The nicest man in Maryhill

Pepper the farm dog takes in a little sun while Ron Gunkel digs holes for some new peach trees on his orchard in Maryhill, Wash., just upriver of the I- 97 bridge at Biggs Junction this morning, Wednesday, Feb. 3.  

Gunkel said he was planting a variety called  Zee Prides.

He also took the occasion to say that Maryhill was not always Maryhill. In fact, it was Columbus Landing, a busy shipping port where wheat and sheep were loaded in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was later renamed Maryhill in 1909 when Sam Hill moved in, and he named the property after his wife and daughter, both named Mary.

Throughout our conversation, I came to a pretty good conclusion. Ron Gunkel seems like the nicest guy I had met all day. He’s the nicest guy in Maryhill.

Just a tad more on Maryhill - it’s kinda personal.

Just further down the road, stands the Maryhill Church, est. October 1888. And this is where it gets personal.

My wife, Peggy, from Hillsboro, inherited a print of a drawing of a church from her grandmother, and it has hung in our house for years. I had always wondered if the church still existed.

Guess what?

It does.

I ran into the church in Maryhill this morning, I knew I had seen it before. Just not in color. Check out the drawing and the real church below. 

This drawing of Maryhill Church was done by John Waddingham in 1971. It has hung on our walls for decades.

Here is the real church in Maryhill, Wash., this morning.

Gilliam County First Responders Baring Arms for Vaccination

Taking one for the team - Gilliam County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Lake received a vaccination today, Jan. 7.

From North Central Public Health District Interim Director Shellie Campbell:

South Gilliam County Ambulance Coordinator Shannon Coppock

The first COVID-19 vaccinations of emergency responders and healthcare providers in Gilliam County took place on Thursday, Jan. 7 in Condon and Arlington.

Wasco and Sherman counties have also begun vaccinating those priority groups.
Fifty-two vaccines were given Jan. 7 to emergency responders and healthcare workers in Gilliam County North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) nurses worked with Gilliam County Emergency Services

and Arlington Health Center on Thursday event  Sherman County administered its first 20 doses this week Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue in Wasco County has administered about 160 doses so far to emergency

responders NCPHD nurses and support staff worked in coordination with the Gilliam County Emergency Services Office and Arlington Health Center to administer 50 vaccines Thursday.

“We’re excited to be able to vaccinate emergency responders and healthcare providers in Gilliam County,” said Kristen Slatt, vaccine coordinator for NCPHD. “We appreciate all the effort put in by our community partners to help make this happen.”

PA Mike Tagaki of South Gilliam Health Center

Under state guidelines, the first group to get the vaccine includes emergency responders such as law enforcement, firefighters and ambulance personnel. NCPHD is instrumental in helping distribute vaccines to them.

Frontline hospital staff and residents and staff of skilled nursing facilities are also in the first group. Hospitals get vaccines directly from the state, and nursing facilities are getting vaccines directly from pharmacies under a federal program.

NCPHD is using the Moderna vaccine, which is 94.1 percent effective against COVID-19 illness. Each vial has 10 doses, and an opened vial is only good for six hours, and also cannot be transported elsewhere once opened.

That requires careful scheduling of enough people to vaccinate in one location, to ensure no doses are wasted.

Gilliam County Emergency Services Manager Chris Fitzsimmons said the Thursday events “went great. It ran very smoothly.” Everybody showed up who was scheduled, and they also called two alternates because they were able to get extra doses from some vials.

PA Dani Sperry of South Gilliam Health Center

All the recipients are already scheduled for their second dose on Feb. 4, to be administered by NCPHD.

Caitlin Blagg, administrator at Sherman County Medical Clinic in Moro, said they made sure to have additional people lined up to get the vaccine for each of its two days this week of administering the vaccine, in case they had a no-show. “We could call them at a moment’s notice.”

Those vaccinated in Sherman County included emergency responders, health care workers and home healthcare workers.

The vaccine will help contain the pandemic once enough people have received it. In the meantime, it is critical that people still mask up, keep physical distance, avoid gatherings, wash hands and stay home when sick.

Summit Springs Village Administrator Hanna Bass