REGION
Saturday, July 3, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
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EOTEC improvements continued during pandemic
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
pandemic threw a lot at the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center, but General
Manager Al Davis feels confi -
dent in its future.
“COVID still kicked us
in the gut, but we did a lot
better than a lot of other
venues,” he said.
Part of that was thanks
to EOTEC’s outdoor areas,
which were able to hold
some events even as indoor
conventions and dinners were
canceled. The rodeo arena
hosted a variety of rodeo-re-
lated events, Davis said.
To help draw more of those
kind of events, the center
recently installed a second
arena area using fencing, some
movable bleachers and irriga-
tion. The space is on the same
footprint that EOTEC’s master
plan calls for an indoor arena
someday, so the infrastructure
can be reused after basically
placing a building on top of it.
Davis said they’ve already
picked up two world series
events for roping later in the
year that needed two arena
areas, and it also has come in
handy for other situations.
“When we do barrel racing,
Pendleton area sees much
warmer temperatures in June
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton area experienced
much warmer temperatures
during the month of June,
according to data from the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration’s
National Weather Service
Offi ce in Pendleton.
The average tempera-
ture during the month was
72 degrees, 7.2 degrees above
normal. High temperatures
averaged 88.3 degrees, 10.1
degrees above normal, accord-
ing to the monthly climate
summary.
The highest temperature
was 117 degrees recorded on
June 29.
This was the second warm-
est June on record. The warm-
est was 72.8 degrees in 2015.
Low temperatures aver-
aged 55.8 degrees, 4.3 degrees
above normal. The lowest
temperature for the month was
39 degrees, recorded on June 7.
Precipitation for the month
totaled 0.31 inches, which was
0.67 inches below normal,
the report said. Measurable
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Boaters on June 2, 2021, recreate on McKay Reservoir out-
side of Pendleton. According to the National Weather Ser-
vice, the temperature that day in Pendleton peaked at 100.
precipitation — at least 0.01
inch — was received on fi ve
days, with the heaviest, 0.13
inches, reported on June 15.
Precipitation for the year
is 4.33 inches, which is 3.06
inches below normal. Since
October 2020, the water year
precipitation at the Pendleton
airport has been 8.78 inches,
2.61 inches below normal.
The highest wind gust was
52 mph on June 5, and just one
day during the month when the
wind exceeded 50 mph.
The outlook for July from
NOAA’s Climate Predic-
tion Center calls for above
normal temperatures and
below normal precipitation.
Normal highs for the Pend-
leton airport during July are
87.9 degrees and normal lows
rise are 57.5 degrees. The
30-year normal precipitation
is just under 0.32 inches.
HERMISTON
Watermelons weathering the heat
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HER MISTON
—
Hermiston’s watermelon
crop is hanging in there
despite being pounded by a
record-breaking heatwave.
“Overall, they’re hold-
ing up pretty well,” said
Jack Bellinger of Bellinger
Farms, describing himself as
“cautiously optimistic.”
He said Tuesday, June 29,
that he had just gotten done
checking half his watermelon
fi elds, and he was pleased
with what he saw. They
might have to start picking
their earliest fields sooner
than expected, he said, but
the heat and drought haven’t
been as detrimental to water-
melons as they have been to
some crops.
“Luckily watermelons are
desert plants,” he said. “They
originated in the Middle
East, so they do pretty well
in the heat.”
Scientists believe water-
melons originated in north-
ern Africa, specifi cally.
Hermiston’s soil compo-
sition, as well as its hot days
and cool nights, helps create
an ideal mix of conditions for
the sugary, juicy watermel-
ons Hermiston is famous for.
While the nights haven’t been
as cool in the past week, with
Ben Longergan/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston seedless watermelons sit in cartons outside of the
Bellinger Farms store on Highway 395 in Hermiston in 2019.
This year’s crop is holding up in the extreme heat, according
to Jack Bellinger.
a hotter-than-usual June,
Bellinger said he is looking
forward to testing the sugar
content of this year’s crop
soon.
Bellinger Farms also
grows a variety of other
crops, including some being
harvested now, so Bellinger
said during the extreme heat
workers have been starting
earlier, with most coming in
around 5 a.m.
“Some of my irrigators
start at 3,” he said.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
www.EastOregonian.com
would like to
thank all who
fought the wheat
fire and protected
our home, this past
Saturday, June 26th.
Special thanks go
out to the
Tribal Fire
Dept., Echo
Rural Fire and
Kyle Snow.
We are grateful!
it’s our warmup pen,” he said.
Davis also pointed out
other recent improvements,
including additional irrigation
and new trees.
“We’re greening it up,” he
said.
The trees are fast-growing
varieties, he said, but people
comparing the old fairgrounds
on Orchard Avenue to EOTEC
need to remember the big
shade trees there came from
decades of growth.
Indoors, EOTEC is serv-
ing a cooling station for the
community this week. Davis
said the center recently held
its first wedding and first
Quinceañera in more than
a year, and he is optimistic
more of those sorts of events
will begin to come back as
COVID-19 restrictions lift.
During the pandemic,
indoor use of EOTEC was
mostly limited to small meet-
ings for groups that wanted to
have more social distancing
than their building allowed.
“We would have like 10
people in the great room,
sitting in opposite corners,”
he said.
The Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center is
planning to host the Umatilla
County Fair and Farm-City
Pro Rodeo Aug. 11-14.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Crash kills two
Umatilla County
residents
KENNEWICK — Two
Umatilla County residents
died early Thursday, July 1,
in a car wreck near Kenne-
wick.
The Washington State
Patrol reported Maria D. Diaz
De Benitez, 63, of Umatilla,
and Andres V. Cabrales, 54,
of Hermiston, both perished
in the single-vehicle crash.
The state patrol responded
to a report of a crash at about
5:57 a.m. on the eastbound
lanes of Interstate 82 about
8 miles south of Kennewick.
According to WSP, Benitez
was driving a 2004 Mercury
Mountaineer and Cabrales
was the passenger when the
sport utility vehicle left the
road. Cabrales overcorrected,
according to Washington
State Patrol, and the vehicle
struck the guardrail, plum-
meted down an embankment
and landed on its top.
Both were wearing seat-
belts, according to WSP, and
died at the scene.
Washington State Patrol
has no further information.
Fire burns 30 acres
PENDLETON — Fire-
fi ghters contained a roughly
30-acre wildfi re that burned
Wednesday, June 30, for
about an hour on the south
side of Interstate 84 just west
of Pendleton.
Pendleton Fire Chief Jim
Critchley said sparks coming
off the highway likely caused
the fi re, but the offi cial cause
is under investigation.
The fi re, which stretched
between mileposts 206 to
207, was fi rst reported to offi -
cials at around 6:36 p.m. and
was fully contained about an
hour later, Critchley said.
Fire crews from multi-
ple agencies responded to
the fire. No injuries were
reported, according to
Critchley.
— EO Media Group
