WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
It takes a village to prepare
a nice community dinner
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
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Echo students
honor veterans
with parade
different branch of the mili-
tary. First-graders dressed as
Echo veteran Joe Ham- Marines, and a recruiter from
mer removed his hat and held the Corps visited the class
it in front his chest in rever- on Tuesday. Student Mateo
ence as elementary students Gutierrez said he liked the
paraded through the center recruiter’s uniform and hear-
of town Thursday morning ing about the places he had
dressed as service members, been. His “Papa” was in the
FDUU\LQJ$PHULFDQÀDJVDQG Coast Guard, and he wanted
to join the military “so I can
signs, chanting, “U.S.A.”
Hammer, originally from ¿JKWIRU$PHULFD´KHVDLG
First-grader Jude Winkler
Hermiston, served in the Air
Force from 1991-1995 and said she asked the recruiter
said the parade was a wel- about the badges on his uni-
FRPHWULEXWHIRUWKHVDFUL¿F- form. He had 12, she said,
and explained he received
es of veterans.
“It was pretty awesome,” them for serving in different
he said. “It’s nice to see they places. She said she enjoyed
are instilling patriotism back honoring veterans and was
happy to have an American
in the schools.”
Sixth-grader
Ryan ÀDJDWKHUKRXVH
First-grade teacher Kara
Clark was dressed as his
great-grandfather,
Elmer Mackenzie, whose grandfa-
Henry Sears. Clark said he ther served in the military,
was a pilot in the Army be- said the students also worked
fore the Air Force was cre- with their parents to create
ated. His classmate, Xan- family trees identifying rela-
der Harsh, was dressed as a tives who served in the mili-
more recent veteran, Capt. tary. She said many were un-
Michael Brian Daake, who aware they had grandparents
served in the Army in 2004- who were veterans.
Principal Keith Hol-
2005. Both said they learned
a lot about veterans prepar- man said the teachers and
ing for the parade and an af- students put a lot of work
ternoon assembly, in which into the parade, which was
the middle school students new this year. He said rec-
acted as a wax museum of ognizing veterans was im-
veterans from different eras portant.
“We always need to say
and explained their charac-
thank you to the veterans.
ter’s service.
“Veterans are nice to our The students don’t under-
country,” Harsh said. “They VWDQG ZKDW NLQG RI VDFUL¿FH
are awesome. They have goes on,” he said. “I think it’s
cool guns, and they protect something else that brings
the community and school
the U.S.A.”
For the parade, each el- together, and I think that’s
ementary grade honored a great to see.”
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
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Dan Hill to take over as
district’s presiding judge
In January, Circuit
Judge Dan Hill of Hermis-
ton will be the new presid-
ing judge of Oregon’s Sixth
Judicial District.
The district
encompass-
es the cir-
cuit courts of
Umatilla and
Morrow coun-
ties and has
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Hill
The district’s
trial
court
administrator Roy Blaine
made the announcement
Nov. 12.
“Presiding judges serve
as the administrative judge
for a district,” Blaine ex-
plained in a written state-
ment, “setting policies
and procedures and de-
termining, for example,
what caseload judges will
carry and where they are
assigned. The presiding
judge in each judicial dis-
trict is chosen by Oregon’s
Chief Justice, with input
from all the judges in a
district.”
The term is for two
years. Judge Ron Pahl has
been the district’s presiding
judge since 2010. Blaine
stated Pahl decided not to
continue in the role.
After coordinating the twice-yearly
Community Fellowship Dinners for a
quarter of a century, Laurie Ball-Kiser
has the process down to a science.
Over the years, the Hermiston wom-
an has received recognition for her ef-
forts. Last year she received a Good
Shepherd Community Health Foun-
dation Christmas Spirit Award. Also,
the Mayor’s Award was presented to
her by Bob Severson in 2009 during
the Hermiston Distinguished Service
Awards Banquet.
However, Ball-Kiser is quick to
point out that volunteers are the heart-
beat behind the effort. Without all the
people helping — the effort requires
upwards of 300 volunteers — the meals
couldn’t happen.
The Community Fellowship Din-
ners provide a free holiday meal to
anyone who wants one on Thanksgiv-
ing and Christmas days. In addition,
Ball-Kiser said the gatherings provide
what she calls a “heart connection.”
“No one needs to be alone or lonely
on the holiday,” she said.
With Thanksgiving a little more
than a week away, Ball-Kiser says she’s
starting to get a bit concerned.
“I need volunteers,” she said. “I hav-
en’t had very many phone calls, so I’m
looking for people to help.”
The dinner, which began in 1988
serving 30 people, dished up more than
800 meals each of the past two Thanks-
givings.
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FILE PHOTO
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munity Fellowship Dinners is Thursday,
Nov. 26 — Thanksgiving Day — from
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hermiston Se-
nior Center, 435 W. Orchard Ave. The
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A variety of tasks are available for
volunteers Thanksgiving Day between
8 a.m. and 4 p.m. People are needed
for food preparation, servers, meal de-
livery, greeters, waiters and clean-up
crews. Individuals, families, churches,
service organizations or clubs are in-
vited to participate. To volunteer, call
Ball-Kiser by Sunday at 541-567-8600.
Those who haven’t reached
Ball-Kiser are invited to show up for
the set-up party Wednesday, Nov. 25,
between 1-4 p.m. at the senior center.
For meal delivery or for a ride to the
dinner, call 541-567-3013 from 8 a.m.
to noon or 1-3 p.m. On Thanksgiving
Day, calls need to be made to the senior
center at 541-567-3582.
A donation box is provided at the
senior center for those who would like
to give. In addition, people can send
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ners, P.O. Box 1551, Hermiston OR,
97838, or drop off at the First Christian
Church, 775 W. Highland Ave.
Sipe chosen as state’s top super
Heidi Sipe, the super-
intendent of the Umatilla
School District, was cho-
sen as the 2016 Oregon
Superintendent of the
Year at last week’s Ore-
gon School
Boards As-
sociation
annual con-
ference in
Portland.
Sipe has
been
the
Sipe
Umatilla
superin-
tendent since 2007 and is
now in the running for the
National Superintendent
of the Year. The state hon-
or is given by the Oregon
Association of School Ex-
ecutives and the Confed-
eration of Oregon School
Administrators.
“Heidi is an outstand-
ing educational leader
with a deep commitment
to equity and a strong be-
lief in the promise and po-
tential of each and every
child,” said Salam Noor,
Oregon Deputy Superin-
tendent of Public Instruc-
tion. “Her passion, dedica-
tion, and vision make her
a true asset not just to her
district and region but to
the whole state. I cannot
think of anyone more de-
serving of this honor.”
Nearly 90 percent of
Umatilla’s 1,400 students
qualify for free or reduced
meals and about one-third
are active English Lan-
guage learners.
“When others look at
the demographics of our
school, they see barriers to
college, including limited
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college-going role mod-
els, and citizenship sta-
tus,” Sipe said at the confer-
ence. “But inside our schools,
our students no longer accept
those barriers. Umatilla stu-
dents are college material,
and in fact are college success
stories. They see themselves
for the stars they are.”
Sipe led the creation
of the STEM Academy of
Umatilla and serves as vol-
unteer coach of the district’s
award-winning FIRST Ro-
botics team. She has also
been a prominent education
leader in Oregon for nearly
a decade. Among her many
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President in 2014-15; COSA
Board of Directors, 2013-
15; and Teacher Standards
and Practices Commission-
er, 2013-present. She also
assisted the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education during a
time of transition by serving
as interim assistant superin-
tendent in 2012-13.
Sipe and her husband,
Kyle, a middle school teacher
in Umatilla, have two chil-
dren. Their son, Caden, is a
freshman at Washington State
University. Her daughter,
Cameron, is a junior at Uma-
tilla High School.
Information provided by
the Confederation of Oregon
School Administrators.
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