FROM PAGE ONE
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2021
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A ﬁ reﬁ ghter drops a ﬁ rework into a launcher while setting up for the Stanﬁ eld Independence
Day ﬁ reworks show Sunday, July 4, 2021.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Fireworks:
Children and parents on Sunday, July 4, 2021, explore the new Funland Playground during the
grand opening of the park in Hermiston.
Continued from Page A1
Funland:
“You have to ensure
they’re well seated so
that you get the maxi-
mum height out of the ﬁ re-
works,” he said.
After the ﬁ reworks were
loaded, the group ran a
piece of tape over the top
of each launcher so one can
easily see which ﬁ reworks
have properly ﬁ red.
With an hour or so to
go until the show, Whelan
gathered the crew of
roughly 15 ﬁ reﬁ ghters and
began giving directions on
where ﬁ re trucks should be
stationed to respond to any
potential spot ﬁ res.
“My favorite show is
one that goes oﬀ with no
one getting hurt,” Whelan
said.
The ﬁ re trucks dispersed
throughout the area, and
Whelan gathered a folding
chair, hard hat and earplugs
from his truck and set up to
watch the display. Whelan
counted down the minutes
until 10 p.m. before Ram-
sey hit the button to start
the show’s introduction
electronically.
As the initial volley
of shots came to a close,
ﬁ reﬁ ghter Eldon Marcum
began lighting the next vol-
ley of ﬁ reworks by hand.
Whelan craned his neck
Continued from Page A1
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Fireworks explode over the football ﬁ eld in Stanﬁ eld in
celebration of Independence Day on July 4, 2021.
to look at the ﬁ reworks
directly overhead.
Roughly 23 minutes
later the display came
to a close, the ﬁ nal ﬁ re-
work igniting a small
brush ﬁ re on the hillside
above the ﬁ eld. Fire crews
quickly doused the ﬂ ames
as Whelan and Ramsey
celebrated.
“It was a success,” said
Whelan. “No major ﬁ res,
and no one got hurt.”
in the completion of the
project. While some light-
ing, fencing and sod con-
struction remains, Fetter
said it was “exhilarating” to
be able to see children on the
playground once again.
“I’ve been looking for-
ward to this for two years,”
he said. “It’s a great day to
celebrate.”
Also to come is a monu-
ment and fence recognizing
the project’s donors. In addi-
tion to a $752,000 insur-
ance payout from the previ-
ous playground, the Funland
Fundraising Committee, in
partnership with the Herm-
iston Parks and Recreation
Department, set out to raise
an additional $810,000
toward the playground’s
$1.75 million price tag. The
city acknowledged the sup-
port of the Rotary, Kiwanis,
and Lions clubs as well as
others who helped fundraise
for the project.
The new Funland is the
third iteration of the play-
ground, originally built in
1996. The ﬁ rst playground
burned down in 2001 and its
replacement burned down
in May 2019 in a suspected
case of arson.
Due to Funland’s history
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Alex Julian, 11, ﬂ ies out of the end of a slide Sunday, July 4,
2021, at the grand opening of the new Funland playground
in Hermiston.
with ﬁ res, the city of Herm-
iston has said the new struc-
ture was built with ﬁ re-resis-
tant materials and features
surveillance cameras to fur-
ther deter vandalism.
Greg Collins explored the
playground with his daugh-
ter during Sunday’s event.
Collins, who said he helped
with some of the ﬁ nal con-
struction of the playground,
said the playground was
unlike anything he’d seen
before.
“I think it’s amazing,” he
said. “I have never seen a
park on this scale.”
As a parent, Collins said
he felt the park oﬀ ered a
variety of engaging play
areas and said he would have
loved to have something
similar as a child. He said
he thought the park would
become a frequent destina-
tion for his family and oth-
ers in the community.
“The other parks in
Hermiston,” Collins said,
“are going to be feeling
a bit empty.”
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