East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, November 04, 2021, Page 3, Image 3

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    REGION
Thursday, November 4, 2021
April Dyntera off ers
dance classes Nov. 6
and 20 in Hermiston
ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — During the
pandemic, when dance opportu-
nities can be few and far between,
April Dyntera is helping people
learn to dance.
The Adams resident and dance
instructor said she wants people to
be ready for when there are more
chances — more weddings, more
parties and so on.
Dyntera is teaching two classes
for the Hermiston Parks and Recre-
ation Department at The Arc
Building, 215 W. Orchard Ave.,
Hermiston. “Learn to Dance with
April! East Coast Swing and Night-
club 2 Step,” is on Saturdays, Nov. 6
and 20, 10 a.m. to noon.
Her own history with dance came
in her youth. When she was in the
fi fth grade, her grandmother pushed
her dinner table to the side to make
room for dancing. There, her uncle,
who was three years older than she,
taught her swing.
She said she liked the experience.
A music lover, Dyntera responded
naturally, but it took some time, she
said, to understand what it was she
was doing.
Dyntera, 74, did not begin train-
ing seriously in dance until 1991,
when a friend invited her to a line
dancing class because he did not
want to go alone. After one lesson,
he did not want to go back. She, in
contrast, did not want to leave.
Dyntera, then in her 40s, had
fi nally “found her niche,” she said,
adding the dance lessons and the
feeling they created in her were
“electric” and fi lled a void.
She practiced and she got better.
And she learned she could keep
getting better.
“It’s a path with no end,” she said
of dancing.
No matter how good she got, or
how great she becomes, there always
is room for improvement. For years,
she kept taking lessons from diff er-
ent instructors, attending workshops
and attending seminars. In 1994, she
moved to Pendleton, but would still
drive to Portland to attend classes.
“I think you should take lessons
from as many instructors as you can
because each instructor has a diff er-
ent approach and specialty,” she said.
During her early years, her ambi-
tion was to be the best she could be
and learn as much as she could. Also,
she wanted to compete in a dance
competition and perform publicly,
she said.
She attained her competition goal
at a Portland dance festival around
1996, as she competed in three
line dances and took fi rst in each.
She followed that up with another
competition soon after when she
won got second in a line dance.
In the mid-90s, she started teach-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Dance instructor April Dyntera poses for a portrait Wednesday, Nov. 3,
2021, in the garden of her Adams home alongside a trophy from the Sea-
side Jack and Jill Dance Contest and a certifi cate from the Portland Dance
Festival. Dyntera is teaching a dance class Nov. 6 and 20 in Hermiston.
ing a class at Crabby’s Underground
& Saloon, Pendleton. This was her
fi rst teaching gig, giving hour-long
lessons to students before the band
started playing. She has since off ered
classes with groups, including the
parks and recreation departments
for Hermiston and Pendleton and the
Pendleton Eagles Lodge. She also
gives seminars and off ers private and
semi-private lessons.
Though she has won her own
competitions, she said her greatest
and most satisfying accomplishment
is teaching. She loves it when she can
sit back and watch couples, whom
she has taught, dance.
Confi dence makes dancing fun,
she said, and one gains confi dence
through practice. Expertise leads to
relaxation, which leads to the proper
dancer’s mindset she said. So even
when a dancer makes a mistake, the
mistake can be laughed off . One only
needs to start again.
This is an analogy for life, she
said. You get up and start again.
Dyntera speaks so much wisdom
in her lessons, as with her analogy
between life and dancing, people tell
her she should be a marriage coun-
selor.
Hermiston employer, Puyallup
employee enjoy remote work
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Despite
living more than 200 miles
away from her company’s
offi ce in Hermiston, Emily
Cecil has the shortest imag-
inable commute.
Like 13.2% of employed
persons in America, accord-
ing to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, she tele-
works. Cecil works from her
home in Puyallup, Washing-
ton.
According to a 2020 paper
for the National Bureau of
Economic Research, writ-
ten by Jonathan I. Dingel and
Brent Neiman, 37% of jobs
in this country can be done
entirely from home.
Cecil said her work is
“like any day in the offi ce.”
She is at her desk from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. The only diff erence
is her desk is in a room in
her home, rather than in her
company’s building.
She starts off every
Monday with an all staff
meeting via Zoom. Then, she
stays in communication with
her supervisors and cowork-
ers through additional video
conferences, phone calls,
texts and emails. She does
not feel as though she is
missing anything by work-
ing in this way.
“I love it,” she said. “I
really enjoy my job and
working from home. It’s
been good for me so far,”
Cecil said.
She works for Swan-
son Insurance Group as an
account manager. She goes
to the company’s Hermis-
ton offi ce once a month for a
scheduled meeting and drops
in on occasion on trips to see
family in this area, but she
does all her other work in her
own house.
This was the only way
she could work for Swan-
son, Cecil said. She had
been living in Hermiston
and working for the Busi-
ness Resource Center when
her husband took employ-
ment in Puyallup. Staying
in Hermiston just was not an
option, she said.
And yet, she could not
fi nd a job that interested her
in Puyallup, she said.
Josh Burns/Contributed Photo
Fortunately for her, she Emily Cecil works for Swan-
was familiar with Luke son Insurance Group in
Swanson of Swanson Insur- Hermiston, but she does
ance, and she knew of a job that from her home in Puy-
availability. She and Swan- allup, Washington. She is
son talked about it, and they part of the 13.2% of U.S. em-
determined it would be a ployees who work remotely,
good fi t for her to work with according to the U.S. Bureau
the company in the way she of Labor Statistics.
is currently doing.
Swa n son I n su r a nce
Part of the fun, she said,
is retaining a connection Group is an insurance
to the Hermiston commu- agency, primarily deal-
nity. She credited her abil- ing with commercial lines
ity to work remotely with — businesses, farms and
being motivated and enjoy- ranches. Josh Burns, one of
ing what she is doing. This two outward-facing agents
job is, she said, better than with Swanson, is happy to
anything she has done, have Cecil on board as one
which is why she works of four account managers.
Her primary responsi-
well. She does not need
someone in the room super- bility will be personal lines,
mostly for businesspeo-
vising her, she said.
An Easter n Oregon ple who have commercial
University graduate, Cecil accounts with Swanson but
also has recently passed her want to keep home, auto and
property and casualty licens- life accounts with the same
ing test, she said. After she agency
Having employees work
completes her background
remotely provide:
is not new for
check, she said Qualified
she will seek candidates
the company, Burns said.
other certifi cations.
Qualified candidates provide:
Management, promotion and
delivery of educational
programming that meets the needs
of youth
Engage service to youth, the public
and community partners
lic
Commitment to promote and
enhance diversity and contribute to
a welcoming, inclusive and
respectful work culture
4-H
A3
Dancer fi nds satisfaction in teaching others, even lost causes
eds
e to
East Oregonian
Management, promotion and
delivery of educational
programming that meets the needs
of youth
Commitment to promote and
enhance diversity and contribute to
a welcoming, inclusive and
respectful work culture
Oversight and facilitation of the 4-H
Program in Umatilla County
Much more than a paycheck:
4-H Program Coordinator
Program
Umatilla
County
Full
benefits in including
medical,
dental & vision
Management,
promotion
and
Management,
promotion
and
pension/retirement
delivery PERS
of educational
delivery of educational
programming Paid
that vacation
meets the needs
programming
that
meets the holidays
needs
Sick leave and
federal/state
of youth
of youth
Tuition reduction for eligible employees
Engage service
to youth,
the public
Professional
development
Engage
service
to partners
youth,
the public DOE
Starting
annual salary:
$53,266-$58,837
and community
and community partners
Commitment
to promote
and
For more details
and to apply
Commitment
to promote
and online:
enhance diversity
and contribute
to
https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/109259
enhance
diversity
and contribute
to
a welcoming,
inclusive
and
a respectful
welcoming,
inclusive
and
work
culture
respectful
work Service
culture
OSU Extension
prohibits discrimination in all its
Oversight and
facilitation
of the
programs,
services, activities,
and 4-H
materials.
Oversight
and
facilitation
of the 4-H
Program in
Umatilla
County
Program in Umatilla County
Pilot Rock voters back
fi re district tax option
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Swanson, which became
independent in 2018, started
with remote employees.
This gave the company
the chance to hire the best
person for a job, regardless
of location.
Burns said when the
coronavirus pandemic hit,
and other offices began
shifting their employees to
working remotely, Swanson
Insurance was ready. This
company already was work-
ing like this.
“It comes with responsi-
bility,” Burns said.
He must count on people
doing their work, he said,
and for that he seeks out
people with proven records
of responsibility.
Cecil is not only “sharp,”
according to Burns, she
also is a person who proved
herself in previous employ-
ment and schooling. She
is someone the company
wanted, and everyone at the
company is happy to have
her, Burns said.
“She is someone we were
hoping to get on the team,”
he
said.
“The fact that we
East
Oregonian
East
off
ered Oregonian
a remote opportunity,
5.16
x 7 7 - - color
color
I 5.16
think x made
that possible.”
PILOT ROCK — The Pilot
Rock Rural Fire Protection
District received overwhelm-
ing support on election night,
Tuesday, Nov. 2, to maintain
services.
The district asked voters
in and around Pilot Rock to
approve a local option tax
of 82 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value. And voters
answered, passing the tax
369-72.
Herschel Rostov, the
district’s new chief, said
the high numbers in favor
were good to see and shows
how much the community
supports the fi re department.
The district, accord-
ing to a city of Pilot Rock
website,“provides f i re
suppression, emergency
medical services, fi re preven-
tion and rescue to the city of
Pilot Rock and the surround-
ing area with a population of
about 3,000.
The district two weeks ago
become fully independent
from the Umatilla County
Fire District No. 1, according
to a representative from the
UCFD1. In July 2018, Pilot
Rock Rural Fire merged with
Umatilla County Fire District
No. 1, which provided a fi re
chief, fire marshal, train-
ing chief, emergency medi-
cal service chief and fire
mechanic, the website states.
Rostov, 53, said he stepped
into the role as the Pilot Rock
Rural Fire Protection District
chief Oct. 1.
“I just got started,” he said.
Rostov came from the fi re
department at Mercer Island,
Washington, and before that
the North Whatcom Fire and
Rescue, a district in Belling-
ham, Washington.
“I came here really look-
ing to provide a high level of
experience, and especially
for a rural community,” he
said, because rural commu-
nities tend to be underserved
in areas of training and more.
Rostov also said the district
did not seek to raise the tax but
keep it the same, recognizing
the fi nancial diffi culties many
have endured. Still, maintain-
ing the level of funding means
the district keeps its quick
response team.
That’s a secondary service
for the district, he said, but
it’s vital to the community
because it means Pilot Rock
Rural Fire can send emer-
gency medical service to
the fi eld and start providing
life-saving support while
Pendleton’s fuller ambulance
service is en route.
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Engage service to youth, the public
and community partners
Umatilla County is hiring a
Qualified candidates
candidates
provide:
Oversight
facilitation
of the 4-H
Qualified
Much and
more
than a provide:
paycheck:
A retired counseling secretary for
Oregon Public Schools, she laughs
off the idea of being a counselor. Her
wish, rather, is to be a dance teacher,
a job she is presently enjoying.
One of her favorite things about
teaching is discovering people who
think they cannot dance. Often,
these people have even taken lessons
elsewhere, but failed to gain any
ability.
“I like lost causes,” Dyntera said.
Often, she said, she has been able
to help such lost cases learn how to
dance by fi rst teaching them what
to listen for in music. There are
few people — maybe one or two
in her years of teaching — who are
fully tone deaf and unable to hear a
melody, but nearly everyone else can
learn to dance.
Dyntera has even taught a person
in a wheelchair to dance, by choreo-
graphing a cha-cha.
Now well experienced in both
dance and teaching, she said she is
still working toward mastery. She
knows several dances, though,
including six count, east coast
swing, nightclub two-step, west
coast swing, salsa, rhumba, Arizona
two-step, country western two-step,
line dancing, foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha
and country couples pattern danc-
ing, she said.
Though she knows many dances
and has experience in each, Dyntera
said she is excited to continue learn-
ing more. This is her passion, and
she is happy to partake in it.
Full benefits including medical, dental & vision
PERS pension/retirement
Paid vacation
Sick leave and federal/state holidays
Tuition reduction for eligible employees
Professional development
Starting annual salary: $53,266-$58,837 DOE
For more details and to apply online:
https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/109259
Much more than a paycheck:
Much including
more
than
a paycheck:
Full benefits
dental & in vision
OSU Extension
Service medical,
prohibits discrimination
all its
Full benefits
including
medical,
dental
& vision
programs,
services,
activities,
and materials.
PERS pension/retirement
PERS Paid
pension/retirement
vacation
Paid
vacation holidays
Sick leave and
federal/state
Sick
leave
and
federal/state
holidays
Tuition reduction for eligible employees
Much more than a paycheck:
Full benefits including medical, dental & vision
PERS pension/retirement
Paid vacation
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OSU Extension Service prohibits discrimination in all its
programs, services, activities, and materials.
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