FROM A1
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, ApRIL 24, 2019
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A display of DeWalt tools sits on the floor of Ranch & Home
during its soft opening Friday.
OPENING
Continued from Page A1
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Maria Castillo, Elida Gutierrez and Aracely Urenda, all employees of Columbia Bank in Hermiston, get ready to eat a taco
Monday at Nookie’s Restaurant/Hermiston Brewing Co.
TACOS
delivered, Stanley pulled
out her cell phone to take a
photo and make a Facebook
post — tagging both the
restaurant and United Way.
She ranks tacos as one of
her favorite foods — espe-
cially when they’re made
with homemade tortillas.
Bettencourt said partici-
pating in Tastiest Taco pro-
vides an incentive for people
to eat at restaurants they’ve
never gone to before. Sev-
eral of the Columbia Bank
employees agreed, saying
they have already discov-
ered new places to eat as
part of their own personal
taco journey.
Maria Castillo, a drive-up
teller, said she loves tacos.
However, prior to buying
Continued from Page A1
stays locally.
“The United Way is a
good thing,” Gutierrez said.
“People don’t always real-
ize it, but they help a lot of
people in our community.”
Nearly a dozen peo-
ple gathered around a set
of tables Monday night at
Nookie’s Restaurant/Herm-
iston Brewing Co. Server
Sean Altizer didn’t need to
write down the order — a
round of tacos. The prime
rib taco came with a special
sauce and pico de gallo.
“This is something we
made for this event,” Altizer
said. “We are talking about
adding it to the menu.”
As soon as her taco was
a taco stamp book, she had
only eaten at four of the 10
participating vendors.
“It just gives me another
reason to eat tacos. I didn’t
realize how many Mexican
restaurants are in town,”
Castillo said. “I’m excited
to try them out.”
The 10 participating ven-
dors include six locations in
Hermiston and one each in
Irrigon, Pendleton, Stan-
field and Umatilla. Several
restaurants that were too
late to get in on this year’s
Tastiest Tacos are still a part
of the fundraiser. Several
have donated gift certifi-
cates. Harrington said peo-
ple who turn in completed
stamp books will be entered
into a drawing for a chance
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Merkley to hold town hall Thursday
As a part of his annual
town hall tours tour of
every county in Oregon,
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
will be holding a town
hall Thursday at 5 p.m.
at the Pendleton Early
Learning Center.
According to a press
release, Merkley will
update constituents on his
work and take questions
from the audience.
The Pendleton Early
Learning Center is at 455
S.W. 13th St.
His stop in Pendleton is
a part of a two-day swing
through Eastern Oregon.
He will hold town halls
in Ontario and Baker City
on Wednesday and fol-
low it up on Thursday
with appearances in La
Grande, Enterprise, and
Pendleton.
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Harrington said the
fundraiser comes at a criti-
cal time for the United Way.
Members of the Commu-
nity Investment Commit-
tees are currently involved
with the funding alloca-
tion process. With a short-
age of funds, Harrington is
hopeful enough additional
money will be raised to help
support agencies in need.
Tastiest Taco stamp
books can still be obtained
via www.umatillamorrow-
unitedway.org, Columbia
Bank branches in Herm-
iston (1033 S. Highway
395) or Pendleton (2101
S.W. Court Place), or
by calling Harrington at
541-314-5888.
Jerry and Cheryl Ennis
were browsing the weed-
killer selection Friday
morning as customers
trickled in. They said they
had recently returned to
Hermiston after a stint liv-
ing elsewhere and they
were excited to see the
store open.
“It’s great,” Jerry said.
“We’re just checking out
prices. Maybe this will
help with the competition
in town.”
He said the store had
“quite an inventory” avail-
able for the soft opening.
George and Laura Koel-
man of Pendleton drove
over to check out the selec-
tion of rubs for a barbecue
they are hosting over the
weekend.
“This is a big store,”
Laura said.
George said he liked
that Ranch & Home has
“everything” in one store.
The city of Hermis-
ton had originally offered
the company an incen-
tive package of reim-
bursements worth about
$107,800 if it opened by
the end of 2017, but the
store was unable to meet
the deadline even after
it was extended to June
2018. The 18-acre prop-
erty still has room on it for
more development, and
the company has hoped to
recruit a grocery store or
other developer for the site.
Ranch & Home is still
hiring. Hunsaker said peo-
ple can pick up applications
inside the store or online.
The store was closed for
Easter Sunday, but will be
open seven days a week
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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