COMMENTARY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2016
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I want to give an enormous
thank you to Rascal Rodeo found-
er Ann-Erica Whitemarsh for put-
ting on a fun-illed event in our lo-
cal Farm-City Rodeo Arena. This
generous and well-run organiza-
tion utilizes volunteers who assist
individuals with disabilities as
they experience the excitement of
various rodeo events including the
opportunity to ride a real horse.
All participants received a shirt,
hat, bandana and either a sheriff’s
badge or crown at no cost to the
participant. The rain and mud did
nothing to dampen the spirits of
the cowboys and cowgirls “yee-
hawing” their way through the
ive different activities.
One of the best aspects of this
event is that there is not an age
limit for the participants. So often
these wonderful opportunities are
limited to children and do not in-
clude young adults with disability.
At irst, my young adult daughter,
who has Autism Spectrum Disor-
der, was hesitant about attending,
but the minute we arrived at the
arena she immediately began ro-
tating to the stations ranging from
“milking” a cow to riding a buck-
ing unicorn!
We are truly fortunate to have
the caliber of people who helped
provide this positive event for
the disabled in our community. I
know that my daughter will look
forward to attending another Ras-
cal Rodeo event and I would en-
courage anyone who has a child
with a disability to consider at-
tending.
More information can be ob-
tained about this organization by
visiting the Rascal Rodeo website.
KRISTI SMALLEY, SPECIAL OLYMPICS
AND ARC OF UMATILLA COUNTY BOARD
MEMBER
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Time to name this center
New event center
building needs a
name to distinguish it
from EOTEC grounds
and authority.
he irst building at the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center is now open
and it will become a new gather-
ing place for our community. But,
what will we call it?
Is the new building the Event
Center? Is it the event center
building at the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center? Or are
the entire grounds to be known
as the Event Center and will this
irst building come to be known
by some other moniker?
The building itself deinitely
needs a designation.
I’m certainly not a fan of the
EOTEC acronym for the grounds
or the authority that governs it.
EOTEC sounds like the place I
would call when my Internet ser-
vice is out, not where I go for a
trade show or community cele-
bration.
We are now one step closer
to moving the Umatilla County
Fair, which outgrew its facilities
long ago, and providing another
venue for events, large and small.
The new building, unveiled to the
public for the irst time last week,
will be a place for locals and vis-
itors to gather, do business and
celebrate.
It needs a name, or at the very
least a nickname.
T
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith, the city’s irst city manager, Tom Harper,
and the immediate past city manager, Ed Brookshier, pose for a photograph at
the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center open house on Friday. There have
only been four city managers in the city’s history and all three men have played
a role in moving the Umatilla County Fair to, and creating EOTEC, with both
Smith and Brookshier now serving on the EOTEC board.
Names are important. It could growth of agriculture in western
honor our region’s history: a trib- Umatilla County and Hermiston
al name, something recognizing in particular. Cold Springs dam
our area’s location along the Or- created the reservoir as part of the
egon Trail and near Lewis and Umatilla Basin Project with the
Clark’s Corps of Discovery route. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in
With that idea in mind, here 1908, two years after Hermiston’s
are a few suggestions.
incorporation as a city.
Youmalolam Center:
Coho Center, Chinook
Youmalolam, according to
Center, Steelhead Center
the journals of Lewis and
or Sturgeon Center: Be-
Clark, means “water rip-
cause these ish are some
pling over sand.” It is the
of the species for which the
word from which the Uma-
Columbia and Umatilla riv-
tilla River, the city of Uma-
ers and our area are known.
tilla and Umatilla County Gary
Coyote Center or Coy-
L. West
are named. Water rippling SHADES
ote Hall: The local preda-
over the desert sand has OF GRAY
tor is a common site around
been the key to the commu-
our area.
nity’s subsistence, growth, settle-
Basalt Center: Basalt is an ig-
ment and economy for centuries. neous rock common in lava lows
Cold Springs Center: Cold and has created some of our ar-
Springs and the Cold Springs ea’s most prominent geological
Reservoir were key to the early features — including the Hermis-
ton Butte, Hat Rock and Wallula
Gap. Basalt is a distinctive rock.
It’s bedrock material, makes a
good foundation and is used for
aggregate material in construc-
tion for concrete and asphalt. It
can also be polished for things as
varied as monuments and loor
tiles. Native Americans used it
for stone tools and arrowheads.
Since government oficials
seem to love acronyms, you can
pick a name and turn it into an
acronym too, if you like, so that
it has double meaning. A local ex-
ample is Boardman’s SAGE Cen-
ter, which features sage, an indige-
nous, fragrant plant on our region,
but the name also stands for Sus-
tainable AGriculture and Energy.
We could do the same sort
of thing with, say, the BASALT
Center, with BASALT serving as
an acronym — like the Business,
Agriculture, Service, Arts, Labor
and Trade Center. Now, that’s
an acronym that makes EOTEC
seem tame.
But just the Basalt Center, sans
acronym, is ine too.
Those are some of my ideas.
What do you think we should
call the new building east of town
where many of us are likely to
spend a fair amount of time in
the decades to come? Write me
at the address below and we’ll
share some of our ideas in print
and online.
Gary L. West is editor of the
Hermiston Herald and Herm-
iston editor for the East Ore-
gonian. Reach him at gwest@
hermistonherald.com or follow
him on Twitter @GaryLWest or
on Facebook at www.facebook.
com/journalist.glwest.
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