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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2017)
NOVEMBER 22, 2017 SPECIAL SECTION / WEDNESDAY, / EAST OREGONIAN / PAGE 1C N FARM FAIR ON HERMISTO 44TH ANNUAL HERMIST 29 to December 1, at the Seminars & Tradeshow will be November 1705 E. Airport Rd, Hermiston. Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center, THIS WAY THANKSGIVING EDITION INSIDE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | 2C PRECISION IRRIGATION | 4C FARMING VETERANS | 5C BIG IDAHO TATERS | 6C BLACK F RID DEALS A AY N SALES IN D SIDE November 2017 RECEPTION TO FEATURE LOCALLY TWO SPECIAL SECTIONS INSIDE: INSPIRED DISHES By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group rench fries, hash browns and Tillamook cheese packs are dietary staples at the annual Hermiston Farm Fair, providing a quick, dependable snack for attendees in between day-long seminars about growing healthy crops. This year, organizers decided to expand of the Farm Fair’s culinary offering as part an opening day reception Wednesday, Nov. ven- 29 for event sponsors and trade show dors, featuring simple dishes such as Asian carrot salad and whole grain blueberry muf- fi ns that showcase the region’s vast agricul- tural variety. 7 The reception will run from 5:15 to at p.m., closing out the fi rst day of Farm Fair the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. Debbie Pedro, director of the Greater Herm- they said iston Area Chamber of Commerce, the expect to serve at least 100 people over course of the evening. It is the fi rst year the Farm Fair will host and a reception for sponsors and vendors, should not be confused with the public Farm p.m. Fair Banquet, which is scheduled for 6 Thursday, Nov. 30 at the Hermiston Con- may ference Center. Tickets are $30, and be purchased at the chamber of commerce offi ce. Angie Treadwell, SNAP-Ed Program coordinator for Umatilla and Morrow coun- the ties, was put in charge of the menu for reception, and has tracked down a number po- of recipes making use of locally grown tatoes, carrots, broccoli and other veggies. F Christmas events come into motion in Pendleton Page 3 Angie Treadwell, Umatilla-Morrow SNAP-Ed Program Coordinator, helps prepare food. Randy and Sharon Bigot won the best classical use classical incandescent residential display in bulbs and hard-shelled the lawn ornaments in the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Christmas lighting contest. decorations. The Bigots Your guides to the 44 th Hermiston Farm Fair and holiday events around the region See FARE, Page C8 | Recipes for locally grown food | Go ahead, make it yourself Gifts that taste as good as they look Page 5 Four ways to survive holiday gifting Page 6 This year, pass the turkey and the family photos Page 7 NOVEMBER 22-23, 2017 142nd Year, No. 26 PENDLETON O’ Neill wins vote for board president $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WALMART vs. AMAZON IN EASTERN OREGON RETAIL BATTLEFIELD Stockholders nearly buck board nomination By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian A stockholder rebellion nearly toppled the Pendleton Round-Up Board of Directors pick for president. The Round-Up’s annual stockholder meeting is usually a sedate gathering where the board of directors picks a president and board members and update investors on the current state and future of the rodeo — while many sip on Pendleton whisky. But Tuesday’s event was a dramatic departure from the standard meeting, as a large minority of stockholders tried to elect former Director Carl Culham over the board’s pick, former Director Dave O’Neill. According to Round-Up Publicity Director Randy Thomas, there are approxi- mately 444 shareholders, and at times it seemed like almost all of them were represented in the Let’Er Buck Room. A line snaked out the door as staff checked IDs The tussle started almost immediately when a stockholder moved to close nominations after O’Neill was nominated. After a voice vote proved too close to call, a clear show of hands turned down the motion. Another stockholder nominated Carl Culham to run against O’Neill and subsequent a motion was approved to vote through a paper ballot rather than the usual voice vote. Indians Director Rob Collins tried to get supporters and the candidates to make speeches before voters submitted their ballots, but he was able to garner only two testimonials before almost every stockholder voted. Round-Up volunteer Connie Caplinger said she appreciated Culham’s atten- tion to volunteers while Tim Hawkins, a former Round-Up president, said the voters should put trust in their board. “If we trust them to run our rodeo, how the hell do See ROUND-UP/16A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A semi-truck enters the Wal-Mart distribution center on Tuesday outside of Hermiston. Big businesses compete for consumers in stores and online By PHIL WRIGHT and GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian More to come Two of the biggest names in retail are investing serious money in Umatilla and Morrow counties as they wage a multi-billion dollar battle for the hearts and wallets of consumers across the globe. Walmart, which has stores in Pendleton and Hermiston as well as a massive distribution center just south of Hermiston, disperses an annual payroll of $63 million in Umatilla County. Amazon, meanwhile, has grown into the world’s largest online retailer, and has spent more than $2 billion building new data centers in Morrow County alone. Both corporate giants have estab- lished a major presence in the area, and neither appear to be letting up as they duel for shopping supremacy. That has added local jobs and grown the local tax base. Brick and mortar Tom Heidegger, who is based in Pasco, is the market manager for 12 Walmart stores in Eastern Oregon, eastern Washington and parts of Local businesses fi ght to capture a share of sales. In Saturday’s Edition Staff photo by E.J. Harris To keep up with their online demand Amazon has 16 data centers built or under construction in Umatilla and Morrow counties. Idaho. He was at the recent reopening of the Pendleton store following weeks of major upgrades and told the crowd of associates — Walmart’s term for employees — a hard truth: Walmart did not always have a good connection to the community and customers of Pendleton. Tuesday during a phone inter- view, Heidegger said that situation had to change. He has been market manager for 10 years, he said, and recognized Pendleton is a tight-knit community. Previous managers of the Pendleton store did not even live in town. Memories of Celilo Ed Edmo recalls fi shing on lost falls See RETAIL/16A Keep the empty seat warm L he was six months old. The family lived in a house built from railroad ties. They had ast Thanksgiving afternoon we arrived at the La Quinta Inn in Caldwell, Idaho, road weary in the way all parents of small children understand. Hauling as many bags, stuffed animals and miscellaneous snack packages as my arms and shoulders could bear, I stepped up to the check-in counter. “I have a reservation for Wattenburger,” I said, “W-A-T-T ...” A smile crossed the clerk’s face. “You’re Bill’s son-in-law?” she asked. Daniel She had met Bill Tatum. Wattenburger It didn’t come as a Comment surprise anymore. Every employee and patron of every establishment Bill frequented got to know Bill, and vice versa. Given two minutes he would learn their hometown, parents’ hometown, name and number of siblings and weekend plans — and he’d share in kind. Bill, faithfully married to the same woman since the Carter administration, could have taught a course in speed dating. See EDMO/16A See THANKSGIVING/16A By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Ed Edmo remembers the day Celilo Falls vanished. As the waters rose on that day in 1957, the roar of the falls fell silent. Fishing platforms and the village of Celilo disappeared under a hungry Columbia River. An iconic Indian fi shing area just vanished as if it had never existed. But it had. For Edmo and other Indians, the memory still brings pain. “It hurt my heart to see that,” he said. Edmo was 11 that day. His father let him skip school to watch the water rise. The Shoshone-Bannock Indian grew up near the falls, which served as a prime fi shing area and trading “They weren’t doing anything, really, as far as the community goes,” he said. Shawna Nulf, going on four years as the Pendleton store manager, does live in town, as did her predecessor. Heidegger said their personal pres- ence makes a difference. Nulf, for example, is involved with charities, including Relay for Life, and is a new Pendleton Chamber of Commerce ambassador. That’s the kind of connection the corporation can’t just buy. “Shawna has really made it her home,” Heidegger said. “She’s a perfect fi t for the community.” Nulf said she has grown to see the Pendleton crew as an extended family. She oversees 230 employees at the Pendleton Walmart, 70 percent of whom work full time. Heidegger Staff photo by Kathy Aney Ed Edmo, who grew up near Celilo Falls, tells a story Tuesday at Blue Mountain Community College. center, known as the “Wall Street of the West.” Edmo’s family moved to Celilo Falls from the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Nevada when