A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH …
COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
HERMISTON HISTORY
Injured barrel racer gets back in the saddle
25 YEARS AGO
Oct. 1, 1996
DAVID SLAGHT
STANFIELD
Eight-year-old barrel racer Ash-
ley Smith severed her liver when
her horse reared, went into a back-
ﬂ ip, and landed on her. She was
immediately rushed to the hospital,
rapidly losing blood.
Since her blood type is AB neg-
ative, a rare one, it had to be ﬂ own
in. After abdominal surgery, she
was transported to Doernbecher
Children’s Hospital in Portland to
undergo a second surgery; remov-
ing half of her liver because blood
wasn’t ﬂ owing to it, and it was
dying.
Ashley’s mother, Connie, said
the doctors called her survival a
miracle because “the liver is the
most vascular organ and a severed
liver often means bleeding to death
in seconds.” Connie also thanked
the overwhelming community sup-
port, prayers and faith for pulling
her family through that tough time.
ceremony will welcome new FFA
members. Among those Green-
hands are four girls — Sandy
Settle, Ramona Music, Bon-
nie Thomas and Becky Meyer.
Ramona had some remarks about
the way they were accepted, claim-
ing, “They (the boys) don’t think
we’re quite capable of doing every-
thing they do, but we are. When
you’re used to lugging around 100-
pound feed sacks, pitching a little
manure doesn’t scare you.” Donna
Kopacz, home economics teacher
and FHA (future homemakers)
advisor, will assist the girls in their
FHA endeavours.
75 YEARS AGO
Oct. 3, 1946
Andrew Lyons/Hermiston Herald, File
Ashley Smith survived a barrel racing
incident that severed her liver at age
8. She was later back in the saddle,
serving as queen of the 2002 Umatilla
Sage Riders Rodeo.
What is your job?
Echo City administrator/recorder.
What do you like best about your job?
Every day, I get to learn something new. There’s
some busy work, but there’s also a lot of new
things. I get to build relationships with people in
the community. It’s a pretty neat opportunity.
What’s the latest new thing you have learned
about yourself?
I’ve learned that I am not a politician. I’m a
direct, straight-forward person, but some people
like that. And I’ve been able to build relationships
with legislators, senators and congressmen.
What wrong with being a politician?
They can’t just be themselves, because they have to
represent everybody else. That doesn’t seem like a
lot of fun. I’m better suited to work with them.
What do you like about Echo?
It’s a sleepy, little town that has so much potential
to stay small but grow a little bit. It’s an interest-
ing place that’s oﬀ the freeway that you don’t see.
When you get here, it attracts you. It’s also a great
place to live to folks who live here.
Hermiston Herald, File
FFA and FHA members celebrate the upcoming year in September 1971 with a
pool party and barbecue.
Ashley was in the hospital for
three months and spent 18 months
recuperating. Three years later,
she’s in sixth grade, plays bas-
ketball and track at Armand Lar-
ive Middle School, and is back in
the saddle — just for pleasure at
the moment. She hopes to com-
pete again, but is building back her
conﬁ dence.
50 YEARS AGO
Sept. 30, 1971
The Hermiston FFA had a cele-
bration to kick-start the upcoming
year with a barbecue and swim-
ming party at the pool.
Charles Cruikshank, new voca-
tional agriculture teacher and FFA
advisor, has quite a bit of experi-
ence with FFA. He taught in the
agriculture department at Malin
High School before coming to
Hermiston, and a former student
of his, John McCulley (of Malin),
is being installed as the National
FFA secretary (a very high honor).
His goal is to help the Hermiston
FFA boys earn as much as possible,
including awards, trips and more.
The initiation (“Greenhand”)
When people visit Echo, what restaurants do
you send them to?
We have a coﬀ ee shop, Buttercreek Coﬀ eehouse
and Mercantile. For a quick visit, that’s a nice
place with some food. If they want to sit down to a
mom-and-pop deal, I send them to H & P for com-
fort food.
What else would you like people to know
about Echo?
It’s an agriculturally surrounded community with
a lot of history. There used to be a railroad depot
here. My predecessor, Diane Berry, who was in
this position for nearly 40 years, did a tremen-
dous amount of work at gaining the city notoriety
for history. We have a number of buildings that are
listed on the national register. Our history includes
many ethnicities going back to Native Americans,
to Irish, to Chinese. We have a rich history, and
that is something that we want to be known for,
like Pendleton and its tunnels.
Hermiston Herald, File
Club advisors Donna Kopacz and Charles Cruikshank take a quick bite during
the September 1971 FFA celebration kick-oﬀ event.
Francis F. Vause attempted
to give two hitchhikers a ride,
and they repaid his good deed by
bounding and gagging him, and
stealing his car.
State police report that around
1:30 p.m., Vause was driving on
Highway 207 near the underpass at
Hinkle when he saw the two men.
When he pulled over, they pulled
out guns, tied him to the Fred
McMurray ranch. With the fam-
ily on vacation, the house was also
ransacked.
Vause was able to free him-
self and began walking towards
Hermiston, soon getting a ride and
reporting the incident. Luckily, he
was uninjured but the two men and
his bright green sedan are yet to be
found.
100 YEARS AGO
Sept. 29, 1921
A ﬁ re that originated in the city
bakery and aided by a strong wind
destroyed about half a block on
Main Street.
The ﬁ re was called in around
noon and ﬁ remen, led by I. E. Put-
man, arrived soon on the scene
and quickly got to work. A preva-
lent wind was blowing the ﬂ ames
east and down the block; if not for
their prompt response and deter-
mined ﬁ ght, the ﬁ re could’ve eas-
ily spread to half the town.
The bakery, owned by Dr. F.
P. Adams and operated by W. O.
Sutherland, had only four walls
remaining but was well covered
by insurance. Burt Mullin’s barber
shop was also hit hard, though a few
ﬁ xtures survived. Sam Rodgers’
store was made of ﬁ reproof walls,
but the roof wasn’t and his stock
was almost entirely destroyed.
Though he probably lost the most,
at least 75% of the damage was
covered by insurance. The oﬃ ces
of E. P. Dodd and W. Warner were
burned out but the ﬁ xtures rescued,
and both were well-insured.
Flames even entered the First
National Bank building, but didn’t
get further than the second ﬂ oor
and caused very little damage.
In fact, this building was largely
responsible for preventing the ﬁ re
from spreading further, as it partly
protected the other buildings by
blocking the wind. The ﬁ re cost
about $20,000 in loss and damage,
though fortunately not any lives.
———
McKenzie Rose, a sophomore
at Echo High School, searched
Hermiston Herald archives to
compile these article summaries.
BY THE WAY
New discount store opening in Boardman
Dollar Tree, Inc. announced its new Family Dollar
and Dollar Tree “Combo” store opening in Boardman.
The 10,104-square-foot store is scheduled to open
Thursday, Sept. 30, at 103 City Center Drive.
In addition to oﬀ ering a broad assortment of essential
products, the Family Dollar section of the store will oﬀ er
frozen and refrigerated food, a large selection of pantry
goods, beauty and health merchandise, household supplies,
basic apparel, baby and toddler necessities, pet food, elec-
tronics, toys and home décor.
The store will sell more than 4,000 items for $1 each.
Items include balloons and party supplies, Hallmark greet-
ing cards, seasonal decorations and holiday gifts, DIY
crafting essentials and school necessities.
“Small towns have historically had very limited retail
options and shoppers often travel long distances to meet
all of their shopping needs, but we are changing that,” said
Kayleigh M. Painter, Dollar Tree’s investor and media
relations manager. “Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are team-
ing up to provide the Boardman community with a brand
new, close-to-home store experience that oﬀ ers incredi-
ble value on everyday products and exciting $1 deals.”
The combo stores typically employ six to 10 associates.
The company is asking people to apply online at www.
FamilyDollar.com/careers.
• • •
Spanish Class for Beginners, instructed by Michelle
Villalobos will teach day-to-day conversation skills to get
you interacting with Spanish speakers. This class will engage
in activities that support the natural acquisition of language.
In a comfortable setting, engage in conversation that will
increase your ability to speak Spanish.
It is Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout October and
November, 6-8 p.m. The cost is $25 per month. Register at
bit.ly/hermistonrecreation.
• • •
Umatilla Electric Cooperative is celebrating National
Cooperative Month in October with events and activities.
In appreciation of its members, UEC will provide boxed
lunches to drive-up visitors from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. while
supplies last at the following UEC oﬃ ces:
• Tuesday, Oct. 5, 750 W. Elm Ave., Hermiston
• Wednesday, Oct. 6, 400 N.E. Eldridge Drive, Boardman
Visitors also will receive a gift bag that includes an energy
eﬃ cient kit with an LED lightbulb. UEC members may enter
weekly drawings for $100 bill credits and a prize raﬄ e.
Visit www.umatillaelectric.com or www.facebook.com/
UmatillaElectric for details. Bill credit winners will be
announced on Facebook Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28.
• • •
Coach David Faaeteete of the Hermiston Bulldogs will
talk about the team’s recent game against the Richland Bomb-
ers and discuss their game plan when taking on the Walla
Walla Blue Devils.
To huddle up with the coach, head to the Hermiston Line-
backer Club‘s luncheon meeting. The no-host event is Thurs-
day, Sept. 30, noon to 1 p.m., at Desert Lanes Family Fun
Center, 1545 N. First St., Hermiston. For questions, contact
Flora Larson at 541-567-5215 or ﬂ ora@barnettandmoro.com.
• • •
The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center menu for
Thursday, Sept. 30, is spaghetti, garlic bread, fruit and des-
sert. The menu for Tuesday, Oct. 5, is turkey noodles, veg-
gies 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.