Hermiston
Herald
WEDNESDAY
JULY 1, 2015
SPORTS
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Plan your
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GOLFING LEGEND VISITS
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Quinceañeras can cost mucho dinero
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Spectators look on as Outlaw Lawn
Dragsters member Billy Loftin, right,
New Plymouth, Idaho, races member
Lisa Olson, New Plymouth, at the
2014 Funfest in downtown Hermis-
ton.
Funfest planned
for July 11
Hermiston’s 10th annual Fun-
fest will take place from 7:30 a.m.
to 3 p.m. July 11 in downtown
Hermiston.
The Hermiston Rotary Club
will serve breakfast from 7:30
a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on North Second
Street.
More than 50 booths and activ-
ities will be on site. Modi¿ ed lawn
mower drag races and chain saw
carvings will return this year, and
the Oregon Museum of Science
and Industry will set up a hands-
on exhibit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Shade and a cooling station will be
provided.
Entertainment will be provided
throughout the event from per-
formers such as the Dakota Brown
Band, Jacob Looper, Dallin Puzey
and the Fiesta Foods Mariachi
Band.
The Cool Rides Car Show will
take place at McKenzie Park.
For more information about
Funfest, call the chamber of¿ ce,
541-567-6151, or visit hermiston-
chamber.com.
Hermiston
Cooling Station
open weekends
PHOTO COURTESY MARIA SANCHEZ
Yessenia Garcia-Sanchez, 15, stands next to the cake and cupcakes made by a family friend for her quinceañera in March. Sponsors, called padrinos,
often help ease the burden of the cost of quinceaneras by assuming responsibility, À nancial or otherwise, for some elements of the celebration.
BY JESSICA KELLER
Latin American
family tradition
takes root locally
HERMISTON HERALD
While quinceañeras in the Hispanic com-
munities have religious aspects, a 15-year-
old Latina’s rite of passage from a child into
a young woman and introduction into soci-
ety is often feted with a celebration, which
can range from modest to quite extravagant.
Hermiston’s Maria Sanchez said her
daughter, Yessenia’s, quinceañera in March
was a typical celebration, featuring many
of the traditional aspects, including a party
with dancing and a meal.
As far as quinceañeras
go,
her daughter’s cele-
CULTURE bration
was on the mod-
est side, she said.
“I’ve seen some girls who’ve had their
quinceañera low key, and others, oh my
gosh, literally they can spend from a couple
thousand, like three, maybe up to $10,000,
it kind of depends on how they’re looking at
it,” Sanchez said. “Some are nice and sim-
ple, and others you can see the wow of it.”
How big a Latina girl’s coming-of-age
party is depends on her preferences, San-
chez said. Her daughter’s was not as extrav-
agant as some, but still cost about $4,000.
On the other hand, when Clara Beas Fitz-
gerald celebrated her quinceañera in Tijua-
na in the 1970s, hers was vastly different.
“Back in those days it wasn’t as reverent
Quinceañeras common but
diff er by family and church
BY JESSICA KELLER
HERMISTON HERALD
JESSICA KELLER PHOTO
At Adamari’s Boutique in Hermiston, Hispanic
girls can buy elaborate dresses to wear at their
quinceañera celebrations. Esperanza Ochoa, the
boutique’s owner, said dresses range in price
from $190 to about $1,000 for the designer ones.
or elaborate as it is now,” she said.
While she wore a long white dress and
had a cake at her quinceañera, hers was not
an elaborate party, instead celebrated at her
godmother’s house with mostly adults and a
While quinceañeras combine indige-
nous Mexican and European inÀ uences
that spread throughout Latin America,
the cultural and religious coming-of-age
celebration for a 15-year-old Latina has
also formed roots in the United States.
In Hermiston, Hispanic Catholic and
Christian churches have adopted the
quinceañera tradition, although the cer-
emonies differ.
Father Luis Flores at Our Lady of
Angels Catholic Church in Hermiston
said quinceañeras in Mexico became
popular under President Pirforio Diaz,
SEE ROOTS/A16
SEE PARTY/A2
Pot rules can harsh your mellow
Many actions still prohibited
even with the pot legalization
BY SEAN HART
STAFF WRITER
Today, it is legal to use marijuana just for the
fun of it, but there are things you should know
before you light up.
Oregon joins Colorado and
LAW
Washington as the third state to
allow recreational marijuana use.
While the law allows people to
legally possess, use and grow marijuana, it also
includes many restrictions.
For example, even though pot is legal in
neighboring states, it is still against federal law
to transport marijuana across the state lines. Em-
ployers can also maintain policies that prohibit
employees from using pot.
Hermiston Foods General Manager Trent Wal-
dern said the company will not be changing its
personnel policies with the new law. He said em-
ployees must pass a pre-employment drug screen-
ing and marijuana use will still disqualify an ap-
plicant.
The Hermiston Cooling Sta-
tion will be open from 1 p.m. to
7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
during the summer at 224 E. Main
St., Hermiston. Recently, local
temperatures have reached re-
cord highs. Starting with Friday
of last week, temperatures have
consistently been in the 100s,
with a record-setting June week-
end setting blistering tempera-
tures of 107 degrees in Hermis-
ton, a June 28 record. It was also
one degree from tying an all-time
June record set in 1961. Accord-
ing to Weather.com, the coolest
upcoming temperatures is a high
of 101 on Monday. Thursday and
Friday of this week are set to be
scorchers, with temperatures of
106 and 105, respectively. These
temperatures are comparable to
the ¿ rst week of July 1942, when
four straight all-time highs were
set.
The cooling station is avail-
able for anyone seeking relief
from the heat. Water and free
Wi-Fi will be available. For
more information, call 541-289-
2150, or email warmingstation@
gmail.com.
Water and sewer
rates increase today
Hermiston residents will see
their water and sewer bills go up
by 4 percent starting July 1.
The rate increase is the final
step in a series of four increases
that started in 2014.
The series of increases, total-
ing 16 percent, were approved
by the Hermiston city council to
help pay for the city’s new recy-
cled water treatment plant.
For residential users the new
sewer rates will be $23.56 per
month plus $1.30 per 1,000
gallons over 5,000 gallons
used, Water rates will increase
to $17.14 a month for the first
3,000 gallons, $1.30 for every
1,000 gallons over 3,000 gal-
lons and $1.08 for every 1,000
gallons above 13,000.
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Smoke City employee Dakota Ballard displays some of the
smoking accessories offered at the business in Hermiston.
Ballard said she is unsure the impact the legalization of
recreational marijuana will have on the business.
“Nothing has really changed for us,” he said.
“Federal laws do precede the state laws. We have
to abide by the federal laws because we are doing
business with the federal government. ... From a
business standpoint, especially in this area, po-
tentially it could make it tougher for us to ¿ nd
SEE POT/A2
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Hermiston water rates are going up,
effective July 1.