COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
Construction worker drowns during bridge project
25 YEARS AGO
July 25, 1995
ROGELIO MONTANO
Architectural Casting
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I moved to Hermiston in 1999 due to complicated
family matters.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
Way back in the day, it was Mr A’s burger joint, but
now it has to be La Palma.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Hang with old friends or work on personal projects.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
How fast it has grown.
What was the last book you read?
“Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural,” by Alger-
non Blackwood
What website or app do you use the most?
Probably Instagram.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?
Either Japan or Australia.
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened
to you?
Too many hilarious moments to bring down to one.
If I had to just pick one, it would be me getting
off the bus trying to run home in a storm with no
jacket, only to trip, fall, sprain my ankle as soon as I
stepped off the bus.
What is one of your goals in the next 12 years?
To be able to live by myself in my own home.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Honestly, getting out of Hermiston is my biggest
accomplishment.
State offers testing locator
The Oregon Health
Authority has a new
COVID-19 test site loca-
tor to help Oregonians fi nd
nearby places where they
can be tested. The interac-
tive map, available in mul-
tiple languages, can be
found at healthoregon.org/
covid19testing.
For someone who is
experiencing
COVID-19
symptoms, OHA recom-
mends their fi rst step be con-
tacting their health care pro-
vider to discuss whether
testing is appropriate, based
on their symptoms, expo-
sure and local testing capac-
ity. However, people can
also enter their Zip code or
county into the map to deter-
mine where sites are located.
OHA recommends calling to
verify the testing site’s hours
and criteria before visiting.
“Removing barriers to
testing is important to help
Oregonians stay healthy
and to slow the spread of
COVID-19,” said Dean
Sidelinger, MD, state epi-
demiologist
and
state
health offi cer said in a news
release. “This new resource
can help people fi nd ongo-
ing testing locations in their
community, which is espe-
cially important for people
who don’t have a primary
care provider.”
The data on the testing
locator was submitted to
Castlight, the site’s creator,
by both the OHA and local
public health authorities.
The Hermiston City Council
delivered the knock-out punch Mon-
day to a proposed manufactured
home development near the Hermis-
ton Cemetery.
United Homes, Inc. had peti-
tioned the city to annex about 23
acres west of Highway 395 and east
of the cemetery. Their plans were for
a 165-lot development.
A lone no vote on the annexation
a month ago by Councilor Kraig
Cutsforth forced a reconsideration of
the proposal. The annexation mea-
sure was subsequently tabled.
Though the city and United
Homes developer Clint Herggert
have met in cordial discussions since,
the two parties could not agree over
traffi c and access considerations.
2) Four families are homeless
after high winds swept a fi eld fi re
into the Hat Rock Campground
Thursday.
“This is Armageddon — the end
of the world at Hat Rock State Park
— after wind, hail, fi re, and in my
case, robbery,” said campground res-
ident K.C. Turnbull.
Turnbull’s double-wide manu-
factured home still sported two bro-
ken windows resulting from the hail
storm two weeks ago.
HH fi le photo
Firefi ghters work to put out a fi re that destroyed four homes at Hat Rock State
Park in 1995.
50 YEARS AGO
July 23, 1970
A former Hermiston resident was
killed in a freak accident late Friday,
July 17, at a logging operation near
Troy, Montana. David Cripe, 29,
was crushed when a piece of logging
equipment, called a skidder, tipped
over onto him.
He is survived by his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Ed Cripe of Hermiston, and
a sister, Mrs. Rick Rebman.
2) A 2.7-acre piece of property
fronting on Orchard Avenue and
adjoining the Umatilla County Fair-
grounds will be added to the fair-
grounds if county voters approve a
one-year special levy of $40,000 to
buy the land.
The fair board on Monday gave
the fi nal OK to the plan, which would
add the much needed park-like prop-
erty to the fair facilities.
The measure will be on the
November general election ballot.
HH fi le photo
Dottie the Clown, aka Becky Hawes, entertains children at a Hermiston Parks
and Recreation summer camp in 1995.
75 YEARS AGO
July 26, 1945
Farm Security families in Uma-
tilla County were urged to set aside
a special week for farm clean-up as
part of a national farm safety cam-
paign to prevent fi res, accidents and
waste. An average of 10 lives a day
are lost in farm fi re, 18,000 farm
people are killed annually in farm
accidents, and $90 million in farm
property is destroyed each year by
fi re, according to fi gures received
by Eugene Hampton, County FSA
supervisor.
A thorough job of houseclean-
ing on FSA farmsteads will not only
make large quantities of paper, rags,
clothing, tin cans, sacks and metal
available for important war sal-
vage, but it will also go far to pre-
vent fi res and personal accidents
and minimize waste, Hampton
said. All usable machine parts can
be cleaned and kept for repairs and
often result in considerable savings
in case of machinery and equipment
breakdowns.
Cleaning all debris, trash and
paper from farm homes and build-
ings in insurance against sponta-
neous combustion and accidental
hazards.
HH fi le photo
Workers process potatoes at Sunbest Corporation outside of Hermiston in 1970.
100 YEARS AGO
July 23, 1920
As per schedule the House
Appropriations Committee arrived
in Hermiston at 5:33 a.m. last Fri-
day and were guests of the Commer-
cial Club at breakfast at the Herm-
iston Hotel at 8:30 a.m. and were
taken on a four-hour tour over the
Umatilla and Furnish projects, arriv-
ing at Stanfi eld at 1 p.m., where the
ladies of that city served a delicious
luncheon.
The visitors were tired from their
many days of traveling and did not
leave their cars, parked on the sid-
ing, until breakfast time. Because of
their fatigue, the auto run through
the Western Land & Irrigation Com-
pany’s holdings was omitted.
2) J.A. Hovis of Portland lost
his life in Willow Creek near Hep-
pner Junction July 13. Mr. Hovis
was foreman on the highway bridge
under construction, and in some way
lost his footing on the bridge and fell
into the water below. Other workmen
were on the bridge but Mr. Hovis had
drowned before help could reach
him. It is thought that he was taken
sick, as he was an excellent swim-
mer, having been across the Colum-
bia River several times.
BY THE WAY
Presbyterian church offers Vacation Bible School to go
Faith Presbyterian Church’s Christian education
team is rethinking Vacation Bible School in the age of
COVID-19.
The church team is offering a “distance learning” ver-
sion of the summer tradition, and has assembled fi ve days
of grade school-targeted activities that include elements
online and a packet of materials to retell the Bible story,
play games, do science experiments and sing VBS songs
from previous years.
Online portions, which include the Bible story, direc-
tions for activities and songs, can be found on the church’s
website at faith-presbyterian.org under the “In the Life
Together” tab.
The packets are available for pickup in bins outside
Faith Presbyterian Church, 1005 S.E. Ninth St., Hermis-
ton, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until they are gone. They
are free, but donations to help defray costs can be made
on the website.
• • •
Summer outdoor market set Aug. 1
Wild Bleu Yonder and other Echo-area businesses are
hosting a ”Freedom and Junk” summer market on Sat-
urday, Aug. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The outdoor market, which they hope will become an
annual tradition, will be located in downtown Echo.
Wares will include soap, candles, boutique clothing,
wine, jewelry, antiques and more.
• • •
Triathlon for children coming up
Hermiston Parks and Recreation is hosting a triath-
lon for children ages 4-12 on Saturday, Aug. 1, at 9 a.m.
at the Hermiston Family Aquatic Center.
Participants will swim, then bicycle, and then fi nish
with running. Parents are encouraged to assist and partic-
ipate alongside their child.
Participates ages 7-12 will swim 50 meters, bike 1 mile
and run 0.75 miles. Ages 4-6 will swim 50 feet (lifejack-
ets available), bike 0.6 miles (training wheels allowed)
and run 0.4 miles.
The deadline to register is July 24. Cost is $24. 60
Minute Photo will be taking action photos during the
event.
• • •
Senior center lunches include goulash, hot dogs
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center provides
meals for senior citizens each week for takeout and
delivery.
The menu for Thursday, July 23, is goulash, Jell-O
salad, garlic bread and dessert. The menu for Tuesday,
July 28, is hot dogs, sauerkraut, potato salad and dessert.
For a Meals on Wheels delivery, call 541-567-3582
before 10 a.m. to place an order. To pick up a meal from
the center at 255 N.E. Second St., call the same num-
ber before 11 a.m. Meals are $4 and can be picked up
between noon and 12:50 p.m.