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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
AUG . 31–
146th Year, No. 109
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LABOR DAY SPECTACULAR RACES IN HERMISTON IN GO!
Pendleton High School students make their
way inside the school Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022,
on the fi rst day of fall term.
G et read
y
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
For more fi rst day of school news, see A3
Pendleton High School returns to normalcy
By DAKOTA CASTETS-DIDIER
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — The
2022 school year is back
to buckin’ at Pendle-
ton High School, where
students and teachers
readily expressed their
excitement to be back in a normal
school environment.
“We’re still coming out of the
pandemic, but obviously we’ve all
learned how to live with it,” Princi-
ple Pat Dutcher said. “It’s nice to start
the year with not having mandates
of chasing down kids in the hallway
about wearing proper masks and all
that. It’s just nice to see kids’ faces,
their smiles, and just have a normal
start of the year where we can all
enjoy getting to know each other.”
Though he’s been back on Pend-
leton High School grounds since the
middle of July, Dutcher expressed
that the energy of having the students
and staff back was “just awesome,
the vibe of the kids and staff , I’m
looking forward to a phenomenal
start of the school year.”
After nearly three years of
the coronavirus pandemic, some
students have become accustomed
to protocols to help curtail the
spread of the virus, and some have
been outside of Pendleton High’s
classrooms their entire high school
careers — until now.
“I think it’s hard, even for our
seniors, this is their fi rst normal year
of high school,” PHS guidance coun-
selor Madeline Stuvland said. “So,
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
I think some of them are anxious, Pendleton High School freshman Marilla Holden, 15, express-
es her excitement about getting back to normalcy Tuesday,
See School, Page A6 Aug. 30, 2022, for the fi rst day of fall term.
GOLF
Pendleton’s Greb gets invite
to play the Epson Tour event
Wildhorse Ladies
Golf Classic is Friday
thorough Sunday
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — One of the
top female golfers to ever come
out of Pendleton High School will
tee off at the Epson Wildhorse
Ladies Golf Classic this weekend.
Haley Greb, a 2017 Pendleton
grad, was extended a sponsorship
John Tillman/East Oregonian
Cari Broker, owner of Dean’s Pendleton Athletic in downtown Pendleton,
helps customers Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, during her going-out-of-business
sale. Broker has worked at Dean’s for 30 years and owned it since 2015. “I’ve
sold cleats to parents to whom I sold cleats when they were kids,” she said.
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Pendleton native Haley Greb, 23, was helping teach youths how to golf
Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Wildhorse Golf Course in Pendleton. Greb,
the 2017 5A state champion, will play this weekend in the Epson Wild-
horse Ladies Golf Classic.
exemption to play in the tournament
Friday through Sunday, Sept. 2-4, at
Wildhorse Golf Course.
“I’m so excited for the oppor-
tunity, and now I’m here,” Greb
said. “It’s great to be in front of all
the locals. It was defi nitely not a
big thought process. I had school,
but I made that work around it. If
you know someone (in the tourna-
ment), you might be a little more
interested. It’s really cool that
Wildhorse is able to do this. I hope
people come out and support it.”
The $200,000 tournament is
the 17th stop on the Epson Tour.
The winner’s share is $30,000.
Greb, who won the 2017 5A
individual state title, fi nished fi fth
as a freshman, third as a sopho-
more, and fi nished tied for second
as a junior.
She then went on to play at
Colorado State University and
transferred to the University of
Tulsa for her fi nal three years. She
is fi nishing up her masters in busi-
ness administration.
All 132 players will be on the
course Sept. 2 and 3, with the top
60 (plus ties) advancing to the fi nal
round Sept. 4.
See Golf, Page A6
Pendleton losing two
Main Street businesses
Changes to corporate
deals, downtown,
retail, pandemic and
more add up
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Two promi-
nent Pendleton Main Street stores
are going out of business.
The windows of Sears Home-
town Store, 124 S. Main St., and
Dean’s Pendleton Athletic, 249 S.
Main St., displayed high-visibility,
lime-green closing sale signs on
Monday, Aug. 29.
Sears Hometown Store moved
into the former J.C. Penney Co.
premises in February and opened
in March.
“It’s a big disappointment to
me,” said Gary Vaughn, redevel-
oper of the building. “It was very
well received by the community.
The fi re department, my business
partner Jerry (Imsland) and my
son-in-law have all bought appli-
ances there.”
Sears’ local manager declined to
comment, and its district manager
has not returned calls seeking
comment.
Transformco, the privately-held
parent company of Sears and
Kmart, has been closing stores of
See Closing, Page A6