SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 50
SECTION A
NOVEMBER 13, 2015
$1.00
Mysterious fl ag returned to MHS
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The package arrived at the
McNary High School Mon-
day, Nov. 2, with a typed letter
and an American fl ag, folded
military-style, beginning to
show it’s age.
“A long time ago I was a
silly young and immature kid
attending McNary,” the let-
ter states. “Contain(ed) within
this package is a fl ag I took
from McNary on my last day
of school. I have had it for
many years now and every
time I move or encounter it
within my (possession) I re-
gret my actions.
“It was wrong of me to
take this fl ag and I am sorry
for taking it. I am returning
to its rightful place. Please ac-
cept the returning of this fl ag
as my acknowledgment of my
wrongdoing and forgive my
youthful actions that were
wrong and stupid.”
The letter was signed
anonymously: “Ex-McNary
Graduate.”
Since its arrival, Erik Jes-
persen, McNary principal, has
been pondering the fl ag’s ori-
gin.
“No one that I’ve talked
to remembers a missing fl ag,”
said Jespersen. “We really have
no idea. We wish we did. I’d
like to shake the hand of the
person who sent it back.”
One thing is certain, the
fl ag has been around for a
while. The white spaces are
now weathered and off-white,
a not inconsiderable amount
of dust and grime clings to the
whole thing.
While returning the fl ag
may have closed a chapter in
the life of one mischievious
former student, its only gener-
ated a litany of questions for
Jespersen.
Please see FLAG, Page A12
Stories
We Like
Beauty and
the Beast
Saluting the people that make
us proud of our community
PAGE A5
capitolauto.com
'She did not want to die'
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Veteran Jesus Montes is escorted by a Claggett Creek
Middle School student into the gym for a Veteran's Day
assembly Tuesday, Nov. 10,
Parks district in
Keizer’s future?
EVERY F-150 ON SALE
Parsons said the Bend Parks
and Recreation District and
the Willamalane Parks and
Recreation District in Spring-
fi eld work for those cities.
“They
have
beautiful
parks,” Parsons said. “They
know they’re getting that
money every year, instead of
bond or levy money that can
run out. They are very excit-
ed about it and have enough
money to keep the parks up.
It’s something you can ponder
as a group. It’s not a lot of tax
money, but it is another tax.”
Parsons noted she has some
friends in Bend.
“The people I know in the
Bend area rave about their
parks,” she said.
Staffi ng and equipment
questions would have to be
worked out, with Parsons sug-
gesting the Parks Board hold
a couple of work sessions to
tackle those details.
“They all have very nice
parks,” Parsons said of the oth-
er areas. “I haven’t found any
negatives. I talked to Bend and
Willamalane both and found
nothing negative.”
Parks Board member J.T.
Hager noted the details would
be the key thing.
“I’m an advocate,” Hager
said. “My only question is the
process. Most of the staff and
Please see PARKS, Page A6
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
If need be, Sue doesn’t mind
being blunt when it comes to
drugs.
“If you gave people a loaded
gun and told them to put it to
their head, they wouldn’t do it,”
Sue said. “But that’s what they
do with heroin. It’s the same
thing.”
Unfortunately, Sue has some
experience with the topic. Her
daughter, Peggy (both names
have been changed for this
Chasing Dark story), died this
summer after an infection from
needles. Peggy had heart issues
and used drugs for years, in par-
ticular heroin.
In last week’s Chasing Dark
story with members of the
Keizer Police Department’s
Community Response Unit
(CRU), there was an emphasis
on how addicts have to be will-
ing to make the choice to get
clean before any change can be
seen.
“If you’re an adult, are you
ready to stop? You can tell me
‘I’m a drug user,’ but if you
don’t say ‘I’m done with this,’
you are not ready for treat-
ment,” CRU member James
Young said. “Until they’re ready,
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See page A2 for another
story in the series.
they’re not going to go.”
Rehabilitation is also seen as
a key way to help addicts, espe-
cially once they express a desire
to get better. Sue questions the
part about waiting for addicts
like Peggy to indicate a desire
for change.
“Rehab is a complete joke
with heroin addicts,” Sue said.
Whiteaker
unbeaten
PAGE A10
Please see HEROIN, Page A12
Faith
Zamora, Zena
Greenawald,
Juan Fonzeca,
Jessica Moore
and Jonathon
Wheeler
at work in
McNary's
Studio M.
KEIZERTIMES/
Eric A. Howald
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School se-
nior Jonathon Wheeler got
his fi rst wireless microphone
when he was in fourth grade.
He connected it with his
keyboard and it worked beau-
tifully. Eventually though, it
gave out. When he returned
to the store for a replacement
they only had wired mics.
He brought one home and
plugged it in only to discover
that one wouldn’t work.
“My mom took me to
Uptown Music and Shane
Hall showed me the equip-
ment that I needed. So I got a
small mixer and it had all these
knobs and I just got into it by
experimenting with it,” said
Wheeler.
Wheeler is now one of
three students – seniors Juan
Fonzeca and Jessica Moore are
the other two – at the school
whose contributions to the
fi ne arts go largely unseen but
effect the overall quality of ev-
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Dark
“I know for a fact she scammed
her way through rehab with her
meth addiction. She would have
her kids pee in a cup to pass the
UA (urine analysis). She was
good at that.
“In rehab, they say you have
to hit your bottom,” she added.
“Peggy didn’t have a bottom.
We were sure she would reach
the point where she would do
the work (to get better). Los-
ing her children wasn’t her bot-
tom. Having open heart surgery
wasn’t her bottom. Knowing
she would die from this addic-
tion was not her bottom. Wait-
ing for them to ask for help isn’t
the answer. Being she was dying
in the hospital, we said goodbye
to her three times. That wasn’t
enough to keep her clean. That
wasn’t enough.”
Peggy’s addiction got so bad,
the state stepped in and removed
her children from her home.
“When her kids were taken
away because of the heroin,
Peggy had a year to get clean,”
Sue said. “It took her months to
even get in the game to sched-
ule the fi rst visitation, because
she wasn’t ready. That was the
heroin talking. She was the
most devoted mother when
Laying down Celtic tracks
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PAGE A3
KEIZERTIMES/
Eric A. Howald
Saluting veterans
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
An old topic was brought
up again Tuesday.
Through much of 2013,
members of the Keizer Parks
and Recreation Advisory
Board discussed various ways
of securing more funding for
Keizer parks.
At the end of the year,
then-mayor Lore Christopher
splashed cold water on the
idea and implored Parks Board
members to focus on the Big
Toy play structure project and
updates to the Keizer Rapids
Park master plan.
Now, talk of more funding
for parks has come up again.
The idea was brought up
during the Parks Board’s an-
nual Parks Tour with Keizer
City Councilors in early Sep-
tember. Councilor Marlene
Parsons talked about the idea
at Tuesday’s Parks Board meet-
ing, sharing information she
learned at a recent conference.
“Springfi eld and Bend have
special parks districts, like we
do here with the Keizer Fire
District,” Parsons said. “It
would be a special district,
with its own board of direc-
tors and staff to take care of
the parks. It would be a sepa-
rate entity from the city, like
how the fi re district is sepa-
rate.”
Last week, an
American fl ag
that no one knew
had gone missing
was returned to
the McNary High
School main offi ce
via the U.S. Postal
Service. The
package included
a typed letter of
apology from
the Celtic grad
whose guilt fi nally
overwhelmed him
or her.
School offi cials
are hoping the
sender comes
forward to identify
themselves.
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“I’ve always loved music,
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enjoying doing what I love
and I just work behind the
scenes,” said Fonzeca. “The
concert wouldn’t be the con-
cert and the musical wouldn’t
be the musical if it weren’t for
us.”
Looking
back at MHS
football
PAGE A11
Please see MUSIC, Page A6
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