NEWS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt shines on American Legion
looking for new
meeting place
After 30 years, group
lost its lease in the VFW
post on Cherry Avenue
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Children sprint onto the soccer fi elds at Butte Park in Hermiston at the start of the annual Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt on Friday,
April 2, 2021.
By BEN LONERGAN
STAFF WRITER
The Cotterell sisters,
armed with masks, a cell-
phone fl ashlight and Had-
ley’s self-proclaimed “night
vision,” clutched their
bags as the countdown
commenced.
In the moments before
8 p.m. on Friday, April 2, the
sisters, Lucy, 11, and Had-
ley, 8, were planning their
strategy for collecting the
most eggs as they buzzed up
and down the sideline of the
fi elds at Butte Park ahead of
the annual Flashlight Easter
Egg Hunt.
“Over there they have
more eggs spread out,”
said Lucy, of one of the
two fi elds of eggs. “Except
they’re going to be picked
up quicker because they’re
not spread out as much as
these are.”
More than 7,000 eggs
dotted the soccer fi elds at
Hermiston’s Butte Park
distributed across a pair of
roped-off sections as the
Easter Bunny made its way
around to take photos with
families.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Easter egg hunters use fl ashlights, phones and headlamps to
light up the fi elds at Butte Park in Hermiston for the annual
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt on Friday, April 2, 2021.
Emily Cotterell, the girls’
mother, said it was nice to
be out at an event again after
roughly a year of limited
in-person events. Emily Cot-
terell said they had attended
the event when Lucy was 3
or so but found it a bit too
chaotic. She said she hoped
this year’s event would
prove a bit easier with the
girls being older, and she
hoped the pandemic would
limit attendance further.
“We haven’t really been
out in public for the last
year,” Emily Cotterell said.
As the clock hit 8 p.m.,
the crowd of attendees
descended on the fi eld of
eggs as the lights went dark.
Across the fi elds, lights
darted around in the dark-
ness as children set about
gathering the thousands of
eggs spread across the park.
In a few short minutes,
the hubbub had calmed and
the fi elds lay barren of eggs
as a few hopeful hunters
scoured the ground in search
of one or two that had been
overlooked.
“It doesn’t take hardly
any time at all,” said Diana
Picard, a recreation coor-
dinator with the city of
Hermiston.
Picard said she has been
helping out at the event for
more than a decade and this
year’s event came with a
few added challenges as a
result of the pandemic.
Picard said in years past
the fi elds were divided up by
age group to allow children
to compete against kids their
own age.
In an eff ort to mini-
mize unnecessary contacts,
Picard said this year they
encouraged families to stick
together with each other as
much as possible.
“We just fi gured that
was the safest way of going
about it,” she said.
Picard said the event
was put on by the Herm-
iston Parks and Recreation
Department, and staff from
the city’s pool were able to
help supervise and place
eggs for the event. In addi-
tion to the staff at the pool,
Picard extended her thanks
to Rogers Toyota of Herm-
iston for sponsoring the
event.
City Hall demolition moves forward
American Legion Post
37 and American Legion
Auxiliary unit 37 are look-
ing for a new home, accord-
ing to the post’s com-
mander, Glenn Bradley.
American Legion and
its auxiliary unit have
leased meeting space from
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 4750 at the VFW
hall, 45 W. Cherry Ave. in
Hermiston, for about 30
years, Bradley said. But he
said the American Legion
was informed on Feb. 23
that it was being evicted
from the building and lead-
ership were directed to
remove all the post’s prop-
erty from the building on
Feb. 25.
According to Bradley,
the local VFW and Amer-
ican Legion posts have
always gotten along and
worked well together. He
claimed the decision to
evict American Legion
came from the state-level
VFW and that local lead-
ership “had nothing to do
with it.”
“We’re two service
organizations both work-
ing at the same goal, and
we’ve been working good
together for at least the last
four years,” he said, refer-
ring to the length of time
he has been the American
Legion post commander.
When the East Ore-
gonian reached out to the
local VFW post for com-
ment, Post Commander
Herald Roberts said the
change was not his deci-
sion and referred com-
ment to Dale Pack, listed
on the Department of Ore-
gon VFW website as a dis-
trict commander. When
reached by phone, Pack
said he couldn’t comment
“until such time as a deci-
sion has been made.”
When questioned about
what he meant, he sug-
gested a fi nal decision
about American Legion
hadn’t been made, but after
further questions simply
reiterated the VFW had no
comment.
Veterans of Foreign
Wars is an organization
for U.S. veterans who
fought in confl icts on for-
eign soil during their ser-
vice. American Legion is
more broadly open to all
current and former service
members, and the Amer-
ican Legion auxiliary is
made up of spouses, moth-
ers, grandmothers, sis-
ters and female descen-
dants of American Legion
members.
Bradley said the group
held its last meeting in a
church in Umatilla, but
would like to fi nd some-
thing more permanent.
“We would take what-
ever we could aff ord,” he
said. “We’re not entirely
broke, but we’re not rich
either.”
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CHURCH
DIRECTORY
Community Worship
Featured this Week:
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us On Our Journey With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church who welcomes all.
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
Iglesia Católica Nuestra
Señora de los Ángeles
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
Hermiston Christian
Center & School
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
The early morning sun lights up the former site of the Hermiston City Hall on Friday, April 2, 2021. The building has been
demolished, along with the former Lanham Building next door, to make way for a new, larger city hall ready to start construction.
As part of the project, the municipal parking lot across Second Street from the site is currently closed for about two months in
order to complete a renovation of the parking lot that will repave it and add additional parking spaces.
Boardman
to hold
citywide
cleanup
PET OF THE W EEK
MEET LILLY
Lilly is like a Golden Lab in a
tiny package. She is sweet, silly
and soulful. She did have some
separation anxiety issues with her
previous adopter, so she needs a
home where family is there for
her, maybe a playmate who isn't
demanding. She loves a good belly
rub and her soft blanket.
HERMISTON HERALD
The city of Boardman
is sponsoring a commu-
nity-wide cleanup eff ort
during the month of April.
All month long, the city
will have garbage vouchers
of up to $50 available to res-
idents of Boardman, valid
for disposing of waste at the
Finley Buttes Landfi ll and
the North Morrow Trans-
fer Station. Residents are
encouraged to take advan-
tage of the program to clean
up their property by dispos-
ing of yard debris.
To pick up a voucher, visit
Boardman City Hall at 200
City Center Circle before the
end of April. For more infor-
mation, call 541-481-9252.
Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM
Robert Thonney, DVM • Jana Parks, DVM, cVMA
Small and Large Animal Care
Mon: 8-6
Tue - Fri: 8-5
Sat: 8-12
Emergency Service
541.567.1138
80489 Hwy 395 N
Hermiston
www.oregontrailvet.com
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
Sunday Gathering: 10:00 AM
Nursery care is available 3 years & under
Kids Club available 4 years-5th grade
Sunday Prayer Gathering: 6:00 PM
NEED PRAYER? CONTACT US!
1825 W. Highland Ave.
541-567-3480 | hcc4u.org
hcc4u2020@gmail.com
LANDMARK BAPTIST
CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
www.hermistonlmbc.com
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
541-567-8241
855 W. Highland Ave.
Hermiston, OR 97838
First Christian Church
“Grow Your Faith Through God”
Sunday School...9:00 am
Worship Service...10:30 am
567-3013
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
NEW BEGINNINGS
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
To advertise in the Church Directory,
please contact Audra Workman
541-564-4538 or email
aworkman@eastoregonian.com
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
541-289-4774