Men imprisoned at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution find ways to reflect on and celebrate freedom while incarcerated.

PENDLETON — The Fourth of July was a typical day at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. Adults in custody were woken at 6 a.m. when the hiss and crash of hydraulic cell doors announced it was breakfast time.

But for James Renfro and Brian Hardegger, the day started 10 minutes before six.

“We were called to the kitchen to fix a clogged drain,” said Renfro, an apprentice plumber at the facility. “It took an hour and a half.”

Many incarcerated people have jobs that allow them to learn vocational skills. Renfro and Hardegger are earning their plumbing licenses, a 7,700-hour certification through Penn Foster.

Technically, Hardegger and Renfro were supposed to have the day off. However, they’re on call 24/7. Although they are only paid a few dollars a day, they said experience is more valuable than the pay, even if that experience comes at odd or inconvenient hours.

Hardegger, 40, said he prefers to work on holidays because the down time makes him reflect on what he has lost. He said he sometimes feels angry and alone, but he knows he can only blame himself.

“I’m the reason I’m here,” he said. “I know that.”

Hardegger has been incarcerated since he was 17. He started working in the plumbing shop in April 2022. He said learning to be a plumber has given him a sense of purpose.

“I took the holidays for granted before,” Hardegger said. “You can’t really experience the Fourth in here. You can’t experience a lot of things. Being in prison stunts your growth as a person.”

He is scheduled to see the parole board in 2026. If paroled, he said on the following Fourth of July, he’ll be fishing with his feet dipped in the water.

Renfro, 42, has a static release date of 2030. He said being a licensed plumber will change his life and give him something he’s never had before: a career.

“I don’t mind working, because I want the experience,” said Renfro. “The only thing I do on the Fourth is call my kids. As long as I can do that, I’m fine.”

Celebrating behind the fences

Kitchen workers also don’t get the day off. Instead, they spend their morning preparing a special meal. Starting at 7 a.m., the smell of charcoal barbecue flooded the prison compound. Holidays are one of the few times a year when the prison’s barbecue is used.

For Independence Day, the cooks made burgers, potato salad, watermelon and once-a-year corn on the cob. Barbecuing burgers for the more than 1,400 residents of EOCI takes all morning. The cooks are at the grill until holiday lunch is served at noon.

“There is a statewide, standardized menu,” said Liza Emory, EOCI’s food service manager. “But we make special meals on the holidays because that’s the normal thing to do.”

The men at EOCI look forward to the holiday meals. Trevor Trollope, an EOCI resident, said he and his unofficial cousin, Hugh Crow, were excited for the food.

“We get a good meal. We got burgers,” he said, chuckling, “plus we actually came up on a couple extra patties, so we’ll be eating triple burgers this year.”

A pop of color in a dreary day

Pendleton’s fireworks show is visible from a handful of EOCI’s 20 housing units. Generally, residents on these units will gather in common areas to catch a glimpse of the show through 4-inch wide panes of safety glass.

For most residents, moving to an east-facing housing unit is a long-term goal. Trollope said he and Crow were planning to watch the fireworks together for the first time since their individual incarcerations.

“Years ago, we talked about being over here on the east side together so we could see the fireworks,” said Trollope. “ We’ll actually be able to hang out and watch fireworks together, and it’ll be awesome.”

And Hardegger, the plumbing apprentice, said the day feels different because of the chance to see fireworks. Before transferring to EOCI, he hadn’t seen even a glimpse of fireworks for 10 years. Now, they remind him that there’s life outside the fences, and they serve as a break in the monotony of prison life.

“Everything in here is the same muted color. It’s the same walls, same doors every day,” Hardegger said. “With fireworks, we get to see bright colors that we don’t see every day.”

— East Oregonian reporter Berit Thorson contributed to this report.