WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY LANDS HERMISTON’S TOP DEFENSIVE LINEMEN » PAGE A9
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
$1.50
INSIDE
CITY HALL
City of Hermiston staff
answer questions about a
proposed new city hall.
Page » A3
NEW LAW
A proposed law would bar
the state from suspending
driver’s licenses for nonpay-
ment of traffic fines.
Page » A7
DISTINGUISHED
CITIZENS
FLOOD
Gov. Kate Brown awards
medals to Oregon Nation-
al Guard members who
conducted the largest search
and rescue operation in state
history. Page » A12
BY THE WAY
Tax deadline
coming up
The Umatilla County
Assessment & Taxation
Office reminds every-
one doing business in
the county that the dead-
line for returning personal
property and real property
tax returns is coming up.
The returns must be
submitted to the Assess-
ment & Taxation Office
(216 S.E. Fourth St.,
Pendleton) or postmarked
by Sunday, March 15,
2020, to avoid a late fil-
ing penalty. Paul Chalm-
ers, assessment & taxa-
tion director, said if a new
business hasn’t received
tax filing papers in the
mail, it is their respon-
sibility to call the per-
sonal property appraiser
at 541-278-6217.
• • •
Stephanie Hughes,
first vice president of
Altrusa International
of Hermiston, recently
spearheaded an effort to
help provide assistance to
flood victims in the area.
After posting a request on
the service club’s Face-
book page for donations
of money or cleaning sup-
plies, the response came
flooding in.
People provided rub-
ber gloves, spray bottles,
bleach, towels, flat shov-
els, brooms, mops, buck-
ets, toilet paper and dust
masks. After contact-
ing the American Red
Cross, Hughes, her hus-
band, Bob, and Altrusa
staff photo by ben Lonergan
The Medelez brothers accept Medelez Inc.’s Business of the Year Award at the 50th Annual Distinguished Citizens Awards in Hermiston
Wednesday night.
Hermiston honors its civic and
community leaders at event
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Amid tears, cheers and standing ova-
tions, Hermiston honored some of its
most giving citizens at the 50th annual
Distinguished Citizens Awards.
When it came time to accept their
awards, however, most were reluctant to
take any credit for themselves. Lou Lyons
— Man of the Year — jokingly tried to
duck backstage rather than make his way
to the podium. Once he took the award, he
thanked his employees at Elmer’s Irriga-
tion, many of whom have been with him
since he purchased the business 27 years
ago.
“We’re here, we’re proud to support
the community, and that’s what we intend
to do,” he said.
Lyons came to Hermiston in 1989 to
work with the business’s founder, Elmer
Georgeson. Presenter Steve Frasier noted
Lyons is a strong supporter of youth in
staff photo by ben Lonergan
See Citizens, Page A14
Cindy Meyers reacts to winning the Woman of the Year Award at the 50th annual
Distinguished Citizens Awards in Hermiston on Wednesday night.
InsIde: For more photos from the event, see Page A13
See BTW, Page A1
School district honors top educators
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
8
08805 93294
2
By the time she was just
10 years old, Hermiston
School District’s 2020 Edu-
cator of the Year Tammy
Fisher knew she wanted to
be a teacher.
“That’s when I started
teaching swimming les-
sons. As cheesy as it sounds,
it felt like a calling. I loved
the opportunity to work with
people, to share skills and
learn from them. I never fal-
ter on that,” she said.
Fisher grew up in Pend-
leton and before receiving
her master’s degree in cur-
riculum and instruction, she
got her teaching license and
literacy specialist endorse-
ment from Eastern Oregon
University, where she also
studied English.
“I studied it just for fun.
I thought I wanted to teach
elementary,” she said.
And while Fisher has
taught practically every
grade level K-12 in her
13-year teaching career,
she currently holds a posi-
tion as an English teacher
at the high school. Her lit-
erature know-how came in
handy after all, much to her
surprise.
Her favorite piece to
teach is “The Crucible” by
Arthur Miller.
“It has really interesting
ties to history,” Fisher said.
In addition to teach-
ing her regular curriculum
to freshman and junior stu-
dents, Fisher took on inter-
vention classes brought to
the school district this year
through the Read180 cur-
riculum. It’s designed to get
students who read below
grade level back up to speed.
Fisher said that growing
up, her brother had trouble
learning to read. It’s part of
why she’d like to continue
studying adolescent read-
ing, a passion which admin-
istrators can sense. She was
See Educators, Page A14
staff photo by ben Lonergan
Tammy Fisher speaks after winning the award for Districtwide
Educator of the Year at the 50th Annual Distinguished Citizens
Awards in Hermiston on Feb. 12.