Hermiston
Herald
F IR
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
LEAD
FOUND
IN WATER
AT 4 AREA
SCHOOLS Page 3
ABOUT TOWN
THE
Echo celebrates
National Night Out
In its 10th year of cel-
ebrating National Night
Out, Echo will hold an
event Tuesday, Aug. 16 at
6:30 p.m.
A portion of Dupont
Street will be closed
off and the event will
take place in and around
George Park and the Echo
Masonic Lodge, 200 S.
Dupont St.
Free hot dogs, chips,
cookies and cake will be
served. Also, there will be
giveaways and door priz-
es. People can play bingo,
get their face painted and
visit with fi rst responders
and other public offi cials.
“Also, we will honor
local police and show our
support,” said Diane Ber-
ry, city administrator.
Additional volunteers
and donations are being
accepted for the event.
For more information,
call 541-376-8411.
IS HERE
TICKETS
General Admission
Tickets/Gate Passes:
Children (6-12) $6
Adults $10
Seniors $8
Children under 6 are free
STAFF PHOTOS BY JADE MCDOWELL AND ALEXA LOUGEE
Above: Umatilla High School cheerleaders ride a fi re truck during the Umatilla County Fair Kick-Off Parade on Saturday.
Round photos starting clockwise from top left: A hog waits in its pen at the fair. • Food vendors are set up and serving
food and drinks at the Umatilla County Fair. • Umatilla County Fair Princess Raylee Lenhert throws candy during the
Umatilla County Fair Kick-Off Parade on Saturday. • Kids in the small animal barn at the fair.
Come taste a bit
of the sweet life
Season Passes:
Children (6-12) $24
Adults $40
Seniors $30
Children under 6 are free
Carnival rides and rodeo
tickets must be purchased
separately.
By ALEXA LOUGEE
Staff Writer
I
f the calendar hasn’t
reminded you that
fair is here, then the
wafting scents of
various fried foods
should.
The Umatilla County
Fair is offi cially open
and in full swing. Kids
are swarming the vari-
ous animal barns caring
for their animals and
prepping for show.
Outside of the barns,
food vendors have lined
up along the sidewalks,
opening their doors and
luring in people by the
dozens.
Davis
Amusement
Cascadia has fi nished
setting up the carni-
val and rides are ready
to twist stomachs and
amuse the masses.
Concerts are happen-
ing each night on the
Wildhorse stage.
The rodeo kicks off
it’s four days of events
Wednesday night.
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF PHOTO BY ALEXA LOUGEE
A girl sits with her chicken at the county fair.
An American Indian rides in the Umatilla County Fair
Kick-Off parade Saturday.
THE FUN IS IN FULL SWING
HERMISTON HERALD
The Umatilla County
Fairgrounds were abuzz
with activity Monday as
workers and volunteers
prepared the grounds
for the 101st annual
event.
People were busy
throughout the fair-
grounds — from con-
struction workers creat-
ing the Main Stage area
and vendors setting up
booths to 4-H and FFA
members getting their
animals settled in to vol-
unteers arranging dis-
plays in Price Hall.
The fair opened
Tuesday and continues
through Saturday. The
gates open daily at 9
a.m. Tickets are $10 for
adults, $8 for seniors,
$6 for ages 6-12 and
free for those 5 and un-
der. The fairgrounds are
located at 515 W. Or-
chard Ave., Hermiston.
Festival seating is
free for Main Stage
entertainment, which
includes The Bellamy
Brothers
(Wednes-
day), Brothers Osborne
(Thursday), Montez De
Durango, Tormenta De
Durango, Domador De
La Sierra (Friday), and
Creedence Clearwater
Revisited (Saturday).
The concerts start at 9
p.m., except Friday’s
show, which begins at
8 p.m. Reserved seats
are $12, which doesn’t
include fair admission.
For more informa-
tion, visit www.co.uma-
tilla.or.us/fair or call
541-567-6121.
See FAIR, A11
City gives away watermelons in Portland again
Hermiston Herald
Hermiston offi cials showed
Portlanders that life is sweet in
Eastern Oregon on Friday with
a giveaway of more than 6,000
pounds of Hermiston watermelons.
Mayor David Drotzmann, City
Manager Byron Smith, mem-
bers of the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce and a delegation of
city councilors and staff arrived at
Pioneer Courthouse Square in Port-
land on Friday and handed out free
melons to eager Portland residents
as part of a yearly tradition to pro-
mote Hermiston agriculture.
The tradition was started in the
1980s by then-mayor Frank Har-
kenrider, who took a pickup truck
full of Hermiston watermelons to
Portland and challenged then-may-
or Bud Clark to a seed-spitting
contest. The tradition petered out
in 2007 but was revived in 2015.
Produce was donated by lo-
cal growers. Last year Hermiston
also gave away potatoes, but Mark
Morgan, assistant city manager,
said that the other options weren’t
nearly as popular as the watermel-
on so this year they just stuck with
the city’s famous fruit.
Hermiston won the seed-spitting
contest last year and again this year,
with city councilor Doug Prim-
mer’s winning effort of 29 feet.
The event is designed to foster
better relations between the city of
Hermiston and the city of Portland,
according to a news release from
the city.
“We’re really happy we can con-
tinue this great event, and continue
to build on our relationship with
our partners in Portland,” Drotz-
mann said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY CITY OF HERMISTON
Mayor David Drotzmann, left, and
Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman
squared off Friday in a watermelon
seed-spitting contest in Portland
before Hermiston gave away 6,000
pounds of watermelons.
Three boys
hit by car in
Hermiston
released from
hospitalized
By ALEXA LOUGEE
Staff Writer
All three boys have
been released from the
hospital after being hit by
a car while standing in a
fenced-in yard last week.
Three
11-year-old
boys were standing in the
yard of the house at 430
Northeast Fourth Street
in Hermiston, planning
a sleepover Wednesday
evening when a 2014
Chevrolet driven by Jesse
J. Focht, 23, left the road
and hit them.
One of the boys’ dad,
Ryan Whitman, lives two
blocks down and ran to-
ward the location after
hearing sirens. When he
got there, he said, “My
heart sank in my chest.”
Two of the boys were
lying on the ground un-
conscious. Soon he saw
his son was conscious
and being comforted by
a neighbor. The two other
boys regained conscious-
ness and paramedics
treated the boys on scene.
Whitman took his son
to Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center, while the oth-
er two boys were taken by
ambulance.
As of Tuesday all three
e boys had been released
from the hospital.
One of the victims, the
last to be released from
the hospital has broken
ribs, spleen injuries and
lacerations that required
several stitches. The two
others suffered injuries
including a sprained an-
kle, bruising and swelling
and lacerations.
Focht was driving
southbound on Northeast
Fourth Street around 6:46
p.m. when his car crashed
into the front yard fence.
Hermiston
Police
Chief Jason Edmiston
said in a press release that
“alcohol
consumption
does not appear to be the
main contributing factor
in the crash, but we are
waiting on chemical anal-
ysis of evidence collected
before making the fi nal
determination.”
Edmiston also said
they have not ruled out
distracted driving, though
Focht did not have a cell-
phone on him.