OFF PAGE ONE
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021
Interns:
Continued from Page A1
“It’s turned into kind of
like a friendly competition
between everyone,” he said,
“and that’s probably the
thing that I like the most.”
One training opportu-
nity, in particular, turned
especially competitive and
lasted
seven-and-a-half
hours, according to Tucker,
who was born and raised in
Sisters. To become certifi ed
to drive an ambulance, each
intern had to pass a driving
course with cones.
“It was a long, grueling
day,” Tucker said.
According to Geddes,
who moved to Hermiston
from Maple Valley, Wash-
ington, they all struggled
with driving the ambu-
lance in the beginning. They
couldn’t fi gure out what
they were doing wrong until
one person did it right, she
said.
“We had to go through
our cone course three times
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Resident intern Tyler Couch unloads a stack of hose from a fi re truck Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, while
running hose handling drills at the Umatilla County Fire District 1 training facility in Hermiston.
without knocking over
any cones or touching any
cones,” Geddes said. “So
every time somebody did it
right, it was like the biggest
celebration. They’d jump
out of the truck just fl ailing
their arms.”
These moments accumu-
lated, cementing the links
each intern has with the
other and with fi refi ghting.
“That bond we have
together makes it a lot more
fun and it defi nitely bal-
ances out the hard work and
makes the hard work fun,”
Donahue said.
He mentioned that while
it’s nice to have three days
off every week, they already
miss the program by Sunday
and are excited to go back
on Monday because they
have so much fun.
For Tucker, becoming
a fi refi ghter was a deci-
sion to follow in his father’s
footsteps. He had known
Richard Cearns, Umatilla
County Fire District 1’s
division chief of EMS and
training, through his dad,
who is a member of the fi re
service. After visiting and
sitting down to talk about it,
Tucker said that he realized
UCFD probably would be
the best place for him.
Tucker said he loved the
family aspect of the fi re ser-
vice and the community
they’ve built. The bond with
the community, he said,
makes him excited to be
there.
“Everybody’s excited to
go fi ght fi re and help peo-
ple,” Tucker said.
Geddes, meanwhile, fell
into the program after mov-
ing to the area to attend Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege for its rodeo team.
Before moving into
the station full time, Ged-
des brought a dog and two
horses to the area and lived
out of her horse trailer since
2019. She spent last win-
ter helping a family ranch
in northern Idaho, living in
sub-zero temperatures in her
trailer, “which was abso-
lutely terrible,” she said.
After fi nding out about
the EMS program at Blue
Mountain, Geddes was told
about the fi re internship pro-
gram by one of the career
fi refi ghters at Umatilla
County Fire District.
“I had a long talk with
my instructor in the back of
the ambulance talking about
this program,” Geddes said,
“and it was like the next day
I put in my application for
it.”
On top of being a resi-
dent intern, Geddes works at
Dutch Bros. Coff ee in Herm-
iston and goes to school full
time. She spends the rest of
her spare time with her (now
three) horses and attending
rodeos. She said she’ll fall
asleep for two to three hours
then wake up to repeat the
process.
“Defi nitely,” she said,
“the exciting life that
I needed.”
Morrow:
Continued from Page A1
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
After watching a few of
his videos, Jones said they
decided his interactive
show would be fun. He will
perform a couple of shows
a day Aug. 18 through Aug
20.
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
performances are Aug. 20
and 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are
$10 for ages 13 and up, $6
for ages 7-12 and free for
ages 6 and under. For ticket
information, call 541-256-
0217 or visit www.oregon-
trailprorodeo.com.
Fea-
turing local cowboys, the
Morrow County Jackpot
Rodeo is Sunday, Aug. 22,
at 1 p.m.
After the nightly rodeo
performances, Dan Burns
3D Productions will turn
up the tunes and people
can dance the night away.
Attendance at the rodeo
isn’t required to enjoy the
music afterwards.
A parade is set for Aug.
Hermiston Herald, File
Janae Warren holds a La Mancha/Boar cross goat kid during
a past Morrow County Fair. The 2021 fair runs Tuesday
through Sunday, Aug. 17-21, at the fairgrounds in Heppner.
21 at 10 a.m. in down-
town Heppner. And the
youth livestock auction
gets underway at the fair-
grounds at 2 p.m.
For more informa-
tion about the fair, visit
www.co.morrow.or.us/fair/
page/county-fair or call
541-676-9474.
Jake Bartoschek, of Echo, shows her market lamb Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, at the Umatilla
County Fair Youth Livestock Auction in Hermiston.
Auction:
Continued from Page A1
While most animals had a market value
of around $100-200, the steers saw mar-
ket values ranging from about $1,200 to a
whopping $1,810 going to Brielle Youncs
of Pendleton, who also happens to be a
princess of the 2021 Umatilla County Fair
Court.
For many of the youth in attendance,
it was their fi rst time raising and auction-
ing off their livestock. Madeleine White, a
member of the Farm City Wranglers from
Hermiston, said the fair was a hectic expe-
rience for her fi rst time. But she said people
were supportive and helped her out.
“I got a lot of support from a lot of diff er-
ent groups,” she said.
Lillian Waldher, an 11-year-old out of
Athena who brought her two lambs Daisy
and Bo, also had her fi rst experience at the
auction and won a ribbon for showmanship.
“I did a lot of work,” she said, adding she
practiced with Bo a lot and worked on his
leg hair and clipping him.
With the earnings she made from selling
her livestock, she said she would be able to
buy another sheep and save up for college.
“Leading up to it (the sale), it’s just tiring
in the morning,” said Ayrin Davis of Herm-
iston. Ayrin marked her fourth time attend-
ing this year and said it was hard and sad,
but she will keep coming back and is head-
ing to Pendleton next.
A bidding war broke out in the balmy air
as seventh grader Quinn Duff showed his
goat named Murr. The winner of the Grand
Champion Showman ribbon from Mil-
ton-Freewater, the 13-year-old Quinn has
been showing goats for more than half his
life, starting at 6 years old.
Raised on a 40-head farm that also breeds
horses, Quinn has spent his life around ani-
mals and intends to stay with animals in the
future. He said he had put a lot of time and
eff ort into Murr over the last six months,
who had a listed market value of $259.48
going into the auction.
“At least three times a week I would
wash his legs to get the leg hair growing and
blow them out,” he said.
Tanner Duff , Quinn’s younger brother,
also was in the auction and won the Reserve
Grand Champion ribbon for his own goat.
He said it felt good to compete with his
brother, who he’s been able to practice with
and get tips, while also competing with each
other.
Tanner, who has been showing for
around four years, said he’s sold two goats
this year, with the fi rst sale taking place in
Milton-Freewater.
“It’s sad,” he said, “but I’m feeling
really good.”
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