A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
COMMUNITY
Comics to perform
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
David Gomez won best in show Saturday night at the
Hermiston High School Swim Team Variety Show.
Hermiston shows
talent in fundraiser
for swim team
fundraiser.
Team members partici-
pate in the talent show, as
Twenty-two acts graced well as helping out behind
the stage at the Hermis- the scenes.
ton High School swim
“We probably start plan-
team talent show Saturday ning a year out,” Hamblin
night, treating the audience said. The team holds audi-
to music, dance and a little tions, coordinated by Ham-
blin’s wife Lynne, about a
comedy.
With
performances month before the show.
from elementary school Hamblin said they likely
children to college students auditioned between 45 and
and a local dentist, the sev- 50 acts this year.
enth annual show drew in
He said they try to
talent of all kinds.
include the community,
Audience
members and feature a variety of
were able to vote for their performers.
top two favorites, and a
Students were trained
secret group of judges the previous night to help
selected the two “best in behind the scenes.
show.” Winners of the
“I’ve been working
“crowd favorite” cate- backstage, moving stuff
gory were Mischa Meyer, and getting the mics in
a Hermiston student who place,” said swim team
played piano and
freshman Marcus
sang “Beautiful
Mangione.
For more photos
Thing.” Second
Hamblin said
from the show,
place,
decided
the show is neces-
sary for the swim
by fans, went
see A15.
team to be able to
to five year-old
practice. Because
Ester Contreras,
who sang the song “Little Hermiston does not have
an indoor pool, the high
Snowflake.”
Contreras was a judge school team has to take
favorite, too, taking second a bus to Pendleton every
place in the “best of show” day to practice at BMCC’s
category. First place went pool. He said next year,
to David Gomez, a recent they may end up using the
Hermiston High School pool in Boardman, but it
graduate who dazzled the will still cost money.
crowd with his rapid and
“We have the highest
elaborate guitar skills.
transportation budget at the
Gomez said he had per- high school,” he said.
formed at the show when
Hamblin said they
he was in high school, and anticipated raising between
has been playing guitar for $4,000 and $5,000 from
many years.
the event.
“It’s been three years
He said some of the
of solid practice, but I’ve performers have been
been developing my skills involved since the show
since second grade,” said started.
Gomez, who also plays
Ashante Sanders, a
drums and sings. He is self- Hermiston High freshman,
taught, and plans to attend sang the song “Dancing in
Blue Mountain Commu- the Sky” for her third year
nity College, before trans- at the talent show. Sanders
ferring to Eastern Ore- had brief trouble with her
gon University to pursue a microphone, but quickly
music degree.
recovered, delivering a
Charlie Clupny reprised song that had a special
his role as emcee, but message for someone she
promised the crowd that lost.
he had a new set of jokes.
“I sang it for my
This year, they all had a grandma,” she said. “I
sea-faring theme.
heard it was one of her
The event, which raises favorite songs.”
money to help the swim
Contreras said she had
team offset transportation performed on stage once
costs for using the Blue before, and enjoyed sing-
Mountain
Community ing in front of people.
“I want to start learning
College pool in Pendleton,
is the team’s only annual guitar,” she said.
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Kermet Apio
Derek Richards
Cory Michaelis
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
stand-up, performing in nearly each
state as well as several Canadian prov-
inces. He’s a past winner of the Seat-
tle Comedy Competition and was a
semi-finalist in San Francisco. He
works at clubs, corporate events and
cruise lines.
“It’s a good thing to have that diver-
sity,” he said. “When one market slows,
there’s always another to fall back on.”
Richards, who is originally from
Detroit, now calls Las Vegas home.
Prior to launching his career in com-
edy, he performed on-air radio work.
He eased into the comedy scene at
a club in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As
the show’s host, the club’s owner gave
Richards the latitude to do a few min-
utes or more while introducing the eve-
ning’s comics.
“It was a great way to be brought
into the business,” he said.
Among Richards’ favorite gigs are
USO shows at Guantanamo Bay, as
well as U.S. bases in Iraq, Afghani-
stan and Kuwait. He said it was nice to
be able to provide a release valve for
soldiers.
“I don’t care how bad your day is,
you’re not getting shot at,” Richards
said about typical jobs. “It feels really
good to go out and do these shows for
our troops.”
Michaelis brought comedy to Sno-
homish County in Washington with the
Everett Comedy Night, which has sold
out its monthly shows for more than
five years. Initially thinking comedy
would be a one-time gig, Michaelis
taught high school history for 12 years
before ditching his day job.
While he still substitute teaches,
Michaelis enjoys the flexibility of
managing his own schedule. He said
there are too many restrictions in many
9-to-5 jobs.
“I like the freedom with stand-up,”
Michaelis said. “I talk about my life
and make it funny — absurd things
turn into funny comedy.”
Melonville Comedy Festival began
in the early 1990s as a fundraiser for
the Umatilla County Fair. After the fair
board discontinued the event, Warren
Smith decided to take it on to continue
bringing national acts to Hermiston.
Tickets are available at www.mel-
onvillecomedyfestival.com, the Herm-
iston Chamber of Commerce, located
in the Cornerstone Plaza at 1055
S. Highway 395 Suite 111, by call-
ing 541-567-6151 and by contact-
ing Smith at 541-561-7488 or melon-
villecomedyfestival@gmail.com. For
more information, search Facebook for
“Melonville Comedy Festival.”
L
aughs will be plentiful as a trio
of funny-men take the stage
during the Melonville Comedy
Festival.
The annual comedy show features
co-headliners Kermet Apio and Derek
Richards. Also, Cory Michaelis will
open the show.
The 21-and-older event is Saturday,
Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.)
at the Hermiston Conference Center,
415 S. Highway 395. Tickets are $35
each. Midway Bar & Grill will offer a
no-host bar. In addition, athletes and
coaches from the local Special Olym-
pics team will sell food to raise money
for expenses.
Apio, a Hawaii native now based in
Seattle, was working for United Air-
lines when a co-worker introduced
him to open mic nights at the Comedy
Underground in Seattle. After attend-
ing a few times, Apio’s buddy signed
him up. He’s been doing stand-up com-
edy full-time since quitting his day job
in May 1990.
“It’s such a unique job,” Apio said.
“There is nothing like it. It’s such a fun
thing to make people laugh.”
Apio has found success doing
IN BRIEF
Reading challenge
offers cool treats
The Blizzard of Books
reading challenge will offer
a tasty treat to young readers
during January.
The Hermiston Pub-
lic Library is encourag-
ing youths to spend some
of their indoor time reading
books. Kids in pre-kinder-
garten through second grade
can enter a drawing for a
Dairy Queen treat for every
six picture books they read.
Children in third grade and
up will receive an entry for
every two “chapter books”
that they read. The drawing
will be held Jan. 30.
For more information or
to register for the program,
stop by the library at 235 E.
Gladys Ave. For questions,
call 541-567-2882.
Red Cross blood drive
set for Jan. 15
The monthly American
Red Cross blood drive is
Monday, Jan. 15 from noon
to 6 p.m. at Good Shepherd
Medical Center, 610 N.W.
11th St., Hermiston.
While walk-ins are wel-
come, it’s helpful for vol-
unteers if people make an
appointment, said volun-
teer Patti Perkins. To sched-
ule a donation time call
800-448-3543.
Blood
products
are
always in high demand,
Perkins said. The need is
even greater now due to the
onslaught of winter storms
and wildfires, which pre-
vents some areas from hold-
ing regular donation drives.
For information, contact
Perkins at pzperchek@char-
ter.net. For more about the
Red Cross, visit www.red-
cross.org.
Youth art show in
search of entries
All young artists are
invited to enter the 2018 Art-
WORKz Junior Art Show &
Competition at Tamástslikt
Cultural Institute.
In addition to showing
artwork in a gallery setting,
youth artists will vie for
prizes and be the guests of
honor during a reception.
Open to all artists 18 and
younger, the show includes
all art mediums, including
sculpture, paintings, draw-
ings, printmaking, glass,
mixed media, photography,
fiber art and computer-gen-
erated artwork. There is no
entry fee.
Submissions are due
by Jan. 18 at Tamástslikt,
located near Wildhorse
Resort & Casino. During the
maintenance closure, which
begins Jan. 8, submissions
will be accepted at the muse-
um’s front entrance.
The show will hang Jan.
27 through March 17. And,
the artists’ reception is Feb.
10 at 1 p.m. For more infor-
mation, visit www.tamasts-
likt.org. For questions, call
541-429-7700.
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated
CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier
within its service area for universal service purposes.
CenturyLink’s basic local service rates for residential
voice lines are $15.80-$17.80 per month and business
services are $28.00-$32.00 per month. Specific rates will
be provided upon request.
CenturyLink participates in a government benefit program
(Lifeline) to make residential telephone or broadband
service more affordable to eligible low-income individuals
and families. Eligible customers are those that meet
eligibility standards as defined by the FCC and state
commissions. Residents who live on federally recognized
Tribal Lands may qualify for additional Tribal benefits if
they participate in certain additional federal eligibility
programs. The Lifeline discount is available for only one
telephone or qualifying broadband service per household,
which can be either a wireline or wireless service.
Broadband speeds must be 15 Mbps download and 2 Mbps
upload or faster to qualify.
Lifeline discounts include a transfer restriction (port
freeze). This means that you are unable to obtain the
Lifeline discount on service with another provider for a
period of time. The length of time depends on the services
you purchase – 60 days for voice telephone service,
12 months for qualifying broadband service. Certain
exceptions to the transfer restrictions may apply. See
http://www.lifelinesupport.org/ls/change-my-company.
aspx for more information.
U N D E R S TA N D B I B L E P R O P H E C Y
Indeed, the face of Western Europe has already been transformed through rapid
Islamic expansion, and the fear of terror and holy war pervade the American
psyche as multiple conflicts rage in the Middle East.
After a decade of careful study and scholarly legwork, international speaker Tim
Roosenberg unveils a staggering new study of Bible prophecy that demonstrates
that God’s Word is not silent regarding Islam and Christianity in these last days.
Hermiston Seventh-day Adventist Church
Tim Roosenberg
Speaker and Author
855 W. Highland Ave.
ALL FAITH GROUPS WELCOME
Saturday, January 13, 6:30 –8:00 pm “Islam and Christianity” Part I
Sunday, January 14, 6:30—8:00 pm “Islam and Christianity” Part II
A household is defined for the purposes of the Lifeline
program as any individual or group of individuals who
live together at the same address and share income and
expenses. Lifeline service is not transferable, and only
eligible consumers may enroll in the program. Consumers
who willfully make false statements in order to obtain
Lifeline telephone or broadband service can be punished
by fine or imprisonment and can be barred from the
program.
If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call 1-888-
833-9522 or visit centurylink.com/lifeline with questions
or to request an application for the Lifeline program.