SPORTS
Wednesday, september 4, 2019
HermIstOnHeraLd.COm • A9
COLUMN
Round-Up brings benefits to entire region
I
t’s that time of year again.
rodeo goers. They wear their
Late summer, most county
boots and hats with an easy style
that makes it clear that this is
fairs are now over, the wheat
harvest is wrapped up,
their frequent attire.
and thoughts turn to
Other, shall we say,
back-to-school, football
dudes and dudettes
games, and the arrival of
appear in Western attire
Fall. Around these parts,
as well, but the new-
ness of their embroi-
it also means Round-Up
dered jeans, the immac-
time!
ulate and crisply blocked
Having attended
my very first Pendle-
hats, and the finely pol-
C hris
ished boots seem to
ton Round-Up and PBR
r ush
give away that this not
events last year, I now
PUBLISHER
a way of life, but rather
know what all the fuss is
an attempt to blend in. I
about.
Working the Rotary beer sales
myself own a clean straw hat that
booth one day last year, I had
typically only makes it off the
the opportunity to do some seri-
rack and atop my cranium just a
ous people watching in between
few times a year, so I would be
pours. Of course, I saw a large
considered part of this “all hat
contingent of what I would esti-
and no cattle” crowd.
mate to be veteran Round-Up/
But I was also pleasantly sur-
prised to spot several groups of
what I would call Portland-style
hipsters. Some might say, city
slickers. The guys, in their 20s-
30s, sported finely coiffed hipster
beards, pork pie hats and tight-fit-
ting rolled-up jeans, and the girls
wore even tighter jeans, fashion
boots (not Western) and whatever
made one comfortable on a warm,
sunny afternoon. I gathered that
this was their typical uniform and
they did not seem the least bit
self-conscious or concerned about
being out of place.
It’s an interesting develop-
ment and a good thing. Round-Up
has grown beyond just an Eastern
Oregon event, or even a purely
rural Northwest event. It’s now
on people’s bucket lists from all
walks of life. As Pendleton Con-
vention Center Director (and a
Round-Up aficionado from way
back) Pat Beard told me recently,
Round-Up — now celebrating its
109th year — is seen as a nation-
ally acclaimed spectacle and gen-
uine cultural happening that must
be experienced.
For one week out of the year,
Pendleton may well be the hip-
pest and happiest place to be in
all of Oregon, if not the North-
west. The event’s widespread
popularity has grown tremen-
dously over the past several
years.
Early ticket sales for this
year’s edition appear to confirm
that positive trend. By almost
every measure (attendance, con-
cession and souvenir sales) the
event is still growing. Hotels and
campsites between Hermiston
and La Grande will once again
be fully occupied, restaurants and
watering holes will be jammed,
and hopefully, our local mom and
pop stores will benefit from the
additional traffic (and wallets)
walking around town.
Included in today’s newspaper,
you’ll see that we have inserted a
complimentary copy of the 2019
Round-Up magazine with the
theme “People of Round-Up.” As
most locals know, it takes a vir-
tual army of volunteers to pull off
every facet of Round-Up, Happy
Canyon, PBR, the Main Street
Cowboys carnival, parades, con-
certs and more. We’ve tried to
capture as much of that as we can
in this 80-page volume.
We hope you enjoy these sto-
ries and images.
Now, let’s all get ready to “Let
‘er Buck!”
Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo earns two
grand championship wins at Richland tourney
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
Stanfield’s Eastern Oregon Fam-
ily Taekwondo sent 18 kids to com-
pete at the 11th annual Battle on the
Columbia, and brought home some
gold.
Hermiston’s own Chris Godby,
12, took first in sparring and won
the grand championship title, and
Anais Garcia, 7, also won first in
sparring and the grand champion-
ship title.
“I was so impressed,” said East-
ern Oregon Family Taekwondo
co-instructor Erwin Watson. “You
get to the point where you watch
them and you get goosebumps.
It’s a great thing to hear your kids’
names announced as winners. It
was the only time I was able to
hear how good they did at the com-
petition. It was good to hear their
names on the intercom.”
Godby and Garcia weren’t the
only ones to bring home top honors
at the Richland-hosted tournament.
Kiona Idris, 15, won first in the
weapons and padded weapons com-
petitions, as well as second-place
finishes in forms and sparring. Jor-
dan Velasco, 7, took first in weap-
ons. Luciano Zavala and Jezly Hig-
ereda, 6, both took first in sparring.
Kristian Cardenas, 8, claimed
first in padded weapons, as well as
second in both sparring and weap-
ons. Abel Garcia, 11, also took
home a first-place trophy for his
performance in the padded weap-
ons category, along with sec-
ond-place finishes in forms and
sparring.
Iria Lissman won first in forms
and second in sparring, Ervin Hig-
ereda, 8, won a pair of first-place
trophies in sparring and padded
weapons, and Samuel Godby, 9,
placed first in padded weapons.
Watson said his team’s show-
ing at the recent Richland tourna-
ment was a display of the progress
the team had made since the begin-
ning of the year.
“I don’t get a lot of kids at the
beginning of the year who want
to go out to these tournaments,”
he said. “But when they see other
kids come home with medals, it
boosts their interest. Now these
kids are ready for the next tourna-
ment. They got the taste of it. Now
they know what it feels like to be
winners. They’re hooked on it. It’s
great.”
Watson, who co-owns the Stan-
field-based taekwondo program
alongside his wife Lorry, said that
his team’s tournament turnouts
have doubled since the start of the
year.
“I’m so proud of these kids,” he
said. “I was impressed with every
single one of them.”
The Watsons and their team will
have a bit of a break until their next
competition, which is scheduled
for November, and will take place
at Mount Hood Community Col-
lege in Portland.
photo contributed by erwin Watson
Stanfield’s Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo team poses with their medals
after the Battle on the Columbia in Richland, Wash., on Saturday, Aug. 17.
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