REGION
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Tactile map could be the next
feature of Funland Playground
The Lions Club
is behind eff ort to
make ‘the jewel
of Hermiston’
more accessible
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — A
visionary’s work is never
done, according to Herm-
iston Parks and Recreation
and the Hermiston Lions
Club.
“I don’t know if we
will ever be completed,”
Lions Club member Char-
lie Clupny said. “The play-
ground is a process.”
People from the two
organizations are planning
new work for Funland Play-
ground, which they refer
to as “the jewel of Herm-
iston.” This work is in the
early stages, but they spoke
recently of their plan, which
they wish to introduce to the
public.
“We want to build a
tactile map,” Clupny said.
The map, as he described
it, would include raised
features and a layout of
Funland. Located at the
playground, it would give
blind users a picture of the
park they could feel and
understand, he said.
Lions Club members
were among volunteers
who helped build Funland.
Also, the Lions donated
money and a fountain
to the project. The play-
ground remains important
to the club, according to Bill
Kuhn, Hermiston Lion’s
Club president, and Hermis-
ton Lions have been looking
for new ways to contribute
to Funland.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Theanah Dunlap pours tea into a container Dec. 17, 2021, at
Tastea Boba in Pendleton.
Authentic boba tea
ready in Pendleton
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Children climb on a play structure July 4, 2021, during the grand opening of the new Fun-
land Playground in Hermiston. The city’s parks and recreation department and the Herm-
iston Lions Club are working on a tactile map to make the playground more accessible.
“As (Funland) neared
completion, we saw that
maybe the project could be
made better for the sight-im-
paired,” he said.
He added that a tactile
map could fill this need;
sight-impaired children
could gain understanding
of the playground by feel-
ing the map. They could,
then, play on the actual play-
ground.
Kuhn said his club was
interested in pursuing this
idea, so they contacted
InterMountain Education
Service District to gain a
better understanding of
the maps and how they are
used in children’s educa-
tion. According to Clupny,
the district has been helpful
in improving accessibility
in the playground, as it had
made suggestions leading to
such things as markers for
diff erent levels on the pirate
ship.
A tactile map would be
another step toward making
Funland accessible to a
growing number of people,
Clupny said.
“I think this is very
important,” Hermiston
Parks & Recreation Direc-
tor Brandon Artz said.
He explained it is the aim
for his department to make
this playground usable for
people of all diff erent abili-
ties, not just for able-bodied
people.
Funland has features for
people with various disabil-
ities, he said. Ramps and
bars, for example, allow
some children to make
better use of the equipment.
Also, some equipment was
made so it was spacious
enough for wheelchairs.
“It should be inviting for
anyone and everyone to be
able to use,” he said. “(The
tactile map) is a fantastic
idea, and I am blown away
that the Lions Club wants
to take this on and get this
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done. I think it would be
a huge asset to the play-
ground. People from all over
would come here to use it.”
Artz said it would serve
more than visually impaired
people, it also would help
other children as well. The
tactile map would teach
empathy, he said; it would
be a reminder to others of
challenges of blind people.
Young people would see this
map, feel it and think more
deeply about the people
for whom the map serves,
according to Artz.
The Lions and Hermiston
Parks & Rec are on board
with this idea, but there still
is more work to do. Now,
they need to develop their
idea and fi nd funding for it.
Clupny said he is reach-
ing out to local businesses
for funding. There is no
timeline on this project
to date, though he said he
would like to make it happen
as soon as possible.
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Brandi
Dunlap said she is thrilled
about her business in Pend-
leton.
Taestea Boba, 1400 S.W.
Court Ave., Pendleton, is
the town’s only authentic
boba tea shop, she said, but it
serves plenty more, including
milk teas, fruit teas and hot
chocolates.
Dunlap said boba tea —
or bubble tea — is a Taiwan-
ese tea-based drink. She
claimed she has the only
authentic boba tea in Pendle-
ton because other restaurants
that off er the boba tea use a
powder tea.
“But all of ours are brewed
with a loose-leaf tea daily,”
she said.
The tea, she said, includes
a “bottom,” composed of
small, chewy black tapi-
oca pearls at the base of the
drink. She makes a sweet
sauce, she said, with a recipe
unique to her shop, and mari-
nates the pearls to soak up the
sweetness.
Bursting boba, fi lled with
juice that pop in the mouth,
is one of the other options for
a bottom.
“Diff erent people prefer
diff erent things at the bottom
of their drinks,” she said.
“Some people like to have
that bursting boba to just
pop fl avor into their mouths.
Other people like to chew.”
Dunlap described herself
as the sort of person who
likes to chew the boba at the
bottom of her drinks.
She said her children
introduced her to boba tea
fi ve years ago in Portland.
Then, she met someone in
Boise, Idaho, and she “fell
in love” with the drink.
Together, with her new
contact, she opened a couple
of boba tea shops in Boise,
Idaho.
Then living in Athena, she
said she opened Black Pearl
in Walla Walla and found
success. Not only was she
selling lots of tea, she made
another contact, who would
prove helpful to her business
— Jeff Bradbury, owner and
operator of Elite Guns &
Tactical. He visited the Black
Pearl and suggested Dunlap
open a boba tea shop in Pend-
leton.
“I was on the fence about
it,” she said. “You don’t really
fi nd anything in Pendleton
that isn’t burgers or coff ee
and that sort of thing, steak,
but I thought I’d give it a try.”
And so far, she said,
Taestea Boba is working out.
A Mystery by
Agatha
Christie
OFFICE SPECIALIST 2
Salary Range: $3,111 - $4,460
Full-Time
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Correctional Institution
in Pendleton, OR
Apply by 1/30/22
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Directed by
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Reed
Barbara
McKinney
JAN. 28, 29, FEB 4, 5, 11 & 12 AT 7:30 PM. FEB. 6 & 13 AT 2 PM.
Box office hours: 6:30-7:30 pm Friday and Saturday and 1-2 pm Sunday during the weeks of the shows only.
By permission of Samuel French | 1130 E. Sumach | 509-529-3683 | Tickets: $20 | Reserve yours online at LTWW.org