It’s true.

Hermiston, Oregon is jumping into the pride festivities this year, with their first-ever Hermiston Pride celebration. (fact check: Hermiston, OR is in the northeastern tip of the state, in Umatilla County, pop. 13,154 - a red county so conservative that it voted Yes on Measure 36 by a nearly 3 to 1 vote).

In any event, the Umatilla Morrow Alternatives, an equality group based in the region, is organizing their Pride fete for Saturday, August 2, from 11 am to 7 pm at Victory Square Park, 10th and W. Orchard Streets in Hermiston. They’re also hitching part of their pride float to the Umatilla County Fair Parade (!!!), which should be… interesting.

It’s a pleasant 3-hour-ish drive to Hermiston from inner city PDX. And oh yeah, Hermiston and its surrounding 700 mile radius is home to the world’s largest Wi-Fi cloud. Nice.

(above: scenic Hat Rock, just outside Hermiston)