossed on Zielke’s
daughter’s house, Zielke
noticed a disc golf sticker on
Richmond’s truck. Zielke told
Wilkinson and Richmond
about an upcoming commu-
nity planning meeting.
Wilkinson and Richmond
were immediately on board
— spreading the word with
other disc golf enthusiasts via
the Umatilla Disc Golf Club
Facebook page. While talk
about a course in Hermiston
has been discussed over the
years, players walked away
even more hopeful after the
September 2016 planning
meeting.
Flemmer, Zielke said,
began researching course
designs on the internet. Even-
tually, he plotted the 18-hole
course so it was within
regulations.
Having a larger layout
with some open areas is an
attraction for disc golfers,
Richmond said. He expects
the Hermiston course will
contribute to the growth of
the sport.
“It has championship
size holes and pads, so that’s
exciting,” Wilkinson said. “If
you build it, they will come.”
———
Contact
Community
Editor Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
STUDENT
City, irrigation district recognized for reuse project
WEEK
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Area disc golf enthusiasts
will soon have another course
where they can let the plastic
fly and rattle some chains.
A dedication ceremony for
Hermiston Desert Disc Golf
is Wednesday, Sept. 20, at
5:30 p.m. at the Oxbow Trail,
located at 1100 N.W. Elm
Ave. The first phase of the
course, which includes nine
holes, will be available to the
public free of charge.
“The nice part of it is
the Oxbow Trail meanders
through the area,” Fetter said.
Scott Zielke, who works
in the maintenance depart-
ment at Good Shepherd, said
the course correlates with
the walking trail, but doesn’t
require players to toss discs
over the path.
A number of key players
have pitched in to make the
Hermiston Desert Disc Golf
course a reality, said Larry
Fetter, director of Herm-
iston Parks & Recreation.
In addition to the city of
Hermiston, the project is the
result of cooperative efforts
between the Hermiston
Irrigation District, the Good
Shepherd Community Health
Foundation and the board and
administration of Good Shep-
herd Health Care System.
The hospital foundation
provided a $15,000 grant for
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Several discs and bags sit on the gazebo at the Oxbow
Trail, which is home of Hermiston Desert Disc Golf. The
course will be dedicated Sept. 20.
the project. The foundation,
Fetter said, favors projects
that are wellness-related and
likes the idea that it will get
people outside and exer-
cising.
“They really like this
project, especially with
no cost to participants and
everyone can do it,” Fetter
said.
Initially a grassroots effort,
Fetter said a small group
of disc golfers approached
the city to discuss possible
locations for a course. Zielke
and hospital co-workers Jake
Flemmer and Kathy Williams
were aware of some hospi-
tal-owned acreage. Although
the plot of land wasn’t large
enough for a course, coupled
with
irrigation
district
property it makes for a more
than viable location for an
eventual sprawling 18-hole
course.
A chance encounter
between Zielke, a novice disc
golfer, and Matt Richmond
and Ginger Wilkinson, both
officers with the Umatilla
Disc Golf Club, resulted in
a discussion about the possi-
bility of developing a course
in Hermiston.
HERMISTON
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A water-reuse project by
the city of Hermiston and
West Extension Irrigation
District that is the first of
its kind in the state is being
recognized for its innova-
tion.
The
Oregon
Water
Resources Department gave
the project, which uses recy-
cled water from the city for
irrigation, the Tyler Hansell
Agricultural
Efficiency
Award.
The water being used
comes from the city’s recy-
cled water treatment plant,
which churns out a final
product that plant manager
William Schmittle calls
“virtually indistinguishable
from drinking water.”
It is clean enough to
be piped into the Umatilla
River, but not always cool
enough during summer
months (rivers that get too
warm are unhealthy for
fish that swim upstream to
spawn). A year ago the city
started sending it into the
West Extension Irrigation
District’s main canal instead
during warm months.
Bev
Bridgewater,
manager of the irrigation
district, said every additional
bit of water helps the district.
“It’s been consistent, reli-
able and we’ve been able to
put it to good use,” she said.
Bridgewater said the
project’s uniqueness is
probably what contributed to
the award. When the district
and the city got the needed
permits to start using the
water in August 2016, it was
the first time anyone in the
state had done so.
“We had a city willing
to step up and get the work
done,” she said.
Hermiston city manager
Byron Smith said if the city
hadn’t been able to send the
water to the irrigation district,
it would have had to install
some sort of cooling equip-
ment instead. The process to
get the needed permits was
long and complicated, but he
said it was worth it in order
to make sure the water was
able to be reused in a way
that helps contribute to the
area’s economy.
“That was a driver for
us,” he said.
He said from the city’s
standpoint the arrangement
has been working well, and
they are pleased to have
been able to partner with the
irrigation district to make it
happen.
The Tyler Hansell Agri-
cultural Efficiency Award is
given each year to “a recip-
ient that has demonstrated
leadership in the area of agri-
cultural water management,
increasing the efficiency of
water use, while continuing
to support agriculture as
a vital part of Oregon’s
economy,” according to the
Oregon Water Resources
Department website.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Library friends
set book sale
HERMISTON — The
Friends of the Hermiston
Library is holding its
annual book sale.
The event opens
Leadership class
installs Butte
Park benches
HERMISTON — The
public is invited to help
celebrate the installation of
new benches at Butte Park.
The Leadership
Hermiston Class 20 raised
money for the project
this past spring at their
class’s service project. The
ribbon-cutting event is
Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 5:30
p.m. at the park’s soccer
fields near the trail leading
up to the Hermiston Butte,
1245 N.W. Seventh St.
Leadership Hermiston is
a 10-month class sponsored
by the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce. Participants
meet once a month to
network, gain leadership
skills, tour facilities and
learn more about the
community. For more
information, contact
Debbie Pedro at debbie@
hermistonchamber.com or
541-567-6151.
OF THE
Mason Hegar
RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Mason Hegar is a senior at Riverside Jr/Sr High
School. As a student at Riverside, Mason has been
a leader on the varsity Football, Basketball, and
Baseball teams. Not only has he been a leader
athletically, Mason has also volunteered in the
community as a flag football coach, referee for youth
sports and is part of the National Honor Society.
Mason is known for his work ethic in the classroom,
community and extra-curricular activities. Mason
has plans to attend college after graduating this year,
and is currently planning to attend Blue Mountain
Community College.
Proudly Sponsored By
Proudly Sponsored By:
75906 Threemile Rd, Boardman OR 97818
www.threemilecanyonfarms.com