WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017
Couple crowned prom king and queen
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
Donald and JoAnn Clay-
ton didn’t go to their high
school prom because of a
lack of communication.
“His story is, he asked
me and I didn’t ever give
him an answer,” said JoAnn
with a laugh. “And my sto-
ry is, he just presumed I’d
go. So we didn’t go!”
Fortunately, the Clay-
tons got a second chance
at the high school tradition,
going to the Hermiston
High School prom nearly
64 years after the one they
missed.
Earlier this school year,
the couple was visiting
Hermiston from Port An-
geles, Washington, where
they’ve lived for more than
40 years. At that time, Don-
ald stopped in at the high
school to have a chat with
Principal Tom Spoo. He
asked if he and his wife
could stop by the Hermis-
ton prom, and Spoo happily
agreed.
But what the couple
didn’t know was that the
school had some ideas of
their own. District librari-
an Delia Wallis, leadership
advisor Dave Rohrman and
students from the Hermis-
ton Leadership class began
planning ways to make the
evening special for the cou-
ple.
“We had just intended to
show up,” JoAnn said.
Instead, the school treat-
ed the Claytons to an eve-
ning they won’t forget.
They were chauffeured
around by Fred Clark of
the Hermiston Classic Car
Club, in a 1951 Mercury.
They were served dinner
by Ford Bonney of Hale’s
Restaurant, and stayed at
Oxford Suites.
At the prom, Donald
was dressed in his Marines
Corps uniform, and JoAnn
donned a blue dress. The
couple was seated at a spe-
cial table, where students
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Donald and JoAnn Clayton
were selected as the
Hermiston prom king and
queen Saturday. The couple
graduated from Hermiston
High School in 1952 and
1953, but weren’t able to
attend prom at that time.
came up and chatted with
them.
Wallis said students
were very interested in the
Claytons’ story.
“Several
students
hugged the pair, and oth-
ers made a special point
of thanking Donald for his
military service,” Wallis
said.
The biggest surprise of
the night, though, came a
bit later in the evening.
“They crowned us king
and queen of the prom,”
said JoAnn. “It was beauti-
ful. The kids were gracious,
and the faculty were just
wonderful.”
Students formed a circle
around the couple as they
danced to “You Belong to
Me” by Jo Stafford.
Students also took the
opportunity that evening
to hear about the Claytons’
life in Hermiston, long be-
fore any of them were born.
JoAnn, who was JoAnn
Walker at the time, gradu-
ated in 1952, the last class
to graduate from the “old
high school,” Hermiston
Union High School, which
later became the junior
high. Donald was in the
first class to graduate from
the “new” school, in 1953.
Donald joined the Marine
Corps shortly after grad-
uation in 1953, and used
his “Senior Sneak Day” to
enlist, instead of skipping
school. After he had left
for boot camp, JoAnn said
she got a call from Donald.
“He called me and said,
‘When I get back, we’re
getting married.’”
Students attending the
2017 prom also got a little
bit of advice from the cou-
ple, who got married Oct.
5, 1953 at the Methodist
Church in Hermiston.
“Be sure to pick the right
person and then hold on,”
JoAnn said.
After Donald got out
of the service, he enrolled
at Washington State Uni-
versity in 1957. After he
graduated, the couple lived
in Eastern Oregon and
Washington for several
years, before moving over
to the west side of Wash-
ington. They adopted three
children, and now have
nine grandchildren and a
great-grandchild.
The evening of the prom,
the couple also got to en-
joy some time with family
members who came down
for the occasion.
“My sister in-law lives
in Hermiston,” JoAnn said.
“And my husband’s sister
is from Spokane. My niece
came down. Some of our
family met us at Hale’s for
dinner.”
JoAnn said while the
couple has lived in western
Washington for a long time,
they try to make it back to
the place where it all began
a few times a year.
“We love Hermiston,”
she said. “They’ve always
been very good to us.
“I still can’t believe
it all happened,” JoAnn
said. “My husband and I
still look at each other and
shake our heads.”
Union Pacific replacing 10,000 railroad ties
Part of statewide
infrastructure
investment
Jacobs said, is to give the
tracks in Hermiston a face
lift and improve safety.
UP has set aside $44.7
million to maintain rail-
road tracks and $3.2 mil-
lion to maintain bridges
statewide. The railroad has
already invested more than
$300 million in Oregon
rail infrastructure between
2012 and 2016, according
to company figures.
“Union Pacific’s tar-
geted investments fund
projects that strengthen
our railroad tracks, in-
crease safety and mini-
mize delays as trains trav-
el through communities
across Oregon,” said Wes
Hermiston Herald
Union Pacific has been
working for more than two
weeks to replace rough-
ly 10,000 railroad ties in
Hermiston.
The work is part of a
$77.1 million investment
in rail infrastructure across
Oregon.
Spokesman Justin Ja-
cobs said the project began
April 24 and should finish
by mid-May. The goal,
Lujan, vice president of
public affairs for the rail-
road’s Western Region
in a previous statement.
“Maintaining a healthy
railroad is the foundation
of our ability to serve cus-
tomers and communities
across the state.”
UP plans to spend $3.1
billion across its entire rail
network in 2017. Since
2000, the railroad has
spent $51 billion and de-
creased derailments by 40
percent, though last year’s
high-profile oil train de-
railment near Mosier has
spurred concerns about
rail safety across the
Northwest.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
A Union Pacific construction vehicle uses a mechanical arm to place new railroad ties
along side of the railroad spur May 3 off of Umatilla River Road north of Hermiston.
Hermiston business flag pole to be replaced with shorter version
the situation they have
decided to replace it with
a 70-foot pole for safety
reasons.
Luckily no one was in-
jured and no property was
damaged when the pole
came down in late April,
Karlson said.
“It just went right to the
north and laid out on that
One of Hermiston’s
landmark flags will be
replaced with something
smaller after wind blew
over the 138-foot flag pole
at N.W. Metal Fabricators.
The business on North
Highway 395 has had
the tall pole for 11 years,
but owner Kerry Karlson
said after looking over
field,” he said. “We were
very fortunate.”
He said it looked like
the old pole fell victim
to the harsh winter after
water got inside the base
and repeatedly froze and
thawed.
“Then the winds just
took it from there,” he
said.
EO Media Group names new COO
EO Media Group
find a successor to Perry with
Heidi Wright has been the leadership capabilities to
named chief operating officer help our company prosper in
of EO Media Group, which the digital age. Her prior ex-
owns the Hermiston Herald perience with family-owned
and East Oregonian..
companies in our region is
Wright succeeds John S. especially relevant.”
Prior to joining Wescom,
Perry, who is retiring after 44
Wright was publisher
years in the newspaper
of the Klamath Falls
industry, including the
Herald and News,
last 12 with EO Media
owned by Pioneer
Group.
News Group. She also
Wright comes to
worked as a publisher
EO Media Group
in Montana for Lee
from Western Com-
Enterprises. She has
munications, owner of
an undergraduate de-
the Bend Bulletin and Wright
gree and a master’s in
other newspapers in
Oregon and California. West- business administration from
com also formerly owned the University of Montana.
“Heidi has a lifetime of
the Hermiston Herald. She
is Wescom’s chief financial experience in the West,” not-
officer and human resourc- ed Brown, publisher of East
es director. She will join EO Oregonian and Hermiston
Herald. “Her experience at
Media Group in June.
Steve Forrester, the presi- newspapers in Butte, Klam-
dent and CEO of EO Media ath Falls and Bend make her
Group, announced Wright’s well-suited to understand the
hiring: “Our executive com- communities that EO Media
mittee — composed of Kath- Group serves in rural Oregon
ryn Brown, Susan Forrester and Washington — as well as
Rana and me — is pleased to the extraordinary reach of the
Capital Press, our agricultural
weekly.”
As chief operating officer,
Wright will direct the busi-
ness operations of EO Media
Group and supervise publish-
ers and corporate staff. The
company’s headquarters are
in Salem.
“It’s an honor and privi-
lege to be joining EO Media
Group,” said Wright. “While
I will miss my friends and
colleagues at Western Com-
munications, I am excited to
become a part of the EO Me-
dia Group family. My hus-
band, Richard Schuurman,
and I are looking forward to
calling Salem home in the
near future.”
EO Media Group pub-
lications include: The Blue
Mountain Eagle of John Day,
Cannon Beach Gazette, Cap-
ital Press, Chinook Observer,
Coast River Business Journal,
The Daily Astorian, East Or-
egonian, Hermiston Herald,
Oregon Coast Today, Seaside
Signal and Wallowa County
Chieftain.
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