DAWGS GET FIRST WIN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
SPORTS » PAGE A8
$1.50
INSIDE
CORN MAZE
A HISTORY OF SERVICE
Echo Corn Maze and
Pumpkin Patch kicks
off season with new
attractions. • PAGE A4
NEW STORE
The former Payless Shoe
Store building didn’t stay
empty for long. • PAGE A6
BY THE WAY
Echo Oktoberfest
coming Oct. 19
Beer & brauts, burg-
ers & dogs, as well as live
music by Standard Devi-
ation is featured during
this year’s Echo Okto-
berFest. While organizers
are gearing up for the Oct.
19 event, they are offer-
ing pre-sale tickets that
include a $5 bonus token.
They are available at H&P
Cafe, Columbia Bank,
Community Bank and
Echo Ridge Cellars.
For more information,
visit https://echo.kiwani-
sone.org. Also, a full story
about the event will appear
in the Oct. 16 Hermiston
Herald.
• • •
‘Tis the season for the
fl u, and that means the
Centers for Disease Con-
trol is urging everyone to
get vaccinated for the fl u.
The body takes about two
weeks to build up immu-
nity after the shot, so if you
wait until everyone in your
family or your workplace
is already sick it might be
too late.
Most insurances will
pay 100% of the cost, and
shots are available from
your doctor and a wide
variety of local pharma-
cies, including Rite-Aid,
Bi-Mart, Walmart and
Safeway.
VA-enrolled
veter-
ans are eligible for free
fl u shots, and on Oct. 18
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the
Walla Walla VA Medi-
cal Center, 77 Wainwright
Drive in Walla Walla, is
offering them a drive-
through vaccine event
where they can get vacci-
nated from the comfort of
their vehicle.
• • •
Mark Rose, direc-
tor of the Hermiston
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Agape House Executive Director Dave Hughes poses for a portrait at his desk late last week. Hughes, who has been with the organization
since 2002, is retiring to pursue other ventures.
Change is in the air for the
Agape House and its director
Dave Hughes, who is retiring
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
A
s executive director Dave Hughes,
73, prepares for his departure from
Agape House, change is in the air.
But the key question keeping the nonprofi t
alive remains the same, and perhaps Dave
puts it best:
“Here’s a need. Can we do something?”
The answer always tries to be yes.
Whether it’s addressing local hunger,
housing issues, or cold weather, the people
behind Agape House (run with Martha’s
House under the umbrella of Eastern Ore-
gon Mission) respond with a community
service. And if you ask anyone involved,
Dave has been a large part of that for quite
some time.
“I’d say he is the most compassionate
man I’ve ever met. He sees a need and he
wants to fi x it,” said Doug Alvarez, who
has volunteered with Agape House for the
last decade.
When Dave moved with his wife,
Jodene, to Hermiston in 2000 to escape the
HH fi le photo
Dave Hughes, Agape House executive director, thanks participants during a past murder
mystery fundraiser in 2017.
wet climate of western Oregon, he wasn’t
thinking of Agape House.
Jodene quickly found work at Ban-
ner Bank. Dave put his property appraisal
business to rest and started working at
Walmart in Pendleton.
“I wanted to give back somehow, but I
had no idea what I wanted to do,” he said.
When the executive director position
opened up at Agape House in 2002, he got
the job and never looked back.
Right off the bat, the board presented
him with a challenge: relocate Agape
House to a new facility on West Harper
Road, where the organization still stands
today.
See Hughes, Page A14
See BTW, Page A14
Hermiston hosts multi-agency drill
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
8
08805 93294
2
Firefi ghters carry a victim on a backboard during a training drill in Hermiston
Wednesday night.
When a bus with 12 people on
board crashed into a train carrying
gallons of toxic fumigant at dusk,
dozens of emergency personnel
swarmed the scene.
Luckily, it was only a drill.
The full-scale exercise on Oct. 2
was hosted at the Umatilla County
Fire District 1 Station 23 on West-
land Road, but the simulation rep-
resented the intersection of Cooney
Lane and Umatilla River Road.
“Coordination is the biggest
part of this,” said Dean Marcum of
the Oregon Health Authority, who
directed the exercise. “Everybody
plays and activates their emergency
operations plans to see how every-
thing works and if everyone is coor-
dinating together.”
Multiple local health care and
public safety agencies, including the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce,
Umatilla Fire District 1, Lifeways
and Good Shepherd Health Care
System were involved.
Marcum said larger drills like
last Wednesday’s are important,
because lots of different chemicals
are transported through the Umatilla
County area by truck and are often
unlabeled.
“It’s the same with trains. You
never know what you’re going to
run into,” he said. “That’s why you
have to train for all hazards.”
The National Weather Service
was present as well, and simulated
the incident on the computer.
See Drill, Page A14