COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Juneteenth
Celebration will
off er family fun
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY WRITER
The public is invited to
bring a big appetite and get
ready to have fun as the
Hermiston Cultural Aware-
ness Coalition hosts a June-
teenth Celebration.
It will feature a bar-
becue, children’s games
and fellowship. The fami-
ly-friendly event is Satur-
day, June 19 from 4-8 p.m.
at McKenzie Park, 320 S.
First St., Hermiston. There
is no admission fee.
While there are picnic
tables at the park, those
planning to attend may
bring their own chairs or
blankets. People also can
bring their favorite lawn
games.
John Carbage, president
of the coalition, said some
area churches have part-
nered with them to coordi-
nate the event. Juneteenth,
sometimes referred to as
Freedom Day, Liberation
Day or Emancipation Day
— is celebrated on June 19.
It commemorates the eman-
cipation of enslaved people
in the United States.
“It’s one of the most
important holidays after the
Emancipation Proclama-
tion,” Carbage said. “Even
though the slaves were free,
it was 2 years later when all
the slaves were really free.”
Carbage said many
Black people at the time
couldn’t read, so they
weren’t aware of the impli-
cations when President
Abraham Lincoln issued
the proclamation. Denying
people education, Carbage
said, is a way of continuing
to control them.
The holiday, Carbage
said, is important because
if people aren’t aware of
history, they are doomed
to repeat it. “That’s why
we have to keep challeng-
ing the status quo,” he said.
“We have to look forward
and continue to make pos-
itive changes.”
The Hermiston Cultural
Awareness Coalition meets
the second Saturday of
each month at 2 p.m. at the
Hermiston United Method-
ist Church, 191 E. Gladys
Ave. For more information
about the celebration event
or the coalition, contact
Carbage at 541-701-7073 or
jcarbage@yahoo.com.
Hermiston Rotary
awards scholarships
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston Rotary
Club Foundation recently
awarded 15 scholarships to
local students for the 2021-
2022 school year.
Recipients
include:
Raymond Agosto, $750
for graphic design at Ore-
gon State University;
Maria Alatorre, $1,500
for dental hygiene at
Columbia Basin College;
Bryon Bonifer, $1,500
for plumbing or electrician
apprentice at Blue Moun-
tain Community College;
Tammy Gattis, $750 for
an MAT in education at
EOU; Josie Goodrich,
$1,500 for criminal jus-
tice and journalism at
Washington State Univer-
sity; Mya Hayden, $750
for recreation, sports and
tourism management at
University of Idaho; Ash-
lyn Hofbauer, $2,000 for
nursing at Montana State
Emmanuel
University;
Ibarra, $1,500 for instru-
mentation and indus-
trial automation technol-
ogy at Perry Technical
Institute; Ernst William
Kern, $1,500 for business
administration at OSU;
Jasmin Macias, $750 for
law, societies and justice
at University of Washing-
ton; Carla Medel, $2,000
for a master’s degree in
mental health counseling
at Western Oregon Univer-
sity; Ismael Ochoa, $500
for an undecided major
at Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity; Wyatt Paschal,
$1,500 for business admin-
istration at OSU; Logan
Sinor, $1,000 for social
and behavioral sciences at
INSIDE
For more education
news, see Page A7.
Umpqua Community Col-
lege; and Erika Wells,
$1,500 for English/writing
at EOU.
All these students have
demonstrated good aca-
demic standing and com-
munity service during their
academic careers.
As a part of their appli-
cation process, each of
these students were asked
to write a short essay on
how the Rotary 4 Way Test
could be incorporated into
their lives. The test is the
guide by which all Rotar-
ians are challenged to live
and manage their daily
lives.
“The 4 Way Test: Of the
things we Think, Say, or
Do: First, Is it the Truth?
Second, Is it Fair to All
Concerned? Third, Will it
Build Good Will and Bet-
ter Friendships? Fourth,
Will It be Benefi cial to All
Concerned?”
As a 501c3 charitable
organization, the Hermis-
ton Rotary Club Founda-
tion accepts any donations
for programs supported by
the Rotary Club of Herm-
iston. Some recent proj-
ects
include
Funland
Playground picnic shel-
ter, Oxbow Trail Way-
side enhancements, and
EOTEC, as well as ongo-
ing support for organiza-
tions and events, such as
the Arbor Day tree give-
away, Christmas Express
and Agape House.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021
HERMISTON HISTORY
City objects to employee union
Hermiston Herald, File
Val Pace plays in the Columbia River with her 4-year-old friend, Skylie Aylett, near Irrigon Marina Park in 1996.
25 YEARS AGO
June 18, 1996
An attempt by Hermiston city
employees to form a union is being
delayed by city offi cials.
Last month an attorney represent-
ing the city fi led an objection with
the Oregon Employment Relations
Board to a petition by a labor union
to represent 31 city employees.
According to Hermiston City
Manager Ed Brookshier, the city
objects to the make-up of the pro-
posed bargaining unit.
A petition to represent the
employees puts in motion the pro-
cess to form a union within the city
ranks. Employees to be included in
the unit would participate in an elec-
tion run by the ERB.
In a letter to the ERB, city attorney
Bruce Bischoff said the city objects
to the inclusion of water department
and public works employees in the
same unit as clerical and administra-
tive workers.
Hermiston Herald, File
Andy Anderson shows off one of his classic cars in 1996.
50 YEARS AGO
May 27, 1971
What prompts a man to pack up
his family, business and over 200
pets and move them over 200 miles
— lock, stock and barrel?
The “pets” consist of a herd of
registered Holstein dairy cows, and
we use the word advisedly because
the cows, most of them with long,
unpronounceable names, are consid-
ered just that by their prideful own-
ers, Don and Jean Anderson.
Lately of Brush Prairie, near Van-
couver, Wash., the Andersons have
just completed the move of their
dairy operation from the area they’ve
both called home all their lives.
“The
population
explosion
around Vancouver fi nally got to us,”
explained Jean. “The ecologists are
beginning to pressure the dairymen
because they consider them ‘pollut-
ers.’ There are over 200 dairies in
Clark County, and while we hadn’t
had any complaints personally, we
decided it was time to move.”
75 YEARS AGO
June 13, 1946
1) Secretary of the Interior Krug
described the Pacifi c Northwest
Tuesday as the “promised land” and
said now was the “time to press its
Hermiston Herald, File
Hermiston residents visit the Maxwell Siding train museum in 1996.
development.” After fl ying over part
of the 1,200,000 acres of the Colum-
bia Basin project which is to be irri-
gated by waters from Grand Coulee
dam, Krug said in a press interview:
“We should fi nish our power
and irrigation program as soon as
possible. The whole area looks
made to order for great industrial
development.”
Referring to the Columbia Basin,
he said, “There’s a terrible lot of land
there to be without water, and we are
going to press an accelerated pro-
gram to see that water gets there.
2) John Zabransky of Irrigon
brought in a hen’s egg last Friday
which holds a record for size, weigh-
ing 3/4 pound and measuring 7½
inches in circumference.
100 YEARS AGO
June 17, 1921
We are advised daily by econo-
mists that by thrift we must restore
the capital destroyed by war.
If thrifty, we are assured, we can
make good, in 12 years, the total
destruction of the great European
confl ict. The opportunity for thrift
is here. The cost of living has gone
down 30 to 40 percent in the last
year.
The man who lived through war
times, and still is in business, may
now save a part of his income —
if he wishes. He may buy the same
things he bought a year ago, and at
the end of the month have a surplus
to put in the bank.
BY THE WAY
Four fi nalists make their case for BMCC president
Four fi nalists remain in competition to become
Blue Mountain Community College’s new
president.
Mark Browning is currently vice president for
college relations at the College of Western Idaho in
Nampa.
Carmen Simone has been president of Western
Nebraska Community College since 2019 and is a
past fi nalist for president of BMCC.
Christopher Villa has worked in higher education
for 40 years, most recently as president of Portland
Community College’s Rock Creek campus before
PCC eliminated the position in 2020.
Luca Lewis has spent the past six years as the vice
president of student services of Whatcom Commu-
nity College in Bellingham, Washington.
For an article about the candidates and their inter-
views at a community forum, visit www.eastorego-
nian.com or see the June 13 East Oregonian.
• • •
Disounts on internet access available
US Cellular is participating in the Federal Commu-
nications Commission’s temporary Emergency Broad-
band Benefi t Program, according to a news release.
As part of the EBB program, created to help families
access internet during the pandemic, US Cellular pro-
vides customers who meet the requirements set by the
FCC monthly discounts of up to $50 per month, or up to
$75 per month if on tribal lands.
Qualifi ed candidates are those who qualify for the
Lifeline program, received free or reduced lunch bene-
fi ts from the USDA’s school lunch program during the
2019-20 or 2020-21 school year, received a Federal Pell
Grant during the current award year or experienced a sub-
stantial loss of income since February 29, 2020, with a
total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single fi lers and
$198,000 for joint fi lers.
For more information, visit uscellular.com/plans/
emergency-broadband-benefi t-program.
• • •
Senior meals include pork loin, turkey
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center menu for
Thursday, June 18, is pork loin, mashed potatoes, corn,
salad and dessert.
The menu for Tuesday, June 22, is turkey sandwich,
stuffi ng, cranberry sauce, 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. Sec-
ond St., call the same number before 11 a.m. Meals
are $4 and can be picked up between 11:30 a.m. and
noon.
The Boardman Senior Center now is providing
meal delivery. Meals are $4 paid upon delivery. Call
541-481-3257 to order.