COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021
HERMISTON HISTORY
Umatilla School District considers uniforms
BEATRIZ
COVARRUBIAS
Medical Assistant at
Mirasol Family Health Center
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I was born here. My parents thought this would be a
great place to relocate after coming from Mexico.
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
Deﬁ nitely Lawan’s Thai. Their chicken pad thai is
amazing!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to go ﬁ shing and hunting. This area is great for
that.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
The diversity in our town. I love seeing how involved
our community gets.
What was the last book you read?
It has been awhile since I have read, but I last read
“A Child Called It” by Dave Pelzer.
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
Pinterest! My husband would deﬁ nitely agree with
me since I always have projects for him to do.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?
Paris in a heartbeat!
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
I can’t think of one right away except the time I wore
two diﬀ erent shoes to work and never noticed until I
got home.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
To purchase a home and ﬁ nish school.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Being a teen mom of two girls and ﬁ nishing high
school.
DVS plans annual
walk ‘in her shoes’
Registration is open
online for the seventh annual
walk “In Her Shoes,” begin-
ning at 9 a.m. on Satur-
day, April 24, and running
through noon on the walking
path around the Good Shep-
herd Medical Center cam-
pus, 610 N.W. 11th St.
The annual event gives
community members a
chance to experience the
choices facing a domestic
violence victim, and serves
as a fundraiser for Domestic
Violence Services Inc.
Participants will walk
through a series of sta-
tions that pose a domestic
violence situation and the
choices, barriers and deci-
sions victims must face.
Those visiting the walk will
need a smartphone or tab-
let to scan QR codes at each
station. Bottled water, disin-
fecting wipes, sanitizer, dis-
posable masks and gloves
will be available for all par-
ticipants, and all transac-
tions will be hands-free.
Visit https://event.auc-
tria.com/19f04aa3-5aef-
4c19-9d32-3305c2556b9b/
to register. The $15 registra-
tion fee includes a T-shirt,
and a mystery goody bag for
the ﬁ rst 20 to sign up.
Hermiston Herald, File
Patti Turner of Greg’s Sleep Center, left, Grant Aldred and his mother Dina Aldred sit on a futon sofa donated and auctioned
oﬀ at a beneﬁ t for the ﬁ rst Funland Playground in 1996.
25 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1996
The issue seemed to come out
of nowhere. Umatilla school board
members last month started by dis-
cussing how to resurface the ﬂ oor of
the high school gymnasium.
Soon, they found themselves
talking about mandatory gym
shoes. Students should have to wear
shoes, they said, which are ﬂ oor
surface-friendly.
Then the discussion shifted to
physical education clothes. Could
the school strike a deal with a dis-
count store to provide inexpensive
shoes and clothes?
And then, in the middle of a con-
fusing conversation between board
members, school staﬀ , parents and
boosters, someone uttered the word
“uniform.”
That was benign enough. Until a
board member stopped the discus-
sion to ask, “Are we talking about
P.E. uniforms or school uniforms?”
Blank stares followed. Then the
gears began working again.
School uniforms, it was decided,
was an issue best reserved for
another — safer — time and place.
“It’s a big issue,” said Toni Hard-
man, district superintendent.
The April board meeting was set
as the time and place. With a quick
vote, the board agreed to put two of
its members — Bob Mueller and Ken
Johnson — on a committee to exam-
ine the issue of school uniforms.
Hermiston Herald, File
People pick asparagus outside Hermiston in 1971.
The new telephone exchange will
serve telephone users in the Uma-
tilla area, which area is now served
through the Hermiston exchange. Ini-
tially more than 100 telephones will
be connected with the new exchange
when it is placed in service.
100 YEARS AGO
April 15, 1921
50 YEARS AGO
April 22, 1971
Hermiston School District 8R will
not have a kindergarten in 1971-72.
The School Board unanimously
voted Monday night to table consid-
eration of a kindergarten until dis-
cussions next year of the 1972-73
budget.
Superintendent Armand O. Larive
had said at the March meeting of the
board that with the anticipated sharp
drop in ﬁ rst grade enrollment next
year there could be enough teachers
and classroom space for the district
to establish a kindergarten with little
added cost other than for extra bus-
ing and additional equipment. One
teacher would be handling 50 chil-
dren a day in two sessions, a class of
25 in the morning an a class of 25 in
the afternoon.
75 YEARS AGO
April 25, 1946
With the building for the new
Umatilla telephone exchange near-
Hermiston Herald, File
Members of the Desert Belles Club
plant trees in Hermiston for Arbor
Day in 1996.
ing completion, indications now
are that installation of dial central
oﬃ ce equipment will get underway
next month, according to B.F. Pick-
ett, district manager for Paciﬁ c Tele-
phone and Telegraph company.
The building, located on 7th Street
between I and J streets, is one story
and of brick and frame construction.
If equipment, cables and other
materials are delivered on schedule,
the new Umatilla dial oﬃ ce should
be in operation this summer, Pickett
said.
A clean town! Doesn’t our little
town look splendid? The men surely
did some great work on clean-up
day!
Anyway, we have the best bunch
of civic spirited men in Hermiston
that you’ll ﬁ nd any place, that’s the
reason the Community Club voted
to go along with the men in keep-
ing Hermiston clean all summer.
They call it an anti-ﬂ y campaign but
that means an anti-ﬁ lth campaign
because f-l-y spells ﬁ lth.
This is going to be a great drive,
so get in line and go over the top
with a swatter and swat. Teach the
children the game. Dig out breeding
places of ﬂ ies, trap them and then
ﬁ x all your screens tight, very tight.
Should a ﬂ y then get by, swat him.
The ﬁ rst ﬂ ies are the important ones,
for they are the parents for all that
follow.
I am swatting every one I see
right now. Hoping you are doing the
same.
Yours truly, Mrs. H.M. Schilling
BY THE WAY
Good Shepherd oﬀ ering Moderna vaccines weekly
Good Shepherd Health Care System is oﬀ ering
the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine weekly through the
end of June.
The vaccine is free, and no health insurance or
appointment is required.
Everyone in the United States ages 16 and older is
now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. People ages
16 and 17 are currently only eligible for the Pﬁ zer ver-
sion, however.
Good Shepherd’s vaccine clinics will be held on
Thursday, April 22, Friday, April 30, and Thursday,
May 6, from noon to 4:30 p.m.
After May 6, the vaccine will be available from
1-3 p.m. each Thursday through June 24.
The vaccinations will be administered on the Good
Shepherd campus, 610 N.W. 11th St., in Conference
Rooms 1 and 2 by Entrance C.
For more information, visit www.gshealth.org/
coronavirus or call 541-667-3426.
• • •
Laboratory professionals recognized
April 18-24 is National Laboratory Professionals
Week.
Good Shepherd Health Care System is provid-
ing a way for community members to thank its labo-
ratory department staﬀ by visiting www.gshealth.org/
give-thanks.
According to a news release from Good Shepherd,
its team includes 13 lab technologists and 15 lab assis-
tants, working for a department accredited by the Oregon
Health Authority and the Clinical Laboratory Improve-
ment Act. The lab processed 10,562 COVID-19 tests
between March 2020 and March 2021. It ran a total of
1,276,916 laboratory tests, 6,945 microbiology cultures
and 2,195 Type & Screen/Crossmatch tests.
“There’s no doubt we have provided great support to
our patients and health care professionals,” Ronda Reis-
dorph, Good Shepherd’s Laboratory Department Man-
ager, stated.
• • •
Senior meals include beans, baked ﬁ sh
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center menu for
Thursday, April 22, is baked ﬁ sh, coleslaw, vegetables
and dessert. The menu for Tuesday, April 27, is beans and
ham, cornbread, fruit 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.