Bryan Camp, left, and Jordan Royal, both 11, ride their skateboards in late June 2025 down the sidewalk on Northwest Fourth Street in Pendleton. (East Oregonian, File)

25 years ago this week — 2000

PENDLETON — Teaching students to be better readers has always been something of a balancing act.

An instructor first must motivate students to read. Then comes the task of improving their ability and comprehension.

Elementary school teacher Sally Sundin has found her balancing act to be just that — a matter of balance.

During the past year, students in Sundin’s class improved their academic skills by honing their physical ability to balance themselves.

High marks in reading and math indicate her methods are working.

“This has helped all my kids,” she said. “This is the most interesting thing I’ve researched other than phonics.”

Sundin, 45, is a 12-year veteran of the Pendleton School District.

She taught fifth-grade at West Hills Elementary School last year and will teach sixth-grade at Sunridge Middle School next year.

While balance activities don’t replace a regular academic curriculum, Sundin said they have augmented the way she teaches.

More importantly, the balance activities are popular with students.

“They would ask to stay in from recess so they could do balance,” she said.

Sundin uses special balance boards designed by Frank Belgau of Balametrics Inc. in Port Angeles, Wash.

Belgau did balance research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration beginning in the late 1960s. He discovered that improved balance through strengthening of the inner ear’s vestibular sensitivity created a pathway to better learning skills.

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PENDLETON – After capturing its first district swimming title last year by dethroning previous seven-time champion Hood River, the Pendleton Swim Association has no intention of becoming complacent.

Instead, the PSA hopes to parlay last year’s accomplishments into even further success in the pool this summer.

“We’d like to do even more this year,” second-year head coach Adam Reese said. “As soon as you start getting satisfied with what you’ve done in the past, you start to go backward.”

PSA kicks off a summer of intense competition this weekend when it travels to Hood River for the first meet of the season. From there, PSA enters competitions every weekend with the culmination of the season coming at the district meet on Aug. 13. The Pendleton Invitational takes place July 7-9.

“The district is the big finale of the season,” Reese said. “It gives you bragging rights for the rest of the year. We’d also like to win our Invitational.”

Swimmers compete in one of five age groups: 8-under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18.

“We have the nucleus of last year’s team coming back who we built the program around,” Reese said. “We are going to try to take it to another notch and see what we can do.”

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HERMISTON — City residents can expect a bond measure request on the November ballot to support a $7.2 million Hermiston Aquatic Center.

How much the measure will seek, who exactly would pay it and what exactly it would build still needs to be decided.

The City Council unanimously voted Monday night to put a bond on the ballot to help speed up the fund-raising process so an aquatic center can get built by at least the summer of 2002.

It also voted to spend $575,000 to prepare architectural and engineer plans for the aquatic center so that when money becomes available, construction can begin. The proposed aquatic center would have both outdoor and indoor pools.

At  first, the council considered a bond measure that would pay just for the outside portion of the aquatic center, a cost of about $4 million. That would mean a property tax of between $55 and $60 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home, said City Manager Ed Brookshier. But if the school district’s boundaries were used for the tax base rather than the city limits, the property tax rate could be cut in half or more.

50 years ago this week — 1975

HERMISTON — A youthful, witty 101-year-old Hermiston woman has been named the honorary bicentennial queen by the Hermiston bicentennial committee. Phebe Bartholomew, who was born on Buttercreek long before Hermiston was a community, was crowned Sunday at Good Samaritan Center.

Mrs. Bartholomew said, as she received news of her title, that she would be glad to serve “as long as I don’t have to wear a bathing suit.”

Mrs. Bartholomew reminisced about the area with reporters Friday. She said, “I have lived here all my life. The only time I left was when we moved to Willamette Valley by mistake.”

She said her father was sheriff of Umatilla County in 1869. “He took the first copy of the East Oregonian off the press,” she remembered.

She said she had ridden horseback all over the Hermiston area and “there was not a house in sight.”

Mrs. Bartholomew recalled the last Indian uprising in 1878. “Everyone moved in Umatilla or Pendleton for protection. They sent the women and children to The Dalles for two weeks by river boats.”

She  said she remembers “settlers coming through by the hundreds on the Oregon trail.” On her marriage, she said, “I had to wait quite awhile to find a man who didn’t chew tobacco. They were hard to find in those days but when I found one I snapped him up.” Mrs. Bartholomew is the oldest graduate of Oregon College of Education at Monmouth. She recently went to a class reunion. “Were they ever nice to me.”

Of the Heppner flood in 1903, she said, “It happened June 14. There was a terrible storm all over the country. Lots of wind and hail. I always feel relieved after the 14th of June.”

Mrs. Bartholomew was born on the Thomson ranch on Buttercreek Highway which now belongs to Jerry Meyers.

“It’s a 100 year farm. It was settled in 1872 and has been in our family the whole time,” she said of her birthplace.

Mrs. Bartholomew has four children, all living. She is proud that two of them are college graduates.

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On July 1, Umatilla County voters will be asked to approve the lowest tax rate per $1,000 true cash value in at least the last five years.

The proposed Umatilla County budget, as adopted Monday by the county board of commissioners, lies $197,255 outside the six per cent limitation. The actual levy totals $1,762,732.

Voters will be asked to approve a county-wide tax rate of $2.92 per $1,000 true cash value. In the current year, the tax rate is $3.08 per $1,000; in 1973-74, $3.43; in 1972-73, $3.39, and in 1971-72, $3.35.

“We are asking voters to make a $6 decision,” said F. K. Starrett, chairman of the board of commissioners.

Starrett said the actual tax on the $197,255 outside the six per cent limitation is about 30 cents per $1,000 true cash value. He said the property owner with $20,000 true cash value would pay about $6 next year on the amount outside the six per cent limit.

“I would hate to say that this is $6 more,” Starrett said. “I would hate for the voters to say that they could save themselves $6 by voting the budget down.” Starrett said if defeated the tax on the amount outside the six per cent limitation would never be eliminated. He said the tax on that amount might “only go as low as $5.”

“We think we are approaching this as reasonably as we can economically,” Starrett said. “This is one of the lowest tax rates ever, yet we are providing 100 per cent of the services.”

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The  two-month-old Umatilla County Employees Association has been recognized as an authorized bargaining unit without an election conducted by the state Public Employees Relations Board.

By law 30 per cent of all county employees must favor a bargaining unit. Pat Standerfer, interim association chairperson, said the employees association had a petition with 93 signatures indicating a desire to hold an election.

The need for an election was removed when representatives for the association and Dean Fouquette, administrative assistant to the county commissioners, agreed which employees would be considered a part of the employee bargaining unit.

All elected officials, department heads and em-ployes with supervisory or confidential status will be excluded from the bargaining unit.

Also to be excluded are county employees of the Umatilla-Morrow County Mental Health Clinic. Standerfer said an agreement was made to exclude mental health department employees considering that the facility derives only $36,000 of its more than $500,000 budget from the county.

“We agreed that it would only create problems considering the federal and state grants,” she said.

After notifying PERB of the agreement over who would be members of the bargaining unit, PERB responded by notifying the association it would be a recognized bargaining unit without an election.

Fouquette, however, said he would ask the County Board of Commissioners to formally recognize the organization.

100 years ago this week — 1925

The last, but not least important item of the anxiously awaited uniforms for the Pendleton drum and bugle corps arrived this morning. The trousers which are army style of an attractive whipcord material came from Philadelphia and the boys were in some suspense as to whether they would arrive in time for the parade tonight which is to precede the benefit dance being given by the corps to aid in sending the organization to Prineville for the American Legion convention there Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Prior to the dance which is to be held in Happy Canyon the drum corps, resplendent in complete new uniforms will strut their stuff on the main streets of the city and will also play some numbers at the Canyon. The corps will be in the general charge of Tommy Harwood of Athena, drum major, who will be aided by Charles Starr, prominent Portland musician.

The Canyon will be thrown open and so ventilated that dancers will be assured of a cool place to dance according to the committee in charge. The affair is scheduled to start at 8:45.

Tomorrow approximately 20 members of the corps will leave for Prineville and the convention.

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Local farmers and business men and some farmers from Union county will participate tomorrow in the annual crop tour and grain nursery meeting conducted by Fred Bennion, county agent. Word has been received by G. R, Hyslop, professor of farm crops at O. A. C. will be here for the occasion. Also that H. G. Avery, county agent of Union county will be here with two carloads of Union county folk.

The announcement from the county agent contains the following information as to the tour and its purposes:

“The annual Crop Tour and Grain Nursery Meeting will be held Friday, June 26th. The caravan will leave the county court house at 8 a. m., and will move east along the paved highway as far as Saxe Station, then will turn to the right going out across the Reservation, arriving at Weston at noon. Everyone is expected to bring his lunch and eat in the Weston city park.

“In the afternoon we will look at some of the fields around Weston, then come back on the north side of Wild Horse, past Athena and Adams to the grain nursery on the Helix highway, one mile north of the pavement. A meeting will be held there about 3 o’clock.

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The general committee of the local lodge of Elks which is in charge of arrangements for getting a big delegation to Portland for the national convention of the fraternal organization spent today in the field signing up recruits to make the trip. The results for today were gratifying, according to Lou Pinson, about 100 names having been secured definitely with promise of more to go.

“The prospects this year are that Portland will have the privilege of entertaining the biggest convention of Elks that has ever been held by the order,” Roy Raley, a member of the committee said, “and Portland wants Pendleton to lend some characteristic color to the gathering. Reports from the east indicate that at least 100,000 may be expected to be present.

“Not only will the local men who go to Portland represent the Pendleton lodge, but they also will represent Pendleton as a community and their efforts will count in a big way as an advertisement of the Round-Up,” Mr. Raley declared. “For that reason we are anxious to have a big delegation. It looks at present as if our goal of from 150 to 200 will be reached, though it will be necessary for every man who can possibly get away to join the delegation if we are to make that big a showing.” The best mounts in the state have been procured by Tom Boylen to carry the Round-Up boosters in the big parade, and the RoundUp association will have some old stage coaches available for those members of the troop whose preference is for driving behind horses rather than riding.