NEWS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Opening doors: Key Club continues
service more than 50 years later
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
The Hermiston High School
Key Club’s meeting Jan. 12 was
bustling with activity. Members
played games, enjoyed snacks
and discussed their community
work.
And they chatted about their
club’s past, including how Uma-
tilla County Commissioner Dan
Dorran was a Key Club member
in his youth and met none other
than “The Greatest” himself,
Muhammed Ali.
Hermiston’s Kiwanis Club
founded the Key Club more than
50 years ago. Then, as now, the
club guided young people to
develop as community-minded
individuals. At the meeting, stu-
dents expressed their thoughts
about their club. Meanwhile, past
members refl ected on how Key
Club shaped them.
Hermiston Herald
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Members of the Hermiston High School Key Club pose for a group photo Jan. 12, 2022.
Today’s club
Lilly Chase, Key Club presi-
dent, joined the club as a fresh-
man. Now a senior and 17, Chase
said she is proud of the club’s
work in park cleanups, charity
fund drives and more. She said
she has enjoyed being helpful, an
ethic the club promotes.
Janet Sexton is in her sixth
year as Key Club advisor. She
said the club, which has 51 mem-
bers, gives students an oppor-
tunity to do good works and
develop skills.
“It gives kids a chance to
serve, to be leaders and have
fun,” Sexton said.
Key Club members in Decem-
ber helped set up displays at the
Festival of Trees and were serv-
ers at Pancakes with Santa.
Kiwanis Club President Jeff
Kelso and member Tom Ditton
attested to the excellence of Key
Club members, past and present.
They said the Hermiston Kiwanis
sponsors both the Hermiston
High School Key Club and the
Umatilla High School Key Club,
providing fi nancial assistance
and service opportunities.
“It’s a good group of kids,”
Ditton said.
Dairy Heifer
Program kicks
off 4th year in
Morrow County
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Kiwanis Club members Jeff Kelso and Tom Ditton take part in a
Hermiston High School Key Club activity at a meeting Jan. 12, 2022.
Making community leaders
Dorran said he was a member
of Key Club from 1971 to 1974,
something he told to Kiwanis
members at a meeting in January.
While speaking with the Kiwanis,
he showed them momentos from
his involvement in Key Club.
Such relics included auto-
graphs from boxers Ali and
heavyweight title challenger
George Chuvalo. Dorran met the
pair on a Key Club trip to Van-
couver, Canada. The two boxing
greats were in town for an upcom-
ing match in 1972, and they both
made time to greet fans.
“They were fun to be around,”
Dorran said of the boxers.
He said Ali asked him about
Hermiston and whether the town
had ever hosted a world heavy-
weight championship fi ght. The
commissioner said the champ
was generous with his time.
Dorran, a Kiwanian now, was
a member of the Key Club when
it fi rst began. He said he has good
memories of the club, which
helped guide him to community
service as a youth.
“I think Key Club is an orga-
nization from which members
can get a lot,” he said. “I’m a big
believer in Key Club, for sure.”
Another former Key Club
member shared the importance
of the club in her life. While she
helped sell Christmas trees late
last year, Kiwanis Club member
Cindy Middleton discussed her
present service to her commu-
nity and her past involvement in
the Key Club. Among her work
in the area, Middleton is on the
Festival of Trees committee and
the Good Shepherd Community
Health Foundation.
She was a Key Club member
in the early 1990s as a Hermiston
High School student and served
as a club offi cer. Kyle Kenni-
son, a beloved educator, was the
club’s advisor. Hermiston’s Ken-
nison Field Complex was named
after him.
“It was a community activity
and a way for high school stu-
dents to get involved in our com-
munity,” Middleton said about
the club.
She said community service
was not new to her by the time
she joined Key Club. Her fam-
ily always worked for a better
Hermiston. Also, she was a 4-H
member, which encouraged par-
ticipation in community activ-
ities. The Key Club, though,
cemented her feelings, she said,
and it gave her more local work
to perform.
The involvement in the club
had a practical benefi t: the
Kiwanis Club awarded her a col-
lege scholarship upon her high
school graduation.
As a Kiwanis Club member
for several years, she has returned
periodically to the Key Club. She
was a liaison for the clubs and a
“chauff eur” for her son, taking
him to Key Club activities.
“I think that Key Club gives
our community a spirit of ser-
vice,” Middleton said. “It installs
in our young people a sense of
giving back, and that’s what
Hermiston is all about.”
Twelve Morrow County 4-H stu-
dents and their families started a
new journey Friday, Jan. 28, as
they picked up dairy heifers from
Threemile Canyon Farms to raise for
eight months.
The Dairy Heifer Program, started
in 2019, loans heifers to 4-H students,
who care for and learn responsible
animal management practices from
Threemile Canyon Farms veterinar-
ians and nutritionists throughout the
year, according to a press release.
Dr. Jeff Wendler, Threemile’s direc-
tor of Livestock Operations, created
and operates the program in collabora-
tion with Morrow County OSU Exten-
sion Service and Morrow County 4-H.
“This program has been so reward-
ing for myself and everyone involved
from Threemile Canyon Farms,” Wen-
dler said in the release. “The parents
and students have been wonderful to
work with and we are proud to partner
with OSU and Morrow County 4-H
to teach the next generation about the
dairy industry.”
Students interview before entering
the program, and once selected work
closely with Threemile staff on animal
welfare, grooming and sportsmanship.
Throughout the program, there are sev-
eral vet checks and heifer weigh-ins,
culminating in August, when partici-
pants show their animals at the Morrow
County Fair, competing in showman-
ship, conformation and herdsmanship.
Lisa Wedam’s daughter Isabel has
participated in the program for three
years, according to the press release,
and said it’s a wonderful opportunity
to watch the kids grow and learn about
their heifers.
Claire Lindsay, a fi rst-year partic-
ipant, said in the release she’s very
excited to be in the program.
“This is my fi rst time showing in
4-H, and I’m super excited to start
working with my heifer, named Milk
Dud,” Lindsay said.
Since the program started, 46
4-H’ers have participated, including
the latest dozen. After the Morrow
County Fair, the heifers are returned
to Threemile and added back into the
herd.