A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
VOLUNTEERS
continued from Page A1
the stage. They sprayed bark
dust, laid sod and planted
trees. They worked from 8
a.m. until noon to dodge the
summer heat under a cloud-
less sky. And when they
were done they had a lunch
of smoked meat sandwiches
and Hermiston watermel-
ons.
But this swarm of work-
ers was not sweating for
that bit of reward. They
did this for their faith and
community. The Hermiston
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints took on
the project.
“We do a day of service
once a year or more. We be-
lieve service is part of our
religion,” said church offi -
cial Kelly Sanders. “With
this year, with the opening
of the center, we thought
that would be a good thing
to help.”
Not all of the volunteers
were church members.
Sanders said the fair board
helped recruit volunteers
too, and a contingent came
over from Boardman’s U.S.
Naval Bombing Range.
Bruce Mecham of Herm-
iston and his family are
church members. He, his
wife and their three daugh-
ters planted about two doz-
en trees in the area of the
new rodeo arena and mer-
cantile. He looked around
for a moment before shov-
ing a long protective stake
in the earth around one of
the new trees.
“It’s pretty awesome to
see the community come
together and put something
together,” said Mecham,
who oversees food and bev-
erage operations at Wild-
horse Resort and Casino.
The volunteers were not
the only ones putting in
their time Saturday, with
the fair just 10 days away.
Hendon Construction of
Umatilla has a 12-man
crew fi nishing the stands
for the Farm-City Pro Ro-
deo. Carl Hendon, secre-
tary of the company, said
the crews are working sev-
BY THE WAY
BTW
continued from Page A1
hand when Norris arrived to
present the longtime physi-
cian with the quilt.
“He was pleasantly sur-
prised and very humble,”
Norris said.
A family practice spe-
cialist, Carlson owns and
operates the Urgent Health
Care Center on East New-
port Avenue in Hermiston.
Founded in 2003, the
mission of Quilts of Val-
or is to “honor and com-
fort” service members and
veterans. The local group
regularly hosts sew-ins at
Thimbles Fabric-N-More
in Pendleton. For more in-
formation, contact Norris
at j.marie.norris@QOVF.
org, 541-429-1327 or visit
www.facebook.com/j.ma-
rie.radqltart.
• • •
We are offi cially out
of eclipse glasses at the
Hermiston offi ce of the
Hermiston Herald and
East Oregonian. The eye
protection devices for this
month’s solar eclipse have
proven popular and we are
completely sold out. The
latest information we have
is the Bi-Mart and Life-
time Vision Source may
still have the Mylar eye
protection shade still avail-
able. We had hoped to have
pairs available at our booth
next week at the Umatilla
County Fair, but we sold
out before the fair started,
we are sad to say. Please
don’t look at the Aug. 21
eclipse without adequate
eye protection. Me need
our readers to protect their
vision!
• • •
You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com or share them
on social media using the
hashtag #HHBTW. Follow
the Hermiston Herald on
Twitter at @Hermiston-
Herald.
en days a week to fi nish in
time for the fair.
Hendon Construction’s
specialty is building food
processing plants, which
have stringent deadlines.
Hendon said they are build-
ing something different this
time, but the hard deadline
remains the same.
Friday was the visual
inspection, he said, and the
fi nal inspection was Tues-
day. Come Wednesday,
Hendon said he expects the
arena to have its occupan-
cy permit. When the fair
opens Aug. 8, Hendon said
workers might have a few
odds and ends to fi nish, but
the stands will be ready for
fans.
Hendon
Construction
serves as the general con-
tractor on the project, and
Hendon said the company
took on that role in large
part due to the subcontrac-
tors. They are local and
include Narum Concrete
Construction of Walla Wal-
la, and Bothum Construc-
tion of Hermiston. Hendon
said they are the kinds of
companies he trusted on
handshake deals necessary
to get the work done on
time.
Finishing
everything,
from the interior of the
mercantile to the acres of
sod, will not get easier in
the fi nals days before the
fair. The National Weath-
er Service predicted tri-
ple-digit temperatures this
week, soaring to 107 by
Friday. Hendon said work
crews have been starting
their days at 5 a.m. but
they might come even ear-
lier, take afternoons off and
work at night to beat the
heat.
Fair board member Dan
Dorran worked hand-in-
glove with everyone else,
the sweat showing through
his shirt. This has became
par for this course, he said,
as he and the other six
members of the fair board
put in hour after hour to get
EOTEC ready for its fi rst
big show.
They had been away
from home so much in the
last month, he quipped
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017
FROM PAGE A1
RIVERA
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Volunteer Brenna Dickman helps gather brush Saturday
from the edge of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center
parking lot. The facility’s fi rst Umatilla County Fair, will kick
off next week.
continued from Page A1
Rivera, who was pres-
ent at the meeting, did not
offi cially accept the offer
and said he was not com-
fortable commenting on
it before the discussions
with Smith, who also
oversees Rivera in his cur-
rent position at Hermiston
Energy Services.
Heather Cannell has
been running the event
center’s day-to-day op-
erations under the title
of business manager, but
Cannell resigned effec-
tive Aug. 14 to take a
new position at the SAGE
Center in Boardman. The
EOTEC board started
advertising for a general
manager position in early
June and Cannell did not
apply. After an executive
session Friday to discuss
employment of a general
manager, the board took
no action.
Rivera is the superin-
tendent of Hermiston En-
ergy Services, the city’s
municipal electrical utili-
ty, and is serving this year
as the president of the Or-
egon Municipal Electric
Utilities Board. He previ-
ously worked for Umatilla
Electric Cooperative for
10 years as its community
relations representative.
Rivera was involved in
early planning for EOTEC
and served as an “adminis-
trative volunteer” and liai-
son between the board and
consultant VenuWorks in
2013 as the company put
together a business plan
for the center. In late 2015
he came back to serve on
the fundraising committee
that raised more than $2
million for EOTEC.
The motion on Mon-
day to extend the inter-
im manager job offer to
Rivera took place after
an executive session that
lasted more than an hour.
The meeting took place
at EOTEC’s event center
amid preparations for the
Umatilla County Fair and
Farm-City Pro Rodeo that
are in full swing, exem-
plifi ed by fair board rep-
resentative Don Miller’s
mud-stained jeans as he
took a break from work-
ing outside to participate
in the meeting.
———
Contact Jade McDow-
ell at jmcdowell@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-564-
4536.
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 111 ● NUMBER 31
Gary L. West | Editor • gwest@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4532
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4539
Jayati Ramakrishnan | Reporter • jramakrishnan@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4534
Jade McDowell | Reporter • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Volunteers Laura and Bruce Mecham secure a newly planted
tree with stakes Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center arena.
that their wives checked to
make sure they were work-
ing and not hanging out in
some bar.
Dorran stood in front of
the event center and pointed
out the animal holding area,
which he said is better than
any he has seen in years of
livestock shows. But beyond
becoming the new home of
the fair and rodeo, Dorran
said the event center is the
culmination of a vision that
began 35 years ago and a
community-wide effort.
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Shannon Paxton | Offi ce coordinator • spaxton@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4530
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
Dawn Hendricks | Circulation District Manager • dhendricks@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4540
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