COMMUNITY
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THREE MINUTES WITH ...
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
LOUISE ABLES
Volunteer at Harkenrider
Senior Activity Center
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I had a job here, at Payless Shoes. I’ve lived here
since 1990. I’m from Pilot Rock; I didn’t get that
far.
What is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
I like to go to Chen’s and Denny’s, but I don’t go
out too often.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I read a lot, I garden. I also sew and teach Sunday
School at Landmark Missionary Baptist Church.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
How fast it’s growing.
HH fi le photo
Scott Logan, left, and Humberto Ortego, right, prepare for a state chess competition while advisor Gary Miller looks on in
1995 in Hermiston.
Man jumps from truck to escape train
25 YEARS AGO
Feb. 28, 1995
What was the last book you read?
“The Victims,” I can’t remember the author. It was
about an internet homicide and the court case that
followed.
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
I do have a Facebook, but I don’t do much on it.
If you could travel anywhere, where would
you go?
I would probably go to Alaska again. I took a
cruise there and it was short, but it was fun.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
I can’t think of anything.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
I want to fi nish a quilt I’ve started, it has to be
together by September when my daughter visits
from Arkansas. I don’t want to ship it out there!
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Probably my children. They’re all educated and
self-suffi cient. That’s the goal!
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 9
By passing a package to lure the
company to Hermiston, the Herm-
iston city council went public with
what may have been the worst-kept
secret since nerve agent came to the
Umatilla Depot Activity: a Wal-Mart
distribution center may likely be
coming to town.
Though the company swore city
offi cials and business leaders to
secrecy over the deal for the past
three years, the name surprised few
when it was fi nally spoken last night.
All that is left is for Wal-Mart
offi cials to sign on the dotted line.
The city expects offi cial word by
Monday.
Hermiston was one of seven sites
in Oregon considered for the center.
Other locations included Pendleton,
Boardman, Madras, Cascade Locks,
Medford, Grants Pass and Lincoln
City.
The city’s pitch includes a three-
year property tax break, city utility
improvements, exemption from city
fees and a host of other provisions to
sweeten the deal.
2) A Hermiston couple would like
to give local kids a safer, more engag-
ing place to play.
Jerry and Kathy Blankenship, dis-
satisfi ed with the state of Hermiston’s
playgrounds, have started an effort to
site an elaborate wooden playground
here.
50 YEARS AGO
Feb. 26, 1970
Chris Rush | Publisher • crush@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2669
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Jessica Pollard | Reporter • jpollard@eastoregonian.com, 541-564-4534
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4539
Annie Fowler | Sports Editor • afowler@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4542
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
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Dawn Hendricks | Circulation assistant • dhendricks@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4530
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news,
advertising or subscription information:
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Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838,
(541) 567-6457.
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CORRECTIONS
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as soon as they are
discovered. Incorrect information will be corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on
the Opinion page will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in the
online versions of our stories.
Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com
or call (541) 564-4533 with issues about this policy or to report errors.
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the Hermiston Herald readers
to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but
longer letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. The Hermiston Herald
reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content.
Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers. Anonymous letters
will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be
reached for questions. Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include small
photos and, for veterans, a fl ag symbol at no charge. Expanded death notices will be
published at no charge. These include information about services. Obituaries may be
edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style.
Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at hermistonherald.com/
obituaryform, by email to obits@hermistonherald.com, by fax to 541-276-8314,
placed via the funeral home or in person at the Hermiston Herald or East Oregonian
offi ces. For more information, call 541-966-0818 or 1-800-522-0255, x221.
Complete liquid fertilizer facilities
are being installed at Pendleton Grain
Growers’ Feedville fertilizer and
chemical center south of Hermiston.
This new installation totaling
approximately 100,000 gallons of
liquid fertilizer storage and handling
facilities rounds out the service center
at the Feedville site where a dry fertil-
izer bulk blending plant and chemical
warehouse was completed in Febru-
ary 1968. This fertilizer and chemical
complex is owned by Pacifi c Supply
Cooperative of Portland and leased to
PGG.
“Injection through a sprinkler sys-
tem is a practical and effi cient way of
applying liquid fertilizers and some
pesticides,” according to Glen Wulff,
manager of PGG’ feed, seed and
chemicals department at Hermiston.
Rapid growth of sprinkler irriga-
tion, particularly the large circular
systems, has created a need for these
services, Wulff said.
BTW
Continued from Page A1
been no reports of impacts
to wildlife.
• • •
Hermiston brothers Sei-
lala Jr. and Siu Sepeni
recently earned the rank
of Eagle Scout, Scouting’s
highest honor.
According to a news
release, the Boy Scouts of
America’s Blue Moun-
tain Council gave the
award on Jan. 19 in
Hermiston.
The scouts are the sons
of Falefi tu and Pitolua
Sepeni of Hermiston
HH fi le photo
A family enjoys a sunny winter day at the park in 1995.
75 YEARS AGO
March 1, 1945
100 YEARS AGO
Feb. 28, 1920
Cpol. Ralph C. Neill writes his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Neill of
Hermiston, from “somewhere in the
Pacifi c area war zone” that he recently
had a “slight tussle with a Jap mortar
shell which left me with a bit of a hole
in my left arm and also a broken arm.
The arm is now in a cast and I feel
none the worse except for the discom-
fort of the thing.”
He has been evacuated to another
island and states that he is receiv-
ing fi ne care. Further information
is anxiously awaited to see how he
progresses.
2) His many Hermiston friends
were glad to learn this week that
Major Chester Johnson, son of Mrs.
Rose Johnson of Pendleton, has been
a war prisoner of the Japanese since
the fall of the Philippines. Nothing
had been heard of his whereabouts for
many months and it was feared that he
had been killed.
The news of his fate was ascer-
tained by the Red Cross.
Chester is well known in Hermis-
ton where he attended school for sev-
eral years. He was particularly noted
for his literary talents, starting the fi rst
high school publication here. He later
attended West Point, graduating with
high honors.
Last Saturday while in Echo fi nish-
ing up an eight day hay hauling con-
tract, O.O. Felthouse of Columbia
District narrowly escaped with his life
in an accident in which his truck was
struck by a freight train on the main
line of the O.W.R.N. in the above city
and completely demolished.
Loading a car of hay on the siding,
Mr. Felthouse started just after dinner
to get another truck load. To do this it
was necessary to cross the tracks. On
the siding before approaching the main
line he had to go through a line of box-
cars that had been split in two sections
on each side of the crossing. This, of
course, obstructed his view of the main
line from any direction, and not till he
had passed through the freight car gap
did he see a fast rushing freight going
west bearing down on him.
Realizing he was trapped and that
he would not have one chance in
a thousand to stop before the train
would be on him, his fi rst thought was
how he could save his life. He had to
think fast, and knowing he had but a
moment to decide, jumped just in the
nick of time to escape fatal injury. The
truck was struck by the pilot of the
engine and carried about 300 yards,
where it was ditched in an utterly
demolished condition.
and both are members of
Troop 605, chartered by
the Butte Ward of the
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints.
Their Scout leader is Jer-
emy Harris.
In order to achieve the
rank of Eagle Scout, the
Scouts each had to earn
21 merit badges and show
leadership by planning,
developing, and complet-
ing a community service
project. For their projects,
the brothers each built an
outdoor information bulle-
tin board and placed them
at Harrison Park and Sun-
set Park.
The projects were
funded by the city of
Hermiston and took a
combined 290 hours to
complete.
• • •
Wheatstock
Music
Festival announced that
the Texas-based Randy
Rogers Band is headlin-
ing the Aug. 15 event. The
13th annual music festival
will be held at Quantum 9
Arena in Helix.
The fi rst 1,000 tickets,
which go on sale March 1,
are $30 each. Tickets at the
gate are $40.
Admission is free for
active military personnel
and kids 12 and under.
Also, VIP packages
(which includes a meet-
and-greet with headlin-
ers and event swag) and
shade cabana rentals are
available.
For more information
or to purchase tickets, visit
www.wheatstock.org
or
www.brownpapertickets.
com.
• • •
The menu at the Har-
kenrider Senior Activ-
ity Center for Thursday is
roast beef, mashed potatoes
and gravy, corn and birth-
day cake. Friday is a smor-
gasboard of cook’s choice
items.
— You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com.