L I IRARY
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EUGENE
ORE
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County Fair
Story Column Three
and
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Large Number Of
Exhibits Expected
To Set Fair Record
The Morrow county fair was in This is the same carnival which
ens
I oday
full swing today and fair goers
are assured a greater display in
many divisions than have been
seen here in any previous' yer.
Hundreds of workers were busy
Wednesday installing booths
and other exhibits in the fair
building and members of the
fair committee said that in the
4-H livestock division there are
the greatest number of fat hogs
ever displayed. Sheep and lamb
entries are running about the
same as last year, but one or two
regular open class beef show
men will be missing. 4-H show
beef will be a little shorter than
last year, but early indications
are that most other divisions will
see an increase in animals.
Always of top interest is the
4-H fat auction sale at 7:30 Fri
day evening and buyers will have
10 steers, 10 lambs, six fat hogs
and several weaner pigs to
choose from. Immediately pre
ceeding the auction sale will be
the 4-H pig scramble in the judg
ing arena with pigs furnished by
the winners of last year s event
New rules are in order for this
year's scramble and each youn
gster will draw a number and
must catch the properly number
ed pig.
Committee members said Wed
nesday that the price for fat
steers is expected to be 22 or 23
cents and there will be a 10 cent
limit above the market price.
The 10 cent ceiling will apply to
all fat animals, it was announ
ced. Open class entries were pour
ing in to the grounds Wednesday
with 4 top beef growers, Kirk and
Robinson, Frank Anderson, Her
bert Ekstrom and Bernard Do
herty displaying a big group of
their top animals.
Display Division Full
Booth space was at a premi
mum late Wednesday and fair
secretary N. C. Anderson said
that there are the greatest num
ber of 4-H and other booths re
served in the fair's history Seve
ral new displays from 4-H elec
tricity and entomology clubs will
also be new to the fair.
Other divisions to show a
heavy increase of entries are 4-H
needle work and cooking. Al
ready many sponge cakes have
been entered in the Oregon Wheat
Growers League sponge cake bak.
ing contest. The winner here
will be eligible to compete in
the area contest to be held later
in Pendleton.
Judging started yesterday on
the home economics and agricul
tural exhibits and by this morn
ing all of the open class and the
school exhibits were in place as
were displayed in the commercial
booths.
Carnival Arrives
Of top interest to many youngs
ters is the big Inland Empire
Shows carnival which started
setting up on the grounds early
this week. A big variety of rides
and games awaits fair visitors.
Verdict Returned
After Three Days;
Sentencing Tuesday
A seemingly calm and un
emotional Mrs. Ann Avent late
Wednesday afternoon heard a
jury of 12 men return a verdict
of guilty of murder in the second
degree against her for the fatal
shooting of Dellmore Lessard in
O'Donnell's Cafe on June 4. 1955.
The jury returned its verdict
in two hours and 45 minutes
cft'er listening to two and one
half days of testimony presented
by a ssries of 17 witnesses for
the state and one for the defense.
Mrs. Avent, who took the stand
in her own behalf. The case was
heard by circuit Judge William
W. Wells, who announced that
sentence would be pronounced at
1 p. m. Tuesday, September 6.
The murder trial opened Mon
day morning and jury of 12 men,
cowboy breakfast most of them Heppner, Lexington
be served Sunday and lone ranchers, were selected
played the fair last year.
Another event of special in
terest to 4-H club girls and their
parents as well as the general
public is the 4-H style revue
which will be held tonight
(Thursday) in the main fair pa
vilion. Many of the county's
youngsters will model the re
sults of their sewing efforts dur
ing the year.
Dances Two Nights
The always popular fair and
rodeo dances are again schedu
led for Friday and Saturday
nights at the fair pavilion. The
music will be furnished by Gene
Rietmann's orchestra.
Other weekend events, though
not directly a part of the fair,
will be the always popular
Wranglers
which will
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday September 1, 1955
Copies 10 cents 72nd Year', Number 25
morning from 7 to 10 a. m. at
the Wrangler's clubhouse on the
fair grounds. Last year over 500
persons were served and general
chairman Dimples Munkers, has
made arrangements to take care
of at least that many next Sun
day. Elsewhere in today's paper
will be found a complete sche
dule of the fair events for the
weekend.
Sarah Ellen Benge
Taken By Death
Tuesday at Eugene
Mrs. Sarah Ellen Benge, 70
yeais of age, died early Tuesday
morning at, Sacred Heart hospital
in Eugene. She had been ill for
over eight years. She was pro
ceeded in death by her husband,
Ralph L. Benge who passed away
last March.
Mrs. Benge was boin in Mor
row county September 6, 1884 and
lived here her entire lifetime ex
cept for five years spent in Kan
sas when she was a girl. She
was married to Mr. Benge De
cember 10, 1901 at McMinnville.
Mrs. Benge was a member of the
Eastern Star, Daughters of the
Nile, Rebekahs and the Christian
church.
Funeral services will be held
Friday at 10 a. m. at the Hepp
ner Christian church with Robert
Richter, pastor of the Hermiston
Christian church officiating Bur
ial will be in the Heppner Ma-
soniic cemetery with graveside
rites under the direction of the
Eastern Star.
Surviving are two children,
Terrel L. Benge, lone and Mrs.
Luolla Bengtson, Eugene; four
sisters, Mrs. Charles Stevens,
Mrs. Bert Stevens, both of Day,
ton, Oregon; Mrs. Mary Baird,
Newberg; and Mrs. Grace Rob
bins, Portland; seven grand
children and one great-grandchild.
One sister, Mrs. Nellie
Willis, and a brother, Ed Dris
kell preceeded her in death.
Creswick Mortuary is in charge
of arrangements.
from a panel of 60 by noon that
day.
The state produced two wit
nesses who testified that they
saw the shot fired that killed
Lessard, attorney who had been
conferring with Mrs. Avent over
the custody of her 14 year old son
Kim. These two, who wars the
prosecution's top witnesses, were
Russell O'Donnell, manager of
the bar whore Mrs. Avent was
employed and Mrs. Hary Snow, a
waitress in the restaurant who
described in deta'il the entire
series of events immediately prior
to and during the slaying. De
fense attorneys, John Bassctt, of
Portland and Ralph Currin, Pen
dleton, made numerous attempts
to discredit Mrs. Snow's state
ments, but even during cross
examintion they were unable to
shake or confu.se her. - Her testi
mony that she watched the entire
affair proved a major part of the
state's case against the small
blonde defendant.
Defendant Only Witness
Though the prosecution
brought forth 17 witnesses for
its side of the case, the only de
fense witness brought to the
stand, was the defendant her
self, Mrs. Avent. She told of her
meeting with Lessard and
claimed that he threatened that
he would take her boy to Port
land to place him in an orphan
age. She said she remembered
walking into the restaurant after
having gotten the gun from its
place under the bar counter, but
claimed that she took it with no
idea of using it against the at
torney.
Mrs. Avent claimed that she
couldn't remember anything
from the time a cigarette ma
chine which Lessard had dodged
behind in an effort to avoid her,
fell on her. She said she could
not remember when, where or
how the gun went off, though
she did admit that before the
shots were fired from the 38
caliber revolver, Lessard was
walking away from her. The state
showed that she followed him
firing the gun five times, three
Continued on Page 8
c
N. Morrow Fair
funds Return
Asked by Board
CONVICTED Mrs. Ann Avent who yesterday was convicted of se
sond degree murder for the killing of Dellmore Lessard, Portland
attorney. She is shown as she was entering the courthouse at the
start of the trial Monday. (GT Photo)
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County Schools Set
For Tuesday Opening
4j
All county schools with the
exception of Irrigon, which open
ed last Monday, will open the
fall term next Tuesday, Septem
ber 6. Registration dates vary
from school to school.
At Heppner all high school
students are to register Friday,
Sept. 2 at 9 a. m. in the gymnas
ium. On the same day first
graders will meet in the basement
of the new school and students
new to the system are to meet in
room six of the old building.
Buses will make their run Fri
day morning and will return
students to their homes by noon.
Superintendent Joe H. Stewart
said tnrlav that nil teaching nn.
citinnc ar nnw fiiwi uith tho Mr. and Mrs. Paul Brown left
hiring of Donald J. Ellsworth offor Burns M(jmiav morning after
Deer Lodfre. Montana for the ! receiving word that her mother,
upner elementary grades, andiMrs- M:,ry Goodman had been
Miss Lana Lea as girls P. E.,
homemaking, it was announced.
Hot lunches will start at Lex
ington on Wednesday with Mrs.
Gladys Young as head cook.
Gladys Van Winkle will assist
Leonard Munkers as custodian.
Both the main building and
the gym have been completely
redecorted outside, many repairs
made inside and considerable
remodeling.
lone school information is in a
separate column elsewhere in
today's paper.
Mother of Heppner
Woman is Killed
The Morrow county, fair board
at a joint meeting Tuesday with
the county court voted t ask
immediate return of funds which
have been allocated to the North
Morrow county fair at Boardman
after it was discovered that a
state law forbids the use of state
money for more than one county
fair in a county.
The discovery that the fair
board was unintentionally oper-
! citing outside the law in allowing
some if its state supplied funds to
he used for financing the North
Morrow fair was made only a
few days ago when the board
met for the first time in nearly
a year following the anuoint-
vl ment of a third board member,
Vj Charles Carlson, by the county
court. At the meeting, the laws
governing the bonrd's actions
were reviewed by an attorney
and the law rtmceming the dis
tribution of slate moneys was
discovered. The board immedi
ately, made plans to request the
return of money which had al
ready been appropriated for this
year's north fair and a letter was
sent Wednesday to the fair board
there telling them of the dis
covery and asking return of the
funds.
The North Morrow fair has
been receiving approximately
one-third of the total money re
ceived from tho slate, or around
$1,000 per year. The withholding
of the money will put the north
fair in a bad spot this year with
its show dates set for Septem
ber 8, 9 and 10. County judge
Garnet Barratt said Wednesday
that in view of the discovery and
the decision of the fair board to
demand return of money appro
priated to the Boardman show,
the directors of the north Mor
row fair had no recourse except
to appeal to the court for local
money with which to put on the
fair. No provision was made in
the budget for such appropria
tion, and if it could be made it
would have to come from the
emergency fund, if money was
available.
It was pointed out that money
appropriated to the north county
fair has been used for fair pur
poses buildings, prize money,
inaintainence, etc., the same
things for which the money would
have been used had it been all
used here.
Members of the fair board are'
W. E. Hughes, chairman, Willard
Baker of Boardman, and Carlson
the recently appointed member.
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FINAL PLANS for this year's fair and rodeo are being mads by four members of the Morrow county
fair board and committees. Shown left to right are Floyd Jones, chairman of the rodeo committee;
Eb Hughes, fair board chairman; Raymond Ferguson, fair committee head and Jack Loyd, a
member of the rodeo committte. (Photo by Irene Wilson)
health and English II instructor.
j Lexingtsn Starts Tuesday
ine ie.mj;i.uii sunuui win upen
Tuesday with student enrollment
in the morning and teacher plan
ning in the afternoon.
This year's staff includes Law
rence Brent, superintendent-principal,
mathematics, education
tnd shop; Robert I. Matthews,
science, social studies and high
school coach. He is a former
coach at Clatskanie. Mrs. Nola W.
Coval, high school English, home
making and girls' P. E.; Serge S.
Coval, 7th and 8th grade who
came here from Sisters; Hildred
M. Flud, 5th and 6th grade will
arrive soon from Oklahoma. She
had expected to be here now but
was recently injured in an acci.
dent. Jewel M. Boone, 3rd and 4th
grades, formerly at Ramona,
Oklahoma; and Mary E. Brent,
1st and 2nd grades.
Two new classes which will be
taught this year are shop and
instantly kilbd in a car accident
Sunday.
The accident, a head-on col
lision with another car, occuired
near Crane Junction southwest of
Burns. Mis. Goodman and a man
who worked on her ranch were
on their way home when the ac
cident occurred. The driver of the
other tar and the farm worker in
the Goodman car weie both seri
ously injured and are in the
Burns hospital.
u
Cowboy Breakfast
Again on Program
The Heppner Wranglers will
again serve their popular cowboy
breakfast to all hungry visitors
i Sunday morning, Dimples Mun
kers, breakfast chairman has an
nounced. It will be served from
7 to 10 a. m. at the clubhouse on
the fair grounds.
Mrs. John Monahan of Heppner
is in the Good Samaritan hospi
tal in Portland,
Civic League To
Promote Chest X-Ray
During Fair Days
Seven members of the Heppner
Civic League met Monday even
ing at the home of Mervin Leon
ard, Lexington to discuss the
operation of a booth at the fair
pavilion to be sponsored by the
Morrow County T. B. and Health
association.
Those who will he at the booth
all day Saturday, September 3rd
will be Mrs. W. L. Sowell, Mrs.
Bradley Fancher, Mrs. Larry Do
wen, Mrs. James Nor?ne, Mrs.
Ray Myrick, Mrs. James Sumner
and Mrs. Philip Blakney.
Visitors will be directed to the
hospital where a free chest x-ray
will be available to anyoue de
siring one, from ten o'clock in the
morning through four o'clock in
the afternoon.
RHEA CREEK GRANCE
The regular meeting of the
Rhea Creek Grange will be held
on Friday September 9 with a
potluck supper at 6:30 p. m.
NORTHWEST
BUCKING CONTEST
NEW TOP EVENT
Rodeo stock began arriving in
Heppner early this week and
several dozen entrants had al
ready signed up for various rodeo
events by Wednesday evening,
rodeo committee chairman Floyd
Jones said today.
Stock is being furnished this
year by Ed Ring of Wilbur, Wash
ington and Ring said today that
he has had assurance from a
large number of the northwest's
top cowhands that they plan to
be here to take part in Morrow
county's big show.
Missing from the scene will
be some of the famous names
familiar to local rodeo follow
ers, inasmuch as this year's
rodeo is an amateur affair, yet
the inclusion of the Northwest
amateur Bucking champions in
the two-day program is expect
ed to bring at least 5 of the top
amateur bronc riders of he entire
northwest to Heppner.
The Northwest Bucking, which
was offered to the Morrow county
fair and rodeo by the rendleton
Round-Up, will lie one of the top
attractions offered by any rodeo
in this section of the west. Top
prize will ba a hand made saddle
donated by Hamley and Com
pany of Pendleton and Ring said
yesterday that he had received
assurance from Talbot Taylor,
Yakima; Jackie Hooker, Colfax,
Lewis, Williams Lake, B. C; Tug
Lews!, Williams Lake, B. C; Tug
Hansen, Alberta, Canada; Pete
Peterson and others that they
plan to be here for the bronc
liding competition. A host of
other top bronc riders from Ore
gon, Washington, Idaho and
Canada are expected before the
list is closed at 6 o'clock Friday
evening.
Saturday Night Show Nsw
Other new events scheduled in
this year's rodeo will be the ad
dition of a Satuday night show
which will be heid under the
recently installed lights. On the
program for the night sluw,
which will start at 8 o'clock will
be one go-around of the Munow
county amateur calf roping, the
winner of which will receive a
hand made K-V Saddlery saddle
donated by the Heppner Fine
Mills. Second and third prizes of
a buckle and belt and a western
hat have been put up by Tum-A-Lum
Lumber Company and Wil
son's Men's Wear. Other features
on the Saturday night show will
be a wild horse race, a Calgary
roping event, which is new to
the Heppner show, a children's
pon yrace, a cowgirl race and a
special drill by the Umatilla Sage
Riders of Hermiston.
Saturdays opening rodeo show
will feature the grand entry pa
rade with Queen Carol Ann Wig-
elswoth and her court, pennant
bearers, rodeo officials and many
others. All of the usual top
notch rodeo events will be in
cluded in the two-day program
with the exception of bull riding
which was eliminated to make
room for the Norlhwest Bucking,
Calgary roping and some of the
other new events which have
been added and which are cer
tain to give spectators one of the
best rodeos they have seen in
many years., Other events will
be the popular calf roping, seve
ral pony race divisions, cowboy
and cowgirl races, bareback rid
inf, junior amateur calf roping,
the popular riding clubs' flag
race, and the Morrow county
derby which will feature Mor
row county horses ridden by the
owner or a member of his fam
ily. The latter event is scheduled
for the Sunday afternoon 'show,
Floyd Jones, rodeo committee
chairman said today.
Rodeo announcer will be
Johnnie Lee Williams of Spray.
Ring, stock contractor, said his
string of stock, which has been
worked at nine top northwest
rodeos this season, will provide
some of the top rodeo stock
available. He named several
broncs which have been working
at setting some kind of a record
for such animals. He will have
one bareback bronc which has
never been ridden in four years
and he said she expects to keep
her record clean. Other broncs
which are sure to give their cow
boys a real ride are Charcoal
Badger Mountain Jr., Soapsuds
and others. Ring said Wednes
day that he has been told that he
(Continued on Page 8)