COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
Teen locked in boxcar for seven days
25 YEARS AGO
Aug. 29, 1995
SUSAN McHENRY
President, Pendleton Sanitary Service
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I moved to Hermiston in 1974 with my family when
my husband started his mechanical contracting
business.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
Nookies and LaPalma
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Golf
What surprises you about Hermiston?
Continual growth from a city of Hermiston perspec-
tive, but also how nice people are from a personal
perspective.
What was the last book you read?
“Without Precedent” by J.D. Trafford
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
Smile.Amazon.com
If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?
Italy again
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
A friend, now a general, was headed to Kabul with
the National Guard … I thought he said “Cabo” and
I told him to have a great time and enjoy the ocean!
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
Heal a torn hip cartilage well enough to get back to
golf, break in those brand new golf clubs and shoot
for the 80s! I guess that’s three goals.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Always, number one is my son Michael; number
two, our family business in Pendleton; number three,
my beautiful home, which my husband and I built
together in 1992 and where I still live.
Parks and rec sponsors
backyard camp outs
Hermiston’s Parks and
Recreation Department is
encouraging people to stay
home and stay safe on Labor
Day weekend with a back-
yard camp out.
For $10, families can
get a backyard camp out
kit from the department
that contains S’mores sup-
plies for four people, a fam-
ily game, a lantern and other
supplies.
Kits can be ordered at
bit.ly/hermistonrecreation
before Aug. 30, and picked
up from the Hermiston
Community Center on Sept.
3 from 3-7 p.m. or Sept. 4
from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Backyard camp outs are
encouraged on Sept. 4-6
throughout the community.
Families can to take pho-
tos of their backyard camp
out and post them in the
comments on the Hermiston
Parks and Recreation Face-
book page to be entered to
win a drawing for prizes.
A 17-year-old Crofton, Ky., boy
discovered in an insulated boxcar
at the Hinkle rail yard is now back
home with his family, said Oregon
Children’s Services supervisor Bill
Kent.
An early Monday morning air-
plane fl ight to Kentucky brought to
a close a two-week ordeal for Mike
Wright, half of which was spent
locked in the dark boxcar as the train
traveled from Crofton to Hinkle.
Wright told Jackie Dunplan, one
of the switching crew of three that
found the boy, he simply intended to
go into Crofton to have a soda with
his friends.
However, the train he caught by
his house did not even slow down in
Crofton, a mile and a half away. Nor
did it slow down anywhere else in
Kentucky.
The train crossed the Ohio River
and stopped in an Evansville, Ind.,
rail yard. Wright hopped another
train he thought would take him
home. On the way, he fell asleep.
Wright awoke in total darkness.
The door to the boxcar had been shut
and could not be opened from the
inside. There he remained for what
he later found out was seven days,
when the car became one of about
two dozen cut from the train and
stored on a siding.
Dunlap, Les Suplich and Mike
Reece heard something strange in
the line of boxcars they had switched
off.
Following the noise — Wright’s
calls for help — they opened the car
to fi nd the dehydrated, hungry yet
grateful traveler.
HH fi le photo
Crystal Bevin dangles from a ropes course near the Hermiston Butte in 1995 as
part of a team-building activity for the Echo volleyball team.
50 YEARS AGO
Aug. 27, 1970
Mrs. Marjorie L. Bartlett, owner
and publisher of the Hermiston Her-
ald since July 1945, announced this
week that the Herald has taken in
a new partner and publisher, G.M.
Reed of Dallas, Ore.
G.M. (Jerry) Reed, age 35, has
been associated with the weekly
newspaper business for 11 years,
starting his career as an ad man with
the Camas Post Record in Camas,
Wash. In March 1967 he became
publisher of the Polk County Itemiz-
er-Observer in Dallas, Ore.
Under Reed’s tenure as publisher,
the Itemizer-Observer was awarded
the General Excellence award as
the outstanding weekly newspa-
per of more than 3,000 circulation
in the state of Oregon in both 1968
and 1969 in advertising by the Ore-
gon Newspaper Publishers Associ-
ation, competing against both daily
and weekly newspapers throughout
the state.
HH fi le photo
Maria Guadelupe Mendoza, 17, of Hermiston, dances at the Cinco de Mayo
festival in McKenzie Park in 1995.
75 YEARS AGO
Aug. 30, 1945
Jack House, proprietor of the
local roller skating rink, is preparing
the building this week for the open-
ing of the skating season Saturday
evening. A new brick veneer front
has given the front of the building a
very modern appearance.
2) Members of 4-H clubs of the
west end of Umatilla County will
hold the annual fair at the Hermiston
fairgrounds on Friday and Saturday
of next week, Sept. 7-8. Victor W.
Johnson, county agent, is the leader
of the 4-H clubs, and he is assisted
by Miss Jennie Marie Warren and
Frank Hackler.
The program this year will start
at 10 a.m. on Friday when livestock
judging by teams will begin and con-
tinue throughout the day with vari-
ous kinds of judging. At 8 p.m. Fri-
HH fi le photo
Alisha Martinez, 13, of Hermiston,
displays a poster of the Our Lady of
Peace shrine in Boardman that caused
a controversy in 1995 between area
Catholics and Boardman residents
who were opposed to its placement
on a public right of way.
day evening there will be a show and
program including other 4-H club
activities. A style show will com-
plete the evening’s schedule.
100 YEARS AGO
Aug. 27, 1920
Grease boiling over on the range
at the Hermiston hotel Saturday
afternoon threatened to cause dam-
age of serious proportions and an
alarm was turned in. The fi re depart-
ment and business men responded
quickly but the fi re had been put out.
During the excitement a pair of
horses attached to a light wagon
started from near Kingsley Mer-
cantile Co.’s store and made the run
almost to the fi re before they were
stopped. Several cans of cream in
the back of the wagon were not even
upset.
2) Marshall and Wilfi eld Ellinger,
brothers of the two little boys who
were stopped here some weeks ago
on their way to see their mother at
the Eastern Oregon hospital, stopped
overnight Tuesday with Mayor F.C.
McKenzie.
They had a letter of introduction
to him from the head of St. Mary’s
Home in Beaverton, asking Mr.
McKenzie to make arrangements
with the authorities at the hospital
so they might visit their mother for
a day, and also see that they were put
on the right trains both going and
coming.
The letter said that Clyde and
Owen never tired of talking of
the wonderful time they had in
Hermiston.
BY THE WAY
Forestry department concerned about human-caused fi res
Firefi ghters throughout the state have had a busy
month fi ghting fi res, and while some have been caused
by lightning, a news release from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Forestry states that human-caused fi res are caus-
ing concern.
“It’s startling how many human-caused fi res we’re
seeing right now,” Steve Meyer, protection supervisor
for the forest department, said. “Firefi ghting resources
are spread pretty thin at this point in the summer. Now is
the time we are really asking for cooperation in follow-
ing the Public Use Restrictions, also known as Regulated
Use Closure.”
Meyer reminded people that they can be held liable
for the cost of suppression if they are caught causing
fi res through careless handling of campfi res or other
methods.
“The nights may feel cooler, but the fuel conditions
indicate that we are still deep in fi re season,” the news
release stated. “Many of the measurements that fi re man-
agers use to assess conditions, are pointing at drought-
like conditions.”
Travelers through forestlands are asked to be prepared
for emergencies by bringing a shovel and a gallon of
water or large fi re extinguisher.
Restrictions may vary depending on the land manager
or management agency. Current Public Use Restrictions
can be found online at bmidc.org/restrictions.
• • •
The Eastern Oregon Counties Association is set to
add four new members.
Gilliam, Lake, Wasco and Wheeler counties are
preparing to join the EOCA, which lobbies and advo-
cates on behalf of Oregon counties east of the Cascade
Mountains.
The 13 that have been part of the EOCA for several
years are Union, Wallowa, Baker, Umatilla, Morrow,
Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath,
Malheur and Sherman counties.
• • •
The Hermiston Herald is now accessible in other lan-
guages through the newspapers’ audio option on www.
hermistonherald.com.
Readers can click on the globe next to the words “Lis-
ten to this article now” at the top of each story, and change
the audio from English to six other languages, including
Spanish.
• • •
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center continues
to provide takeout and delivery meals to senior citizens
in the community.
The menu for Thursday, Aug. 27, is baked chicken,
mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies 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 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.