25 YEARS AGO

June 8, 1999

Not even a car accident could hinder the spirit of 38-year-old Hermiston native Florence “Cricket” Miller, who was paralyzed from the mid-chest down from a crash in January 1979.

Miller was 15 at the time, returning with fellow Hermiston High School cheerleaders and the wrestling team from tournaments in Baker and Redmond. An oncoming semitrailer lost control of its brakes and smashed into the bus on Highway 97, 18 miles north of Madras. The crash killed Ronda Yost, the cheerleading adviser and high school librarian, while severing Miller’s spinal cord.

She endured 8 months in and out of the St. Charles Hospital in Bend, followed by rehabilitation clinics in Portland and Walla Walla. The Hermiston, Bend and Madras communities rallied to support Miller, raising money and coordinating visits. Miller went on to graduate high school in 1980 and then continued defying the odds.

“You’re dealt a poker hand in life and I could either throw it away or play it,” Miller said. “I chose to play.”

And play she did. After graduating from college, Miller opened and operated her own business, the Magical Fantasies Arcade, for three years. She also dabbled in modeling and acting, and assisted abused and neglected children through the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program.

50 YEARS AGO

June 6, 1974

Umatilla County families offered 35 foreign diplomats, representing 25 countries, a taste of rural Oregon.

After flying into Pendleton, the visitors stayed two nights with families in Umatilla County as part of a two-week tour of Oregon and California. The tour was arranged by the Travel Program for Foreign Diplomats Inc., a nonprofit organization established in 1962.

The organization’s goal was to encourage members of the New York and Washington diplomatic corps to explore small towns and communities throughout the country, which they said manifested the American character and culture in a truer sense than the political elite. In accordance with this goal, Oregon’s Congressional Delegation had persuaded the organization to add Umatilla County to the itinerary.

“There’s more to Oregon than Portland and the Willamette Valley,” they said.

Along with a more personable perspective, the diplomats were treated to new experiences. Jack and Sherry Johnson of Weston took British diplomat Jeremy Thomas snowmobiling and trout fishing in the Blue Mountains while Innocent P. D’Almeida, the attache in Danone’s Washington Embassy, helped her host family move irrigation pipes at sunrise.

Upon leaving their host families, the diplomats made a brief stop in Hermiston before heading to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near Madras.

75 YEARS AGO

June 9, 1949

Nadine Audrey Bertrand was granted the honor of presiding as queen of the Umatilla Sage Riders Rodeo and McNary Dam Days celebration.

She would surely be busy around the nation’s birthday, as the McNary celebration would span July 2-4, while the rodeo was July 3-4. Bertrand would also see action in the Umatilla County Fair as a princess.

Along with her royalty responsibilities, Bertrand was active in school. She was president of the Girl’s League, the Associated Student Body business manager and was voted the most outstanding girl in her class. Bertrand, at age 16, had graduated with honors from Hermiston High School that year. She also received a four-year scholarship to attend Pacific University and planned to work at Inland Empire Bank in Umatilla before leaving in the fall.

90 YEARS AGO

June 7, 1934

As hop growers in the Willamette Valley were experiencing hardships, Eastern Oregon farmers were experiencing success.

T.O. Lochridge was one of the first growers to attempt planting a hop yard on the Hermiston project. Although his hops failed to come back, Lochridge looked favorably upon the new growing season. He identified the extreme moisture and prolonged planting time as the culprits for the rotted roots and looked forward to applying what he had learned. He predicted his hop yield would double this time around.

Joining Lochridge’s sense of optimism were Bill Whitsett and Paul Miller. Whitsett had planted seven acres of hops using roots from Lochridge, while Miller had five acres on his farm east of Stanfield.

Not only were their individual crops doing well, but Lochridge pointed out the deterioration of the valley hops would increase market prices.