COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
A6
Thursday, March 4, 2021
A tale of two Americas
MATT
HENRY
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
I
t was the summer of
1978; I was a 24-year-
old vital male and I was
doing what many young
men my age did after going
to college: I was taking my
“Grand Tour” of the country.
In my case, I was hitchhik-
ing, following the national
parks and monuments chain
starting in Colorado. I was
the quintessential footloose
and fancy free traveler; I
had no car, no girlfriend, no
commitments.
I had worked hard at a
factory in my home state of
Ohio for a few years and had
saved every penny for my
great excursion. I bought a
small pup tent, a small camp-
ing stove, a sleeping bag and
a backpack, arranged for my
mother to wire me money
from my account to general
P.O. boxes periodically as I
needed it for food and camp-
ing fees, and like Kerouac
and many other pilgrims
before me, I hit the open
road.
I had spent almost a
month in Colorado and
was hitching north to the
Tetons and Yellowstone. At
an expressway entrance in
Wyoming, I was accosted by
two of that state’s “welcome
to Wyoming!” hospitality
committee — meaning over-
weight, bored highway patrol
offi cers badly needing some-
thing to do to stave off the
boredom of sitting in a car on
the freeway all day. At this
point, you probably think I’m
J.D. Smith regaling you with
another yet “impossible to
believe” yarn, but you need
to understand something
about this social justice-
minded Libra: After months
on the road, my hair (yes,
I had some) and my beard
length met at about the same
place on my chest, which is
to say I looked like a mellow
Charles Manson.
After unceremoniously
dumping the contents of my
life on the freeway shoulder,
they warned me not to hitch-
hike in Wyoming. After they
drove away, I talked a Chris-
tian truck driver into giving
me a lift north toward South
Dakota. (Whenever you’re in
a jam, hit up a Christian!)
America #1 — It was
1 a.m. when he let me off at a
small country crossroad near
the border. It was a surreal
scene out of the Twilight
Zone: I was in the middle of
a dark nowhere, surrounded
by standing wheat fi elds and
a small concrete block build-
ing with a large neon sign
fl ashing in alternate hot pink
and electric blue “Steaks!
Liquor!” — two things that
were of obvious importance
to Wyomingans.
The joint was rocking
with country jukebox and
loud laughter. I needed some
water to fi ll my canteen and
went inside to get some.
It’s at this point that Dave
Barry declares, “I swear I’m
not making this up.” Every
cowboy-hatted head includ-
ing the bartender’s swiv-
eled; the entire room froze
as billiard balls and the juke
slowed down in time. In the
stillness of Tammy Wynette
singing “Stand By Your
Man,” I asked for a glass
of water. Receiving only
the type of stare that John
Lennon declares “It would
have been us instead of him,”
I quickly retreated back
outside, wandered into the
wheat fi eld behind the tavern,
unrolled my bag in the wet
grass and got lost in the stars.
A minute later, not
surprisingly, a sheriff’s patrol
car crunched over the park-
ing lot gravel and a large,
overweight offi cer briefl y ran
inside and then, grabbing a
huge fl ashlight from his car,
started walking toward the
wet, waist-high grass. I laid
low, watching him, betting
on the fact I wasn’t worth
wet trousers. Sure enough,
he climbed into his vehicle
and drove off. It was 20 years
later and a haircut before
I would make the attempt
again.
America #2 — After
exploring South Dakota, I
headed to Montana. By this
time, it was mid-September
and it was getting cold in the
evening. I had my thumb
out just outside of Billings,
headed to Missoula. It was
about 5 p.m., the chill was
coming on, and I already had
on every piece of clothing I
had in my pack. Not feeling
too confi dent of getting a lift
after standing there for a few
hours, I was about to huddle
up in an off-road fi eld when a
local farmer suddenly drove
up in his little Mazda pickup,
asked me where I was
headed, and bade me get in.
After hearing that my
destination was a few
hundred miles away, and
stating that he was only
going 20 miles up the road,
he invited me to spend
the night with him and his
family. He had a detached
guest shed with a bunk and
heat. It would be the fi rst
bed and warmth I’d had
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Wildhorse
to celebrate
anniversary
in months.
Now let me stage this
scene. It’s evening and this
Christian farmer and parent
of two small children picks
up Charles Manson, brings
him unannounced to his
home where his wife and
kids are soon having supper.
Not expecting a visitor, I was
fully expecting his young
Christian wife and mother
to freak out, but she smiled
warmly and gently asked me,
now wouldn’t I like to take a
nice hot bath while she threw
my clothes in a washing
machine and fi nished prepar-
ing the meal? Her husband
had been too shy to tell me
how I must have smelled.
After the fi rst hot water
and meal I’d had in months, I
spent an un-accosted night’s
rest in my own warm, heated
room. The next morning,
I received a fi ne breakfast,
clean clothes, a fresh body
aroma, and another 20-mile
lift from the farmer past
his farm to help make it to
Missoula by nightfall.
Forty years later, these
two Americas — one seek-
ing to jail the stranger, one
offering the traveler respite
from the road — still coexist,
uncomfortably side by side,
hospitality and harassment
for the stranger, fi ghting for
dominance, Christians strad-
dling the line.
As both Jack Kerouac and
Paul Simon write, “All come
to look for America,” what-
ever that may be.
———
The Rev. Dr. Matt Henry
is a retired American Baptist/
United Methodist pastor,
who pastored the Pendleton
First United Church and now
joyfully makes “hippie food”
for the houseless at the Warm-
ing Station.
PENDLETON — Wild-
horse Resort & Casino’s
26th anniversary cele-
bration kicks off with a
fireworks display at the
casino grounds on Satur-
day, March 6, at 8 p.m. The
show is free and open to the
public.
Viewers are encouraged
to enjoy the fi reworks from
the comfort of their vehicles
or to stay in close proximity
to their vehicles. Interested
parties should arrive early
for best viewing, and watch
for signs and traffi c offi cers
for parking directions.
Wildhorse Priority One
health and safety protocols
are to be observed — wear
a mask and maintain safe
distances from those not
living in your household.
Musical accompaniment
to the fi reworks is provided
by KCUW radio at 104.3
FM.
For those who would
like to watch the fi reworks
display through the casino’s
collectible prism viewers,
visit Mission Market or
Arrowhead Travel Plaza
and, with a minimum $10
purchase, get a free 4-pack,
one pack per customer
while supplies last.
Visit www.wildhorsere-
sort.com for more informa-
tion.
Umatilla earns
third Tree City
USA designation
UMATILLA — For
the third year in a row, the
city of Umatilla received
national designation as a
Tree City USA Community
from the nonprofi t Arbor
Day Foundation. This is a
demonstration of a city’s
commitment to provid-
ing urban forestry in the
community.
In response to this
recognition, the Umatilla
City Council encourages
the entire community to
“join us in celebrating
our trees. They enrich our
lives in numerable ways by
providing cooling shade,
attracting wildlife, puri-
fying our air and water,
preventing soil erosion and
beautifying our homes and
community.”
This year, cit y of
Umatilla will celebrate
Arbor Day with the plant-
ing of Bowhall red maple
and py ramidal hor n-
beam trees along Sixth
Street. The community is
welcome to join the event
on March 13 at 8:30 a.m.
Umatilla has partnered
with Terra Verde Land-
scapers to assist the city
with the project.
Volunteers will meet at
Village Square Park (next
to the library) at 8:30 a.m.,
where city staff and local
tree experts will provide
guidance. Free coffee and
donuts will be provided to
anyone in attendance. City
staff and volunteers will be
provided masks, sanitizer,
shovels, gloves and a safety
vest. Social distancing
will be practiced. Anyone
who arrives and wishes to
participate will be provided
all they need to do so.
Those wishing to volun-
teer are encouraged to
help plan for the event by
registering online prior to
March 4 at www.Umatil-
la-city.org/ParksRec.
For more information,
contact Esmeralda Horn at
541-922-3226, ext. 108.
— EO Media Group
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Sunday, March 28, 10pm
We’re celebrating 26 years!
SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 8
8pm
pm
We encourage you to safely watch show from the comfort
of your vehicle. Tune into KCUW 104.3FM for pyromusical!
FREE PACK OF 3D GLASSES
INCLUDES DISCOUNT COUPON
WHEN YOU SPEND $10+ AT MISSION MARKET
OR ARROWHEAD TRAVEL PLAZA
CASINO • HOTEL • GOLF • CINEPLEX • RV
MUSEUM • DINING • TRAVEL PLAZA • FUNPLEX
800.654.9453 • PENDLETON, OR • I-84, EXIT 216 • wildhorseresort.com. Owned and operated by CTUIR
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