COMMUNITY
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
HerMIsTOnHeraLd.COM • A7
Turning the ‘brain gears’
Hermiston chess
players look forward
to upcoming regional
tournament
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
At the end of school
Thursday, Feb. 17, around
a dozen Hermiston High
School students gathered in
the back of their school’s
library for games of chess.
The members of the
Hermiston High School
Chess Club were preparing
for an upcoming competi-
tion, the Region 23 Chess
Tournament.
The tournament is Feb.
26, 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
the Hermiston High School
library. Sponsored by Chess
for Success, the event brings
together
kindergarteners
through high school students
from several local counties.
Ernest Kincaid, in his
first year as the advisor of
the club, said this will be his
first competition.
“I love it,” he said of the
chess club and about the
excitement he feels for the
tournament.
A math and special edu-
cation teacher, Kincaid said
he enjoys seeing his students
get their “brain gears” turn-
ing. Chess club, he said, is
a good opportunity for stu-
dents to think. And right
now, as they prepare for the
competition, they are push-
ing their brains as hard as
ever, he said.
They are not the only
ones straining their minds,
though, as he said he also is
struggling to his limits. He
said he started advising the
club because he wanted to
improve his playing skills.
At the club, he goes head to
head with his students, who
are sometimes as good as he
is — or better.
Kincaid said he intends
to go to the regional tourna-
ment with 10 students, and
one in particular is exception-
ally talented. Luke Gray is
one of at least three students
who should advance to state
competition.
Kincaid said he has beaten
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Luke Gray makes a move Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, while playing a chess match at Hermiston High School.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Lyndsay Egerer, 15, moves a pawn Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022,
while playing practice matches with fellow members of the
Hermiston High School Chess Club in the school’s library.
Luke Gray, left, and Lyndsay Egerer participate in a chess
match Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in the Hermiston High School
library.
Gray only once.
“I couldn’t believe it, and I
don’t think Luke could believe
it, either,” Kincaid said.
But he doubted he could
beat the student again. Gray
said he has seen Kincaid play
multiple times and knows him
too well for that to happen.
Other chess club mem-
bers expressed their admi-
ration of Gray’s skills, his
friendliness and his positiv-
ity. One student laughed at
the suggestion that Gray was
something of a cult leader.
“Yeah,” she said. “That’s
about right.”
sophomore is another top
player at the school, and he
competes for the fun of it.
He said when he was in
the sixth grade he learned
chess from his grandfather
and when he plays, he often
thinks of his grandfather,
who died three years ago.
Having appeared at state
twice with teams, Robin-
son said his goal is to com-
pete at state as an individual,
but added he is less confi-
dent he could win a state
competition.
“I’d have to get pretty lucky,
but I’ll try my best,” he said.
Gray was more mod-
est. He said he may be the
school’s best player, how-
ever, there are several good
players on the team, and
he does sometimes lose to
them.
Although he has been
to state a couple of times,
he said he has never done
very well there. He said he
has achieved a better under-
standing of the game in
recent months, though, and
he has gained confidence.
“I think I can do better
now,” he said.
Elijah Robinson, 15, a
Sophomore
Lyndsay
Egerer, 15, said she also was
putting forth her top effort.
Like some of the other stu-
dents at the club, she said she
first learned it from Gray.
Egerer said she is a com-
petitive person and also
takes part in karate and soft-
ball. She said it would be
fun to earn a chess trophy
she could treasure along-
side her sports trophies. But
she shrugged at whether she
could win a title yet.
“I’m getting better,” she
said. “I practice a lot and
learn from that, but I have
never been in a (chess) com-
petition before, and I don’t
know what to expect.”
Several of the other chess
players at the club meeting
also are athletes. For exam-
ple, Trey Ditchen, 15, soph-
omore, plays basketball and
baseball.
“I’m not amazing, but
I’m alright,” he said.
He added he would like
to be a great chess player,
and that he hopes he can be
at the regional competition.
He said that he enjoys
chess because of his compet-
itive nature but also because
he likes spending time with
his friends. And, he said,
he enjoys watching himself
get increasingly better as he
practices.
Enrique Garcia, 15,
freshman, said he has fun
improving his skills, too.
Also, he said, he enjoys
chess because he likes prob-
lem solving. It would be a
lot of fun to win at region-
als, he said, but he expressed
mixed feelings about state
competition.
“I’d be nervous,” he said.
Having come to the U.S.
from Mexico this year, Gar-
cia speaks little English.
Getting around in this coun-
try, and navigating his
English-language classes is
difficult, he said. Chess club,
too, is hard, he said, because
of the language barrier.
Still, he said he likes
to play the game, as it was
something he did while in
his home country that he
also can do here.
Alexander Corona, 15,
freshman, said the game
is a stress reliever for him.
When classwork becomes
too hard, he said, he can turn
to chess and have a breather.
Conner Burleson, 14,
expressed that sentiment
as well and offered some
advice.
“It you don’t know how
to play chess, start,” he said.
“You will like it.”
To register, players may
visit the website www.
chessforsuccess.org/play/
registration. For more
information, contact Delia
Fields, tournament direc-
tor, at 541-667-6144 or
541-571-4219.
All hail the jalapeno popper queen
Hermiston pub draws crowd
for jalapeno popper contest
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Three guys entered a bar could
be the start of a joke. But in this
case, it is the beginning of what
could be an annual tradition at a
local pub.
Neighbor Dudes, the taphouse at
405 N. First St., Hermiston, on Sat-
urday, Feb. 19, held its first Pop-off,
a contest to find out what local res-
ident has the best jalapeno poppers.
Tammy Speelman, manager, and
Renee McCoy, server, explained
the contest and its history.
They said three regulars were at
the bar a few weeks ago. The guys
were chatting, and their conversa-
tion drifted to jalapeno poppers.
Each of the three men argued their
poppers were the best.
To test their poppers, they agreed
to bring their foods to the bar to try
one another’s poppers and decide
who was the popper king.
“They put their money where
their mouths were, and it went
well,” McCoy said.
Management at Neighbor Dudes
took notice of the private contest
and decided to hold a competition
of their own.
“What we did was charge a $5
entry fee,” Speelman said, speak-
ing of the contest. “They could
make a popper at home, bring it in,
and it would be judged on three cat-
egories — best flavor, presentation
and most unusual.”
Thirteen popper dishes were
entered into the contest, and the
bar was filled. McCoy said it was
unusual for there to be so many
customers in the place. Ordinarily,
she said, there might be around
15-20 people there on a Saturday
afternoon. On the day of the popper
contest, there were around 50. The
bar had to bring in another server
to help.
“Everyone loves poppers,”
Speelman said.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Jeff Kraupp, of Hermiston, shows
off his jalapeno poppers Saturday,
Feb. 19, 2022, at Neighbor Dudes,
Hermiston, for the taphouse’s Pop-
off to determine which local has the
best poppers.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Casidy Blair holds up her prize-winning jalepeno poppers Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, at the Pop-off contest at
Neighbor Dudes, Hermiston.
Though Neighbor Dudes does
not usually serve poppers or other
foods, she said she was confident
people would take to this contest
— just not this much. The large
crowd was more than what even
she expected.
At least one of the three origi-
nal popper makers were at the con-
test. Buzz around the bar was that
he was the “popper king.” Looking
around at his competition, though,
Jeff Kraupp, of Hermiston, said
he might not win this particular
contest.
“I don’t think I’m going to win
today, but I think I’m going to learn
a lot,” he said.
Other competitors expressed a
little more confidence. Mena Dud-
ley, Ryan Stant, Jennifer Sword and
Allen Sword spoke excitedly about
their poppers, which were the result
of a collaboration. Their dish was
made with homemade pork sausage.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Jalapeno poppers sit on a plate
during the Pop-off contest Saturday,
Feb. 19, 2022, at Neighbor Dudes,
Hermiston.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Tammy Speelman, manager of Neighbor Dudes, Hermiston takes a bite
of a jalapeno popper Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, during the establishment’s
jalapeno popper competition.
“We’ve been making these for a
couple of years now,” Allen Sword
said, “but we haven’t done a com-
petition before.”
It was Casidy Blair who won
the contest, though. The new pop-
per queen took home $55 cash as
a prize.
“I love jalapeno poppers, so I’ve
been making them for a while,” she
said.
Her husband, Ben Blair, stepped
in to say that she has been cooking
poppers for around 15 years.
She made her poppers with can-
died jalapenos, cream cheese, vari-
ous other cheeses and bacon.
McCoy said Neighbor Dudes is
likely to host another contest in the
near future.
“I think we’ll do wings next,”
she said. She and the manager said
they would talk more and decide on
a date.