REGION
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Funland rises from the ashes yet again
By BEN LONERGAN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — A group
of eager children gathered
alongside Hermiston Mayor
David Drotzmann under the
arching entrance to the new
Funland Sunday, July 4, for
the grand opening of the new
facility.
“Three, two, one,” the
crowd counted down before
Drotzmann’s giant scissors
sliced the ribbon and a fl ood
of children fl owed across the
park.
“It’s amazing,” yelled one
child as he sprinted across the
playground. A stilt walker
dressed like Uncle Sam, a
pair of pirates and Santa
Claus mingled amongst the
crowd, taking photos with
children as they explored the
new playground.
Elsewhere, Khloe Velasco
swung across the variety
of playground structures,
taking in each one. Velasco
still remembers the old
Funland and said it was hard
to choose which one she liked
better.
“I like both,” Velasco
said. “They’re diff erent, but
both great.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Silas Townsend, 2, crosses a rope walkway Sunday, July 4, 2021, during the grand opening of
the new Funland Playground in Hermiston.
Velasco said she enjoyed
the variety of new slides and
the many buildings and store-
fronts to play in.
While slides and play
structures attracted Velas-
co’s attention, her 4-year-old
brother Ivan Velasco said
his favorite part of the new
playground was the large
concrete corn near the front
of the park.
“I want to go on the corn,”
he said before running off
toward the piece of play
equipment.
Larry Fetter, director of
the Hermiston Parks and
Recreation Department,
said the corn, and other large
concrete structures, were
unique to Funland.
“All of the cement struc-
tures are custom to Hermis-
ton,” he said.
The Funland Playground
features a variety of play
structures, including three
main zones: the Wild West,
Adventure and Farmland.
In addition to original play-
ground structures, the play-
ground features a soft,
rubbery play service that has
been designed to complement
the various areas of play.
For Fetter, the July 4 grand
opening marked a major
milestone in the completion
of the project. While some
lighting, fencing and sod
construction remains, Fetter
said it was “exhilarating” to
be able to see children on the
playground once again.
“I’ve been look i ng
forward to this for two
years,” he said. “It’s a great
day to celebrate.”
Also to come is a monu-
ment and fence recogniz-
ing the project’s donors. In
addition to a $752,000 insur-
ance payout from the previ-
ous playground, the Funland
Fundraising Committee, in
partnership with the Herm-
iston Parks and Recreation
Department, set out to raise
an additional $810,000
toward the playground’s $1.75
million price tag. The city
acknowledged the support
of the Rotary, Kiwanis, and
Lions clubs as well as others
who helped fundraise for the
project.
The new Funland is the
third iteration of the play-
ground, originally built in
1996. The fi rst playground
burned down in 2001 and its
replacement burned down in
May 2019 in a suspected case
of arson.
Due to Funland’s history
with fi res, the city of Hermis-
ton has said the new structure
was built with fire-resis-
tant materials and features
surveillance cameras to
further deter vandalism.
Greg Collins explored
the playground with his
daughter during Sunday’s
event. Collins, who said he
helped with some of the fi nal
construction of the play-
ground, said the playground
was unlike anything he’d
seen before.
“I think it’s amazing,”
he said. “I have never seen a
park on this scale.”
As a parent, Collins said
he felt the park off ered a vari-
ety of engaging play areas
and said he would have loved
to have something similar as
a child. He said he thought
the park would become a
frequent destination for his
family and others in the
community.
“The other parks in Herm-
iston,” Collins said, “are going
to be feeling a bit empty.”
Fall from ledge injures 2, kills 1
East Oregonian
PILOT ROCK — A
fall from a ledge in remote
Umatilla County south of
Pilot Rock left two men seri-
ously injured and one dead.
The Umatilla County
Sheriff Offi ce reported the
rescue and recovery effort
required the help of numer-
ous agencies and emer-
gency responders, including
an Oregon Army National
Guard Black Hawk helicop-
ter.
Kyler Carter, 23, called 911
on Friday, July 2, at approx-
imately 9 a.m. and reported
he and two friends, Cody
Watson, 21, and Braydon
Postma, 23, all of Pilot Rock,
were injured in a fall.
The trio had been recre-
ating at the Big Falls on
West Birch Creek — a steep,
rocky falls — south of Pilot
Rock and had fallen approxi-
mately 50 feet off a ledge. The
sheriff ’s offi ce also reported
Carter said the fall occurred
around 9 p.m. the night
before.
He was unable to get cell-
phone service at the location
of the accident and had to
climb out and hike to a place
so he could call 911.
Watson and Postma
remained where they had
fallen, according to the
sheriff’s office, and Carter
Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce/Contributed Photo
A team of emergency responders on Friday, July 2, 2021,
work during the rescue and recovery of three men from Pilot
Rock who fell 50 feet from a cliff at Big Falls on West Birch
Creek south of Pilot Rock. The fall injured two and killed one,
Cody Watson, 21.
reported his friends had crit-
ical injuries.
The sheriff ’s offi ce acti-
vated its search and rescue
unit, and the Pendleton Fire
Department responded along
with LifeFlight. The sher-
iff ’s offi ce also contacted the
Oregon Offi ce of Emergency
Management and requested
an aircraft with a hoist due to
the nature of the injuries and
the location.
Umatilla County sheriff ’s
deputies and their K-9 unit
also responded. Search and
rescue requested assistance
from the U.S. Forest Service
to see if any fi re crews in the
area could respond quickly,
and contacted the Union
County Search and Rescue
to mobilize its rope team.
A Forest Service short-
haul helicopter from McCall,
Idaho, and an Oregon Army
LOCAL BRIEFING
Smith recovering
from shoulder
surgery
HEPPNER — State Rep.
Greg Smith is recovering
at home in Heppner from a
shoulder injury he suff ered
while serving in the Oregon
Legislature.
In early May, Smith said
he was preparing for a trip
back to Eastern Oregon when
he stepped off a curb and fell
on his shoulder, tearing his
rotator cuff . Smith said he
had been dealing with shoul-
der pain for years, but the fall
was the fi nal straw. Doctors
recommended he get shoul-
der reconstruction surgery,
and Smith underwent the
knife.
Smith said he took a few
days off from the legislative
session following the surgery,
concerned the pain medi-
cation he was taking would
aff ect his performance. He
soon returned to his legisla-
tive work, but Smith said he
was fortunate he had most of
that in the can by the time he
came back.
“I had it all teed up and
ready to go,” he said.
Smith said the initial
weeks after the surgery were
“extraordinarily painful,” but
with the legislative session
ending June 27, he’s back
home continuing his recov-
ery with six months of phys-
ical therapy.
Smith, a Republican, has
served in the Oregon House
of Representatives since
2001.
— EO Media Group
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National Guard Black Hawk
from Salem joined the eff ort
to provide hoist capability.
A Fo r e s t S e r v i c e
11-member fi re crew with a
fi re paramedic was able to
reach the location and provide
initial assistance.
Upon arrival, according
to the sheriff ’s offi ce, Watson
was dead, and Carter and
Postma had signifi cant inju-
ries.
Additional fi rst respond-
ers hiked into the location.
The multiple agencies coor-
dinated a plan for the careful
extraction of the survivors.
Both needed immediate
medical assistance. The
sheriff ’s offi ce reported the
Black Hawk team was able to
extract Carter and Postma and
transport them to St. Charles
Medical Center, Bend.
Umatilla County sheriff ’s
deputies took over the death
investigation.
Members of the search
and rescue team remained
with the body overnight
until around 10 a.m. July 3,
when another Black Hawk
crew returned and assisted in
recovery.
The sheriff ’s offi ce turned
over the body to Burns
Mortuary, Pendleton, and
also reported any further
information on the condi-
tion of Carter and Postma is
unknown at this time.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Firefi ghters respond Sunday, July 4, 2021, to a semitrailer
fi re on Interstate 84 westbound at exit 210 in Pendleton.
Truck fi re in Pendleton
closes Interstate 84
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A
semitrailer fire Sunday,
July 4, at a Pendleton
offramp led to the shut-
down of Interstate 84
and to a grass fi re in the
median.
The Pendleton Fire
Department at approxi-
mately 3:45 p.m. received
the callout for the vehicle
blaze on Interstate 84 west-
bound at exit 210, Pendle-
ton. The fi re gutted the cab
of a semitrailer and spread
to the highway median,
burning the median for
about a fi fth of a mile.
The driver of the semi
was able to exit the vehicle
safely and suff ered no inju-
ries, according to the Pend-
leton Fire Department. Fire
offi cials on scene said the
cause of the fi re had yet to
be determined.
Pendleton Fire Chief
Jim Critchley said crews
extinguished both fires
before 4:30 p.m., although
firefighters remained on
scene to mop up debris and
coordinate removal of the
charred vehicle.
The pair of fires shut
down the interstate in both
directions, with the east-
bound lanes reopening at
roughly 4:30 p.m. and the
westbound lanes remain-
ing diverted until later in
the day.