A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
COMMUNITY
BRIEFING
Hermiston Rotary seeks
scholarship applicants
HERMISTON — Applications for the
2022-23 Hermiston Rotary Club scholarships
are due March 31.
Any student who resides in western
Umatilla County or Morrow County are eligi-
ble to apply. Scholarships are available for
undergraduate and graduate studies, as well
as trade and vocational school studies and
apprenticeship programs.
In addition, the Hermiston Rotary Club
Foundation also offers a scholarship for
college students intending to participate in a
study abroad program off ered by their teach-
ing institution.
The application process for both scholar-
ships is completed online. For more infor-
mation, click on the “Scholarships” tab at
www.hermistonrotaryclub.com. For ques-
tions, email dfi alka@gmail.com or winters@
eotnet.net.
Read-a-thon
planned in Hermiston
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Lyndsay Egerer, 15, moves a pawn Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, while playing practice matches with fellow members of the Hermiston High
School Chess Club in the school’s library.
Moving the pieces
Hermiston
chess players
look forward
to tournament
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
H ER M ISTON — At
the end of school Thursday,
Feb. 17, around a dozen Hermis-
ton High School students gath-
ered in the back of their school’s
library for games of chess.
The members of the Herm-
iston High School Chess Club
were preparing for an upcom-
ing competition, the Region 23
Chess Tournament.
The tournament is Feb. 26,
8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Herm-
iston High School library. Spon-
sored by Chess for Success, the
event brings together kinder-
garteners through high school
students from several local coun-
ties.
Ernest Kincaid, in his fi rst
year as the advisor of the club,
said this will be his fi rst compe-
tition.
“I love it,” he said of the chess
club and about the excitement he
feels for the tournament.
A math and special education
teacher, Kincaid said he enjoys
seeing his students get their
“brain gears” turning. Chess
club, he said, is a good opportu-
nity for students to think. And
right now, as they prepare for
the competition, they are push-
ing their brains as hard as ever,
he said.
Preparing for the
regional competition
Kincaid said he intends to
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Trey Ditchen, a 15-year-old sophomore at Hermiston High School,
eyes a chess move Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, while participating in a
chess club meeting at the Hermiston High School library.
go to the regional tournament
with 10 students, and one in
particular is exceptionally
talented. Luke Gray is one of at
least three students who should
advance to state competition.
Kincaid said he has beaten
Gray only once.
“I couldn’t believe it, and I
don’t think Luke could believe
it, either,” Kincaid said.
But he doubted he could beat
the student again. Gray said he
has seen Kincaid play multiple
times and knows him too well
for that to happen.
Other chess club members
expressed their admiration of
Gray’s skills, his friendliness
and his positivity. One student
laughed at the suggestion that
Gray was something of a cult
leader.
“Yeah,” she said. “That’s
about right.”
Gray was more modest. He
said he may be the school’s
best player, however, there are
several good players on the
team, and he does sometimes
lose to them.
Although he has been to state
a couple of times, he said he has
never done very well there. He
said he has achieved a better
understanding of the game in
recent months, though, and he
has gained confi dence.
“I think I can do better now,”
he said.
Elijah Robinson, 15, a soph-
omore is another top player at
the school, and he competes for
the fun of it.
He said when he was in the
sixth grade he learned chess
from his grandfather and when
he plays, he often thinks of his
grandfather, who died three
years ago.
Having appeared at state
twice with teams, Robinson
said his goal is to compete at
state as an individual, but added
he is less confi dent he could win
a state competition.
“I’d have to get pretty lucky,
but I’ll try my best,” he said.
Sophomore Lyndsay Egerer,
15, said she also was putting forth
her top eff ort. Like some of the
other students at the club, she said
she fi rst learned it from Gray.
Egerer said she is a compet-
itive person and also takes part
in karate and softball. She said
it would be fun to earn a chess
trophy she could treasure along-
side her sports trophies. But she
shrugged at whether she could
win a title yet.
“I’m getting better,” she said.
“I practice a lot and learn from
that, but I have never been in a
(chess) competition before, and I
don’t know what to expect.”
Several of the other chess
players at the club meeting also
are athletes. For example, Trey
Ditchen, 15, sophomore, plays
basketball and baseball.
“I’m not amazing, but I’m
alright,” he said.
Enrique Garcia, 15, fresh-
man, said he has fun improving
his skills, too. Also, he said, he
enjoys chess because he likes
problem solving. It would be a
lot of fun to win at regionals,
he said, but he expressed mixed
feelings about state competition.
“I’d be nervous,” he said.
Having come to the U.S. from
Mexico this year, Garcia speaks
little English. Getting around
in this country, and navigating
his English-language classes
is diffi cult, he said. Chess club,
too, is hard, he said, because of
the language barrier.
Still, he said he likes to play
the game, as it was something he
did while in his home country
that he also can do here.
To register, players may visit
the website www.chessforsuc-
cess.org/play/registration. For
more information, contact Delia
Fields, tournament director, at
541-667-6144 or 541-571-4219.
HERMISTON — The Friends of the
Hermiston Public Library and Altrusa Inter-
national of Hermiston are promoting literacy
and a love of reading with the Read Across
Hermiston Read-a-thon.
The event is Saturday, March 5, 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. at the Hermiston Public Library, 235
E. Gladys Ave. In addition, it will be lives-
treamed on the library friends’ Facebook
page.
It will feature a series of community
members reading in 20-minute segments.
Participating readers who have confi rmed,
include Hermiston City Manager Byron
Smith, Hermiston School Superintendent
Tricia Mooney, Agape House Executive
Director Mark Gomolski, Good Shepherd
Health Care System CEO Brian Sims and
Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran.
Other community leaders will be added as
available. They will share from their favorite
books across a variety of genres.
In addition, local authors Carol Clupny
and Ben Armstrong will share excerpts
from their work. Clupny is the author of
“The Ribbon of Road Ahead,” a memoir of
her experience with Parkinson’s Disease.
And Armstrong, a Hermiston High School
student, had his short story, “Sleigh 54,”
published last fall.
The library friends and Altrusans are
asking the community to support their favor-
ite readers by donating to literacy projects
sponsored by both groups. Donations may
be made electronically through the Friends
of the Hermiston Public Library Facebook
page, at the Hermiston Public Library and
at the Hermiston offi ce of Banner Bank. For
questions, call the library at 541-567-2882.
Young ag entrepreneurs
eligible for award
HERMISTON — The board of the John F.
Walchli Ag Entrepreneur Award is seeking
applicants for its third annual award. Appli-
cants must be 22 years old or younger and
be engaged in agriculture either directly or
in an agriculture-related fi eld. This is a cash
award based on entrepreneurship and may be
used at the discretion of the recipient — the
award recipient does not currently have to be
enrolled in school.
To be eligible, the applicant must attend
or have graduated from a high school in
the west end of Umatilla County, including
Echo, Hermiston, Stanfi eld or Umatilla. The
selection is not based on grades, but rather
innovation and accomplishments in any fi eld
of agriculture.
The deadline to apply is March 31. For
more information, contact board member
Mike Mehren at 541-561-4762 or mehrens@
eotnet.net.
— EO Media Group
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