A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
Turnout boosted after women allowed to vote
Hermiston Herald, File
NANCY PETERSON
Hermiston city councilor-elect
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I’ve lived Hermiston specifi cally for 12 years, but
moved to the Umatilla/Morrow county region 20
years ago. Even though I’d grown up in Alaska, I
knew Oregon was where home was. After graduat-
ing from Montana State University, I loaded every-
thing I owned into the back of a U-Haul, put my cat
in a crate in the front, and hit the road. Boardman
Elementary School had called the day before my
planned departure, so I stopped for a night, got the
job the next day, and have been here ever since.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
There’s a taco place on the corner of 395 near the
high school called Tacos Y Mas that makes awesome
street tacos.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
My family and I enjoy doing puzzles and playing
board games together. I’m very passionate about
diversity rights activism, so I spend a great deal of
time writing and studying issues.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
Just when you think you’ve really gotten to know
it, you turn a corner and there’s a business you’ve
never visited, either because it’s new or you never
got the right kind of lost to fi nd it before. I tell folks
that we have at least one of everything you need, and
two of everything you want.
What was the last book you read?
I’m a huge sci-fi /fantasy fan. I just read book 4 of
The Warrior Chronicles, “Invasion,” and have
started book 5, “Siege.”
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
My daily relaxation is the website Imgur. It’s
user-provided content, some personal and some sim-
ply interesting. It’s also a culture that is found within
the comments, and even has a worldwide Secret
Santa.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?
I want to go to Disneyland! Really, that would be the
best.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
I’m very pragmatic, so the day that I went to work
and a team member asked me how a recent fi rst date
had gone, and I admitted that I was pretty sure I was
engaged. ... Well anyway, the ceremony at Hat Rock
10 months later was beautiful!
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
I want to honor the reasons I was elected.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Every time I hear from someone I’ve motivated to
take action on their own or a group’s behalf, every
time someone I’ve mentored outgrows me, and every
time one of my sons gives me a hug because they
think I’m a good mom, that moment is my proudest
accomplishment.
The new Sprouse-Reitz variety store opened in Hermiston on Southeast Second Street in 1970.
25 YEARS AGO
Nov. 7, 1995
Hermiston police may have two
suspects involved in an early Fri-
day morning shooting near a Herm-
iston night club.
Investigation of the shooting,
which, though fatal to a pager worn
on the belt of one of the victims,
caused only minor injuries, led to
two Kennewick men.
Shortly before 1:15 a.m. Friday,
Brent Dickenson, of Hermiston,
and Gabriel Rafael Garcia, of Lex-
ington, became involved in a ver-
bal confl ict with two men at Frasus,
Roberts said.
The argument continued outside
the night club, he said. According
to a statement Roberts issued hours
after the shooting, Dickenson and
Garcia went to their car and left.
While they were traveling west
on Jennie Street, another vehicle
came up behind them, fl ashing its
headlights.
When Dickenson and Garcia
pulled over, the following vehicle,
described as a blue Ford Ranger,
stopped and one of its occupants
fi red at least 10 rounds from what
was believe to be a 9mm semiauto-
matic pistol. The pickup then fl ed.
It may have happened that way,
Roberts said Monday, or it may not
have. He said offi cers have now
heard at least three versions of the
story, each confl icting substantially
with each other.
Hermiston Herald, File
McNary Heights Elementary School kindergarten teacher Norah Pratton, center,
and classroom aide Nancy Storms, left, help children line up in 1995.
at higher speeds, particularly on
slippery pavements. Not only that,
but motorists have grown increas-
ingly weary of war born restraints,
and now that the restraints are
lifted, are inclined, perhaps uncon-
sciously, to take greater chances,
just by way of celebration.
Even in normal years winter is
always the peak season for acci-
dents. Studies of previous years
show that in wintertime, the traf-
fi c accident death rate increased
from 24 to 53 percent in 36 snow-
belt states.
100 YEARS AGO
Nov. 5, 1920
50 YEARS AGO
Nov. 12, 1970
Umatilla’s city council will have
full membership of six its next
session.
This was not a certainty when
the Nov. 3 ballots were counted,
because the three councilmen
whose terms had expired won
reelection even though none of
them had run this time.
Councilmen
Roy
Gunsol-
ley, Hugh Little and Lester Davis
declined to seek reelection but were
the top three write-in vote-getters.
Gunsolley said he plans to take
his seat and keep it until a replace-
ment can be appointed. He attri-
butes the apparent lack of interest
in fi ling to Mayor Bud Draper’s
accomplishments, saying the mayor
has performed so well as to provide
no cause for controversy.
Little and Davis both told The
Herald they will take their seats
and do not anticipate looking for
replacements.
75 YEARS AGO
Nov. 8, 1945
With snow, ice and hazardous
Hermiston Herald, File
Chris Piersol explains the card game
Magic: The Gathering in Hermiston in
1995.
traffi c conditions just around the
corner, it is now vital for motor-
ists who would drive this win-
ter to put their overage cars in the
safest possible conditions. This is
more important this year than ever
before, because traffi c engineers
and safety experts say that this will
be the worst auto accident winter
in history. Your life may depend
on how well your vehicle’s safety
equipment works — or how well
the other fellow’s works.
Motorists accustomed during
war to a compulsory 35 mile
an hour speed limit, may have
become careless and prone to mis-
judge the distance within which
they can stop their cars traveling
Election day was a busy day in
Hermiston, with county, state and
national tickets sharing the interest
with the city election, which was
very interesting.
A number of our good ladies
had a ticket of their own and they
certainly made it hot for the reg-
ular ticket printed on the ballot.
What made it more interesting was
the fact that hardly anyone knew
who the ladies were running for
their candidates, and most of us
were guessing and scratching our
heads, wondering what was going
to happen.
The only thing that did happen
was this: the largest number of vot-
ers that ever voted in the history of
the city turned out Tuesday, and
exactly 278 votes were counted.
Last election there were 34.
The big election of the nation,
state and county also polled a very
heavy vote, and the interest was
always keen in town during the
day, and in the evening all places
showing election returns were
crowded until the wee small hours
in the morning, until all were satis-
fi ed with how it was going.
BY THE WAY
Free drive-thru fl u shots available Saturday at Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd Health Care System is providing
another free drive-thru fl u shot clinic for those who still
have yet to be vaccinated for this fl u season.
Vaccines will be offered on Saturday, Nov. 14, from
8 a.m. to noon in the Good Shepherd parking lot at 610
N.W. 11th St. in Hermiston.
The hospital will have 850 regular doses and 300
higher doses for seniors available on a fi rst-come, fi rst-
served basis.
Participants are encouraged to fi ll out the form at www.
gshealth.com/fl ushots ahead of time and either bring it
with them or email it to healthinfo@gshealth.com.
• • •
Snow causes road closures on I-84
Snow in the Blue Mountains over the weekend caused
closures along Interstate 84 on Nov. 8 that eventually
extended from Pendleton all the way to Baker City.
The Oregon Department of Transportation is
reminding people to drive carefully in adverse weather
conditions, and to check roads before they go.
Travelers in Oregon can check for road closures and
road conditions on highways and interstates, including
views from traffi c cameras, online at www.tripcheck.
com.
They can also dial 511 or 800-977-6368 while inside
Oregon to hear the latest updates on road closures, or
503-588-2941 outside Oregon.
• • •
Thanksgiving dinner off ered Saturday
A traditional Thanksgiving dinner will be served on
Saturday, Nov. 21, from noon to 2 p.m. at Echo Commu-
nity Church, 21 N. Bonanza St.
The dinner is free to the public, but limited seating is
available, and to-go dinners may be picked up.
For more information, call Jerry Gaunt at
541-571-4419.
• • •
Senior takeout includes ham, spaghetti
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center’s takeout
and delivery menu for Thursday, Nov. 12, is ham and
yams, broccoli salad, vegetables and dessert. The menu
for Tuesday, Nov. 17, is spaghetti, green salad, garlic
bread and dessert.
For a Meals on Wheels delivery in Hermiston, 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 number before 11 a.m. Meals are $4 and
can be picked up between 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
The Boardman Senior Center is now providing meal
delivery. Meals are $4 paid upon delivery.
Call 541-481-3257 to order.
The senior has temporarily suspended meal delivery
due to a COVID-19 exposure, however, and will begin
again Nov. 17.