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