A9 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022
OUTSKIRTS STANFIELD
Stanfield’s growth continues,
rebounding from pandemic
BY JOHN TILLMAN
Hermiston Herald
The city and its businesses are
growing and upgrading as they
rebound from the pandemic.
Masseuse Sharron Newton,
78, moved her business, Royal
Health Therapies, from a Herm-
iston office into her remodeled
Stanfield home during the pan-
demic.
“It was a good move,” she
said. “It’s interesting how Stan-
field is growing, with the new
housing district on the other
side of the high school. A lot of
houses have gone up in just six
months.”
The $12 million, 41-unit Pa-
triot Heights low-income hous-
ing project, 155 Valor Ave., was
unveiled on May 16.
Newton also cites recent de-
velopments such as the general
store, excavation for another
housing complex on Stanfield’s
south side and new street lights
downtown.
“When the lights are lit up, it’s
striking,” she said. “The beauti-
fication is very nice. There’s a lot
of growth.”
Newton moved because of
the pandemic.
“There was fear,” she recalled.
“I lost a lot of regular clientele.
Some have returned, but not all.
The remodeled home office is
working out.”
Newton’s health has de-
clined and her home was hit by
COVID-19, so she is working
part time.
“It’s what I consider part
time,” she added, “at four days a
week, with three or four clients
per day.”
Only one or two steady cli-
ents have been unwilling to
drive from Hermiston, and
Newton has picked up new reg-
ulars from Stanfield.
“It’s convenient working
from home,” she said. “If a cli-
ent is half an hour late now,
I’m a lot more patient than I
would have been in my office in
Hermiston.”
Newton remodeled her
house to separate an office
from the private area. She has
a large lot for convenient park-
ing and easy access right off
Highway 395.
“Some regular clients prefer
the atmosphere at home,” she
commented. “I feel blessed still
to be working in a physically de-
manding profession at my age.”
Stanfield is supporting her
well, Newton reported.
“The move was good for me
and good for Stanfield.”
HOUSING PROJECTS,
BUSINESSES EXPAND
The Panoramic Ridge hous-
ing development, west of High-
way 395, continued to expand,
the city’s fiscal year 2022-23
budget reported. Homes and
lots sold out in phase four and
39 sites soon will be ready for
construction in phases five and
six.
The Umatilla County Hous-
ing Authority finished its Patriot
Heights development this past
year, providing 41 additional
units of varying sizes, the bud-
Welcome to
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Fr
Mackenzie Whaley/Hermiston Herald
Kathy Baker poses for a photo Friday, July 1, 2022, in her Stanfield business Fun Fashions, a boutique store.
Mackenzie Whaley/Hermiston Herald
Kathy Baker poses for a photo Friday, July 1, 2022, in front of her Stan-
field business Fun Fashions, a boutique store.
Mackenzie Whaley/Hermiston Herald
Fun Fashions in Stanfield is open for business Friday, July 1, 2022, offering women’s and teen wear.
get continued. This brought in
revenue through additional util-
ity services and about 150 new
residents for local businesses
and activities. It also provided
a local Head Start program and
created access to additional
land prime for private hous-
ing development. This project
increased a city fund by more
than $200,000.
The 99-unit Bumblebee Es-
tate housing development is
under construction. It should
bring in property taxes, utilities
and roughly 300 new residents,
the budget reported.
Dollar General and Java
Junkies are both in the con-
struction phases, aiming to
open this summer. These will
bring additional jobs and reve-
nue to the city, according to the
budget report.
Besides these larger develop-
ments, more than 10 residential
and two or three commercial
lots are going through the de-
velopment process, the budget
stated.
VIDEOS SAVED WOMEN’S WEAR
BUSINESS
Live online videos saved
Kathy Baker’s business, Fun
Fashions Boutique, 165 Coe
Ave., during the pandemic.
“When (Gov.) Kate Brown
shut us down on March 15,
2020, I didn’t know what to
do,” Baker recalled. “I’m not a
big online store, just bricks and
mortar.”
Columbia Bank came to Bak-
er’s rescue. So that women could
still shop in her store, the bank
backed her in picking five cus-
tomers to receive $250 each in
free merchandise.
“That helped me feel com-
fortable,” she said, “then I
started doing live videos, selling
on Facebook and Venmo with
free delivery.”
Baker also has built a small
website
“I had really good customers
in Hermiston, Stanfield and as
far as Condon,” she said. “Oth-
erwise I would not have made
it.”
Producing live videos was a
do-or-die operation for Baker.
“I was scared to death,” she
said. “I didn’t want to sound
stupid or uneducated, but I did
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it, and it worked. It saved my
business.”
Baker showed her clothing
lines and sizes available over the
internet.
“I had never seen anything
like this,” she said. “Sure, there
had been viruses, but the shut-
down was a whole different
thing.”
Baker had gone to New York
City with her son in January
2020, and to market in Port-
land in February, when the
novel coronavirus was circu-
lating.
“I had to shut down in-store
sales just when we were get-
ting our trade in from market,”
she recounted. “I got personal
emails from Kate’s office order-
ing me to shut down, so I did.
Men from the State of Oregon
watched my door and the Bro-
ken Barrel (Restaurant’s) for
three hours, to make sure that
no one came in or out. It was
very eerie.”
Stanfield native Baker said
growth in Stanfield has been
“amazing.” She also raised her
family in town. She credited
public works director Scott
Morris and his crew for keep-
ing city parks clean and watered
and the city council and city
manager Ben Bergener for lift-
ing up the town.
“The city has come a long
way,” she said. “We have a great
Fourth of July event. They’ve
done such a good job.”
Baker also noted the schools
are packed with great teachers
and staff.
“Stanfield has changed a lot,”
she assessed. “I’m very proud of
it. I love my community. They
work so hard. There was a little
street sweeper on Coe and 395
this morning. I’d only ever seen
those machines in big cities be-
fore. It’s wonderful. They need
recognition.”
Summer is Baker’s slow sea-
son. She said she expects busi-
ness to pick up when school
starts again.
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