NEWS
Wednesday, december 15, 2021
HermIsTOnHeraLd.cOm • A9
Knowledge Bowl team readies for first competition of the year
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Take the number of legs
on Santa’s reindeer from the
number of geese a-laying in
the entire song “The 12 Days
of Christmas,” and what is the
answer? If you answered that
the answer is six, you might
be a good fit for Hermiston
High School’s Knowledge
Bowl team.
Of course, you would also
have to be a HHS student.
Big things are happening
for Hermiston’s Knowledge
Bowl bunch, according to
John Lauck. Lauck, a retired
HHS teacher, is the school’s
current Knowledge Bowl
team co-advisor. He works
with Maggie Hughes-Boyd,
fellow co-advisor and high
school counselor.
Their team competes
against teams from Umatilla,
Echo, Helix and Stanfield in
a local Oregon league. Pilot
Rock and a few Washington
schools may soon be compet-
ing against Hermiston, too.
The big news, Lauck said,
is that the team is very large
this year. The team currently
John Lauck/Contributed photo
Hermiston High School students Dillon Herron, Joey Gerguson and Gavin Doherty pose for a
photo on Nov. 17, 2021, during a Knowledge Bowl meet at Echo High School. Ferguson, the
team captain, is a senior, as is Doherty. Herron is a junior.
boasts at least 17 students
who appear at practices, he
said. He said this is enough
students to form four teams
and is the largest group he
can remember.
Schools will convene for a
competition Wednesday, Jan.
12, 2022, 4 p.m. at Hermiston
High School, 600 S. First St.
At the competition, there will
be three rounds of 50 ques-
tions. Teams, each with three
to five individuals, will be
asked questions. When they
have an answer, they will hit
a buzzer and respond.
Questions are difficult, he
said, and they can be on many
different topics, including
math, history, current events,
art, astronomy and biology.
A dinner break is sched-
uled for the kids after round
two. After dinner, the teams
compete for a third round,
then a final for the top three
teams.
He said the kids seemed
to enjoy the last meet, which
took place in Echo on Nov.
17. Hermiston teams took
first and third places at that
meet, which was the school’s
first Knowledge Bowl meet
of 2021.
It was nice to have this
meet, the advisor said, as the
previous meet was in 2020.
The 2020 meet was the only
meet that year, a small com-
petition in Echo that included
one Hermiston team and two
Echo teams.
This year’s team includes
both experienced and new
competitors, he said. Among
the competitors are three
seniors and a handful of
promising young freshmen.
He said he expects them to do
well, depending on the other
teams that appear at future
meets.
Lauck said he is hope-
ful that his kids can face off
against bigger schools in
Washington.
“Some of them are just
outstanding,” he said of the
Washington teams, but he
added that the Hermiston
students are good, too, and
the competition should be
interesting.
Historically, he said,
Hermiston High performs
well at local meets. This is
the way it should be, Lauck
said, as Hermiston is a com-
paratively large school. Echo,
though, is a competitive team
that “should be hard to beat.”
Helix, too, has had good
teams.
“You’d be amazed what
these kids know, especially
when they work as a group,”
Lauck said.
Heppner wheat farmer takes seat on State Board of Agriculture
eric Orem says he is not
going into the position
with a set agenda
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Eric Orem of Heppner
said he hopes his experi-
ences and personal story
will prove to be a boon as
he joins the State Board of
Agriculture.
“I felt that with the board
experience that I have,”
he said, “having served
on co-op and commod-
ity group boards, that I can
bring something, maybe a
different perspective to the
board of ag.”
Orem owns and oper-
ates a diversified dryland
wheat, hay and cattle farm-
ing operation in Heppner.
Gov. Kate Brown recently
appointed him to the board.
His four-year term began
immediately, according to
a press release Wednesday,
Dec. 8, from the governor’s
office.
The state ag board
advises the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture on pol-
icy issues, develops rec-
ommendations on key
agricultural issues and
provides advocacy of the
state’s agriculture indus-
try in general. Orem, who
grew up in Morrow County,
said he is excited for these
challenges and enthusiastic
about joining this 12-mem-
ber board.
He is a past president of all through high school.
the Oregon Wheat Grow-
“From a young age, I
ers League and said peo- had a passion for agricul-
ple from the league encour- ture, but I never thought I
aged him to “throw his would get to be a part of it
name into the hat” for the or own my own operation,”
agriculture board appoint- he said. “It just wasn’t in
ment. He applied
the cards.”
for the position, and
He was told that
he said he was a lit-
farmer owners had
tle surprised to be
to either inherit their
selected. He also
farms or marry into
expressed feeling
them, he said.
humbled as a result.
“I don’t know if
Born in Ore-
that is true, but it is
gon City but raised
Orem
tough,” Orem said.
in Ione, Orem was
After his high
no stranger to agricultural school graduation, he
work. His grandfather had attended and graduated
a small farm and his father from Blue Mountain Com-
worked for a wheat and cat- munity College in Pendle-
tle ranch. As he got older, ton. Then he started work-
he graduated high school, ing for Les Schwab Tire
having worked for farmers Center, and “moved around
in management,” he said.
After being away from
the area for nine years, an
old employer contacted
him. One of his old bosses,
who had no children of his
own, told Orem he was get-
ting ready to retire, he said,
and he offered Orem the
chance to lease his farm.
It was 2001, and Orem
said he was thrilled for
the opportunity to become
the farmer he had always
dreamed of being. He took
the offer and he relocated
his young family.
“From there, we’ve
grown,” Orem said.
He picked up other
leases and started doing
custom seeding and spray-
ing for neighboring farms.
Orem grows hay to feed
his cows. He also sells hay
to others. He farms 7,000
acres of dryland wheat in
the Lexington area and has
100 head of cattle.
“Oregon agriculture has
been good to me,” he said.
He said he thinks by
sharing his personal suc-
cess story and network-
ing he was able to gain the
attention of the state board.
In becoming a part of the
board, he said he hopes he
can do good work. He said
he wanted to give back to
the industry that has given
much to him during the past
20 years.
“I am not going into it
with a set agenda,” he said.
“I’m hoping to help guide
agriculture, not signifi-
cantly change it.”
33 rd AN N UA L
LIGHT UP
A LIFE
CHOOSE
ANY PHONE
ANY BRAND
FUNDRAISER
FOR FREE
Vange John Memorial Hospice
Invites the community to support your local hospice through this
fundraiser which takes place during the month of December.
Your contribution to Vange John Memorial Hospice will illuminate a
symbolic light in a window display area provided by Victory Baptist
Church on Main Street. You may dedicate your light in honor of someone
you admire or in memory of someone you miss.
All memorials and honoree names received during the campaign will be read
January 9, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. on our local radio station, KOHU 1360 AM and will
be shared on Good Shepherd Health Care System’s Facebook page. An MP3
recording is available upon request.
A meaningful gift, your contribution will help you celebrate the life of loved ones
during the holiday season and help us meet the needs of our hospice patients and
their families all year long.
Join us for the Light Up A Life
Memorial/Honoree Reading of the Names
Broadcast on KOHU 1360 AM or
@gshcsnews
January 9, 2022 | 6:00 p.m.
Plus,
*Also, join us this spring for a Community Memorial Service in the park!
Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of $ ____________________________
Name ______________________________________________________________
Address ____________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip ___________________________ Phone ______________________
* Suggested donation for each memorial/honoree: $15
Please mail check payable to: Vange John Memorial Hospice
645 W. Orchard Ave., Suite 500 | Hermiston, OR 97838 (541-667-3543
Navigate Wireless
1565 N. 1st St., Hermiston, (541) 289-8722
Your canceled check will be your receipt. (A Division of Good Shepherd Health Care System)
Please place a light & ornament in the window display to celebrate the life of:
1. __________________________________________________________________
Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________
Address ____________________ City/State/Zip ___________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________
Address ____________________ City/State/Zip ___________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________
Address ____________________ City/State/Zip ___________________________
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