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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2019)
LOCAL A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, ApRIL 24, 2019 Council discusses EOTEC priorities, name rials might say something like “The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center at Hermiston,” but councilor Doug Primmer said the city wouldn’t be able to use the acronym EOTECH because it would infringe on the copyright for a pri- vate company by that name. Out of the priorities listed for EOTEC’s con- tinued development, most councilors agreed water was probably the top prior- ity, followed by landscap- ing that would increase shade and block dust and noise. “We have to know we’re going to have water before we plant the trees,” Jackie Myers said. The city has potable drinking water available for use at the site but is hoping to develop a more affordable option for irri- gation, either by purchas- ing water rights or dig- ging a deeper well. The city does have two alluvial wells on site but they have only been used for test- ing purposes due to neigh- bors’ concerns about drop- ping water levels in the neighborhood. Councilor Roy Bar- ron said he thought build- ing an RV park on the site was still the number one priority, because the park would start earning money to fund the other projects. “If we don’t have any- thing to generate revenue, it’s going to be very hard on the taxpayers of Herm- iston,” he said. Smith said traffic and parking at EOTEC is another priority. He said Umatilla County has done the design work for widen- ing and improving Airport Road and the county hopes to have the project done by this year’s fair and rodeo in August. Both he and Drot- zmann expressed skepti- cism that would happen. The council plans to continue the discussion of EOTEC at their next work session. By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Hermiston city coun- cilors discussed their top priorities for the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center and whether it was too late to change the cen- ter’s name on Monday. City manager Byron Smith said the city needed to find the right balance for EOTEC between draw- ing people in for larger regional events and serv- ing the local community. Dennis Doherty, one of EOTEC’s founders, shared with the council that the regional aspect was what encouraged local hoteliers to voluntarily implement a tourism promotion assess- ment on their rooms, and helped get millions of dol- lars in funding from the state. “I was a part of that and I would be embarrassed if I had to go back and talk to them and they’re ask- ing, ‘What’s going on?’” he said. Councilor Lori Davis asked whether the city needed the “trade” part of the project’s name anymore, and it sparked a discussion about EOTEC’s name. Some councilors pointed out that the “event center” part of the name confused people who thought the event cen- ter building was the entire project, and suggested per- haps the city could keep the recognizable acronym but call it the Eastern Ore- gon Trade and Event Cam- pus or Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Complex. Mayor David Drot- zmann said it would be ideal if a big donor stepped forward and the event cen- ter building at EOTEC could be renamed after the donor. EOTEC manager Al Davis said the biggest question he gets when he tries to market the center is where in Eastern Oregon it’s located. He suggested the logo and other marketing mate- PHOTO OF THE DAY Staff photo by E.J. Harris Second-grader Michael Fisher makes a tree bark rubbing on Thursday during Arbor Day festivities in Echo. S ERIOUS I LLNESS ? You May Qualify for a Living Benefi t Loan Have you been diagnosed with cancer or another serious medical condition? Do you have at least $75,000 of life insurance? 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Frontier does not warrant that the service will be error-free or uninterrupted. Nest products: Additional $9 shipping fee per Nest device. Nest products must be purchased with new Internet service or eligible Frontier Secure services. Taxes, governmental and Frontier-imposed surcharges, minimum system requirements and other terms and conditions apply. Nest®, Nest Learning Thermostat™, Nest Protect™, Nest Cam™ and the Nest logo are trademarks or service marks of Nest Labs, Inc. ©2017 Frontier Communications Corporation Staff photo by Jade McDowell Angie Treadwell, center, talks to members of the Cooking Matters class at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center in Hermiston on Wednesday. Cooking Matters expands classes to seniors By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR It’s never too late to learn how to cook. Last Wednesday at the Harkenrider Senior Activ- ity Center in Hermiston, 16 senior citizens were steam- ing asparagus and being quizzed about saturated fats at a Cooking Matters class. Kathy Burns said she was there because she wanted to move beyond heating things up in a microwave and learn recipes that fit diet restric- tions her doctor had given her. “I’m the worst cook in the world,” she said. The free, six-week class sends participants home with a free cookbook and ingredients for the week’s recipes at the end of each two-hour session. Burns said she was glad the senior center was will- ing to host the classes so that seniors can learn new skills. She said she wished more men were taking advantage of the opportunity (there was only one present Wednes- day) because sometimes seniors find themselves in a tough spot when the spouse who does all the cooking passes away. Angie Treadwell, the class’ instructor, usually teaches Cooking Matters classes to parents and chil- Staff photo by Jade McDowell/East Oregonian Class members chop asparagus for the Ginger Asparagus recipe at the Cooking Matters class at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center in Hermiston on Wednesday. dren as part of a partnership between Umatilla Morrow County Head Start, Oregon State University Extension and area school districts. She said OSU plans to expand the Cooking Matters program to seniors over the next few years, and seniors in Hermiston are helping to pilot the idea thanks to a generous grant from Lamb Weston. Each week she gets feedback from class mem- bers — portion sizes are too large, there aren’t enough lactose-free options — and passes it on to the university. “We’re trying to find out what seniors want,” she said. Treadwell said there are many health issues seniors face that are preventable with the right diet. Often as people age they start feel- ing like it’s not worth cook- ing for just themselves, or they suddenly find them- selves with special dietary needs they don’t know how to cook for. “Nutrition is so important in older adults,” she said. “It can make a huge difference in medical costs.” Cooking classes provide a social outlet too. Lupe Housden said she ended up in the class because a friend signed her up. “It’s always nice to have a group to cook with,” she said. Housden said she has also learned a lot about how to read labels on food, and the importance of whole grains. On Wednesday Treadwell started off by asking partici- pants if their cooking habits had changed after their first two classes. One woman said she had made the pre- vious week’s recipe and had so many leftovers she shared with her neighbors. Another said she made one of the recipes but it didn’t turn out well. A third said she had put her own spin on it with ingredients she had at home. One recipe — a south- west-style Cowboy Salad — was so popular that the senior center is adding it to their lunch menu. After discussing recipes Treadwell taught the group about different types of fats and how to look for health- ier ones. She answered a variety of questions about the health of different foods and summed up her advice as eating food “as close to the form nature gave you as possible and using modera- tion in all things.” During the hands-on por- tion of the class, the group worked together to make pasta with beans and greens, and ginger asparagus using fresh local asparagus from Walchli Farms. Ingredients for both recipes were wait- ing for them in a take-home bag at the end of class.
