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.
In 1983, he was appointed
sheriff, and it was the beginning
of the most challenging part of
his career.
“I got appointed to that job
not knowing anything about
what a sheriff is supposed to
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