Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2017)
A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017 FROM A1 BY THE WAY BTW Continued from Page A1 EO FILE PHOTO Hermiston School District athletic facilities, including Kennison Field, seen here, are host to many games and tournaments that bring players and spectators from all over. VISIT Continued from Page A1 “We have nothing to pro- mote,” he said. The city has invested heavily in the Eastern Ore- gon Trade and Event Cen- ter on the southeast edge of town, including a $1 per room per night tourism pro- motion assessment on hotel rooms that goes directly to marketing EOTEC (a sec- ond dollar per night, added last year, is being used to pay off bonds used to com- plete EOTEC’s construc- tion). The project started out the 2017-2018 fi scal year with more than $350,000 in TPA funds in the bank. Now that construction is com- plete and venue-manage- ment company VenuWorks is set to take over manage- ment on Jan. 1, the EOTEC board hopes to use that war chest to start marketing the facility in earnest for con- ventions and other events that will draw out-of-town guests. The city is also invest- ing in things like a festival street — with construction planned for spring down- town — to provide travelers with something to do during their stay. “The proof’s in the pud- ding that we are investing in tourism assets and infra- structure, but you don’t start marketing the car before you build the car,” Morgan said. When tourists come to Pendleton, they often come purely for vacation reasons, and fi nd plenty of events, tours, museums, outdoor recreation, shopping and dining experiences to keep them busy during their stay. Hermiston’s hotels, on the other hand, tend to be more full during the week than on weekends. Herm- iston Holiday Inn Express manager Steven Arrasmith told Elfering during Thurs- day’s meeting that the hotel has “a lot of corporate travel, and not as much for leisure.” If hotels, restaurants and gas stations are seeing an uptick during the weekend, it’s usually for sports tour- naments held at Kennison Field and other Hermiston School District venues that the community has invested in. Chamber director Deb- bie Pedro said Hermiston’s biggest yearly attraction is the Hermiston Farm Fair, an agricultural trade show that draws about 1,500 people to town. AAU basketball tour- naments and trade shows at EOTEC might not be as glamorous as the Pend- leton Round-Up, Morgan said, but they can still direct out-of-town dollars into local businesses. They just require a different strategy. “The engineer that has to come here for work, what are the things that would get dollars out of his pocket?” Morgan asked as he described Hermiston’s tourism focus. Umatilla County’s tour- ism lodging tax seemed to lean more toward the Pend- leton style of tourism, which relies on a distinctive Pend- leton brand of a good time in the “real west.” The pro- posal put together by the county spoke of “marketing Umatilla County as a desti- nation” via brand develop- ment, membership in state- wide tourism associations, location options.” The news release stated that the chamber has enjoyed working with var- ious groups over 22 years in the conference center and thanked everyone who had been “so supportive of the Chamber and its long time success in managing the Hermiston Community Center.” CHAMBER Continued from Page A1 to the conference center will also help alleviate crowding at city hall. In April the council also voted to offer the chamber space for free in the base- ment of the former Carne- gie Library, which the city planned to spend $125,000 remodeling. But attendees at that city council meeting called the offer of a base- ment an insult to the cham- ber after its years of being a valued community part- ner, and questioned whether the city would run the center with the community truly in mind. The chamber for- mally turned down the offer of the Carnegie Library in social media campaigns, grants and paid media cam- paigns with analytics gath- ered from “our outside-of- area target audience.” For those reasons, Pend- leton hoteliers and those affi liated with Travel Pend- leton and the Pendleton Convention Center were opposed to the tax. They felt that Pendleton — with 15 of the 29 hotels in the county that would be affected — would be contributing to a fund that would duplicate Travel Pendleton’s efforts inside Pendleton and dispro- portionately subsidize other communities outside of it. “Please don’t hamstring Pendleton to supplement other towns in Umatilla County who haven’t com- mitted to tourism and may not have the infrastructure or events to host tourism,” Pendleton Convention Cen- ter manager Pat Beard wrote in a letter sent to county commissioners. Bill Elfering heard them loud and clear, and said the county was abandoning the idea. “It’s off the table at this point,” he said. Last Supper Dining, at 508 E Main Street in Hermiston, has now expanded its hours to include lunch. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Desert Rose Ministries started the biblically- themed restaurant in July as a way to offer jobs to people struggling to fi nd employment due to a criminal record or other barriers. The church has also opened Devine Blessings Thrift Shoppe next door at 524 E Main St. The secondhand store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. • • • Hermiston High School will be opening a new parking lot behind the school on Jan. 2. The lot, which can be accessed via Orchard Avenue, was built to help relieve congestion in the school’s other parking lots and Highland Avenue. Students will have access from the lot into the school via the doors by the weight room. All buses will continue to enter the school grounds from North First Street. The fi rst 200 students to use the weight room entrance from the new parking lot on Jan. 2 will be greeted with a free hot chocolate. • • • The Echo Community Benefi t Plan is providing grant money to spruce up two landmarks in Echo. Repairs will be performed to fl oor joists and plumbing at the old VFW Hall, the kitchen will be renovated and the hall will receive new fl ooring and new paint, according to a post on the city of Echo’s Facebook page. A second grant will go to repairs of the historic Fort Henrietta Park Blockhouse, where some of the wood has rotted. • • • The city of Hermiston has a new fi nance director. City Manager Byron Smith introduced Mark Krawczyk to the city council Monday after his fi rst day on the job. Krawczyk is replacing Amy Palmer, who resigned in July for family reasons. He was previously assistant fi nance director for Fort Worth, Texas and said all of his career has been spent in fi nance, including 16 years in the utilities industry. ——— You can submit items for our weekly By The Way column by emailing your tips to editor@ hermistonherald.com or share them on social media using the hashtag #HHBTW. IN BRIEF ‘Elf’ raises money for Operation Graduation A special showing of “Elf” will help usher in the holiday season and raise money for Riverside High School’s Operation Graduation. The event is Friday, Dec. 22 at 7:15 p.m. at the SAGE Center, at 101 Olson Road, Boardman. People are encouraged to dress in their cozy pajamas The cost is $3 per person, which includes a bag of popcorn. Additional dona- tions will be accepted. For more information, call 541-481-7243 or visit www.visitsage.com. Art exhibit off ers unique gift shopping More than 50 fi ne arts crafters are featured in the Art of the Gift. The unique exhibit and sale offers many one-of- a-kind gift ideas. It’s open Tuesday through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. at Pendleton Center for the Arts., 214 N. Main St., Pendleton. It runs through Dec. 31. In addition to Saturday shopping, visitors can par- ticipate in free drop-in art and craft projects. For more information, call 541-278- 9201 or visit www.pendle- tonarts.org. Climb aboard for ‘Polar Express’ event Kids are invited to put on their favorite pajamas for a “Polar Express” party. Hot chocolate, cookies, a photo booth and other fun activities are featured during the free event. Kids and their families will want to climb aboard Thursday, Dec. 21 from 3-6 p.m. at the Hermiston Pub- lic Library, 235 E. Gladys Ave. For more informa- tion, call 541-567-2882. FILE PHOTO Hermiston Chamber of Commerce director Debbie Pedro, right, and Kelly Schwirse take phone calls in April in the offi ce at the Hermiston Conference Center. June. Since then, the cham- ber has been searching for a building to call home before the end of the year. A news release from the chamber on Tuesday called the move to the Cornerstone Plaza “tem- porary” and said chamber staff, board members and volunteers “are currently exploring all permanent D EFEND E AR S HOOTER E AR P LUGS HermistonHerald.com Shooter ear plugs are specifi cally designed to fi t into any ear without the need for ear impressions. The Shooter allows for clear communication, as well as en- hanced ambient awareness. When a gunshot is fi red, the electronic circuit instantly suppresses the loud noise, protecting your hearing! • NRR 30 dB • Output up to 86 dB • Three amplifi cation levels • Wind noise reduction • Low profi le • Universal fi t • Comfortable • Hear conversations as normal • No gun mount interference Usable straight out of the box! featuring state-of-the-art digital technology, the new Westone Shooter offers an affordable way to experience comprehensive electronic hearing protection. RENATA ANDERSON M.A. 2237 Southwest • Court Place Pendleton, OR 97801 541-276-5053 A Benefit For Subscribers Your subscription includes unlimited access to HermistonHerald.com so you can read the latest news anytime, anywhere. It’s easy to access! Call 1-800-522-0255, ext. 1 Monday through Friday 8 a.m.– 5 p.m. and we’ll help you set up your HermistonHerald.com login. Or go to HermistonHerald.com and click on “Register” in the upper lefthand corner to activate your online subscription for the first time. Questions? Call, email circulation@hermistonherald.com or stop by 333 E. Main St. in Hermiston during business hours.