COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021
HERMISTON HISTORY
Local Safeway workers go on strike
25 YEARS AGO
April 9, 1996
KRISTINA OLIVAS
Hermiston Chamber CEO
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I was born and raised in Hermiston. My parents
both immigrated here for work, my mom from north
Washington and my dad from Mexico.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
It depends on the meal. I would say I like Delish Bis-
tro, and for Mexican food I like Ixtapa.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I’m a mom of three really busy children, one in high
school, one in middle school and one in elementary
school. I love the Pacifi c Northwest. We’ve just start-
ing exploring the Columbia Gorge and hiking some
of the waterfalls. I love the coast too.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
Its capacity for growth shows no borders. I don’t see
how it’s ever going to stop.
What was the last book you read?
“The world needs who you were made to be,” by
Joanna Gaines
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
Google. I Google everything.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?
I have never been to a warm beach, just the Oregon
coast, so anywhere with a warm beach.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
My fi rst day of work at my last job, I got lost at the
Walmart DC and could not fi nd my way to the front
door. I kept hearing my name paged, because I was
still being trained, but I couldn’t fi gure out how to
get back, for the better part of 30 minutes.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
One of my goals is to come out of the pandemic, and
help Hermiston spring forward, out of our hiber-
nation we’ve been in. I think Hermiston is ready to
move forward and I am so excited to be a face of
that.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
I have beautiful kids. They’re kind, caring people.
I love thinking that I created these amazing human
beings that are going to go out into the world and do
great things.
Environmental
group holds webinar
Friends of the Columbia
Gorge is hosting a live webi-
nar for members Thursday,
April 15, at 6 p.m. to dis-
cuss action by local leaders
on climate change, ongoing
eff orts to safeguard com-
munities from “irrespon-
sible fossil fuel transport
and development,” and the
broader impact of energy
consumption changes.
To register for the free,
live event over Zoom, visit
https://gorgefriends.org/
news-events/events/2021-
04-15/a-climate-of-change.
html and a link to the webi-
nar will be sent to the email
address provided.
After August, the City of Hermis-
ton will no longer operate the Com-
munity Recreation Center.
City councilors Monday approved
a lease for the building with the ARC
of Umatilla County. The lease will
run on a yearly basis for the fee of
$1 each year, beginning in August.
The organization will pay for all
utility and maintenance costs of the
structure.
2) With the business sections of
Hermiston spreading like wildfi re,
another motel complex rented its
fi rst room Friday.
Best Western Hermiston Inn
off ers guests an indoor heated pool,
plus a continental breakfast served
on the premises.
Owned by Choice Realty, Best
Western Hermiston Inn opened their
34-room facility one month later
than their original March 1 com-
pletion date, according to manager
Vijay Narain.
They began the motel construc-
tion project, their second in Oregon,
October 1995.
Hermiston Herald, File
Wendy Dyer, 10, and Carol Morris, 8, of Girl Scouts of America sell Girl Scout
cookies in Hermiston in 1996.
50 YEARS AGO
April 8, 1971
No progress appears to have been
made in the dispute between the
Hermiston Safeway store and strik-
ing members of Retail Clerks Local
1612.
The strike began April 1 in Herm-
iston and Pendleton and has spread
to Baker, La Grande and Enterprise.
Burton Sivey, business agent for
the union in Pendleton, said gro-
cery store clerks are protesting their
wages, said to be 40 to 50 cents
lower than those of Safeway employ-
ees in the Tri-Cities, Wash., and the
absence of plans for health and wel-
fare, dental care and prescription
drugs, all of which Safeway stores in
the Tri-Cities reportedly have.
Lockouts have resulted in other
grocery stores in the Hermiston area.
Hermiston IGA Foodliner, Stewart’s
in Hermiston and Mead’s Thriftway
in Umatilla have locked out union
clerks.
Management is being represented
by Portland attorney Mike Hudson,
who was unavailable for comment as
The Herald went to press.
Hermiston Herald, File
An employee of Pacifi c Power & Light Co. installs a new mercury vapor street
lamp in Hermiston in 1971.
75 YEARS AGO
April 11, 1946
Hermiston Rod & Gun Club has
been formed with the following
offi cers: president, Hugh Frasier;
vice president, A.H. Cable; secre-
tary-treasurer, E.H. Hanby.
Magpie hunters, the contest is
now on. Get busy and earn yourself
a prize by bagging some of the fol-
lowing predatory animals and birds.
The program will be handled on this
system: Old coyote 50 points, young
coyote 25, old skunks 15, young
skunks 10, old weasels 25, young
weasels 15. Old magpies, crows,
ravens and hawks are 5 points; young
magpies, crows, ravens, hawks and
eggs, 1 point each.
Number and kind of prizes will be
published in the near future.
100 YEARS AGO
April 8, 1921
The High School will give an
entertainment in the Play House Fri-
day night, April 8th, as a fi tting cli-
max to a hard day’s work for our vol-
unteers who will clean up the city.
The children have prepared an
excellent program consisting of
a two act farce, vaudeville num-
bers and instrumental, and a good
quartette. The evening’s entertain-
ment will be well worth the price of
admission and the funds are going to
Hermiston Herald, File
A worker puts up the sign at the new Best Western in Hermiston in 1996.
help the student body get out of debt.
Come on along and help the children
clear up their debts and see a good
evening’s entertainment as well.
Show starts at 8:00 sharp.
2) Postmaster Skinner is quite
elated over the showing the Herm-
iston post office has made during
the last year. The growth of the
office here has been a steady one,
and is a good indication of the
prosperity of the community and
shows the steady increase in trade
and growth of the town.
Mr. Skinner says that if the next
two years show as good a growth as
1920 did, the offi ce will automati-
cally be put in second class.
Some comparisons for 1919
and 1920 are as follows: Money
orders issued from April 1919 to
April 1920 numbered 4,700; from
April 1920 to April 1921, 5,738
money orders were issued, a gain
of 1,038. These were all domestic
money orders.
BY THE WAY
McNary Dam to use lasers, sounds to scare away birds
Offi cials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Walla Walla District have resumed use of bird-de-
terring lasers, and will be testing a long-range acous-
tic device to prevent birds from preying on endangered
juvenile salmon passing through McNary Dam near
Umatilla.
In a change from last year, the two lasers will be used
simultaneously, according to a news release. One laser
will be positioned on the navigational lock wing wall on
the downstream side and will provide coverage of the
fi sh outfall pipe and surrounding waters and facilities,
including the dam itself. The other laser will be posi-
tioned directly on the outfall pipe and cover the water
directly below it.
The lasers, which will run from dawn to dusk daily,
went into operation on Thursday, April 1, and will be in
operation until approximately November. They emit a
bright green light that creates a large dot programmed to
move in random patterns.
The long-range acoustic device is scheduled to begin
usage in late August.
A small device, resembling a common speaker, is
currently programmed with two audio tracks. The fi rst
is a computer-generated male voice that announces it is
a long-range acoustic device and performs a countdown.
The second closely matches the noise emitted by a stan-
dard car alarm.
When active, it will be audible throughout the
McNary Dam and Lake Wallua area.
The long-range acoustic device will run intermittently
throughout the day from late August through October.
This period will serve as a trial run for the device. If the
trial is deemed successful, the device will resume oper-
ations in 2022.
• • •
Senior meals include burgers, tacos
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center menu for
Thursday, April 8, is hamburgers, salad, tater tots and
dessert. The menu for Tuesday, April 13, is hard shell
tacos, Spanish rice, beans 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.