WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2017
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
COMMUNITY
Rock hunt group
providing cure for
summer boredom
Fragrant festival blooms for
Agape House, Martha’s House
By JADE McDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
HERMISTON HERALD
Hermiston
parents
looking for a way to
keep the kids enter-
tained for the summer
can add rock-hunting and
rock-painting to their list.
Painting colorful, fun
designs on rocks and hid-
ing them for people to find
isn’t a new idea, but the
rocks have been popping
up around town in abun-
dance lately after local
mother Cassandra Evens
created a rock-hunting
group on Facebook that
gained more than 700
members in two weeks.
She said she got the idea
from a woman on a Face-
book group for moms and
found a lot of local interest.
“Everyone was telling
me, ‘If you start a group,
I’ll join,’” she said.
The group is “just for
fun,” she said, and she
doesn’t want to set up
elaborate rules or see
anyone get frustrated. All
she asks is that people be
polite and responsible.
That means keeping the
messages on rocks ap-
propriate for children, not
trespassing and not taking
large numbers of souve-
nirs without contributing
any artwork in return.
Evens said she encour-
aged the group to start out
placing rocks along the
Oxbow Trail and in Riv-
erfront Park so that begin-
ners had an idea of where
to start looking. Several
painted rocks that looked
to be the handiwork of
multiple artists could be
seen along the trail last
week. But she said peo-
ple have also been posting
pictures of their painted
rocks in the Facebook
group with clues that they
hid them on the Hermis-
ton Butte or elsewhere in
town.
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL
A painted rock sits in the
grass near the Oxbow Trail.
She said luckily right
now the painter-to-hunt-
er ratio has been in good
balance and people have
been able to enjoy both
activities.
The fad calls to mind
a low-tech version of the
Pokemon Go craze last
summer, which got young
people outdoors together
in unusually high num-
bers to hunt digital mon-
sters that appeared on
their smartphones when
they visited certain lo-
cations. Evens said she
hopes finding and hiding
rocks gets families out to-
gether in the nice weather.
She said she has enjoyed
painting with her niece
and nephew and 2-year-
old son.
“I had him in mind be-
cause he loves rocks,” she
said. “Every day I walk
inside and there are rocks
lining my coffee table and
shelves and everywhere,
so if he found a painted
rock on the trail he would
be ecstatic.”
She said she had some
ideas for future activi-
ties to keep interest in
the group going, includ-
ing rock-painting parties
at the park and prizes
for finding certain rocks
pictured on the Hermis-
ton Rock Hunt Facebook
page.
———
Contact Jade McDow-
ell at jmcdowell@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-564-
4536.
The Purple Ridge Lav-
ender Festival has officially
become the top fundraiser
for Agape House and Mar-
tha’s House, bringing in
about $6,000 this past week-
end for the Hermiston non-
profit organizations.
Executive director Dave
Hughes said the event
stepped into the top slot after
the last A Very Poplar Run
was held this past fall. Fea-
tured in “Runner’s World”
in December 2012, the pop-
ular event came to an end
after the sale of tree farm by
GreenWood Resources.
Buzzing with activity, in
addition to the multitudes
of bees that were busy in
the lavender fields, an esti-
mated 800 adults and 600
kids attended the Saturday
event. Held at Purple Ridge
Lavender in Hermiston,
Jim and Sheri Konningrud
have hosted the fundraiser
for seven years. All vendor
fees and gate receipts were
donated to Agape House and
Martha’s House.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Hermiston residents Joleen Pruett and her mother, Sharon Ekenstam, cut fresh lavender
during Saturday’s Purple Ridge Lavender Festival. Hosted by Jim and Sheri Konningrud of
Hermiston, the event raised about $6,000 for Agape House and Martha’s House.
In addition to enjoying
the lavender fields, festi-
val-goers were treated to
live music, art displays, ven-
dor booths, a quilt display,
food, a visit by Penelope
Pendragon and her Whim-
sical WiSH Wagon, and an
opportunity to shop at the
farm boutique.
Agape House and Mar-
tha’s House serves those in
need in the community. For
more information, call 541-
567-8774.
www.facebook.com/herm-
istondowntown.
are: Ashley Erevia, person-
al banker in the Hermiston
branch; Gordon MacKen-
zie, a Hermiston branch
teller; and Yadira Murillo, a
Boardman branch teller.
Each of the employees
surpassed individual pro-
fessional goals in 2016, as
well as providing excep-
tional customer service to
the bank’s clients and their
fellow colleagues. Less
than four percent of all
Banner employees receive
the award. They are select-
ed by members of executive
leadership.
“Banner’s Best recipi-
ents exemplify our value
proposition — connected,
knowledgeable, responsive
— yet what truly sets them
apart is how they constantly
strive for a higher standard
in all that they do,” said
Mark Grescovich, Banner
Bank president and CEO.
Headquartered in Wal-
la Walla, Banner Bank is a
Washington-chartered com-
mercial bank that conducts
business from more than
200 locations in Washing-
ton, Oregon, California,
Utah and Idaho. For more
information, visit www.
bannerbank.com.
NEWS IN BRIEF
First Thursdays
sizzles during
summer months
The First Thursday
event continues during the
summer in the downtown
Hermiston business dis-
trict.
People are encouraged
to meet up with friends
and shop local. The event
features refreshments, dis-
counts and a bonus draw-
ing. The next First Thurs-
day is July 6 from 4:30-7
p.m. More than a dozen
businesses are participat-
ing.
For more information,
call 541-667-5026 or visit
Banner Bank
recognizes top
employees
Three local Banner Bank
employees have been se-
lected to receive the Ban-
ner’s Best award.
The award represents the
highest level of recognition
within the company and the
recipients are truly Banner’s
best, said Kelly McPhee,
vice president of commu-
nications. The recipients
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