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A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, DECEMbER 19, 2018
MEALS
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Contributed photo
Jolene and James Pooley with their sons, Conner and Brayden. The Hermiston family is
focusing more on building holiday traditions than buying a lot of presents.
TRADITION
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stressful and it takes away
from the true meaning of
Christmas.”
The Hermiston couple
began formulating ideas
before Thanksgiving. In
addition to online shopping,
the Pooleys shopped in the
Tri-Cities and locally.
“We use a lot of Walmart
layaway because it’s a good
hiding place,” James said
with a laugh.
The Hermiston couple
has two sons, Conner, 8, and
Brayden, 3. With the boys’
birthdays coming up in Jan-
uary and February, Jolene
said their new approach to
Christmas shopping is mak-
ing planning for that much
easier.
“Last year we went so
extreme,” Jolene said. “We
thought what do we get
them because we got them
everything for Christmas,
so this year we split the gift
ideas up.”
Shawn Logue, who has
four kids ranging in age
from 16-25, is sticking to
a holiday budget this shop-
ping season. In past years,
Shawn and her husband,
Dan, set an amount but
invariably would surpass it
because they didn’t com-
municate about who bought
what.
In
determining
the
amount, the Hermiston cou-
ple factored in what they
spent in the past, what types
of gifts their kids preferred
and what else they wanted to
do with their money during
the holiday season. For the
past six years, they have
taken a family trip to enjoy
the festivities in Leaven-
worth, Washington.
“It’s taken us a long time
to learn Christmas isn’t
about the stuff and the pres-
ents. It’s more about building
family traditions,” Shawn
said. “Our trips to Leaven-
worth are more memorable
than buying gifts.”
In their second holiday
season together as a family,
the Halls, too, are creating
and melding traditions. This
year, they had the younger
kids draw names amongst
themselves.
Set up like a secret Santa,
no wish lists were shared.
The idea, Deana said, is to
have the kids observe and
learn more about their sib-
lings when making deci-
sions about what to buy.
The Pooleys also are
focusing more on estab-
lishing holiday traditions
and spending time together.
Doing things like heading
up to the mountains to chop
down their own Christmas
tree, sipping hot chocolate
around a campfire and going
sledding are some things
they’ve done during recent
holiday seasons.
“Christmas needs to be
about more than just pres-
ents,” Jolene said. “It’s
about family.”
on the list, but came look-
ing for food or gifts for their
children, they were asked to
come back on Wednesday.
“We want everyone to
have something,” she said.
Volunteer LaVera San-
chez said one of her favor-
ite memories was from last
year, when a woman came
in after being recommended
for the program.
“She didn’t know how
her name got on the list,”
Sanchez said. “But she
couldn’t say ‘thank you’
enough. She was crying;
she was very appreciative
of everything.”
Two
women
who
stopped by on Monday said
the program has helped
their families during some
rough times.
“I just moved down
from Alaska,” said Chey-
enne Blazka, who found
out about the program
through her child’s school.
“It’s really heartwarming to
move and start fresh, and
see that people still care.”
She said her kids were
excited about the presents,
but she was most grateful
for the food donations.
“Food stamps don’t
BTW
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have shortened hours —
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. —
on Christmas Eve and New
Year’s Eve. For questions,
call 541-567-2882.
• • •
People are invited to
ring in the new year with
a murder mystery din-
ner theater event to bene-
fit Agape House. Tickets,
which are $35 each, are
now on sale for the barbe-
cue pork loin or beef tri-tip
dinner. “Murder at Dead-
wood Saloon” is Monday,
Dec. 31 from 6-9 p.m. For
tickets, call Dave Hughes
at 541-567-8774. See next
week’s Hermiston Herald
for a full story about the
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Guests look through donated Christmas decorations during
the Christmas Express on Monday at Agape House in
Hermiston.
always cover everything,”
she said. “It really helps.”
Stephanie Bates got
donations from the program
last year.
“We’ve been so down,”
she said. “It’s awesome we
could get gifts for the kids.”
“It helps keep Santa
alive,” Blazka said.
In its 49th year, Christ-
mas
Express
gathers
donations from commu-
nity groups and individu-
als, packages them up, and
sends them to the Agape
House. In addition to the
items collected for Christ-
mas donations, the program
yielded about eight large
crates worth of food that
Agape House will be able
to distribute throughout the
year.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said the
program received about
$6,500 in cash donations
as of Monday, and that
the donations from school
food drives were the larg-
est he’d seen in the 15 years
he’s been doing Christmas
Express.
event.
• • •
The Stanfield Public
Library announced a pair
of free events this week.
The monthly Family
Story Time is Thursday at
6 p.m. In addition to read-
ing a book, participants
can make a craft and enjoy
a snack. Also, 15 families
will receive a free book.
On Friday, there’s a spe-
cial holiday craft. The free
activity runs from 2-3 p.m.
The library is located at
180 W. Coe Ave., Stanfield.
For more information, call
541-449-1254.
• • •
The public is invited
to celebrate the final ser-
vices of the advent sea-
son at St. John’s Episco-
pal Church, 665 E. Gladys
Ave., Hermiston.
The fourth Sunday
of advent is Dec. 23 at
9 a.m. with a service of
lessons telling the story
of Israel and the Nativ-
ity. It also includes music
and will conclude with the
eucharist.
Also, the first service of
Christmas is Monday, Dec.
24 at 7 p.m., followed by
mass at 7:30 p.m.
For more informa-
tion, contact Rev. Chuck
Barnes at 541-567-6674 or
chuckb@eotnet.net.
———
You can submit items for
our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com.
49th Annual
Christmas Express
Purchase a vehicle in December and a portion of all proceeds will go
towards purchasing new toys for the Christmas Connection. New toy
donations will also be accepted at the dealership.
TUNDRA
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$
Up to 36 months.
On approved credit.
0
DOWN
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cash included. 10k miles per year USBANK lease. 36 month lease. $0 cash down. 399/Mo. On approved credit. Plus
tax, title and $75 doc fee. Offer expires 01/02/19.
NEW 2018 TOYOTA
/MO $
295
$
Up to 36 months.
On approved credit.
RAV4
0
DOWN
Stk# 18h1080. See dealer for details. MSRP 27544. Sale Price 26365. GFV 14323. $2400 Toyota Financial Service lease cash. 36
month 12k miles per year 295/Mo. $0 Cash down. On approved credit. Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. Offer expires 01/02/19.
NEW 2019 TOYOTA COROLLA
239
$
/MO
Up to 36 months.
On approved credit.
0
$
LE
DOWN
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