Column: TDHS '02 Grad Esquivias Myers keeps it local as bank branch manager
Carmen Esquivias Myers
Editor’s Note - This is the second in a multi-part series of columns looking at students who were educated within The Dalles School system and who have gone on to make major contributions to our community by bringing their skills and experience back home to make an impact for all of us. A Huge thanks goes to Nancy Turner and Patty Rolen.
By Nancy Turner and Patty Rolen
Another person who was born and raised here is Carmen Esquivias Myers. Patty and I met Carmen in an ice cream shop on E. 2nd street in the part of The Dalles undergoing reconstruction.
It’s not pretty now. Change is messy, but it will get there.
Carmen reminded me of a young version of Joan Baez or Buffy St. Marie, with her straight brown hair and sparkly eyes. She graduated from The Dalles High School in 2002.
Her husband, Chad, is a teacher in White Salmon. Carmen is one of the less than 1% of Americans who run marathon races. She started running after high school. Running is her thing. She ran in the Chicago marathon last year and will run about 26 miles in the Honolulu marathon this December. She runs at least 3.1 miles every day. What does she do when smoke from forest fires fills the gorge, and our lungs?
She uses a treadmill, inside. She never misses a day.
Carmen moved away from The Dalles after graduating. She attended the University of Oregon in Eugene for one year, but didn’t like college. She missed her family in The Dalles. So, She returned to her home town and worked at various jobs, including three years in a coffee shop, then started working at the Columbia River Bank eighteen years ago. That bank became the Umpqua Bank where she is now the branch manager.
With her professional skills in banking, she could live almost anywhere but chooses The Dalles. It’s the sense of community that keeps her here. She says it’s more than just a place to stop and get gas and food. She commented that the downtown used to be more vital and at the moment, seems scattered. She is pleased there is beginning to be more direction and an interest in maintaining the historical feel to the old part of town. New businesses are slowly opening.
The main thing she appreciates about The Dalles is, “We have a big heart. People care about each other. For example, The Pig Bowl Police Department raises money for needy families.”
On a side note, Pig Bowl where police and firefighters face off on the football field is set for Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., and it will be held at Sid White Field on the Wahtonka campus. Click here to see the families that will benefit from the fundraiser.
The cherry harvest in The Dalles brings lots of families together. Carmen grew up as an orchardist’s granddaughter. She appreciates the way locals welcome the workers.
At times in the past, right before harvest season, a couple of grocery stores raised their prices on foods the Latinos preferred. Neighbors complained in letters and sometimes went in person to talk to store managers. The store policy was clearly discriminatory. Now, the stores cater to the Latinos by keeping their preferred foods in stock, hopefully at the regular price, and the summer help is often bilingual.
Farmers have hired high school kids to work in the fields along with the migrants. As Carmen put it, “It takes a village to harvest all the cherries. Lots of families connect through harvesting. We all work together.”
