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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2019)
OFF PAGE ONE A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2019 BTW: • • • Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort will open for the season Saturday. The ski area, 35 miles northwest of Baker City, will operate daily through Jan. 5, except Christmas Day. You can ski with Santa on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. to noon. Skiers and snowboarders are reminded that early season conditions will exist this weekend. Groomed runs will include Broadway, Variety, Vista and Road Run, and on the Nordic trail system the Lake Loop, Campground Loop, Gunsight, Col- lege, College Extension and Training Loop will be groomed. Season passes can be picked up starting at 8 a.m. Saturday in the main lodge. Lift tickets will be sold starting at 8:30 a.m. in the ticket booth. The Rock Garden chairlift, along with the handle- tow and Magic Carpet, will start at 9 a.m. • • • Thursday’s menu at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center will be a Christ- mas dinner of ham, potatoes, rolls, broc- coli salad and dessert. Friday is ham salad sandwich, salad and dessert. The senior center will be closed the week of Christ- mas and will reopen for lunch on Mon- day, Jan. 30. Continued from Page A1 contribution to one or more of Oregon’s 1,400+ cultural nonprofi ts, then make a matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust by Tuesday, Dec. 31. People who make contributions can claim the cultural tax credit when fi ling Oregon state taxes. For more informa- tion, visit www.culturaltrust.org. • • • The Stone Building, which has housed the Spray School, will be turning 100 years old. A celebration is planned with a reunion event April 26 at 2 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium. Superintendent/Principal Larry John- son is extending an invitation to anyone connected to the school — either as past students, past employees or had parents or relatives who attended or worked at the school. In addition, Johnson invites people to share pictures, stories or anything that would be of interest to others about the Spray School. Contact Johnson at 541- 468-2226, ljohnson@spray.k12.or.us or Spray School, 303 Park Ave., Spray, OR 97874. Staff photo by Kathy Aney A fi re engine sits at the ready Tuesday evening as fi refi ghters check out the smoking interior of the Hermiston City Hall. Fire: Continued from Page A1 the smoke, which could be seen through windows from outside. In a Facebook post, the fi re district stated that the heavy smoke likely orig- inated from HVAC units inside the building, and that damage was “limited.” Currently, the incident is under investigation. No injuries were reported. After 6 p.m., lights inside city hall remained on and two fi retrucks could be seen outside as crews investigated the building’s interior. City staff were located at the Hermiston Commu- nity Center, where they were putting together boxes for the police department’s Christmas Express program that provides food and gifts to families in need. The city announced that city hall, at 180 NE Sec- ond St., will be closed on Wednesday to deal with the smoke damage. Drago: Continued from Page A1 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce Sgt. Dwight Johnson, right, hands a slice of cake to Sheriff ’s Deputy Roy Drago, 90, during his 90th birthday party Friday at the Staff ord Hansell Government Center in Hermiston. anybody today. That’s not to say we don’t need people.” Drago explained that, although he’s retired twice, he picked up work with the Uma- tilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce again to offset retirement sav- ings lost in the stock market. But he also appreciates the sense of community he’s col- lected over the years. “I’ve made an awful lot of friends here,” he said. ”There are so many people that I know. It’s a pleasure being here.” Those who listen closely can still hear an east-coast lilt in Drago’s voice. It’s one of the last remaining clues that he was in fact born in Yonkers, New York in 1929. Upon graduating high school, he came to live and work with his uncle in Oregon until being drafted into the U.S Army during the Cold War. “I think that set a standard do. I knew what a police offi - cer was supposed to do, but not a sheriff,” Drago said. “It’s a political role.” An article in PoliceOne stated that under Drago’s lead- ership, the department grew from a handful of sheriff’s dep- uties to 17 and that eventually, each one got their own patrol car. He retired in 1999 during his fourth term. Then a few years later, Drago took a job with the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce. He retired there in 2012, but now he’s back. Drago said he’ll be celebrat- ing 18 years with the Umatilla County Sheriff’s offi ce next month. The heartbreaks, mishaps and adventures that pair with his lengthy career are immor- talized in a poem written by his co-worker, deputy Tim Galla- her, aptly dubbed “The Ballad of Roy Drago”. “You’d think his job is done,” it reads. “But Roy still wears a shiny badge and buck- les on his gun.” for me to follow the rest of my life,” Drago said. “To be at work on time, to maintain a good relationship with employer and employees. And I still make my bed everyday.” After being discharged from the military in 1954, Drago landed a job with the Yonkers Police Department, as a patrol- man assigned to animal con- trol. But following what he describes as a “nasty” divorce, Drago decided to head back to the west. “I wasn’t a stranger,” he said. Drago eventually found him- self working for the Eastside Police Department in Coos Bay. When the department merged with the Coos Bay Police Department in 1980, he shipped over to Morrow County, and started working for the sheriff’s offi ce. 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