Umatilla County Fair & Farm City Pro Rodeo | East Oregonian & Hermiston Herald | 7
Umatilla County Fair bestows titles of grand marshals on
longtime volunteers
By NICK ROSENBERGER
EO Media Group
Entrants must be lined up by 6:00 PM
for a 6:30 Start Time
Back to
Staging Area
After Parade
Hermiston Ave.
Burns
Mortuary
Nookies
Parade
Ends
Hermiston
City Hall
NE 3rd St
Gladys Ave.
NE 2nd St
S
SW 7th St.
Washington
Federal Bank
Main Street
SW 5th St.
SW 6th St.
Locust
Orchard Ave.
Main Check-in table
Staging area
Gates open after parade
& Staging Area
Post
Office
Hermiston Fire
& PD
OLD FAIRGROUNDS
S 1st St
West Park
Elementary School
SW 7th St.
ince the 1970s, Gay and Alice Newman have
been constant, steady fi gures within the Uma-
tilla County community. Now, after a lifetime
involved in the Umatilla County Fair and as COVID-
19 restrictions lift, they are looking forward to being
the fi rst grand marshals as the
Umatilla County Fair bounces
back.
The Newmans will be
in the spotlight as fair
festivities commence,
riding in the fair’s Kick-
off Parade on Aug. 7,
starting at 6:30 p.m. The
fair then gets going in
full Aug. 11-14.
The parade starts on
ALICE AND GAY
Southwest Seventh Street near
NEWMAN
West Highland Avenue and heads
north to turn east onto West Hermiston Avenue, crosses
the railroad tracks and continues on East Gladys Ave-
nue, then turns south onto Northeast Third Street for a
block, then goes west on East Main Street until it ends
at Bi-Mart on South First Place.
The Newmans were selected as the grand marshals
in January 2020 for last year’s fair until the pandemic
hit and the parade went into the cancel bin with other
live events.
Yet the duo continued helping with livestock intake
for the auction and helping youths show their animals
even though they couldn’t be there in person during
the pandemic.
“It’s always been there for us,” Alice said, “and we
just like to give back and help work and volunteer any-
where we can form.”
The Newmans see their duties of promoting the
fair, bringing the community together and helping
get youths involved as a way to give back to the com-
munity that has done so much for their children and
grandchildren over the years.
“It’s kind of just giving back to the community and
county,” Gay said.
The pair moved down to Hermiston from the
Yakima Valley in Washington in the early 1970s when
Gay got the opportunity to move to either Missouri or
Oregon for work. They picked Oregon.
According to Alice, they came down to Hermis-
ton to talk with people who sold livestock with Gay on
Hermiston
Public
Library
U ma t il la C ou n ty Fa i r
P a ra d e Ro u t e
A ug . 7 , 20 2 1
Key
Check-In locations
Football
Return to staging after
parade.
Hermiston High School
Practice Field
Parade
Starts
Here
Parade beginning &
end.
Highland Ave. Check-
in for Semi Trucks &
oversized farm
equipment ONLY
Parade Route
Judges/Announcer
Parade Vehicles
Only 4-5:50pm
Highland Ave.
Announcer
Highland Ave.
Semi Truck & Large Farm Equipment Check In/Staging Area
(All entrants must check-in for line-up/staging instructions)
Umatilla County Fair/
a Thursday, moved down on Sunday and have stayed
ever since, even though the position only was supposed
to last for the summer.
The two have always worked in farming, agricul-
ture and livestock. Gay was raised on his family farm
in Washington and said farming is in their blood. His
family farm goes back generations when his grandpar-
ents had the farm as a dairy and milk producer. When
his mom was young, she’d hook up the horses and wag-
ons and deliver the milk around town.
“He lived there his whole life until we got married,”
Alice said. “He never lived anywhere else.”
When they arrived in Umatilla County, Gay got
involved in the fair when it used to be a hog show and
helped start the livestock sale — an important feature
for the community that brings in attendees from all
Contributed Graphic
over the state.
“I have been involved in fairs everywhere,” Gay
said. “I actually was on the college judging team and
went to a lot of the big fairs and then I started judging
as a sideline at fairs too.”
For the Newmans, the Umatilla County Fair has been
an important family tradition and one they are pass-
ing onto their children, grandchildren and great-grand-
children. The children who were around when Gay and
Alice fi rst got involved at the fair are adults now and
many are staying involved, bringing their own children
this time.
“Now their kids are showing. They’re there with us.
And they’re remembering all the memories of us and
they’re trying to make those same memories for their
kids,” Alice said. “And it’s great to see all that.”