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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 2019)
OFF PAGE ONE Friday, August 9, 2019 East Oregonian A7 Food: Many of the vendors from the Tri-Cities Continued from Page A1 Sbiah comes up from Las Vegas each summer to escape the heat by working fairs in the Pacific North- west. This week is his first time at the Umatilla County Fair, and although it hasn’t turned out to be an escape from the heat, he said he was thoroughly enjoying himself. “This is a great fair, very well put together,” he said. “It’s very organized, and the staff is very help- ful. ... If you ask me how I rate this fair, it would be an A+.” Elizabeth Peterson started working at her par- ents’ Monster Foods booth when she was 15, and is still at it almost 20 years later. The booth serves up “monstrously huge” fair foods, such as elephant ears the size of a pizza. Peterson, who came down from Alaska to help run the Umatilla County Fair booth, said her par- ents raised foster chil- dren, and it was hard on their budget to take large groups of children to the fair. “We make monster foods so that families can try a little bit of every- thing and still afford it,” she said. Many of the fair’s vendors come from the Tri-Cities, such as Nany Scott, who serves Filipino food at the Taste of Manila booth. She is originally from the Philippines, and said she loves cooking for other people at the fair. “I want them to learn of our food and how good it is,” she said. While food is import- ant at the fair, staying hydrated is even more essential, especially after the first two days of the Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Tabor Mills receives a burger and fries from the kitchen at the Lions Club stand before deliv- ering it to a customer at the Umatilla County Fair Wednesday afternoon. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Dan Dirksen adds grilled onions to a sausage at a booth at the Umatilla County Fair Wednesday afternoon. fair pushed the thermom- eter up to triple digits in the afternoon. Lemon- ade stands are some of the busiest in the afternoons, as red-faced fairgoers seek after a tall glass of some- thing cold and sweet. Michelle Hagans was serving up lemonade at the Davis Amusement lemonade stand Wednes- day afternoon, helped out by Bella, 10, who couldn’t remember how to spell her last name. Hagans said they hand out a lot of water to young children and the elderly to make sure they’re staying hydrated. As for the lem- onade, they currently have strawberry and original, but are hoping at some point to add a watermelon option. Some of the people handing out food at the fair aren’t getting paid for it. The Lions Club booth is staffed with volunteers who donate their time so that all of the proceeds can go to Lions Club projects ranging from local schol- arships to the rebuilding of Funland playground. “Not only do we have the best hamburgers, the cold- est drinks and the fresh- est fries, but all the money we make goes back into the community,” said Phil Hamm of the Lions Club. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Michael Hernandez throws meat onto the grill at a food vendor booth at the Umatilla County Fair. El Paso: Shooter’s manifesto mirrored Trump’s language Continued from Page A1 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan The sun sets over the second night of the Umatilla County Fair at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center on Wednesday in Hermiston. The fair continues daily through Saturday. Storm: Dry heat typical severe fair weather Continued from Page A1 there are provisions at the concert stage that allow for the canopy to be lowered so that the music can keep going. Severe weather, other than dry heat, hasn’t been a common prob- lem at the Umatilla County Fair, according to Eckhardt and Rowan. Rowan said the last major event he can recall is eight or nine years ago when a temporary “high wind event” suspended the fair and forced them to gather people into Hermiston High School until condi- tions were safe. Eckhardt isn’t expecting any- thing like that this year. “We aren’t anticipating too heavy of winds at this point,” he said of the gusts that were expected to reach 23 mph on Thursday. However, Eckhardt acknowl- edged the fire hazard that current conditions pose. In the event of a fire, Hermis- ton-based Umatilla County Fire Dis- trict No. 1 has units on-site with dis- patchers providing additional quick communication to other available units. Sheriff Rowan said there’s also five EMTs and two response vehicles for medical emergencies. Last weekend, storms sparked 15-20 fires in the Umatilla National Forest that have been fought and mostly contained over the past few days. An additional risk, according to the NWS, is that any fires that are started during a red flag period are likely to spread rapidly. For any potential emergency, weather-related or not, Rowan high- lighted that police and fair staff’s communication is essential to its planning. A dispatcher will be located on-site with the ability to connect with the county’s usual dis- patch if necessary, while the fair staff are each outfitted with radios. “You don’t need to stay home, we’re well prepared,” Eckhardt said. As for the Farm-City Pro Rodeo, board director Dennis Barnett said there are also emergency plans in place for severe weather. While wind and rain won’t impact the competition, Barnett said lightning would require the stands to be evac- uated and people to join those from the fair at the event center and barns. In his 31 years working at the rodeo, Barnett said there’s only been two instances where the rodeo had to be stopped for weather. Both times it resumed, and then finished later that night. he worries that the El Paso shoot- ing, which appeared to be tar- geted against Hispanic immi- grants, will keep people home from such gatherings out of a fear that a violent white suprem- acist would find them an attrac- tive target. Barron said he hasn’t person- ally been the target of violence based on his skin color or been verbally attacked by a stranger on the street. But in the past few years, he has seen what he feels is more comfort on social media in expressing racist views. He worries that words will morph into actions in some cases. “People use the excuse of freedom of speech,” he said. “They almost phrase it as being more American, that ‘I’m more American because I’m using my freedom of speech.’ But freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. Words can hurt people or put them in fear.” While some people have directly blamed President Don- ald Trump for the El Paso shoot- ing, noting places where the shooter’s manifesto mirrored language Trump has used about an immigrant “invasion,” Bar- ron said he wouldn’t go that far. The shooting was the shooter’s choice. He did say, however, that he feels some people have felt emboldened about sharing rac- ist views from “the very first day (Trump) was coming down the elevator calling Mexicans rapists.” “I don’t see how people can just laugh it off and say, ‘He’s just joking; you guys are snow- flakes,’” Barron said. A different political moment sticks out to Yessica Roman, a Latino Hermiston woman who echoed some of Barron’s wor- ries. For her, the El Paso shooting brought to mind a Trump rally in Florida in May, when an attendee yelled “Just shoot them!” as Trump was talking about undoc- umented immigrants crossing the border. “At a rally someone said ‘Just shoot them,’ and they all started laughing like it was something funny,” she said. The El Paso shooting was anything but funny. Although the shooter appeared to seek out Latinos, Roman said mass shootings are shocking to her no matter who is the victim. As a brand new mother, she was particularly affected by hearing about Jordan Anchando, who died shielding her 2-month-old baby from bullets. “It made it more personal,” she said. “It’s so scary to think about it. I haven’t been to the store (since the shooting) but now it’s like, ‘Will I come home?’” She worried that people have become too desensitized to mass shootings as they increase in frequency. Zaira Sanchez, born and raised in Hermiston and also a member of Raices, said she has discussed the El Paso shooting with close friends and family. “Overall there’s a feeling of sadness and fear, but we’re also just exhausted from the same thing repeating itself,” she said. She worries about the problem of mass shootings in general, but also violence against Latinos. Trump gave a speech after the shooting condemning racism and white supremacy, but she said the “messed up things” he has said about immigrants throughout his presidency has an effect. “He speaks from a place of misconceptions, invoking fear and hate,” she said. Sanchez, Barron and Roman all noted that the El Paso shoot- ing was far from just a racial issue — it also invoked questions about security in public places, gun control, mental health and the traumatization of a nation. “I think it creates more fear around everyday things,” San- chez said. “People have to think, ‘Should I go to the store today? Is it a good idea to go to school, or church today?’ Those are things people of every race need to do.”
