FROM PAGE ONE
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, FEbRuARy 27, 2019
AWARDS
Continued from Page A1
Instead of an auction,
Bonney listened to Den-
nis Barnett enumerate the
many qualities that won him
the distinction of Man of
the Year. Barnett described
Bonney, who owns Hale’s
Restaurant, as humble, unas-
suming, knowledgable and
working tirelessly behind
the scenes for the betterment
of the community. He even
compared Bonney to a quote
by Mother Teresa about
doing good even when others
react selfishly.
“Mother Teresa might be
a stretch,” Bonney said dryly
as he accepted the award and
thanked his family for help-
ing make everything he does
possible.
Scott Purswell, owner and
president of Purswell Pump,
said he had no idea when
he was sitting in the audi-
ence that his staff was hid-
ing and laughing together in
the lobby of the community
center, waiting to come out
when Purswell Pump was
named the Bob Severson
Rotary Business of the Year.
He thought presenter Tony
Garberg was talking about a
different company until his
sons — one of which was
supposed to be at basketball
practice — came out on stage
with the award.
“My family, my company,
my friends — everyone got
me,” he said.
He had come to the event
at the insistence of a good
friend, who said his really
wanted to go and it would be
much more fun if Purswell
and his wife came with them.
“I thought, ‘Why is this so
important to her?’” Purswell
said.
He said in his shock he
forgot to thank his staff on
stage and acknowledge that
it was really the entire com-
pany’s award, but he hopes
everyone knows how grate-
ful he is for them.
Hermiston High School
senior Madison Wilson won
the Altrusa Outstanding
Young Citizens Award. Wil-
son said she knew she was
getting some sort of award,
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Shawn Lockwood was speechless after being names the 2018
Woman of the Year.
but didn’t expect the extent
of the ceremony.
“I didn’t know I had to
speak,” she said. “I don’t like
being in the spotlight — I
was in total shock.”
Wilson was recognized
for the things she’s done
to help others throughout
her school years. In eighth
grade at Armand Larive Mid-
dle School, she and a friend
made about 800 Valentines
cards, one for each student at
the school.
“We wrote anonymous
encouraging notes inside
them,” she said.
Wilson is also studying
Spanish, with the hopes of
becoming fluent and con-
necting with those who can’t
speak English.
Her dream, she said, is to
become a third-grade teacher.
“It’ll be especially helpful
if I come back here to teach,
where there’s such a high
population of Spanish speak-
ers,” she said.
Michelle
Hankinson,
who won the Merit of Honor
award for her work in cre-
ating Hermiston’s 80-plot
community garden Lovin’
Spadefuls from scratch, said
she had been told that the
Children’s Health Coali-
tion — of which she is a part
— was being recognized.
She was shocked when pre-
senter Nora Pratton got up
and started talking about her
instead.
“I thought, what the heck
is she doing?” Hankinson
said.
Hermiston High School
Distinguished Alumna Jac-
lyn Jenkins said she knew
about the award before the
ceremony. Jenkins, Umatilla
County’s chief deputy dis-
trict attorney, said HHS assis-
tant principal Ericka Keef-
auver called to let her know
about the award a few weeks
before.
But Jenkins said while she
wasn’t surprised at the event,
she felt taken aback by the
award itself.
“I don’t feel that dis-
tinguished,” she said. She
thanked her teachers, many
of whom she said had helped
shape her career path.
Several Hermiston School
District staff members were
also honored, including a
teacher of the year, Amber
Utter, and an administrator
of the year, Jeff Kelso. The
teachers honored for each
school, and Kelso, had been
announced several months
prior, but were asked to stand
and be recognized at the
banquet.
The educators of the year
were as follows:
Hermiston High School:
Maureen Crossley, John
Fisher
Armand Larive Middle
School: Cori Applegate
Sandstone Middle School:
LouAnne Patterson
Desert View Elementary
School: Darci Wellsandt
Highland Hills Elemen-
tary School: Brittany Mustoe
Rocky Heights Ele-
mentary School: Laura
Woodward
Sunset
Elementary
School: Kim Sexton
West Park Elementary
School: Marci Wattenburger
District: Amber Utter
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
The Buttercreek Boys entertain diners during a 2016 rehearsal meeting at the Chuckwagon
Cafe. The seasoned musicians will perform Friday from 6-7:30 p.m. as part of the cafe’s
farewell party.
CAFE
Continued from Page A1
Stolz didn’t initially
have her sights on a career
in the restaurant industry.
Although, as a young girl
doing household chores,
she would pretend she was
working as a restaurant
dishwasher. In addition,
whenever Stolz played
Monopoly, she wanted to
be the banker.
“I liked counting and
giving out the money,” she
said. “At the cafe, I choose
to work the late shift and
take care of the money.”
She studied the Bible
and journalism at Mult-
nomah School of the Bible
(now Multnomah Univer-
sity) in Portland before
heading to the Chicago
area. After working from
1972-79 on the editorial
staff at Conservative Bap-
tist Foreign Mission Soci-
ety, Stolz returned to East-
ern Oregon.
She worked at The
Nickel Classifieds, Hermis-
ton Herald and East Orego-
nian before heading to the
coast in 1981 to work for
The Daily Astorian, also
owned by EO Media Group.
After six months, her posi-
tion was eliminated.
Dorothy and Duane
Beason, her mother and
stepfather, suggested she
return to Hermiston to help
at the Chuckwagon Cafe.
The Beasons opened their
first Hermiston eatery in
1970. The Chuckwagon, a
drive-in, was located at the
current site of Panda Inn. A
couple of years later when
a fire destroyed the struc-
ture, they reopened it as the
Chuckwagon Cafe where
The Nickel is now housed.
They built the current cafe
in 1979.
In retirement, Stolz
plans to continue volunteer-
ing in the community. Over
the years, she has given
back by donating gift certif-
icates, holding fundraisers
and supporting such groups
as the Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica, a local race car team,
the Community Fellowship
Dinner and Umatilla High
School’s first robotics team.
“They named their robot
Chuck, which made me
cry,” she said.
Stolz has met thou-
sands of people. In addition
to serving meals, she has
hosted free S.O.S. meals
for veterans, held Dutch
oven cook-offs and offered
specials for holidays. She
said it’s been fun watch-
ing multiple generations of
families grow up.
“The most amazing peo-
ple have walked through
our doors every day,” she
said “I can’t think of any
other profession that could
have been so fulfilling and
enjoyable.”
Recent hip problems,
Stolz said, have slowed her
down. Tired and in pain,
she decided to sell the cafe.
In the fall she put a notice
on the cafe’s website and
got a couple of bites. How-
ever, the parties were inter-
ested in leasing. When
Stolz finally decided to list
it, she received two offers
in less than a week.
“I decided I wanted to
sell it and walk away,” she
said. “I’m so amazed and
I’m so grateful.”
While not finalized,
Stolz said a couple of sis-
ters plan to turn the cafe
into a Texas barbecue.
“I’ve been ‘married’
to the Chuckwagon. Who
knows, I may start dating,
get married, settle down
and raise a family,” she said
with a laugh.
Stolz reminds people to
redeem Chuckwagon gift
certificates by March 6. For
more information, call 541-
567-6329 or visit www.
chuckwagoncafe.net.
———
Contact Community Editor
Tammy Malgesini at tmal-
gesini@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4539
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