Buckaroos, Bulldogs take to the fi eld in jamboree | PAGE A9
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 135
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Faithful fi ll Hermiston for
CityFest
Thousands gather
and eschew masks,
social distancing
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Thou-
sands of people crowded the
Hermiston Butte Park Friday
and Saturday, Aug. 27 and 28,
to experience Greater Herm-
iston CityFest with Andrew
Palau, a celebration of Christ
and fun.
Attendees included the
Hardcastle family of Pendle-
ton. Scott and Terri Hardcastle
brought their daughter and her
four children to enjoy music,
bicycle stunts and praise. Scott
said he was looking forward
to meeting Christian artist
Danny Gokey at CityFest,
while his wife, Terri, said she
already had enjoyed her favor-
ite part of the event — seeing
her granddaughter Lily get up
on stage and play a game.
This was a special event for
them, Terri said, because they
have rarely been able to get out
of their home for fun. They
have been able to do little more
than go shopping, she said.
Chris Hankel, New Hope
Community Church’s lead
pastor, said creating this
fun for the Hardcastles and
others had been in the works
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Evangelist Andrew Palau welcomes the crowd to the Greater
Hermiston CityFest with Andrew Palau on Saturday, Aug. 28,
2021, at Butte Park in Hermiston.
for a long time. The Hermis-
ton pastor had helped orga-
nize CityFest, and he said that
people had been talking about
it for at least three years.
“We wanted to do this a
year ago and put this on hold,”
Hankel said.
Organizers delayed the
event because of COVID-19.
The disease continues to hit
Umatilla County, which has
reported at least 17 COVID-
19-related deaths this month.
Still, they kept thoughts of the
festival in mind, and they were
seeing, more and more, the
need for a message of hope.
“I’ve dealt with more
suicides than I have ever dealt
with in my over 30 years of
ministry, this year,” Hankel
said. He also said he has
seen an abundance of marital
problems and other signs that
people have been struggling.
The message of hope comes
at a good time, he said, adding
God loves us and walks with
us through difficult things.
People love us, too, he said,
which should make us less
isolated.
The message was not just
for Christian believers. Hankel
said he believes the church has
not always shared the message
of God’s love well, but believ-
ers “want to do this better.”
They want to show everyone
they are willing to love indi-
viduals regardless of their
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
baggage or other troubles.
They also want to show
they are present.
Believers were present the
night of Aug. 27, for a “Fiesta
Latina” preview of the event
Aug. 28. This scaled-down
presentation was in Spanish,
with Spanish-language sing-
ers and Spanish translation of
English speeches.
Dan Clark, church rela-
tions director for CityFest,
said the fi rst day was import-
ant as outreach to the Hispanic
community.
“The good news should
reach everybody,” he said.
“It shouldn’t just be a certain
denomination of people or
ethnicity of people. It should
be widespread.”
Clark added CityFest even
tried to present at local prisons
with bicycle stunts and music.
Andrew Palau, the headliner
for this event, even was plan-
ning to speak. The plan was
canceled, though.
“This is awesome,” said
Daniel Longhin, pastor of
Hispanic ministries at New
Hope, of the Aug. 27 festi-
val. He said he loves music.
Also, CityFest has an “inter-
esting approach,” sharing a
message of hope, which was
also expressed in the Gospel.
He said, “we live in crazy
Kate Thomason leads team building activities
Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, during an orientation
session at Hermiston High School. Thomason
is an employee of the Boomerang Project,
which runs the school orientation program
Link Crew.
Bulldogs out of
the doghouse for
fi rst day at school
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermiston High School
was buzzing with excitement Friday, Aug. 27,
as new students entered for orientation.
Seniors, such as Yudith Chavez-Flores,
welcomed incoming freshmen, who have not
had a full year of school since they completed
the sixth grade. Perhaps surprisingly, she said
the pandemic lockdown was not all bad.
“I don’t think I really ever left my house,”
she said.
During the lockdown, she got to spend
more time with family and focus on school-
work, she said. Still, the return to school is a
joy. This year, she enrolled in some advanced
placement classes and signed up to be a bilin-
gual tutor.
Unbothered by rules that require students to
wear masks, she said she is hopeful for a posi-
tive year and wants to be a leader in her school.
“I’m really, really happy to be back in
school, and not just online,” she said.
Itzel Alatorre, a senior, also expressed
enthusiasm for the start of school.
See School, Page A6
See CityFest, Page A6
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Fans gather for musical acts Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at the Greater Hermiston CityFest with Andrew Palau in Butte Park.
Schools welcome
new principals
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — On Tuesday, Aug. 31,
nearly half of the Pendleton School District’s
student body will be overseen by a new prin-
cipal when they return to school.
Over the summer, the district needed to
replace three veteran administrators who
left for other jobs. The new principals — Pat
Dutcher at Pendleton High School, Sherri
Kilgore at McKay Creek Elementary School
and J.P. Richards at Washington Elementary
School — were all outside hires. But each had
personal connections to Pendleton that drew
them to the district. Both Dutcher and Rich-
ards left jobs at much larger districts to move
to Eastern Oregon.
Washington and Sherwood Heights
elementary schools also are getting assistant
principals, the fi rst time those schools have
fi lled those positions since a shared position
was eliminated in 2017.
See Principals, Page A6
Young Eagles take fl ight
Kids and teens take
to the skies over
Umatilla County
By NICK
ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pierc-
ing a hole through the blue
sky over Pendleton on Satur-
day, Aug. 28, a Cessna 172G
with a red stripe down its
side tore along with a low
humming buzz — its shape
just able to be made out, a
blurry metal glint in the sky.
Inside the cockpit, a pilot
gave children and teens
their fi rst opportunities to
take to the skies, cruising
over the rolling hills, ranches
and towns that dot Umatilla
County.
T he t r ip, a 15- to
20-minute ride that landed
back at Eastern Oregon
Regional Airport with a
whoosh of rubber and shud-
dering metal, was part of
Young Eagles Day. The local
chapter of the Experimental
Aircraft Association put on
the event to encourage chil-
dren and young adults to fi nd
a passion for aviation. With
62 youths who signed up for
the free event, kids bubbled
with excitement and nerves
throughout the staging area.
“It was probably one of the
best experiences of my life,”
said Mary Hale, a 17-year-old
from the Tri-Cities. Hale, who
is going into her senior year
of high school, was looking
into different career paths
but might have settled on one
after liftoff .
“I think I want to go into
this as my job,” Hale said. “I
want to be a pilot.”
She said aviation seemed
like such an exciting career
that would always send her
to new places. She added
she especially loved how the
pilots and fl ight attendants
are all part of a big team that
works together.
See Eagles, Page A6
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pilot Don Gibbard walks a group of attendees through
the mechanics of how an airplane works during a Young
Eagles fl ight day Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at the Eastern
Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton. The day off ered
children the opportunity to ride in an airplane and learn
how airplanes work.