100 years ago

Members of the Pendleton Rotary club today endorsed the passage of a bill by the legislature appropriating $50,000 for the purchase of a sire for a new boys’ training school near Salem. The matter was taken up on the strength of a wire from the Portland Rotary club which was addressed yesterday by Superintendent Kuser of the school. Money for the construction of a new building is already available but a new site is desired in order to secure productive land.

Dr. W. D. McNary spoke in detail of the move and strongly urged the need of a new location and of having the boys’ training school so conducted as to permit a segregation of the boys with a view to eliminating good boys from the influence of those of criminal tendencies.

A suggestion that the old Indian agency here be used for the purpose was made by George Clark.

Much of the time at the rotary luncheon today was devoted to the club’s code of ethics.

50 years ago

A Metolius potato processing firm, Gourmet Food Products Inc., has decided to move its operation from Central Oregon to the Boardman-Hermiston area.

Norm Hyder, president of the company, told The East Oregonian today that no decision has been made so far on an exact site.

“Several sites are available and we will decide as soon as possible,” Hyder said.

The plant, four miles from Madras, employs 90 people and had a payroll of about $595,000 last fiscal year.

There are two economic factors behind the move — a large share of the potato processes are shipped in now and Gourmet wants to reduce its freight bill. Also, potato production in the Hermiston-Boardman area averages 25 tons to the acre, while production in Central Oregon is about 14 tons to the acre.

25 years ago

Local passengers can enjoy flying with more spacious cabins, restrooms and service from flight attendants again as larger planes return to service in and out of the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport.

On Sunday night, Horizon Air brings in the first of the 37-seat de Havilland Dash 8 planes that will serve Pendleton’s airport. The larger commuter planes have not landed on the local runways for nearly a year.

“I think people will really like the change,” said Sue Warner-Bean, spokeswoman for Horizon Air, which is Eastern Oregon Regional Airport’s only commercial airline. She added: “We appreciate the community’s patience with us during the transition year.”

Last February, Horizon pulled the Dash 8s from several Northwest routes as it tried to improve efficiency and prepared the planes in its fleet. After having a mix of flights with Horizon’s 18-seat Metroliner turbo-prop planes and the Dash 8s since April 1996, Pendleton’s airport was left with just the Metroliners.