WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Museum outreach teaches youth to preserve environment
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
Local youth learned about
the importance of preserving
the environment through the
historic lens of Native Ameri-
can stewardship.
Mia Jackson, from the
Museum of Natural and Cul-
tural History at the University
of Oregon, presented infor-
mation Monday at the Herm-
iston Public Library about
how Native Americans lived
on the land in Oregon for
more than 15,000 years.
She said Hermiston was
one of many outreach presen-
tations in the state featuring
artifacts from the museum.
“This program talks about
the relationship between the
Native Americans and the
environment and how it was
important to take care of the
environment because the en-
vironment took care of them
and how that’s still important
today,” she said. “It lets peo-
ple know that the museum
exists, but it also gets our edu-
cational message out to more
audiences.”
After the presentation,
attendees participated in ac-
tivities that illustrated the
educational message. They
learned how to weave baskets
and were challenged to create
a boat conservatively using a
small piece of tin foil to see
how many pennies it would
À oat.
Isaac Edwards, 11, was
able to À oat 50 pennies on the
foil and said he enjoyed the
program.
His father, Jonathan Ed-
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Mia Jackson, left, from the Museum of Natural and Cultural
History at the University of Oregon, helps 14-year-old Lucia
Wiley with a weaving activity after a presentation about
preserving the environment at the Hermiston Public Library
Monday
wards, said more people
should take advantage of the
library’s educational opportu-
nities.
“It’s good for our kids to
learn about the region that
they live in,” he said. “There’s
a lot of stuff in our area that
sometimes we take for grant-
ed. It’s good to learn about the
Native American archeology
and artifacts.”
Another father, Jerry Hen-
nings, said these types of
education events help foster
the curiosity of his 6-year-old
daughter, Katie.
“It’s de¿ nitely a way to
broaden the kids’ education
about the environment and
conserving and being able to
use things around you,” he
said.
Flor Pena, 15, and Lucia
Wiley, 14, said they enjoyed
learning about basket weav-
ing. Ivana Pena, 13, said she
did not realize how dif¿ cult
Herald wins
four awards in
statewide contest
THE HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston Herald
won four awards in the Or-
egon Newspaper Publishers
Association Better News-
paper Contest announced
Thursday, July 16, at the or-
ganization’s summer conven-
tion at Salishan Spa and Golf
Resort at Gleneden Beach
south of Lincoln City.
Former Herald editor Jes-
sica .eller won a ¿ rst-place
award for best editorial writing
for a collection of three opin-
ion pieces: Blame ordinances,
not commissioners, for strip
club, A questionable decision,
and Now the fun begins.
Former Herald report-
er Maegan Murray won a
third-place award for Best
Coverage of Business and
Economic Issues for a story
headlined It’s all in the Ingre-
dients about Walker’s Farm
Kitchen making a name for
itself for its food using fresh
local ingredients.
Murray also placed third in
the Best Lifestyle Coverage
category for three stories that
were part of a ¿ ve-part series
on the homeless in Hermis-
ton: Christmas just another
day for homeless man; Out
on the streets; and Hermiston
Warming Station safe house
for homeless.
Herald sports writer Sam
Barbee placed third in the Best
Sports Story category for the
story Playing with the boys
about female quarterback
Madison Feigum of the ¿ fth
sixth grade 49ers Grid Kids
Football team in Hermiston.
The full list of winners in
all sizes and divisions is avail-
able on the Oregon Newspa-
per Publishers Association
website .
NEWS IN BRIEF
Oregon Volunteers
community meeting
planned
The Oregon Volunteers
Commission for Voluntary
Action and Service will
host a community meeting
from 9-11 a.m. July 30 at
Good Shepherd Medical
Center in Hermiston.
The meeting is one of 17
in the state, and the results
will be used to create the
2016-18 Oregon State Ser-
vice Plan and prepare a re-
port for the Oregon Legis-
lature on how to strengthen
volunteerism and engage-
ment.
Government, nonpro¿ t,
business and organization
leaders, volunteers and in-
terested residents are en-
couraged to provide feed-
back about what is working
well and what issues need
to be addressed. For more
information or to regis-
ter for the meeting online,
visit oregonvolunteers.org
eventscommcon.
Thorpe honored for 83
years in Grange
Margaret Thorpe of
Hermiston has been hon-
ored by the National Grange
of the Order of Patron’s of
Husbandry for 83 years of
Grange membership.
Thorpe, who celebrated
her 99th birthday earlier
this month, received a letter
recognizing her achieve-
ment from Ed Luttrell, Na-
tional Grange president.
Thorpe ¿ rst joined
Green¿ eld
Grange
in
Boardman but later trans-
fered her membership to
Columbia Grange in Herm-
iston, where she is still a
member.
The National Grange,
which was founded in
1967, is a fraternal orga-
nization that advocates for
agriculture and rural issues.
Providing the Most Advanced Digital
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life would have been without
modern technology.
“I thought it was pretty
cool how (the museum) still
had stuff from the past, and it
was way different than what
we use now,” she said.
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Mia Jackson, left, from the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon,
helps Hermiston 4-year-old Hinkley Edwards with an activity in which participants were challenged
to construct a Eoat from aluminum foil to Á oat as many pennies as possiEle Jackson gave a
presentation aEout Eeing a hero for the environment at the Hermiston 3uElic /iErary Monday
1750 N. 1st St. • Hermiston, OR • 541-567-5180
www.midwaytavernbarandgrill.com
GREAT SERVICE!
GREAT FOOD!
BEER GARDEN!
Perfect place for class
reunions or just to
hang out with friends!
Pool tables • Darts
Beer Garden with Horseshoes
Full Lottery
TVs for the ultimate sports fan!
• Taking reservations
• Walk-Ins Welcome
• Take Out Orders
• Catering
Try our Fresh Pan Fried Oysters,
our famous broasted chicken or
our delicious Midway Burger!
Prime Rib on Saturdays!
DAILY SPECIALS!