WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Volunteers ‘slam dunk the junk’ in cleanup day
BY JADE MCDOWELL
EO MEDIA GROUP
Sunshine and warm
weather helped encourage
Umatilla residents to “slam
dunk the junk” on Saturday.
Some people volunteered
for work crews to help clean
up neighbors’ yards and pub-
lic property. Others used the
free dumping opportunity to
do their own spring cleaning.
“It looks like folks have
been pretty active all week
long in cleaning up their own
places,” Mayor David Trott
said.
He joined a group of vol-
unteers who had been clean-
ing up the South Hill, hauling
away an old couch, a water
heater and a “hodgepodge
of things” from the yards of
private property owners who
agreed to let the volunteers
remove the eyesores.
“We cleaned out a pretty
sizable area,” he said.
As the day wore on, they
switched to weeding around
City Hall.
Nancy Sandoval, the city
recorder, was one of the vol-
unteers helping pull weeds.
She said she likes the idea of
encouraging residents to join
in a community-wide cleanup
day.
“I think it creates a catalyst
to let them know they have
power to change their com-
EO MEDIA GROUP PHOTO BY JADE
MCDOWELL
Volunteers help move a
trailer full of discarded items
from a yard in McNary during
the city of Umatilla’s Slam
Dunk the Junk Saturday.
munity,” she said.
Over in McNary, Roak
TenEyck and Judy Simmons
were leading a team of four
community volunteers in
cleaning up the yard of a
woman with three small chil-
dren. Two truck loads and a
trailer later, the team had to
head back with the emptied
vehicles to pick up another
round of broken bicycles and
cracked plastic tubs.
The team leaders had
driven through their assigned
zone earlier in the week and
knocked on the door at prob-
lem properties, asking if they
could come by on Saturday
and help haul some things
away.
In many cases, Simmons
said, people said they knew
their yard was a mess or they
needed to get rid of a set of
rusting appliances. For rea-
sons ranging from a recent
heart surgery to a lack of ve-
hicle, however, they hadn’t
done it.
“We’re improving things
little by little,” Simmons
said. “It takes time, but look
at just the improvement
we’ve made from last year.
Properties are still clean.
Once it’s done, people can
maintain it, but they just get
overwhelmed.”
Last year was Umatilla’s
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event, marking a sharpened
focus on cleaning up the
community’s image. Sim-
mons said that last year she
had four pages of addresses
that needed cleaned up in
McNary. This year, when she
drove through with the same
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one page.
City Manager Bob Ward,
who used his own truck to
help transport garbage to
dump sites, said the event
was growing as the day went
on.
“It helps it’s a nice day,”
he said. “People see us out
and about and suddenly re-
member they’ve got things
to get rid of, too.”
Given the growth from
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cleanup event to its second,
he said he hopes one day the
town will eventually “work
ourselves out of an event.”
Teatro Milagro presenting Desert Arts Council hosting art show, festival
‘Searching for Aztlán’
The Desert Arts Council
The Desert Arts Council is
proud to present Teatro Mila-
gro’s national touring produc-
tion “Searching for Aztlán,”
written and directed by Lakin
Valdez, at 7 p.m. April 17 at
Armand Larive Auditorium,
1497 S.W. Ninth St. The event
is free, and donations will be
accepted for the DAC’s chil-
dren’s arts program planned
for this summer.
The play, Searching for
Aztlán, is set in January
2012 with the Tucson school
board’s acceptance of HB
2281, shutting down Mexi-
can American Studies and re-
moving its books from class-
rooms. A giant dust storm,
or “haboob,” strikes the city
and leaves Dolores Huelga,
a teacher, unemployed and in
an alternate reality. Lost in the
desert, Dolores sets out on a
quest for the mythical city of
Aztlán.
Along the way she en-
counters quirky a High-Span-
ic, a militant Super-Chicano,
and a working class Latina
immigrant — all dispos-
sessed exiles — with whom
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truth, justice and the “indige-
nous way.”
With the support of the Or-
egon Arts Commission Arts
Build Communities, Teatro
Milagro will present a bilin-
gual play and theater work-
shops to schools for two days
in April. For area schools, Mi-
lagro “Journeys” workshops
use a combination of theater
of the oppressed, comedy and
improvisation techniques to
engage students in an explo-
ration of self-expression and
community building to ad-
dress current socio-political
issues, such as gender, cultur-
al competence, tolerance and
acceptance of otherness. The
actors will be visiting English
and drama classes at Hermis-
ton High on April 17.
On April 15, residents are
invited to join the Milagro
cast for an informal potluck
dinner and workshop at the
Hermiston Public Library,
Lantham Room. The fun be-
gins at 5:30 p.m., with dinner
at 6, and dessert is followed
by a Movement & Metaphor
workshop from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The mission of the Mi-
lagro is to provide ex-
traordinary Latino theater,
culture and arts education ex-
periences for the enrichment
of all communities. Since its
founding in 1985, Milagro
has given a primary voice to
issues affecting the local and
national Latino communities
and has introduced a host of
new performers to the local
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atro Milagro, the company’s
education and outreach pro-
gram, tours Oregon and the
nation with original bilingual
theater productions and edu-
cational residencies. Current
global issues are crafted into
cutting edge dramatic plays
infused with Latino culture
and Spanish language. Since
1989, Teatro Milagro has pro-
vided culturally appropriate
arts education and enrichment
programs that build cultural
appreciation and further Lati-
no participation in the arts.
This 2015 OAC ABC
Residency is made possible
in part with the additional
support of the Desert Arts
Council, the Hispanic Advi-
sory Committee, Radio La
Ley, Autzen Foundation and
the Juan Young Trust.
For more information
about the events, call Desert
Arts Council at 541-720-
3859, or visit Teatro Mila-
gro’s website, www.milagro.
org.
When they say
is hosting its annual Eastern
Oregon Arts Festival May
8-9 in downtown Hermis-
ton. The event features local
arts, food and entertainment,
including a wine garden, art
activities, live music and
plant sales. The festival be-
gins with an artists reception
from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
May 8. The main activities
are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
May 9.
A new addition to the
Eastern Oregon Arts Fes-
tival is the Eastern Oregon
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artists will be able to enter
one to two pieces of artwork
in a group show. All artists
older than 18 are welcome to
show their work. The show
will be judged by juror Lori
Sams, and awards will be
announced at the opening
reception May 8. The Peo-
ple’s Choice Award will be
announced at the end of the
festival.
“We really would love
art in all media for this show
so we are welcoming all art-
ists,” Mary Corp, show chair
and Desert Arts Council
president, said.
The artwork will be
judged based on skill in the
use of a variety of materials;
how well that medium re-
lates to the concept or move-
ment; and how fully the art-
ist’s intention or concept is
presented and realized. The
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that artistic judgment. Virtu-
ally every medium is accept-
ed, including oil, acrylic, wa-
tercolor, photography, pastel,
drawing, print, mixed media,
sculpture, assemblage, in-
PHOTO COURTESY ROBERT LUKE
A band performs at last year’s Eastern Oregon Arts Festival, hosted by Desert Arts Council.
7his year’s event takes place May in doZntoZn +ermiston and for the Àrst time features
an open art show.
stallation and fabric. All art-
work must be family-friend-
ly. Show organizers prefer
the artwork be for sale, but
artists can choose to mark
the work NFS. The purchas-
er and artist are responsible
for completing the sales
transaction.
Artwork must be de-
livered ready to hang or
display — no sawtooth
hangers. Three-dimensional
pieces should be on a stand,
self-supporting or in a dis-
play case. The entry form
must be completed and at-
tached to the artwork. A fee
of $5 per entry must be paid
at the time of delivery.
Artwork will be accepted:
• 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thurs-
day, May 7, 201 E. Main St.
(Old Roemark’s building)
• 9 a.m. to noon Friday,
May 8, 201 E. Main St.
Exhibition Dates: May
8-9.
Opening Reception: 5:30
to 8 p.m. Friday, May 8.
Cash awards up to $1,500
will be presented.
At the opening reception,
the artist whose work is jur-
ied as “Best of Show Gold”
by the juror will receive a
$500 cash prize. The art-
ist whose work is juried as
“Best of Show Silver” will
receive a $300 cash prize.
The artist whose work is
voted “Best” by attendees
during the course of the arts
festival will receive a $250
cash prize at the end of the
festival on May 9. The juror
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opening reception.
ELIGIBILITY:
This
call for submission is open
to all residents of Oregon,
Washington and Idaho. All
artwork must be original in
concept, design and execu-
tion. Note: Crafts, kit work
or reproductions of original
works in other media, such
as giclee, unless used as part
of a mixed media work, will
not be considered.
JUDGING: All judging
will be on site. Decision of
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SUBMISSIONS
AND FEES: Only original
works may be submitted.
Works may be submitted in
one or multiple media.
In addition, artist ven-
dors are also being accept-
ed, and space will be avail-
able in the festival area and
inside businesses on the
100 and 200 blocks of East
Main Street. More informa-
tion and registration forms
are available online: http://
www.desertartscouncil.
com/event/9, or call 541-
667-5018.
and you hear
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