By Bethany Carpenter
Director Toppenish Chamber of Commerce/Toppenish Mural Society

Get to know one of the Chamber’s newest board members Derrick Yu.

-Where do you work and what is your job title?
I work at Toppenish Community Hospital as the hospital’s administrator

-How long have you worked in Toppenish?
About one year

-Where did you move here from?
New Mexico

-What are some of your hobbies and things you enjoy?
I read a lot. I also enjoy cooking and creating new recipes.

-Why did you decide to join the Toppenish Chamber?
I am very interested in the economic development of Toppenish and the growth of small businesses. As a Chamber board member, I would like to see local business leaders come together to plan and encourage growth.

 -What do you like most about Toppenish?
The people of course! The valley is beautiful. The weather is great. But the people are kind, generous and most considerate.

-What would you like to see the Chamber accomplish in this new year?
I would like to see more local business join the Chamber. I am surprised that several large local businesses are not yet Chamber members. To me this is discouraging because the Chamber does a great job in promoting the community and local businesses to all who visit or live here. 

By Adam Smith
Toppenish City Councilman Zachary Dorr is a natural leader. He is an idealist. He is an altruist. Although some of these attributes might be due to his 26 year old age and the possibilities of his very bright political future, he clearly holds fast to the notion that he is a realist and knows how to take on issues large and small, all important to the constituents of his community.

Wapato’s Darian Gasseling, right, and Justine Sosa, left, defend against Ephrata’s Kelsey Yenney as she goes up for a shot in Saturday night’s matchup. Joe Hampton photo

The lady Pack picked up another conference win at home this weekend, running by the third place Ephrata Tigers.  After heading into the locker room with a 10 point lead at the break, the Wapato girls came out in full force in the 2nd half of play. The lady Pack defense was relentless as they swarmed the Tigers, and held on their lead to come out with a 67-49 win.
Briana Cordova led Wapato with 20 points and six steals, Lexi Gomez chipped in 15 and Justine Sosa scored 11 points for Wapato who settles in at second place behind undefeated East Valley (11-0).   The lady Pack push their record to double digits at (10-1) in CWAC conference play and (12-1) overall.

A group of MLK Peace March supporters hold up their sign as they head downtown.

By Joe Hampton
On Monday, a group of around 100 people got together and bundled up for the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March in Toppenish.  The walk started around 10:30 a.m. as supporters of all ages lined up in the Market Place parking lot before they started the trek toward downtown Toppenish, ending at the high school.

You could sense the support and feel the pride among the group for MLK as they waved a plethora of signs covered in pictures and quotes from Martin Luther King. 

The group was guided through town by police patrol cars, and they were not to hard to recognize as the Top-High marching band played a tune to the number of flags leading the way.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout on such a cold day.

The march ended at Toppenish Middle School, where there was a presentation to honor King’s legacy and vision.

Carlos Olivares of the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic was the keynote speaker, and there were performances by Toppenish school district students.

Pictured left to right; Diane Patterson-Memorial Vice President; Nancy Roehr-Manager, ‘Ohana Memorial’s Mammography Center; Charlene Britton, Carolina Abundis, Laura Martinez-Safeway Employees; Dave Myllenbeck-Safeway District Manager

Employees at the Toppenish Safeway presented a $79,000 check to The Memorial Foundation to support prevention and early detection of breast cancer at ‘Ohana, Memorial’s Mammography Center Thursday.  The donations come primarily from payroll deductions and contributions made by Safeway employees throughout the Yakima Valley, who specifically chose The Memorial Foundation as their beneficiary of the donations. The Toppenish Safeway store raised over $13,000.

“We are so appreciative to Safeway for this generous gift and for ensuring that the money they raise stays right here to benefit our local community,” says Diane Patterson, Vice President and Administrator of Imaging Services at Memorial. 

Safeway has been a significant supporter of Breast Cancer awareness, prevention and treatment both at ‘Ohana and Memorial’s North Star Lodge Cancer Center.  In addition, Safeway has been a community partner and supporter of programs and services at Hospice, Cottage in the Meadow (the new hospice care facility currently under construction), Children’s Village and Children’s Miracle Network®.  Since 2003, Safeway and its employees and customers, have contributed almost $588,000 to health programs and services in our community--$280,615 of which were designated specifically for breast cancer support.