LOCAL
Wednesday, OctOber 16, 2019
HerMIstOnHeraLd.cOM • A7
Mama Bear’s Quilt shop opens in Stanfield
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edItOr
Quilt enthusiasts and city
officials gathered Friday
morning to celebrate the
opening of Mama Bear’s
Quilt Shop in Stanfield.
“We’ve taken a chance
on a 119-year-old building,
and we hope you like what
we’ve done with it,” Chad
Ray told the group.
Chad and his wife,
Kristi, own the quilt shop at
170 S. Main St. Chad said it
all started 22 years ago when
he bought Kristi a gift cer-
tificate for fabric and some
sewing supplies for Christ-
mas one year. Her love for
the art of quilting grew over
time, until eventually she
decided to go all in.
He said he hopes more
people from around the area
catch the quilting “bug.”
Kristi said she has
always enjoyed the craft of
coming up with new quilts,
and loves seeing all the
Staff photos by Jade McDowell
LEFT: Customers browse fabrics at the grand opening event
for Mama Bear’s Quilt Shop. RIGHT: Members of the Ray family
and officials from the city of Stanfield chat before cutting the
ribbon on the new Mama Bear’s Quilt Shop in Stanfield on
Friday morning.
beautiful quilts other people
are able to create as well.
“They’re all different
and amazing,” she said.
The store features walls
of fabric, thread, PFAFF
sewing machines, a long
arm quilting machine and
other supplies. Kristi said
she plans to start offering
quilting classes soon, and
Chad will provide mainte-
nance and repairs for sew-
ing machines.
They thanked the city of
Stanfield for their patience
and support through the
financing and remodel pro-
schools visit to learn
about college readiness
By JESSICA POLLARD
staFF WrIter
HerMIstOn HeraLd
Staff photo by Jessica Pollard
Liz Marvin, Project College Bound coordinator at Hermiston High School, talks about college
readiness programs in front of the GEAR UP cohort.
high school.
“I think access is one
of the big ones — physical
access to colleges and uni-
versities. When learning
about options, proximity is
part of that challenge,” she
said.
Liz Marvin, Project Col-
lege Bound coordinator at
the high school, noted it’s
really difficult to tell how
many students end up pursu-
ing some form of post-sec-
ondary education — from
trade school to university—
straight out of high school
because they don’t have to
share that information.
“It’s really hard to track.
But I would say that since
GEAR UP, there’re a lot
more resources for students
to access, more opportuni-
ties,” she said. “We haven’t
always been where we are
now. We still see things that
we can do and improve.”
Maria Duron, commu-
nications officer at the dis-
trict, said that the program
helped bring Hermiston
High School’s Java Dawg
coffee shop and Dawg Prints
printing shop to life.
The GEAR UP cohort
toured both shops, the work
site for the student-built
home and heard from dif-
ferent educators about col-
lege-readiness
programs
like ASPIRE and Career and
Technical Education classes.
Roger Berger, the CTE
advisor at the high school,
mentioned that GEAR UP
School
district
sees
decline in
enrollment
he was amazed when he saw
how the Rays had trans-
formed the interior of the old
building.
“We are thrilled to have
you here,” he told them.
Hansell shows off
region to Portland
colleagues
Hermiston students greet GEAR UP
More than 15 years ago,
Hermiston School District
took part in the statewide
grant program, GEAR UP,
to boost student participa-
tion in post-high school edu-
cation. Just last week, the
district had a chance to show
off their progress to schools
that are going through the
seven-year program.
“Each year we try to do
school visits,” said GEAR
UP coordinator Adrienne
Enriquez. “We would call
Hermiston School District a
success story.”
GEAR UP, which stands
for Gaining Early Aware-
ness and Readiness for
Undergraduate Programs, is
a federally funded program
which provides low income,
rural schools a coordinator
and funding to help increase
interest in education after
high school.
Hermiston was part of the
state’s first-ever GEAR UP
cohort, from 2002 to 2008.
Schools in Boardman, Stan-
field and Umatilla are cur-
rently part of the 2014 to
2021 cohort.
Enriquez said there are
specific challenges that more
rural schools face when it
comes to making students
aware of their options after
cess for the historic build-
ing, which over the decades
has served as everything
from a pharmacy to an auto
parts store.
Mayor Tom McCann said
funds helped the high school
purchase a van used for
regional college visits.
“GEAR UP has been a
huge supporter of our pro-
grams,” he said. “This is
our opportunity to show that
their investment has paid
off, and to show what we’ve
learned.”
He said that the college
application process is more
difficult than ever before,
and that students need more
higher education support.
“We’ve really worked to
tell students too, that when
we say ‘college’ we mean
post-secondary education.
It could be military, trade-
school, apprenticeship. We
just don’t want them to stop
learning,” Marvin said.
Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, recently wel-
comed two of his Senate
colleagues to Morrow and
Umatilla counties.
During the weekend
of Sept. 21, Sen. Michael
Dembrow,
D-Portland,
and Sen. Lew Freder-
ick, D-Portland, partic-
ipated in a tour along
with a dozen of their
constituents.
The goal of the trip,
Hansell said, was to show
the ongoing work in the
Columbia Basin regarding
water use and irrigation.
In addition, the group
toured the former Lost
Valley Dairy site, which
is now owned by East-
erday Farms. The group
saw how the dairy is
being revitalized and how
area farms are using digi-
tal technology to monitor
field irrigation systems in
real-time.
The group also toured
the Port of Morrow
and the SAGE Center
to see how technologi-
cal advances are making
agriculture more energy
efficient.
“Ever since I was
elected to the Senate, I
have extended invitations
to my urban colleagues
to visit rural Eastern Ore-
gon,” Hansell said in a
news release. “These trips
show how farmers and
ranchers use our abundant
natural resources in a sus-
tainable way.”
Hansell said his col-
leagues and their constit-
uents participated in a full
day of learning.
In addition, they were
able to take sweet corn
and Hermiston melons
home with them from the
fields.
The trip and tour,
Hansell said, would not
have been possible with-
out the work of J.R. Cook,
the Northeast Oregon
Water Association, Bobby
Levy and the Eastern
Oregon Women’s Coali-
tion. Hansell expressed
appreciation to the Port
of Morrow, Easterday
Farms, Madison Ranches
and Bellinger Farms for
their generous hospital-
ity and for showing their
operations.
“It was a special day,”
he said.
“I am proud of the agri-
cultural innovation taking
place in Senate District 29
and I’m glad that my col-
leagues were able to see it
firsthand.”
I got screened.
Now, I’m talking about it.
HerMIstOn HeraLd
At the Hermiston School
District board meeting
Monday, an enrollment
report revealed a slight dip
in the number of students
from the month of August
to September.
In August, the district
saw total student enroll-
ment of 5,777, which
dropped by 20 students in
September to 5,757. The
number represents 34 fewer
students than the same time
last year.
The dip breaks a trend
of growth that the district
has seen for several years.
The district grew by 187
students from September
2014 to September 2015,
141 students from 2015
to 2016, 116 from 2016 to
2017 and 21 students from
2017 to 2018.
“That’s a different spot
for us to be in,” said Super-
intendent Tricia Mooney.
“We’re a keeping a close
eye on those numbers.”
Mooney said it seemed
that a lot of the students who
left this year had moved out
of state and were in fam-
ilies that contained more
than one student.
Screening can prevent colorectal cancer
or catch the #2 cancer killer early when
it’s highly treatable. Most people get
screened because they’re encouraged
by someone they know and trust. So
if you’ve been screened, please talk
about your experience. And encourage
others to get screened too.
COLORECTAL CANCER
The cancer you can prevent.
TheCancerYouCanPrevent.org
Karen King
Pendleton, Oregon
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded campaign