OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
East Oregonian
Hope:
Continued from Page A1
Photos by Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A caravan of motorcycles departs Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, from Echo for the annual Echo Toy Run to Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Hermiston.
Toy Run:
Continued from Page A1
The mob of bikers parked and
dismounted their bikes. They marched
toward three large bins and tossed in
toy trucks and stuffed unicorns. They
laughed hearty laughs and chatted as
the gifts piled up, nearly overflowing
from the bins.
As a former employee of the hospi-
tal emergency department, Silvani
recalled a young girl who was once
miserably ill. Silvani found the girl a
toy that had been tucked away after the
toy run. That toy instantly changed the
girl’s day, she said. That’s why Silvani
said she thinks the event is essential.
Several people remarked on how
the event shows the inherent kindness
among bikers, dispelling stereotypes.
Spencer said he joined the toy run
when Sells started it 18 years ago. He
started being Santa the year that Sells
died. Since then, he’s led the proces-
sion through town, alongside his wife,
Beth.
“It’s an honor,” he said.
The group this year was so big it
stretched nearly from Stanfield to
Hermiston, at least two bikers said.
Sam Bursell, a retired truck driver,
said the community was more accom-
modating this year than ever before,
pulling to the side of the road and
allowing the group to pass.
“There’s a lot of love here,” said
Bursell, who sports a long white beard.
Bursell kept a stuffed dog, bear and
a lion in tow on his way to the hospital.
He said if he were a child in the hospi-
tal, that’s what he would have wanted.
Bursell said the event exemplifies how
giving and caring Sells was.
“He started a legacy,” Bursell said,
“and it’s still going on.”
Beth Spencer, dressed as Mrs. Claus, and her husband Phil Spencer, dressed as Santa Claus, pose for photos with bikers
Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, during the Echo Toy Run at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston.
Since the peak of the delta
variant surge that followed
the Pendleton Round-Up,
weekly cases in Umatilla
County have declined for
more than two months. Last
week, the county reported
just 41 cases total, accord-
ing to Fiumara. Compare
that to September, when the
county reported more than
500 cases in a week — a
number health officials said
at the time was surely an
undercount.
Union County is experi-
encing a similar trend, with
124 cases reported through-
out November, a significant
drop from August, when
the county tallied 568 cases
as the delta variant rocked
Oregon’s health care system.
Weekly average case counts
dropped into single digits
for most of November. The
weekly average of three
cases on Wednesday, Dec. 1,
marked the lowest average in
Union County since July 18.
Lowered numbers have
been a cause for guarded
optimism among county
officials.
“We’re really happy the
numbers are down,” Union
County Commissioner
Donna Beverage said. “No
one really knows what will
happen in the future, so we
have to be cautious.”
However, as long as
vaccination rates across the
region remain among the
lowest in Oregon, health
officials voiced concern
that infection could sweep
through the region again if
the omicron variant proves
more transmissible or
deadly.
“As long as there is a
reservoir for infection to
happen, it will happen,” said
Dr. Jon Hitzman, Umatilla
County’s public health offi-
cer. He added: “Despite our
best efforts, we remain one
or two steps behind this
virus.”
The omicron variant,
which was in Europe before
it was first reported in South
Africa, has caused consid-
erable panic worldwide.
Last week, several coun-
tries immediately banned
foreign travelers altogether
as reports about the vari-
ant spread. Even the stock
market took a brief but nota-
ble tumble in the wake of the
news of the variant.
Three cases of the variant
have so far been reported in
the United States, but offi-
A9
cials expect those numbers
to increase in the coming
days and weeks, the New
York Times reported. With
the upcoming influx of travel
around the holidays, Presi-
dent Joe Biden announced
Dec. 2 that international
travelers are required to
take a COVID-19 test within
24 hours of their departure
for the United States. The
mandate for masks on public
transport also extended
through March 18.
The variant’s arrival also
prompted the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention on Nov. 29, to
change its messaging on
booster shots, saying people
18 and older “should” get a
booster when they can.
Scientists expect to
know more about the vari-
ant in the coming weeks but
also say there is no reason
to believe omicron is able
to completely evade the
vaccine’s protection, but it’s
possible the vaccine could
be less protective.
Hitzman and Fiumara
said it is best that residents
practice patience as officials
act quickly to learn more.
“It’s way too early to even
begin to project how danger-
ous this is,” Hitzman said.
Hitzman would not go
as far as to discourage resi-
dents from gathering during
the holidays, resigning to
the fact people will do what
they want regardless of what
he says. He said he will be
gathering with his family
— who are vaccinated —
for the holidays, but added
they will not be having their
annual Christmas party.
“Individual freedoms
don’t remove our responsi-
bility for taking care of our
neighbors,” Hitzman said.
Beverage ref lected a
similar sentiment, noting
holiday travel caution should
be a decision every individ-
ual considers carefully.
“We want to be cautious,
but I would say that’s an
individual decision,” she
said. “If someone feels at
risk meeting at a large family
gathering, they should be
cautious and make their own
decision.”
Meanwhile, Hitzman and
other Eastern Oregon health
officials are pushing for the
same precautions they have
for months: Mask up while
indoors, stay home when ill,
and get vaccinated.
“This is a beatable virus,
but it’s going to take every-
one,” Hitzman said, adding,
“Right now, it’s all hope.”
Drought:
Continued from Page A1
Tim Donivan, who runs
the Donivan Tree Farm in
La Grande with his wife,
Loraine Donivan, said the
drought compounded the
problem regarding the short-
ages.
“There was a glut of
trees 15 years ago and the
price went really low,” Tim
Donivan said, “and assum-
ing a certain amount of
farms converted into wine
production, so that changed
the supply balance, and this
summer with the drought
certain trees turned red and
aren’t on the market.”
The Donivans have been
running a tree farm since
their first planting in 1979.
Their 3.5-acre property is
filled with trees of varying
ages and species. Many of
the younger trees had been
scorched by the summer heat
wave, leaving the saplings
to resemble the sickly tree
from the animated TV clas-
sic “A Charlie Brown Christ-
mas.” Older trees largely
survived the onslaught of
record-breaking tempera-
tures, though a few trees
succumbed to the heat while
other trees saw only a smat-
Reddened needles signify a dead tree scorched by the sum-
mer heat waves and drought at the Donivan Tree Farm in
La Grande on Nov. 30, 2021. Though most of the adult and
market-ready trees survived, the unusually dry and hot con-
ditions this year damaged a few.
Photos by Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Kevin Lyon, of Enterprise, carries a Christmas tree from the Donivan Tree Farm in La Grande
on Nov. 30, 2021. An unusually dry year has caused a number of new plantings and seedlings
to die off, which could mean shortages in the decades to come.
tering of reddened needles
and crispy branches.
Loraine Donivan
described this year’s weather
conditions as highly unusual,
and said the heat and drought
prevented the trees from
developing root structures
that would help them weather
the dry conditions.
“We lost a lot of the seed-
lings we planted this spring,
and I’m sure that was the
case for other growers too,”
she said. “We went through
and spot watered every
tree, including every seed-
ling five times through the
summer, but we still lost a
large percentage of this year’s
seedlings — half of what we
planted.”
Oregon leads the nation
in Christmas tree produc-
tion, with exports fueling
an industry worth just more
than $100 million, accord-
ing to statistics from the
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National Agricultural Statis-
tics Service. According to the
Capital Press, Oregon grows
nearly one-third of all U.S.
Christmas trees. Most of the
Christmas tree farms reside
in or near the Willamette
Valley where conditions are
prime for pines.
According to Loraine
Donivan, trees in Eastern
Oregon take longer to grow
than those in the Willa-
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growers will continue to
struggle with their crops in
the years to come.
“We’re just going to have
to replant more next spring
and hope we don’t have
another weather cycle like
that,” Loraine Donivan said.
Still, the Donivans
contend they have more than
enough trees to supply buyers
in the Grande Ronde Valley
looking to cut down their
own tree for Christmas. Tim
Donivan said the farm has
“more than we did last year.”
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age growth time of 10-12
years for an Eastern Oregon
Christmas tree, as compared
to the eight to 10 years in the
Willamette Valley.
“We’re a lot higher and
drier, and they’re a lot more
temperate and moist,”
Loraine Donivan said.
And while the Willa-
mette Valley is poised to
exit its drought starting next
year according to National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration data, the
dry conditions for Eastern
Oregon will persist for at
least one more season. That
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