Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1969)
LIBRARY if or o EUGENE ORE 07403 r JCar "f'J i 85th Year ii Shortage Shuts Down Heppner Lumber Co. 55 Men Idle As 35 Loads Set to Ship Number 51 HEPPNER ft '. T ' J: - r FTE-TIME AFTER THE STORM COMES THE REPAIRS. Howard Keithley, standing on awning, and Bud Butterfield make repairs to the long awning in front of Wagon Wheel Cafe and Heppner Auto Parts. The awning dropped at tne heignt or tne recent siorm under weight of heuw snow. It had been propped up tempor arily since that time. (G-T Photo). Heppner, Oregon 97836, Thursday, February 13, 1969 Price 10 Cents Road Damage High; County Sets Limit As snow melts away, the Mor row county court and road de partment has been reviewing the storm damage to county roads. The report from County Judge Paul Jones Tuesday is that damage is excessive. One road, the Sandhollow road from Fritz Cutsforth's elevator to Buttercreek, has been closed because of the extensive dam age from frost boils and deter ioration. The road will remain closed for some time since it is too soft for gravel trucks to oper ate on It. The county court established a load limit of five tons on all its roads and was engaged in posting them to that effect Tuesday. This means that few loaded ' trucks will be light enough to operate on them, be ing limited, perhaps, to such as pickup loads of hay. Judge Jones said that he does not believe any log truckers are now operating on county roads, and said that none will be per mitted until conditions improve. Soft spots and deep chucK holes from freeze damage have also hit some of the state high ways here. In places, the state maintenance crews have placed flares to warn traffic of poten tial hazards from damage. "Some of the county roads have no bottom to them now," Judge Jones said. Some are dan gerous for car traffic and will be worse for heavier trucks. He said that he believes the county's road oiling program will now be set back two years. Last week the announcement was that it would be set back one year, but snow blankets still hid much of the damage. County crews have not yet been able to make repairs that came with the Chinook several weeks flPTI. The county is attempting, by its temporary signing program, to notify road users of bad spots and road closures. As of Tuesday the only road definitely closed was that from Fritz Cutsforth's to Buttercreek. It isn't only the cost that will upset the schedule on the coun ty's normal road program, the judge said, but also the mater ials and labor involved to do the job of repairs. County crews were working to keep school bus routes open, but some truck operators have been notified that they are to stop hauling until conditions im prove. Those who have emergencies and need to haul loads are re quested to check with the coun ty court. "This is one time when we really feel discouraged about the situation," the judge said, fo Conservation Post Ralph Richards, work unit conservationist with the Hepp ner Soil and Water Conserva tion district for nearly 10 years, announced at the annual meet ing of the district last Tuesday that he plans to retire at the end of this month. He has been with the Soil Conservation Service for almost 34 years. Before coming to Hepp ner to take his present posit ion in 1959 he served at Junc tion City. Prior to that he was stationed in western Washing ton. Richards was reared in southeastern Idaho in the town of Malad. During the time Richards had been here the Heppner district has compiled an outstanding record. Currently it has one-half of Oregon's total stripcropping, one-third of Oregon's diversion terraces, the largest acreage of stubble mulch in the state, and currently has the unique dis tinction of having 100 of its farms as cooperators. Richards said that his future plans are somewhat indefinite although he may seek employ ment in some other field for a few years after doing some of the things he would like to do. He said that a successor is expected to be appointed for the position here soon. Temperature Stays Warm; Weather Now Near Normal The weather settling back to near normal for this time of the year in this country is not monopolizing the news any more. Warming temperatures and periodic rains have done a pret ty good job of clearing the snow from the Heppner landscape, but quite a bit remains on fields in different spots around the county and in higher ele vations. There has been no serious flooding, and principal damage has been to county roads. Maximum temperatures held into the 40's through most of the week and two nights didn't get down to freezing. Last snow came Wednesday, February 5, with a fall of 2.3 inches, al though there was a spatter of sleet Saturday night. Rain totaled .19 inch, and with the .14 inch moisture from last Wednesday's snow, the to tal moisture for the week was .33 inch, Don Glliam, weather observer reported. As of Tuesday night, it ap peared that this memorable snow of the winter of 1968-69 might be pretty well consigned to the record books and diaries for folks to recall years from now when it happens again. Complete report for the week is as follows Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday ( 2.3 inche Heppner Chapter Marks FFA Week, February 15-22 Vocational agriculture stu dents In Heppner High school will join Future Farmers of America members throughout the nation In activities to focus attention on the Importance of agriculture during the National rKA Week. February 1.V22, Hal Whitaker, advisor of the local chapter, states. "FFA ... an Opportunity for Youth" is this years FFA Week theme. FFA members seek to inform the public of the import ance they place upon the vast opportunities in American agri culture. "Before an FFA member can conquer the battle of starvation halfway around the globe or ev en increase profitability of farming or ranching, he must first conquer himself." Whitaker said. "There is an urgent call ing for FFA members to giasp the opportunities available in agriculture." "It is fortunate," he added, "that the FFA provides a place to build, create, and enjoy the business of life. FFA provides an atmosphere for members to learn, to do, to earn, and to serve." Annual Parent and Son Ban quet of the Heppner High chap ter will be a highlight of the week's observance here. It will- be held in the high school cafe torium on Tuesday evening, February 18. The Heppner FFA chapter has 29 members. Monte Evans is president, John Harris vice pres ident, John Hall secretary, Mark Pointer treasurer, Don Cossitt reporter, Steve McDaniel sentin el and Calvin Ashbeck, officer- at-large. - The national FFA organiza tion has approximately 450,000 members with 9,000 local chap ters in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Accomplishments of the local chapter are listed in the spon sored message on page 3, sec tion 2, together with other in formation about the chapter, the FFA creed and purposes. V J' I 1 I 1' HAPPY FAMILY Is this threesome. Jerry Alan Blanckaert. born February 2, is the center of In terest for father and mother. Sgt. and Mrs. Jerry Blanckaert of Condon. As the first baby o in Pioneer Memorial hospital in 1969, Jerry. Jr.. won many prizes lor himself and hUjpannU. Th B nnrkmrtt whose home is in Denver. Colo., have been in Condon for 29 months where ho Iehrve! Wh7 Ai'r Fore. StaTon? Young" Jerry is their first son. While collecting prize, .around fown Friday. Sgt. Blanckaert said that he had a .surprise in .tow : hta wJ e. He had nd for Mrs. Dorothy Beuchat ol Denver, motner oi ..i - her in Pendleton Friday evening. Hodde Tells Need for Developing Irrigation (Also see story page 8) By KEN TURNER rhnrlos W. Hodde. Vancouver Wash., chairman of tlie Pacific Northwest River Basin Commis sion, tola iarmers ana uusnir- men at the annual Heppner SWCD meeting at the Lexing ton Grange hall last Tuesday evening that tne jNorinwesi must develop irrigation to com pete with the Midwest's crop efficiency. Also, the Southwest will continue eyeing our rivers, he predicted. ! v, wnrttiirost utilize state or federal government. The a river for power, navigation, federal government may be able fi.h nd rprreation while the to help up to 2o for quality Southwest Dumn their rivers and recreational control. bone dry. We differ here in that we can't store much of our wa tor Hodde said. Speaking of the Southside project, each irrigation project must be planned so that it fits in a master plan lor tne oraer ly development of the entire re gion, the speaker said. Financing may have to come from state revenue bonds, guaranteed reimbursable by Hi Low Prec. 42 22 .14 30 18 .02 43 25 47 40 47 32 .10 49 35 .07 50 32 snow). i . , V 1 A . N VS i i ii f , 5 Grain Growers Set Open House Monday, February 17, will be Open House at the machinery division of Morrow County Grain Growers in Lexington, Everett Brock, manager, announces. Pancakes and sausages will be served all day; there will be prizes for visitors; and there will be treats for the kids. Part of the occasion is due to the announcement of the new International-Harvester Hydro static drive which has been de veloped for the line of farm tractors. New International Harvester trucks will be on dis play, and those who come to the Open House are invited to take them for demonstration drives. THERE WERE SEVERAL QUESTIONS asked of Orrin Potampa, IFYE student to Korea, after his illustrated talk before the Soroptimist Club of Heppner last Thursday noon. Pictured together after the meeting are Mrs. Elaine George, club president; Mr. Potampa; Miss Mary Speckhart, Umatilla-Mcrrow county 4-H agent, and Mr3. Birdine Tullis. Morrow county Extension Aide. (G-T Photo). IFYE Important In Korea, Speaker Says He stressed that federal Bur eau of Reclamation may not bring projects as soon as desir ed. Farmers and water control districts will have to do as oth er industries and use their cred it. Northwest farmers are gener ally caving more for irrigation water than the Northwest users. (Continued on page 8) Becky Fulleton On Spray Court Miss Becky Fulleton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roice mileton of Heppner, has been selected one of the four members of the 1969 Spray Rodeo Ciurt. Other girls who win riue on the court are Phyllis Linn ot John Day, Vonda Hettinga ot Dayville and Debbie Tippett of Monument. The rodeo kick-off dance win he in Snrav Saturday evening, February 15, with music by The Outlaws. The rodeo court will be introduced and receive tick ets at this time which they will sell for the annual saddle raf fle, with the girl selling the most tickets to be crowned queen of the court. Dates of the 21st annual Spray Rodeo were set for May 17 and 18 at a meeting of the bpray Rodeo Association recently in the Spray school's central li brary. Elected officers for the com ing year are Don Griffith, presi dent; Jerry Beach, vice-president; Mrs. Jerry Beach, secre tary, and Mrs. Don Griffith, treasurer. Clarence Warren, Bill Rich ards and Frank Robison were re-elected to the board of dir ectors. New members of the board are Bill Chapman and Ben Hamilton. Oixratlons of Heppner Lum ber Compuny were uliut down at noon Tuesiliiv because of u short a (tp of wide door boxcars, Bruce Malcom, general manager, mi Id. The closure threw about men out of work temporarily, including the employees at llu mill and truckers who haul lumber and chips. Malcom said that the compa ny has 35 carloads of lumber waiting to be shlped but has no curs to load it on. He said that he wired Gov. Tom MeCall, Cong. Al Ullman, others in Oregon's Congression al delegation and Union Pacific officials Tuesday asking for re lief. He had not received re sponses as of parly Wednesday morning but felt It was prob ably too soon to expect them. County Judge Paul Jones was also seeking to alleviate the sit uation and was attempting to get in touch with Cong. Ullman, although Congress is now on a 10-day recess. Malcom said that the mill em ployees were signing for unem ployment compensation, and if the plant Is still closed through next week, they may start drawing compensation. Heppner Lumber must use wide door box cars because of the method used in packaging the lumber. Kinzua Corporation can use cars with narrow doors, and Nona Sowell. office mana ger at the Heppner office of Kin zua, said Wednesday morning that this company is having no particular problem getting cars at the present time. Apparently the wide door cars are in short er supply than the narrow door cars. Malcom said that he believes a problem on connections from the main line is partly respon sible for the trouble. Cars may be consigned for Heppner Lum ber and set aside at Hlnkle but the train coming to Heppner three times per week may de part before the cars arrive at Hinkle, and then they are sent to another shipper. Heppner Lumber needs six wide door cars each time the train makes its run here in or der to fill its requirements, Malcom said. Lumber is produc ed at the rate of about three carloads per day. The car shortage has plagued the local mill off and on for some time, Malcom said. Judge Jones said that he was in contact with the State Em ployment Service Tuesday and the spokesman asked him If he could take any action to get re lief on the problem. In a sim ilar situation on a shortage of cars for grain shipments sever al years ago, he was able to re solve the problem by contacting concerned officials. There was no way of telling. as of Wednesday, how long the shutdown will continue. As soon as a supply of cars is received, operations will be resumed. By HELEN SHERMAN 'The American Foundation Farm Training program is be coming one of the most import ant organizations in Korea," Or rin Potampa, IFYE of Portland, told members and guests of the Soroptimist club at its luncheon meeting last Thursday. This training program is involved in 4-H educational work with Kor ean youth who are interested in developing the land, he said, and has been extremely succes sful. Potampa spent several weeks last summer as an Internation al Farm Youth Exchange stu dent in the rural village of Mokpo, near Seoul, South Kor ea. His talk, accompanied by an excellent variety of colored slides, brought attention to mod ern influences and advances in both agricultural and social life in Korea. His tour and study were spon sored by Ralston Purina compa ny, whose interest is in advan cing the poultry industry there and establishing feed plants. Necessity for good land man agement and conservation be come increasingly important in the small country of South Kor ea, which is one-third the size of the state of Oregon, with need to produce food for approx imately 30 million people. About 607c of the Koreans are in some way engaged in farm ing. Potampa remarked, with only about 30 of the moun taineous peninsula land tillable. Farms average in size between four and five acres, with most of it planted in rice, their prin cipal food. Throuch the coun try's Office of Rural Develop ment, farming standards are being improved. Many traditional customs con tinue in popularity, due to the low economy of the nation. The value of the "A-frame" rack, for both carrying farm produce to and from the market, as well as uses in the field, was point ed out. The use of sticks and rocks for household chores is still customary, with women doing much of the heavy work at an average income of be tween 30c and 60c per day. Few homes have running water or electricity. The valuable aid of U. i. Peace Corps workers in teaching health and English to the Kor eans received special commen dation. Birthdays at one year and 60 years are felt to be the most important, as mortality rates are highest between birth and end of the first year, and after 60 years of age. Potampa was accompanied to (Continued on page 8) Board, Teachers To Reach Decision Board of directors of the Mor row county school district and the teacher negotiation commit tee are expected to act on the salary issue at the regular monthly meeting of the board, which wlil be Monday night at Riverside High school, Supt. Ron Daniels said Wednesday morning. At a budget meeting Tuesday night the board decided that if the issue cannot be resolved Monday, it will vote a "persist ent disagreement" and the mat ter will be declared at Impasse. Procedure then will be for an arbitration committee to be formed in an effort to resolve the matter. However, it is hoped that the board and teachers can agree on a settlement that will not I force impasse. West Extension District Starts New Pump Station Ground breaking was begun for the West Extension Irriga tion district Pump Station No. 1 Tuesday, February 4. These are the first of such pumps to be installed in the Col umbia River to supply water to an established irrigation district. The need for supplying addit ional irrigation water became acute during the summer of 1968. The normal supply, return flow from other irrigation dis tricts in the Umatilla Basin, was seriously low. In fact, the entire basin had an acute water short age. The district's problem came to the attenton of Cong. Al Ullman, who was able to locate three 500 h.p. pumps that were surplus at the Hanford Atomic Energy Commission Installation. Max Jones, irrigation district mana ger followed upon this through the Boardman Soil and Water Conservation District. He was familiar with the grant of equipment program of the Soil Conservation Service by which the Soil and Water Conserva tion District had previously ob tained much needed equipment for conservation work in the Boardman SWCD. It was learned from A. J. Web ber, state conservationst, Soil Conservation Service, Portland, that a grant was possible and negotiations were completed to complete the grant to the Board -man SWCD. A rental agreement of the equipment to the West Extension Irrigation district was worked out as negotiations prog ressed. In future years of acute short ages these pumps can supply 72 cubic feet per second or 32. 400 gallons per minute into the main canal at Umatilla, which will assure the district enough irrigation water even when the Umatilla Basin has an extreme ly low supply.
