Three minutes with… Jackie Wyckoff of Hermiston

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, May 10, 2022

How long have you lived in Hermiston?

Forty-seven years. I retired from Lamb Weston two years ago. I worked there 44 years and 3.5 months.

How do you feel about Lamb?

They changed. I’m just glad I’m not there. They have 12-hour shifts. Personally, I don’t think you can do quality as well when you do it that way.

Are you enjoying your retirement?

I retired in January 2020, and COVID hit in March, so I haven’t been able to do a lot. I’m my mother’s caregiver now, and she’s 88. We’ve always done things in our community. We’ve helped with the fair — she was the supervisor of the whole building and I did clothing for a long time. We’ve done a lot in town. I’m just glad I’m not working now, with the prices there are right now and not being able to get ahold of things. Quarters, water, baby milk… it just worries me about the trouble you can have getting things. The way everything is going, it just worries me.

Are there any other big issues that bother you?

There’s the war in Ukraine. It really bothers me. You read the paper, and you see what’s going on. It’s gotten to where I don’t like watching the news anymore.

COVID may soon get better. Do you think you’ll travel?

I’d like to, but it depends on how my mom is doing. Mom recently had two emergency surgeries, one in December and one in January. We had to cancel a trip to Hawaii, but we’re hoping to see my sister in Alaska, if everything calms down, and prices for planes don’t go up any higher than they have been. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. And there’s gas prices. They go up, and we spend more and more. That might make it so we aren’t going anywhere but our own state, but I guess that’ll be fine.

Where is the nicest place you have already been?

I’ve been to Hawaii twice. I’ve been to Alaska. As a matter of fact, we’ve been on the Kennicott on the marine highway, and we loved doing that. We came back at night, though, and you shouldn’t do that. You couldn’t see and it was scary. But I’ve been to Italy. During the bicentennial, I had a nephew who was in the service over there. I went over to see him. So I’ve been to some places, but I really like it here. Hermiston is a good place with a nice community.

You’re thankful to be in Hermiston, then?

I am. I have a lot of family here, so many nieces and nephews. I’m glad that many of them got their houses before the price hike.

What are some of the places you like to visit in Hermiston and the surrounding area?

I like the senior center. I take mom there. We love the fair and going to shows. There are different restaurants that we like going to. We like to go to Echo for the H & P (Cafe). We like to go into Hale’s (Restaurant) and The Pheasant (Blue Collar Bar & Grill). The bowling alley (Desert Lanes Family Fun Center) is a real nice place now for dining, especially for Fridays when it has prime rib. And of course, Nookie’s (Restaurant & Brewery). This place has changed a lot in the last 45 years.

There are a lot more people.

Oh, yeah. It was 10,000 people when I first moved here, now it’s almost 20,000. I don’t like the big cities like Portland and I hope we don’t turn into that.