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HAC:
Continued from Page A1
Other issues are weight-
ier. Immigration, for exam-
ple, always is a big topic
when it comes up at meet-
ings. Garcia said there was
a lot of fear about this issue,
especially when Donald
Trump became president.
Many people in his com-
munity were worried about
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
a sixth grader and new
to this country. Now, she
works with students who
also are having difficulty
with English. Her goal is
to continue to guide others
and create connections for
people.
‘Naz’ Nazario Rivera
Rivera, who has been a
HAC member for nearly
two years, was interested
in the committee prior to
His work specifically is
with local farm workers. In
this committee, he said he
wants to give insight into
the law, though he realizes
he has a lot to learn. People,
he said, need to be heard;
he intends to listen.
He said his heritage is
somewhat complicated. As
a “Mixteco,” he is an Indig-
enous Mexican, and does
not usually identify as His-
panic. He does, however,
enjoy Mexican culture —
music, television, etc. And
he speaks Spanish.
Mark Gomolski
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Sierra Dugan crosses the finish line of the Echo Sage Trail Run, as Joe Miles, 5, rings a bell to
congratulate finishers Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, at the Sno Road Winery vineyard in Echo.
Run:
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This was the second time
the Eastern Oregon Women
for Agriculture hosted the
race. Previously, the run was
organized by Greg Spike and
included a 5k, 10k, 25k and
50k for those brave enough
to venture into the realm of
ultra marathons.
When the race started to
fizzle out, Bethany Wood-
all, Gina Tyhuis and Gina
Gray asked to take over
to help support women in
agriculture. According to
Tyhuis, women own 39%
of all farms and ranches in
Oregon.
Nicola Feik, whose fam-
ily farm started in 1847 and
whose grandmother was
a founding member of the
western chapter of Oregon
Women for Agriculture, has
been involved since she was
4 years old and said they
worked to acknowledge the
role women have played in
agriculture throughout the
state’s history.
“We’re carrying on their
legacies,” she said.
Additionally, she said
the organization works hard
to get people more famil-
iar with their food, where
it comes from and to make
sure agriculture is legislators
recognize the importance of
agriculture.
To do this, the organiza-
tion partnered with Oregon
Agriculture in the Class-
room to help bring farming
and ranching into more clear
focus. EOWA also spreads
“farm facts” and are collab-
orating to put up informa-
tional signs along farms to
explain the crops local farms
are growing.
The money raised from
the run went straight into the
local organization’s annual
scholarship fund, which
will provide scholarships to
three women pursuing agri-
Store:
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When he started strug-
gling
financially,
he
applied for the Small Busi-
ness Assistance COVID-19
Disaster Relief loans and
two small grants.
“It took over eight
weeks for them to get back
to me with a denial for the
reason they could not ver-
ify I was an actual busi-
ness,” he said.
A simple Google search
should be enough to prove
its existence, he thought.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Jose Garcia, president of the Hispanic Advisory Committee,
poses in front of his building on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
He also is the program director of the New Horizon Alcohol
and Drug Program in Hermiston.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Cole Ayres leads a pack of runners in the 5K competition
Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, at the Echo Sage Trail Run at the Sno
Road Winery vineyard in Echo.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Sean Williams runs toward the finish line Saturday, Sept. 25,
2021, during the Echo Sage Trail Run at the Sno Road Winery
vineyard in Echo. The annual trail run serves as a fundraiser
for Eastern Oregon Women for Agriculture.
culture degrees in the Baker,
Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla,
Union or Wallowa counties.
Each applicant has to fill
out an application and write
a 500- to 1,000-word essay
focused on the biggest prob-
lems facing agriculture and
how they plan to be a part
of the solution. Decided
by a scholarship commit-
tee that ranks the essays
on points, the top applicant
receives $1,000, second
place receives $750 while
third receives $500.
Woodall, Tyhuis and Gray
hope to continue expand-
ing the race and would like
to get cross-country teams
more involved.
“It’s
a
challenging
course,” Tyhuis said, “they
would be huffing and
puffing.”
Plus, the more partici-
pants who run, the better
they can continue to fund
agriculture education and
spread the knowledge of
how food is made.
“There is a lot of people
that just don’t understand
what we do, and or how or
why we do it,” Woodall said.
“There are too many people
in this world that don’t know
where their food comes
from. We are trying to help
correct that.”
“I was crushed,” he said.
“That was the final blow. I
appealed, but haven’t heard
back from them.
bed much of the time.
In addition to selling
antiques, he was planning to
turn his store into an art gal-
lery and maybe even a stu-
dio. He dreamed of people
being able to visit, some-
times just to sit and look at
the paintings which would
be hanging on the shop
walls.
Instead, he now plans
on taking time to care for
his wife, who he said just
tested positive for COVID-
19 while in the hospital. He
will also take care of him-
self, hopeful he will not
become ill again.
Moving on
Before his most recent
COVID-19 infection, he got
vaccinated. He obtained the
two required shots of the
Pfizer vaccine. But that did
not keep him from getting
his worst case of COVID-
19 to that point. Though he
feels well now, a month after
his positive test, he said he
suffered difficulty breathing
when he was symptomatic.
It was painful, and he was in
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Dave Bender stands in front of his van outside of his shop, RetroRagz, in Stanfield on Friday,
Sept. 26, 2021.
mass deportations. Rumors
spread about local police
demanding to see docu-
ments and sending them to
authorities in Tacoma for
deportation.
HAC invited Jason
Edmiston,
Hermiston’s
chief of police, to speak on
these concerns to an audi-
ence of worried people.
The chief told them they
were not demanding doc-
uments or sending people
away for deportation.
Garcia’s parents retired
as migrant workers, and
they believed their success
was rooted in hard work.
He admires their drive, he
said, values the Hispanic
people as “a driven com-
munity” and he intends to
do more in the future.
Improved public trans-
portation, safer roads and
better sidewalks are all
matters Garcis said wants
to see in Hermiston.
‘Abby’ Munoz-Reyes
Having recently joined
the Hispanic Advisory
Committee, Munoz-Reyes
has only been to two meet-
ings, but she cares about
serving her community.
She works with the
migrant education pro-
gram for the InterMountain
Education Service District,
mostly helping agricultural
and food processing work-
ers. It is a job that relates
to her work at HAC; she
is serving the same people.
The migrant program that
covers Umatilla, Morrow,
Baker, Union and Wallowa
counties.
She said she wanted to
join the committee because
it aims to improve the lives
of Hispanic people. She
knows a lot about this com-
munity, and she thought she
could help. One of the prob-
lems among Hispanic peo-
ple, she said, is they are not
always aware of resources
available to them.
“We can bring resources
to our families, even if it
is only one time, it’s still
something for them,” she
said.
She said she is proud of
being Hispanic and remem-
bers struggling with learn-
ing English when she was
joining it. He attended the
meetings and believed
in its mission. It was, he
said, a good way to gain
knowledge of the city and
resources available. This
was especially useful to
him in his role as a commu-
nity health worker; he was
able to share information to
his clients.
Rivera now is the public
health director for Morrow
County. He brings his expe-
rience to the committee,
but he is not just interested
in health-related topics.
He has enjoyed discussing
water prices, the Funland
project and more.
Both of his parents come
from Mexico, he is bilin-
gual and he is proud of his
Latin roots, but he was not
always as proud as he is
now. It was only in college,
when he worked with dif-
ferent groups, that he con-
nected more strongly with
his community.
He said that it is easier
to connect with his com-
munity on the west side of
the state. There are more
offices there to support
Latin people, and more
ways to be involved. He
hopes he can develop more
resources locally so Herm-
iston has more to offer His-
panic people.
Agustin Vega-Peters
Vega-Peters, an attor-
ney, is under review to join
the committee, but he is
no stranger to it. Since the
beginning of the year, he
has been attending meet-
ings as a spectator. He said
one of the most interest-
ing topics lately includes
resources made available
because of COVID-19. He
also appreciated hearing
about Martha’s House and
the Agape House.
He has a history of vol-
unteerism, including help-
ing out with high school
camps for students inter-
ested in law. As he comes
from Salem, he is new
to Hermiston and hopes
to learn of more ways to
be involved in volunteer
groups.
He works for Legal Aid
Services of Oregon, pro-
viding free legal services.
Gomolski is the vice
chair of the committee, and
he is the only white person
on it. He has been on the
committee for four years.
Also the executive direc-
tor of Eastern Oregon Mis-
sion, he supports Agape
House and Martha’s house,
Hermiston organizations
that help needy people. As
such, he works alongside
many Hispanic people and
has several Hispanic cli-
ents. He serves Hispanic
people, he said.
Hispanic men and
women have made a large
impact on his life, he said.
For example, his first
employer was Hispanic.
During the seven years he
worked for him, the two
became good friends. This
boss invited him into his
home often and made him a
godfather to his child.
He also has learned to
appreciate Hispanic cul-
ture, and he has learned
how to cook Mexican food.
Though he does not
speak Spanish, he wants to
be a conduit between com-
munities. He hopes, for
example, he can start a His-
panic art fair to the area. He
would invite Hispanic art-
ists and show other people
the richness of this amazing
culture.
Lilly Alarcon-Strong
Lilly
Alarcon-Strong
is not one of the commit-
tee members. She is a city
representative for the com-
mittee, along with Assis-
tant City Manager Mark
Morgan and City Council-
ors Maria Duron and Roy
Barron.
Alarcon-Strong
has been involved with the
committee more than six
years.
She said she appreci-
ates the committee because
it gives Hispanic people
opportunity to be involved
with their city. Not all peo-
ple are comfortable talking
with the city council or
visiting city hall. While
the committee meets in
city hall, its members can
engage with other people
about issues in their own
language as meetings are
bilingual.
She said she looks for-
ward to returning to a
pre-pandemic
situation.
Before COVID-19, HAC
meetings were lively and
large. Sometimes, 50 or
more people would attend
the meetings. Nowadays,
Hispanic Advisory Com-
mittee might only draw a
couple of visitors.
Meetings are the third
Monday of each month,
except June, July, August
and December. Start time is
7 p.m. at city hall.