FROM PAGE ONE
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
Holiday:
Continued from Page A1
it’s not there anymore, but
they’ll adjust, I suppose.”
After the tree is done
serving its purpose down-
town, it will be chopped up
for firewood and donated to
the Agape House.
Although people are
asked to watch the Christ-
mas tree lighting virtually,
the Hermiston Downtown
District will still hold its
First Thursday event. Down-
town merchants will have
sales for Ladies’ Day from
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 3.
Festival of Lights
Out at the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center
on the south end of Herm-
iston, the city-owned facil-
ity is offering its own holi-
day cheer this year with the
rebirth of the Festival of
Lights.
When the Umatilla
County Fair was located on
Orchard Avenue, the fair-
grounds there used to be
turned into a winter won-
derland of lights and dec-
orations, complete with
vendors and other activi-
ties, each December. The
event was eventually can-
celed in 2013 due to lack of
volunteers.
The tradition has been
revived this year. People can
drive through the new fair-
grounds at EOTEC, 1705 E.
Airport Road, to see the light
displays from 5-10 p.m.
Thursdays and Sundays, and
5-11 p.m. Fridays and Satur-
days. EOTEC General Man-
ager Al Davis said it should
take people about 15 min-
utes to drive through.
Davis said they originally
set the lights up for people
to walk through, but made
changes when the state ini-
tially went into a two-week
“freeze” on gatherings for
COVID-19.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald/East Oregonian
The Hermiston Christmas tree crosses Highway 395 in Hermiston on its brief journey to Festival
Street on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A Christmas tree is raised into position on Festival Street in
Hermiston on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020.
“We’ve had to adjust on
the fly,” Davis said.
Entrance is by donation,
with half the donations
benefiting Rotary Club and
the other half going to var-
ious nonprofits and toward
more lights for future Fes-
tival of Lights events.
Davis said they were able
to reuse a few of the dec-
orations from the origi-
nal Festival of Lights, but
most of the lights are brand
new, and they hope each
year to use proceeds from
the previous year to add
to the collection, eventu-
ally covering all 60 acres
at EOTEC.
“People don’t realize,
Christmas lights are expen-
sive,” he said.
Other events
Some
other
annual
Christmas events will also
go on. While the fate of
Pancakes with Santa is still
undecided, the annual Hol-
iday Christmas Bazaar will
take place Saturday, Dec. 5,
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In light of COVID-19
safety, the bazaar will take
place outdoors in the parking
lot of the Hermiston Com-
munity Center, 415 S. High-
way 395, with social dis-
tancing measures in place.
Also at the community
center parking lot is the
annual Kiwanis Club tree
sale. The trees are available
on Fridays and Saturdays
from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the
rest of the week from noon
to 8 p.m.
The club has 400 trees
available, and the sale will
end when they are gone.
Trees are Douglas firs,
Grand firs and Noble firs
from 5 to 8 feet tall, starting
at $30.
Proceeds benefit Kiwanis
Club projects, including
supplies for foster children,
youth scholarships, Doern-
becher Children’s Hospital,
highway cleanups and more.
The Kiwanis Club and
Good Shepherd Commu-
nity Health have canceled
the Festival of the Trees
this year, but are still rais-
ing money for a good cause.
They solicited donations
for the Hermiston Police
Department’s
Christmas
Express, which provides
boxes of food and gifts for
families in need. Accord-
ing to a news release they
will donate about $3,000 to
Christmas Express “through
the generous support of sev-
eral businesses.”
As part of that effort,
Kiwanis Club is going
to virtually auction off a
tree, which is on display
downtown at Two96M-
ain, located at 296 Main
St. A link to bid on the tree
is
here:32auctions.com/
kiwanischristmastree.
Residents can still drop
off nonperishable food for
Christmas Express in the
community center park-
ing lot until Dec. 11 (except
for Sunday, Dec. 6) from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No glass
containers.
The Hermiston Parks
and Recreation Department
and Hermiston Library are
offering a variety of holi-
day activities throughout the
month. Adults can pick up a
Christmas Mouse craft kit
from the library.
The parks department is
offering “Elf of the Shelf”
kits (elf not included) with
ideas and activities for
those who participate in
that tradition. Residents
can also order a “Christ-
mas at home” kit by Dec.
4 with ornament crafts,
coloring pages, a family
game and a letter to Santa
activity. The department
is collecting recommenda-
tions of the best Christmas
lights in Umatilla County
for a map it plans to pub-
lish. For more information
about parks and recreation
holiday offerings, visit the
department’s
Facebook
page or call 541-667-5018.
Other cities
In Boardman, the cham-
ber of commerce is advertis-
ing that its annual Christmas
tree lighting will be broad-
cast live on its Facebook
page on Saturday, Dec. 5,
from 6-7 p.m.
After the tree is lit, fam-
ilies and individuals will be
able to visit the SAGE Cen-
ter, 101 Olsen Road, to drive
through and see the tree and
light show. The SAGE Cen-
ter has announced it is can-
celing its annual Winter
Market bazaar.
The Echo Toy Run will
still take place on Dec. 5
as well, with motorcyclists
driving toys from downtown
Echo to Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Herm-
iston merely asked to not
gather together at the drop-
off site (see page A6 for
more details).
Dinner:
Continued from Page A1
kitchen crew began cooking
11 days before Thanksgiv-
ing and prepared 68, 20- to
24-pound turkeys, 36 cases
of mashed potatoes, 30 cases
of corn and 1,500 dinner
rolls, among numerous other
dishes.
“It’s rewarding in its own
way,” she said. “It’s reward-
ing to be able to see so many
people working hard and
to be able to feed so many
people.”
According to Cassens,
most of the unserved meals
will be donated to local
charities.
Cassens, who has helped
with the dinner for the last
18 years, said the kitchen
team spent a lot of time
thinking about how to pack-
age the meals so that peo-
ple wouldn’t run into issues
reheating them.
“We wanted to put the
gravy in with the rest of the
food, but the containers for it
weren’t microwavable,” said
Cassens. “We put together a
tray that people could just
microwave and a separate
bag of sides.”
For those unable to come
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Cars pass through the drive-thru Community Fellowship
Dinner at Hermiston High School in Hermiston on Thursday,
Nov. 26, 2020.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Magnolia Castaneda, left, and Pricillamarie Lang hand out Thanksgiving meals during the
drive-thru Community Fellowship Dinner in Hermiston on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020.
pick up meals themselves,
Gary Humphreys, the Com-
munity Fellowship Dinner
board chairman, oversaw
the scheduling and deliv-
ery of roughly 200 meals to
area residents.
“It went pretty well,” he
said. “It got a bit slow in the
middle before picking up at
the end.”
Humphreys has been a
part of the Community Fel-
lowship Dinner since his
mother dragged him along
in 1985, and the idea stuck.
Over the years, Humphreys
kept coming back and
brought his family on board
to help out.
While Humphreys and
Cassen have been long-
time volunteers, the limits
on travel and gathering size
led John and Nancy Lauck,
who usually travel out of
the area for the holidays, to
come and help volunteer at
the Community Fellowship
Dinner.
“We’ve always admired
the event and with the
inability to travel this year, it
seemed like the perfect time
to lend a hand,” said Nancy
Lauck. “It’s wonderful to
get the chance to help. It’s
rewarding and helps people
out.”
The Hermiston High
School football team and a
group of missionaries from
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints also
donated time to volunteer
to help make sure the event
went off without a hitch.
“We’re really grateful to
both groups for all of their
help and hard work,” Hum-
phreys said.
Bring your donations to the
Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce located at:
1055 S Hwy 395 in Hermiston
#GSGivesBack For more
information call 541.667.3509
Beginning on November 30, 2020
#GSGivesBack! We’re giving back to
our community and we’d love your help.
#GSGivesBack
Bring your donations to the
Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce located at:
1055 S Hwy 395 in Hermiston
#GSGivesBack For more
information call 541.667.3509
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
John and Nancy Lauck hand out Thanksgiving meals to people
during the Community Fellowship Dinner in Hermiston on
Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020.
JOSH GOLLER
125 SE 7th St., Hermiston, OR
541-289-7261
www.simmonshealthinsurance.partners