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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2019)
FROM A1 A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM FAME Continued from Page A1 rodeo committee during the parade. Instead, he and Edie rode horses. While the honor was nice, royalty is not in Clyde’s blood. “It’s nice once in a while,” he said, “but I wouldn’t want a steady diet of it.” Joining the Longfellows in the 2019 Hall of Fame class are Jed Baker, Bobby Christensen, Linda Chris- tensen Parkhurst, Ron- nie Koll, Keith Maddox, Joe Marvel, Mike Mar- vel, Burel Mulkey, Juanita O’Maley, John and Diane Peavey, John Taylor and Hank Williams. On the rodeo trail Clyde and Edie were newlyweds in 1965 when they hit the dusty trail to Cheyenne, Wyo. They had $25 to their name. Clyde won the amateur saddle bronc title, and they headed to the next rodeo. “Our first trip to Denver, we slept in the car because we didn’t have money for a motel,” Clyde said. “The next morning, I turned the car on for heat and the radio came on. The guy said, ‘Welcome to mile- high Denver, it’s minus 11 degrees outside.’ “ Good thing the rodeo was indoors. Clyde’s first profes- sional rodeo was the Lew- iston Round-Up. His first time riding in the Pendle- ton Round-Up was the mid- 1960s. They are the two rodeos each year the couple never misses. Their daughter Crys- tal was born in 1967, and the young family lived in a travel trailer following rodeos most of the year. Their daughter Kelly was born in 1973, and Clyde cut his travel to primarily cir- cuit rodeos. “It was the best life ever,” said Crystal, who lives in Hermiston. “I loved it from the beginning. I Staff photo by Kathy Aney Clyde and Edie Longfellow of Hermiston, recent inductees into the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame, are long-time attendees at the Pendleton Round-Up. wouldn’t trade it for the world. I grew up around the big names back in the day — my dad’s friend’s kids were my friends.” With a family to sup- port, and a house payment to make, Clyde started driv- ing truck for Star Motor Freight. He quit riding for a few years, but soon was back on the horses doing what he loved. He kept his rodeos within the Columbia River Circuit, and reached the finals a few times. In 1993, Clyde and Edie moved to Hermiston, and Clyde continued with Senior Pro Rodeo, and fin- ished second in the world in 1998. He had plans for a return in 1999, but it never happened. While driving to Nampa, Idaho, with a truck load of cattle, he was hit head-on by another semi truck. Clyde was severely injured, cattle were killed, and his truck was totaled. That was the end of his rodeo career, but not his love of rodeo. At the Pendleton Round-Up last week (he and Edie have lifetime passes to PRCA rodeos), he was everywhere from behind the bucking chutes to the Let ‘er Buck Room. There wasn’t a stranger in the midst. Though he enjoyed $ NEW 2019 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER SE many years of competing, he never made the National Finals Rodeo. “He just missed out,” Edie said. “He was 16th one year. One of the sec- retaries didn’t get results sent in. That was kind of depressing.” When he isn’t at a rodeo, he likes to golf and take his sailboat out on the river. Keeping things in check In addition to raising a family and joining her hus- band on the road, Edie, 74, began helping rodeo secretaries. That soon turned into a job — one she has enjoyed for 52 years. One of the first guys she processed for a rodeo was eight-time world champion calf roper Dean Oliver. Edie came in on the ground floor with the Columbia River Circuit in 1975, and most recently was the circuit treasurer. “The time, effort and lifetime passion she has for the sport, I wish we had more like her,” CRC pres- ident Rowdy Barry said. “She is all things rodeo. She knows the rules, the bylaws.” Edie also will give Barry a kick in the pants, some- thing he said he needs every now and again. “Edie is always prodding me to get something done,” Barry said. “I appreciate 396 PER MONTH *Stk. #19H751, New 2019 Toyota Highlander SE. MSRP $44,359, sale price $41,440 after $500 TFS rebate. $396/month lease for 36 months, 10,000 miles/year. $396 cash down. GFV $27,946. No security deposit required. On approved credit. See dealer for details. Does not include military or college rebates. Plus tax, title and $75 dealer doc fee. Offers expires 9/30/19. WEDNESDAy, SEpTEMbER 18, 2019 that. She lives and breathes it, and doesn’t want the acknowledgement.” And for as much as she keeps things running behind the scenes, she’s also like a den mother, if you will, to the cowboys on the circuit. “She’s there when way- ward young cowboys need straightening out, but she’s also there for an attaboy,” Barry said. To this day, she still oversees rodeos in Kenne- wick, Wash., Omak, Wash., Lewiston, Sisters, Moses Lake, Wash., Prineville, Central Point, Coulee City, Wash., and Big Fork, Mont. “We got to do what we wanted to our whole lives,” Edie said. Last month, Edie was named one of the final- ist for the PRCA Donita Barnes Lifetime Achieve- ment Award. Clyde proudly offered up the information. She will find out in Decem- ber if she won. “It’s nice to be recog- nized,” she said. Edie has helped several people to become rodeo secretaries, including her daughter Crystal. She also has worked for several top livestock contractors over the years, including Flying Five, Big Bend, Corey & Lange and Beard Rodeos, just to name a few. “My mom had me help- ing out when I was old enough to be a help and not a hinderance,” Crystal said. When she isn’t working, they travel to watch their granddaughter Makayla compete at rodeos, and they make several visits a year to Lewiston to visit family and friends. Makayla will live with her grandparents this year while she attends Blue Mountain Community College and competes on the rodeo team. Edie makes the annual trek to Las Vegas for the NFR, but Clyde isn’t a big fan of all the people, and opts to stay home. “He has to sit in his seat,” Edie said. “He can’t wander.” PRISON Continued from Page A1 R-Athena. After the East Orego- nian broke the story, Hill- mick reported, other TRCI employees “had the confi- dence to come forward and bring more issues to light.” He said that was what the corrections department executive team needed to do a thorough investigation. Removing a superinten- dent is no small task, he said, and Bowser’s resigna- tion is a “huge testament” to the union workers who stood up for what was right. “No one, not a manager or anyone else, has the right to treat a person poorly or be disrespectful to them while at work,” Hillmick contin- ued. “Everyone here is just trying to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay in order to earn a liv- ing to support their families, pretty much like everyone else in the U.S.” He also said union mem- bers praised Rep. Smith for standing up for them. Smith in response said he appreciated the nod. “Our hard working folks at TRCI keep society safe,” he said. “We owe them a work environment that they feel supported in.” Governor reappoints Threemile Canyon GM to Oregon Ag Board By GEORGE PLAVEN EO MEDIA GROUP The general manager of Oregon’s largest dairy has been reappointed to the state Board of Agriculture, draw- ing the ire of environmental groups over concerns about pollution and sustainability. Gov. Kate Brown appointed Marty Myers, of Threemile Canyon Farms, to serve a second term on the 10-member board, which makes policy recommenda- tions for the state Department of Agriculture. Threemile Canyon Farms is a 93,000-acre opera- tion about 15 miles west of Boardman. It includes three dairies with a combined 33,000 milking cows, pro- ducing 1.4 million pounds of milk each day sold to Til- lamook Cheese at the Port of Morrow. Total livestock, including calves and heifers, is 68,840 animals. The farm also grows 39,500 acres of irri- gated crops, and has 23,000 acres set aside for wildlife conservation. A coalition of advo- cacy groups wrote a letter to Brown on Sept. 12, con- demning Myers’ reappoint- NEW 2019 TOYOTA TACOMA SR5 DBL CAB 4X4 $ Myers Brown ment and criticizing the pro- cess as rushed and lacking transparency. “Instead of welcoming participation from legitimate stakeholders, your office and your agency deliber- ately thwarted it,” the groups wrote in the letter. The coalition includes Columbia Riverkeeper, Friends of Family Farm- ers, Humane Voters Oregon, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, Farm Forward, Food & Water Watch, Cen- ter for Food Safety, Humane Society of the United States, Center for Biological Diver- sity and Animal Legal Defense Fund. State law requires seven members of the Board of Agriculture to be farmers and ranchers. Two members must represent consumers, and the 10th member is the chair of the Soil and Water Conserva- tion Commission. 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