C2 YOUR EO NEWS East Oregonian Duck Race thrives with community support HERMISTON — The inaugural Duck Race, coor- dinated by Hermiston Lead- ership Class #22, raised $17,064.33 for Made to Thrive. The Hermiston-based nonprofit organization aims to stop the cycle of child abuse, neglect and poverty by providing access to adventure activities, sports, music and the arts to vulnerable youths. Made to Thrive serves more than 200 youths annually, ranging in age from 3-19. The overall winner of the June 1 Duck Race, which was held at Riverfront Park, was Kristy Sparks, who won $1,000 cash. Other winners included Levi Hayden (TV), Clarabelle Pollock (bike and pool gift certificate), Sandy Obrist (wine basket), Craig Kopta (wine basket) and Bonnie Luisi (fan, bowling gift certificate and Delish gift certificate). Event title sponsors include Umatilla Electric Photo contributed by Alecia Funk Esmeralda Horn and Taylor Atkinson of Leadership Hermis- ton Class #22 present a check with proceeds from the Duck Race to Kriss Dammeyer of Made to Thrive. Cooperative, Atkinson Staffing, Rogers Toyota and Perennial Power/Pacific- Corp. Other event spon- sors were Elmers Irriga- tion, Corteva Agriscience, Honda Yamaha Cycle- town, Knerr Construction, Goodwill, Purswell Pump, Boardman Foods and Nel- son Roofing. With such a successful inaugural event, plans are underway for the 2020 Duck Race. For more information or to become a sponsor, contact Made to Thrive at 541-289- 2343. Also, financial dona- tions can be made at www. madetothrive.org or mailed to Made to Thrive, P.O. Box 684, Hermiston OR 97838. Libraries provide – countywide! As I begin this column The district supports our about the Umatilla County partner libraries by pro- Special Library District and viding several services for our partner libraries, I find every library. Each library the refrain, “Let’s start at can meet the needs of their the very beginning, a very individual community while good place to start,” running also being available to serve everyone in the through my mind. county. In the com- So, let us begin! ing columns, I’ll tell The Umatilla County Special you more about the Library District district, the librar- ies, and the services is a special tax- ing district estab- and programs that lished by a 1986 are available to all vote of the people in Umatilla County! E rin that includes all of The biggest pro- M c c uskEr gram of the year Umatilla County, COMMENT that our librar- with the exception ies provide for the of the city of Herm- community is the Summer iston. Our mission: “The UCSLD works in Reading Program. Not only partnership with our libraries is the Summer Reading Pro- to advance and make avail- gram for youth, helping them able excellent library ser- to retain and grow their read- vices, programs and continu- ing and literacy skills over ing education opportunities the summer; it is for adults as well. for all.” Our partner libraries are This year’s theme is “A the 10 public libraries and Universe of Stories” and the one public/school library libraries have a full slate of within the county: Adams, events. Below is a list of just a Athena, Echo, Helix, Mil- few events happening around ton-Freewater, Pendleton, the district — see each Pilot Rock, Stanfield, Ukiah library’s website for more Public/School Library, Uma- programs and further details: tilla and Weston. We contract •July 1, 11 a.m. (Weston) with Hermiston to provide Traveling Lantern Theater access to our residents in the Group rural Hermiston area. •July 10, 11 a.m. (Pend- The district office is in leton) STEAM Wars: Cele- Pendleton. In addition to brate your love for Star Wars myself, there are two addi- through Science, Technol- tional staff members who ogy, Engineering, Art and support excellent library ser- Math activities vices and early literacy devel- •July 12, 11 a.m. (Weston) opment in Umatilla County. Shoot for the Moon! •July 12, 6 p.m. (Umatilla) Wine and Art •July 19, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Weston) The OMSI Planetarium •July 19, 6 p.m. (Pendle- ton) Moon Landing Party: Celebrate the 50-year anni- versary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing •July 20, 2 p.m. (Pend- leton) Astronomy Then to Now: Andrea K. Dobson, Whitman College astronomy department chair, will share •July 20, 6 p.m. (Adams) Kupenga Marimba: A fami- ly-friendly marimba event in the park •July 20, 7 p.m. (Athena) Moon Landing Party: See footage of the moon land- ing, dress up in 1969 attire and enjoy 1960s-themed appetizers •July 23, 11:30 a.m. (Pend- leton) Astronaut Camp Enjoy this year’s Summer Reading Program, “A Uni- verse of Stories,” held at your local library in the Umatilla County Special Library Dis- trict. If you have questions, the library is a very good place to start! Find more information at www.ucsld. org. ——— Erin McCusker is the dis- trict director of the Uma- tilla County Special Library District. Read her column, Libraries Provide – County- wide!, the last weekend of the month. Contact McCusker at 541-276-6449 or director@ ucsld.org. Contributed photo Altrusa International of Hermiston recently installed new officers and board members, in- cluding Lindsay Lloyd, left, Stephanie Hughes, Cynthia Traner, Mary Winebarger, Nancy Lauck, Dawn Long, LuAn Davison, Cathy Lloyd and Kim Mills. Hermiston Altrusa installs new officers HERMISTON — Lind- say Lloyd was recently installed as the 2019-20 president of Altrusa Inter- national of Hermiston. Others installed were first vice president Steph- anie Hughes, second vice president Cynthia Tra- ner, treasurer Mary Wine- barger, secretary Nancy Lauck, past president Dawn Long, and board members LuAn Davison, Cathy Lloyd and Kim Mills. The June 1 event included a potluck brunch at Mills’ home. The name “Altrusa” is derived from combining altruism and USA. Mem- bers of the service club actively work to create bet- ter communities. For more information, visit www.dis- tricttwelve.altrusa.org or search Facebook. BIRTHS St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton JUNE 21, 2019 THOMPSON-BECENTI — Tenya N. Thompson and Darren A. Becenti of Pendleton: a boy, Dexter Finn Thompson-Becenti. Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston JUNE 22, 2019 MARTINEZ — Tristin L. Martinez and Paul Martinez of Hermiston: a girl, Ariella Ann Martinez. Saturday, June 29, 2019 Special Olympians test their mettle HERMISTON — More than five dozen local ath- letes recently participated in the 2019 Hermiston Special Olympics Invi- tational, which featured bocce and track and field events. The June 15 compe- tition, held at Hermiston High School’s Kennison Field, included athletes from the Hermiston/ Pendleton Local Pro- gram and several athletes from the Milton-Free- water area. Placing first in the round robin format in bocce was the two-per- son team of Sally Nessel- rodt and Unified Partner Shannon Raymond. And second place honors went to Michael Downing and his Unified Partner Declan LaBeck. Both picked up a bocce ball for the first time this season, said Kristi Smalley. The afternoon included a hot dog lunch provided by Our Lady of Angels Knights of Columbus Council #3999. The event concluded with closing ceremonies with all partic- ipating athletes receiving a commemorative medal. Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pro- vided volunteer support. Photo contributed by Mark Hanken Jeremy Griffith, left, of Umatilla County Fire District #1, congratulates bocce athlete Jillian Smalley during the 2019 Hermiston Special Olympics Invitational, held June 15 at Kennison Field in Hermiston. Also, two members of Umatilla County Fire District #1 were on hand to cover any medical needs and assisted in distributing medals to the athletes. Upcoming Spe- cial Olympics activities include The Fundraising Golf Tournament Aug. 10 at the Echo Hills Golf Course. For more informa- tion, call Kristi Smalley at 541-571-0997. Also, signups for fall bowling is Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 5-6 p.m. at The Arc Build- ing, 215 W. Orchard Ave., Hermiston. For questions, call Angela Schneider at 541-314-0166. ——— Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4539 Photo contributed by CommuniCare Hermiston High School CommuniCare advisor Liz Marvin, back center, is surrounded by CommuniCare Team members as they present a grant to representatives from Hermiston/ Pendleton Special Olympics Local Program #510. CommuniCare grant benefits athletic program HERMISTON — Rep- resentatives from Herm- iston/Pendleton Special Olympics Local Pro- gram #510 were all smiles recently. Local program coordi- nator Angela Schneider, communications manager Kristi Smalley and athlete Daniel Tucker accepted a $5,000 CommuniCare Grant from the Hermis- ton High School Commu- niCare Team. The April 18 presentation was held at Tamastslikt Cultural Insti- tute in Mission. In early February, Smalley was asked to present a funding proposal to the team of students for consideration. During a face-to-face interview during the latter part of February, Smalley was further questioned about the need for funding and how it would support ath- letes with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The local Special Olympics representa- tives were thrilled to receive the entire amount requested. The local all-volunteer organization raises between $10,000 to $12,000 each year. The $5,000 grant, Smalley said, will go a long way to help ensure that local athletes are able to expe- rience regional and state- wide competitions across the state. Special Olympics pro- vides year-round sports training and competitions at no cost to athletes. In addition to encouraging physical fitness, Smalley said participating in Spe- cial Olympics assists with athletes with enhanced communication, increased emotional health, inter- personal skills and overall well-being. For more informa- tion about the local Spe- cial Olympics pro- gram, contact Smalley at smalleys@eotnet.net, 541- 571-0997 or Schneider at 541-314-0166. P et of the Week Roxy is a 1 year old spayed, very friendly, litter box trained, good with other cat’s (do not know about dog’s) indoor only. She is eager to please and wanting to show love and be loved. 290 Pets Adopted in 2019! Visit Roxy at the Pioneer Humane Society/Paws Tues - Sat • Noon - 4pm 517 SE 3rd ST, Pendleton 541-276-0181 Check out the PAWSABILITY Thrift Store ROXY -megumi’s dog grooming- 541.276.6220 920 SW Frazer Ste. 105 Pendleton, OR 97801