COMMUNITY A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2016 Month of anniversaries brings cheers, tears J une 5 it is a day that is got to sleep in my own bed. But I have also seen the ef- celebrated in my family because it’s my parents fect of the aftermath of Sept. wedding anniversary. 11, 2001 on local communi- But it is also a date I have ties, including right here in begun to dread, for reason’s Hermiston. Two friends that unrelated to my parents. On immediately come to mind this particular June 5th, I was deployed to Afghanistan and at my parents home wishing Iraq, leaving families behind thing a happy anniversary to worry about their security when I got a message from and safety. Fortunately for an old friend from college. their families, those friends “You hear about came home safely. Dave Gilkey?” asked, One is now retired Karl Maasdam. Karl, from the Marines, the Dave and I were other is still in the Or- among a group of as- egon National Guard. piring photojournalists Other friends from who all attended Ore- high school and col- gon State University in lege served in both the mid to late 1980s. I Gary gulf wars or were de- L. West hadn’t heard anything SHADES ployed to other con- from, or of, Dave in a OF GRAY À ict zones during their while, though. service. Karl brought me up to So, for the last 10 days I speed brutally quick. have been trying to process “Killed in Afghanistan and understand my grief today” was Karl’s response, over David Gilkey’s death. followed by a link to a sto- David and I shared a pas- ry on National Public Ra- sion for photography and dio’s website. Gilkey had journalism in college, but been working for NPR ended up taking very differ- since 2007. Gilkey had dis- ent paths. We weren’t close tinguished himself as a still in college, but I considered photographer and videogra- him a friend. I don’t know if pher, most recently working he would say the same. We for a national radio medium, were competitors for assign- which NPR’s core audience, ments and space on the pages its listeners, couldn’t even in the Daily Barometer. Dave see his work unless they was always just a bit better at went online. Such is the capturing the moment and modern media world, where telling the story with a cam- a photojournalist was doing era than I was, I’d have to ad- award-winning work for ra- mit. But that made me better dio. And where a 50-year-old at it too, competing with him American journalist is killed in that safe, nurturing envi- in a conÀ ict most Americans ronment of student journal- have put out of their daily ism. He didn’t stick around consciousness. to ¿ nish school, turning an It’s now going on 15 years internship at the Daily Cam- since al-Qaeda terrorists at- era in Boulder, Colorado, tacked the United States, into a full-time paying job. leading to the U.S. invasions I ¿ nished school and landed of Afghanistan and Iraq. at the Herald and News in I had not stayed in touch Klamath Falls, following in with David over the years, the footsteps of another of but for some reason with our college peer-photojour- which I have not come to nalism group. terms, his death has left me Along the way, I largely in mourning. hung up the cameras for desk I have had opportunities jobs and editing gigs, while to hear from and share mes- Dave kept shooting and ex- sages with several friends panding into video storytell- in the last 10 days who also ing. knew David back at Oregon David had a connection State. We share our recollec- to another Hermiston Herald tions, news, memories and editor too. During his time our grief. There is comrade- ship and a shared emptiness. One friend who no longer works in journalism was left feeling guilty for not still be- ing involved in news report- ing any more. Gilkey paid the ultimate price for shar- ing news from a dangerous, hostile place and this friend, who now does commercial photography, was feeling less accomplished — less pure — for being home in- stead of out dodging bombs and bullets. I’ve never had a desire to be a war correspondent. I’ve always been more interested in helping to tell the local stories, those close to home, in communities of varying sizes here on the West Coast. Being at a crime scene where police of¿ cers had weapons drawn has provided more than enough of an adrenaline rush for me and when the adrenaline wore off, I still in Boulder, before moving on to the Detroit Free Press and NPR, Gilkey worked with Neill Woelk at the Daily Camera. Maybe I, like my friend, am grieving not just David’s death, but all I have not ac- complished along the way as a journalist. But more likely, I think, is that David’s death reminds me of the last time I saw my cousin Randy, who died ¿ ve years ago this month. The last time I saw Randy, who in many ways was like a big brother, was when I was home visiting for my parents anniversa- ry ¿ ve years ago. He died about two weeks later, on June 20. I still get struck with À ashes of grief over his death from time to time. He was only 57, not much older than I am now, and I still miss his way of telling a story that made it much funnier than it deserved to be, his laugh, his occasional advice and his relating stories about family members, many of whom are now gone. I don’t understand grief, but I am beginning to think its affect is an accumulative thing. The more I experience grief as I age, the quicker and harder it hits me when it re- turns on the next occasion. Like I have to re-mourn ev- ery past lost with every new one. And the date of my par- ents’ anniversary, June 5, was also the date when a for- mer ¿ ancpe chose to break our engagement and end our relationship a dozen years ago. So, a date that I had previ- ously associated with a hap- py family occasion now has Printed on recycled newsprint VOLUME 110 ɿ NUMBER 23 Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4539 Jade McDowell | Reporter • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536 Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531 Worship Shannon Paxton | Of¿ ce coordinator • spa[ton@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4530 Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538 To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information: • call 541-567-6457 • e-mail info@hermistonherald.com • stop b\ our of¿ ces at 333 E. 0ain St. • visit us online at: hermistonherald.com ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES Delivered by carrier and mail Wednesdays Inside Umatilla0orrow counties .......... $42.65 Outside Umatilla0orrow counties ....... $53.90 The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published weekly at Hermiston Herald, 333 E. 0ain St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541) 567-6457 Periodical postage paid at Hermiston, OR. Postmaster, send address changes to Hermiston Herald, 333 E. 0ain St., Hermiston, OR 97838. 0ember of EO 0edia Group &opyright 2016 Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church 565 W. HERMISTON AVE. DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday: English 7:00 am THURSDAY: Spanish 6:00 pm SATURDAY: English 5:00 pm • Spanish 7:00 pm Veronica Zapata SUNDAY: English 9:00 am • Bilingual 11:00 am Spanish 1:00 pm Auto Health Home Life habla español 541/289-3300 • 800/225-2521 OFFICE : 567-5812 LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH Veronica Zapata 125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232 Family Insurance Agent The Stratton Agency Hermiston / Pendleton • stratton-insurance.com The Full Gospel Home Church 235 SW 3rd Phone 567-7678 Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker Sunday: Sunday School........10:00 am Worship...................11:00 am Evening Service........7:00 pm Wednesday Service..7:00 pm "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Pet. 5:7 Grace Baptist Church 555 SW 11th, Hermiston 567-9497 Nursery provided for all services Sunday School - 9:30 AM Worship - 10:45 AM 6:00 pm Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM “Proclaiming God’s word, growing in God’s grace” Echo Community Church 21 N. Bonanza Street, Echo OR Phone: (541) 376-8108 Cheese takes center stage during weekend event 300 in U.S. Cellular ® Promo Cards. AND MORE! Pastor David Dever Sun. Bible Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:00am Sun. Worship Service . . . . . . . . . . 11:00am Sun. Evening Worship . . . . . . . . . . 6:00pm Wed. Prayer & Bible Study . . . 6:00pm www.hermistonlmbc.com Sunday School • 9:30am Worship • 10:45am Children’s Church • 11:15am Potluck & Communion ~ First Sunday of the Month $ in Florida, bringing that far away tragedy closer to home. Oh, and this week marks my 11 year anniversary with EO Media Group. All those are reasons to pause and reÀ ect. There are milestones to mark and cher- ish, but there are other June milestones that have led to more than a few tears being shed. I hope your June is marked with milestones that bring to mind happy times and memories of family and good friends. I try to tell myself that the sad events and milestones also serve a purpose and remind us of the things that are truly im- portant. But sometimes its hard to read the reminder notes I’ve written to myself through watery eyes. Gary L. West is editor of the Hermiston Herald and Hermiston editor for the East Oregonian. Reach him at gwest@hermiston- herald.com or follow him on Twitter @GaryLWest or on Facebook at www. facebook.com/journalist. glwest. Gary L. West | Editor • gwest@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4532 IN BRIEF Cheese, cheese and more cheese is featured during the upcoming Tilla- mook Cheese Days. Visitors can enjoy mac- aroni and cheese, cheesy corn muf¿ ns, salad, cook- ie and drink for $5. And, it includes admission to the SAGE Center, an in- teractive visitor center that highlights sustainable ag- riculture and energy. Also, cheese curds will be avail- able for purchase in the center’s store. The event is Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the SAGE Center, 101 Olson Road, Boardman. Regular hours are Sunday through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fri- day and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 541-481-7243 or visit www.visitsage.com. some sad memories attached to it. That’s not my parents’ fault, or my cousin Ran- dy’s, or David Gilkey’s. It’s not even what’s-her-name’s fault. But I think now, going forward, it will always be a day of mixed emotions. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. We’ve marked my parents’ anni- versary, my dad’s birthday, a niece’s graduation from Woodrow Wilson High School (ironically, the same school Gilkey graduated from) and got to meet an- other niece for the ¿ rst time, plus I got to spend some time with my daughter and her boyfriend and other fam- ily members. On top of it all I’ve been in touch with friends from my college days all within the span of one week. Then comes the mass shooting in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which once would have been a news event in a far away place, but over the years I’ve worked with friends who have spent part of their careers — lived, or as still living and working First United Methodist Church Of Hermiston Rev. Dr. James T. Pierce, Pastor Open Hearts, Open minds, Open doors 191 E. Gladys Ave. Sunday Worship at 11am (541) 567-3002 St. Johns Episcopal Church All People Are Welcome Scripture, Tradition and Reason Family service 9am Sunday Gladys Ave & 7th Hermiston Fr. Dan Lediard, Priest. PH: 567-6672 Seventh-day Adventist Church Saturdays Sabbath School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:30 a.m. Worship Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:00 a.m. 567-8241 Pastor Deam Lifshay 855 W. Highland • Hermiston NEW HOPE COMMUNITY CHURCH 2 GB Bonus Data monthly for two years. 1350 S. Highway 395, Hermiston Sunday Worship Services English- Pastor Dave Andrus 9:00 & 10:45 am Spanish- Pastor Genaro Loredo 9:00 & 10:15 am Classes for kids during all services For more information call 541-567-8441 NEW BEGINNINGS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP Worship Service 10:30 AM Sunday School 9:00 AM Pastor J.C. Barnett Children's Church & Nursery Available Learn more at uscellular.com/bonus. 700 West Orchard Avenue P.O. Box 933 Hermiston, Oregon Things we want you to know: Shared Connect Plan 3GB and above, Smartphone purchase, Customer Service Agreement with a 2-yr. initial term (subject to a pro-rated $350 Early Termination Fee) or Retail Installment Contract for installment pricing required. Device Protection+, port-in, Smartphone turn-in and credit approval also required. Up to a $40 Device Activation Fee applies. A Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee (currently $1.82/line/month) applies; this is not a tax or gvmt. required charge. Additional fees (including Device Connection Charges), taxes, terms, conditions and coverage areas apply and may vary by plan, service and phone. $1,000 Bonus Package includes a 1. $300 Switcher Incentive: Limit one per line. $100 U.S. Cellular Promotional Card given at point of sale. Additional $200.02 Promotional Card will be mailed to customer within 6–8 weeks. Promotional Cards issued by MetaBank, ® Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Valid only for purchases at U.S. Cellular stores and uscellular.com. 2. 2GB of bonus data added to customer’s Shared Connect Plan each month for 24 months. Bonus data must be used in the month provided. A value of $480. 3. See uscellular.com/bonus for remaining details of the $1,000 Bonus Package. Turned-In Smartphone must have been active on former carrier’s plan and be in fully functional, working condition without any liquid damage or broken components, including, but not limited to, a cracked screen or housing. Smartphone must power on and cannot be locked or password protected. Device Protection+: Enrollment in Device Protection+ required. The monthly charge for Device Protection+ is $8.99 for Smartphones. A deductible per approved claim applies. You may cancel Device Protection+ anytime. Insurance underwritten by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida. Service Contract Obligor is Federal Warranty Service Corporation, except in CA (Sureway, Inc.) and OK (Assurant Service Protection, Inc.). Limitations and exclusions apply. For complete details, see an associate for a Device Protection+ brochure. Offers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined. See store or uscellular.com for details. Limited-time offer. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. ©2016 U.S. Cellular 541-289-4774 1255 Hwy. 395 S. • 567-5834 oasisvineyard.us Worship 10:00 AM "come as you are" First Christian Church "Proclaiming the Message of Hope, Living the Gospel of Love" SUNDAY WORSHIP 10:30 AM SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30 AM CHILDREN'S CHURCH 11:00 AM Nursery Provided 567-3013 775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston To share your worship times call Terri Briggs 541-278-2678