INSIDE: Fire rips through Long branch Cafe | PAGE A3
E O
AST
145th year, No. 138
REGONIAN
Tuesday, sepTember 7, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
‘As friends
we part’
National Guardsman from
pendleton helped afghan
ally escape to united states
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Bartender Randy Erwin mixes a drink on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, at the Hamley Steak House saloon. The eatery, owned by the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, received a $1.2 million grant from the Oregon Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
BUSINESS EXPENSES
pandemic still not over for local restaurants
By ANTONIO
SIERRA AND NICK
ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
peNdLeTON — many
local restaurants may have
survived the heaviest COVId-
19 restrictions with the help of
millions of federal stimulus, but
they’re not out of the woods yet.
according to a database
compiled by The Oregonian,
the u.s. small business admin-
istration granted more than
a half billion dollars to more
than 2,300 Oregon restaurants,
bars and other businesses that
prepare food and drink as a
part of the restaurant revital-
ization Fund, a federal stimulus
program specifically targeted to
aid restaurants affected by the
pandemic.
umatilla County restau-
rants took home more than $4.3
million, led by a $1.2 million
for Hamley’s, which operates a
steakhouse and cafe. Hamley’s
was purchased by the Wildhorse
resort & Casino in 2019, and
as a tribally-owned business, it
didn’t qualify for many of the
grants and loans previously
offered by other governmental
entities, Wildhorse Control-
ler michell Wellington said
in an interview. but Hamley’s
finances were in order when the
restaurant revitalization Fund
opened, allowing the local oper-
ation to secure a large grant.
Wellington and Hamley’s
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Patrons eat and drink at the Hamley Steak House saloon on Wednesday , Sept. 1, 2021. The eating
establishment, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, received a $1.2
million grant from the Oregon Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
General manager Jan macGre-
gor said the business has
endured cycles of closures, take-
out only periods and capacity
limits, following state guide-
lines each time they changed. at
times, they elected to close the
steakhouse completely rather
than takeout because it was the
more affordable option.
“As a steakhouse (offering)
fine dining, people didn’t want
a piece of prime rib and take it
home,” macGregor said.
When the steakhouse did
reopen in February, it operated
at a loss due to higher labor and
food costs. Wellington said
Hamley’s has been operating
at closer to breakeven in recent
months, but large events still
have been slow to come back
in 2021, hurting business. The
federal grant will cover some of
the steakhouse and cafe’s losses,
but with Hamley’s having a
smaller staff than it did pre-pan-
demic, macGregor said this
year’s round-up service will
be different.
“We will not be able to
accommodate as many people
as we have in the past because
of staffing, but the people that
we do accommodate will have a
wonderful time,” she said.
desert Lanes Family Fun
Center, also a recipient of
Oregon’s restaurant revital-
ization Fund, received the high-
est amount out of any business
in Hermiston with a total of
$426,500.
peNdLeTON — sgt. maj. Joshua
paullus speaks to his old friend Hussein
once or twice a week. The longtime pend-
leton resident listens to the 32-year-old
afghan relate his family’s plight in Kabul,
afghanistan, the high-desert metropolis
where the two met at a military base seven
years ago.
For weeks, half of Hussein’s family has
been stuck at home, watching the Taliban
patrol the streets day and night in trucks
and armored military vehicles, perhaps
searching for afghans like them who
worked for the united states during the
20-year war.
The other half, including his mother
and father, were stuck at the airport along-
side thousands of afghans, awaiting their
escape until nearby explosions killed and
wounded scores of afghan civilians and
american service members on Thursday,
Aug. 26. Hussein’s family fled back to
their home.
“They don’t sleep,” Hussein said of his
family.
Out of concern for his family’s safety,
Hussein asked the east Oregonian not to
publish his last name.
“When I get note from the embassy,
I will tell them, ‘Go to the airport.’ I tell
them, don’t take any bags and wear your
hijab,” he said. “I will tell them to burn
everything. If (the Taliban) finds any mili-
tary document, they will shoot them.”
Hussein worked for the u.s. armed
Forces for 15 years, first as a linguist and
then as a contractor. by 2015, as paullus
was nearing the end of his eight-month
deployment, the two had discussed that
Hussein’s life would be in danger as the
u.s. evacuated. He was receiving threats
against his life. He knew his time was
almost up. paullus wanted to help.
a 30-year member of the Oregon army
National Guard, paullus wrote a letter
sponsoring Hussein as he immigrated to
the u.s. with his family. He liked Hussein
and vouched for his character, work ethic
and financial stability. With paullus’
help, Hussein received approval from the
federal government in 2019 to move to
america with his wife and three daugh-
ters. Now he lives in san diego County,
selling jewelry to get by.
“He felt that, when the u.s. does leave,
he and his family would potentially be
in harm’s way,” said paullus, 47, a parole
and probation officer for Umatilla County
Community Corrections. “but as long as
he was there, he wanted to see that good
things were done, and he did his part to do
as much as he could for his country. at the
end of the day, if he wasn’t able to get his
u.s. citizenship, he would have dealt with
it as many of his friends currently are.”
Running in circles
In recent weeks, Hussein has been
glued to his phone. From nearly 7,800
miles away, he has watched the Tali-
ban seize the city where he grew up. He
seldom goes to work, despite his expen-
sive rent.
See Restaurants, Page A9
See Friends, Page A9
Honoring local veterans with music
musicians perform
to give back to
those who served
By NICK
ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Steven Kidwell sings during a concert to honor veterans on
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, at the Heritage Station Museum,
Pendleton.
peNdLeTON — Clas-
sic blues echoed saturday,
sept. 4,from the Heritage
station museum in pendle-
ton as musicians, veterans
and community members
gathered together to support
wounded veterans.
Country and southern rock
musician steven Kidwell
organized the inaugural
Veterans Benefit and Music
Festival. The event found
veterans from nearly every
generation attending, ranging
from those who served in the
Korean and Vietnam wars to
Iraq and afghanistan.
all proceeds from the
event went to the Gary sinise
Foundation to help support
veterans, first responders and
their families with an empha-
sis on the wounded.
“This is something that’s
near and dear to my heart,”
said Kidwell, who is a veteran
of the Iraq War and whose
father served in Korea. “It’s a
way of giving back for people
that have given so much.”
Kidwell’s passion for
veterans showed through the
constant work and effort he
sunk into the event, working
seven days a week for the last
month-and-a-half to spread
the word among veterans
and supporters. He had been
doing benefits for veteran
suicide prevention and the
Wounded Warrior project
for years, but this was the
first time doing something
on this scale, said Kidwell’s
wife, Carolyn rovier.
Jaye Cammann, Kidwell’s
manager, was excited going
into the event, saying this
was the most patriotic way
they could give back to those
who had served.
See Music, Page A9