Ron Gavette, front left, gets ready to pedal on July 18, 1998, at the start of the Dayton Biathlon.

25 YEARS AGO

Aug 4, 1998

Ron Gavette, 63, would not let age or retirement hold him back from competing in and winning biathlons.

The Hermiston man had always preferred the long ride, being a distance runner in high school. After a running injury, he started training on a bike and began competing in biathlons 20 years ago.

Gavette recently won the 60-plus division at a biathlon in Dayton, Washington, which was already his eighth of the year. Next on his list was a hill climb on Mt. Hood, where competitors gained 3,000 feet of elevation in just 5.6 miles.

His accomplishments included participating in the 1998 National Coors Light Biathlon, winning the 1991 national biathlon title and setting the 50-59 age record in 1987 for the Dayton, Washington, course with a time of 46:10.

Gavette attributed some of his success to his Trek 5500 bike, claiming the advanced technology and carbon-fiber structure gave him an edge. But the main reason for Gavette’s achievements was his intense training of 12 hours a week, which included an estimated 100 miles of biking and 25 miles of running. And there’s more about the sport that Gavette enjoys.

“It’s good to get together with other racers,” he said. “It’s like a class reunion.”

50 YEARS AGO

Aug 2, 1973

As summer comes to an end and school gets back into session, August puts on a final hurrah with highly anticipated country fairs, including the Umatilla County Fair.

Although the four-day event would officially begin the following Wednesday, activities were to start as early as five days prior. The two-day horse show, for instance, would commence Saturday morning while other 4-H Home Economics contests would take place Monday and Tuesday.

The Umatilla County Fair would officially open at 6 p.m. Wednesday night, with various county officials, civic leaders and royalty court members guiding the process. Numerous acts would keep the excitement rolling throughout the entire event, including 11-year-old banjo artist Mark Peters, country western singer-comic Grandpa Jones and the DeeNotes, a women’s choral group from Hillsboro. Local skills and talents would also be on display, along with the typical rodeo events, booths and carnival rides. And the final day of the event would feature the Umatilla County Fair Parade.

75 YEARS AGO

Aug 5, 1948

In just over a week, Hermiston would have its very own telephone business office.

Since Hermiston had been without such an office, the telephone business had been somewhat disorganized. For instance, telephone bills had been paid to the Moore and Ripley Drug Store and Umatilla telephone subscriber’s records had been kept in the Pendleton office. But once the new office was installed, it would handle all telephone payments and business transactions. This would not only simplify the business side of things but be much more convenient for telephone users.

According to W.R. Brown, district manager for The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, the office was scheduled to open Aug. 16. That day would mark another milestone in Hermiston’s development, as Brown proudly declared that its establishment was, “Just one of the steps we are taking to provide more and better service to our customers in this rapidly growing area.”

90 YEARS AGO

Aug 3, 1933

Although Thanksgiving Day was still a good three months out, turkey growers wanted to be certain their birds were of the best quality.

To do this, a tour of multiple turkey farms was planned for Saturday, Aug. 19, starting at 10 a.m. at the Experiment Station. People would observe the flocks and different procedures. In addition, four other farms were on the itinerary. The tours were expected to last until 1 p.m.

With all the turkey talk and touring, an appetite would be satisfied with a picnic at Columbia Park. Each family attending was asked to bring basket lunches and side dishes to supplement the roast turkey, coffee and ice cream provided by the turkey growers.

After people had gotten their fill of turkey, the remainder of the afternoon would feature several speeches by prominent figures. By the end of the day, those in attendance would have a better understanding of and respect for the long process of growing the perfect Thanksgiving Day turkey.