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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1968)
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thursday. May 90. 1968 I THE HEPPNEH GAZETTE-TIMES Hpprr. Orqon 97834 Fboos 676-8228 MORROW COUNTY'S NEWSFAFEM The Heppner Gazette established March 30, 1HH3. The Heppner Time established November 18. 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1 1912. 0 NIWSrAPIt ruiiisNin ASSOCIATION WESLET A. SHERMAN HELEN E. SHERMAN . ARNOLD RAYMOND Shop Foreman Printer GAIL BL'RKENBINE Society Circulation Subscription Rutes: $1.50 Year. NATIONAL NIWSPAPII 'T j j h m f g urn i EDITOR AND PUBLISHER .. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER REGGIE PASCAL Linotype Operator RANDY STILLMAN Apprentice JIM SHERMAN Pressman Slnclo Copy 10 Cents. Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter. Office Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. until noon Saturday. Second Vote on the Budget Next Monday, registered Morrow county voters will cast ballots on the 19G8 69 budget of the county school district for the second time. This would Recm to indicate that the first diction resulted In defeat for the budget, but It did not, since It held a 3-vote affirmative margin with five votes In question. No one knows for sure whether the five votes would have changed the result, but it did cast the outcome under a cloud, and the school directors voluntarily decided to refer it back to the people. There seems to be little question that the second vote will draw a better turnout than the first, although the Initial re sponse was not bad as school elections go. However, it was not truly representative of the feeling of all registered voters since only about a quarter of those eligible went to the polls. Those who arc In favor of the budget surely must now understand that their votes are Important In view of the close balloting at the first presentation. On the other hand, some who are opposed to the budget but who did not vote in early May may find encouragement from the close contest and get out to cast a "no" vote on Monday. So there is reason to believe that Monday's election will bring a better cross section of thinking on the matter. This paper again recommends a "yes" vote on the budg et. Examination shows that the 1968-69 budget is a tight one, although circumstances make It necessary to Increase the tax levy considerably. In percentage of tax per true cash value of property, however, it is not increased as much as many think. It has been explained through this paper a number of times that a substantial part of the tax increase is due to a decline In receipts rather than an Increase in expenditures alone. When Supt. Ron Daniels, the directors and the budget committee adopted this budget it was done as a "realistic" es timate for the year and one that would correct the deficit sit uation that has existed for two years. Of the expenditures that are increased, most of them are ones over which the district and the budget committee have no control such as capital outlay Items, which have soared. Those who have tolled in preparation of this budget have sought places that could be cut without impairing the school program. We are convinced that no more significant cuts can be made without hurting program of Importance to at least some of the students. A cut in the budget of $1000 would mean a reduction of only one cent in actual taxes per $1000 of true cash value of property owned by a taxpayer. Thus a cut of $50,000 would save only 50c per $1000 TCV. Continuing this thought a bit more if one owns property assessed at $10,000 for instance, he would save just $5 per1 year on a budget cut of $50,000. Such a cut certainly could not be made without making a serious inroad into the school program. This would be equiv alent to almost twice the increase in school salaries given teachers this year and it would save a $10,000 property own er only $5 per year! Parents with children in school will realize that the school program is more important than that. Those who do not have children in school should realize that even to them the school system is of considerably more benefit than the amount Involved. It seems to us that this is a time to show faith In the school system. The budget has been prepared by solid and sound people who, too, have to pay the tax and who well know how property taxes are hurting a good many of our residents. But they also know the consequences. The admin istration has been doing an excellent, conscientious job. The system has made considerable progress. Just a year or so ago a drive was on across the country in an effort to get and hold good teachers. Progress has been made on this, and the staff is performing very well. Defeat of the budget could cause another upheaval, and this the county does not want. If there were a cheaper way to run the schools and at the same time maintain good standards of education, there wouldn't be a person in the county against it Certainly every one is Interested in economy. However, examination shows that the administration and the budget committee are doing about the best possible job of holding costs down in view of conditions that confront them. Assuming that the voter is truly Interested In good schools, we see no other logical way to go then to approve the budg et. Each election costs $600, which isn't great but it is ad ditional cost. Defeat of the 1968-69 budget could bring other consequences that would be more costly, especially to the educational background of the children involved. Some of us are in a position to recognize personally that a good educational background is an excellent investment. Some have grown children who are now commanding good salaries that they would not be getting if they had not re ceived the foundation in education. Some of us sweat and tolled to pay the taxes to see them through, but it is con siderably easier to justify that toil when we see them bene fitting from the results of it. We note that every one of lone High's graduating class expects to continue to college. What a great thing! A high percentage of Heppner and Riverside graduates plan to con tinue also. Each one of these with a good educational back ground has a good chance to make a success In his chosen field. Think for a moment of the combined salaries they may receive in the future as college graduates, compared to what they would receive had they not been prepared to continue. This would amortize the investment in schools here and in dicates that paying for schools is truly a wise investment and not just a cost. There are rumors around the streets in regard to the com ing election. The best advice is to discount them. If you want information, it is readily available from a reliable source from the superintendent, or from a school board member. A good affirmative vote for the budget would contribute to sound and realistic fiscal management for the school sys tem and it is important to assure continued progress towards desirable educational standards. This is a time to show faith and confidence with a yes vote. v r! ,N y v w r- v) J qj ? til r r) r j :x) .1 mu r hi i . , s ) V FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. On Mot 31. th Heppner High School class of 1918 will obsenr Its sotn anniversary. Th nineteen abore or pictured as sophomores in the class when the photo was taken by Bert Sigsbee, father of Mrs. Elaine George, in 1916. Ten of these graduated with the class in 1918. according to re collections of Garnet Barrett a member of the class and former Morrow county judge. Several of the remaining nine graduated from other schools. Barratt is able to identify all but the young woman in the center of the front row. Front row (from left) Earl Gordon. Norma Fredrickson (Lee), (unidentified). Lena Hughes (Kelly). Paul GemmelL Second row Kenneth Binns. Merle Parker. Loa Briggs (Taylor). Nera Hayes. Hannah Wil- Chaff and Chatter Wes Sherman WHILE sitting here on this Tuesday evening, waiting lor Morrow county's counting boards to get their lobs done, we'll get the weekly column written. We feel for the counting boards who have to wade through the mass of candidates (especially delegates to the na tional conventions) on the long ballots. As of 10:45 p.m. we have only complete returns from one precinct (Lexington) but N. t. Heppner is about to finish, and Southeast Heppner probably will be coming before long, has been done for many years, and probably is required by law even yet, although we don t know for sure. It is the tradit ional duty of the board chair man to come out and announce. "Hear ye, the polls are closed!" aner 8 p.m. on election day. On the one hand, we have the hearkening back to the time of the town crier, so to speak, while on the other, com puters are doing the Job for us. VOTE SEEMED to be heavy for a primary with 81 vote re corded in the Southeast Heppner In a general election, which , Rl nd JLK. 2,5? does not have such a mass of candidates, the election returns would be getting pretty well wrapped up by this time, WHEN they changed the tradit lonal date of the primary election from the third Friday of May to a Tuesday, they didn consult weekly newspaper edi tors Most little newspapers get in volved in the job of collecting unofficial returns, and to have it come on the night before publication is lust a bit much, One faces the prospect of stay ing up all night or most of it and tnen getting into tne grind of putting the paper out the next day. But we'll live through it, Should be able to catch up on sleep on Memorial Day, IT SEEMS a bit strange to sit here waiting lor election re turns while television, through its computer projections, has the whole thing wrapped up and the winners all determined. The CBS boys, back in the east, had their job all done long ago and signed off before we right here in the home state get one pre cinct complete from our own county! The way this magic is per formed is that they through pre-arrangement with correspon dents all over the state get impartial returns just as soon after 8 p.m. as they can. This smattering from over a wide area gives them enough to establish a trend and pro. ee tions are made from these. Thus, lust a few minutes after 8 o clock television was predicting a McCarthy victory over Kenne dy. This looked good, all right, in Morrow county since McCar thy held a lead over Bobby in the four Incomplete returns that we picked up and fed, via the National Election Serv i c e, through the Portland center and consequently into the computers. After this early pickup of in complete returns, there is a long dry spell while the counting boards toil, and the complete re turns don't begin to sift through until late in the night. But in the metro center of Portland additional precincts are picked up and added to the totals as soon as they can be gathered. We're still from Missouri, so to speak, on this computer ar rangement that has the outcome all established before the ma jority of votes are counted. We suspect that the operators count on the broad base of re turns from a wide area to give them validity, but we would think that conditions could con verge in such a manner to up set the applecart. For instance, in Morrow county, the Heppner precincts are picked up tirst. Their voting habits are consid erably different from those in Irrigon and Boardman, which came in considerably later. How suppose the same situa tion prevailed in quite a few of the counties. After a trend seem ed to be established, it may be reversed. That would seem to be enough to make the lights flash and the sparks fly from the computer. Northeast Heppner precinct. Lexington, too, went nearly 80, and probably the rest of the county will follow in about the same proportion. BEFORE SIGNING off, we'll have to say a word about Mor row county's happiest man, re gardless of how the election turns out. He is Don Evans, who is as tickled with that artesian well as if he'd struck, a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. It was chilly Saturday, with a penetrating wind and threat of1 rain, when he went to install that cap and valve on the new well with the aid of Nate Mc- Bride and Roy French, the well driller. But Don started peeling off his outer duds and plunged right in while the beautiful wa ter drenched him. He got the job done. That valve is a heavy outfit which required McBride's wrecker to hoist around and drop into place. He was real generous to all the onlookers, too. "One free drink to everybody!" he ex claimed. But you have to fur nish your own cups. son (Jones). Florence Ralston, Isabel Wilton (Crawford). Wil liam Crawford. Clyde Cox. Back row Garnet Barratt, Edgar Copenhaver. Cbarlos Barlow, Waldon Straiqht Norton Wlnnard. The 12 in the graduating class, includinq 10 among those pictur ed above, were Norma Fredrickson (Mrs. Fred Lee). Portland; Loa Briqas (Mrs. Ray Taylor). Heppner; Neva Hayes (deceased); Hannah Wilson (Mrs. Alva Jones) (deceased); Isabel Wilson (Mrs. William Crawford) (deceased); William Crawford (deceas ed); Norton Wlnnard (deceased); Kenneth Binns (deceased); Florence Ralston, Casper. Wyo.; Alice Potter (not pictured) (de ceased); Arthur Campbell (not pictured). Terre Haute, Ind.; and Garnet Barratt. Mesa. Ariz. (Photo by Bert Sigsbee). Few Left from Heppner Class of 50 Years Ago TO THE EDITOR.'. . Pioneer Ponderings By W. S. CAVERHILL Have You Taken a Walk? WE NOTED that when the polls closed in the Northwest Hepp ner precinct, Lucy Peterson came out and proclaimed, "Hear ye, the polls are closed!" This So much public Interest has been aroused , in walking 50 miles or less, it seems I should get into the act before it be gins to lag. I don't mean the walking part. I mean the talk ing part. At my age I have no intention of pushing a coliec tion of corns and a sensitive bunion or two over and beyond some place or , other. More walking is a good idea. but I doubt if it will ever be as popular as some of our former crazes, such as sky watching, marathon dancing, pole sitting, leatherbedding, and ooondog gling. In the early days of the Koad South country, there were some remarkable walkers. I remember Emmitt Bar who summered a band of sheep on upper Long Creek. I never saw the man on a horse. He would tend camp on foot, take a half sack of flour and a slab of bacon on his back and hit for the mountains, or carry a three gallon bucket of eggs to town to sell. He was a "natural" walker. Then there was my Uncle Enoch who loped in on us from Vancouver, B. C, in a pair of moccasins, stayed a couple of months and loped on again to Florida for the winter. I myself, did the 18 miles from the Brownlee school house to our ranch in three hours. Hav ing thus established myself an Uncle Enoch, it : seemed unnec essary to enter the present rat race. However, if you do walk, there is no better place to do it than the Road South. The scenery will break the monotony, and if your arches break down or you are immobilized by a "Charley horse," the settlers will pick you up. If a reunion were held for the Heppner High school grad uatlng class of 50 years ago 1918 no more than five or six could attend, for the rest of the class is deceased. Garnet Barratt, who was a member of the class, said that he had hoped to arrange a re union of the surviving class mates, but decided against it when he considered how far they nave separated. Mrs. Ray Taylor (Loa Briggs) is the only surviving member living in Morrow county. Mrs. Lena Kelly (Lena Hughes) was a member of the class as a sophomore but did not graduate with the Heppner class. Howev er, Mrs. Kelly lives in Heppner and was for many years a teacher in Heppner public scnoois. bne stui does substi tute teaching. Actual 50th anniversary of the class is May 31, 1968, and the history of the class, with indi vidual pictures, is a part of the 1918 edition or the school annu al, according to Barratt. Barratt sent the picture ac companying this article and states, "I am sure this picture would revive memories of quite a number of your subscribers and would probably provide a little amusement also. "They were a great gang, and like all sophomores, they all had the 'mostest'. Of these 19 members, 10 of them graduated with the class of 1918. Most of the others finished their aca demic courses in other schools or in other divisions of school curriculum.' Barratt recounted a story con cerning "some of us who bare ly made it." "Bill crawiord and I were partners in the chemistry labor atory," he writes, "and we did not know until three hours be fore the class was to graduate wnetner we had passed our fi nal exams in chemistry. "We had to make a 75 grade in our final exam in order to finish our science course. We answered seven of the 10 ques tions in the final and thereby got a final grade of 70. Mr. H. H. Hoffman, the high school su perintendent and also our chem istry instructor, said that was a good average for us and fi nally approved our graduation with the class. (He was very gracious about this but also knew we would not continue in school if we didn't graduate). We could have been two of the most notorious 'smart alex' dropouts in Heppner school his torv." Of the 19 in the sophomore picture, only seven survive, ac cording to Barratt's best rccol lections, and only five of the graduating class of 12. TO THE EDITOR Papers Feed Cattle Dear Editor: From "Organic Gardening and Farming," a magazine devoted to better gardening and farm ing naturally, comes another use for old newspapers. We quote: "Cattle subscribe to newspaper diet. New uses for old newspapers keep turning up. Dairy scientists at Penn State University have found that ground-up newsprint and molas ses make a good nutritious cat tle feed. Heifers gained as much weight on the mixture as an other group given a high qual ity feed supplement. Both re ceived the same amount of con ventional corn silage in the 56 day test. The test cows digest ed 2 Mi pounds of paper a day, stomaching the bad news along with the good. And, according to the researcher, they liked news print as much as the higher priced suck magazines." Now, any new news on the uses to which our newspapers are put? Art Crawford 4852 Kingston Way, San Jose, Calif. Strawberry P. O. Dear Helen and Wesley: I have, like many others. been quite Interested in your in- formal Ion on Gooseterrv and H post office and It history. However. I have not w-en any mention of there ever bring a place called Strawberry. It was located about nine miles north of Lexington and was named for the wild straw berries that grew there. I have the original diploma commissioning Jesse C White as the postmaster on March 7, 1901. It was signed In Wushlncton on the thirteenth day of April. 1904. bv the postmaster general. Henry J. I'ayne. I have this be cause Jesse White was my grandfather. However, this seems to not have been a post office but for about four vears for on Decem ber 31, 1908, it was discontinued. Thanks for letting me nut mv little bit in. Best of wishes to all the people in Morrow county. Laverne Henderson 1001 Oak Street Hood River, Oregon (Editor's Note: Thanks for the Interesting information. Giles French hus now compiled infor mation on Morrow county post offices which we will publish as soon as we get the rush of the primary election out of the way. His list shows that the Straw berry past office was establish ed on March 7, 1904, and con tinued until December 31, 1908, with J. C. White as the post master, corroborating your information). Who Gets Credit? lone, Oregon May 24, 1968 Dear Mr. Sherman: Now who gets the credit? Please count me, among many, as one who believes that all the credit is due to God our Father and maker, with His Son Jesus Christ, for the rain we so urgently needed. "For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. and sendeth rain on the lust and on the unjust. ' Who made the mountains? Who made the trees? Who made rivers that Flow to the seas? And who sends the rain When the ground is dry? Somebody bigger than you and I. Sincerely, Esther Barnett The Rhyming Philosopher QUESTION WHAT MAKES A ROOSTER CROW AT NIGHT? DOES HE REMEMBER SOME FORGOTTEN HEN, OR VAINLY SEEK TO EXPEDITE THE DAWN; OR JUST AN AFTERTHOUGHT AMEN? WHY SHOULD A TREE GROW TALL AND STRAIGHT? TO SEEK THE SUN, OR MAYBE TO DEFY THE PULL OF GRAVITY, AND WAIT WITH ARMS OUTSTRETCHED, PERHAPS TO SOMEDAY FLY? WHAT MOTIVATES THE SEARCH FOR SPACE? THE NEED TO COLONIZE ANOTHER EARTH FOR FUTURE HORDES TO FIND A PLACE TO LIVE? SO WHY NOT HALT THE NEED AT BIRTH? AND WHY SHOULD MEN WITH SUCH SHORT YEARS FOR LIFE, WASTE ENERGIES IN HATE AND WAR? WHY SPOIL THE YEARN TO LOVE WITH TEARS WHEN PEACE AND BEAUTY STAND AT OPEN DOOR? HARRY W. FLETCHER Seeks SOC Alumni To the Editor: The Alumni Association of Southern Oregon College is at tempting to locate graduates of the school living in the area who are not on the current mailing list, as new chapters and a number of class reunions are being planned. Any graduate who has not been receiving the Alumni Newsletter is asked to contact Hugh G. Simpson, Alumni Dir ector at SOC The spring News letter will soon be in the mail and anyone who has not receiv ed a copy within the last vear will receive one upon notifica tion of the Association's perma nent mailing list Thank you very much for this and other past services your publication has performed for our college. Yours very truly, Hugh G. Simpson Likes Kind Words Dear Mr. Sherman: Thank you so much for the kind words about "Music in May" in your May 9 "Chaff and Chatter" column. We have forwarded a copy of the clipping to Standard OIl producers of the Standard School Broadcast. I know that they, and Carmen Dragon, will appreciate it also. Sincerely yours, (Mrs.) Maxine Sullivan Public Information Assistant COMMUNITY U J BILLBOARD K Vw! isi" nmiS Coming Events DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MORROW COUNTY SCHOOL BUDGET MONDAY, JUNE 3 PIONEER MEMORIAL PICNIC Thursday, May 30, Heppner rair ravnion Registration from 10:30 a.m Potluck dinner, noon All old-timers urged to at tena GOLDEN AGE CLUB Regular meeting, Tuesday, June 4 Episcopal Parish Hall Potluck dinner and entertain ment COUNTY GUN CLUB 14th Annual Spring Shoot Sunday, June 2 AUCTION & BARBECUE Willows Grange Hall, lone Saturday, June 1 Auction starts at 10:30 a.m., Beef Barbecue Dinner at 12:30 p.m. Lots of fun for everyone Sponsored by lone United Church of Christ SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BY C. A. RUGGLES Insurance Agency P. O. Box 247 PH. 676-9625 Heppner