Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1964)
4 HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, '63 Leaves Record Both Good and Bad (Continued from page 1) of lone was recalled by vote at a special election May 6, after which four directors resigned D. O. Nelson, Robert Sicard, Mrs. Esther Anderson and Dick Wilk inson. At a special election on June 22, four new directors wera elected, Howard Cleveland and Ken Baity of Heppner, Irvin Rauch of Lexington and Roy Partlow of Boardman. MiHon Morgan of lone was appointed to fill Hie unexpired term of Fred Martin. Andy Van Schoiack of Heppner had been elected to replace Kd Dick who did not seek a new term. Supt. Robert Van Houte also resigned, and the new board chose Wayne Brubaeher of Wal lace, Idaho, to succeed him. The conflict on school matters was also evident in the district budget. As initially presented for vote on April 22, it sought $1,028,000 in general fund expen ditures and was defeated, 274 yes to 097 no. It was then revised and reduced to 991,000 and was approved on June 22 by a 2Ms to 1 margin. Great interest was shown in the wheat referendum on the 1904 program here. Local growers voted in favor by the greatest margin of any county, record ing a 91 yes vote on May 21, but it was defeated throughout the nation, and growers faced an uncertain future. At year's end there still was no wheat pro gram for the 1904 crop but grow ers were pressing for action on a voluntary certificate plan in congress. Despite a cool summer and some rain, the 19(53 wheat crop proved to be considerably better than average in most parts of the county. Morrow County Grain Growers listed earnings at $114,000 for the 1902 crop year at their annual meeting. The county budget was held within the 6 limitation for the 1903-04 year with estimated expenditures of $543,878, but it caused controversy when the fig ure for the county extension agent was cut at the final bud get hearing. Fearing this would mean the loss of one of three county agents, many residents protested and finally raised vol untary fund of $3400 to assure retention of the three agents. However, this proved to be of no avail after the state proposal was defeated in October and the third agent, Joe Hay, was re moved as one of many around the state who lost their jobs when a general curtailment was ordered by the State Borad of Higher Education. On July 18 it was announced that Heppner was classified by the employment service as an "area of substantial unemploy ment." This brought disagree ment from a number of business men, but it qualified the area for public works projects under the Public Works Acceleration Administration. Later, a $70,000 PWAA project was approved for the Heppner district, U. S. Forest Service, to improve Tup per Guard Station and construct roads. Other items of general interest in the year's news were these: Approval by the Heppner city council of an envelope plan for parking meter violations where in a violator might place 25c in an envelope in lieu of paying a fine. It appeared to b eworking very successfully. Noting with memories of horror of the GOlli anniversary of the 1903 Heppner flood on June 14. Retirement of Mrs. Walter (Ruby) Roberts as lone postmas ter after 11 years of service and appointment of Mrs. Charles (June) O'Connor to succed her. Gain in school enrollment to 1194 noted in the county at. the start of school September 3, 38 students more than 19G2. Appointment of Clarence Rose wall to the Heppner city coun cil to succeed Conley Lanham who resigned to take an extend ed trip abroad. Why Not Valle I ' i9ito' jrJrnt- 'fiTy i 'Ji,'7 Thursday, January 2, 1964 Resignation of Milton Biegel as county commissioner and ap pointment of Walter Hayes, Boardman, to take his place af ter December 1. Proposal of Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative to buy pow er systems of Pacific Power in Heppner, Fossil and Condon and exchange other territoritios with the company to bo culminated after the start of the new year. Payment of $1,492,000 is ineolv ed. Impact of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22 must rank as one of the year's top news stories and the most tragic one. Local residents, like those everywhere, were deeply affected. Many memorial services were held and a day of mourning was observed. At year's end Al Lamb was elected to the presidency of the Heppner-Morrow County Cham ber fo Commerce for 1904. There was little activity on the political front because this was a non-election year. Oliver Cres wick was appointed justice of the peace to succeed J. O. llager, justice for many years, who died early in 1903. Honors Achieved Countless honors were achiev ed by Morrow county residents and organizations in 1903, and these are only a few of them: Ilynd Bros, of Cecil named Liveslockmen of the year on Jan uary 10; Ann Jones was valedic torian and Martha Doherfy salut atorian of Heppner High school class of 19G3; Louise Pointer was valedictorian and William Akers was salutatorian of lone High school class of 1903; Joan Healy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wil liam Healy, was queen of the Shrine football game August 24; John Porter, ex lleppner football star, was selected to play in the Ijinip; Oliver Creswick received Itie Chamber of Commerce cer tificate of recognition at its an nual banquet May 13 for his work as chairman of the develop ment committee; Gar Swanson of lone was named as Conser vation Man of the Year June G; Dr. Ed Schaffitz was chosen by Morrow County CowBelles as Father of the Year; Morrow county's rodeo court won first place among courts in the Port land Rose Festival in early June; the Rev. Charles Knox was cho sen Minister of the, Year by the state convention of the Oregon Christian churches; Phyllis Nel son was chosen as one of 10 from Oregon to be a delegate to the national Future llomemakers convention in Kansas City; Chris Brown was chosen a member of the national FFA band for the convention also held in Kansas City, and several delegates from the Heppner High chapter attend ed; Marcia Rands won top hon ors in the IOOF sponsored Unit ed Nations Pilgrimage and took a trip to the United Nations in New York, leaving July 9; L. L. Gilliam was presented a pin by the Weather Bureau for 30 years service as weather observer in Heppner; the Heppner Soil Con servation district was chosen by the Goodyear company for its grand award in Oregon and two men, Gar Swanson and Raymond French, represented the district at a trip to Goodyear Farms in Arizona in December; Mae Grif fith, former lleppnerite, won the all-around cowboy title at the Pendleton Round-Up on Septem ber 14; Dick Ruhl brought more athletic recognition for his home county with his exploits as an outstanding member of the Ore team; Judy Sherer of lone was gon State University football chosen princess of the Pacific International Livestock exposit ion in October; Jerry and Eddie Brosnan were named Livestock men of the Year and presented awards at a joint banquet on November 2, the date being mov ed ahead from the usual January date; Marcia Rands won local, area and semifinal speech con tests in Soil Conservation dis trict competition and won third Face You Can't Low Low Rates Come In and See For Yourself? Vista Homes in the state finals: Milton Mor gan was elected president of the Oregon Wheat league December 7; Lt. Dennis E. Swanson was presented the Air Medal for his service in Vietnam; and Herb Ekstrom and sons showed the grand champion junior yearling bull at the Poll-O-Rama, Sac ramento, Calif., November 30 to December 2. Accidents A number af tragic accidents occurred in 1963, the worst claim ing four lives in an auto acci dent two miles from lone on Jan uary 25. Killed were Mancell Townsend, 18, lone; Mrs. Theresa M. Brosnan, 51, of Portland; her daughter, Theresa A. Brosnan, 9, and her son, John Paul Brosnan, 11. The husband and father, Joe Brosnan, was seriously injured. Leonard Wise, 28, Heppner was killed in an auto accident near Echo June 22. First drowning in Bull Prairie reservoir claimed the life of Glen Douglas Beith, 17, Hood River. August 2. One death was attributed to hunting during deer season. Dan iel Regis Alexander, 52, Herm iston, died in the, Johnson Creek area from a heart attack October 15. Lewis Allyn, 58, died in an auto accident near Lexington August 9, and Mrs. Norah Kling er, 75, mother of Ken Klinger of Lexington, was killed in an auto accident on Highway 30 on December 13. Three young men escaped death in a serious auto accident that opened the year 1903 when they collided with a pickup truck near Heppner on the night of December 30, 1902. Seriously in jured were Dean Lovgrcn, 15, and John Privett, 17. Bill Slruth ers was less seriously hurt. Lov grcn underwent long hospitali zation and is still confined to a wheel chair. The community greeted him with a homecoming from a Portland hospital when he returned here June 22. He is now attending Heppner High school. ( Mel Boyer escaped serious in jury June 14 when his airplane "pancaked" while spraying weeds on the Wilkinson ranch June 14. The, plane was a total loss. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Doherty sus tained grave injuries when their car skidded on slick pavement near the Alpine road junction on the highway to Butter Creek De cember 1, and they remained hospitalized in Heppner at the year's end. Two trucks loaded with wheat broke through county bridges during the year, one of the Sun Trucking company in Blackhorse canyon near Lexington March 8 and one of Inland Navigation company in the, Eightmile dis trict on October 14. No one was hurt in either incident. However, this resulted in a 10-ton load limit being imposed on the coun ty bridges, a matter that brought considerable protest from farm ers and truckers. A grocery truck provided a rather spectacular accident when it overturned near lone on April 10. No one was hurt in the acci dent and most of the big load of groceries was salvaged. Fires Fires were held to a minimum in the county in 19G3. Both forest fires and field fires were held to relatively light losses, al though a rash of forest fires broke out late in hunting season. A ranch house, owned by the Charles Carlsons, was destroyed by fire January 19. They did not live in the house. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Springer were left homeless for a time and lost all of their household goods when fire de stroyed their residence at Ruggs May 9. Mr. and Mrs. Wade Both well also lost all their belong ings when fire gutted their home in Lexington November 19. Fair and Rodeo Fine weather smiled on the Morrow county fair, horse show and rodeo this year and all events were declared very suc cessful.. Fair and rodeo queen was Sandra Eubanks of lone and her court was composed of Louise Pointer of Lexington, Shannon Mahoney and Nancy Cleveland of Heppner, and Sharon Dono van of Boardman. Heppner's Sor opiimist club won grand sweep stakes in the rodeo parade on August 31, Howard Bryant's Becky Bar was champion perfor mance horse at the Wranglers horse show August 30, and Gene Jordan of Macos, Colo., was Northwest Saddle Bronc cham- It,.. Beat Our pion at the rodeo. Bill Healy won the Morrow County Amateur calf roping event. A record num ber of cowboys entered the rodeo. Sports It was a better than average year in the county for high school sports. Probably top achievement was lone football team winning its sixth consecu tive Umatilla-Morrow B league championship, but it lost in a quarter-final game to Mt. Ver non, 34-13. Heppner tied with Sherman for the Greater Oregon western division bask e t b a 1 1 championship but lost in a play off game that decided the right to play Vale for a state title berth. lone was third in its league in basketball and Hepp ner's football team finished the '63 season with a record of five wins and three losses. Of prime sports interest here was the opening of Fiesta Lanes. Many leagues were in full swing at the end of the year with both men and women, as well as jun iors, participating. Weather Old 19G3 was a rather mild year weather-wise. It brought 6.2 inches of snow in January and this was followed by threat of a flood in Heppner on Feb ruary 7 that caused excitement throughout the city. Damage was not as great as feared, however. Summer was very mild and cool with moisture hampering the grain harvest. Use of the swim ming pool fell far below normal. As winter entered the scene in December once more, lowest temperature recorded was seven degrees above zero on December 11. Deaths Many deaths of local persons, former residents, and relatives of residents brought sadness. Some of the more prominent residents who died during the year in cluded Justice J. O. Hager on February 23; Mrs. W. W. Weath erford, April 18; Russell O'Don nell, May 20, followed closely by the death of his mother, Mrs. Claire O'Donnell, May 22; Harold Evans, October 10; and Mary Pearl Devine, October 12. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hills, son Clayton and daughter Creigh, ar rived Christmas Eve from their home in Coos Bay to enjoy the holiday season at the home of parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Har ris. I A Heppner Condon Air Force Paper Rated Best Newspaper of the 636th Radar Squadron, U. S. Air Force, at Con don, has won first place in the annual Air Defence Command newspaper contest held Decem ber 12 at headquarters ADC at Colorado Springs, Colo., it has been announced. The paper, "The Scope," is pub lished monthly by the squadron and is printed by the Gazette Times in Heppner. The Scope was started by Capt. Roland Noel in 1961 and was published regularly after De cember, 1962, with 2d Lt. Thomas K. Goldie, information officer, in charge. He was assisted by Staff Sergeant Henry Bixler. After Lt. Goldie left the sta tion in July, 1963, Staff Sergeant James B. Chauncey had the ma jor responsibility for the paper under the direction of 2d Lt. Joseph P. Bigelow, information officer. The contest is a part of an Air Force-wide competition held each year. Each major air com mand forwards to Air Force the first place winners of the com mand contest and a final judg ing will be held by the Air Force to select the best newspapers serving the many organizations of the Air Force. Those who picked The Scope as the best at Air Command headquarters were civilians con nected with news media and public relations departments of industrial companies. The Scope was in competition with 21 other papers to receive the top award. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Sumner and their children are spending the holidays in Heppner visiting friends and relatives. They will return to their home in Corvallis where Mr. Sumner is an instruc tor in agrciulture engineering at Oregon State University. Mrs. Bob Abrams traveled by train during the holiday season to southwest Utah, where she met her mother, Mrs. Sara Mor row, who was motoring from her home in Prcscott, Ariz. The two made the trip from Utah to Hepp ner in Mrs. Morrow's automobile and she is enjoying a short visit at the Abrams home here. MODERN Business Operation Demands C0MMERC HOW IS YOUR STOCK OF . . . LETTERHEADS Cr MATCHING ENVELOPES INVOICES STATEMENTS WINDOW ENVELOPES RULED FORMS BUSINESS CARDS PROGRAMS ANNOUNCEMENTS . . . Whatever Your Printing Needs May Be See Us Guaranteed Satisfaction Prompt Service The Gazette-Times Dealer For Moore Morris Quits Staff To Return to EOC Jim Morris, who has worked on news and advertising at the Gazette-Times for the past, three months, is leaving the staff this week in order to return to East ern Oregon College, La Grande, for registration Monday to com plete work for a degree. Prior to going back to college, though, he was scheduled to go to Portland for physical exam ination Friday for armed ser vice classification. Morris was employed by the paper with the understanding that he would return to college for the winter term. His assis tance helped carry the staff over a busy holiday period, and he will be missed when he leaves. Farra In Training E2 James Farra left Thursday to return to Great Lakes, 111. where he is attending electronic technicians' school at the Navy's Great Lakes Naval Training Sta tion. Farra has been attending the school for seven months and has five months to go before he com pletes his training. He has been in Heppner at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Farra, for the duration of his current leave, which start ed December 23. Farra said that there are about 21,000 personnel at the base, in cluding 7,000 men in the train ing school. SCHOOL MENUS Heppner and Lexington January 3-10 FRIDAY Tomato soup, Tuna sandwiches, salad, oatmeal cookies, fruit and milk. MONDAY Hamburger casser ole (Mor), spinach, carrot sticks, bread and butter and milk. TUESDAY Fried chi c k e n, gravy, pickled beets, buttered corn, bread and butter, milk and fruit. WEDNESDAY Navy beans and Ham, fruit salad, cabbage salad, milk and hot rolls and butter. THURSDAY Canned meat and gravy, rice, green beans, cake, fruit, carrot sticks, bread and butter and milk. FRIDAY Mushroom soup, tuna sandwiches, cheese sticks, cake, fruit, green salad and milk. QUALITY hi Phone 676 Business Forms Jobless Benefits To Be Increased SALEM (Special) The New Year will bring several changes to Oregon unemployment insur ance benefits law. Firstly, the new law increases the maximum weekly benefit amount from $40 a week to $44 a week and the minimum amount from $15 to $20. Secondly, the weekly benefit will now be figured on the basis of 1.25 percent of the claimant's total base year wages, rather than l26th of the claimant's highest base year quarter wages. Since a number of claimants who filed in 1963 will have claims carried over into the new year, the benefits division of the Department of Employment has had to refigure thousands of claims because of these changes in the law. Of course, those filing claims after the first of the year will automatically have their claims determined under the new law. Under the new law also, the claimant's benefit year, the year in which it is determined he is eligible for benefits, begins on the day he files his claim. The Employment Department estimates that; some 75,000 claims had to be refigured. It is also estimated that the increas ed benefit amounts will cost some $500,000 annually depend ing of course, on the extent of unemployment. The unemployment insurance trust fund has the best balance its had for a number of years. On December 20 it contained $72.1 million compared to $56.1 million a year earlier. As a consequence, the new law also will give many employers reduced unemployment insurance tax rates beginning January 1, 1964. The rates will vary from 1.8 percent to 2.7 percent depend ing on their experience rating. Among out-of-town visitors here for the holidays were A. H. Bergstrom and daughter, Anna Lvn, of Portland. They arrived Christmas day to spend the week-end at the home of Mr. Bergstroms brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Becket. - 9228 970 Juniper Hermiston, Ore.