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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2020)
COMMUNITY A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2020 Head Start gets new bus, furniture, supplies By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR August was a good month for Umatilla Morrow County Head Start. The organization added a shiny new school bus to its fl eet at the end of the month. It also received semitruck loads of furniture, strollers, toys, sleeping mats, books and other child care supplies worth hundreds of thou- sands of dollars from Nike. “We feel like it’s Christ- mas in August,” UMCHS director Maureen McGrath said. The donation from Nike came after the sportswear giant announced it was clos- ing its company-run child care centers in Portland and giving employees child care benefi ts to use off-site instead. The company is donating the materials that outfi tted those classrooms to UMCHS. On Friday, Aug. 28, the materials were stacked in the mechanical bays at Head Start’s new operations cen- ter on Airport Way in Herm- iston. McGrath said staff still needed to go through everything and inventory it, but they were extremely excited about what they had seen so far. Some sup- Staff photo by Jade McDowell Staff photo by Jade McDowell Amy Willenberg, left, and Maureen McGrath of Umatilla Morrow County Head Start pose with the new school bus purchased by UMCHS in Hermiston. Furniture, toys and other supplies donated by Nike sit ready for sorting at Umatilla County Morrow Head Start’s operations center on Airport Way in Hermiston. plies will outfi t new class- rooms Head Start is adding in places like their Board- man Early Learning Center, and others will be placed in UMCHS’s lending library for other area providers to use. “It’s really going to help not just our centers, but other community child care providers,” McGrath said. On an unrelated note, on Aug. 28 UMCHS also got a brand new school bus, paid for by grant dollars. “This is brand spanking new, with the most up-to- date safety features. ... We are transporting the most precious cargo and so it months after it was ordered from Northwest Bus Sales. He said school buses have a life span of about fi ve to eight years, and there is a “huge” federally required process from start to fi nish as companies custom-build each bus for their clients. “I wish it were like buy- ing a car off the lot,” he said. The bus is parked at UMCHS’s operations cen- ter in Hermiston, across the parking lot from the Air- port Way Discovery Cen- ter, which houses three of Hermiston’s Head Start classrooms. Both buildings have been operational for about a year now, although needs to be the safest it can get,” transportation man- ager Amy Willenberg said as she checked it out. A new bus will need less maintenance than the fl eet’s older buses, and pro- vides better lighting and other new features. The bus is a short one, so that it can navigate some of the park- ing lots and dead ends that UMCHS’s longer buses can’t. It can also travel at highway speeds, which buses past a certain age are not allowed to do. Aaron Treadwell, deputy director, said the bus cost about $63,000 and UMCHS was lucky to get it only three McGrath said they are still putting fi nishing touches on landscaping, and adding shade to the fenced outdoor play area. UMCHS has Head Start, Early Head Start and Child Care Resource and Refer- ral classrooms throughout Eastern Oregon. Crystal Umbarger, education man- ager, said the Airport Way Discovery Center is in a fun location because students can watch airplanes come and go at the Hermiston Municipal Airport across the road and can see frogs and other animals that they won’t fi nd at UMCHS’s buildings in town. “We call them our little scientists up here,” she said. Students will not imme- diately be returning to the discovery center in per- son for the 2020-21 season, however, due to COVID- 19. McGrath said they have picked a nautical theme for the year and students will be starting out at “safe harbor” with online-only instruction that will be a mix of live interaction and prerecorded videos that families can watch on their own time. Later, starting in about October, they plan to move up to hybrid models of learning known as “half mast” and “three quarters sail” with the goal of even- tually returning to normal operations with “full sail ahead.” On Aug. 28, teachers were in the classrooms put- ting together learning pack- ets for students to pick up, consisting of crayons, scis- sors, pencils, glue, a pencil sharpener, a notebook, a dry erase marker and laminated writing practice sheets. Umbarger said even though students will be doing more via video this year, Head Start is still a valuable tool. “It really helps empower those families,” she said. Youth Livestock Auction American Legion donates earbuds to West Park School raises $585,000 HERMISTON HERALD By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR The Umatilla County Fair may have looked a lot differ- ent this year, but area youths were still able to see rewards from their work raising an animal for the fair. The Youth Livestock Auction, where 4-H and FFA students auction off their animals each year, raised a total of $585,000 after fac- toring all bump and add-on dollars that individuals and businesses could continue to add after the live (virtual) auction was over. That total was just below 2019’s record-breaking auc- tion of $615,000 according to a news release from the fair, but 2020 had only 208 lots compared with 265 lots in 2019. “It is just amazing to see the support of our commu- nities throughout the county and beyond,” sale superin- tendent Marie Linnell said in a statement. According to the news release, the Umatilla County Fair’s sale committee reached out to previous buy- ers before this year’s auc- tion, “and it was evident on those calls that the commu- nity was ready to support the kids.” Some indicated that Umatilla County Fair champions Market Swine Grand Champion: Broc Erickson (purchased by Elmer’s Irrigation) Market Swine Reserve Grand Champion: Lydia Vander Stelt (purchased by AgriNorthwest) Market Rabbit Grand Champion: Kaitlynn Bombela-Post (purchased by Mid-Columbia Producers) Market Steer Grand Champion: Alyson Terry (purchased by Helena Chemical) Market Steer Reserve Grand Champion: Blake Betz (pur- chased by Simplot Grower Solutions) Market Turkey Grand Champion: Carter Keys (purchased by Les Schwab Hermiston/Pendleton) Market Turkey Reserve Grand Champion: Tanner Miller (pur- chased by Gregory Smith & Company) Market Goat Grand Champion: Kelli Nelson (purchased by Threemile Canyon Farms) Market Goat Reserve Grand Champion: Quinn Duff (pur- chased by Copeland Show Calves) Market Sheep Grand Champion: Michael Rosselle (pur- chased by Nutrien Ag Solutions) Market Sheep Reserve Grand Champion: Gavin Bolen (pur- chased by Bank of Eastern Oregon) COVID-19 had impacted their business so severely that they would not be able to commit as much money as usual to the auction, but others said they would com- mit more to make up for it. Some businesses placed bids online as they watched the live feed of the auction, while others gave proxy bidding power to the small group of sale staff who were there in person. According to the news release, the bump program — which gives people an opportunity to donate money to a pool used to increase the sale price of animals that sold for less — added a record $65,000 to 169 of the 208 lots. Photos of the animals and participating youths and other information can be found at www.umatilla- countyfair.net/youth-live- stock-auction or the Uma- tilla County Fair Youth Livestock Auction Face- book page. American Legion Post 37 in Hermiston pur- chased and donated 300 sets of earbud head- phones for the students of West Park School in Hermiston. The students will be able to use the earbuds with their district-issued Chromebooks while they are participating in dis- tance learning this year. “This school year may be diffi cult for families, teachers and students,” an email from the post stated. “The local Amer- ican Legion Post hopes this will help enhance the student’s learning experience.” William Hill of Post 37 presented the earbuds to West Park teacher Brenda Caldwell on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2020. Hermiston School District is distributing Chromebooks and other school supplies to stu- dents throughout the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. Students have an assigned time for pickup based on the fi rst letter of their last name, but any students unable to make their assigned pickup time can visit their school on Friday, Sept. 4, from Photo contributed by American Legion Post 37 William Hill, of the American Legion Post 37, presents a donation of 300 earbud headphones to West Park Elementary School teacher Brenda Caldwell. 1-4 p.m. Elementary and mid- dle school students will receive a package of school supplies with their Chromebook. High school students are asked to purchase a spiral notebook, notebook paper, pencils, highlight- ers and a ruler. American Legion shows support for Hermiston Police Department HERMISTON HERALD At a recent meeting of the Hermiston American Legion Post 37, a motion to honor the Hermiston Police Department was presented, seconded, and unanimously carried with very little dis- cussion, according to an email from the post. “Due to the recent events taking place in our soci- ety, we felt it necessary to meet with you and display our support,” Post Chaplain Aaron Wetterling said in a statement. Shift changes created a minor problem, so it was necessary to have two cer- emonies to meet all of the offi cers, the fi rst on Fri- day, Aug. 28, and the sec- ond on Monday, Aug. 31, both at 6 p.m. Following the opening remarks each offi cer was presented with a Certifi cate of Apprecia- tion and a small monetary gift to be shared with their families. Upon receiving their envelopes each offi cer was greeted with a warm hand- shake and a personal “thank you” from American Legion members. Before dismiss- ing, Legion members sur- rounded the offi cers and offered a prayer of protec- tion for them. TURNING 65? Confused about Medicare? Steel on the inside where it matters most. Shops Garages Commercial Industrial www.WSBNW.com 855 • 668 • 7211 Sandy, OR S199175-1 Get answers from a trusted local resource! Call me for a complimentary PERSONAL CONSULTATION today! JOSH GOLLER 125 SE 7th St., Hermiston, OR 541-289-7261 www.simmonshealthinsurance.partners
