WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
Law
enforcement
not spared
from hiring
woes
Hermiston police among
departments facing
trouble
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
Add law enforcement
offi cers to the growing list of
professions feeling the brunt
of a labor shortage and fac-
ing hiring woes.
Police departments in
Hermiston, Pendleton, La
Grande and Baker City have
had little luck fi nding appli-
cants for their open posi-
tions recently, and the police
chiefs are often fl ummoxed
about the reasons why.
The Hermiston Police
Department, which is bud-
geted for 28 offi cers, is down
by six, according to Jason
Edmiston, Hermiston police
chief. Illness and injury
account for most of the miss-
ing offi cers, he said, though a
couple of the open positions,
he added, were because peo-
ple “had enough” of the
work.
In a recent interview,
Edmiston blamed the “cli-
mate” of the time. Modern
divisiveness and negativ-
ity have troubled a “noble
profession,” he said. It has
reached the point, his depart-
ment is having diffi culty
attracting new recruits, the
chief said.
“It’s been extremely chal-
lenging trying to get num-
bers, quality applicants,” he
said.
He had thought there
would be a “mass exodus”
of offi cers from larger cities
to join departments in small
towns like Hermiston, he
said. Edmiston added he is
not seeing this, though.
These days, when he posts
an opening, he has around 10
applicants, the chief said. He
said when he was hired there
were 75 applicants for each
position.
Other chiefs are facing
the same issues.
“We’ve had zero appli-
cants,” said Ty Duby, Baker
City Police chief.
Duby, who worked for 25
years for Oregon State Police
before joining the Baker City
Police Department in 2019,
See Police, Page A8
Thanksgiving SPIRIT
Hermiston Community Fellowship Dinner persists despite missing much fellowship
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Volunteers package to-go meals Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, for the Community Fellowship Dinner at Hermiston High School.
It was an event that
was emotional for some of
the volunteers, including
Heather Smart, who said
she and others were work-
ing “for the love of the
community.”
Smart, who was in
charge of the kitchen, said
she has been working at the
event since 2014.
“I was doing nothing
for Thanksgiving, and I
wanted to do something,”
she said. “I felt the need,
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Volunteers stood beside
containers of roast turkey
dinners with all the trim-
mings Thursday, Nov. 25,
Thanksgiving
morning,
minutes ahead of the Com-
munity Fellowship Dinner.
Hundreds of meals were
ready for distribution. To
get them, all anyone had to
do was drive up and reach
out their hands.
and I looked for something
until I found this.”
As a head cook at Good
Shepherd Health Care Sys-
tem, her skills and expe-
rience were useful to this
cause.
“It makes me feel better
as a person in the commu-
nity,” she said. “It’s fulfi ll-
ing to see that we’re help-
ing so many people.”
As tears welled up in
her eyes, Smart explained
she
was
immensely
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Volunteers package to-go meals Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, at Hermiston High School for the
Community Fellowship Dinner.
touched by the outpour-
ing of donations and eff ort
that made this event pos-
sible. It would not be fea-
sible without many caring,
loving people, she said; it
is a testament to the good-
ness of the community.
Another
volunteer,
Ryan Greene, said he was
doing this work because
he enjoys helping people.
“A lot of people are
lonely, especially if they
don’t have family around
or if they are in a position
in which they don’t have
money for food,” he said.
Community Fellowship
Dinner Chairman Gary
Humphreys
explained
the history of the event,
dating back to the early
1980s. It started, he said,
with families who were
eating meals in an apart-
ment building when it
dawned on them that they
were eating alone and that
it would be better to share
a meal together.
In 1982, around 20 of
the apartment residents
got together for dinner.
They enjoyed the expe-
rience so much, they
wanted to keep doing it,
Humphreys said. What is
more, he said, they wanted
to invite others. The idea
caught on, snowballing to
create bigger and bigger
turnouts.
As Humphreys told the
story, participation for the
community dinners grew
so much, they needed
additional space. They
moved to a local church,
then a senior center and,
fi nally, Hermiston High
School.
The school, which has
held the event ever since,
is an excellent facility, he
said. It has a large kitchen
for food preparation, and
they are helped by school
staff .
COVID-19 threw a
wrench into the gears,
Humphreys said. No lon-
ger was it safe to bring the
community together for
people to enjoy face-to-
face interaction. Instead,
he said, the event shifted
so volunteers were prepar-
ing food and handing it to
people as they passed by
in cars.
The dinner provided
1,300 meals in 2020 for
Thanksgiving and another
1,000 for Christmas, he
said, and he expected the
same amount this year.
For this Thanksgiving, the
meals used 1,000 pounds
of turkey.
See Thanksgiving, Page A8
Bazaar marks bustling beginning
to holiday shopping in Hermiston
More than 60
vendors set up shop
at annual event
By BRYCE DOLE
Hermiston Herald
It’s Christmastime in
Hermiston.
For some, that means
it’s time to shop. More
than 1,000 people fl ocked
to the Hermiston Commu-
nity Center and The Arc
Umatilla County on Satur-
day, Nov. 27, for the annual
Christmas Bazaar.
The event featured more
than 60 vendors, and some
“overfl ow” vendors were
moved to The Arc Umatilla
County nearby, according
to Diana Picard, the city’s
INSIDE
recreation coordinator and
the manager of the commu-
nity center.
Picard said this year’s
bazaar was the biggest yet
— so big that organizers
had to turn away at least 40
vendors. Picard said she was
unsure why this year saw so
many more vendors, but she
assumed that many people
had taken up creative hob-
bies during the pandemic
and were ready to put their
products on display.
Vendors remarked on
the bazaar’s bustling atmo-
sphere. Crowds of peo-
ple meandered through
the center browsing orna-
ments, woodwork, paint-
ings, jewelry, crochet hats,
bath bombs and other types
of goods. The air was fi lled
with the smell of holiday
fragrances and baked goods.
Shoppers said they were
excited to be out support-
ing local businesses after
months where the pandemic
shuttered them and brought
both supply chain and hir-
ing woes. Many purchased
holiday gifts for loved ones,
noting the special feeling
of shopping local rather
than buying online through
Amazon and other shopping
websites.
“This is a way to connect
with each other,” Picard
said. “It’s a place to see
the people you haven’t in a
while.”
And shoppers were
eager to buy. Stepha-
nie Walchli saw that fi rst-
hand. Next to her crochet
table, she watched as her
parents’ wood tables were
A2  Hermiston History looks into
the past
completely sold out before
11 a.m., hours before the
event was scheduled to end.
By noon, the tables were
clear and her family had left.
Walchli’s day was busy,
too. She said she typically
makes around $200 at a
bazaar, which she had suc-
cessfully made halfway
through her day on Nov. 27.
A substitute teacher, Wal-
chli taught herself to cro-
chet. She enjoyed seeing
other creative artisans reap
the benefi ts of their hobbies
at the bazaar.
“You see the results of
months of work,” she said.
Some vendors said the
bazaar is one of their biggest
sales days. And this year was
even more important after
the stresses the pandemic
placed on small businesses.
A3  New Yorker wins Turkey Run
in Hermiston
Bryce Dole/Hermiston Herald
Shoppers and employees of Scentsy, a fragrance company,
talk about holiday products Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021, at the
Hermiston Christmas Bazaar. Racquel Rodriguez, a Hermiston-
based consultant for Scentsy, said the bazaar is one of the
biggest events of the year for sales. She said the event is
essential for local businesses to connect with clientele.
That was the case for
Racquel Rodriguez, a
Hermiston consultant for
the fragrance company
Scentsy. During pandemic
shutdowns, Rodriguez said
she was unable to hold
“home parties” to show-
A4  Our View: Holiday spirit is
alive and well
case products in a home.
That slowed business, and
made Rodriguez all the
more grateful for the com-
munity support on a busy
Nov. 27.
See Bazaar, Page A8
A6  Display lights up Saturday
in Boardman