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WEDNESDAy, AuguST 7, 2019
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the fair presents itself.
“It is a change, yes. It’s
just that the whole change
became an emphasis away
from what a farmer may
raise in terms of livestock,
to what the community is
doing,” said Don Miller,
a former fair board mem-
ber who is still involved in
organizing.
Indeed,
since
the
inception of the agricul-
tural exhibits, the fair has
expanded to showcase a
variety of other goods.
From hand sewn crafts to
metal work, to even more
recently, robotics.
“We always try to stay
current with what’s going
on in the county,” Miller
said. “Ten years ago, robot-
ics was not an issue for us.”
The Early Years
During the 1920s, the
Hog and Dairy Show even-
tually became known as the
Umatilla Project Fair.
“The Umatilla Project
Fair is held primarily for
the purpose of encourag-
ing more profitable agricul-
ture on the Greater Umatilla
Project,” wrote the Hermis-
ton Herald in 1929.
Today,
watermelon
might be number one on
Hermiston’s produce list.
But things were different
almost 100 years ago.
“Especially
striking,”
wrote the Hermiston Herald
in 1921, “were the apples
and honey. No visitor could
go away without knowing
that Hermiston is one of the
best apple countries in the
United States.”
BTW
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• • •
Simmons
Insurance
Group has welcomed a new
insurance agent — Brady
Struchen — to Hermiston.
According to Simmons,
Struchen was the leading
agent for Millang Finan-
cial Group, serving hun-
dreds of clients over his past
nine years there. During that
time, he was repeatedly rec-
ognized by Kansas City
Life Insurance company as
being in the top ten agents
in the nation.
Struchen specializes in
life insurance, retirement
planning and Medicare sup-
plements. He started July 29
after relocating his family
from Polk City, Iowa.
“We are excited to have
ASPEN
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than even a hospital, such
as “anti-ligature” measures
to prevent possible suicide
attempts.
“The intention is to make
it the most safe we can for
patients and staff, which is
why we wanted to do it right
the first time,” she said.
Aspen Springs will
include 16 individual rooms
for patients, a dining area,
common area, reflection
room, nurses station, offices
for therapists, a fenced
courtyard and more. Tours
will be available to the pub-
lic before the facility begins
providing care.
Johnsen and Cathey said
Aspen Springs will fill a
“huge gap” in mental health
care in Eastern Oregon. Cur-
rently, most patients experi-
encing a mental health crisis
are transported to facilities
on the western side of the
state, pulling them away
from support systems like
friends and family.
Now, they said, if some-
one in Umatilla County
is in a crisis they can stay
in Hermiston, where fam-
ily can visit, participate in
family therapy sessions and
work with care providers
in person to create a plan
for transitioning the patient
back out of the acute care
facility. Lifeways staff who
provide inpatient care at
Aspen Springs will also be
able to coordinate closely
with Lifeways staff who
provide outpatient services
to the client.
“The key is that we will
be able to serve our commu-
nity directly in the commu-
nity,” Cathey said.
It will also add more beds
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Fairgoers fly through the air on a ride at the Umatilla County
Fair. The fair continues daily through Saturday, August 10.
HH file photo
A man rides a high bicycle through the Umatilla County Fair
Parade, Aug. 26, 1965.
The first-ever caged bird
show in the state was hosted
at the fair during the 1920s.
Judges ranked parrots,
canaries and other caged
birds on cleanliness, appear-
ance and general health.
Today, the fairgoers
experience carnival rides,
evening concerts and day-
time entertainers such as
magicians and jugglers. But
in 1929, people were look-
ing forward to entertain-
ment like air stunts, wing
walking, trapeze and para-
chute dropping. A dance
with a live orchestra capped
off the fair, which at the
time was a two-day week-
end event.
The 1930s marked a
push and pull for the Uma-
tilla County Project Fair. In
1930, the fair made arrange-
ments to have a merry-
such an amazing agent join-
ing our team at Simmons,”
said Simmons president
Justin Simmons. “Brady’s
wealth of knowledge will
be a great asset to not only
our team, but all of our cli-
ents as well.”
• • •
Top honors for cleanli-
ness were recently awarded
to 181 Oregon hotels,
including one in Hermiston.
Presented by AAA, the
Cleanliness in Best of
Housekeeping Awards was
presented to Holiday Inn
Express & Suites in Herm-
iston. In addition, Oxford
Suites and Holiday Inn
Express, both in Pendleton,
received recognition.
Travelers want a clean
room when they’re stay-
ing at a hotel, said Marie
Dodds of AAA Oregon.
AAA’s new Inspector’s Best
of Housekeeping award
highlights those hotels that
go above and beyond. Prop-
erties receiving the award,
Dodds said, surpassed
expectations, as measured
during on-site inspections.
During visits, AAA inspec-
tors look for evidence of
dirt, dust, pests, equipment
performance and more.
• • •
The menu at the Har-
kenrider Senior Activ-
ity Center for Thursday is
enchilada casserole, Span-
ish rice, fruit and dessert.
Friday is ham and cheese
sandwich, salad and dessert.
Monday is salad bar, gar-
lic bread and dessert. Tues-
day is chef salad, fruit and
dessert. Next Wednesday is
two slices of pizza, salad
and dessert.
to what has been a shortage
of psychiatric beds in Ore-
gon and across the nation,
reducing wait times for care.
The facility is located
at 1212 Linda Avenue,
near Lifeways’ Hermiston
offices.
go-round, and an airplane
which people could pay to
take rides on. The following
year, according to Ronald
E. Ingle, author of The Tam-
ing of The Desert, windy
weather knocked down the
fairground barns and a dis-
play building was built in
1932.
The Project Fair of 1933
hosted its first rodeo.
The Hermiston Herald
noted in 1935 that there was
“considerable interest in the
honey industry”. Fair-go-
ers attended tug-of-war
matches, rolling pin throw-
ing contests, greased pole
races and eventually Mod-
el-T races. By the turn of
the decade, the fair’s scope
was expanded, and it was
labeled its modern title: The
Umatilla County Fair.
Leading with Legacy
What happens at the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center today might
be a far cry from the car
races and airplane rides of
yesteryear, but the spirit of
the fair remains.
“There’s some things
that have changed and
some things that have not
changed,” Miller said.
Dorran and Miller both
have a history with fair
dating back through the
decades. Both began as stu-
dent exhibitors and even-
tually became board mem-
bers who served for over 20
years apiece.
Miller has lived in Mil-
ton-Freewater for over 70
years.
“I haven’t missed any
fair since 1962,” he said.
Dorran, who grew up
in Hermiston, remembers
walking his steer from Sev-
enth Street to the old fair-
grounds downtown as a
child. He grew up cleaning
stalls during the celebra-
tions and exhibiting metal-
working projects.
“My family had always
been involved,” he said.
His mother participated
heavily when Dorran was
growing up, and his grand-
father was a part-time fair
manager during the 1950s.
He served in the army and
lived in Alaska for 14 years.
By the time he found his
way back to the Umatilla
County Fair in the 1990s,
Miller had a decade of being
a board member behind
him.
Both men have since
retired.
“Now we’re just old
guys, here to give to any
help that we can,” Miller
joked.
Michael Davis, who
owns Davis Amusement
Cascadia, said the busi-
ness’s relationship with the
fair goes back at least 50
years. The Umatilla County
Fair holds the family-owned
company’s oldest contract.
“We grow with the event.
We’ve expanded the num-
ber of rides over the years.
Of course, now we’ve made
the leap with them over to
the EOTEC facility,” Davis
said.
Davis, 44, said that this
will be at least his 43rd fair.
“Every year of my life,”
he said. “It’s been import-
ant to my whole family. The
relationships we’ve built in
Umatilla County are second
to none.”
For many, Aug. 6 through
10 represents a week of
remembering and reuniting.
“The people who come
to the fair may not have seen
each other for 12 months.
They just talk to each other
like it’s the day before. It’s
truly a fair family which
exists in Umatilla county,”
Miller said.
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