CHANGE OF VENUE? • HERMISTON HIGH MAY MOVE GRADUATION TO ACCOMMODATE LARGER CROWDS | INSIDE • A3
Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017
$1.00
SUMMER’S
INSIDE
3 MINUTES WITH
BIG WEEKEND
MEET DAVE SMITH, HHS GRAD
WHO CAME BACK HOME.
PAGE A2
HOSPITAL GROWS
GOOD SHEPHERD ACQUIRES
NEARBY GIFFORD MEDICAL.
PAGE A3
MORE TO SEE
LANDING DAYS ADDS EVENTS
THIS WEEKEND.
PAGE A4
NEW COACH
HERMISTON HIRES KEVIN
MOORE TO LEAD BULLDOG
BASEBALL.
PAGE A8
BY THE WAY
Farewell, Fontaines,
end of an eatery era
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Kids reach out to high-fi ve drivers during the Outlaw Lawn Dragsters races during the 2016 Funfest. The popular entertainers return
for this year’s event July 8 in downtown Hermiston.
Hermiston’s downtown
extravaganza coming July 7-8
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
W
ith summer just around the corner,
Hermiston will be sizzling with a
trio of events held the weekend of
July 7-8, including Hermiston Funfest,
the Eastern Oregon Arts Show and the
Cool Rides Car Show.
Hermiston Funfest
In its 11th year, Funfest offers a cornucopia of
family-friendly activities Saturday, July 8 from
7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in downtown. Bring a hearty
appetite and enjoy the Funfest Breakfast by the
Hermiston Rotary Club from 7:30-9:30 a.m.
The festival features children’s activities,
See SUMMER, A14
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Alivia Wadkins, Jake Wadkins, Ariel Wadkins, Aubrianna Wadkins and Kyle
Ball enjoy Hawaiian shaved ice during the 2016 Funfest. More than 50 booths
will offer food, refreshments, activities, merchandise, games and prizes
during the July 8 event in downtown Hermiston.
Chamber turns down Carnegie Library space
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
The Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of
Commerce is looking for a new home after
offi cially turning down the city of Herm-
iston’s offer to use the basement of the old
Carnegie Library on Gladys Avenue.
Board chair Josh Burns said the chamber
is hoping to fi nd something more visible.
“We need adequate space that says
‘We’re a thriving business community,’” he
said.
The chamber must move out of the
Hermiston Conference Center, which it
has been operating under a contract with
the city, by the end of the year after the city
council voted in April to turn management
of the center over to its parks and recreation
department. The city is planning to remodel
the basement of the former Carnegie Library
See CHAMBER, A14
Longtime Hermiston
restaurateurs Chuck and
Karen Fontaine seem
committed to making
another attempt at retire-
ment. The Fontaines have
operated restaurants at
three different locations
in Hermiston for more
than 40 years, dating back
to the Steel Wheel night-
club which they bought in
1976.
They have attempted to
retire before, after selling
their Fontaine’s restau-
rant building to Ye Olde
Pizza Shoppe in 2006,
they had planned to retire
then. But they took over
Stockman’s in December
2014, leasing the build-
ing on a three-year term.
They have decided to
not renew their lease and
try to sell the restaurant
business. They say this
retirement will stick. But
we wouldn’t be surprised
to see Chuck working in
someone else’s kitchen
from time to time.
Get your order of
Seaburg Fontaine in
while you can.
•••
Laurie
Ball-Kiser,
longtime organizer of
Hermiston’s community
Christmas and Thanks-
giving meals, passed
away early Monday
morning at Good Shep-
herd Medical Center.
Ball-Kiser was the or-
ganizing force behind the
holiday meals — which
offered food, fellowship
and volunteer opportuni-
ties to countless commu-
nity members — for more
than 25 years.
She was mostly absent
from last year’s Thanks-
giving and Christmas
efforts, however, after
suffering a stroke in Sep-
tember. Makayla Hum-
phreys stepped up to the
plate to coordinate the
events in her place, indi-
cating that Ball-Kiser’s
legacy will likely live
on in future community
meals.
•••
On June 14, the stu-
dents at Rocky Heights
Elementary carried on a
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
New diagonal parking spaces replaced the parallel parking along Gladys
Avenue, including the front of the Carnegie Library.
See BTW, A14