Hermiston
SIMON SIGNS
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Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
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STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Tracy Gammell (left) speaks with a parent at West Park Elementary on Saturday as she runs the For the Love of the Game AAU
basketball tournament in Hermiston.
LED, IN PART, BY TRACY GAMMELL, HERMISTON YOUTH
BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION THROWS REGION’S TOP TOURNEYS
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
racy Gammell didn’t have a lot of time to relax over the week-
end. There were too many things to do.
She had to update brackets and standings. She ran sandwich-
es to teams at gym facilities around Hermiston. She had to solve
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She makes the schedules.
It’s a lot of work, running a tournament. As the long-time Herm-
iston resident runs the annual For the Love of the Game AAU bas-
ketball tournament, Gammell appears to be in her element.
She is sitting at a table 20 feet from the purple gym, known as
The Dawghouse, at Hermiston High, busily writing in scores from
results on Saturday. There are patrons huddled around the card table
where Gammell sits, pen in hand stack of papers in front of her.
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See AAU, A16
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Hermiston junior Kylee Smith (in gray) works the clock
during Saturday’s For the Love of the Game AAU
tournament on Saturday at Hermiston High School.
Highway 395 work begins
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff writer
Chunks of concrete and orange
caution signs greeted drivers and
pedestrians this week as the Ore-
gon Department of Transportation
broke ground — literally — for its
U.S. Highway 395 improvement
project in Hermiston.
Starting at midnight Tuesday,
crews began breaking up the concrete
and dirt at intersections to prepare for
rebuilding dozens of new sidewalk
ramps that comply with the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act.
At the intersection of U.S. High-
way 395 and Jennie Avenue, work-
ers set up at dawn to begin the pro-
cess of excavating holes for new
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ers broke up concrete, John and
Larry Riggs, of Eugene-based R&R
Earth Boring, began digging a 14-
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lights. ODOT workers on scene said
the holes must be 14-feet deep to al-
low strong footings for the lights to
stand against wind gusts Umatilla
See HIGHWAY, A16
STAFF PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON
John, left, and Larry Riggs excavate a 14-foot-deep hole near the intersection
of Highway 395 and Jennie Avenue in Hermiston. As part of an ODOT project,
the trafÀ c signals are being relocated and replaced at the intersection.
Honor Flight
provides trip
for WWII vets
Honor Flight of East-
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ington, D.C.
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Heroes Foundation oper-
ates Honor Flight of East-
ern Oregon and has hon-
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veterans with free four-day
trips to the nation’s capital
since 2010. Veterans and
their guardians visit the na-
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rial and 10 other veterans’
memorials.
Veterans are eligible
to travel providing they
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II, live in any of the 17 Or-
egon counties east of the
Cascades, have not visited
the memorial in the past,
are able to travel and are
accompanied by a guard-
ian. Full-time medical staff
is available during the trip.
There is no fee for the vet-
eran; the guardian fee is
about $1,250 and covers all
expenses for the four-day
trip.
The use of wheelchairs,
walkers and portable oxy-
gen by veterans is allowed.
Guardians can be family
members or friends and
must be able to assist veter-
ans by pushing wheelchairs
and walking reasonable
distances with them. If in-
terested in traveling during
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the Bend Heroes Founda-
tion immediately.
For more information,
contact Darla Rozelle,
foundation director, at 541-
419-0007, rthreads@uci.
net or visit www.bendhe-
roes.org.
Chamber elects
new president
Julie Gisi of the Bank
of Eastern Oregon was re-
cently elected as president
of the Boardman Chamber
of Commerce.
The chamber board also
extends congratulations to
Kalie Davis of the SAGE
Center and Jim Young of
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re-elected to the board. This
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of Boardman Hardware
as second vice president,
Emerald Lantis of Banner
Bank as secretary and Don
Russell of Doherty/Rus-
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River Elementary School is
past president, after serving
the past two years.
The upcoming Board-
man Chamber of Com-
merce luncheon is at a new
date and location.
Chris Ensley, execu-
tive director of the North-
west Region for the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce,
is the special speaker. The
no-host luncheon gath-
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22 at noon at the SAGE
Center, 101 Olson Road,
Boardman. The cost is
$12. Those who plan to
attend need to RSVP by
contacting 541-481-3014
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For those who want to
save money, lunches can
be pre-paid for a year for
$120 — that’s a savings of
$2 per meal.
For more information,
contact Executive Director
(PLO\ :DLWH DW
3014 or emily@boardman-
chamber.org.