NEWS/SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
Planting seeds: Hermiston’s community garden teaches skills and responsibility
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
t Lovin’ Spadeful
Community Gar-
den, Bill and Ann
Webb’s family is
planting seeds.
There are pumpkin
seeds and marigold seeds
and bell pepper seeds.
But there are also seeds of
knowledge, hard work and
responsibility.
“We want them to take
a more active role and get
a better idea of where our
food comes from and how
much work it takes to grow
it,” Bill said, explaining
why they signed their chil-
dren up for a plot at the
community garden this year
after moving to Hermiston.
The family visits the gar-
den, located on Good Shep-
herd Health Care System’s
campus, a few times a week
to take care of the variety of
plants that are beginning to
sprout. One of the advan-
tages of the community
garden is that all the tools,
from a drip irrigation sys-
tem to spades and hoes, are
provided.
“I think it’s a great pro-
gram,” he said. “There’s a
lot of value added to it.”
Chelle Hankinson, who
spearheads the garden, said
a community garden can be
a great option for people
who live in an apartment or
other situation where they
don’t have the space or sup-
plies to grow their own veg-
etables or fl owers. But even
homeowners with spacious
yards participate in the gar-
den for the camaraderie.
Hankinson, for exam-
ple, gardens there with her
mother because they enjoy
mingling with other garden-
ers and learning from them.
“Families at fi rst come
in and have no idea what to
do with tomatoes, and then
they run into someone who
gives them pointers,” she
said. “People are talking to
people they wouldn’t talk to
otherwise, sharing tips and
sharing vegetables.”
Lovin’ Spadefuls started
seven years ago with 40
plots and has since grown
to 80. Seventeen are still
available at a rate of $10 for
the season. New amenities
A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
From left to right, Lianna Correa, Rosanna Valet, Neva Gilcher, Chelle Hankinson and David Martinez get ready to pull weeds on Wednesday at the Hermiston
Community Garden.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Rosanna Valet places painted rocks in the Lifeways garden
plot Wednesday at the Hermiston Community Garden.
A tomato hangs from a vine Wednesday at the Hermiston
Community Garden.
continue to sprout at the site
as a long list of local busi-
ness donate sheds, benches,
signs, fences, tomato cages,
bark and other items. The
garden also gets donated
labor from people sen-
tenced to community ser-
vice, and students from
Umatilla School District
planted fl owers around the
When the garden fi rst
started, Hankinson said,
there was a minor problem
with thefts of produce. But
since a camera system was
installed and offenders were
caught it has cleared up the
problem.
The Umatilla County
Master Gardeners help
teach gardeners at the site
outside of the fence.
“If anybody ever comes
to me and says, ‘What can
I give?’ I say ‘What do you
have?’” Hankinson said. “I
never say no.”
She said her next goal
for the garden is to get some
raised beds that would be
more accessible to people
with limited mobility.
and run an example plot
that each year showcases
innovations, such as verti-
cal gardening. Participants
have the option before the
season starts of attending
a six-week Seed to Supper
class that mixes gardening
and cooking tips.
Melissa Garrett said she
took the class this year and
really enjoyed it. Her fam-
ily has gardened at Lovin’
Spadefuls every year but
one.
“Before, I was just try-
ing things and hoping that
it worked, but I felt like I
learned a lot,” she said.
She said she usually
brings her kids over in the
evenings, and she is grate-
ful for the chance to teach
them about eating healthy
and learning a valuable
skill.
“It’s
very
begin-
ner-friendly,” she said of
the garden. “It’s a great
resource. All the tools you
need are already there, and
it’s not as intimidating as it
seems.”
Tomas Montoya’s fam-
ily is going for variety over
quantity in their fi rst year
at the garden, growing zuc-
chini, carrots, peppers,
asparagus, tomatoes, pars-
ley, eggplant, chard, cucum-
bers, celery and basil.
“Stuff is fi nally coming
up through the soil, so that’s
exciting,” he said.
SOFTBALL
Dawgs go 1-2 at
state tournament
BY HERMISTON HERALD
Bailee Noland hit two
home runs, including a
key two-out, three-run
blast in the top of the sev-
enth inning, to help Herm-
iston to an 8-5 victory over
Holy Names in the consola-
tion bracket at the 3A state
softball tournament at the
Regional Athletic Complex
in Lacey, Washington.
Hermiston’s tournament
run would end with the
next game as Snohomish
escaped with a 4-2 victory.
Hermiston fi nished its
season with a 17-10 record.
The Bulldogs trailed
Holy Names 4-0 heading
into the the sixth inning,
where Noland hit a solo
shot and Hermiston hung
three runs on the board for
a 5-3 game.
Holy Names failed to
score in the bottom half
of the inning, putting the
Bulldogs at the plate in the
seventh.
With two out, and Kalei
Smith on third, Ashley
Cameron hit an RBI single
to push Smith across the
plate and bring the Bull-
dogs within a run.
With Samantha Atilano
on second and Cameron
on fi rst, Noland sent a 3-1
pitch out of the park for an
8-5 lead.
“We just fi nally started
hitting the ball,” Hermis-
ton coach Kate Greenough
said. “The girls made
adjustments. That was the
big change there.”
The Cougars left a run-
ner stranded on third in the
seventh to fi nish the game.
“Holy Names has some
scrappy hitters,” Gree-
nough said. “You only have
winners from here on out.
Every team’s going to be
good.”
Noland, who drove in
four runs, also pitched a
complete game, scattering
eight hits.
Sydney Stefani and
Cameron also drove in runs
for the Bulldogs, who also
got two hits and two runs
scored from Smith.
Chloe Sexton drove in
two runs for the Cougars,
while Caitlin Manning,
Logan Luebbe and Syd-
ney Esterberg each had two
hits.
Snohomish 4, Hermiston 2
The Bulldogs’ season
came to an end with a loss
to the Panthers in the con-
solation round.
The Bulldogs scored on
a Bailee Noland fi elder’s
choice in the fi rst inning,
but the Panthers pulled
away from there, scoring
twice in the third inning
and once in the fourth and
sixth innings.
Sydney Stefani went
2-for-3 with a triple for
Hermiston, while Saman-
tha Atilano was 2-for-4 and
Daisy Maddox 2-for-3.
Bonney Lake 5, Hermiston 0
Brooke Nelson threw a
no-hitter and struck out 19
to lead the Panthers past the
Bulldogs in the fi rst round
of the state tournament.
It was the fi rst state
no-hitter for Nelson, who
has signed with the Univer-
sity of Washington.
“She does a good job of
setting up batters,” Herm-
iston coach Kate Gree-
nough said of Nelson. “We
fell for some of her tricks.
She’s about as good as they
come.”
Bonney
Lake,
the
defending state champion,
scored fi ve runs in the fi rst
inning, but were held score-
less the rest of the game.
“We played really great
defense the rest of the
game, we just weren’t hit-
ting the ball well in that fi rst
inning,” Greenough said.
Grace Brown and Hailee
Hagins each hit a double
for the Panthers.
Bailee Noland gave up
fi ve runs on six hits in the
fi rst. Janelle Almaguer
came on in relief and held
the Panthers scoreless.
“Janelle pitched awe-
some,” Greenough said.
“They didn’t get a runner to
third base for the rest of the
game.”
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT
HermistonHerald.com
Hermiston athletes earn
accolades in three sports
son was named Coach of
the Year. The Riverhawks
fi nished the regular season
Hermiston had four play- 8-0.
ers selected to the Mid-Co-
The Bulldogs fi nished
lumbia Conference all-con- 5-3 in MCC play and earned
ference boys soccer team.
the top 3A seed to the Dis-
Midfi elders Emilio Leal trict 8 playoffs.
and Coleman Solano were
Hermiston defeated Ken-
named to the fi rst
newick 1-0, then
team, while goalie
topped
Kamiakin
Juan Carlos Navar-
3-1 in the champi-
rete and defender
onship game.
Matt Mendez were
The Bulldogs lost
named to the second
in the fi rst round of
team.
the 3A state play-
Navarrete
In eight MCC
offs, dropping a 2-1
games,
Navarre-
game to Mountain
te’s goals against aver- View in a shootout.
age was .888. He had shut-
Baseball
outs against Southridge and
The Mid-Columbia Con-
Kennewick. In three play-
off games, he allowed two ference baseball honors
included just one Hermiston
goals.
Walla Walla forward player — senior outfi elder
Julio Tapia was named the Jordan Ramirez, who was
named to the fi rst team. The
Player of the Year.
Chiawana’s Riley Dod- Bulldogs struggled in their
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
fi rst season in the MCC, fi n-
ishing 1-15.
Chiawana junior Riley
Cissne was named Player of
the Year. Kamiakin senior
Trystan Vrieling was named
Pitcher of the Year.
Kamiakin’s
Steve
Woods was named Coach
of the Year after leading
the Braves to a 14-2 regu-
lar-season record.
Tennis
Hermiston
senior
Hayden Cissna was named
to the Mid-Columbia Con-
ference second team. Cis-
sna, who has signed to play
for Treasure Valley Com-
munity College, made it to
the semifi nals of the MCC
tournament before losing.
The MCC boys Player of
the Year is Etienne Chail-
lot of Walla Walla. The girls
top player is Quinci Fisher
of Richland.
“Scramble for Scholarships”
Friday, June 7th
1pm Shotgun Start
Big River Golf Course - Umatilla
Golfers of all skill levels are invited to participate in the 26th annual “Scramble
for Scholarships” golf tournament. Four person teams can sign up together
or individual pairings can be made by the tournament committee. Your $70
entry fee covers green fees, a box lunch, and BBQ dinner, and makes a
charitable donation to the foundation to use in awarding scholarships
for local health care students.
Register at scrambleforscholarships.eventbrite.com
or by calling 541-667-3405. Entry deadline is June 5th.
Great prize holes and Hole-in-one on #1 & #9
WINS A NEW CAR sponsored by Tom Denchel Ford
and Hermiston Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram!