WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Beer fest on tap
Foster said several other
brewers might also attend,
and many of the beers to
be sampled are only avail
able from those brewers,
such as those from the
Hermiston Brewing Com
pany inside Nookies.
“It will be an oppor
tunity
for (people) to try
BY SEAN HART
some
beers
that they oth
HERMISTON HERALD
erwise would not be able
People can vote for to get their hands on,” he
their favorite craft beers said. “Obviously, noth
in Hermiston Saturday ing of this magnitude has
by sampling the beverag been done right here in
es produced by brewers this area, and that’s some
DW WKH ¿UVW %HHUH[ )HVW thing we really wanted to
at Nookies Restaurant & do was to try to help give
Brewery.
that extra kick to craft
General Manager Mon beer. We just want to use
ica Todd said eight brew this as a platform for craft
ers from as far away as beer.”
Springfield are “locked
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in,” including Alameda, foods will also be avail
Ice Harbor, Hop Valley, able to pair with the
Prodigal Son, Laht Nep drinks, and the Walla Wal
pur, Beer Valley, Drag ODEDVHG EOXHV EDQG %LJ
on’s Gate and Terminal Font will provide music
Gravity.
for the event, which will
They will join Nook take place outside. Herm
ies’ regular brewer at the iston Brewing Company
event. With no limit on currently has 22 beers on
the number of beers each tap inside Nookies that
brewer can bring, attend people can try and will
ees may have difficulty KDYH DW OHDVW ¿YH RQ WDS
choosing their favorite outside.
for the people’s choice
Hermiston
Brewing
award.
Company
brewmaster
Sales Manager Bill Tom Torresdal said he
Eight other brewers
will converge at the
Hermiston Brewing
Company Saturday
will be unveiling a new
beer for the event, Speed
wagon Pale Ale, which he
believes will win the peo
ple’s choice award.
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pale ale, a citrus aroma,
strong malt back,” he said.
“It’s for a fan of IPAs, the
big, bold, new American
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ess, it’s a good pale ale.”
He said he is excited for
the festival.
“There’s going to be
a lot of great brewers,”
he said. “Hopefully, it’s
starting something that
can continue through the
years. Hermiston is ready
to get put on the beer
map.”
Todd said she is not
sure how many people will
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hopes will be an annual
event, but she is excited,
as well.
“We’re here to be with
the community,” she said.
“Come check us out. We
wanted to see how we
could partner with oth
er brewers around us and
build a community here
off of this beer fest.”
The festival will take
place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday outside of Nookies,
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
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125 N. First St., Hermiston.
For $10, attendees will
receive 10 tickets to sam
ple the craft beers. For
$15, attendees will re
ceive the 10 tickets and a
souvenir event glass, but
supplies are limited. For
$5, designated drivers and
others who do not want
sample tickets can attend.
People who have paid the
$270 fee for a lifetime
membership as a Nookies
“founder” can attend for
$8.
For more information,
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hermistonbrewingcompa
ny.com.
SEAN HART PHOTO
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District encouraging parents to save for college through partnership
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
By the time they are in
seventh grade, students
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ation college students have
largely made up their minds
whether they will pursue
college or not after high
school.
Hermiston School Dis
trict Online Coordinator
Michelle Jensen, whose
Ph.D research focused on
the topic of college readi
ness, said one of the main
reasons students give for
why they won’t attend col
lege is because they don’t
believe it is affordable.
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at home is limiting their
dreams,” she said.
The Hermiston School
District, however, is hoping
to change that mindset by
partnering with the Oregon
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for a new program geared
toward promoting ways
parents can start saving for
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education.
The Hermiston School
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school districts in the state
selected for a program
known as “Be College
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sponsored by the Oregon
Treasury Department that
promotes the state’s 529
Oregon College Savings
Plan. With the program, the
treasury department will
provide schools in the dis
trict with promotional ma
terials, including folders,
pens, pencils, posters and
pamphlets that they hope
will attract the interest of
parents and guardians to
start a college savings plan.
John Valley, outreach di
rector for the Oregon 529
College Savings Network,
said organizers are asking
schools to put information
about the program in their
newsletters and also host
presentations about the
program, to inform fami
lies about how the program
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works. In return, the orga
nization will donate $529
to schools that have the
presentation.
The purpose of the pilot
program, Valley said, is to
get parents to think about
college savings options.
“I’m not getting any
thing out of this,” he said.
“I’m not making any kind
of commission ... The point
of the program is to raise
awareness that 529 is an
option.”
Valley said, to sign up for
an Oregon College Savings
Plan, people only have to
pay $25 to open an account
in their student’s name —
there is no minimum bal
ance required. The hope is
that parents and others will
then keep contributing to
the account through time
to build up the account that
will go toward the overall
cost of their child’s college
education. The account,
he said, can build interest,
and all earnings for with
drawals used to pay for
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expenses will be free from
When they say
“You Bought
Me A Ring?!”
Sound Advantage
Hearing Aid Center
541-567-4063
405 N. 1st St., Suite #107, Hermiston
541-215-1888
In Loving Memory
ship application help and
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the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid. He
said, when it comes down
to it, however, because the
cost for college is the big
gest barrier for families,
the district wanted to do
more for area families.
“We are delighted to
be working with the State
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various incentives and sup
ports for the use of section
529 plans,” he said. “We
are giving families more
tools in their kit bag ...
We don’t want students to
think that college is out
side their reach.”
Maiocco said he be
lieves the college savings
plan makes it easier for
students’ families to save
for college.
“Look at the cost of sav
ing versus borrowing,” he
said. “It is night and day.”
Valley said if the pro
gram is successful this
year, organizers hope to
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tive.
For more information,
visit http://www.oregon.
gov/treasury/pages/index.
aspx.
and you say
“Signs Of
Spring!”
Ric Jones, BC-HIS
federal and Oregon income
tax.
“Our hope is that peo
ple will look at it as an
opportunity to offset costs
IRU SRVWVHFRQGDU\ HGXFD
tion,” he said.
Valley said the aver
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accounts is currently 10
years old, but program or
ganizers hope to change
that by getting parents to
think about a college sav
ings plan while their chil
dren are even younger.
“Over time, especially
when you start early, it can
really add up,” he said.
Valley said while interest
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tribution of $50 per month
for six years can add up to
$11,000 at a 6 percent rate
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he said, does not have to live
in Oregon. Oregon residents
can open an account for stu
dents who live out of state.
Hermiston School Dis
trict Superintendent Fred
Maiocco said the school
district, especially the
high school, has worked
through the years to ensure
that students have the re
sources they need to qual
ify for and be successful
in college. The district has
hosted college and career
fairs, taken students to col
lege campuses, provided
SAT preparation, scholar
246 SW Dorion, Pendleton
Verna Taylor, HAS
Florence Spear Melvin, age 89 of Hermiston, Oregon died following a long illness 2/18/15
at the Columbia Care Cottage in Hermiston where she resided for several years. Florence
was born to Orlin and Alta Gray Spear in Topeka, Kansas on March 6, 1925. She was
proceeded in death by her husband, Bert R. Melvin, Sisters Etta Correll Mack, Teresa
Walker, Brother Luther Correll and grandsons, Stuart Stratton and Carey Ancel. Florence
is survived by sisters Pauline Huff of La Junta, Colorado and Irene Brown of Port Ludlow,
Washington and 7-children, Marie Robertson of The Woodlands, Texas, Betty Roussos of
Vancouver, BC Canada and Lee Melvin of North Plains, Oregon, Doris Walls, Darlene
TeHennepe, Karen Boardman, and Donna Brown of Hermiston, 11 grandchildren and 16
great grandchildren. The family will always remember the kind, loving, generous and
honorable way that she lived her life. Florence quietly and humbly lived out her faith by
example and her spirit resides in the bosom of her Heavenly Father. Her body will be
interred beside her husband in the Hermiston Cemetery. As a child, Florence lived with
her family on land they homesteaded in Kansas, but when they lost their farm they went
west in a covered wagon, first to New Mexico and then to California where they settled in
Vallejo. As a teen during WWII, Florence joined the war effort and worked in a California
ship yard. Florence moved to Onalaska, Washington and then to Salem, Oregon with her brother, where she met Bert
Melvin. The family moved to Ontario, Oregon and later to Cottage Grove. Bert built a home for his fa mily, but when they were
at the drive-in theater their house burned and they lost everything. The town’s people were kind and generous, and soon the
family had more than before the fire. Shortly afterward they moved to Irrigon and then in 1954 to He rmiston where Florence
remained until her death. Anyone who met Florence was impressed not only by her goodness, but by her intelligence and
sense of humor. It was obvious that she loved people and animals, but especially her mini schnauzers , Sumo Max, Sammy,
Gin and Pippie. Florence worked in the Hermiston School District kitchens for 27 years until her ret irement. Of all Florence’s
accomplishments the greatest of all was her success as a mother. When times are tough, her children never went to bed
hungry if she had to deny herself. She supported her children in all of their school and church acti vities and in 1961 Florence
was recognized as mother of the year. Even though Florence’s family and friends will greatly miss th eir lives were far richer
because of her.
- C ONCLUDED