COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021
HERMISTON HISTORY
Hermiston is last stop for ‘See Oregon by Air’
25 YEARS AGO
Sept. 10, 1996
JOSH BURNS
What organizations do you belong to?
Hermiston Rotary Club, Hermiston Planning Com-
mission, U.S. Air Force Academy Alumni Association,
and I sometimes help coach youth sports (if they’re
really desperate for an assistant!)
Where do you live?
Hermiston, since June of 2011.
What makes your town great?
We love the location and proximity to so many awe-
some outdoor opportunities, but the people have made
it worth staying!
What is your favorite restaurant? And what
would you recommend from its menu?
I love to cook, but if we’re going out to eat it’s likely
Delish or La Palma. Can’t go wrong either way!
What other cities would you like to visit?
My brother lives in Munich Germany. He’s been there
about 8 years, but we haven’t made it over to visit.
Someday.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
Almost anything outdoors, which is a big part of why
we moved out here! Hunting and ﬁ shing are deﬁ nitely
my passions, and then cooking whatever comes home
with me.
What is the funniest mistake you have ever
made?
In my last career I was chosen to represent my loca-
tion at the stockholders’ meeting for the world’s larg-
est company. There was a group of us who attended
from our site, and I was “in charge” since I was the
senior member of management. There were lots of
activities at the multi-day event, one of which being
an inﬂ atable obstacle course. One of our group chal-
lenged me to a race through the course. She was much
younger than me and seemed pretty athletic. I was
called out, so I had to accept the challenge, and I deﬁ -
nitely didn’t want to get beat in front of 30,000 people.
The race was close, but after throwing all I had into
it, I came out the winner. As I rolled oﬀ the inﬂ atable
mat, I realized I’d completely torn the inseam of my
khakis. Front to back, all the way, total blow-out.
A small slip of the foot caused a
six-vehicle crash on West Highland
Avenue, in which one man was sent
to the hospital with minor injuries.
Five vehicles were stopped at
a red light around 4:30 p.m. when
Lacy Royer joined the line of wait-
ing cars. According to Lt. Jerry Rob-
erts of the Hermiston Police Depart-
ment, she began to slow down as she
approached when her foot slipped oﬀ
the brakes. She hit the car in front
of her with enough force to set oﬀ a
chain-reaction eﬀ ect, with each vehi-
cle hitting the next one.
One of the drivers, Scott Tassie
of Hermiston, was transported to the
Hermiston Good Shepherd Com-
munity Hospital with abrasions and
bruises, but was later released. The
other drivers involved were Wal-
lace Telford of Irrigon, and Deborah
Jacobson, Carrie Tobeck and Julia
Perez, of Hermiston.
Lt. Roberts says the vehicles
received minor to moderate damage,
the other drivers were uninjured, and
no citations were issued.
50 YEARS AGO
Sept. 9, 1971
Former Hermiston resident How-
ard F. Bundy has been hired by a
Wisconsin power company to set up
a nuclear reactor in Green Bay, Wis-
consin. Bundy and his wife, Irene,
have a daughter, Elaine, 6, and a son,
Robert, 3.
He graduated from Hermiston
High School in 1959 as the valedicto-
rian, and from Washington State Uni-
versity in 1963.
Immediately following his WSU
graduation, Bundy went to Pitts-
burgh to work for Westinghouse. Six
months later, Westinghouse moved
him to its operation at the Arco
(Idaho) Naval Base, where he worked
for 18 months before being hired by
Douglas United Nuclear (DUN).
He moved from Richland, Wash-
ington, to Green Bay — where he’s
been working for about six years for
DUN as a reactor operator for the
Hanford Project. Now an employee
of Wisconsin Public Service, Bundy
intends to move back to the Paciﬁ c
Northwest in two or three years, upon
What is the nicest thing your family has ever
done for you?
Expect me to live up to the standards they instilled.
My wonderful wife is helping me pass that along to
our two pretty-great kids.
What is the most important issue facing the
world today?
Divisiveness and a lack of empathy. Regardless of the
issue, we need to do a better job of ﬁ nding common
ground and building on shared values.
What information do you wish you had when
you started your career?
For the last year I’ve been able to help a great friend
build an awesome team and start our own agency.
We knew there would be challenges, but I don’t think
there was anything yet we haven’t been prepared for.
Like I said, awesome team!
completion of the Green Bay reactor,
to work on a nuclear power plant in
Oregon or Washington.
75 YEARS AGO
Sept. 12, 1946
If you were lucky enough to watch
the ﬁ ghter jets ﬂ y over this area in
March of last year, I’m sure you’ll
agree that it was quite a sight to see.
Well, it was sure exciting when Elmer
Fritzke, secretary of the Hermiston
beginning of school was like 100
years ago:
For
Hermiston
elementary
schools (grades one through eight),
the student count was 311 students
— 26 more than the last year. The
class with the most students is sev-
enth grade, at 32 students.
The high school has 97 students
this year, which is 26 more than the
year before. Though a new teacher
was added, classes are expected
to be crowded. Imagine that —
Hermiston Herald, File
One person was injured and six vehicles were mildly damaged in a chain-reaction
crash in September 1996 on West Highland Avenue, Hermiston.
Have you ever had a nickname?
Burnsy, which now people call my son. I get a big kick
out of that.
What is your job?
I’m a commercial insurance agent for Swanson Insur-
ance Group.
Hermiston Herald, File
Hermiston observed Labor Day in 1971 by taking time out from work in
observation of the progress of American labor and by ﬂ ying American ﬂ ags
along both sides of Main Street and several other streets in town.
Hermiston Herald, File
Larry Carrick of Larry’s Clip Joint,
which in September 1971 was one
of the Hermiston businesses selling
Booster Club cushions, is pictured
with G.M. Reed, Hermiston Herald
publisher. The cushions feature the
“Fighting Bulldog” in “Purple Pride”
and are made with attractive vinyl
covering. All money raised from this
Booster project go toward the annual
Hermiston All-Sports Banquet.
Chamber of Commerce, received
word that 30 planes will make the
“See Oregon by Air” tour, in which
Hermiston would be the ﬁ nal desti-
nation. Below is the schedule for the
ﬂ ying tourists:
The planes will take oﬀ from Port-
land-Troutdale airport on Sept. 17,
stopping at The Dalles, Redmond,
Prineville and Bend (for lunch), and
staying overnight at Klamath Falls.
On day two, they’ll have breakfast
at Lakeview, lunch at Burns, and rest
for the night at Ontario before con-
tinuing their four-day journey.
Then, on the third day, they’ll
travel on to Northeastern Oregon
— stopping at La Grande, Joseph
for lunch, and staying overnight at
Pendleton.
Hermiston has the pleasure of
being the last, and only, stop on the
fourth day before the planes ﬂ y back
to Portland after touring the Beaver
State.
100 YEARS AGO
Sept. 8, 1921
Let’s take a look at what the
crowded at only 97 students! Herm-
iston High School currently has
approximately 1,500 students!
The class of 1921 was really
impressive in the fact that all of its
members are preparing to attend
some level of higher education,
Dorothy Briggs and Jane Gunn are
to attend the Oregon State Normal
School at Monmouth; Viola Ben-
nett and Ruby Scott will go to the
Washington State Normal School at
Cheney, Washington; Laura Phipps
will attend Whitman College at
Walla Walla; Martha Winslow has
already entered the Deaconess Hos-
pital at Spokane for training; Max
Warriner will attend a technical
school in Detroit; Albert Hedwall is
planning to enter Oregon Agricul-
tural College next year; and Nina
Patrick is currently a stenographer
in a real estate oﬃ ce in Walla Walla
but plans to enter the University of
Oregon next year.
——
McKenzie Rose, a sophomore at
Echo High School, searched Herm-
iston Herald archives to compile
these article summaries.
BY THE WAY
WorkSource Oregon hosts Back to Work Day
WorkSource Oregon is coordinating
a statewide scavenger hunt for Back to
Work Day. The purpose of the event is to
promote employment and support business
customers.
The event is Wednesday, Sept. 15, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. WorkSource Eastern Oregon is
seeking employers in the Hermiston and
Pendleton areas who are interested in visit-
ing with job seekers at your worksite to dis-
cuss your hiring needs. For more informa-
tion, call 541-276-6542 or email Rebecca
Flores at rebecca.j.ﬂ ores@oregon.gov or
Yuri Madrigal at yuri.madrigal@oregon.
gov.
Job seekers can obtain more information
or register for the event by emailing work-
source_eastern_oregon@oregon.gov or
visiting WorkSource Oregon-Hermiston,
950 S.E. Columbia Drive, Suite B, Herm-
iston; or WorkSource Oregon-Pendleton,
408 S.E. Seventh St., Pendleton.
• • •
A trifecta of regional destinations were
included in Oregon Business maga-
zine’s top 100 fan-favorite destinations in
Oregon for 2020. The SAGE Center in
Boardman was No. 28. This is the third
year in a row that the visitor center made
the list. See the community story in this
edition of the Hermiston Herald for more
about the SAGE Center.
Other fan favorites in the region mak-
ing the list were Tamástslikt Cultural
Institute (51) and Pendleton Round-Up
(80).
• • •
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
National Anthem Contest 2021 has
hometown vocalist Lisa Jones in the run-
ning to sing the National Anthem at the
National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
The Hermiston Chamber of Com-
merce in a newsletter reported voting for
the contest began Aug. 30 and wraps up
Monday, Sept. 13. Fans are eligible to cast
one vote per email address for the dura-
tion of the Top 30 Judging voting period.
To cast a vote, fans must provide a valid
email address.
Once fan voting for the Top 30 is ﬁ nal-
ized, a panel will judge all eligible entries
according to the following criteria: over-
all appeal of vocal performance, original-
ity and accuracy of lyrics. Judges weigh
each element equally on a scale of one to
10, with 10 being the best score.
The panel will then select the top eight
entries and reopen the contest for fan vot-
ing Sept. 27 through Oct. 4.
If Jones is in the top eight, locals again
can give their backing to Jones.
“For now,” according to the chamber,
“we need to get as many votes as possi-
ble so we can send a local talent to Vegas
to sing at the opening Grand Entry at the
National Finals Rodeo.”
“This would be a big honor to represent
Hermiston,” according to Jones.
The top two vote recipients in the top
eight will be chosen to perform at the
Wrangler NFR.
This is the link where you can cast
your vote: www.nfrexperience.com/
nfr-national-anthem-2021.
And pass this on to someone you know
so they can cast their vote, too.
• • •
The Harkenrider Senior Activity
Center menu for Thursday, Sept. 9, is
baked ﬁ sh, coleslaw, fruit and dessert. The
menu for Tuesday, Sept. 14, is hot dogs,
potato salad, baked beans and dessert.
(In-house meals will be served from noon
to 12:30 p.m. People planning to dine in
are asked to call by 11 a.m.)
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
before 11 a.m. Meals are $5 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.