COMMUNITY
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021
BMCC fundraiser shifts gears
with car cruise on May 15
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY WRITER
Jesus Rome/Contributed Photo
Jada Rome, center, is handed the certifi cate for her scholarship from the Hermiston Cultural
Awareness Coalition on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
Scholarship recipients
aim to make a diff erence
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
When Jada Rome and
Inle Gonzalez were pre-
sented with a scholar-
ship for their work with
the Hermiston Cultural
Awareness Coalition on
Saturday, May 1, it was
in recognition for a small
part of their community
involvement.
Gonzalez, a senior at
Hermiston High School, is
the student body president
there. She is also in march-
ing band and Eco Club.
Gonzalez has been
involved in several social
justice eff orts other than
the Hermiston Cultural
Awareness
Coalition,
where she has helped plan
events and sat on a virtual
panel about racial justice
on Martin Luther King
Day. She is involved in
Raices, a local grassroots
organization focused on
advocating for the needs of
Latino residents. Through
that organization she has
helped with educational
eff orts on topics such as
the U.S. Census or know-
ing your rights regard-
ing U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.
She is also one of the
students helping advise
the Oregon Department
of Education on imple-
menting Every Student
Belongs, an eff ort to erad-
icate symbols of hate from
Oregon schools.
Gonzalez said she
enjoyed getting to learn
from the other panelists
during the Martin Luther
King Day panel, and was
happy to see more people
than she expected turn up
for it.
“It was very uplifting,”
she said.
She said she doesn’t
want to wait until after
high school to start trying
to fi ght to make the world
a better place, since prog-
ress often happens slowly.
“It’s better to apply
yourself and do something
instead of standing back,”
Gonzalez said.
The other scholarship
recipient, Rome, is also a
senior and was born and
raised in Hermiston. She
volunteers with several
local organizations, was
an offi cer for FCCLA at
the high school and also
participates in speech,
track and cheerleading.
She also participated
in the Martin Luther King
Day panel with the HCAC,
and said it was a great
experience to hear others’
thoughts on such a diverse
panel.
“I loved every second of
it,” she said.
She said she hope that
as she works with the coa-
lition, she might inspire
other teenagers to feel
more comfortable getting
involved there and in other
parts of the community.
She also wants to nor-
malize having conversa-
tions about racial inequal-
ity and other important
issues that people can
sometimes feel uncomfort-
able discussing. She feels
that ignoring problems
isn’t a good way to solve
them.
“There are even con-
versations that make me
uncomfortable, but I try
and have those,” she said.
Someday, she hopes to
graduate from law school
and become a criminal
justice lawyer, so she can
advocate for others. She
said she has already done
job shadows with attor-
neys and a judge and found
it “intriguing.” She would
be open to coming back to
Hermiston to practice here,
she said.
“I know it will be a lot
of hard work and educa-
tion, but I want to be that
diff erence,” she said.
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College’s Cruisin’ for
Scholarships is switching
gears for its annual event.
Rather than having a tra-
ditional car show, the 2021
event will hit the road with
a car cruise. The fundraiser
supports the college’s diesel
technologies program and
student scholarships.
The Cruisin’ for Schol-
arships Car Cruise is Satur-
day, May 15. The green fl ag
will wave at 10 a.m. at the
BMCC campus in Pendle-
ton, 2411 N.W. Carden Ave.
Participants will travel
to Wildhorse Resort &
Casino, where the vehicles
will be judged. After judg-
ing, everyone is invited to
cruise back into town to the
Pendleton Convention Cen-
ter, 1601 Westgate, at which
time the best of show with a
trophy presentation will take
place at 2 p.m.
Connie Green, BMCC
interim president, said that
over the past eight years, the
college has been fortunate to
have outstanding support from
the community for its Cruisin’
for Scholarships event.
“We hope the car cruise
will off er the community a
fun opportunity to show off
their amazing vehicles while
still supporting our students
Ian Shadle/Contributed Photo, File
Don Williams’ 1959 Dodge Power Wagon won best of show
during the 2019 Cruisin’ for Scholarships Car Show at Blue
Mountain Community College. This year’s event, which
features a car cruise, will depart from BMCC’s Pendleton
campus Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m.
and diesel program,” Green
said.
BMCC’s past car shows
have attracted a wide range
of vehicles — from Ford
Model A’s, pre-war vehicles,
muscle cars, 4x4s, works in
progress, motorcycles and
more. Vehicle registration
for the general public is $20
— the student fee is $5.
Cruisin’ for Scholarships
has generated thousands of
dollars for the diesel tech-
nologies program, to help
pay for large equipment and
scholarships for tuition, cost
of living and tools for the
program. Many of the die-
sel program graduates sup-
port the community and are
employed locally.
Organizers
expressed
appreciation for the com-
munity and industry spon-
sors who have stepped up
to support this year’s mod-
ifi ed event. For more infor-
mation, to register a vehicle,
order event swag or become
a sponsor, visit www.bluecc.
edu/carshow. For questions,
contact Ken Daniel, execu-
tive director of the BMCC
Foundation, at 541-278-
5775 or kdaniel@bluecc.
edu, or Jeremy Pike, diesel
program instructor, at 541-
278-5821 or jpike@bluecc.
edu.
Gates open at 7 p.m. with
the concert fi lm shown at
8 p.m. The M-F Drive IN
Theater, is at 84322 High-
way 11, Milton-Freewater.
The cost is $89 per vehicle,
which can have up to six
people. For tickets or more
information, click the link
on the M-F Drive IN The-
ater’s Facebook page.
gon resident, Sutherland is a
self-taught artist who works
mainly with oil paints.
Southerland will pres-
ent an introductory class on
oil painting for adults at the
library. All supplies will be
provided. The free session
will be Tuesday, June 22,
from 6-8 p.m. Masks will be
required. People planning to
attend must register begin-
ning Monday, June 7.
The library, 235 E.
Gladys Ave., is open Mon-
day-Thursday from 10 a.m.
to 8 p.m.; and Friday/Satur-
day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For information, visit www.
hermiston.or.us/library.
BRIEFS
Bon Jovi to rock the big
screen at drive-in
If you recognize such
songs as “Livin’ on a
Prayer,” “You Give Love a
Bad Name” or “Bad Med-
icine,” you won’t want to
miss the Encore Drive-In
Concert with Bon Jovi.
The never-before-seen
show was recorded live,
exclusively for a one-night
only event at drive-ins, out-
door venues and some cin-
emas across the United
States — and it’s coming to
Milton-Freewater.
Tickets are on sale for
the Saturday, May 22, event.
Art display features
Irrigon painter
The artwork of Bryce
Southerland of Bryce’s
DreamScapes is on display
through May at the Hermis-
ton Public Library. An Irri-
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