A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Panda Bears 2.0 take the reading 14,000 steps — 17 paces at a time
crown at Hermiston Book Brawl
ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Their
battle would not be denied.
When the 2022 Oregon
Battle of the Books was
canceled due to the ongoing
pandemic, Hermiston educa-
tors and students chose to
have their own event.
“We decided to do our
own thing,” Miranda Hunt,
librarian, said.
She explained that, as a
statewide program, Battle
of the Books is a big deal
that needed to continue. In
the contest, students within
a given age group read the
same 16 books. Then, they
form groups of three or four.
Teams compete against one
another answering questions
about the books they read.
In a normal year, Hermis-
ton teams would be compet-
ing against teams from
around the state. This year
was different.
“We had to modify the
program,” Hunt said.
Hunt and fellow librar-
ian Alyxandra Rowe worked
with students on this event for
months, Hunt said. Students
competed in five Herm-
iston elementary schools,
and winners went head-to-
head against one another
to become the Hermiston
School District Champions
for the elementary division.
The final contest, the
Book Brawl, was March
15. More than 50 students
and supporters were at the
contest, Hunt said.
Contestants read 16
books, a total 3,888 pages
or 545,406 words. Students
had to remember the title and
author of each book, as well
as basic information.
The librarian said a typi-
cal question was, “What
color hair does Johnny
have?” They might also
have to answer, “How old is
Suzie?” or “What is Bran-
don’s favorite food.”
“T he questions are
detailed, very detailed,”
Hunt said. “They practiced,
and practiced and practiced.”
Here are the winners
First place went to Panda
Bears 2.0 of Highland Hills
Elementary School. The team
is comprised of Amelia Foy,
Samuel Godby, Zach Adair
and Larry Corralez. Angie
Cooke, teacher, coached the
team.
The Pandas received
medals for their victory.
In addition, their school
received a plaque with their
names on it. This plaque will
be hung in the Highland Hills
library, Hunt said.
Novel Rebellion of Desert
SARAH
HAUG
LIGHT OF UNIT Y
W
e went to
Mexico and
got COVID-19.
The people there were
very nice about it, but my
husband, son and I had to
quarantine for five days
in a space half the size of
my living room at home,
albeit with a balcony that
allowed us to see the sun.
As the door to that
room closed behind me, I
honestly didn’t know if I
was going to be able to do
it. I am an antsy person,
always up and about, doing
things all day long. That last
day of quarantine, I walked
more than 14,000 steps, 17
paces at a time, which was
the distance from the door
to the balcony. The fact that
my husband and I still are
married and our son contin-
ues to speak to us probably
means we can put the end
result in the win column.
That said, this week I
wanted to share a few things
I learned from the experi-
ence:
Detachment: Detach-
ment means to “appre-
ciate without attaching
ourselves to the things of
this world.” It isn’t that we
don’t care, but rather that
we don’t allow our mate-
rial experience to control
us, and we accept what
can’t be changed. Stuck in
that room, unable to leave
until 120 hours had passed,
detachment was probably
the most important thing we
all had to achieve. We could
complain, or we could get
on with living those hours
the best we could. Kind of
like life.
Gratitude: As it turns
out, we had a great deal
to be grateful for, even in
quarantine life: we weren’t
sick; we had plenty of food
to eat and work to do, since
we’d brought our laptops to
Mexico; our friends, with
whom we’d traveled but
who did not test positive,
played hearts over Zoom
with us from their home
in Minnesota; our chil-
dren called to check in; we
watched the sun set each
evening over the Pacific.
Things definitely could
have been worse.
Empathy: Millions of
people, whole nations, in
fact, have been made to
quarantine for far longer
and under far worse condi-
tions than we experienced.
In some countries, four-
teen-day quarantines just
for being exposed to some-
one with COVID-19 have
been the norm. Most didn’t
have a room overlooking
the ocean to do it in either.
When our quarantine was
over, we found it unexpect-
edly hard to leave our safe
cocoon, to talk to people
and navigate the world.
Millions of people might be
feeling the same way right
about now.
Quarantining isn’t some-
thing I ever want to do
again, but I’m glad to know
I have what it takes.
Fourteen thousand steps.
Seventeen paces at a time.
———
Sarah Haug is a member
of the Baha’i Faith and has
called Pendleton home since
2002. You can find her most
days walking on the Pendle-
ton River Parkway with her
husband, Dan.
Hermiston School District/Contributed Photo
From left, Amelia Foy, Samuel Godby, Zach Adair and Larry
Corralez of the Panda Bears 2.0 of Highland Hills Elementary
School, Hermiston, pose with their plaque for winning the
Book Brawl on March 15, 2022.
View Elementary School
took second. Team Scorpion
of Rocky Heights Elemen-
tary School won third. The
Fantastic Four were fourth
place. And the Book Hunters
scored fifth.
All of these teams were
champions at their own
schools. As such, they
received certificates for their
achievement. Also, they were
given drawstring backpacks
filled with prizes.
No real losers here
Hunt said there are no
losers in the competition. The
goal, she said, was to encour-
age reading. Since this is the
case, everyone who took part
in the contest at any level was
a winner; each participant
read something.
“It’s a great opportunity
to work on vocabulary, spend
time with friends and get
excited about books,” Hunt
said. “The books were a vari-
ety of books, from mystery
to fantasy, realistic fiction,
biography and graphic
novels. They were exposed
to different types of reading
materials, and they had fun.”
The 16 books
The books were “Astrid
the Unstoppable” by Maria
Parr; “The Bookwander-
ers” by Anna James; “The
Care and Feeding of a Pet
Black Hole” by Michelle
Cuevas; “Clean Getaway”
by Nic Stone; “The Four-
teenth Goldfish” by Jennifer
L. Holm; “Guts” by Raina
Telgemeier; “The Harlem
Charade” by Tatasha Tarp-
ley; “I Can Make this Prom-
ise” by Christine Day;
“Lety Out Loud” by Angela
Cervantes; “Lowriders in
Space” by Cathy Camper and
Raul the Third; “Sarah Jour-
neys West” by Nikki Shan-
non Smith; “Save Me a Seat”
by Sarah Weeks and Gita
Varadarajan; “Some Places
More than Others” by Renee
Watson; “Some Writer!
The Story of E.B. White”
by Melissa Sweet; “Stay”
by Bobbie Pyron; and “The
Storm Keeper’s Island” by
Catherine Doyle.
These books remain
available to students, Hunt
said. Anyone who missed
the contest still can read the
books. She added that every-
one is welcome to next year’s
contest, as preparation begins
in September.
She said she is looking
forward to a regular contest
with play between regional
and statewide matches.
“Though the Book Brawl
was successful, and it was
fun to have the kids and
parents there in person,
we can’t wait to get back,”
she said.
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George Wesley ‘Wes’ Cain
Jennie Clarice Cain
March 3, 1942 - February 17, 2022
March 29, 1941 - February 9, 2022
George Wesley “Wes” Cain was born
March 3, 1942, in Niangua, Missouri;
he died Feb 17, 2022, in Richland,
Washington, eight days after his wife,
Jennie.
He joined the U.S. Navy
in 1962 and served on the
USS Kearsarge CVS-33.
He was preceded in death
by his wife, Jennie; parents,
George and Geneva Cain;
brother, Larry Cain; sisters,
Marlois Keeny and Glenda
Phillips; and son, Joseph
Bower.
He is survived by
daughters, Tana Beck, Lauri
Morgan and Renee Cain
Talley; son, Merle Bower;
grandkids, Danae Deal ( Chris), Shaun
Bower (Kristy), Tia Shepard (Jay); many
great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews;
siblings, Jerry and Janice Cain, Janice and
Al Smith, Susan and Bret Swearingen, Tim
and Leslie Cain, Randell and Sue Cain,
and Cindy and Mark Hobbs.
He worked for the State of Oregon on
the bridge crew for 20 years. He loved
helping others working with his hands
working on wood projects and being
outdoors doing anything, especially with
his love, Jennie.
Services are March 25, 2022, at noon
at Burns Mortuary of Pendleton with
graveside military service after at Skyview
Memorial Park, Pendleton.
Jennie Clarice Cain was born on
March 29, 1941, and was raised in Burney,
California. She attended Fall River
High School in this beautiful mountain
community.
She
was
preceded
in death by parents, Dr.
Joseph and Jerry Churney;
brothers, Joseph Churnry
III, Daniel Nelson and
Cameron
Nelson;
and
son, Joseph Bower. She
is survived by brothers,
LeRoy Nelson and Michael
Churney (Karen) of Burney,
California; her daughters,
Tana Beck and Renee
Talley, both of Pendleton,
and Lauri Morgan of
Portugal; son, Merle Bower of Nampa,
Idaho; grandchildren, Danae Deal (Chris),
Shaun Bower (Kristy), Tia Shepard (Jay),
and many great-grandchildren, nieces and
nephews. Her husband, Wes, died eight
days after her on Feb 17, 2022.
She graduated from Blue Mountain
Community College in 1986 and worked
for Pendleton Ready Mix for many years
as their concrete field technician. She loved
all crafts but crocheting and making cards
were her favorite. Spending time outdoors
in the woods with her husband she loved
most.
Services are March 25, 2022, at noon at
Burns Mortuary of Pendleton and Skyview
Memorial Park; arrangements are handled
by Burns Mortuary of Pendleton.
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Annual tree
giveaway
held early
HERMISTON — Herm-
iston’s annual Arbor Day
free tree giveaway will
be April 2, 9 a.m. in the
parking lot at the Herm-
iston Community Center,
415 S. Highway 395.
This will be a drive-thru
event, so be sure to research
the varieties you wish to pick
up and have your choices
prepared before arrival.
People are permitted to
have as many tree starts as
they can immediately plant.
The varieties include red
maple, red-osier dogwood,
green ash, golden chain tree,
tulip tree, Dolgo crabapple,
European mountain ash and
Colorado spruce.
Sp on sor e d by t he
Hermiston Rotary Club
and Hermiston Parks and
Recreation, the tree give-
away has been held in
Hermiston for more than
35 years. The event is being
held nearly a month before
National Arbor Day, which
is April 29.
According to a press
release from the parks
department, they have found
people are more successful
in getting the tree starts to
grow when they are planted
the first part of April. For
more information, call
541-667-5018.
Breakfast benefit
for multicultural
center project
IRRIGON — The Irri-
gon Multicultural Arts
Center is hosting a fundrais-
ing breakfast.
The event is Saturday,
March 26, 7:30-10:30 a.m.
at Stokes Landing Senior
Center, 150 Columbia Lane,
Irrigon. The cost is $5 per
person.
A group of concerned
citizens are dedicated to
preserving Irrigon’s 1921
school building and devel-
oping a regional art venue.
For more information, call
Peggy Price at 541-561-1737.
— EO Media Group