REGION
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
All’s fair in Hermiston during kick-off parade
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
For a chance to see Nev-
erland and Paul Bunyan up
close, the city of Hermiston
turned out in droves.
When the Umatilla
County Fair Parade began
Saturday evening, the side-
walks were packed as a bevy
of floats representing local
businesses, school groups
and service clubs glided
around Hermiston, tossing
candy to eager kids.
Floats
ranged
from
elaborate — a Peter Pan-
themed float built on a
street sweeper, from Con-
nell, Washington — to tradi-
tional, with groups of people
on horseback, pickup flat-
beds, or on foot.
For many, the parade was
about pride in their city and
in their group.
“We’re the 2017 busi-
ness of the year,” said Maria
Garavito of Atkinson Staff-
ing, referring to the Hermis-
ton Distinguished Citizen’s
Award. “We feel proud of
our workers, so this is for
them.”
The Tillamook float had
people from all aspects of
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
The court of the Miss Connell pageant in Connell, Washington, swept into the fair
parade on a Neverland-themed float. For more photos, visit eastoregonian.com.
their company on board,
including
employees’
families.
“Everybody from the
plant manager to people
that do sanitation,” Gon-
zalo Rodriguez, Tillamook’s
safety manager, said.
While many groups
handed out candy, some
stayed on theme with their
businesses.
Tillamook
handed
out
individual
cheese packets and wooden
ice cream spoons. “We
wanted to show some pride
in the product,” Rodriguez
said.
Walchli Farms handed
out watermelons, off the
back of a vehicle carrying an
enormous inflatable slice of
their signature fruit.
Some people reversed
roles — Manuel Velasco of
Templo Abarim was hand-
ing out popsicles and water
to parade participants as the
parade passed by the church,
on Seventh Street.
Church members are
usually in the parade, but
this year they didn’t have a
vehicle.
“We still wanted to be
a part of it,” said Doria
Velasco.
On the sidelines, some
people watched for their
favorite floats, while others
wanted to be surprised.
“I’m looking for some-
thing new,” said Saul
Chairez, who was watch-
ing the parade with family
on Highland, across from
Hermiston High School.
Hermiston Mayor David
Drotzmann rode in one of
several trucks representing
the city of Hermiston.
“I dialed in some better
weather,” Drotzmann said.
He said he was pleased
with the variety of parade
entries, and liked some of
the new features this year,
like the fair kickoff party on
Main Street, and using the
old fairgrounds as a gather-
ing area for the floats.
State Rep. Greg Smith
and his wife Sherri were this
year’s grand marshals.
They’re Morrow County
residents, but the Smiths
said they attend the parade
and fair every year.
Smith said his favor-
ite float, other than a huge
Paul Bunyan and Babe from
Ranch and Home, were the
local Future Farmers of
America floats.
“That’s what the fair is
all about, families, kids and
community,” he said.
Though the parade drew
people from neighboring
counties and Washington,
one spectator changed time
zones to be there.
“We traveled 2,852
miles,” said Karen Flabetich.
She and her daughter, Sarah,
live in Maui. Flabetich grew
up in Hermiston, and came
back to visit her relatives.
“But we wanted to come
so my daughter could see the
fair,” she said.
She recalled riding her
bicycle in the fair parade
with her neighbors when she
was young, and winning an
award for their costumes.
The parade kicks off the
Umatilla County Fair, which
starts Tuesday, August 7 at
the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Events Center, at 1705
E. Airport Road.
When wildfire strikes home, preparation can help
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Homeowners who lose
their homes to wildfire are
often covered by insurance,
but it helps to know how
that insurance works before
disaster hits.
The NW Insurance Coun-
cil, a trade association of
insurance companies in the
Pacific Northwest, is recom-
mending that people take a
moment this fire season to
review their insurance pol-
icy and discuss it with their
insurance company or agent
to make sure they have the
right coverage for what they
want to cover — particularly
if they have recently added
on to their home, remodeled
or made other changes that
could affect their policy.
The same applies to busi-
ness owners, and even rent-
ers can be reimbursed for
the loss of their belong-
ings if they have renters
Heat brings
record-level temps
East Oregonian
The heat wave roll-
ing in this week could
carry
record-breaking
temperatures.
The National Weather
Service is forecasting Pend-
leton to reach 100 on Tues-
day, 105 on Wednesday and
106 on Thursday. The fed-
eral service predicts Herm-
iston’s highs over the same
days as 104, 110 and 111.
The National Weather
Service reported Hermiston
in 1972 set record highs of
106 on Aug. 7, 108 on Aug.
8 and 107 on Aug. 9. Herm-
iston temperatures are taken
at the Hermiston airport,
next door to the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center,
the home of the Umatilla
County Fair.
Pendleton’s record for
Aug. 7 is 109 at the city’s
airport on Airport Hill, sev-
8/6-7
insurance.
LuAnne Davison, a State
Farm insurance agent in
Hermiston, said for stick-
built homes, the typical pol-
icy is a replacement cost
policy that would replace
“like kind and quality” that
had been previously dis-
closed to the insurance com-
pany. If someone adds a
room onto their house and
doesn’t update their policy,
they could find themselves
under-covered if something
happens.
After policy holders are
clear on what their pol-
icy covers, NW Insur-
ance Council suggests they
create a complete “home
inventory”
documenting
their possessions through
receipts, photos, videos,
contracts and other items
stored somewhere that will
be accessible after a fire.
Adjusters can settle claims
more quickly with that
documentation.
Davison said people used
to fill out inventory booklets
listing everything in their
home, but these days most
people snap photos with
their smartphones and store
them in the cloud to help
substantiate their claims.
It also helps jog peoples’
memories about exactly
how many shoes, DVDs or
plates they own.
“We tell people to open
their cupboard doors, open
their closets, open their
dresser drawers and take
pictures,” she said. “A pic-
ture is worth $1,000.”
If the worst happens and
your home does burn down
or get damaged by fire, the
sooner you start the claims
process the sooner you can
get the funds you need. The
NW Insurance Council sug-
gests contacting an insur-
ance representative as soon
as possible to provide an ini-
tial description of the dam-
age and a phone number
eral hundred feet higher
than the elevation of down-
town. The record for Aug. 8
is 111, also from 1972, while
the record high for Aug. 9 of
106 came in 1971.
All that pales in compar-
ison to Aug. 10. 1898, when
downtown Pendleton topped
119, although weather ser-
vice staff caution that might
not be accurate.
The oven lets off begin-
ning Friday, according to the
National Weather Service,
and high temps slide into
the mid to upper 80s for the
weekend.
where you can be reached.
Having insurance policy
documents on hand is help-
ful but not required to start
a claim.
Most insurance agencies
will offer immediate cash
to help cover basic living
expenses in the aftermath.
When it is safe to do so,
take pictures or videos of
the damaged property.
“Don’t discard anything
that is damaged until it has
been examined by your
adjuster,” the tips suggest.
“You could miss out on cov-
erage for that item.”
The NW Insurance
Council warns against pay-
ing a significant amount for
temporary repairs without
first being authorized by the
insurance adjuster, because
the insurance company
might deem the bill “exces-
sive” and not reimburse it.
Davison noted, how-
ever, that people do have a
responsibility to mitigate
damage. If there is a hole
in their roof, for example,
they’re expected to get that
covered as soon as possible
to prevent rain from coming
in and further damaging the
home.
Contractors and subcon-
tractors are extremely busy
in the Hermiston area and
rates are getting higher, but
Davison said if the insur-
ance company’s claims rep-
resentative and the contrac-
tor have different estimates
of the cost for repairs, the
company will review the
reason for the discrepancy.
The best thing people
can do is prevent their home
from burning down in the
first place, she said. People
should follow recommenda-
tions from fire departments
that include things like
safe storage of flammable
items, clearing brush and
tree branches from around
homes and properly screen-
ing chimneys.
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