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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2017)
A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM CLEANUP: continued from Page A1 a staff pastor for Hermis- ton Assembly of God, said about 300 people so far have signed up to participate in the April 8 community cleanup, including many who are not members of the partner churches but wanted to par- ticipate anyway. “It’s pretty neat,” he said. In total, they expect some- where between 400 and 500 volunteers, who will perform free car washes, clean up downtown Hermiston, pick up garbage along the railroad tracks, help run the city’s annual spring recycling day and go door to door with of- fers to help clean up yards. “It will be a spring clean- ing for the city,” Haight said. Hermiston Assembly of God began the effort last fall in response to tragedies that had struck the community. Their first event, which in- cluded free car washes and handing out snacks and water at Butte Park, drew attention with red T-shirts proclaim- ing “I Love My City.” In December, the group hand- ed out free candy canes and performed free gift wrapping outside Wal-Mart shortly be- fore Christmas. Haight said there were a few people who were suspi- cious of being offered some- thing for free and declined to participate after the vol- unteers refused to take a do- nation. But for the most part, people said they appreciated the positive message that the group was portraying. “We’re not marketing anything except we love our city,” Haight said. “We’re WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017 FROM PAGE A1 Slam Dunk the Junk returns Umatilla will be having its own community clean- up Saturday, sponsored by the city. The annual Slam Dunk the Junk returns April 1, with dumpsters placed throughout the community for residents to dump yard waste, debris and general junk for free. The city is looking for volunteers to help with coordinating, translating and other duties for Saturday’s cleanup event. Volunteers can sign up by calling the public works department at 541-922-3226. If anyone has items to dispose of that are too large for them to handle by themselves, they can also call the public works de- partment to arrange assistance. If residents miss out on Slam Dunk the Junk, they can also take advantage of Sanitary Disposal’s free and discounted dump days over the following week. just loving people, because that’s what Jesus did.” They plan to do some sort of I Love My City event ev- ery 90 days. Haight said they hope to do a free communi- ty barbecue over the sum- mer, or possibly rent out the aquatic center. The April 8 event coin- cides with Hermiston’s an- nual spring recycling event. Residents can bring every- thing from old tires to un- used paint to paper in need of shredding down to the Uma- tilla Electric Cooperative parking lot (at 750 W. Elm Ave.) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day to get them recycled for free. “What many of those sta- tions require is a supervisor to make sure that the right stuff goes in the right bin,” parks and recreation director Larry Fetter said. If individuals and families aren’t interested in volun- teering there, they can sign up to pick up trash around town, or to wash cars for free at various locations around town. Haight said organizers have some back-up projects in mind if they get too many volunteers to accommodate at currently planned loca- tions. Chris Hankel, pastor of worship ministries for New Hope, said church members were excited to join the oth- er churches for the event. The first Sunday it was an- nounced, 80 families signed up to participate. Hankel said the church wants to be a positive part of the community beyond just their own congregation. It also wants to facilitate ser- vice opportunities for fam- ilies who attend New Hope. “Part of church is learning to serve people for no oth- er reason than just to serve, without any expectation of reciprocation,” he said. Anyone interested in vol- unteering on April 8, whether a member of a church or not, can sign up online at www. ilovehermiston.com. STAFF PHOTO BY DANIEL WATTENBURGER Gabriel Villasenor paints the final of four murals Saturday on the side of Carniceria Julissa on Hermiston Avenue. COLOR: continued from Page A1 The store will provide some services to a part of town that doesn’t current- ly have a grocery store. Many parts of Hermiston are considered “food des- erts” — which is a USDA definition based on the ratio of grocery stores to residents. While the Valles and Orozco put up shelves, cleaned and prepared the inside of the store, Gabri- el Villasenor was busy on the outside of the building, painting a colorful mu- ral. The murals span four walls, and depict farm animals, the cast of Span- ish cartoon “El Chavo Animado,” pigs dressed in mariachi outfits, and a watermelon — with the word “Hermiston” painted above it. “With the weather, it takes me about a month,” Villasenor said, “because I have to wait when it rains sometimes.” On a Monday after- noon, Villasenor had about half an hour’s work left on the painting. He stood on a ladder in the sun with a small brush and carefully painted shadows on the letters of the word “Herm- iston.” Below, his wife used a roller with bright green paint to touch up the grass behind the water- melon painting. Villasenor owns Three Brothers Signs, and has painted murals for several businesses in the Tri-Cit- ies and Yakima. The Valles have been in Tri-Cities for about 7 years, having previously lived in Yakima and other towns around Washington. They moved to the United States from Mexico in 1998. 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