Umatilla Hash park gets new gazebo

Published 5:53 pm Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The family of former Umatilla mayor George Hash is honoring his contributions to the city with a new gazebo in his namesake Hash Park.

The large metal gazebo, which cost more than $30,000, is being donated by Hash’s son Dr. Daniel Hash, a dentist in Montana. A plaque embedded in the cement base reads “Dedicated to George and Alice Hash, 65 years of love and devotion.”

Alice Hash died in 2010.

George Hash was Umatilla’s mayor from 1991 to 2004 and was instrumental in bringing Two Rivers Correctional Institution to Umatilla. During World War II he parachuted into Normandy during the D-Day invasion and later was captured by the Germans and was a prisoner of war. He moved to Umatilla in 1955 and taught industrial classes in Umatilla and Hermiston schools for 30 years.

The gazebo is scheduled to be done Monday. Leonard Hamilton of LRH, a fabrication shop in Spokane, was working on the project Thursday. He said after Daniel Hash hired him for another project, he handed Hamilton a painting of a gazebo and asked him to design and build it to last.

“It’s here to stay,” Hamilton said. “It will be here for quite a while.”

He said the neighbors around the park have been very kind in bringing the contractors coffee and treats, and even invited them over for Easter dinner last week.