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Board Chooses Boardman Area as Relocated Riverside
Elks to Take
First Floor;
Theater Out
Members of the Elks lodge of
Heppner voted last Thursday
night to rebuild the first floor
level of their building for lodge
purpose, taking the space form
erly used by the Star theater.
The structure was gutted by fire
in May.
Included in plans for recon
struction are a kitchen, com
bination dining room and lodge
hall, and pool room, Jack Van
Winkle, chairman of the trustees,
said.
Second floor of the building,
which was formerly used as the
lodge hall, will be left unfin
ished for the present. It is poss
ible that if funds are available,
at least part of the upstairs may
be finished at a later time.
It will be necessary to fill part
of the area occupied by the
theater because of the slanting
floor. Total space to be used
by the Elks under the approved
plan will be considerably less
than formerly anticipated be
cause prior to the fire they oc
cupied the entire second floor
for lodge rooms and had nearly
half of the first floor for club
rooms, adjacent to the theater.
Contract for the reconstruction
work has not been let but one
contractor is working on esti
mates, Van Winkle said. It is
hoped that start on the job may
be within a week or 10 days.
Roof was restored during the
summer, and so the structure is
under cover.
A fairly large turnout of
members was on hand to dis
cuss the matter at the meeting.
Three main propositions were
considered: 1. To restore the
lodge and club rooms as they
were before the fire, 2. To move
into the downstairs only. 3. To
take both levels. Considerable
discussion was evoked on the
matter, but the first floor plan
won by a small vote.
This, of course, means that
Mrs. Elaine George will not re
open the Star Theater. Develpo
ment committee of the Chamber
of Commerce and interested resi
dents have been trying to work
out some plan that would bring
a theater back to Heppner.
Jean Collins Comes
Home from Hospital
Jean Collins, 19, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Collins, was
brought home by her parents
last Thursday from the Good
Samaritan hospital, Portland,
where she has been since August
8. Jean was seriously injured
in an auto accident near Hepp
ner on August 4, suffering frac
tured vertebrae.
She must remain flat on her
back for another month, but her
progress is very satisfactory and
Mr. and Mrs. Collins say that
they are very encouraged with
her condition. She is cheerful
and shows fine spirit.
It is expected that she will re
turn to the hospital on November
8 at which time the cast will
be removed and X-rays will be
taken. It is hoped then that she
may be able to start being up
and about again.
Jean is able to receive visitors
and callers are welcome at the
Collins home to see her.
Missing Hunter
Report Dissolves
Report of a hunter missing in
the Bull Prairie area Tuesday
was telephoned to Sheriff C. J. D.
Bauman at 10 p.m. that night
by a man who did not identify
himself, the sheriff reported.
Apparently the "lost" man re
turned to his party because no
further call was received, the
sheriff said. He had told the call
er that he would stand by and
await further word, advising that
he would organize a search party
if help were needed. Name of
the hunter was not given, the
sheriff said.
City Newsmen Get 3-day Look at Wheat Ranches
Five visiting newsmen of Port
land and Oregon City got a close
look at Morrow county's wheat
ranches on a 3-day visit in the
county from Monday through
Wednesday under sponsorship of
the Oregon Wheat League. Each
was a guest of a host family.
Bob Holley of the Portland
Reporter was guest of Mr. and
Mrs. Bob Jepsen; Jack Fenton of
the Oregon City Enterprise
Courier was guest of Mr. and
Mrs. Kenneth Turner; Jalmar
Johnson of the Oregonian was
guest of Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Anderson; and Don Sterling of
the Oregon Journal was guest
of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Carlson.
Marlowe Branagan, with the pub
lic relations firm of Goodrich
and Snyder, Portland, which
represents the Wheat League,
visited part time in the Turner
home and part with the Jep
sens. On their visit, the newsmen
saw what they expressed inter
est in seeing, went where they
wanted to go and asked quest
ions that they wanted to ask
about wheat raising and its
problems.
1 - , . . .. . i i I i rA "W29ima
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, October 11, 1962
IFYE Visitor Describes
Life in Costa Rica
Lewis Pratt, Internat i o n a 1
Farm Youth Exchange student
whose home is in Malheur coun
ty near Nyssa, opened his series
of talks and interviews before
audiences In Morrow county
Monday at the luncheon meet
ing of the Heppner-Morrow
county Chamber of Commerce.
Pratt recently returned from
Costa Rica where he spent seven
months with 19 different rural
families in various areas of the
small country. Introduced by Joe
Hay, county extension agent, he
acquainted his audience with
people and places that he saw
in Costa Rica through use of
colored slides, and at the end
of his talk displayed souvenirs
of the country, including the
skin from an 8 ft. boa con
strictor. "Costa Rica Is less than one
third the size of the state of
Oregon, with a population of
11,2000,000. It is an independent
nation and very proud of its
democratic form of government,
with between 80 and 85 per cent
of its population turning out at
the polls for the last election,"
he declared. He distinguished
between the three classes of
people, lower, middle and upper
classes, stating that more than
50 percent are in the lower,
laboring class, presenting the
most of the social problems, and
doing all of the manual labor.
Their standard of living is low,
housing is poor, but all do have
the privilege of getting an edu
cation, according to the speaker.
Mr. Pratt pointed out that the
middle class is well established
in home and position, and sup
ervises the manual labor of the
lower class on farms and in
business. Most of the upper class
population live in or near the
capital city of San Jose, owning
the majority of cars and modern
homes.
The small country relies upon
their exports of coffee, sugar
cane, tobacco, rice and cocoa for
their economy. They lack many
resources for manufacturing, so
import machinery and other
manufactured supplies from the
United States. They have a well
established Social Security sys
tem, according to the speaker,
but yet do not have institutions
to provide care for the aged or
orphans. Pratt learned to speak
Spanish fluently, the main lang
uage of the country, and found
much English spoken in the
homes and taught in schools I
there. During the afternoon he
Project Backers
Plan Commitlee
A coordinating committee to
promote construction and devel
opment of the Willow Creek res
ervoir will be organized as a
result of action by the develop
ment committee of the Heppner
Morrow County Chamber of
Commerce.
The committee, which met
Monday night at the courthouse,
will ask some 25 organizations
in the county to send a repre
sentative to serve on the coord
inating committee, Chairman
Elmer Schmidt said.
First meeting of the group is
scheduled for Monday, October
15, at 8 p.m. in the courthouse.
The group had an informal
get-acquainted and briefing ses
sion at a Monday luncheon at
Stefani's in lone, and concluded
the visit Wednesday at anuthev
luncheon there.
Besides visitor and host coup
les, others at the Monday lunch
eon were Tad Miller, president
of the Morrow County Wheat
League; Mr. and Mrs. Norman
Nelson; John Welbes of Pendle
ton, executive vice president of
the Oregon Wheat League; Milt
Morgan, second vice president of
the State League; County Agent
Nels Anderson; and Wes Sher
man of the Gazette-Times.
Miller extended greetings and
Anderson was called upon to
give a talk of orientation on the
county. He pointed out tne var
iance in temperature and alti
tudes in the county, and said
that rainfall ranged from an
average of as low as Vk inches
per year in the north to 25
inches in the mountains.
Average annual wheat yield
is just under 30 bushels per acre
but In 1962 lt was 61 ousneis,
he said. Size of farms has in
creased from 2112 acres a few
years ago to 287a acres now
GAZETTE-TIME
f ,. t .
1 , - r.
I f"r
e is, .
LEWIS PRATT
spoke in schools in Heppner.
In a short business meeting
preceding the speaker, Judge Os
car Peterson reported encourag
ing signs had been shown on
meetings regarding irrigation
features of flood control on the
proposed dam. Around 2400 acres
have been signed up, he stated,
and favorable comments were
made in visits with Congressman
Al Ullman.
Assessor Oliver Creswlck re
marked that after chamber rep
resentatives had met with the
Corps of Engineers on Friday,
they felt they might be over the
last big hurdle. Engineers will
now formulate the project and
present it in November. He rec
ommended a coordinating com
mittee of all interested organi
zations in the county.
Deer Are. Scarce,
Hunters Declare
The number of successful
deer hunters in this area took
a nosedive this week, and even
veteran local nimrods were sit
ting around with perplexed
looks, asking each other, "What
has happened r
One man said that he has been
hunting here all of his life, and
this is the first season that he
has been unable to bring home
a buck.
Opening week-end seemed to
produce fair results in spite of
some claims that the deer pop
ulation was on the wane. Since
then, however, the kill has slack
ened perceptibly.
Ernie McCabe at Central Mar
ket said Tuesday that only one
doe had been brought in for
cutting, and usually during the
doe season he Is "swamped"
with work, he said.
Many of the veteran hunters
are firmly convinced that too
many does have been killed and
that the deer population is going
to be reduced radically if more
are taken.
At least one person Is so con
vinced of this that after he ob
tains a doe tag from the state,
he tears it up and throws it
away.
A few have been lucky in re
cent days but consensus is that
number of deer available is far
down from previous years.
Forty per cent of the county's
1,317,000 acres is in farmland.
Welbes told of the Wheat
League's work and said that c
of each bushel of wheat market
ed goes to the State Wheat Com
mission for a "Self-Help" pro
gram to promote use of wheat.
In 1960, this '2 c per bushel re
alized $127,000, but in the light
crop year of 1961 it dropped
to $85,000.
In 1959 the three Pacific
Northwest states combined to
form the Western Wheat Assoc
iates in Portland, but Oregon has
taken the leadership in the pro
motional program that has prov
ed very successful.
Nine eastern Oregon counties
are in the Wheat League which
has 1500 members at present.
Standing committees are: Do
mestic wheat utilization, Fed
eral agriculture programs, pro
duction and land use; taxation
and legislation, marketing and
transportation, public relations
and youth activities.
Among contests sponsored by
the League lor the promotion
of wheat are the cake baking
contest, an editorial contest, and
newspaper article contest.
79th Year
lone Airman Serves
On 'Ole Miss' Duty
First Lieutenant Dennis
Swanson, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Gar Swanson oi lone, has been
serving with the U. S. forces
in the Ole Miss incident in
volving the battle by James
Meredith, negro, to gain ad
mission to the University of
Mississippi at Oxford, Miss.,
according to letters received
by his parents.
Lt. Swanson was among
those assigned to transport
ing the Federal forces by air
to the city from Fort Bragq,
N. C, where he is stationed.
During one night, he obtained
only three hours sleep, he said.
The army "really invaded"
the city, Lt. Swanson said. Pup
tents set up to house the "in
vaders" were drenched and
"nearly filled with water" in
a heavy rainstorm.
Local residents at Oxford
have accorded the soldiers' ex
cellent treatment, feeling that
the men in service would take
their side if they were able to.
However, the soldiers remain
mute on the matter at issue.
Lt. Swanson is scheduled to
go to Saigon in two weeks.
His wife, who is with him at
Fort Bragg, will remain state
side when he departs.
Australian Film
Set For Showing
Monday Evening
Showing of the feature-length
dramatic film, "Shadow of the
Boomerang," will be made in the
grade school multi-purpose room
Monday evening, October 15, at
8:00 p.m., according to the Rev.
Kenneth Robinson president of
the Ministerial Association which
is backing the picture.
Starring vivacious Georgia
Lee and television's Buffalo Bill,
Jr., Dick Jones, "Shadow of the
Boomerang" is an outdoor action
picture with all of the excite
ment and scope of the land
"Down Under." The setting is
Australia's "Outback," the con
tinent's vast Interior region
where some of the world's larg
est cattle stations are located.
The two young American actors
head an all-Australian support
ing cast.
Spokesman for the Christian
position in the film Is Evan
gelist Billy Graham, seen In dra
matic Crusade footage photo
graphed at the site of the
Evangelist's record bre a k 1 n g
crowds in Melbourne and Syd
ney. "Shadow of the Boomerang"
was produced and directed by
Dick Ross, president of World
Wide Pictures, the organization
which has created many other
Billy Graham film successes.
It will be shown free of charge
under the auspices of the South
Morrow County Ministerial As
sociation, and a free-will offer
ing will be taken to cover costs
of getting the film here for
showing.
WEATHER
(Leonard Gilliam, observer)
Hi Low Prec,
Thursday 61 32
Friday 63 40
Saturday 60 33
Sunday' 58 42 .29
Monday 60 46 .07
Tuesday 58 44 .19
Wednesday 53 39 .26
Morgan described work being
done abroad, particularly the
baking institutes in Japan in an
attempt to convert the people to
use wheat instead of rice. He
also told of work in India, Phil
ippines, and Karachi and of the
opening of a new office in
Burma. This will not be a large
outlet, but lt will help, he said.
Japan has increased its wheat
intake 300, he said.
Work on federal legislation
and discussion of surpluses was
also talked at the luncheon ses
sion. Welbes pointed out that
there is no surplus in the North
west, but that it Is all in the
Midwest.
One novel note was the in
terest that touring Japanese ex
pressed in Pancake Houses in
Oregon on a recent visit here.
They declared that would start
such houses In conjunction with
the 1964 Olympics to be held
in Japan, and this would require
more wheat, 01 course.
This was the second tour spon
sored by the Oregon Wheat
League of newsmen to Eastern
Oregon. Last year's tour was to
Sherman county and was held in
mid-July during harvest.
Number 32
Rhea Creek Farmers
Eye Irrigation Plan
Rhea Creek ranchers, meeting
Tuesday night, were virtually
unanimous in their interest on
developing irrigation on the
creek under the Small Water
sheds act (Public Law 566) if a
favorable cost-benefit ratio is
determined.
They heard a number of vis
iting speakers discuss possibil
ities and concluded the meeting
at the Rhea Creek grange hall
by appointing a steering com
mittee composed of Al Lovgren,
Darrel Padberg and Albert
Wright.
Speakers included Oke Eck
holm of Portland, assistant state
conservationist, in charge of
small watersheds; H. H. Ralphs
of Salem, head of a Department
of Aerlpulturp Rivpr Rnstn etnriv
John Denison of Pendleton, area
conservationist; Raymond
French, chairman of the Hepp
ner Soil Conservation rilstrlntr
W. E. Sivley of Walla Walla,
cniei 01 tne noons control sec
tion of the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers, County Judge Oscar
Peterson; and Assapsor Oliver
Creswick, who has been working
on a Willow Creek irrigation
survey.
Prior to the meeting, a group
of ranchers had toured Rhea
creek with some of the visitors
to check possible sites for an
irrigation dam or dams.
Lovgren told the group of 40
present, including several visit
ing newsmen from Portland here
as guests of the Wheat League,
of the reason for the meeting.
Merchants Slate
Bargain Festival
On October' 19-20
Heppner merchants will hold
a Fall Festival of Bargains on
Friday and Saturday of next
week, Mrs. Elma Harshman,
chairman of the merchants com
mittee of the Heppner-Morrow
County Chamber of Commerce,
announces.
Many stores of the city are
planning extra-special bargains
for the event, and their offers
will be announced in detail in
next week's paper.
Mrs. Harshman has called a
meeting of her merchants' com
mittee at noon Tuesday, October
16, for luncheon in the Wagon
Wheel. Plans for this event will
be discussed briefly as well as
those for Christmas opening to
be held at a later date. All
merchants are Invited to attend.
The meeting Is not limited to
committee members.
All in the area are urged to
watch for the values that will
be offered by the merchants next
week, to shop at home and save.
Several special merchandising
features are planned, and fo:
entertainment, the public may
attend the Heppner-Pilot Rock
football game scheduled for 8
p.m. Friday, October 19.
The paper staff requests that
advertising copy be submitted
early because of the job of put
ting out the large edition antici
pated for the Fall Festival of
Bargains. The staff will be
making some of the advertising
contacts as early as Friday.
Mrs. Harshman urges all
merchants in town to take part
in the event so that the shop
ping public may benefit from its
trading here.
Magazine Drive
To Aid Juniors
Gail Hosklns will head a
magazine subscription project
sponsored by the junior class
of Heppner High school as one
of the major money raising act
ivities used by the juniors to
help support their banquet and
prom.
They will start to sell their
subscriptions this week and will
continue for two weeks. Anyone
that would be Interested in re
newing old subscriptions or sub
scribing for new ones may call
Gail at 676-5339.
Many different varieties of
magazines are going to be sold
anywhere from Ladies Home
Journal to Teen.
Prizes are going to be awarded
to those in the class who sell
over slOO worth of subscriptions
Then a drawing will be held
for some more prizes.
The selling of the subscrip
tions brings good revenue for
the juniors since they make as
much as 50 on some of the
subscriptions.
10 Cents
Eckholm then described pro
visions of Public Law 566, say
ing that there are now 32 valid
applications in Oregon for assis
tance under the law and that
five are approved for construc
tion. Another $2 million project
is under consideration In Con
gress. Local people are charged with
the responsibility of getting land
rights and casements, he said. If
flood prevention were incorpor
ated in the project, the govern
ment would pay the full cost for
that portion of the project. This
would also be true of fish and
wildlife benefits. It would pay
about 48 for Irrigation and the
remainder would be raised by
local people in the district to
be formed. Money could be bor
rowed from the Farm Home Ad
ministration at 2.9 for 50 years
for the district's share.
Ralphs, who worked in the
Heppner area some 20 years ago
for two years and who now is
in charge of the river study as
a joint project of the Forest Ser
vice, Economic Research service
and Soil Conservation Service on
behalf of the State Water Re
sources board, had some esti
mated figures on Rhea creek to
present.
There are 147,000 acres in the
Rhea Creek area, well within the
250,000 maximum to qualify un
der the Small Watersheds act,
he said. About 20,000 acres are
in cropland, 99,000 acres in range
land and 26,000 acres In timber.
In the Rhea creek basin some
1000 acres now in non-cropland
might be placed as crop produc
ing land if irrigation were
brought to the area, he esti
mated. Ralphs expressed the opinion
from his short look at the pro
posed project area that quite a
(Continued on Page 6)
Tax Collections
Start Rolling In
Collections on Morrow coun
ty's 1962-63 property tax roll are
well underway although state
ments were mailed earlier than
usual this year, Alvira Irby of
the tax collector's office reported
Thursday.
Through Wednesday, a total
of $70,443.24 had been collected
against the total roll of $1,194,-
318.2U.
The staff mailed some 4500
statements to taxpayers in 1500
letters Irlday. Many of the tax
payers receive several state
ments for various properties.
Collections on the day of the
mailing were only $826.35, but
Monday's total brought $12,
450.49, and this stepped up to
$36,233.93 on Tuesday.
Mrs. Irby said that collections
are very good for this early in
the paying period. Many of the
major taxpayers, including large
utilities, do not customarily pay
until near the November 15 re
bate deadline.
School Board Covers
Full Slate in Long Meet
Little change would be made
in the organization of Morrow
County school district R-l if
Measure 10 (repeal of school re
organization) should pass at the
general election, Attorney Robeit
B. Abrams reported to the dir
ectors of the district at their
meeting Monday night.
He had been asked by Supt.
Robert Van Houte to determine
what changes the repeal, it it
should be voted, might make.
Under the provisions of Measure
10, Morrow county, like Hood
River county, would revert back
to a county unit system from
the present administrative sys
tem, Abrams said. The school
setup would not return to a sys
tem of local districts, and such
a return even if the people de
sired lt, could not be effected
for probably six years, which is
the earliest date that an elec
tion could be called for such a
program.
Return to the county unit sys
tem here would mean little dif
ference from the present mode
of operation. Under the county
unit setup advisory boards are
required only for elementary
schools, under tne administra
tive plan, such boards also serve
for high schools.
Many other matters came be
fore the board In its 5-hour
session.
Bids were received for servic
High Site
Elementary
Pupils to Go
To Irrigon
Riverside High school will re
main in the Boardman area after
Its relocation that will be made
necessary because of the John
Day dam reservoir, it was de
cided by the board of directors
of Morrow county school district
R-l Monday night.
However, all Boardman and
Irrigon elementary school pupils
will go to school at the A. C.
Houghton building In Irrigon
when the adjustment Is made.
Action on the matter came
in the form of a report from
a committee of school directors
presented by Mrs. Esther Ander
son. The committee of five had
been assigned the 1ob of in
vestigating the site problem for
the school, a hotly contested
matter between residents of
Boardman and Irrigon.
The report was adopted bv the
directors Monday night by a
vote of six to one, Director Har
vey Warner of Irrigon casting
the lone dissenting vote.
Mrs. Anderson's report recom
mended that "all elementary
students go to one grade school
building in order to provide sup
erior educational opportunities:
a. remedial reading, b. mentally
retarded program, c. speech
work, d. adequate teacher super
vision by a single administra
tor, e. more efficient use of staff,
especially in music and art.
"iris, we feel, would be best
accomplished by having all ele
mentary students attend the A.
C. Houghton school at Irrigon,"
the report stated.
"Alter much discussion ana
receiving of all Information
available "and in view of the
limited time In which the school
must be ready for occupancy,
the committee came to the con
clusion, by vote, that the River
side High school shall be lo
cated in the Boardman area. A
specific site will be studied and
chosen in the immediate future."
Mrs. Anderson moved adop
tion of the report, the motion
was seconded and It passed by
the 6 to 1 vote.
Director Warner, who, like
Director Harvey Sicard of Board
man, was not on the site com
mittee because of his particular
feeling for his own locality, im
mediately asked for reasons why
the committee had settled on the
Boardman area.
Director L. E. Dick said that
one thing that influenced his
opinion was that if the high
school were located at Irrigon
It would eventually result in
having three schools in the north
end of the county, and this could
not be Justified.
Director Fred Martin pointed
out his feeling that If the relo
cation had not been made nec
essary by the coming of the dam,
Boardman would have retained
Riverside school for years with
out contention. However, he said
that he felt its location in re
lation to transportation was an
Important consideration, being
adjacent to a main highway, be
ing near the railroad and also
the river.
In previous deliberations mem
bers of the board had expressed
the feeling that Boardman
should not be deprived of a
school as a part of its com
munity lire.
Irrigon residents had put a
strong case for their choice, stat
ing that at Irrigon tne scnooi
would be away from any noise
that may develop on the Boeing
industrial site, that they could
offer an advantage on water and
that it would be closer to the
majority of the student popu
lation. (Continued on Page 6)
ing vehicles of the district and
for maintenance and repair or
the vehicles. Those successful on
sprvlce bids, inclu dine oil
changes and lubrication for all
vehicles except those in tne
Heppner area, are as ionows:
Boardman, Wally's Flying A;
Irrigon, Lee's Texaco; lone,
rtrnkn'a Inflpnpnrlent CarafZe:
and Lexington, Gene's Chevron.
It wan rlppldpd to reli'Ct all
bids submitted on maintenance
and repairs and call for new bids
on an area basis, rather than on
a town basis, inese wm De sud
mltted for the southern area to
include 16 buses, 10 panels and
cars, and one car; and for the
northern area, Include five buses,
three pickups and panels.
Bids will be received until No
vember 12.
As a result of an offer of the
board for the community of
Hardman to use the old school
building there as a community
center, a petition from residents
was submitted to the board re
questing the use of the build
ing. The board indicated that the
use would be offered for the
lowest possible charge to make
the transaction legal but asked
that the Hardman people form
an association as a responsible
entity for the property. Attorn
ey Abrams said that $1 a year
(Continued on Page 6)