One of the goals of this year’s Northwest Cherry Festival in The Dalles is to get people into area businesses.  Part of that is the Little Music City listing in the festival schedule.  The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Farquharson says a number of locations are hosting live music throughout the weekend, and the Chamber is using its community calendar to provide a schedule.  Farquharson is encouraging music venues to inform the Chamber of their schedules this weekend to be placed in their on-line community calendar.

Home At Last Humane Society is gearing up for an upcoming walkathon fundraiser.  The animal shelter in The Dalles will hold its Dimes for Dogs Walkathon on May 21 to help meet the rising costs of operating the facility.  But the organization’s Erin Foote Morgan says before that, they are planning a major volunteer clean-up day of their facility at 200 River Road on Saturday, April 30.  To take part in the clean-up that will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 30, go to homeatlasths.org to get signed up.

Klickitat County is establishing a ban on outdoor burning for Klickitat County Burn Ban Zone One as of May 1. That zone is defined as lands east of the Klickitat County Fire District #7 eastern boundary to include but not limited to Klickitat County Fire Districts #2, 9 and 10, and outside the jurisdictions of the Yakama Indian Nation and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. The ban prohibits the issuance of burning permits except for authorized agricultural burning. Residential barbecues will be allowed. The ban will continue through September 30. Information for Klickitat County Burn Ban Zones 2 and 3 will be released as soon as the 2022 dates are finalized. Burn ban maps can be viewed online at klickitatcounty.org.

Baseball

Hood River Valley 8, Ridgeview 4: Joe Reitz hit a three-run homer, Trenton Hughes drove in two runs, and Jordan Webber had two doubles as the Eagles completed a three-game sweep of the Ravens.

Pendleton 15, The Dalles 5:  The Riverhawks’ Braden Schwartz went three for three and drove in two runs, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Pendleton from sweeping the three-game series.

Kennedy 1, Dufur 0

  Softball

Pendleton at The Dalles, ppd. to Thursday at 4:30

Ridgeview 10, Hood River Valley 6:  Reese Leiblien had two hits and a homer for the Eagles.

Stevenson splits with Kalama, winning game one 13-9 and falling in the nightcap 15-7.

  Boys Tennis

Hood River Valley 7, The Dalles 1

Goldendale 5, White Swan 0

  Girls Tennis

Goldendale 4, White Swan 1

  Boys Lacrosse

Grant 11, Hood River Valley 2

The Port of Hood River is searching for employees to help maintain its recreation sites this summer.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says how to staff operations this summer is a big question heading into the upcoming season, noting they typically hire ten to twelve high school and college students, but they had almost no interested people the last two years.  McElwee says they do have advertisements out and have had a couple of applicants, but difficulty in finding the labor leads to uncertainty on how many trash receptacles and restrooms can be opened on the Waterfront this summer.

This year’s Northwest Cherry Festival will include a fun event called “I Spy The Dalles.”  That’s the theme of this year’s festival.  The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Farquharson explains they will be creating an entrance, similar to something they did a few years ago for “Follow the Cherry Brick Road,” this time using different shapes, symbols, and other things around town, and people can track them and have fun with small prizes available.  The Chamber is partnering with Farmhouse Factory to put the activity on.  Complete Cherry Festival information is available at thedalleschamber.com, and a Cherry Festival guide can be downloaded from gorgeradio.com.

The Hood River County School District is in the midst of its drive to get kindergarten and new students enrolled for the 2022-23 school year.  Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn says this year they have automated the process on the district website.  He says parents only need to type in their information, and then school personnel will contact them to finish up documentation.  The district website is hoodriver.k12.or.us.  For more information, call the district at 541-386-2511.  Elementary schools will offer special informational events for kindergarten families in May.

The Hood River County Commission held a fairly light meeting on Monday, focusing on commissioner and staff reports as the panel gets back to holding in-person meetings. Commissioners did vote to continue the Hood River Saddle Club’s partial property tax exemption as currently in effect for portions for used a public park. The Commission also approved submitting a Community Development Block Grant application on behalf of the Hood River Valley Adult Center, as that facility seeks a $750,000 grant for a kitchen renovation and upgrades.

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Klickitat County’s claim to Tract D in the southwest portion of the Yakama Indian Reservation.  The Court made the denial without comment, likely ending the over century-long dispute.  Tract D is 121,465 acres including the eastern half of Mt. Adams and the Glenwood Valley.  Klickitat County claimed the tract was not included in the reservation, noting ambiguous language in the Treaty of 1855 between the Yakama Tribe and the federal government.

The countdown to the first Northwest Cherry Festival weekend in three years is underway, and for The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce it has featured some challenges in preparation.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says the biggest challenge has been labor shortages limiting how much businesses can volunteer to help out.  She points out people want the festival to happen, but businesses don’t have the bandwidth to do the different things they have in the past.  Farquharson says they have been figuring out what has to be done to make sure all of elements of the Festival are manned, adding new volunteers have stepped up to help.  A complete Cherry Festival guide is available online at Gorgeradio.com.