Page 4C
East Oregonian
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
Saturday, May 12, 2018
ORDNANCE: The property was sold and turned into a hog farm
Continued from 1C
“I don’t remember that,”
Simmons said.
“Oh you’re lucky,” Van-
Blokland said with a shud-
der. “I still think about that
sometimes.”
Linder remembers he and
his friends using a particu-
larly well-placed tree limb
to climb on the roof of one
of the buildings, and once a
friend used a bow to shoot
an arrow straight up in the
air, only to have it come
down point-first on his dad’s
brand new car.
Children in Ordnance
went to school there through
sixth grade, then got bused
into Hermiston. Ron Furrer,
who graduated from Herm-
iston High School with many
former Ordnance children,
said he remembered Ord-
nance was “pretty uptown
for that day and age.”
The shopping center
included a beauty store,
dime store and grocery store,
while the community cen-
ter featured everything from
a playground to Sunday
School classes. Residents
could borrow lawn mowers
and garden rakes, and sur-
plus items from the depot
like wooden ammunition
boxes were re-purposed.
“We thought we had
everything, until we moved
to town (in Hermiston),”
Simmons said.
In the mid-1950s, the
government announced it
would be phasing out Ord-
nance and selling it, and
families began leaving. Fur-
rer said as the place emp-
tied out the Army used to
let people pay to knock
down the wall between their
apartment and the one next
door to expand their living
area.
VanBlokland said her
family was one of the last
to leave in the early 1960s
because her father did the
maintenance for Ordnance.
The property was sold
to state legislator Staf-
ford Hansell, who turned
it into a hog farm. A 1964
article in the East Orego-
nian described a “vast pork
factory” with 1,300 sows
housed inside 348 former
apartments with new cement
floors and pens around each
fourplex building. An Asso-
ciated Press story from
around the same time said
Hansell’s wife was irritated
that the pigs got air-con-
ditioning before their own
home did.
“It made me really sick
driving by, seeing the pigs
oinking around going in
and out of the buildings
where we lived,” Linder
remembered.
Photo contributed by Ron Furrer
A fifth grade class photo from the 1952-1953 school year shows Linda Johnson (now VanBlokland), top left, and other children who attended
the school in Ordnance.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
An old hanger sits on a table outside of the communi-
ty center building.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The old townsite was purchased in the 1960s by Stafford Hansell and turned into a
hog farm.
Craig Coleman of Ord-
nance Brewing in Board-
man has owned the land
since 2005 and jokes he’s
the “self-proclaimed mayor”
of Ordnance now. He said
he has put in work saving
what parts of the history and
infrastructure he can, but
much of it had already been
demolished or crumbled
to pieces of its own accord
before he purchased it.
“We were able to save the
old schoolhouse, and put it
back to use, but everything
else pretty much is too far
gone,” he said.
The schoolhouse is used
for an agricultural chemical
business housed on the prop-
erty, and the one dwelling
still in good repair is office
space. The old community
center, which Hansell used
as a farrowing house, and
a couple of other dwell-
ings are still partially stand-
ing, but most of the rest of
the buildings have been
reduced to rubble and bits of
foundation.
“I hate people seeing how
horrible it is, because it was
a really nice community,”
VanBlokland said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Photo contributed by Bill Linder
The Ordnance shopping center is shown during the
days when Ordnance was a thriving town.
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN
Perfect French omelets
are quick, satisfying
Unlike diner-style omelets burst-
ing with cheese, meat, and vegetables,
French omelets are rolled, not folded,
over minimal filling. Served for break-
fast or as a light lunch or supper with
a salad, a golden-hued, Gruyere-laced
French omelet is elegant and satisfying.
Because making these omelets is
such a quick process, America’s Test
Kitchen recommends having all your
ingredients and equipment at the ready.
If you don’t have chopsticks or skew-
ers to stir the eggs, use the handle of a
wooden spoon.
America’s Test Kitchen via AP
The cookbook “Cooking
at Home with Bridget &
Julia.”
AP Photo/Marcia Dunn
Chicago-area college student Casey McCoy shows the
self-portrait he created from more than 3,000 Lego bricks
at Brickworld Chicago in Schaumburg, Ill., in June 2017.
Every June, Lego enthusiasts from around the world de-
scend on Schaumburg, a northwestern suburb of Chica-
go, to build Legos, display Legos, play Legos, swap Legos,
win Legos and more. This year’s convention is June 13-17.
Lego-obsessed crowd
packs convention every
June near Chicago
SCHAUMBURG,
Ill.
(AP) — If you think five
straight days of Lego are for
the kiddie set, think again.
Brickworld Chicago is a
convention aimed at adults.
Teens are welcome. So are
tweens. But better nab a
grown-up, boys and girls, if
you want to hang with this
Lego-obsessed crowd. Chil-
dren under 18 must be accom-
panied by adults.
Every June, Lego enthu-
siasts from around the world
descend on Schaumburg, Illi-
nois, a northwestern suburb of
Chicago, to build Legos, dis-
play Legos, play Legos, swap
Legos, win Legos and more.
And no skateboarding,
please, on the exhibition floor.
No need to ask why, what
with hundreds of painstak-
ingly crafted Lego creations
filling the hall.
This year’s convention is
June 13-17.
PERFECT FRENCH OMELET
Servings: 2
Start to finish: 30 minutes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
½ teaspoon vegetable oil
4 large eggs plus 2 large yolks, chilled
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons shredded Gruyere cheese
4 teaspoons minced fresh chives
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to
200 degrees. Place 2 heatproof plates on rack.
Cut 1 tablespoon butter in half and set aside. Cut remain-
ing 1 tablespoon butter into small pieces, transfer to small
bowl, and place in freezer while preparing eggs and skillet,
at least 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oil in 8-inch nonstick skillet over low heat
for 10 minutes. Crack 2 eggs into medium bowl and add 1
egg yolk. Add 1/8 teaspoon salt and pinch pepper. Break
egg yolks with fork, then use fork to beat eggs at moderate
pace, about 80 strokes, until yolks and whites are well com-
bined. Stir in half of frozen butter.
When skillet is fully heated, use paper towels to wipe out
oil, leaving thin film on bottom and sides of skillet. Melt
½ tablespoon reserved butter in skillet, swirling to coat.
Add egg mixture and increase heat to medium-high. Use
2 chopsticks or wooden skewers to scramble eggs, using
quick circular motion to move around skillet, scraping
cooked egg from side of skillet as you go, until eggs are
almost cooked but still slightly runny, 45 to 90 seconds. Turn
off heat (remove skillet from heat if using electric burner)
and smooth eggs into even layer using heat-resistant
rubber spatula. Sprinkle
omelet with 1 table-
spoon Gruyere and 2
teaspoons chives. Cover
skillet with tight-fitting
lid and let sit for 1 min-
ute for runnier omelet
or 2 minutes for firmer
omelet.
Carl Tremblay/America’s Test Kitchen via AP
Heat skillet over low
The Perfect French Omelet
heat for 20 seconds,
uncover, and, using
rubber spatula, loosen edges of omelet from skillet. Place
folded paper towel on warmed plate and slide omelet out
of skillet onto paper towel so that omelet lies flat on plate
and hangs about 1 inch off paper towel. Using paper towel,
roll omelet into neat cylinder and set aside. Return skillet to
low heat and heat for 2 minutes before repeating instruc-
tions for second omelet, starting with cracking eggs into
medium bowl and adding 1 egg yolk. Serve.