NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
Motorcycles thunder through Echo on annual toy run
By BEN LONERGAN
STAFF WRITER
The sound of more than
50 motorcycles thundered
through the town of Echo
on Saturday, Dec. 5, as the
17th annual Echo Toy Run
departed to take donated
gifts to children at Good
Shepherd Medical Center
in Hermiston.
The parade of riders left
Echo with their motorcy-
cles adorned with stuffed
animals and brightly col-
ored toys, a small line of
cars trailing behind them
loaded down with even
more gifts.
The event, started by
Al Sells 17 years ago, has
taken on new meaning fol-
lowing Sells’ death in a
motorcycle crash in 2019.
Sells’ daughter, Amanda
Silvani, said it was incred-
ible to see support from the
community for the event
and her father’s mem-
ory even in the midst of a
global pandemic.
“I was a little worried
about this year,” she said.
“But there was a great
turnout.”
Silvani, who works
in home health for Good
Shepherd, said she used
to work in the emergency
department at the hospi-
tal and had the opportunity
to see fi rsthand the joy the
toys would bring to chil-
dren spending the holidays
in the hospital.
“It’s usually their worst
day that they’re in the ER,”
she said. “To be able to give
them a toy is incredible.”
Silvani expressed her
gratitude to the many peo-
ple involved in carrying on
the toy run in her father’s
memory and the many peo-
ple who donate toys each
year. This year, participants
fi lled three large hospital
linen carts with toys and
stuffed animals.
“I think it’s pretty
incredible to see everyone’s
support — that they want to
help with this every year,”
Silvani said.
Leading off the group
of riders were Phil and
Beth Spencer on their 2006
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Riders leave Echo for the 17th annual Echo Toy Run on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020.
A stuff ed animal adorns a motorcycle during the Echo Toy Run
on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Motorcycles fi ll a portion of the parking lot at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston on
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, following the Echo Toy Run.
“IT’S A REAL HONOR TO BE PART OF THIS
— WITH AL SELLS’ MEMORY — AND EVERYTHING.
IT’S AN HONOR.”
Phil Spencer, who dressed as Santa Claus for the event
Honda VTX 1800, Phil
dressed as Santa Claus
with Beth riding in a side-
car beside him. The pair
said they have been taking
part in the ride for seven or
eight years and enjoy the
opportunity to give back to
the community.
“It’s a real honor to be
part of this — with Al Sells’
memory — and every-
thing,” Phil Spencer said.
“It’s an honor.”
For the Spencers, this
year’s toy run served as
more than an opportunity
to bring joy to children and
celebrate Sells’ memory,
it served as a release from
the stresses of a global pan-
demic and an opportunity
to bring joy to an entire
community.
Toys fi ll a large bin in the parking lot of Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Hermiston at the conclusion of the Echo Toy
Run on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020.
“We’ve all had our
stress and this is an excel-
lent release for everybody,”
Phil Spencer said.
Kandie Jensen, Sells’
ex-wife, said Sells would
have found a way to make
the toy run happen no mat-
ter the circumstances, and
she commended the com-
munity for continuing
through in his spirit.
“They weren’t going to
let it die,” she said. “He
wouldn’t have. He would
have done it if he’d been
the only one riding.”
Although Jensen has
long had a part in collect-
ing toys for the Echo Toy
Run, she said the event was
one of Sells’ greatest enjoy-
ments and something that
he took great pride in each
year.
“He was always one of
those people that he liked
to help the kids — no mat-
ter what. He would do any-
thing for children,” she
said. “This was his pride
and joy.”
Boiler fails at Hermiston High School
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Hermiston School Dis-
trict is ending 2020 with
an unexpected expense
after staff discovered
major damage to the boiler
in the “92 wing” of Herm-
iston High School.
The school board had
a brief emergency meet-
ing over Zoom on Thurs-
day, Dec. 3, to declare an
emergency regarding the
boiler, allowing the district
to immediately work with
its contracted heating and
air service to fi x the prob-
lem rather than go through
its usual lengthy bidding
process.
The resolution passed
Dec. 3 described the boiler
failure as “catastrophic.”
Katie Saul, director of
business services for the
district, told the board that
a temporary fi x was allow-
ing the boiler to provide
some heat for now, but
the district would need
to purchase a new boiler,
which a preliminary quote
showed would likely cost
about $200,000.
“Right now we’re limp-
ing through with the cur-
rent boiler but it’s only
a matter of time before it
fails, and this time of year
we cannot be without heat
in that part of the high
school,” she said.
In an email to the East
Oregonian,
Superinten-
dent Tricia Mooney said
maintenance staff initially
found evidence of the
boiler leaking into a class-
room, and investigation
of the leak found a crack
in the boiler. She said the
boiler heats the wing of the
school that includes the
gym, fi tness room, locker
rooms and about 15 class-
rooms. For now, Mooney
said, because staff have
temporarily patched the
leak and are adding extra
water to nurse it along,
no staff who are teaching
from the school have been
displaced from that wing.
She said the money
for the new boiler and its
installation will come out
of the school district’s
general fund.
The section of the school
where the boiler failed was
built in 1992. Other sec-
tions of the school opened
in 2001 after the com-
munity passed a bond in
1999, and the district plans
to add another wing to the
high school using money
from a bond passed in
2019.
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Mon: 8-6
Tue - Fri: 8-5
Sat: 8-12
Emergency Service
541.567.1138
MEET
BODE (BLU)
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Robert Thonney, DVM • Jana Parks, DVM, cVMA
80489 Hwy 395 N
Hermiston
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would LIKE to
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and
PET OF THE
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He needs a low-key foster to heal and
learn to trust people. Prefer no
young children.
Downtown District
Due to the
COVID-19
pandemic, animal
shelters need
our help more
than ever. Please
donate to your
local shelter, or
offer to foster an
animal in need.
If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application.
If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com
or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838
Dine
Local
this
holiday season
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