43RD ANNUAL
HERMISTON FARM FAIR
Hermiston
Herald
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2016
HermistonHerald.com
SPECIAL SECTION
$1.00
STUDENTS EXPRESS CHRISTMAS SPIRIT THROUGH
ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE
INSIDE
MORE RETAIL
COMING?
CITY APPROVES SALE OF LAND TO
FACILITATE RANCH & HOME DEAL.
PAGE A3
MUSICAL
HOMECOMING
BULLDOG ALUMS RETURN TO
OPEN DESERT ARTS SEASON.
PAGE A4
THEY MAKE
A VILLAGE
EXPERIENCE ‘JOURNEY TO
BETHLEHEM’ THIS WEEKEND.
PAGE A4
NO. 2 IN
THE STATE
STANFIELD FALLS TO REGIS
IN 2A TITLE GAME.
PAGE A7
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Ben DeCarlow, a teacher at Armand Larive Middle, takes a decibel reading during the canned food drive kick-off at an assembly at
Armand Larive Middle School. Food collected will be distributed through the Hermiston Police Department Christmas Express.
Thankful for Bridges
event hopes to
tear down walls
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
he deafening screams
of students filled the
gymnasium recently
at Armand Larive Middle
School.
There wasn’t a sport-
ing event going on — Ric
Sherman was in the house.
He was getting the crowd
pumped up to beat Sandstone
Middle School in the annual food drive
for the Hermiston Police Christmas
Express.
The sixth graders topped out at 118
decibels, said Ben DeCarlow, a seventh
and eighth grade science teacher who
also heads up the food drive at Armand
Larive. Their effort earned them 68 ex-
tra points for their inter-school contest
with the seventh and eighth graders.
The eighth graders reached 105 deci-
bels, receiving 55 extra points; and the
seventh graders hit 103 decibels which
garnered 53 points.
Rather than receiving one point for
each can, items are assigned points.
Food with higher nutritional value
counts as more, said Stacie Roberts,
Armand Larive principal. She told stu-
dents the focus isn’t how many Ramen
noodles can be collected. The idea,
Roberts said, is to provide healthier
foods.
“That’s what we need for our fami-
lies,” she said.
A retired educator, Sherman gets
excited about Christmas Express, a
program in its 47th year. It started,
Sherman said, when Ken Hodge, then
manager of the Hermiston Sears, had
some extra toys and called Bob Shan-
non, who was the Hermiston police
chief, asking if he knew of some needy
See FOOD, A14
BRIEFLY
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Students at Armand Larive Middle School get pumped up during an assembly about the annual food drive
competition with Sandstone Middle School. Food collected will be distributed through the Hermiston
Police Department Christmas Express.
‘THE BIGGEST
CONTRIBUTION
OF FOOD TO
THIS PROGRAM
IS THE
SCHOOLS.
OUR KIDS
ARE REALLY
GREAT KIDS.’
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Ric Sherman waits to announce the kick-off of the annual food drive
during an assembly at Armand Larive Middle School. Sherman started
coordinating the effort in 1979, with food being distributed through the
Hermiston Police Department Christmas Express.
Classic building transforms into modern offices
Simmons Insurance Group
cuts ribbon on renovated
RoeMarks building
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Visitors gather in the refurbished former RoeMarks Men’s and Western
Wear building during an open house for the Simmons Insurance Group
on Tuesday in Hermiston.
A distinctive downtown brick build-
ing, as old as the city itself, has a new
life as Hermiston’s newest, and most
modern, office complex.
The former RoeMarks Men’s and
Western Wear building on the corner
of Main Street and Northeast Second
Street sat empty for nearly four years
before Simmons Insurance Group pur-
chased it in May. After hundreds of
thousands of dollars’ worth of renova-
tions on the two-story brick building,
See BUILDING, A14
A pair of friends from the
Hermiston area are work-
ing to show their support for
immigrants and other groups
feeling marginalized follow-
ing the presidential election.
Alex Hobbs and Selene
Torres-Medrano will host the
Thankful for Bridges Com-
munity Celebration on Sat-
urday, Dec. 3, from 1-5 p.m.
in the Umatilla High School
commons area.
“For the community that
may be feeling apprehensive
about the election, we want
to provide some resources,”
Hobbs said.
Those resources will in-
clude Jonathan Shaklee of
Oliver & Shaklee Immi-
gration Law Firm answer-
ing legal questions, Sheriff
Terry Rowan and local po-
lice speaking on immigra-
tion enforcement, Umatilla
School District Superinten-
dent Heidi Sipe answering
concerns about education,
members of the Hispan-
ic Advisory Committee,
members of the Latino Co-
alition of Tri-Cities.
The presentations will
start around 2:30 p.m. but
first attendees can just enjoy
free tamales, rice and beans
plus entertainment by local
musician Dallin Puzey and
the band Los Coralillos.
“We want to be really ca-
sual because I think people
kind of shy away from politi-
cal events, so we want to have
music and food and relax,”
Hobbs said.
She said the idea came
from a “Love Trumps Hate”
rally Hobbs attended after the
election. She said the showing
of solidarity was a nice idea,
but she felt like it left a lot of
questions unanswered for the
people who showed up wor-
ried about how the Donald J.
Trump administration might
affect their lives.
She and Torres-Medrano
decided they wanted to do
something that would pro-
vide some “peace of mind.”
are encouraging people to
bring a donation of canned
food for the Agape House or
Desert Rose Ministries if they
attend..
———
— Jade McDowell