COMMUNITY
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2020
Aspiring librarian wins summer writing contest
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
When Cassidy McQuain
found out that the theme
of the Hermiston Pub-
lic Library’s teen summer
reading program was about
myths and magic, she was
excited.
The Hermiston teen, age
18, loves Greek mythology.
“These stories explain
how something happened,
like the gods are fi ghting,
and so that’s a volcano that
blew off its top,” she said.
“It’s crazy that people made
these stories up to explain
everyday, normal things.”
She immediately had
ideas for the program’s
summer writing contest,
and turned in a story about
an archaeologist named
Cass, who uncovers Pan-
dora’s Box while on a dig
in Greece. After discover-
ing the box, the heroine of
the story meets many fi g-
ures from Greek mythology,
from Hades to Zeus.
The story was named the
contest winner, and the prize
included writing supplies
Photo contributed by Stacie
McQuain
Cassidy McQuain won this
year’s Hermiston Public
Library teen summer writing
contest.
A summer in Greece
The following is a short excerpt from “A
Summer in Greece,” the fi ctional story by
Cassidy McQuain that won the Hermis-
ton Public Library’s teen summer writing
contest. To read the full story, visit www.
hermistonherald.com.
Cass wiped the sweat off her brow.
Greece during the summer season was
really hot. She still couldn’t believe she
was getting to be part of one of the
biggest archeological digs for Grecian
artifacts ever known. Just three months
ago, she was teaching archeology and
Greek mythology classes at University
of Oregon, and now she was the lead
archeologist on this historical dig.
This morning, she was focused on care-
fully removing an urn she discovered in
the ruins a day earlier. As she used her
pick to gently remove the fi nal rock, she
was able to lift the precious piece from
the ground. She then took it to the rins-
ing station, where she rinsed it off and
observed how strange it was. It was dark
black and unlike any urn she had seen
before. It was square and had strange
letters carved into it. As an archeology
scholar, she was familiar with many
languages, but didn’t recognize this one,
so she called over the linguistics expert.
He thought it might be Old Greek, but
he wasn’t sure. Cass slowly lifted the top
of the urn and that’s when everything
went black.
The next thing she knew, she awoke
with a pounding headache in a grove of
olive trees. Standing over her was a very
tall, handsome man. He had blonde hair,
protruding muscles, and was dressed
in a white toga and golden sandals. He
helped Cass sit up and then he handed
and an interview with the
Hermiston Herald.
McQuain said most of
the time she just shows her
writing to her family, but she
is working on a book that a
family friend plans to illus-
trate for her. The book is a
time-traveling tale involv-
ing the legends surrounding
King Arthur.
“When I write, I can go
anywhere, I can be anything
I want,” she said.
She said she doesn’t usu-
ally write outlines of her sto-
ries fi rst, she just gets an
idea and sits down and starts
typing. She often gets those
ideas from reading, which is
another favorite activity.
It probably comes as
no surprise, then, that she
would also love the library
— something McQuain
said she “absolutely” does.
She sits on the library’s
Teen Advisory Council, and
hopes to become a librar-
ian herself someday. Her
mother, Stacie McQuain,
said Cassidy is in a high-
risk category for COVID-
19, so she was grateful that
the library has so many
online resources and created
a summer reading program
with activities that children
and teens could do online or
socially distanced.
“We’re grateful in this
digital age that the library
and open for Oregon’s Coro-
navirus Relief Fund (CRF)
Cultural Support program.
According to a news
release, funds will be avail-
able to Oregon cultural orga-
nizations facing losses due
to the COVID-19 health
crisis. The $25.9 million in
funding was made avail-
able through a $50 million
relief package for Oregon
culture recently approved by
the Emergency Board of the
Oregon Legislature.
Applications are due by
noon Monday, Aug. 24, and
approved funds must be dis-
tributed by Sept. 15.
All Oregon cultural non-
profi ts and community ven-
ues are welcome to apply.
Funding will be determined
based on eligible request
amounts, an award alloca-
tion formula that establishes
a base amount of funds
per county or tribe and the
organization’s fi scal size.
COVID-19 expenses previ-
ously reimbursed by other
federal CARES Act pro-
grams are not eligible.
The intended use of the
CRF Cultural Support funds
is to provide fi nancial assis-
tance to cultural nonprofi t
organizations and commu-
nity venues that have can-
celed or postponed pub-
lic programming because
of public health executive
orders associated with the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal CARES Act
requires that CRF fund-
ing only be used to cover
expenses that are necessary
expenditures incurred due to
the public health emergency
and were not accounted for
in the budget most recently
approved as of March 27,
2020; and were incurred
during the period that begins
on March 1, 2020, and ends
on Dec. 30, 2020.
For more information
visit culturaltrust.org/grants.
BRIEFS
Black Lives Matter
march planned Aug. 29
A march for area resi-
dents against police brutal-
ity and systematic racism is
planned Saturday, Aug. 29,
from 4-6 p.m. beginning at
Roy Raley Park, 1205 S.W.
Court Ave., Pendleton.
The event will include
speakers, a march through
Pendleton, a car march, cen-
sus and voter registration
booths, and kid-friendly
activities.
Masks are required, and
social distancing is highly
recommended. Masks and
bottled water will be pro-
vide, and hand sanitizer will
be available for use. Par-
ticipants are asked to wear
black if possible.
For more information, or
if you would like to volun-
teer or host a booth at the
event, email PDTBLM@
outlook.com.
Traffi cking awareness
march scheduled
People are invited to
march to raise awareness
of child exploitation and
human traffi cking on Satur-
day, Aug. 22, in Hermiston.
The march will begin
at 10 a.m. at the corner of
Highway 395 and Elm Street
next to McDonald’s, and end
at McKenzie Park.
Organizer Alicia Gre-
gerson said she had origi-
nally hoped to have speak-
ers and information set up at
the park, but due to current
COVID-19 restrictions the
event will just be a march.
She said she hopes that it
will spark interest in future
events, however.
The event is part of a
“global march” on Aug. 22
encouraged by Freedom
for the Children. The orga-
nization’s website, free-
domforthechildren.org,
states that its goals include
increasing awareness and
asking for “change and ref-
ormation within our gov-
ernmental and law enforce-
ment agencies to ensure that
all justice is brought to the
victims and more accessibil-
ity of support is provided for
survivors.”
Navarrete awarded
accounting scholarship
The OSCPA Educational
Foundation awarded the
McDonald Jacobs PC Schol-
arship to Lionel Navarrete of
Hermiston, a student at Port-
land State University.
Scholarships
ranging
from $2,500-$4,000 were
awarded to 39 students
based on academic perfor-
mance and intent to both
pursue a CPA career and
work in the state of Oregon.
The Oregon Society of
CPAs, founded in 1908, is
a voluntary association of
CPAs and prospective CPAs
engaged in public practice,
industry, government, and
education. With over 4,200
members, the OSCPA is
committed to the continu-
ing professional success of
members.
“
Wearing a mask is vital to the
safety of our community, staff, and
clients. Join us in keeping others
safe and mask up!
”
MARCELA GARCIA & CASI WHITE, SIMMONS INSURANCE GROUP
her a cup and instructed her to drink
from it. She took a sip of the liquid,
which was sweet and thick like honey
and she asked, “What is this? And for
that matter, who are you and where am
I?”
The stranger replied, “You just drank
nectar. My name is Zeus and you are in
Greece. It is 1600 B.C.”
Cass’s head was reeling. This was not
possible! She thought she must be
dreaming. She thought perhaps she
slipped in water, hit her head on a rock,
and was comatose or having a dream.
Zeus said, “You are not dreaming. I
brought you here with magic. Remem-
ber that strange urn you had? It wasn’t
an urn; it was a box— Pandora’s Box.”
still exists and they take so
much care of our commu-
nity,” Stacie said.
Cassidy said this sum-
mer reading program was
“defi nitely different” than
in years past, but she still
had fun doing activities pro-
vided, including a scaven-
ger hunt looking for pic-
tures from Greek mythology
around town.
The library is closed
to visitors while Umatilla
County is in baseline status,
but residents can still visit
www.hermistonlibrary.us
to fi nd information about
curbside pickup and digi-
tal collections that library
card holders have access to,
such as e-books and audio
books.
WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
DAILY MASS:
Monday-Friday .......................................... English 7:00 am
Thursday ....................................................Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.............................................. English 5:00 pm
....................................................................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:................................................... English 9:00 am
................................................................Bilingual 11:00 am
....................................................................Spanish 1:00 pm
Office..................................................................... 567-5812
LANDMARK BAPTIST
CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
First Christian Church
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
Sunday School...9:15 am
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
Children’s Church 10:45 am
www.hermistonlmbc.com
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
Us
Join
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Join us on ZOOM 9:00 AM Sunday
Email: chuckb@eotnet.net for link
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
Worship Service...10:30 am
567-3013
NEW BEGINNINGS
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
541-289-4774
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
Hermiston Jr. Academy
1300 NW Academy Lane, • Hermiston
Coronavirus relief funds
available for nonprofi ts
Applications are now live
HOME
MAINTENANCE
CENTER
541-567-7534
Blue Mountain
225
100% Douglas Fir $
Brown Bag Pellets per ton
$
White Bags
Fir-Pine Mix
per ton
195
• Wear a mask in public
• Avoid indoor gatherings
• Stay 6 feet away from others • Wash your hands frequently
SALE ENDS 8/31/20
TN10
Wood Stove
$
1,099
• 10”/12” logs
• 30,000 BTU
ALL STOVES ARE
2020 CERTIFIED
Help Reopen
Umatilla County
Wearing a mask saves jobs and saves lives
To share your
worship times call
541-278-2678