BULLDOGS CAN’T HOLD OFF BRAVES IN THRILLER AT HOME INSIDE SPORTS
Hermiston
Herald
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
INSIDE
LOCAL HISTORY
HOLIDAYS AND WAR NEWS
DOMINATE THIS WEEK IN
HISTORY IN DECADES PAST.
PAGE 2A
IN A NEW ZONE
UMATILLA REZONES LAND IN
MCNARY TO ALLOW HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT.
PAGE 3A
395 CRASH
THREE PEOPLE HURT, TWO WITH
LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES, IN
TUESDAY CRASH.
PAGE 7A
ALL-STATE HONOR
FREDDY RODRIGUEZ
EARNS FIRST TEAM 5A
ALL-STATE SOCCER AWARD.
PAGE 8A
BRIEFLY
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Richard Scarlett and Wanda Hunt (as Santa and Mrs. Claus) and Helen McAfee, an elf, dance Tuesday morning to the singing of “We Wish
You A Merry Christmas” by members of the Hermiston High School choir and residents of Brookdale Hermiston.
Area residents spread holiday cheer
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
‘Tis the season when the jolly ol’ elf is
busy preparing for his yearly jaunt around
the world.
Santa’s load is made a little lighter
thanks to a Stanfi eld woman, a Hat Rock
couple and a Hermiston woman. Polly Van
De Brake is in her 15th year of refurbishing
stuffed animals for the Hermiston Police
Department Christmas Express. Richard
Scarlett and Wanda Hunt are donning their
Santa and Mrs. Claus wardrobes to spread
Christmas joy for the 11th year. And, Helen
McAfee is in her second season as an elf.
While living in Oklahoma, Scarlett and
Hunt, who are now both 66, were inspired
to personify Santa and Mrs. Claus after
watching an elderly neighbor enjoy doing
it so much.
“I said, ‘I just love what you do, going
out and spreading cheer. When you pass,
you need to will us your costume,’” Hunt
recalls telling the then-octogenarian.
Hunt laughs as she recalls the woman,
who is now 95, telling them to get their
own costumes because she planned on
living until she was 100. After the couple
moved back to Eastern Oregon, their for-
mer neighbor purchased a Santa costume
for $50 at a Goodwill and mailed it to Scar-
lett for his birthday.
Scarlett donned the thrift store outfi t that
fi rst year and Hunt wore a spectacular dress
See CHEER, A14
Winter storm
warning issued
Hermiston Herald
The National Weather
Service in Pendleton has is-
sued a winter storm warning
for all of Eastern Oregon this
week, forecasting “signifi -
cant” snow today.
A wet Pacifi c storm sys-
tem is expected to move
through the region beginning
this afternoon, bringing 4-8
inches of snow to lower ele-
vations — including Hermis-
ton — through the night.
Temperatures are expect-
ed to stay below freezing all
week, with overnight lows in
the single digits.
The weather service
warns that area roadways
will be covered and slick.
Less-traveled side roads
could become impassable.
Updated forecasts from
the NWS offi ce can be found
online at http://www.wrh.
noaa.gov/pdt/.
Harbor Freight
opens Dec. 20
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Polly Van De Brake of Stanfi eld is surrounded by a few of the 500 stuffed animals she refurbished
for the Hermiston Police Department Christmas Express.
$104M elementary school bond going to vote
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
The power to build new schools
will offi cially be in Hermiston voters’
hands during the May 2017 election.
On Monday, the Hermiston School
District board unanimously adopted a
resolution placing a $104 million cap-
ital construction bond on the ballot.
The bond money would go toward
a new elementary school off Theater
Lane, replacement of Rocky Heights
Elementary, replacement of High-
land Hills Elementary, renovations
at Sandstone Middle School and an
expansion of Hermiston High School
that would bring its capacity from
1,600 students to 2,000.
It would add 90 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value to local property taxes,
See VOTE, A14
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Juan Delgado, a grounds maintenance employee for Hermiston School District,
mops up water from a fl oor at Hermiston High School on Thursday, Dec. 8, after
a water break at the school. Because of the leak, school was dismissed early
on Thursday and there were no classes at Hermiston High on Friday.
Hermiston’s new Harbor
Freight Tools will be open-
ing its doors in time for some
Christmas shopping.
The store at 1810 N 1st
Street (the former Offi ce Max
location) will open Tuesday,
Dec. 20. It will employ 35-40
people. Eric Smidt, president
of Harbor Freight Tools, said
in a written statement that the
company is “thrilled” to be
opening in Hermiston and
had received a warm wel-
come to the community.
“At Harbor Freight, we’re
all about delivering high qual-
ity tools at ridiculously low
prices,” he said.
Smidt said the company
does that by cutting out the
“middle man” and selling
tools directly from the same
factories as more expensive
brands. The company has also
invested millions of dollars in
test labs to ensure quality.
Harbor Freight Tools has
more than 700 locations and
Hermiston will be its 16th in
Oregon. The store stocks over
7,000 different tools including
automotive, air, power, shop
and hand tools. Additional in-
formation can be found online
at harborfreight.com.