25 YEARS AGO

April 27, 1999

Featuring a flock of 26, the Boettchers were familiar with sheep. However, the animals still managed to keep the the Hermiston family on their toes.

The Boettchers said their pregnant 5-year-old purebred Romanov sheep, Holly, appeared a little larger than expected. And with good reason, as she gave birth to seven lambs.

“It’s a lot more fun to have seven baby lambs than just one,” 14-year-old Shannon Boettcher said.

All the lambs, two males and five females, survived the delivery with only one suffering a broken leg. They all sported a black coat and started growing white star patterns on their foreheads. Their wool, the Boettchers said, would eventually turn gray with white leggings as they matured.

The Romanov sheep species is known for multiple births, with the record set at nine. Although Holly was just shy of the record, having seven lambs was still a major feat. With so many mouths to feed, the Boettchers said two of the lambs were being bottle-fed.

Shannon, along with her 11-year-old sister, Kari, raised Holly as a 4-H project. The girls said they intended to keep all of the lambs for breeding purposes.

50 YEARS AGO

April 25, 1974

Insufficient space for mobile homes was plaguing Stanfield but a solution was on the horizon.

Bill Burnett had plans to build a 28-unit mobile home park on a four-acre tract west of the grade school. After presenting his plan to the Stanfield City Council, Burnett asked John Sanborn, the city building inspector, to assist him in ensuring the structures complied with state building codes. Sanborn said Burnett might have to include one extra fire hydrant.

Also, Stanfield was looking to expand its city hall. Councilman George Corliss estimated it would cost $5,600 to add a separate office for the police chief, city recorder and municipal judge. He said there was enough revenue-sharing money to fund this, however, City Recorder James Dickason disagreed, pointing out the account’s total was only $100 more than the estimated cost.

“It’s doubtful that we could handle the total cost of the addition right now,” he said.

Noting additional budget constraints like street repairs, Mayor Avery Berry suggested they postpone the city hall expansion until the following year.

75 YEARS AGO

April 28, 1949

C.L. Huffaker, professor of education at the University of Oregon, stopped by Hermiston to impart some of his wisdom.

Huffaker decided to travel to Hermiston because it was labeled at a legislature committee meeting as the poorest of the 12 Oregon school districts considered “in distress.”

To address the lack of space in the grade school, he suggested constructing a 12-classroom building with a general purpose room for physical education. This expansion would bring the elementary school up to state requirements and avoid the risk of losing the $75,000 basic state funding.

Huffaker estimated this to cost $200,000 and was confident Hermiston could cover it due to the recent decline in construction costs. He also predicted state aid to be on the way within two years, for Hermiston and the other 11 struggling districts, as they had shown proof of taking steps to improve their facility issues.

90 YEARS AGO

April 26, 1934

It appeared the Pacific Northwest was alone in its dairy desires.

In accordance with the Agricultural Adjustment Act, a plan was proposed where dairymen would receive benefits for cutting back on production to alleviate economic issues based on overproduction. Reports from the 15 regional dairy conferences throughout the country, though, showed divided sentiment over this issue. The biggest opposition came from private and cooperative distributors who did not like the idea of losing profits by cutting down sales.

Without unanimous, or at least a majority, approval, government officials decided to refrain from enacting this nationwide dairy production control. However, a limited program of diseased cattle reduction and relief purchases financed by Congress would continue.

Dean William Schoenfield, of Oregon State College, who presided as chairman during the Portland regional meeting, said it was a matter of great regret that other areas did not wish to collaborate. He said the Pacific Northwest might petition for portions of the plan to be made effective, as they did not want to forgo this opportunity altogether.