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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2018)
FARM-CITY PRO RODEO FARM-CITY PRO RODEO GUIDE » INSIDE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018 COWBOY PARADISE $1.00 HermistonHerald.com AUG. 8-11 2018 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS INSIDE BIG SHOES Finalists for Port of Morrow general manager position look to fill Gary Neal’s shoes after retirement. PAGE A3 RAISE THE BONUS CLUE The hunt for the National Night Out medallion is on, and the Herald has an exclusive clue to its whereabouts. PAGE A4 SPEED DEMONS A second generation of racers takes the wheel at the Hermiston Raceway. PAGE A10 BY THE WAY City looking for time capsule items The City of Hermis- ton is asking for items to be placed in a time cap- sule that is scheduled to be opened in 50 years. The city plans to seal the capsule underground to celebrate the dedication of the new Harkenrider Center on Sept. 8. Items for consider- ation can be dropped off at the Hermiston Pub- lic Library until Sept. 5. City staff will choose photographs, documents and some small three-di- mensional items to go in a small capsule for future Hermiston residents to unearth on Sept. 8, 2068. Items not chosen for inclu- sion will be returned to their owners, but items chosen for the time cap- sule will become property of the city. The city asks that peo- ple donating items for con- sideration keep in mind that food, plants and other similar items could dam- age the capsule’s content. “Also consider that digital or electronic items may be unusable 50 years from now,” the city news release reads. “For exam- ple, if a floppy disk were included in a capsule 20 years ago, the likelihood of the future residents being able to read its con- tent is very low.” “Any skill you have, you can use to serve.” Patrick Temple Church members sacrifice to help with capital improvements By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER W hen a church needs a new roof or more rooms, the mem- bers often sacrifice to make it happen. Sometimes that sacrifice comes in the form of donations, like those that are helping pay for a new fellowship hall at Hermiston’s Faith Presbyterian Church. Other times it is a sacrifice of time and talents — even talents as unusual as unicycling. “Any skill you have, you can use to serve,” Patrick Temple said. On Thursday morning Patrick and his son Harrison, 17, put that idea to the test by unicycling their way from Pendleton to Hermiston to raise money for Hermis- ton Church of the Nazarene’s parking lot repaving project. At one point they had to stop because the chase vehicle warning drivers of their presence on the interstate broke down, and Harrison had to hitch a ride in the truck outside of Stanfield after a crucial washer on his unicycle came loose. But at about 11:30 a.m. — and 91 degrees — Patrick rolled into the parking lot, drenched in sweat. “I was starting to cramp up,” he said, panting, as he hopped off the unicycle and turned off the bluetooth speaker attached to the handlebar blaring his favorite tunes. The ambitious ride came about because Hermiston Church of the Naza- rene has been needing a new roof and its parking lot was badly in need of repav- STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL. Faith Presbyterian Church sits under construction as the church adds a fellowship hall, left. ing. The total between the two projects is about $45,000 — a steep ask for a con- gregation of about 180 members. Pastor Eric Fritz said members have been sacrificing and scraping money together for their meetinghouse since January, and at about $3,000 short they were “pretty much tapped out.” That’s when Patrick came up with the unicy- cle idea, and Harrison volunteered to join in on the 30-mile ride from the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton to Hermiston Church of the Nazarene, put- ting in plugs on Facebook Live for people to donate to a GoFundMe account. “Patrick has a very creative mind,” Fritz said. Faith Presbyterian Hermiston Church of the Nazarene isn’t the only church in Hermiston work- ing on capital improvement projects. Faith Presbyterian Church is in the midst of a 4,120 square foot addition that will add a fellowship hall to the building. Pastor Bruce Sexton said church mem- bers donated about $140,000 in one-time donations and then have pledged enough in monthly donations to help pay off the loan just under $300,000 that the church took out for the rest. “Last build (when the original build- ing was erected) we had a 20-year mort- See SACRIFICE, Page A16 See BTW, Page A9 Hermiston conducting feasibility study for indoor pool ‘Health and wellness center’ high on residents’ wish list By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER The city of Hermiston is getting serious about an indoor pool. A 2016 survey showed an indoor aquatic center was the top “livabil- ity” priority for Hermiston residents, and the city is in the midst of a fea- sibility study to determine what it would take to get there. City Manager Byron Smith said he expected staff would have some- thing to present to the city council in October. He and parks and rec- reation director Larry Fetter have been working with consultants from ALSC Architects of Spokane to put together a report about prelimi- nary designs, and what the Hermis- ton-area market would support. “They’ve helped us work through a lot of analysis,” Smith said. He said the city was looking at the indoor pool in the context of a “health and wellness center” that would pro- vide other recreational opportuni- ties beyond year-round swimming. He said the city would need to deter- mine what the project would include before looking at possible locations. After the consultants’ part of the study is put together, city staff plan to See POOL, Page A16 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Pierce Strong, 10, porpoises out of the water while doing the breast stroke during the junior swim team class earlier this summer at the Hermiston Family Aquatic Center.
