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KEEPING IT LOCAL
EOU signs
Hermiston’s
Cadenas to
play football
THE NATURAL WORLD
T
H
ErMIStON — Sam
cadenas is an excep-
tional athlete. he
excels in football,
wrestling and soccer,
and could possibly play any of the three
sports in college.
the hermiston senior is putting his
future on the football field, signing with
Eastern Oregon university, La Grande.
“I just felt like football caught my
attention right away,” cadenas said. “I
like the physicality that you don’t get
in soccer, and the environment around
you when you make good plays.”
EOu coach tim camp is excited to
add cadenas to his ever-growing roster
of Eastern Oregon athletes.
“We are super excited about him,”
camp said. “We plan to redshirt him,
get him bigger and stronger, then
unleash him. We have known Sam for
a while, and I knew I wanted him to be
a part of our program. he has a motor
that will not quit.”
cadenas said he had interest from
texas Western and a few others, but
liked that EOu was a little closer to
home.
“texas was too far,” he said. “East-
ern is more local and has some local
players.”
hermiston football coach david
Faaeteete said he believes EOu is a
good fit for Cadenas.
“he stays local and it’s close to
family,” Faaeteete said. “Eastern
Oregon is like another hermiston. We
went to camp there last summer, he
liked it there and liked the coaching
staff. They will redshirt him and give
him time to develop. It will be inter-
esting to see him play just one side of
the ball.”
at 6-foot, 245 pounds, cadenas is
undersized for a defensive lineman, but
he is strong. Faaeteete said cadenas has
the frame to carry 30 more pounds and
still retain his quickness.
“I don’t think they realize how
strong he is,” Faaeteete said. “he has
a three-lift total of over 1,000 pounds
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston’s Sam Cadenas (52) celebrates after successfully blocking a punt in
the end zone for a touchdown Oct. 8, 2021 during a 27-14 loss to the Southridge
Suns in Hermiston. He has signed to play football at the college level at Eastern
Oregon University, La Grande.
coming out of high school. his frame
is big enough to carry 275. he is quick
and will be more athletic than most
guys. Imagine his motor when he is
playing just one position.”
cadenas was a two-time all-confer-
ence defensive lineman in the Mid-co-
lumbia conference, and said that the
Mounties are eyeing him to play on
the defensive line, though he also has
played on the offense line.
“Defense is definitely my stronger
side,” cadenas said. “I would love to
play right away, but I trust him (camp).
he has been doing this a long time.
What he says goes.”
cadenas might need a little extra
time to work through knee and shoul-
der issues that have been nagging him
for a few months.
“I don’t know if I will be able to
play soccer this year,” said cadenas,
who was a second-team all-Mcc pick
as a forward last season. “I’m going
to get some recovery time, then have
them checked out. I fought through it
in wrestling.”
cadenas did a good job of keep-
ing himself together during wrestling
season, winning district, regional
and state titles at 285 pounds. he and
Jaxson Gribskov became the first two
hermiston wrestlers to win state titles
in Washington on Feb. 19.
“Every one of the kids we have had
here who were good football players
were wrestlers,” camp said. “he isn’t
the biggest guy, but he is tough. there
is just something about him.”
Whatever it takes
cadenas comes from a soccer
family. his three older brothers
played at hermiston, and he contin-
ued the trend when he got to high
school.
Football in the fall got him ready
for wrestling, and soccer season
follows wrestling.
the wrestling world was new to
the cadenas family, but if it was going
to help make him a better football
player, he was willing to give it a try.
“coach (Justin) Binnetti told me
my freshman year that it would help,”
cadenas said of the former hermiston
assistant. “coach Faaeteete agreed. I
went, and I did it. The first few days
were a little weird. It took a little
while to get the hang of it. I was still
in the denial side of it. after my fresh-
man year, I was like OK.”
cadenas was a quick study. he
placed third at 220 pounds at the 3a
state tournament his sophomore year.
the cOVId pandemic wiped out his
junior year, but he came back strong
his senior season.
In addition to his coaches, cadenas
said there are many people to thank
in helping him adjust to wrestling so
quickly, and helping him succeed.
“I want to thank coach tovey,
chris Elliott, the Elliott family
and the Stocker family for all their
support,” cadenas said.
If cadenas can master wrestling
that quickly, college football should
be a breeze.
Umatilla lands 3 on EOL first team
campos, armenta
and durfey earn
top honors
EASTERN
OREGON
LEAGUE
BOYS
BASKETBALL
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Campos
Armenta
Durfey
EASTERN OREGON LEAGUE
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Players of the Year: Gracie John-
son, jr., Nyssa and Kaitlyn Wright,
sr., Burns
Coach of the Year: Jeremy Cham-
berlain, Nyssa
First team: Kailey McGourty, sr.,
Vale; Taylor Durfey, sr., Umatilla;
Laney Hartley, sr., Nyssa; Kaya
Dobson, sr., Burns; Malerie Long,
sr., Nyssa.
Second team: Halle Peterson,
so., Vale; Akylah Kaino, fr., Burns;
the Vikings 7.4 points, 2.5
assists and 2.3 rebounds a
game.
riverside (10-10) had
senior guard humberto
Sanchez named to the
second team. Sanchez led
the Pirates with 11.1 points,
3.1 rebounds, 3.3 steals and
1.6 assists per game.
durfey was a second-
Layla Castillo, sr., Riverside; Jasmin
Lopez, sr., Riverside; Brooklyn
Johns, sr., Nyssa.
Honorable mention: Kate Vine-
yard, sr., Nyssa; Melissa Leon, jr.,
Irrigon; Jolyne Harrison, jr., Irrigon;
Nia Seastone, jr. Irrigon; Clarita
Arizmendi, so., Nyssa; Ashley
Wright, so., Burns; Haylee Cleaver,
so., Vale; Paola Leon-Mendoza, fr.,
Umatilla; Marta Barajas, sr., River-
side; Riley Johnson, sr., Vale.
team selection as a fresh-
man, and has been a
first-team player since.
She averaged 10 points
and eight rebounds a game
for the Vikings (6-15) this
season.
r iver side sen ior s
Layla castillo and Jasmin
Lopez were named to the
second team.
Player of the Year: John Wolf,
sr., Vale
Coach of the Year: Colby
Shira, Vale
First team: Oscar Campos,
sr., Umatilla; Ulises Armenta,
sr., Umatilla; Adam White, sr.,
Burns; Tanner Steele, sr., Vale;
Diesel Johnson, so., Vale.
Second team: Zane Kozeni,
so., Burns; Garrett Johnson,
so, Burns; Humberto Sanchez,
sr., Riverside; Zach Kausler,
jr., Nyssa; Lynkin McLeod, sr.,
Umatilla.
Honorable mention: Kade
Kurata, sr., Vale; Colten Steple-
ton, so., Vale; Ramiro Alvarez,
sr., Umatilla; Riley Lantis, so.,
Riverside; Lucas Szasz, jr., River-
side; Jon Cardenas, sr., Irrigon;
Luis Coria, jr., Irrigon; Brandon
Vela, sr., Nyssa; Orin Stipe, jr.,
Nyssa; Boyd Davis, jr., Irrigon
castillo led the Pirates
(10-11) with 10 points, four
steals and three rebounds
a game, while Lopez had
nine points, six rebounds,
four steals and two assists
per game.
ON THE SLATE
SATURDAY, MARCH 5
Prep girls basketball
3A state tournament: Hermiston vs.
TBD, Tacoma Dome
1A state tournament: Nixyaawii vs.TBD
1A state tournament: Echo vs. TBD
2A state tournament: Stanfield vs. TBD
Prep boys basketball
1A state tournament: Nixyaawii vs.TBD
Memories of Mom
DENNIS
DAUBLE
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
uMatILLa — the
umatilla Vikings had three
players selected to the
Eastern Oregon League
first team by the league’s
coaches.
Senior Oscar campos
and ulises armenta were
named to the boys team,
while senior taylor durfey
was named to the girls
team.
the Vikings (16 -9)
finished second to Vale in
the boys EOL district tour-
nament, then knocked off
Santiam christian to earn
a trip to the 3a state quar-
terfinals.
campos led the Vikings
with 12 points a game, along
with 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals
and 1.8 assists. armenta
was right behind him with
11.2 points, 4 rebounds, 2.2
assists and 1.7 steals.
umatilla senior Lynkin
McLeod was named to the
second team. he offered
B1
2A state tournament: Heppner vs. TBD
3A state tournament: Umatilla, vs. TBD
College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at NAIA National
Championships, Wichita, Kansas, TBA
College track and field
Eastern Oregon at NAIA Indoor Cham-
pionships, Brookings, South Dakota,
TBA
College baseball
College of Idaho at Eastern Oregon
(2), 11 a.m.
Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain (2),
11 a.m.
College softball
Eastern Oregon at Bushnell (2), 11 a.m.
Mt. Hood at Blue Mountain (2), noon
College women’s lacrosse
Eastern Oregon at Corban, 1 p.m.
SUNDAY, MARCH 6
College baseball
College of Idaho at Eastern Oregon
(2), 11 a.m.
Blue Mountain at Columbia Basin (2),
11 a.m.
hree hours bent over
a pair of 30-year-old
adirondack chairs chal-
lenges my arthritic back. It’s
a somber February afternoon
when exhaled breath shows.
Stocking cap, flannel-lined
jeans, wool shirt, insulated
down vest and leather gloves
ward off chill. The vibration
whine of my dewalt palm
sander clashes with the over-
head honk of canada geese.
Wispy clouds of sawdust settle
on the driveway. It has been a
week since Mom passed away
in her sleep, a recording of
bird songs playing softly from
a nearby iPad.
Find something to do
that occupies your mind,
I tell myself, preferably in
an outdoor setting where
your senses are challenged.
Distraction can be an effec-
tive remedy for bereavement.
Of all household items left for
me and my siblings to arm
wrestle over, it was not expen-
sive wildlife art or the baby
grand piano, but these vintage
oak chairs I coveted. certain
memories and objects are
forever connected.
“I’d give them a light
sanding and a coat of tung
oil,” my woodworking-savvy
brother-in-law advised when
I shared restoration plans for
the adirondack chairs. Like
Mom, the chairs gathered
weather from time spent
outdoors, but held their age
well.
Not a single oak board is
bowed or warped. however,
the edge of one vertical
stave benefits from a bead
of glue where a brass screw
split vertical grain. tighten-
ing loose screws (53 in each
chair) requires less than half
a turn of a Phillips. a go-over
of exposed surfaces with
100-grit sandpaper removes
burrs, water marks and dark-
ened wood where friends and
family rested their backsides.
the history of adiron-
dack chairs reaches back
more than a century when a
Massachusetts native, thomas
Lee, developed his “West-
port chair.” unlike modern
versions of the same design,
he crafted the high back and
slanted seat from a single
plank of knotless wood,
usually hemlock. Nowa-
days the seat and back of
these classic chairs showcase
smaller slats to make for easier
construction.
Quality adirondack chairs
made from hardwoods such
as teak or oak can bend your
pocketbook as much as $1,500
a pair in today’s market. the
high oil content of these fine
woods is more resistant to
rot and mildew than chairs
constructed from light-
er-weight cedar and doug-
las-fir. Call me a snob, but I
am not a fan of recycled plastic
or “polywood” adirondack
chairs. although considered
environmentally friendly, they
lack character.
a pair of redwood-stain
adirondack chairs built from
scrap wood grace the deck of
our family cabin four seasons
a year. arm rests and staves
have been replaced multi-
ple times. half a dozen extra
screws hold them together.
their backward lean resem-
bles a recliner. Several years
back, uncle chuck sat down
with a bottle of beer in one
hand and a ham sandwich in
the other. the chair collapsed
(I had neglected to bolt in the
backrest) and he landed flat on
his back. His sandwich flew
through the air, but he held
onto his beer. What stories do
Mom’s vintage oak chairs hold
in their wood?
Two weeks after the first
round of sanding, on a fine
March morning when redwing
blackbirds sing “conk-la-ree”
along the banks of the colum-
bia river, I move to the front
lawn to smooth weathered
staves by hand. What should
be a 45-minute job stretches to
two hours when neighbors out
for a walk stop to admire my
handiwork. One hangs around
long enough to tell a story
about an adirondack chair
he crafted from discarded
downhill skis. “I guessed the
dimensions,” he said, “but it
turned out OK.”
Much like fine furniture
destined for a place in the
living room, I leave tangen-
tial and straight grain surfaces
free to express their inner
beauty. Gray tone will soak up
tung oil and provide elegant
contrast to the flecking and
curly grain pattern of quar-
ter-sawn pieces.
Back in early Febru-
ary, before I loaded the last
adirondack chair in my truck
for transport from Mom’s back
patio, I sat for a spell, looked
up at passing clouds and whis-
pered to her kindred spirit.
how many times did you sit
in this same chair and watch
hummingbirds sip sugar water
from a feeder? Count goldfish
in your small pond? Listen to
the gurgle of the nearby creek
and the serenade of song spar-
rows? Savor the sweet odor of
blooming honeysuckle while
resting in the company of
family and friends?
this remarkable woman
raised five children, journeyed
to all corners of the world
following a lengthy career as
a classroom teacher, chalked
up 700 birds on her life list
and left behind a rich personal
legacy. Whose recent travel
became restricted to pushing
a walker from the living room
couch to where a favorite
adirondack chair overlooked
her backyard sanctuary for
wildlife. Who at age 97 let
go on her own terms before
snowdrops and crocuses
pushed through still frozen
soil.
although Mom stood only
five foot two inches tall, I
looked up to her all 71 years
of my life. “time heals all
wounds,” she said when I cried
on her shoulder as a child.
Easy to say, but not so easy to
do whenever someone dear to
you departs this world.
the rattle bugle call of a
northbound flock of sandhill
cranes shakes me from my
thoughts to signal spring. Is
it possible the groundhog did
not see his shadow after all?
another coat of tung oil and
these beloved chairs will be
ready for a new life. Once their
glossy finish dries to show-
case a rich glow of old-growth
oak, I will find a proper sitting
place. One where there is
shade from hot sun, protec-
tion from rain and snow and
a rewarding view of nature’s
pleasures.
———
Dennis Dauble is the author
of “Bury Me with My Fly Rod”
and the recently released,
“Chasing Ghost Trout.”
Contact him via his website at
DennisDaubleBooks.com.