A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015
HISTORY
Tradition started with one mayor and one pickup truck
Editor’s Note: The fol-
loZiQJ ZDs ¿ rst SXElished
as an editorial headlined
³&oPPon JroXnd´ in the
$XJ edition of
the +erPiston +erald
A three-hour drive west
on Interstate 84 can some-
times seem like a trip to
another world, but a few
hearty souls led a voyage of
exploration Friday, which
could reap untold rewards.
Representatives
from
Eastern Oregon — and
Hermiston in particular —
set off on a journey to ne-
gotiate a treaty of sorts with
3ortland city of¿ cials. 7he
Hermiston-area ambassa-
dors car-
gifts
HISTORY ried
to give
to lead-
ers and residents of Port-
land in a gesture of good
faith and friendship.
7he party carried prod-
ucts common to our native
soil — watermelons, on-
ions, potatoes, carrots and
other produce. 7he group
was warmly received in
that somewhat foreign land
known as Portland.
7he trip was purely a
promotional tour and that
is nothing to be ashamed
of because there are many
people west of the Cascades
who remain ignorant of the
people, places and products
produced in Eastern Ore-
gon.
Hermiston Mayor Frank
Harkenrider is to be com-
mended for successfully
capturing the attention and
interest of Portland Mayor
“Bud” Clark, city employ-
ees and the metropolitan
media.
With two pickup loads
of produce donated by area
farmers and businesses,
Harkenrider, Clark and their
colleagues have done more
MELLONS:
continued from Page A1
“7hey’re associated with
good times and happy
children.”
Pat Walchli of Walchli
Farms said the giveaway
helps promote the com-
munity. 7hese days you
“don’t see many places
in the Northwest where
people don’t know about
Hermiston watermelons,”
he said, and it’s good that
even though the water-
melons are the main draw
the city is giving away lo-
cally-grown potatoes and
cantaloupes too.
“It just makes people
more aware of what’s
growing in the North-
west,” he said.
Shirley Parsons, pres-
ident-elect of the Herm-
iston Chamber of Com-
merce, will be helping
pack up produce to send
to Portland on Friday.
She said she went to a
few produce giveaways
and jumped at the chance
for the chamber to be in-
volved in restarting the
tradition.
“It’s exciting. It’s fun,”
she said. “People lined the
streets when they knew
we were coming before ...
My hope is that Portland
understands
Hermiston
is wonderfully famous
for our watermelons but
we’re so much more.”
A lot has changed
since Hermiston ended
the Portland giveaway in
2007. Hermiston returns
to Portland this year as
the biggest city in Eastern
Oregon, with state cham-
pion football and wres-
tling teams and a growing
list of new construction
around town. For the first
time since Harkenrider’s
first trip to Portland, Ed
Brookshier is not city
manager.
Byron Smith, Hermis-
ton’s new city manager,
said when he heard about
the tradition, and heard
that Portland Mayor Char-
lie Hales had expressed
interest in starting the
watermelon seed-spitting
rivalry again, he liked the
idea.
“I think it’s kind of a
cool thing for the biggest
city in the state to have
a relationship with one
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Frank Harkenrider (left) gets
help from Bob and Skip
Walchli in loading up a pickup
with watermelons to take to
Portland City Hall in 1991 for
the À rst watermelon ´tailgate
party” to promote Hermiston
area agriculture.
to educate the masses in
the Willamette Valley than
a hundred press releases
and promotional pamphlets
could ever hope to achieve.
Harkenrider and the civ-
ic, agricultural and business
leaders of the Hermiston
area have distinguished
themselves as ambassadors
for the entire region.
7his area is de¿ ned by
more than the area con-
tained within the city limits
of Hermiston and deserves
recognition for more than its
crop of watermelons.
Although Clark will be
gone from Portland City Hall
next year, hopefully the next
mayor of Oregon’s largest
city will be equally receptive
to accepting a visit from one
of the state’s largest agricul-
ture-producing areas.
With any luck, the Herm-
iston-Portland
giveaways
will be annual events that
will continue. 7he potential
for an exchange of products
and ideas between the two
cities can serve to better ed-
ucate residents on both sides
of the mountains. Although
the differences between east
of the smaller cities,” he
said. “It’s a way to build
goodwill.”
Smith, Mayor Dave
Drotzmann, several city
HERALD FILE PHOTO
7hen0ayor Frank Harkenrider of Hermiston sits behind the desk of thenPortland 0ayor ´Bud” Clark. Clark with the gray beard
is behind Harkenrider along with other members of the Hermiston delegation that made the trip to Portland in 199 to promote
Hermiston watermelons in Portland. $lso pictured (left to right) are BeYerly Harkenrider Pam 4uick *ary 4uick (d Brookshier
Sandy Cassens Portland 0ayor ´Bud” Clark 'uWayne White *lenn <oungman Pat Wheelhouse Pete Wheelhouse and -onnie
Cassens.
7he tradition, which stared
with one pickup load in 1991,
did continue and it grew to a
small convoy of trucks and
people. It also moved from
Portland City Hall to the
space known as Portland’s
living room, Pioneer Court-
house Square. It evolved from
giving melons and produce to
city staff and of¿ cials to give
away produce in the square to
the public, who happened by
or turned out speci¿ cally for
the event. But the tradition
ended after the giveaway in
2007.
However, this weekend
the tradition returns, thanks
to the Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce and city of Herm-
iston. And most particularly
with the thanks and gener-
osity of many of the same
farmers and ag companies,
like the Walchlis, Bellingers,
and Bud-Rich who donated
produce in those early years,
contributing again and still.
7oday, there is a whole
foodie culture boom in Port-
land, fueled by people with a
profound interest in knowing
where their foods came from
and how far it has traveled
to their market or table. It is
further heightened by celeb-
rity chefs preparing signature
dishes built on a foundation
of 1orthwest foods and À a-
vors.
7here couldn’t be a much
better time to return Umatilla
and Morrow counties, and the
foods grown here, to center
stage in Portland, where Har-
kenrider and Hermiston farm-
ers put it 24 years ago.
May this be the revival of
an annual tradition that is still
ongoing and that we are still
talking about 24 years hence.
*ar\ / :est is editor of
the Hermiston Herald and
Hermiston editor for the East
2reJonian He Zas also edi-
tor of the Hermiston Herald
in and Zrote the
³&ommon JroXnd´ edito-
rial 5eaFh him at JZest#
hermistonheraldFom or
folloZ him on TZitter #
*ar\/:est or on )aFeEooN
at ZZZfaFeEooNFom
MoXrnalistJlZest
councilors, the Harken-
riders and other city of-
ficials will be in Portland
on Friday. Speeches and
seed-spitting
contests
between Hermiston offi-
cials, Portland Commis-
sioner Dan Saltzman and
state Rep. Greg Smith
will start at 11:30 a.m. in
Pioneer Square, followed
by a produce giveaway.
7hey will be giving out
watermelons,
potatoes
and cantaloupes donated
by Walchli Farms, Bell-
inger Farms, Bud-Rich
Potato and a fourth grow-
er that wished to remain
anonymous.
and west, large and small, are
profound, we share much in
common.
7hanks to mayors Har-
kenrider and Clark, we have
discovered common ground.
• • •
AUGUST 11-15, 2015
RESERVED
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