COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH ...
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
LINDA MILLER
Retired from RDO Equipment Co.
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
We moved to Hermiston from Boise in 1950. My
dad worked for the railroad.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
La Palma Mexican Restaurant. I like the chile rel-
leno, and the fresh guacamole.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to quilt, and donate time to help people.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
How many people run red lights.
What was the last book you read?
The Bible. I also like to read nonfi ction.
What website or app do you use the most
other than Facebook?
I don’t do much online. I keep up with family on
Facebook, but not much else.
If you could travel anywhere, where would
it be?
Montana. I have traveled all over the Northwest
and to the East Coast, but I have never been there.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
To fi nish the John Deere quilt for my 5-year-old
nephew Christopher, who lives in Maryland.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
I helped organize the Vange John Memorial Hos-
pice (in 1986). I was a patient coordinator, then
the president for eight years. I really enjoyed my
hospice work. And, I’m a 15-year breast cancer
survivor.
Printed on
recycled
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VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 14
Chris Rush | Publisher • crush@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2669
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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HH fi le photo
Spencer DeLong, 6, checks his painting skills on one of Belt Park’s picnic tables, while classmates Kevin Ray and Dawson
Doren work in the background. The kindergarteners were helping paint out graffi ti at the park.
Community leaders ‘jailed’ for a good cause
25 YEARS AGO
April 4, 1995
Forty-fi ve business and commu-
nity leaders were taken to jail Thurs-
day and told to come up with $500
bail.
The jailhouse looked a lot like
Frasu’s and the money went to fi ght
muscular dystrophy.
The Muscular Dystrophy associ-
ation “Lock Up” raised more than
$14,000, most of which will go
to funding work toward a cure for
muscle diseases.
“The difference between that and
real jail is they gave you coffee and
let you make as many phone calls
as possible,” said Bank of America
branch manager Ken Nelson, who
wore stripes for an hour.
Earlier that day, acting Hermis-
ton Police Chief Jerry Roberts col-
lared the suspects and transported
them to “jail” — a 10-foot square
cage equipped with cellular phones.
Calls were frantically made to
anyone who might donate to bail
the inmate out. About one-third of the
jailbirds made bail. The others were,
Nelson said, released on probation
after about an hour following a severe
browbeating.
50 YEARS AGO
April 2, 1970
Everyone should have their 1970
census forms by now and, accord-
ing to the Census Bureau, have them
completed.
Census questionnaires were dis-
tributed to households in the area by
the Post Offi ce a few days ago and are
to be fi lled out and held for the census
taker to pick up.
2) The need for an abundant foods
distributing center in the west end of
Umatilla County was expressed this
week by the Hermiston Neighborhood
Center.
The Center is currently serving as a
depot for the abundant foods program,
but has been informed by superiors
in Washington, D.C. they will not be
able to continue to distribute foods.
“We won’t drop the abundant
foods program immediately,” said
Mrs. Elmo Bloom, coordinator for the
HNC, “but we can continue serving
the people for a short while, not more
than two months.”
Approximately 758 families take
advantage of this program in this end
of the county.
HH fi le photo
John Bieber explains a rope course to students in an anti-gang program in
Hermiston in 1995.
75 YEARS AGO
April 5, 1945
Corporal Hiram J. Stillings recently
was designated as winner of a Silver
Star by the U.S. Army. The citation
states that the award was made for
gallantry in action in December, 1944,
at Holbach, France. During action on
that front, Corp. Stillings, under con-
stant enemy fi re, succeeded in estab-
lishing communication lines to an
observation post.
According to information received
here, the citation reads, “Corporal
Stillings’ intrepidity, determination
and unswerving devotion to duty, at
great risk to his life, are in keeping
with the fi nest traditions of military
service.”
2) F.C. McKenzie, chief clerk of the
Hermiston War Price and Rationing
board, reports that the tire situation is
becoming quite acute here. He reports
that the local quota for April is but
35 Grade 1 tires, or only half of the
quota in March, which had already
been cut severely from quotas of pre-
vious months. Because of this serious
situation, tighter control of tire certif-
icates will be necessary and motor-
ists are urged to keep this in mind. A
“check your tire” campaign is being
launched, asking cooperation of all
motorists to see that tires are properly
infl ated and retreaded before it is too
late, and otherwise helping keep tires
in good repair.
100 YEARS AGO
April 3, 1920
Henry Allen, 17-year-old son of
Mrs. Heath, was accidentally run
over by an auto truck owned by W.O.
Sutherland Friday afternoon of last
week.
Mr. Sutherland was giving the boy
a lift to his home two miles east, and
had slowed down to let him off. After
alighting he must have slipped, with
the result that a hind wheel of the
truck passed over him. After fi rst aid
had been given, Dr. Adams was called.
Examination showed a bro-
ken right thigh at the hip and a bone
cracked in his left thigh lower down
from the wheel having passed over
him diagonally.
The patient is now receiving medi-
cal attention and good care in the local
hospital, where he is getting along
nicely. The injury was purely acciden-
tally received, and no blame attaches
to the driver of the truck.
Member of EO Media Group Copyright ©2020
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.
Community garden stalled by COVID-19
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
As the list of things Ore-
gonians can still do while
preventing the spread of
COVID-19 shrinks, gar-
dening could be a good way
to safely spend time out of
the house.
For now, gardeners in
Hermiston will have to use
their own yards instead of
the Lovin’ Spadefuls Com-
munity Garden, but they’re
hopeful that might change
later in the season.
Chelle Hankinson, the
garden’s facilitator, said
no one is allowed on the
site because it is located on
Good Shepherd Health Care
System’s hospital campus,
and access to the campus
is tightly restricted at the
moment. There were also
concerns about whether
proper social distancing
could be maintained if too
many people were in the
garden area at once.
“Right now we’re going
with what the hospital is
asking us to do,” she said.
“It’s their site and their
property, and we want to
respect that.”
The community garden’s
season usually starts May
1. Hankinson said activity
might not be able to return
to the garden quite that
soon, but there are plenty
of plants that would do well
after being planted in June
or July.
“The good thing about
gardening is you can start
any time,” she said.
The garden’s spring
class had a record-breaking
28 participants before the
last two classes were can-
celed. Hankinson said she
sent home free seeds with
participants, and has been
dropping off other seeds to
others who have decided to
start a garden at home while
they physically isolate at
HH fi le photo
A tomato hangs from a vine at the Lovin’ Spadefuls
Community Garden in Hermiston in 2019.
their residence.
Lovin’ Spadefuls had to
postpone some activities,
such as a plan for FFA stu-
dents to install drip lines,
but Head Start recently
donated a greenhouse that
they will be able to install
on site at some point.
For those who are look-
ing to start a garden, master
gardeners have been post-
ing tips, articles and vid-
eos to the OSU (Oregon)
Master Gardener Facebook
page.
Because of a sudden
surge in interest in learn-
ing how to garden, OSU is
making its online Vegetable
Gardening course available
for free through the end of
April at workspace.ore-
gonstate.edu/course/mas-
ter-gardener-series-vegeta-
ble-gardening.