Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1967)
I I BP ART U OF e EUGENE. ORE. Hunting Accident On Opening Day Claims Doug Drake Douglas Elmo Drake, 46, prominent Heppner rancher and Morrow county's Father of the Year for 1967, died early Satur day morning, October 7, from a gunshot wound sustained ac cldentallv while he was hunt Ing on the Kirk and Robinson ranch near his own farm in the Sandhollow district. News of his death, which oc curred about 7:30 a.m. stunned the community. It was the first fatal accident reported In the state on the opening weeKena of general deer season. According to accounts of the accident, Drake and his l-year-old son, Richard, were riding in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and a .30-06 rifle was between them. They were approaching deer that had been spotted on a hill above the Don Robinson ranch home. Other hunters had seen the same deer and were ap proaching from other directions. Included were Gene Pierce, George Krebs, Kirk Horn, Dean Naffzlger,, and Kirk Horn's fa ther, all on foot, and Don and Montie Evans, who were on . horseback. Some younger hunt- rers were also in the group. The Drake vehicle hit a bump, and the impact caused i the rifle to discharge. The bul let went into his right side and out his back. One of those on horseback was first to realize that an ac- ' cident had happened and told the others Pipree said that Drake had top pled out of the . vehicle when he arrived, apparently having fallen out when the rine dis charged. He took Ricky back to the Drake home while Horn and Naffziger attempted to admin ister first aid to the fatally in jured man. Don Evans went to the KoDinson rancn 10 summon the ambulance. Bob Lowe brought the ambu lance out and Dr. Gerald Jones accompanied him. The doctor said that Drake was still alive when he arrived but aeatn came before he could be put in thp ambulance. Dean Gilman, Morrow county deputy sheriff, was on hand to investigate tne accident. Friends Overflow Church Both the sanctuary and the basement of the Methodist church were filled with friends, neighbors and relatives at fun eral services which were Tues day afternoon at 2 p.m. Many were standing in tne oasemeni. The Rev. Melvin Dixon offici ated and vault Interment fol lowed at the Heppner Masonic cemetery with military honors accorded by American Legion Post No. 87. John Maatta was soloist with Mrs. Pauline Miller as organist Casket bearers were close Dennis OfDonne!l Hurt in Accident Dennis O'Donnell, a freshman at Treasure Valley Community College at Ontario and a 1967 graduate of Heppner High school, was injured in an auto accident Friday night near Em mett, Idaho, according to Infor mation received here. He apparently was going to the Emmett-Vale football game with other college students when the accident occurred. His aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Harry O'Donnell, with whom he has been living, left Monday for Emmett. , , Other relatives said Tuesday night that they had not receiv ed any further information but speculated that the O'Donnells might return later Tuesday night. First information was to the effect that Dennis would be released from the Emmett hos pital by mid-week. No word was received as to the severity of the injuries, but an eariy rpnort said his back was injur ed. Relatives surmised that his condition was not serious in view of the report that he was expected to be released Dy miu- The others in the accident were not believed to be in ser ious condition. Mrs. Britt Suffers Injuries in Crash Mrs. Elvin R. Britt of Heppner is in Good Shepherd hospital, Hprmiston. with serious injuries following an auto collision that occurred near staniieia jpriaay afternoon. Two children and her father-in-law, - Walter Britt of Hermiston, were passengers in the car she was driving but they were not seriously injured. It was reported that Mrs. Britt has a broken leg, three broken ribs, a broken collarbone- and other injuries. Her condition was listed as serious but not criti- Apparently Mrs. Britt was dri ving on the highway between Hermiston and Stanfield when a car came out of the road lead ing to the Hermiston feedlot and collided with her vehicle. Friends said that they expect ed she would be hospitalized at Hermiston for perhaps three weeks, after which she may be transferred to the hospital here. Mrs. Britt Is the wife of one of the owners of Britt Bros. Trucking. r ;, J f! : r .... . t-r ' (. : .. , ( DOUGLAS DRAKE friends and neighbors, Bill Raw. lins. Don Bennett. - Kenneth Tur ner. Don Robinson, Don Evans, and Gene Winters. Sweeney Mortuary was in charge of ar raneements. Douelas Drake was born May 25, 1921, son of Raymond K. and Emma C. Drake, while tney nv. ed on a ranch at Eightmile. Heppner Elementary school, and Heppner High school where he was an outstanding athlete. He went to Pacific University, Forest Grove, for one year on an athletic scholarship, But en listed in World War II and serv- ...1-U hn Cnltfinth A if W.rn CU Willi LUG UCVCUUI All 1V1VG, being stationed in Hawaii and Iwo Jim a. He met Miss Grace Gadeken when she came to Morrow coun ty from Nebraska as a home extension agent, and they were married on September 2d, 194b. (Continued on page 8) Meeting Tonight To Organize BMCG Evening Classes An organizational meeting for those interested in taking night classes sponsored by Blue Mountain Community College will be held in the library to night (Thursday), at Heppner High school under the direction of David Raynalds of BMCC. , Those interested in classes that prepare for G.E.D. exams inlgn scnooi equivalency; win meet at 7:30 and those interest ed in other courses will meet at 8 p.m. Among the courses that are available are developmental reading, conversational Spanish, home decorati n g, drawing painting, farm welding, and ba sic education (a program to pre pare ' for high school equival ency examinations). College transfer courses offer ed are History of Western Civil ization and General Sociology. Meeting nights will be decid ed unon at -the organizational meeting. All classes are contin gent upon enrollment or at least 10 students. Anvone who is unable to at tend the organizational meeting but plans to take a class, i3 asked to notify the high school office, 676-9138. No School Friday, 'Professional Day' There will be no school Fri day because it will be "Profes sional Day" for teachers and ad ministratorsthe modern vers ion of the old "Teachers' Insti tute." On this dav many of the fac ulty members in Morrow coun ty will go to various parts of the state lor institutes in tneir various subject fields. The few remaining will spend the time in professional activities at home, doing research in their fields, catching up on needed work and similar tasks. "Professional Day" has been set aside statewide for the pur pose of teachers furthering tneir work in their specific fields. No requirements are made of the children, and they may en joy the day as they see fit. Season Opening Brings Hunters In Record Number There is no way of knowing for sure, but indications are that a record number of hunters came through Heppner on op ening week-end of the general deer season, which opened Sat urday. A counter placed across the highway near the place of Har old (Doc) Sherer, county road master, north of lone, recorded 2600 vehicles over the week-end, according to County Judge Paul Jones. Another counting device plac ed across the road near Parker's Mill recorded 1000 vehicles. Old timers said that they had never seen so many nunters here. One reported that he counted 49 camps below Cuts forth nark Saturday. Another said that he counted 85 vehic les coming up the Willow Creek 0 7-103 Property 84th Year GAZET Heppner, Oregon 97836, Thursday, October Auto Hils Pole, Causes Outage Whpn an auto driven by Bill Springer, 19, struck a 69KV pow er pole about two miles west of the Butter ureeic power suusm tlnn earlv Monday morning, . it caused a power outage that last ed for some three hours and extended over Morrow, wneeier, Gilliam and part of Sherman counties. Springer and Steve Brandon, 23, were returning from Pendle ton around 2 a.m. Monday morning when the driver appar ently went to sleep. The car hit the pole and broke it, causing the short circuit that resulted in the general outage. Crews of Columbia Basin Elec tric Cooperative were called out at 2:15 a.m. and worked through the remainder of the night to repair the damage. Springer was unhurt and Brandon, too, had apparently es caped injury but later he went to the hospital for treatment of concussion. He was released ear ly this week from Pioneer Mem orial hospital. The auto involved was own ed bv Mr. and Mrs. Tom Spring er. The nephew had borrowed it. The vehicle was badly dam aged in the crash. Jim oiiensDee oi uMumma Basin said that some parts of the area served by the cooper ative were returned to service bv routing them over other lines but the outage in Heppner lasted for approximately three hours. Speech Contest Slated October 19 SDeakinar on the topic, "Water Conservation in an Oregon Con servation District," high school students will compete J'or dis trict honors at the annual speech contest Thursday evening, Oc tober 19. in the Heppner Hign school multipurpose room at 8 P-m- . ... ... Students or miss cecuia uei- more, speech instructor, nave been preparing talks on tne as signed topic, and judges will choose first, second and third place winners, with trophies to be an acJed incentive. The contest is sponsored an nually by the Heppner Soil and Water Conservation Dis t r i c t, with Kenneth Turner serving as contest chairman. The public is encouraged to be present and hear the students' talks on this important subject. PP&K Contest Due Here on Saturday Competition in the Punt. Pass and Kick contest will be held Saturday, October 14, at the ro deo grounds here, Everett Keith ley, general chairman, announ ces. All bovs. 8 through 13, who have registered for the compe tition are to be on hand at 10:30 a.m. at the grounds. Joininff with Heppner Auto Sales, Inc., as local sponsors is the lone Lions club. Lindsay Kincaid of lone has been act ing as chairman for that area and Joe Balfe is chairman for the Heooner area. Everyone is invited to come and watch the contest. Admis sion is free. Eighteen winners will be chosen, three for each year of age, and winners scores will be matched against those of other areas for possible ad vancement to the national com petition. Registration closed for the event last Friday, October 6. road as he was driving the oth er direction. A normal meeting of four or five vehicles would be considered fairly heavy for this road. Indications are, too, that hunt er success was good, although it was reported only fair in oth er areas. Ernest McCabe at Cen tral Market reported that he re ceived 65 deer over the week end, the most of any season. Many rigs went home with bucks, and as usual, the local hunters probably had the great est success. All manner of hunting out fits 4 wheel drive rigs, camp ers, pickups, station wagons, trailers, tent outfits filled the town Friday night One service station operator said that his business on the opening day of the season far exceeded any Tax .Statements Stockmen Hope for Record Turnout on October 25 With a streamlined program and speakers and features of interest- to all in the industry, Morrow county Livestock Grow ers expect a record size crowd at their' annual meeting in Heppner on Wednesday, October 25, Larry Lindsay, president, states. Instead of an all-day pro gram, the meeting this year will start at 1 p.m. Reports will be compressed Into a shorter time, and items of importance will be emphasized.' . . One particular feature of the meeting will be a panel dis cussion on - "Cutability". - This important development in the industry affects feeding and breeding, Lindsay explained. Some of the meat packers are now emphasizing cutability as the basis for purchasing ani mals, rather than stressing the traditional show animal. How this affects the i livestock grow er will be discussed by the pan el, including Dean Firschknecht, extension livestock specialist, OSU; Dr. Walt Kennick, in charge of the meat depaitment, OSU; Brent Horn, feedlot oper ator, Hermiston; and Frank An derson, purebred breeder, Hepp ner. Commitee reports will be at 1 p.m.; report from the Oregon Cattlemen's association will be at 2 p.m.; and a report of calf breeding trials at the Umatilla Experiment Station will be giv en by Tom Davidson, Supt, at 3:15. 'The Cutability panel will be at 3:30, and a business meet ing will follow at 4:30. Bank of Eastern Oregon will be host at a coffee break at 2:45, and First National Bank will be host at a social hour at 5:30. - - - "- ; Glittering attractions will fea ture the annual Farm-City ban quet, which will conclude the day's program. This will be at 7:30 in the Heppner High School cafetorium under the joint spon sorship of the Livestock Grow ers, the Soil Conservation Dis trict and the Heppner-Morrow County Chamber of Commerce. One of the "glittering attrac tions" will be a $100 diamond that will be given away by Pe terson's Jewelers. Another will be the appearance of Nels An derson as principal speaker with slides on his two years work in Niger, Africa. Presen- Weather Stays Dry; Temperature Climbs No rainfall for the week is the record shown in the report of Don Gilliam, official weather observer. Temperatures, after dipping down the previous week, started to climb again and reached a peak of 81 de grees Tuesday. After the encouraging show ers of September 30 and Octo ber 1 and 2, farmers were hop ing that some good precipita tion would follow, but the past seven days left them dry. How ever, rain started railing Wed nesday and perhaps more was in store. , If there were more moisture in the soil, ranchers and others would welcome the beautiful days of the week as a fine "In dian summer" but without the rain, the bright, warm weather is an expensive luxury. Complete report for the week of October 4-10 is as follows: Hi Low Free. Wednesday Thursday 67 64 69 76 73 74 81 35 40 42 45 43 47 45 Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday other in his memory. Most Heppner businesses re ported a heavy run of trade from the migrating hunters. The res taurant business was booming, apparel stores were busy, and the drug stores reported heavy sales in such items as maga zines and candy, as well as other items. Lowell Gribble, Justice of the peace, said that six cases had come to his court on violation prior to opening day. Three re sulted in fines, one was given a suspended jail sentence, and two were yet to be heard. Violations for ' which officers had issued citations over the week-end had not been turned in to his court as of Monday. Gribble said that he expected quite a number of them. One woman driving up Wil TIME 12, 1967 LARRY LINDSAY President Morrow County Livestock Growen tation of the Morrow county Livestock Man of the Year will be made, and the Conservation Man, Louis Carlson, will also be presented. Name of the live stock man will be kept secret until the banquet. Herman Winter, Chamber of Commerce president, will be toastmaster at the banquet. Tickets will go on sale at var inns husiness nlaces later this week at $2.50 per plate. Ar rangements are being made to handle a crowd of more than 250 and Lindsay asks that all set aside the date now to at tend. More information Is on page 1, section 2. Pfc Pierce Home on Leave After Year s Vietnam Duty Pfc. Greg Pierce, son of Mr., and Mrs. Gene Pierce, is home on 30 days leave after serving in combat for a year in Viet nam with the 101st Airborne Division. He arrived at Hinkle by train at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and was met there by his parents. He had made the trip to the States by airplane, leaving from Camranh Bay for Okinawa, from there to Tokyo, and then on to Seattle. Pfc. Pierce said that it feels "great" to be home. The year that he has spent in Vietnam seems short, just "as if it were yesterday" that he arrived there, he said. , Although he took training as a paratrooper, He. Pierce has Two Men to Attend Inland Empire Meet County Judge Paul Jones and Commissioner Jack VanWinkle plan to attend the annual meeting of Inland Empire Wa terways association in Spokane Monday and Tuesday, October 16 and 17. Judge Jones will represent Morrow county at the meeting and VanWinkle plans to attend as a representative of the Heppner-Morrow county Chamber of Commerce, of which ne is a air rtirprtnrs of the Chamber vot ed Monday to help defray costs of the trip, since the Inland Emnire association has been imnortant in supporting the Willow Creek dam project low Creek from Interstate 80 said that she saw a large doe along the highway after leav ing the freeway. Someone had shot it and let it lay, she said. Some hunters complained that they could not shoot at deer that they spotted because be fore they could fire another rig or hunter would get in the way. Cases disposed of in justice court were as follows: October 5 Rewel Bower, Kim berly, hunting in a closed sea son, fined $5, 10 days in jail suspended. October 5 Rewel Bower, po ssession of illegal venison, fined $5, 10 days in Jail suspended. October 3 Byron Miller, lone, possession of illegal venison, fined $10 and $5 costs. Michael Gregg, lone, posses sion of illegal venison, 10 days in Jail suspended. SEiow to Number 33 10 Cents City Accepts Bid Of Bank of E. 0. For Pool Bonds Bid of the Bank of Eastern Oregon - on the purchase of swimming pool bonds for recon struction of the Heppner munic ipal pool was accepted at an adjourned meeting of the Hepp. ner Citv council Monday after noon. The bids were opened at 2 p.m. Bank of Eastern Oregon and the First National Bank of Ore gon were the only firms submit ting bids on the $110,000 bond issue. The bank of Eastern Oregon submitted a bid calling for an effective interest rate of 4.3525. This would make the estimated interest on the issue total $45,592.50. The First National bid had an effecii"fc interest rate of 4.562 which would make the Interest on the issue total $47,787.18. Both Gene Pierce, president of the Bank of Eastern Oregon, and John Venard, manager of the Heppner branch. First National Bank, were present at the meet ing. After Attorney Bob Abrams had checked the bids, the mo tion was made that the Bank of Eastern Oregon diq De ; ccptGd It is expected that the bonds will be negotiated and deliver ed within 30 days after which the MeCormack Company may proceed on the project, being the successful bidder on the job. Pierce told the council that the Bank of Eastern Oregon would permit the city to repur chase any of the bonds at face value plus accumulated interest at any time, if it wished to re tire any portion of the Issue be fore maturity dates. not ben dolns I anvjumpg in viotnim Hnlicnnters nave urn en Mm and his buddies from place to place in ground ac tions. - The young soldier arrived home in good health despite the fact that he has seen a lot of action in the conflict "Of course we're winning," he said when asked how the war is going. Pfc. Pierce will report at Ft. Lewis, Wash., on November 5 and expects to return to Viet nam. He speculated that he may be assigned to duty be hind the lines after having spent the year in combat. A graduate of Heppner High school, Pfc. Pierce attended Clatsop Community College be fore entering service. Tad Miller Reelected Rodeo Chairman Tad Miller was reelected chairman of the Morrow County Rodeo Committee for another vear at its . mommy melius Wednesday evening, October 4. Also elected for another term was Charley Daly, vice-chairman: Archie Munkers was as- siirnpd a three-vear term as dance director and Jerry Dough ertv will serve as grounds dir ector for the coming three-year term. Dr. Gerald Jones was present to discuss with the board the possibility of establishing more complete medical iacmues m th mdeo erounds. and tentative dates were recommended for the rodeo for 1968. Deer on Highway Causes Auto Mishap nispn. 27. of San Diego, Calif., nephew of Mr. and Mrs. Nate McBride of Heppner, was hospitalized ovemig h t last Ttmrsriav after his auto over turned on highway 207, five miles south of Heppner. tie re ported that he swerved w avoia hitting a deer on the highway. The car went over a six foot bank, rolled over and came to rest on its wheels. OlsAn. lone occupant of the car, was brought to the Pioneer Memorial hospital by ambu lance. He suffered lacerations and bruises. A former resident of Milton- Freewater, he has been visiting with the McBrides here. liiaeeise '67-68 Bills Readied For Mailing Morrow county property own ers will pay a total of $191,164.09 more on their tax bills for all purposes for 1967-68 than they did last year, according to fig ures released by Rod Thomson, county assessor. The total to be collected on the 1967-68 roll is $1,412,962.29 as compared with $1,251,798.20 for 1966-67. County valuation is also up, but only $197,979 more than last year. The assessed valuation is fionrori at S24.323.061 for this year as compared with $24,125," 082. imo ppmilt is that a -higher tov rate will be noticed in each of the county's 22 code areas, the Increase ranging irom o 10 mills and probably averag ing in the area of 7 or 8 mills increase. Code area paying the hiahoQf taxea in the county is that in the City of lone (Area 35-1) where the rate win on tunoi fnr parh S1.000 of assess ed valuation. Taxpayers living in the City or Heppner iflre 111 n,ltl nav at the rate Of $74.04' per $1,000 assessed valu ation. Under the new state law, the assessor figures the rale on dol lars and cents per thousand of isieiui 1ninntinn this vear. In stead of the former method of stating the rate in mills. While this probably promotes under standing on the part of the tax payers, It an comes uui id Figured on Assessed Volu It should be pointed out, too, that tha ratA is based on as sessed valuation rather than on true cash value or market val ue. Next year the law provides that the rate will be computed on the basis of true cash value. If a person's property has a true cash value of $16,000 on the tax rolls, the assessed value will be 25 of this amount, which Is Morrow county's post ed assessment ratio, inus uc assessed value of the property is $4000. If the rate is $80.24 per $1,000 assessed value, as it is in lone, the tax to bepald will be four times $80.24, or $320.96. This includes taxes ior all purposes schools, county, i.r P,rr nt MniTow. Blue Moun tain Education District, and oth ervrj Fivim Trhv. sheriff's dep uty, and Mrs. Lillian Sweek are preparing the tax statements for mailing this week and said Monday that the big mailing may go out before the end of the week. Each statement will be accompanied by a complete tax summary prepared in the office of the assessor. Rebate Deadline hoy. : Tavnavers will have until No vember 15 to make tax; pay ments In order to take advant age of the usual rebates allow- CThe county's assessed value showed a considerable gain in land outside corporate inmia, due principally to the reap ..oiMi f tha lands in the ar ea of the Boeing holdingfi. Last year, land outsiae cuibj limits was on the roll at $13,- 888,980. This year it is snown (Continued on page 3) Crazy Days Set October 27, 28 ' Crazv Davs in Heppner, anoth er major promotion- of local merchants, will be Friday and Saturday, October 27 and 28, Bill Hust, chairman of the mer chants' committee of the Heppner-Morrow County Chamber of Commerce, announces. MERCHANTS TO MEET AT NOON FRIDAY Meeting of all Heppner merchants is scheduled for Friday, October 13, at noon in the Wagon Wheel Cafe, Bill Hust, merchants' chairman, announces. Plans will be inside at the luncheon for Crazy Days and for Christmas Opening. He emphasized that all merch ants in Heppner are invited. In the planning stage are a kids' parade for Saturday, Octo ber 28, and an appearance of the Heppner school band. The children will be asked to dress in Hallowe'en costumes, and the one appearing in the fun niest or most appropriate cos tume will receive a $10 prize. Crazy Days will fall Just before Hallowe'en. Prizes will also be given to merchants who dress in the "craziest" costume for the event. Directors of the Chamber of Commerce Monday autnorizeo $20 to be spent for prizes. Directors also approved pur chase of a Santa Claus suit to be used during Christmas Op ening promotion, which will be the week-end after Thanksgiv ing. Further details on Crazy Days, which will feature special bar gains for the public again, will be announced in me next iwu issues of the Gazette-Times.
