OFF PAGE ONE
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021
Twists and turns Find your way in the Echo Corn Maze
EO Media Group
ECHO — Try your nav-
igation skills this fall at the
Echo Corn Maze and Pump-
kin Patch, which is open
throughout the month.
“Our mission at Echo
Corn Maze has always
been to provide a fun, fam-
ily-friendly, safe environ-
ment,” said owner Gina
Tyhuis.
The maze is at 300 N.
Dupont St., 1.5 miles off
Interstate 84.
She said the maze started
after she and her husband,
Bob, adopted their son in
October 2016. The proj-
ect was a way to create a
community activity and
teach visitors about agricul-
ture. Every year brings new
additions — this version
includes a sunflower field,
cornhole, and glass corn
stalks and specialty gourds
for sale.
The main corn maze
itself is 8 acres of twists and
turns. It takes about an hour
to complete.
Echo Corn Maze and
Pumpkin Patch
The Echo Corn Maze
and Pumpkin Patch is
open throughout Octo-
ber with the corn maze, a
smaller straw bale maze, a
mini corn maze, a pumpkin
patch and more.
Younger visitors can go
through the mini corn maze
or the straw bale maze.
“Kids can spend hours
digging though the kernels
in the corn crib or finding
the perfect pumpkin in the
patch,” Tyhuis said.
Ages 6 and younger
can tour the farm in kid-
die carts. There also is a zip
line and tunnel maze, and
in the evening families can
rent cozy fire pits.
The maze is open
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays,
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Satur-
days, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sundays. The attraction is
reserved for school field
trips and group visits Tues-
day through Thursday.
Admission is $10 and
includes the 8-acre corn
maze, corn crib, mini corn
maze, straw bale maze and
tunnels. An all-day pass
plus the Field of Screams is
$12. The zip line and kiddie
carts are $1 per ride. Fridays
2-6 p.m. feature reduced
admission of $5.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Field of Screams
A display of pumpkins shows the way to the Echo Corn Maze Oct. 9, 2021.
For the bravehearted, the
Field of Screams haunted
maze is open Oct. 23, 29
and 30, 7-9 p.m. Tickets are
$12 and include all general
admission features.
For more information,
visit the Echo Corn Maze on
Facebook. Also, admission
Pets:
Continued from Page A1
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Angela Bradshaw of Hermiston pets a shelter dog while with her family Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021,
at the Loves Pets adoption event at Hermiston’s Pet Rescue Humane Society of Eastern Oregon.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Beau Putnam, director of the shelter at Hermiston’s Pet Rescue Humane Society of Eastern
Oregon, holds a shelter cat with the Petsense mascot Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, during the Loves
Pets adoption event.
Mandate:
Continued from Page A1
available through the web-
site shows St. Anthony had
412 employees in 2019. Tax
returns filed in May 2021
shows Good Shepherd has
887 employees.
The Morrow County
Health District, which
includes Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner, did not
respond to a list of questions
prior to press time. An offi-
cial in the county’s human
resources department on Oct.
18 was unable to provide
data before deadline on how
many workers the health dis-
trict employs.
Schools
In public education, East-
ern Oregon’s two largest
school districts won’t face
any labor shortages as a
result of the vaccine mandate
and have already filled the
vacancies it created.
In Hermiston, Superinten-
dent Tricia Mooney reported
85% of district staff were
vaccinated as of Oct. 15.
Another 14.5% had secured a
medical or religious exemp-
tion while three Hermiston
staff, or 0.5%, left the district
as a result. Mooney said the
district is filling those posi-
tions with a combination of
substitutes and temporary
hires.
Pendleton Superinten-
dent Chris Fritsch said his
district’s vaccination status
hadn’t changed too much
since he shared a prelimi-
nary report with the Pend-
leton School Board earlier
this month. About 90% of
Pendleton’s staff is vacci-
nated, with most of the rest
obtaining exemptions to stay
employed while remaining
unvaccinated.
Fritsch on Oct. 18 said
one staff member resigned as
a result of the mandate, and
the district placed another on
unpaid leave. He added that
a third employee resigned
several weeks ago perhaps
because of the mandate, but
he couldn’t confirm it.
According to Fritsch,
no employees were termi-
nated for noncompliance
with the mandate. Fritsch
said the district already has
filled all of its vacancies with
permanent hires.
“We’re pretty happy with
Angela
Bradshaw
of Hermiston came to
the shelter with her
two daughters and four
grandchildren.
“This is a surprise for
me,” Bradshaw said.
Her family told her
of the event, and they
brought her along to help
pick out a new dog. She
was happy to be there,
she said, because she had
adopted a dog at other
shelters. It worked out
well for her, and she was
hopeful for another lov-
ing fur-baby.
She said she sees her
role with the new dog as
similar to any grandpar-
ent’s position with a new
baby. That is, she will
enjoy the dog, but the
parents will have to do
the hard work.
The “parents” would
include the second gener-
ation of Bradshaw/Win-
terton family, who were
looking to pick up a dog to
fill a hole in their hearts.
A pair of their other dogs
recently died, both of
old age. They were espe-
cially happy to get a dog
that was a rescue dog, a
canine obtained from a
shelter.
“We’re going to give
a dog a second chance,
and they make us happy,”
Katie Bradshaw said.
She is the sister of Callie
Winterton, who brought
her children.
One of those children,
Shay Winterton, said she
was happy to get a dog,
but she really wanted a
tickets and fire pit rentals
can be purchased online at
www.echocornmaze.com.
cat, or even a horse.
“Do they have horses
here?” she asked her
mother.
When she learned she
could not get a horse or
a cat, she asked if she
could get two dogs.
Her mother said she
might have to think about
two dogs, though she
added they have plenty
of room for additional
pets. The family lives on
5 acres, and they con-
sider themselves a “dog
family.”
She said she might
even add a horse some-
time in the near future.
Dog owner Veronica
Lopez brought her daugh-
ter, Katherine Lopez, to
adopt a pet that would
take the place of their
small dog, which died
after a car ran it over.
This was upsetting to the
entire family, they said.
By the time they left
the shelter, however, they
were all smiles. They
brought home Shatner, a
new small dog that would
join a larger dog waiting
at home.
Katherine said she
would soon give Shatner
a tour of his home, plus
teach him new tricks.
“This is a happy day,”
she said.
The day also was
happy for Donna Lutz,
even though one dog,
Ogano, urinated on her.
Actually, Lutz decided to
adopt the dog, a husky,
because it urinated on
her.
She took it as a sign.
“I love huskies,” she
said. “They’re special.”
As she was leaving the
Masks and social dis-
tancing will be required
under state guidelines.
event, she was giggling,
beaming with joy over
her new pet.
The value of pet adoption
Jackie Alleman, once
owned the shelter, which
her mother built. Now a
volunteer, Alleman said
it was “super important”
to hold adoption events.
“We have so many
dogs who are aban-
doned,” she stressed.
“The best way to take
care of them is with shel-
ters until they can find
regular homes.”
Beau Putnam, shelter
director and Alleman’s
son-in-law, said this work
means a lot to him. He
said he figures the shel-
ter has given homes to
thousands of animals.
Dogs and cats are the
most common, he said,
but they sometimes find
homes for others, such as
a peacock and bunnies.
The shelter obtains its
animals from local city
governments, which pick
up strays. Also, some
people bring their own
animals to the shelter,
giving them up when they
cannot care for them.
Even outside of adop-
tion days, Putnam said,
the shelter is open to
guests Tuesday through
Saturday, 11 a.m. to
3 p.m. Adoption fees are
$125 and up for dogs,
$30 for cats. A driver’s
license is required.
Putnam pointed out
the on-site thrift store
is open during shelter
hours. Profits benefit the
shelter. The store also
accepts donations of used
goods.
the quality of candidates,” applies to AFSCME Security the newsroom.
employees have more time to
he said.
and Security Plus employ-
“Now, the majority of comply with the governor’s
ees, Black said in an email to Department of Corrections vaccine mandate,” she said.
Prisons
Two of the largest employ-
ers in Umatilla County are its
state prisons.
Eastern Oregon Correc-
tional Institution, Pendleton,
employs 425 prison staff,
according to Lindsey McK-
night, the facility’s human
resources manager. The Ore-
gon Department of Cor-
rections reported Two Riv-
ers Correctional Institution,
Umatilla, has 468 employees.
Both prisons reported
high vaccination rates
among their staffs. TRCI
reported 35 of its 325 secu-
rity officers have not noti-
fied the state they have got-
ten vaccinated. At EOCI, 25
out of its 290 officers have
not reported having gotten
the shot, according to Jenni-
fer Black, communications
manager for the corrections.
Black said unvaccinated
staff who inform the prison
during the work day on Oct.
18 that they have begun the
vaccination process “will
have a grace period until
Nov. 30th to become fully
vaccinated.” This only
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