COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH ...
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
CASSANDRA
EVENS
Business owner & organizer of
the Hermiston Rock Hunt group
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I actually moved here in 2011. I was living in Port-
land with my sister. Her husband was going to
school in California, she introduced me to a guy
he went to school with. He ended up being my hus-
band and I followed him to Hermiston.
What is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
I would have to say Ixtapa or Panda Express.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I don’t get to travel much. My small business is
pretty much what I like to do in my free time when
I have it. I’m really artistic so I turned that into my
business. I like to do photography. I have one Etsy
store where I design baby onesies, another geared
toward adults where I do designs on make-up bags
and totes, and I have another shop in the making
involving cement crafts.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
I would say how many people are actually in this
town for being in this area. I’ve seen some pretty
good growth. Walmart seems a little more crowded
than it usually is.
What was the last book you read?
“Outside the Lines” by Amy Hatvany
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
Etsy and Pinterest. Since I started my cement
crafting, I was on Pinterest and got the idea to
redo our countertops, which we’re in the middle of
right now. My husband hates Pinterest because of
that.
If you could travel anywhere, where would
you go?
Anywhere? I really want to go to the Bahamas.
The water looks amazing, I’ve always wanted to
take a cruise to there. I’m not big into fl ying.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
It might not have been funny at the time, but I still
remember it to this day: we had this big staircase
in the middle of my high school. It was a popular
hangout between classes. I was walking through it
to get to my next class, and when I got to the top I
tripped. My books and binders went everywhere.
A bunch of kids saw it happen and were laughing
at me. Everyone knew me after that, but they were
kind about it. That was probably the most I’ve ever
been the center of attention.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
I have a sales goal for my businesses. My goal for
the next year is to try and grow and double.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Defi nitely my kids. I have a 4-year-old and a
1-year-old.
Printed on
recycled
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VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 2
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CORRECTIONS
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as soon as they are
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HH fi le photo
Mayor Frank Harkenrider signs an agreement that formalizes the city of Hermiston’s relationship with the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation while Antone Minthorn, left, and Donald Sampson, right, look on in 1995.
Citizens submit names for new middle school
was a whopper.
And the carrot was a whopper. It
tipped the scales at 5.25 pounds and
would furnish vitamins for an average
family for many meals. The giant car-
rot was displayed at the Red & White
store.
2) Coach Frank Davison’s high
school basketeers literally “went to
town” Tuesday night when they ran
up a score of 77 to 15 against a fi ght-
ing Irrigon fi ve that never gave up
until the fi nal whistle blew. Led by
Schoonover with 18, Belt with 15 and
Connors with 14, the Bulldogs made
the merry most of the evening. Coach
Davison substituted freely but the new
men scored almost as well their “older
brothers.”
25 YEARS AGO
Jan. 10, 1995
It is now illegal for vandals in
Stanfi eld to possess a felt tip marker
or a can of spray paint.
The city council unanimously
passed an ordinance Jan. 3 aimed
at reducing the amount of graffi ti in
the city and making graffi ti writing
illegal.
The city now has the power to pun-
ish a person found with a can of spray
paint, a felt tip marker larger than
one-fourth inch wide, or any marking
device — including chalk — intent on
applying graffi ti.
2) The names of leading Hermis-
ton citizens like Henry Ott, Ed Ben-
sel or Doris Bounds could grace the
name of the new middle school under
construction at the corner of 10th and
Diagonal.
Residents have until Friday to sub-
mit suggestions for the new school,
which opens in the fall. The commit-
tee has already received a long list.
Suggestions range from rodeo
themes to geographical references
and big names in Hermiston develop-
ment. Although the committee is only
looking for a school name right now,
many suggestions also included mas-
cot possibilities.
Included on the list are the Farm-
City Middle School Wranglers, the
Hermiston Desert Middle School Rat-
tlers and the Tom McCall Mavericks.
50 YEARS AGO
Jan. 8, 1969
Last Friday night a robber or rob-
bers broke into the Stewart’s Town
and Country Market in Umatilla and
helped themselves to approximately
$6,600 in cash and checks, along with
numerous other business papers.
Entry was gained to the building
by breaking a door glass and opening
the door. The money was taken from
a hiding place in the store, not a safe.
Monday the store got the checks
back in an envelope bearing a Herm-
100 YEARS AGO
Jan. 10, 1920
HH fi le photo
Summer Edgerly and Jodi Kasparek
carry a U.S. fl ag during the opening
processional of the Grand Council Fire
of the Camp Fire club in 1995.
iston postmark. All had been stamped
“For Deposit Only” so they could not
be cashed.
In today’s paper Stewart is running
an ad thanking whoever returned the
checks and offering them the chance
to keep $500 of the cash for their
efforts if they would return the undis-
closed balance, saying the store would
not prosecute.
At press time Wednesday there had
been no reported takers on the offer.
75 YEARS AGO
Jan. 11, 1945
O.C. Pierce, manager of the Farm
Bureau Mill, has told many tall fi sh
stories in his day. This week he had a
story to tell that sounded “fi shy” but
he had the goods to back it up. His tale
was that he had raised a large carrot on
his plot of ground in Hermiston that
Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Miles of
Pendleton have leased the old rest
room building one door east of First
National Bank, that is being vacated
by the second-hand store, in which
they are about to establish a restaurant
to be operated under the name Amer-
ican Cafe.
They expect to be ready for busi-
ness by the 15th of this month, hav-
ing received their full equipment from
Portland.
Mr. and Mrs. Miles have had many
years experience in the restaurant
business, and no doubt will received
a fair share of public patronage after
they start up.
2) Business places in this city are
beginning to shy at taking Canadian
money on account of the unstable con-
dition it has assumed in the exchange
rate, which fl uctuates from around
10% to as high as 20% on the dol-
lar. The First National Bank of Herm-
iston accepts Canadian money at 90
cents on the dollar, but is not anxious
to handle it at all, only doing so as a
matter of accommodation to its cus-
tomers. Many banks have discontin-
ued accepting the coins and currency
of the Dominion altogether.
Our New Neighbors: Electrical system
operator fi nds new terrain in Umatilla County
By ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITER
Despite spending most
of her life in the region,
Kathryn Kennington, 54,
hadn’t done much more
than pass through Pendle-
ton or Hermiston.
After working for the
Oregon Trail
Electric
Co-Op in Baker City and
La Grande since 1989, Ken-
nington needed something
new in 2019.
She got it in February
when she left her longtime
home in La Grande to start
as a system operator for
Umatilla Electric Coopera-
tive in Hermiston.
“I just needed a job
change,” she says. “That
opportunity came up and I
was able to take advantage
of it.”
The work itself is mostly
the same, Kennington says.
As a system operator, the
same position she held
with OTEC, she’s primar-
ily responsible for switch-
ing lines back on, tak-
ing care of power outages
that may occur, and other
maintenance.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Kathryn Kennington poses for a portrait at her workstation
at Umatilla Electric Cooperative in Hermiston on Monday
morning. Kennington, a system operator for the cooperative,
is responsible for switching lines on and off as well as taking
care of power outages and other maintenance.
While some days are
spent in her Hermiston
offi ce, others are spent
out in the fi eld confi rming
what exactly is out there
as UEC updates the map-
ping of its systems, an espe-
cially important task as the
co-op’s footprint grows
throughout the region.
On Dec. 23, UEC broke
ground for the construc-
tion of its new substation
at Juniper Canyon West,
according to a press release,
becoming the fourth project
that’s already under devel-
opment with more planned
for 2020.
“Some days are busier
than others,” Kennington
says.
Kennington grew up
in Washington and gradu-
ated from Northwest Naz-
arene University in Nampa,
Idaho, with a degree in
music. But after Kenning-
ton ended up working at
OTEC in Baker City, she
decided to dive into her
eventual career path when
a lineman apprenticeship
opened in La Grande.
Kennington took it,
completed the three-year
apprenticeship, and spent
nine years out in the fi eld
erecting and tending to
power lines.
When she’s not on the
clock in Hermiston these
days, Kennington lives in
an apartment in Pendle-
ton with her husband, who
still works in La Grande for
the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
A self-described animal
lover, Kennington spends
at least a few hours once
per week volunteering at
PAWS, the Pendleton Ani-
mal Welfare Shelter. Ken-
nington and her husband
have two pets of their own:
a Great Dane, Tara, and a
cat, Snuggie.
Kennington also enjoys
going for walks around the
parks near her in the city,
and says she and her hus-
band have appreciated the
greater availability of din-
ing options compared to La
Grande.