A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
PARTIES:
continued from Page A1
ly simple. After cleaning
the house and figuring out
where the kids could go for
a few hours, Cordell put the
coffee on.
Whether in private
homes or local watering
holes, many area holiday
gatherings include a theme.
According to Evite.com —
a digital invitation and so-
cial event planning service
— some of the most popu-
lar holiday themes for gath-
erings include cookie or
ornament exchanges, ugly
sweater, holiday baking or
white elephant parties and
toy drives.
On Dec. 16, Hermis-
ton Brewing Co./Nookies
Restaurant held an ugly
sweater Christmas party. In
addition to 10 percent off
all day for those donning
an ugly sweater, the event
crescendoed in the evening
with music by Dallin Puzey
and Tucker Tovey. They
also held drawings for gift
baskets, held a raffle and
played Roll a Snowman
— a dice game drawing a
snowman — for a chance
to win dessert.
The place was packed,
said Kimberlie Graffunder,
a bartender/waitress. Even
though some patrons didn’t
wear ugly sweaters, every-
one enjoyed the festivities
— especially the employ-
ees.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Angela Todd wore a reindeer
sweater and antlers during the
Ugly Sweater Christmas Party
Dec. 16 at Hermiston Brewing
Co./Nookie’s Restaurant.
“It makes coming to
work exciting,” Graffunder
said. “It puts you in the fes-
tive mood. I think it brings
a little Christmas spirit
into the community.”
Assistant Manager Ja-
nea Fricke was thrilled
with all the staff getting
into the holiday spirit and
dressing up. She dug out
her ugly sweater with a
snowman motif, which
she purchased last year for
the restaurant’s event.
“Also, the party gets
the customers involved
with the servers,” Fricke
said. “It’s a way to con-
nect and have fun.”
Fricke was also excited
about being able to book
Puzey and Tovey for the
party, who often bring a
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Janie Santoyo of Hermiston and Greg Griffitts, chaplain with
Hermiston Police Department, finish filling food boxes on
Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, at Thompson Hall on the Umatilla
County Fairgrounds. Behind them is a portion of one of the
assembly lines used by Christmas Express volunteers to put
the meal boxes together.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Lorna Westlund dishes up a plate of food during a Dec. 12
women’s potluck and Christmas sock exchange at the home
of Deana Cordell in Hermiston.
Employees Caitrin Gormley, Jasmine Stollar, Shelby Coggins,
Reagan Deshane and Kimberlie Graffunder pause for a
photo during the Ugly Sweater Christmas Party Dec. 16 at
Hermiston Brewing Co./Nookie’s Restaurant.
large following with them.
It just adds to the fun, she
said.
The coffee klatch la-
dies have held a Christ-
mas potluck gathering for
more than a decade. The
first few years, the women
rotated where it was held.
Then, beginning in 2010,
Judy Hayes held an open
house party in her new
home in conjunction with
the event. Being single,
Hayes didn’t have to work
around her family’s sched-
ule and offered her home
for the gathering each year
until she moved out of the
area. The past three years,
the party has been held in
different women’s homes.
“Judy had the gift of
hospitality,” said Lorna
Westlund. “I don’t have
that. I get too stressed
out.”
Cordell said having
the food as a potluck cuts
down on the planning and
expense of hosting the
event. In addition, people
get to bring their favorite
dish to share with others.
“I made a Waldorf sal-
ad, which was part of our
Christmas tradition from
growing up,” Westlund
said. “My great-aunt Zella
used to make that all the
time and it seemed like the
perfect thing to take to the
get together.”
Evolving over time, the
gift exchange used to fea-
ture presents with a prede-
termined dollar amount,
said Shawn Logue. Most
of the time, the gift ex-
change included the white
elephant game — AKA
Bad Santa, Dirty Santa and
Yankee Swap. Although it
typically takes a lot lon-
ger to open the presents,
Logue said it adds to the
fun.
“I like the stealing,”
she said. “It’s fun and un-
predictable.”
With the last couple of
years being an ornament
exchange, Cordell thought
it wold be fun to do some-
thing different after see-
ing the idea about a sock
exchange on the Internet.
Since Cordell enjoys fill-
ing Christmas stockings
for her family, she thought
the ladies would have fun
filling socks with small
items like candy, lotion,
nail polish, lip gloss, holi-
day-themed gag toys.
‘“I thought people
could be creative and have
fun with it,” Cordell said.
Even with the food and
gift exchange, Cordell
said the best thing about
the party was just being
together. Sitting around
chatting, she said, was her
favorite part of the eve-
ning.
Greene agreed.
“These are very special
women in my life,” she
said. “I don’t get to see
them all the time during
the year, so these gather-
ings are important to re-
connect.”
FOOD:
ed by growers like the Co-
lumbia Basin Onion’s Alan
Cleaver and the Walchli
families for both produce
and equipment, canned
food collected with the help
of local students in food
drives and financial con-
tributions from individual
donors and groups like the
Hermiston Rotary Club,
which are used to buy addi-
tional food.
“I never knew how gen-
erous this community was
until I took this over,” Ed-
miston said. “I can call any
farmer and tell them what I
need” and the next thing he
knows, the need is met.
Christmas Express also
spends between $8,000 and
$13,000 each year for food.
Edmiston said he seeks
bids on the other food
goods, and this year the
additional food was pur-
chased through Walmart.
Members of Living Faith
Church have also volun-
teered to help this year with
presents for the children up
to fifth grade in families
that receive food boxes.
Schools and area church-
es also help to identify
those in need of the donated
food and gifts.
This is the second year
that all city departments
have joined the program.
And city workers put the
boxes together in two as-
sembly lines, filling enough
boxes, stacked six rows
high, to fill 12 pallets.
Christmas Express be-
gan in 1969 when Dick
Hodge, a local insurance
agent, asked then-police
chief Bob Shannon to help
distribute leftover toys to
children who may not have
received gifts that year. The
police department now co-
ordinates the annual charity
drive.
continued from Page A1
to put together about 500
food boxes. The boxes are
being disbursed from the
Agape House this week,
through today, to families
that would most benefit.
Police Chief Jason Ed-
miston said, all together,
about 100 pounds of food
will be distributed per fami-
ly, including bags of onions
and potatoes donated by
local growers, turkey, dry
goods and canned food. In
addition to the food donat-
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