REGION
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Hermiston Chamber moving to a new building
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce is moving to a
larger building.
The chamber announced
on Friday, April 2, it has
pu rchased the for mer
Pioneer Title building at 630
S. Highway 395, across from
the Rodeway Inn. Cham-
ber staff will move into the
building after remodeling is
complete.
New Chamber CEO
Kristina Olivas said in the
news release that the build-
ing, which is larger than the
chamber’s current offices,
will be a “multifunctional”
space available for commu-
nity use.
“It’s an exciting time
for our community and our
Chamber, and we are step-
ping forward to respond to
our growing member and
community needs,” she said.
For about two decades,
the chamber was located in
the Hermiston Community
Center, which chamber staff
managed under a contract
with the city of Hermiston.
But in January 2018, the city
ended its contract with the
chamber and moved its own
parks and recreation offi ces
into the center. The cham-
ber then moved into a small
offi ce space at the Corner-
stone Plaza across from
Safeway.
Three months later,
the chamber received a $1
million allocation from the
state to build a new work-
force development center
Jade McDowell/East Oregonian
The Hermiston Chamber of Commerce has purchased the for-
mer Pioneer Title building at 630 S. Highway 395.
and offices. It purchased
property for the new build-
ing on the corner of South
Highway 395 and Evelyn
Avenue, across from New
Hope Community Church,
and has drafted plans for
the new building. But the
$1 million won’t completely
cover the cost of the new
building, according to the
news release, and the fund-
raising drive planned for
2020 was put on hold during
the pandemic in recognition
of the struggles local busi-
nesses were facing.
C h a mb e r P r e sid e nt
Annette Kirkpatrick said
long-term plans to build the
center on Evelyn Avenue
haven’t changed. But while
the chamber waits on the new
building, the former Pioneer
Title building will help
staff start providing work-
force training and meeting
space now. Kirkpatrick said
the state gave the chamber
permission to use part of its
$1 million grant to purchase
the Pioneer Title building.
“We are excited that we
can now provide the work-
force training and meeting
space that was key to receiv-
ing our $1 million state
grant,” she said. “This facil-
ity will help meet that need.”
As the chamber prepares
for fundraising eff orts, it has
also subdivided the 2.4-acre
lot on Evelyn Avenue
to create two additional
commercial lots it hopes to
sell to generate more fund-
ing for the project. Accord-
ing to the news release, once
the new building is complete,
the chamber will also sell
the Pioneer Title building to
generate additional funds.
For more information
on the Chamber’s building
projects, contact Olivas at
541-567-6151.
CTUIR plans new vaccine clinics
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Easter egg hunters stop to pick up eggs in the fi elds at Butte Park in Hermiston for the annual
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt on Friday, April 2, 2021.
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt shines on
Children descend
on Hermiston’s
Butte Park for
annual event
By BEN LONERGAN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Cotterell sisters, armed with
masks, a cellphone flash-
light and Hadley’s self-pro-
claimed “night vision,”
clutched their bags as the
countdown commenced.
In the moments before
8 p.m. on Friday, April 2, the
sisters, Lucy, 11, and Hadley,
8, were planning their strat-
egy for collecting the most
eggs as they buzzed up and
down the sideline of the
fi elds at Butte Park ahead of
the annual Flashlight Easter
Egg Hunt.
“Over there they have
more eggs spread out,”
said Lucy, of one of the
two fi elds of eggs. “Except
they’re going to be picked up
quicker because they’re not
spread out as much as these
are.”
More than 7,000 eggs
dotted the soccer fi elds at
Hermiston’s Butte Park
distributed across a pair of
roped-off sections as the
Easter Bunny made its way
around to take photos with
families.
Emily Cotterell, the
girls’ mother, said it was
nice to be out at an event
again after roughly a year
of limited in-person events.
Emily Cotterell said they
had attended the event when
Lucy was 3 or so but found
it a bit too chaotic. She said
she hoped this year’s event
would prove a bit easier with
the girls being older, and she
hoped the pandemic would
limit attendance further.
“We haven’t really been
out in public for the last
year,” Emily Cotterell said.
As the clock hit 8 p.m.,
the crowd of attendees
descended on the field of
eggs as the lights went dark.
Across the fields, lights
darted around in the dark-
ness as children set about
gathering the thousands of
eggs spread across the park.
In a few short minutes,
the hubbub had calmed and
the fi elds lay barren of eggs
as a few hopeful hunters
scoured the ground in search
of one or two that had been
overlooked.
“It doesn’t take hardly
any time at all,” said Diana
Picard, a recreation coordi-
nator with the city of Herm-
iston.
Picard said she has been
helping out at the event for
more than a decade and this
year’s event came with a few
added challenges as a result
of the pandemic.
Picard said in years past
the fi elds were divided up by
age group to allow children
to compete against kids their
own age. In an eff ort to mini-
mize unnecessary contacts,
Picard said this year they
encouraged families to stick
together with each other as
much as possible.
“We just fi gured that was
the safest way of going about
it,” she said.
Picard said the event
was put on by the Hermis-
ton Parks and Recreation
Department, and staff from
the city’s pool were able to
help supervise and place
eggs for the event. In addi-
tion to the staff at the pool,
Picard extended her thanks
to Rogers Toyota of Hermis-
ton for sponsoring the event.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hermiston sets
kindergarten
registration date
HERMISTON — Herm-
iston School District will
open online registration for
next year’s kindergarten class
on Monday, April 12.
Students eligible for
kindergarten during the next
school year are those who
were born on or before Sept.
1, 2016.
Parents should start by
fi lling out a registration form
online at hermiston.k12.
or.us/apps/pages/registration.
Afterward, they will need to
bring a birth record, proof of
residence (such as a utility
bill in the parent’s name) and
immunization records to the
school where their child will
attend.
The district will offer
in-person registration assis-
tance on Tuesday, April 20,
and Thursday, April 22, from
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Parents can
also call the district offi ce at
541-667-6000 on weekdays if
they have questions or issues.
M-F vaccination
clinics gear up for
coming week
MILTON-FREEWATER
— State leaders continued to
open doors for more people
to receive vaccines this week
as local clinics prepared to
pump out more immuniza-
tions in the coming days.
In Umatilla County, Phase
1b Group 7 became eligible
for vaccines as of Wednes-
day, March 31. You can fi nd
Oregon’s phase information
at covidvaccine.oregon.gov.
Milton-Freewater resi-
dents can find out about
drive-thru vaccination clin-
ics at ubne.ws/mfvaccines or
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
www.EastOregonian.com
by calling 541-278-6311.
The next Milton-Freewa-
ter clinic is Thursday, April
8, at the Milton Seventh-day
Adventist Church, 1244 N.
Elizabeth St., Milton-Free-
water.
— EO Media Group
4/2-4/8
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Godzilla Vs. Kong (PG13)
1:20p 2:00p 4:20p
5:00p 7:20p 8:00p
Nobody (R)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
Raya and the
Last Dragon (PG)
1:00p 4:00p 7:00p
The Courier (PG13)
12:40p 3:40p
Chaos Walking (PG13)
6:40p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
MISSION — Health
offi cials with the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation are
planning to vaccine over
1,700 people in a series of
clinics at Wildhorse Resort
& Casino with new groups
eligible, according to a press
release from the CTUIR.
In addition to those who
have previously been eligi-
ble to receive a vaccine from
the Tribes, students over
the age of 16 and educa-
tors from Blue Mountain
Community College and all
other Umatilla County high
schools are eligible for the
shot, the press release said.
“This is a huge step to get
us back into classrooms at
BMCC,” said Megan Van
Pelt, president of the BMCC
Associated Student Govern-
ment and enrolled CTUIR
member. “I hope all of my
fellow students will sign up
today.”
Also eligible for the
vaccine are employees of
Pendleton-area restaurants,
food trucks and grocery
stores, the press release said.
People who were previ-
ously eligible include
enrolled tribal members,
people who are eligible to
receive care from Yellow-
hawk Tribal Health Center,
employees of CTUIR enti-
ties and their families, and
all people over the age of 16
who live on the reservation.
The Tribes recently
received enough doses
of the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine from the Indian
Health Service to vaccinate
1,755 people at the upcom-
ing clinics, the press release
said. The clinics will once
again be assisted by local
members of the Oregon
National Guard, the press
release said.
“When IHS offered to
provide us with additional
doses, we jumped at the
chance,” said Kat Brigham,
chair of the CTUIR Board
of Trustees. “We asked
the National Guard if they
would once again step up
and they didn’t hesitate to
say yes. The fastest way to
rebuild our economy and
stop the fourth wave is to
vaccinate more people. We
are all in this together.”
The first clinic will
be held at Wildhorse on
Monday, April 12, and Tues-
day, April 13, from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Second doses will
then be scheduled for May 3
and 4, the press release said.
CTUIR officials ask
that students bring proof
of enrollment to their
scheduled appointment.
They ask that Blue Moun-
tain Community College
students bring a copy of
their term schedule from the
CNS portal, and high school
students should bring their
school ID, the press release
said.
People interested in
getting the shot can sched-
ule an appointment by
calling 541-240-8733 or
registering online at https://
airtable.com/shrb74wCvIR-
6fnNJR.
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