WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
COMMUNITY
Echo Corn Maze open for business
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Fall has officially arrived
in Echo with the opening
of the Echo Corn Maze &
Pumpkin Patch.
Forty-five minutes into
Saturday’s opening day
no one had shown up yet,
but organizers weren’t that
worried.
“The first day’s always
quieter,” Gina Tyhuis said.
“It’s Saturday and people
like to sleep in.”
She was working with
Val Anctil and Jeff Lorton to
arrange hay bales and corn
stalks into a photo backdrop
for visiting groups as they
waited for the first visitors
to arrive.
The
Tyhuis
family
started the corn maze three
years ago, with the help of
some friends. The maze at
100 N. Dupont St., across
from Echo Ridge Cellars,
takes about an hour to get
through. The site also fea-
tures a zipline, pumpkins
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
Gina Tyhuis, left, Jeff Lorton and Sierra Hermsen create a photo backdrop at the Echo Corn
Maze & Pumpkin Patch on opening day.
for sale, fire pits for groups
to rent, a hay bale maze
for young children and a
haunted scare path on select
evenings.
Melissa Lambert and
her husband were putting
together the hay bale maze
Saturday morning, sur-
rounded by pumpkins and
sunflowers.
“I planted 3,500 pump-
kins in my back yard by
seed,” Lambert said. “We
hand-planted every single
pumpkin.”
She said she had also
gone over every part of the
maze with caution tape,
looking for any dangerous
spots.
Lambert said she became
friends with Tyhuis while
babysitting her kids and
began helping out with the
maze that way. One of her
favorite things about liv-
ing in Echo is how com-
munity-oriented and family
friendly it is, she said. The
corn maze is a good exam-
ple of those qualities.
“We got a few sponsors
this year,” she said. “Every
year is getting bigger and
bigger. It’s exciting.”
Tyhuis said the hay bales
were donated by Jeff Spike,
and the maze itself was
designed and cut by Barton
Laser Leveling.
“We definitely wouldn’t
have a corn maze without
Barton,” she said.
Admission is $10 for
a day pass or $12 for the
haunted path. Regular hours
for the corn maze are Tues-
day through Thursday 2-6
p.m., Friday 2-10 p.m., Sat-
urday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and
Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The haunted path, known
as the Field of Screams, is
open Oct. 13, 20, 27 and 31
from 7-9 p.m. The normal
corn maze isn’t haunted.
“We don’t scare the
whole thing,” Tyhuis said.
“A lot of people don’t like
to go if they don’t like to
get scared, so this way they
have a choice.”
She said it’s mostly local
FFA students who do the
scaring, but she has gotten
out there herself on occa-
sion and it was fun.
For more information
about special events, group
rentals, field trips and rules
visit echocornmaze.com or
find them on Facebook.
EOTEC hosts ‘Walktober,’ State cuts courts’ customer
equestrian opportunities service hours on Fridays
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Fair season is over, but
the public is still encouraged
to visit the grounds of the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
The center is hosting a
“Walktober” by encouraging
people to come and walk the
paths around the property
every Monday through Fri-
day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those
who stop by the office on
their way in can enter their
name into a drawing for
prizes that will happen at the
end of each week.
Three loops around the
flat, paved trails at EOTEC
equal a mile.
EOTEC general manager
Al Davis said the event is
scheduled for October, but
could run longer depending
on conditions.
“We’ll keep going as long
as the weather holds out,” he
said.
Davis is also opening
the rodeo arena at EOTEC
to public horseback riding
from 3 p.m. until dark every
Wednesday in October.
“Bring your colts, West-
ern pleasure, seasoned barrel
horses or ponies,” the flier
for the event advertises, and
enjoy “the 2017 best footing
in the PRCA.” The charge
is $10 per horse or $20 per
trailer.
Davis said he is always
looking for new ways to get
people out to EOTEC to see
what the center has to offer.
“I’m just trying to get
the facility used,” he said.
“The more people come up
here, the more ideas people
will have on how to use the
facility.”
EOTEC’s indoor facili-
ties continue to be booked
for private and public
events, including Junk Barn
Girls, which runs Friday
from 4-7 p.m. (tickets avail-
able for $20 at junkbarn-
girls.com) and Saturday 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. (tickets avail-
able for $5). The show will
include multiple vendors of
antiques, vintage finds, jew-
elry and home goods. The
Friday event includes live
music and food.
For more information
about EOTEC, located at
1705 E. Airport Road, call
541-289-9800.
The state courts in Umatilla and Mor-
row counties are cutting back customer
service hours on Fridays starting Oct. 5.
Roy Blaine, the trial court administra-
tor for the circuit courts in the two coun-
ties, said public counters and phone ser-
vice will close at 3 p.m. rather than 4:30
pm. on Fridays at the Umatilla County
Circuit Court offices in the Umatilla
County Courthouse, Pendleton, the Staf-
ford Hansell Government Center, Herm-
iston, and Morrow County Circuit Court,
Heppner.
“This is due to short staffing and bud-
get limitations at all three of our loca-
tions,” Blaine stated in an email.
Courtrooms at each location will
remain open during all business hours
and drop boxes are available at each loca-
tion weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Blaine stated a filing or payment in a drop
box before the buildings close will be
counted as received that day.
For more information about court busi-
ness hours and for emergency closure
information, particularly during winter,
visit www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/uma-
tilla/Pages/default.aspx.
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