The pennant bearers perform the grand entry at the start
of the Farm-City Pro Rodeo on Wednesday in Hermiston.
For more on the Farm-City Pro Rodeo, see Page 1B.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2018
142nd Year, No. 199
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
BOARDMAN
UMATILLA COUNTY FAIR
Neal to
succeed
father
as Port
manager
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Port of Morrow has a
new helmsman.
Ryan Neal, the current
general manager of ware-
housing for the Port of Mor-
row, was
selected
unani-
mously
by the
p o r t
c o m -
mission,
and will
fill the
r o l e
Neal
to
be
vacated by his father Gary
this fall.
Neal said he was excited
for the opportunity to con-
tinue building on the suc-
cesses of the current port
staff.
“I’d like to continue our
strategic plan, and drive
economic development,” he
said. “I think we always try
to find solutions to what-
ever problems we run into,
whether permitting or finan-
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Chris Biro of McNea, Arizona, holds out one of his sun conure parrots for it to take a dollar bill from Grace Hartly, 16, of Umatilla
during a performance of Biro’s “Pirate’s Parrot Show” on Wednesday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston.
Show on the road
Entertainers and carnival
workers talk about life
on and off the fair circuit
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
T
See POM/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Zoe Jones of Boise replaces popped balloons in a
booth in the Davis Amusement carnival.
here’s no place like a county fair
to spend a carefree summer day,
spinning on a carnival ride or
watching a magic show.
For the people behind the fun, it’s
more than just seasonal shiftwork.
Many performers and carnival work-
ers devote their whole year to the
rides and shows most people just see
once a year.
“When people say they’re going
back to a real job, this is as real as
it gets,” said Jim Dowis, a third-gen-
eration carnival worker who does
maintenance work for Davis Amuse-
ment Cascadia, the company running
the carnival at the Umatilla County
Fair. “We work hard out here.”
See ROAD/8A
PENDLETON
Portland couple loses RV to fire during lunch stop
By BRITTANY NORTON
East Oregonian
Susan Moen and Phil Saun-
ders had just bought their RV in
April. But on Wednesday after-
noon a fire engulfed the vehicle
while on a pit stop in Pendleton.
Although fire crews put out
the flames it was unsalvageable.
It now sits in The Saddle Restau-
rant and Lounge parking lot as a
blackened shell.
Moen and Saunders, from
Portland, spent three months
refurbishing their new pur-
chase. They bought a carburetor,
cleaned the fuel tank, installed a
rug and vinyl in the interior and
painted it, Moen said. They just
left home yesterday for plans of
a weeklong road trip visiting var-
ious family members in Boise,
Lewiston and Spokane. They
stopped at the Saddle Restaurant
and Lounge on Southeast Court
Avenue to eat lunch a little after
noon. An hour later, Saunders
See RV/8A
Pendleton
firefighters
attack a
recreational
vehicle fully
engulfed in
flames in the
parking lot of
The Saddle
Restaurant
and Lounge
on Wednes-
day in
Pendleton.
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris