Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
WHO ARE YOU
CHEERING FOR?
Show your Bulldog pride by
displaying the poster on Page 7
*Or you can fi nd the poster for the
team to the east on Page 11.
$1.00
ABOUT TOWN
ONE LAST RUN AMONGST
THE POPLARS
PHOTO BY ANTONIO SIERRA
Participants take off at the starting line for the children’s one-mile race at the Poplar Run at the Boardman Tree Farm Saturday.
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
A
bout 1,200 people reg-
istered for the Very
Poplar Run on Satur-
day morning, for the
opportunity to partici-
pate in the fi nal race at
the Boardman Tree Farm.
The Poplar Run became a very
popular run in its sixth and fi nal out-
ing, as nearly three times the number
of runners participated this year as ran
in 2015.
Runners still had patches of pop-
lars to run through — striking shades
of red and orange melded with green
leaves still resisting autumn’s pull —
but the tree farm’s slow fade-out was
clearly felt, not only in the Very Pop-
lar Run’s premature end but also in the
sudden expanses of barren land and
corn crops.
GreenWood Resources sold the
farm’s 25,000 acres to AgriNorthwest
of Tri-Cities in February, the new
owners intent on replacing the poplars
with more conventional Eastern Ore-
gon scenery, including conventional
irrigated farmland and dairy.
Andrew Bourque, GreenWood’s
director of resource information sys-
tems, was one of the run’s progenitors
and organized the race each of its six
years.
He’s moving to Portland to work
in GreenWood’s headquarters, but he
was grateful for the time the company
allowed him to not only work amongst
Boardman’s trees but organize a race.
“This is very unique and I’ve been
See RUN, A18
PHOTO BY ANTONIO SIERRA
Runners participating in A Very Poplar Run make their way through the course at the Boardman
Tree Farm Saturday.
Prison accepts
donations for
bike program
Bicycles are needed
for the Cycles of Hope
program at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution.
The program repairs
donated bicycles
and provides them
to local charities for
distribution. Last
Christmas season, 50
bicycles were given to
local families in need.
Scott and Steve
Cimmiyotti of Scott’s
Cycle & Sports in
Hermiston volunteer as
trainers for repairing
bicycles. Inmates
at the prison learn
valuable skills through
the project and are
provided with an
opportunity to give
back to the community.
People can drop
donated bikes off
at Agape House,
500 Harper Road,
Hermiston. In addition,
people can call Sgt.
Kevin Hodges at TRCI
at 541-922-2100 to
make arrangements for
donations or for more
information about the
program.
Party includes
pumpkin fun
Boo bowling and
broomstick hockey are
among the activities
during a Pumpkin Pick-
ing Party at the Lexing-
ton Grange.
Children of all ages
are invited to pick and
decorate a pumpkin,
as well as entering a
costume contest for
a chance to win priz-
es. The event is Sun-
day from 1-3 p.m. at
the Lexington Grange,
66296 Marquardt Road.
The cost is $5. Carnival
games require one tick-
et, which can be pur-
chased for 25 cents or
fi ve for $1. In addition,
there’s a raffl e (tick-
ets $5 each) for a fall-
themed basket.
For more informa-
tion, visit www.lex-
grange726.wix.com/
grange or contact lex.
grange726@gmail.com.
Event provides
Halloween fun
PHOTO BY ANTONIO SIERRA
10K runners get a start on the course at the Poplar Run at the Boardman Tree Farm Saturday.
Where should the bus stop?
City, tribes fi nalizing
plans to start
service in January
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
Fake “bus stops” will
start appearing around
Hermiston soon, but the
signs are a dress rehearsal
for a real bus system com-
ing to town.
The signs will pro-
vide information about a
planned bus system that
will transport Hermiston
residents for free around
town fi ve days a week
starting Jan. 2. It will be
operated by the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation’s
Kayak Transit program as
a contract with the city of
Hermiston.
Mark Morgan, assis-
tant city manager, said
the transit advisory com-
mittee, which is helping
to plan the bus system,
hopes the signs at the
proposed stops will work
to draw feedback on the
route and times before the
committee submits a fi nal
recommendation to the
City Council on Nov. 14.
The committee will meet
one more time on Nov. 1
at 5 p.m. at City Hall, and
members of the public are
encouraged to attend.
“If they have any heart-
burn about it, we want to
hear it at the Nov. 1 meet-
ing,” Morgan said.
The advisory com-
mittee met last week and
traveled the initial route
the CTUIR put together,
making suggestions for
minor adjustments. The
tribes plan to incorporate
those suggestions before
handing the city a map
to publicize on its web-
site and the proposed bus
stops this week.
Without those adjust-
ments, the proposed route
includes 35 stops around
town and takes about an
hour to complete one cir-
cuit. The suggested stops
include Wal-Mart, Blue
Mountain
Community
College, Hermiston Plaza
and Good Shepherd Med-
ical Center, as well as
multiple stops along ma-
jor streets like NW 11th
Street, NE Fourth Street,
Main Street, Orchard Av-
enue and Highland Ave-
nue.
A city survey offered
two options for bus route
times: continuously from
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or in two
chunks of time in the ear-
ly morning and late af-
ternoon for commuters.
Seventy four percent of
See BUS, A18
A pair of local
churches are offering
safe fun on Halloween.
The Fall Family Fes-
tival & Trunk or Treat is
Monday from 5-7 p.m.
at Hermiston Church of
the Nazarene, 1520 W.
Orchard Ave. The event
offers fun for the whole
family. In addition to
candy, hot dogs will be
available. For more in-
formation, visit www.
hermistonnazarene.org
or call 541-567-.3677.
Also, the annual
Crossroads Trunk of
Treat is Monday from
6-8 p.m. at Crossroads
Community
Church,
350 N.W. Sherman
St., Stanfi eld. People
are invited to decorate
their cars or trucks and
hand out candy to kids.
Also, hot chocolate and
warming pits will be
on hand — if weath-
er permits, a bouncy
castle and slide will
be available. For more
information, call 541-
449-3434.
For more Halloween
events and activities,
see the Coming Events
calendar on Page A2.