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THURSDAY, AUGUST
UGUST 4, 2022
AUG UST
146th Year, No. 97
INSIDE
WINNER OF THE 2022 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
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HERITAGE STATION MUSEUM GOES TO SUMMER HOURS time
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CHAGOYA
coming to Pendleton
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in Baker
City.
Beloved Hermiston
Santa Claus and
community volunteer
died July 27
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — John Perkins,
beloved Santa Claus for the chil-
dren of Hermiston and other local
communities has died. He was 70.
“We were deeply saddened by
John’s passing,” Hermiston Parks
and Recreation Director Brandon
Artz said. “For over a decade, he
would stop in throughout the year,
bringing joy every time. We’d see
him beardless, then getting ready for
Christmas.”
Parks and Rec would have him to
its events. Perkins helped raise dona-
tions for the teddy bear campaign for
nursing home residents whose fami-
lies weren’t able to visit often.
“He was one of a kind,” Artz
continued. “He told us stories about
what Christmas meant to him. He
was unique. We’ll miss him even
more when planning for the Christ-
mas tree lighting this year.”
Artz recalled Perkins’ appear-
ance at the aquatic center pool in
July 2019.
“We said it would be fantastic
for him to show up for Christmas in
July,” he said, “but it’s going to be
100 degrees. He said he was cooler
in his Santa suit than without it.”
John Richard Perkins was born
Sept. 25, 1951, in Pendleton. He
died from pancreatic cancer July 27,
2022, at his home in Umatilla.
He grew up with an absent father
and an abusive brother, he said in
a 2021 interview, and his family
suû ered from poverty. He explained,
when he turned 14, his mother no
longer qualified for government
assistance.
Perkins quit school in the 10th
grade to support his mother. He
accepted agricultural work, then he
was a truck driver. He joined the U.S.
Navy in 1970, serving three tours in
Vietnam on USS Midway before his
honorable discharge in 1976.
His service was diû cult, he said,
as exposure to Agent Orange in the
Vietnam War eventually caused
him to lose feeling in his legs. His
service also left him with post-trau-
matic stress disorder, which
See Perkins, Page A9
Journey Hahn, left, and Roberta Lavadour hang
Enrique Chagoya’s work “Aliens San Frontiers” on
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, at the Pendleton Center for the Arts in
Pendleton. Lavadour, the arts center’s executive director, said this may be one of the
center’s biggest exhibitions to date. Hahn is the arts center’s program assistant.
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Artist’s work ‘provides an entry point to talk about diffi cult subjects’
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
IF YOU GO
The Pendleton Center for the
Arts is on the banks of the
Umatilla River at 214 N. Main St.
and is open Tuesday through
Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
Saturday 12-4 p.m.
P
ENDLETON — For
years, the Pendleton
Center for the Arts
has brought in nota-
ble artists from around
the world; but later this
week, they’re slated to
unveil one of their most impres-
sive showcases yet.
The solo art of acclaimed
Mexican-born American artist
Enrique Chagoya opens Friday,
Aug. 5, and runs through Oct. 6,
2022. The exhibit begins with
an opening reception on Aug. 5,
5:30-7 p.m. The event is free to
all members of the public.
PCA Executive Director
Roberta Lavadour said she is
over the moon about having
Chagoya’s work at the center.
This is the û fth year the PCA
has welcomed an exhibit of this
nature.
“(Chagoya’s) work is so
yummy,” Lavadour said, “his
sense of satire and humor
provides an entry point to talk
about diû cult subjects.=
Born and raised in Mexico
City, Chagoya’s works have
been featured in the Museum of
Modern Art in New York, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art among others.
His art is known for his inclu-
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Roberta Lavadour, executive director of the Pendleton Center for
the Arts, examines artist Enrique Chagoya’s work “Pyramid Scheme”
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, at the arts center in Pendleton. Lavadour scru-
tinizes each installation before placing it on display at the museum.
sion of pop icons, such as Super-
man and Mickey Mouse, to
juxtapose secular, popular and
religious symbols from both
United States and Latin Amer-
ican culture. Chagoya’s style
is based on painted books —
codexes — that many indigenous
peoples in Mexico and Central
America used to record history,
and many of those paintings will
be on display in Pendleton.
This may be one of the
bigger exhibits that the PCA has
received, but it is by no means the
û rst big showcase. The center has
featured pieces from artists such
as Chuck Close, Louise Bour-
geois and Kara Walker. All of
those exhibits have been in part-
nership with the Jordan Schnitzer
Family Foundation.
Schnitzer is one of the most
prominent developers in Port-
land and has a passion for art.
He began collecting in 1988. His
foundation’s collection exceeds
20,000 works. He has worked
with the Pendleton Center for
the Arts on numerous occasions,
including the Kelly and Bour-
geois exhibits.
As part of the collaboration,
Lavadour and her staû are sure
to carefully inspect each item,
noting its condition before and
after its time in Pendleton. Lava-
dour said she had to receive cura-
torial training at the Museum of
Contemporary Craft in Portland
to gain access to the artwork.
“We go over every inch of,
document everything,” she said.
“Even the dust collecting on the
top of things.”
All of this work, all of this
art also is thanks to the relation-
ship Schnitzer has with not only
Lavadour but the town of Pend-
leton. After attending his û rst
Round-Up in 1987, Schnitzer
grew close to the area thanks to
its hospitality and friendships
made there.
“I feel like it’s my second
home,” Schnitzer said in 2019.
That connection has given
Pendleton a larger voice in the
art community than most towns
its size, something that Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce Execu-
tive Director Cheri Rosenberg
noted. The center is known for
punching above its weight in
terms of its showcases.
See Art, Page A9
HERMISTON
Irrigation District manager celebrates 20 years of service
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
HERMISTON — Hermiston
Irrigation District Manager Annette
Kirkpatrick just celebrated 20 years
with the district.
In the last two decades, Kirkpat-
rick remained one of the few female
district leaders in the state, and has
made continuous strides towards
modernizing the region’s irrigation
systems.
Kirkpatrick is the only full-time
female district manager in Oregon.
Still, she credited fellow female
leaders in the irrigation industry —
and managers across the state — for
fostering a collaborative environ-
ment.
“We’re all very supportive of each
other, and it’s nice to have that cama-
raderie amongst us,” she said. “We
can get information from each other
and pass on experiences.”
Kirkpatrick started at the district
in 2002, after moving to Eastern
Oregon from California. She became
the manager in 2015.
“Historically, a lot of irrigation
district managers were people who
had experience in construction and
irrigation,” she said of her predeces-
sors.
With a background in legal
research, business management and
accounting, Kirkpatrick made an
unlikely candidate. But when it came
to tackling the ever-changing irriga-
tion practices and growing modern-
ization eû orts, her time in law oû ces
and accounting û rms came in handy.
See Service, Page A9
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Annette Kirkpatrick, Hermiston Irrigation District manager, works from her
offi ce Friday, July 29, 2022, at the district offi ce. Kirkpatrick is celebrating
her 20th anniversary in the position and is one of the few female district
leaders in Oregon.