A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Echo’s Oktoberfest gives rare
opportunity to local musicians
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
Mike Mehren/Contributed Photo
Bob Coleman poses for a recent photo with a drone he uses for his agricultural monitoring
service. He was recognized with the John F. Walchli Ag Entrepreneurs Award for 2020-21.
Drone monitoring
technology gets nod
with Walchli ag award
By TAMMY
MALGESINI
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— The winner of the second
John F. Walchli Ag Entrepre-
neurs Award for 2020-2021 is
Bob Coleman of Hermiston.
According to a press
release from board member
Mike Mehren, Coleman
has started an agricultural
monitoring service using a
drone. A 2016 Hermiston
High School graduate, Cole-
man received an agricultural
business degree from Oregon
State University.
Coleman initially began
using the drone as a tool on
his parent’s farms until neigh-
bors and others heard about
its capabilities. Coleman is
able to view crops in about
1/10th the time that it would
take a person using a vehicle,
Mehren said.
The drone also measures
details about a crop that can’t
be viewed from a vehicle.
It’s equipped with an infra-
red lens that observes aspects
about crops the human eye
cannot detect.
Also, Coleman developed
a program that converts the
raw data into usable informa-
tion. For instance, the drone
is capable of detecting excess
water or dry spots, Mehren
said, such as from an indi-
vidual sprinkler head that’s
not working. In addition,
plant growth and health are
monitored as well as weeds,
disease or parasites. Fertil-
izer needs also can be deter-
mined.
“The drone is an amazing
tool that he has been able to
adapt to crop conditions and
needs,” Mehren said.
Also receiving recogni-
tion for their livestock enter-
prise were Kellan Smith and
Logan Smith. Both in middle
school, the Echo brothers
raise sheep, hogs and cattle
on their parent’s ranch,
Mehren said. They show, sell
and purchase animals from
Mike Mehren/Contributed Photo
Kellan and Logan Smith, who operate a livestock enterprise,
received special recognition during the second John F. Wal-
chli Ag Entrepreneurs Award for 2020-21.
all across the Pacific North-
west. The boys raise money
for their enterprise by selling
locker meat, showing and
selling their stock and work-
ing on their parent’s ranch.
“They are amazing kids,”
Mehren said.
The John F. Walchli Ag
Entrepreneurs Award is
designed to provide support
to young people under the age
of 25 living in west Umatilla
County to achieve their goal
in the agricultural world.
It’s based on initiative and
drive to succeed rather than
academic performance. The
winners, Mehren said, can
use their award where it is
needed, rather than for tuition
only.
The award’s name-
sake, John Walchli, died in
September 2018. He began
his farming career raising
watermelons while attending
Stanfield High School.
He and wife, Marge, even-
tually moved to the Hermis-
ton area, where he expanded
his farming operation to
include potatoes, asparagus,
wheat, alfalfa, cattle and
bison. Walchli was known for
his generosity to friends and
neighbors, and giving back to
the community.
For more information
about the award, contact
Mehren at 541-561-4762 or
mehrens@eotnet.net.
Umatilla County holds
public hearing on petition
for new livestock district
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners this week
holds a public hearing on the
formation of a new livestock
district near Meacham.
The proposal for the
Meacham East Livestock
District calls for a district of
at least 2,000 acres east of
Interstate 84 in the Meacham
area. The petition came from
K & L Madison, LLC, a local
property developer, and the
principal petitioner for the
district is farmer Kent Madi-
son, of Echo, according to
county documents.
The hearing is Wednesday
during the board’s meeting,
which starts at 9 a.m., in room
130 of the Umatilla County
Courthouse, 216 S.E. Fourth
St., Pendleton.
The board also will hear a
strategic report for planning
and developing the “Hermis-
ton to Boardman Connector
transit route” and the “Port
of Morrow Circular route,”
according to county docu-
ments.
The Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation Kayak Public
Transit and Morrow Coun-
ty’s transit service led the
effort. Umatilla County
served as a project partner,
according to documents.
———
Contact community writer
Tammy Malgesini at tmalge-
sini@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4532.
ECHO — Getting ready
for Oktoberfest, a pair of
local musicians dressed in
lederhosen and tuned their
instruments. By start time,
they were ready to perform.
Proceeds from the event
Saturday, Oct. 16, in Echo,
benefitted St. Peter’s Roman
Catholic Church and and
local scholarship fund.
Margaret Mayer, a Blue
Mou nt ain Com mu nit y
College music instructor,
was one of the two perform-
ers. She said she has played
at a few Oktoberfests and
other local events many
more times.
“It’s fun,” she said of
Echo’s Oktoberfest. As an
accordion player, she does
not get many chances to
perform publicly. And since
she enjoys the instrument,
she also likes any opportu-
nity to play.
“Everyone remembers
somebody who plays the
accordion, but no one seems
to play it anymore,” she said.
She took it up 15 years
ago, because a musical
needed one. She was in the
pit orchestra at the time.
With some lessons from a
Walla Walla teacher Horrace
Lazzari, and some indepen-
dent study and practice, she
was ready to perform for the
musical.
More often than not,
however, she plays the accor-
dion for her own enjoyment,
but she plays other instru-
ments as well. She plays
piano, guitar and clarinet,
which are all more popular
among her music students.
She said she thinks she
knows why students do not
gravitate toward the accor-
dion.
“It’s really hard to play,”
she said.
One thing that makes it
harder than the piano is “you
can’t see what you’re doing.”
The instrument obscures the
views of a player’s hands.
But there are some masters
of the instrument, including
“Weird Al” Yankovic, Art
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Musicians Margaret Mayer and Alan Feves, both of Hermis-
ton, pose for a photo Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Oktoberfest
in Echo.
Van Damme, Dick Contino
and Lazzari.
Mayer said likes the vari-
ety of the accordions, as
well as the versatility of the
instrument. Accordions are
used in Cajun, Mexican and
other musical traditions.
Mayer performs with
Alan Feves, who also plays
a rare instrument — the bass
banjo, which was built for
him by banjo maker Verne
Marr of Pendleton.
He said he and Marr saw
the instrument in an old
photo of country musicians,
and they thought making
one would be an “interest-
ing project.”
He said has seen only a
few people with bass banjos.
Johnny Peppercraft is one of
the few contemporary play-
ers.
Feves learned to play on
his own, but it was not much
of a challenge, because of its
similarity to other instru-
ments, he said. The upright
bass, for example, has the
same tuning as the bass
banjo.
“I’ve been playing the
upright bass since junior
high school,” he said.
Since then, he has played
with jazz groups, symphony
groups and rock bands. He
also plays the electric bass,
the bass fiddle and the bass
guitar, which also prepared
him to play the bass banjo.
“The fingering and notes
are the same on all of those
instruments,” he said.
In addition to bass instru-
ments, he also plays the steel
guitar and slide guitar.
He is interested in Okto-
berfest not because of heri-
tage, but because he has the
skills to entertain, and this
event was simply an oppor-
tunity.
Both Hermiston resi-
dents, Mayer and Feves
have known each other and
have performed together for
more than 20 years. Theirs is
a good friendship, they said.
“We don’t have to think
about it,” Mayer said of their
friendship. “We just play,
and he just moans, like a
good bass player.”
The Morrow County Livestock Growers
would like to thank the following
for their support of the 2021
Morrow County 4-H/FFA Auction!
GRAND CHAMPION
MARKET SWINE
GRAND CHAMPION
MARKET LAMB
Briar Reeves
Brooklyn Hendricks
Buyer:
JVB Dairy
Buyer:
Umatilla Electric Co-Op
Livestock Superintendents:
Jason Schoenfelder
Alita Nelson
Kellie Nelson
Pete Szasz
Sandi O’Brien
Bank of Eastern Oregon:
Christy Correa
Becky Kindle
Laurie Barrow
Tricia Rollins
John Qualls
Bank of Eastern Oregon:
Ken Grieb
Ring Men:
Ken Bailey
Chris Rauch
Tim Dickenson
Jeremy Wilson
Jeremy Rosebalm
Jim Kindle
Special Thanks To:
Morrow County Fair Board
Dawn Eynetich
Sarah Smith
Braxton Adams
Shelby Krebs
Cody High
Ann Jones
Evans Livestock
Monte & Becky Evans
Wes Killion
Morrow County Grain
Growers
MCGG Green Feed
Cenex Harvest States
Mitch & Tag Ashbeck
Eastern Oregon Mobile
Slaughter
Mike’s Mobile Slaughter
Follets Smoked Meats
Beef Northwest Feeders
Julie Baker
Anna Browne
Erin Heideman
Beth Dickenson
Lenn Greer
Madison Hynes
Kaylee Patterson
Dr. Dan Hanson
Dr. Shanna Sallee
Dr. Dick Temple
McGinn Trucking
BUYERS
Over $50,000:
JVB Dairy
Over $10,000:
Blue Line Transport
Lamb Weston
Devin Oil
Two Old Hags and Butter
Creek Spraying
Blue Mountain Plumbing
Columbia River Dairy
Hagerman Trucking
Castle Rock Farming
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Over $3,000:
Ruggs Ranch
All American Heating and
Cooling
Rogers Toyota
Morrow County Grain Growers
Elmer’s Irrigation
Corey Miller Farming
Pacific Ag Solutions
Mid Columbia Producers
6 Mile Cattle Co
Butter Creek Cattle Company
Philippi Ranches, Inc
GAR Aviation
Skye and Penny Krebs
Colin and Erin Anderson
Mason Rock LLC
Umatilla Electric Coop
NW Metal Fabricators
Community Counseling
Solutions
Bucknum’s
Les Schwab (Heppner)
Miller & Sons
Silver Creek
Danielle McDowell and
Kacie Gray
Ken Bailey Heavy Equipment
PGE
Over $1,000:
Boardman Ace Hardware
Proudfoot Ranches
Oregon Hay Products
Charlie & Marcia Anderson
Beef Northwest
Cold Springs Veterinary Service
Curtis & Kathy Cutsforth
GRAND CHAMPION
MARKET GOAT
Sierra Simmons
Buyer:
All-American
Heating & Cooling
GRAND CHAMPION
MARKET BEEF
Madison Orem
Buyer:
Devin Oil
Easterday Farms
Wilber Ellis
Miller Wheat
Crown Paper
Northest Farm Credit Services
Wilkinson Ranch LLC
Williams Family Trucking
Wheatland Insurance
Agri Northwest
Brian & Susie Thompson
Rocky Bluff Ranch
Mark & Shannon Miller
Krebs Sheep Company
ASE FARMS
Craig Miles Farming
Lakeview Heights
Cain Cattle Company
EB Orem Farms
Mid Columbia Title
Miller Wheat Inc
Jason & Tara Proudfoot
Murray’s Drug
Hermiston Veterinary Clinic
Ken and Julie Nelson
Greenup Enterprises INC
Tim & Shannon Rust
Triangle Ranches
Pat Lovgren
Shelco Electric Inc
Joe and Donna Rietmann
MCS
Adam Archer
Paul Walton
Bob & Pam Worden
Dustin and Amellia
Haguewood
Grinning Wolf LLC
H and D Ranch
Luciani Ranch
Sue Gibbs
Peg Leg Farms
Grieb Farms Inc
Joe and Anita Orem
Ted and MaryAnn Davis
Wheeler Homes
Merlin and Claudia Hughes
Ranch
JS Applicators
Knop Girls
Lindsay Feedlot
Rod Reeves
Rodelo Farms
Teresa Greenfield
Charles Monagle and
Nancy Miller
Lelie Pierson, Realtor
Travis and Kirsten Harrison
Evan and Annie Weygandt
Inland Development
Slater and Darcee Mitchell
Ben McElligott
ARI
Breaking Grounds Coffee
Jake and Cara Bailey
Ken and Carri Grieb
Mal Hancok
Megan Walker
Mike Allison
Rick and Kelsie Worden
Sterner Farms
Patricia Daly
Sandi Richardson
Sarah Kellom
Brandon and Heather
Hendricks
Outlaw Meat
Stacey Beaver
Weatherford Harper Ranches
Homestead Club Lambs
Julie Baker
The Twine Arrow
Up to $1,000:
Hargrove Ranch Insurance
BPDohertyFarms
David and Jennifer Jaca
Mark and Lisa Pratt
Brian McElligott
Jarrod and Alison Odgen
Wes Killion
CM McElligott
Bonni and Bob Ball
Shaun and Stephanie Hisler
THEC MP
Brent & Jill Martin
Jerry & Anna McElligott
Stanley Cutsforth
Kevin and Angie Hughes
Marcie’s Tax Service
Karen Pettigrew
Mark & Shannon Miller
Nash Contracting LLC
Northwest Farm Supply
Peter Szasz
Raymond Ellis Deloe
Riekkola Farms
Blown Away Ranch
Patti Adair
Kirk and Kyle Robinson
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT