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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2018)
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018 COMMUNITY Harmony Club still going after 80 years By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Eighty years after the women living on Loop Road decided to form an official social club, the club is still going. The Harmony Club, which had a high of 107 members, has only seven today, including its first non-Loop Road member. But during fall, winter and spring the ladies meet twice a month for at least two hours. “The object was to get better acquainted with neighbors and be of bene- fit to others,” vice president Carol Pomeroy said, show- ing a piece of paper with official club rules and objec- tives. “There’s the constitu- tion, so they did it legit.” Pat Wagner, club sec- retary-treasurer, said she has all the minutes of each meeting going back to 1938. According to an account written for the group’s scrapbook in 1955, the Har- mony Club was the brain- child of Agnes Harrick. She lived on Loop Road, which loops from East Highland Avenue in Hermiston all the way down to Stanfield, and wanted to get to know her neighbors better. Wagner is the club’s member who doesn’t live on Loop Road. She felt like getting out of the house more, and club president Polly Van De Brake asked the group to take a vote on letting her in. Van De Brake said the club may be smaller than it used to be, but it is still something that its mem- bers enjoy. “We’re keeping it going,” she said. “So many of the ladies on Loop Road now work, and so they’re not able. That’s what’s different now than 80 years ago.” Meetings take place at 10 a.m. every other Mon- day, with summers off. Club members take turns hosting. They have snacks or dessert, read the minutes of the last meeting and do a “roll call” asking everyone to give an update on what has been going on in their lives since they last met. “Some of us only pull weeds, that’s our highlight,” Pomeroy said, laughing. To get to know each other better, they have also added a second question, which has ranged from “What’s the worst haircut you’ve gotten?” to “What are your pet peeves?” There is plenty of time for more informal chat- ting — which the club’s officers said frequently includes recipe-sharing — but each gathering must STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS James Shelton asks questions about changes to a noise control ordinance during the Echo City Council meeting in Thursday in the VFW hall in Echo. The hall has just reopened to the public after renovations this spring. City renovates VFW hall rated in 1904. The city provides a brochure out- lining a walking tour of 23 historical sites that date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s. The building that houses city hall and the community center was built in 1916. The city has owned the VFW building at 210 Bridge Street since Janu- ary 2016, when the Echo chapter of Veterans of For- eign Wars consolidated with the Pendleton chapter and the group donated the building to the city. They have since used it for coun- cil meetings and allowed community groups like 4-H to meet there for free. The city’s library also stores the books it sells through Amazon there and uses it for children’s story time and activities. “It’s kind of a library annex,” Berry said. The project to update the building was paid for by grants from the Echo Community Benefit Plan, Kinsman Foundation and Wildhorse Foundation. During Thursday’s meeting in the newly-re- modeled hall, the coun- cil approved a request from Echo Ridge Cellars for three events in July, including Echo’s annual school reunion. By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER The old VFW hall in Echo is back in commu- nity use. The hall was closed during much of the spring for extensive renovations, but was used for a city council meeting Thursday. “It’s pretty well done except for a couple of minor things,” city admin- istrator Diane Berry said. The renovation has included laminate floor- ing to replace the worn- out carpet, an awning to keep rainwater from pool- ing outside the front door, a new sidewalk, interior and exterior paint and a remodel of the bathroom. A wall was also removed to expand the kitchen area. No one knows the exact year it was built, but Berry said she knows it dates back to at least 1910. “This is just another step in our efforts to reju- venate and give new life to historical buildings instead of tearing them down and rebuilding something lesser in their place,” she said. According to a history compiled on the city of Echo’s website, the town was settled in 1860, plat- ted in 1880 and incorpo- STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL. Polly Van De Brake, right, holds a scrapbook detailing the Harmony Club’s history with Pat Wagner (left) and Carol Pomeroy. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY THE HARMONY CLUB. This undated photo from the Harmony Club’s scrapbook show members in the club’s early days. include a simple game pre- sented by the host, usually along the lines of a current events quiz, guessing game or word puzzle. The win- ner gets a prize, which has shifted over time from a box of Jell-O or cake mix to more permanent household items. Van De Brake said she would be fine with going back to food for prizes. “None of us at our age needs a thing,” she said. “We’re all trying to downsize.” While the Harmony Club’s current members try to adhere to tradition and the club’s bylaws, there are a few that they have let slide by the wayside. Meet- ing minutes from the early years stated that the women decided to only wear print dresses to meetings. “Well, we don’t do that anymore,” Wagner said. The club’s scrapbook, which includues pictures and letters between mem- bers, was lost for a few years, but Pomeroy finally managed to track it down again. Despite dwindling numbers, they have hope for a future generation of Har- mony Club members inter- ested in the past. “We just hang on,” Van De Brake said. Get that Summer Break feeling in a new Toyota! CARS 2018 Gas or Hybrid 2018 60 mo. 0 . 9 % APR 60 mo. 1 . 9 % APR OR $2,000 Cash Back No Dogs Allowed in Park 2018 *Bring your own lawn chairs or blanket. Grass amphitheater. AWD Saturday, June 30, 2018 Dinner & Poker Tournament (plus BINGO) Legion Hall, Ione Free Movie in the Park: Ghostbusters Ione City Park Sunday, July 1, 2018 Volleyball Tournament SUVS June 30, 5 pm June 30, Dusk Ione City Park July 1st, 9 am LEASE A NEW 2018 XLE mo. 36 mos. 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