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Four-year old playmates Amy (I), daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Greg Greenup, and Shannon, daughter of Nova Gaylord, are
two of the more than 20 children that regularly use the
Heppner Child Development Center. The Center will be
THE
VOL. 94 NO. 39
State office relocation plan brings
remonstrance from Judge Nelson
Plans to relocate the state
offices of Welfare, Adult and
Children's Services from Hep
pner to Boardman are moving
ahead, according to supervis
ory personnel within one state
agency, but opposition to the
move has surfaced locally.
Morrow County Judge D.O.
Nelson told the Gazette-Times
this week that he is "upset
about the move."
"We use the Children's
Services department here
every day or so and I hate to
see them move," said Nelson,
who is Juvenile Court Judge
for Morrow County.
Kyd new commisioner
Charles Kyd, Boardman, was recently appointed to the
Port of Morrow Commission replacing Mike Conley, who left
the area for a banking position in Montana.
Kyd is currently vice-president of Sabre Farms and is a
past president and general manager of that organization.
Before coming to the Boardman area, Kyd was affiliated
with the Extension Service in Washington and later was
involved in cattle ranching in Montana. Along with some of
the other Montana ranchers, Kyd was one of the driving
forces responsible for the establishment of Sabre Farms.
Sumner hired as
Heppner foreman
The Heppner City Council Tuesday accepted the
application of Paul Sumner for the position of city foreman.
Sumner was hired to fill the vacancy left after the Council
dismissed Don Penney earlier this month. Currently
employed by the State Highway Dept., Sumner has given
notice to the state and is expected to begin his city duties the
second week in October.
Historical Society meets
The officers of the Morrow County Historical Society
announce the society's annual meeting will be held at
Heppner in the 4-H building at the fairgrounds begining at 1
p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2.
Day care fun
Morrow County's award winning newspaper.
AZETTE-TI
Heppner, Ore.
Nelson said the County
Court had not yet officially
met to discuss the proposed
move, but said he personally
opposes the relocation of
offices.
Tony Williams, Pendleton,
area supervisor for Children's
Services, said about 65 per
cent of the case load in his
department was from the
Boardman-Irrigon area with
the remaining case work
being done in Southern Mor
row County.
"We feel the justification for
the move is clear-cut," said
Williams, adding, "We don't
News Briefs
forced to close its doors October I unless suitable housing can
be found. An appeal has been made to the County Fair Board
for temporary use of the 4-11 Annex building, but the Center
has been turned down once on that request already.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1977
feel that Heppner and the area
in south Morrow County would
suffer from the move."
If and when the proposed
move takes place, case work
ers from Welfare, Adult and
Children's Services would
travel to Southern Morrow
County. The state agencies
would not have an office here,
but Williams said some at
tempt would be made to use
another agency's office as
needed.
One of the issues concerning
local government officials is
the move of state offices from
the county seat.
There will be a potluck dinner with meat provided by the
society. Secretary-treasurer Ruth McCabe reminds every
one that annual dues, $1.50 for the county society and $7.50 to
be an affiliate of the Oregon State Historical Society, are now
due and payable to her.
A special program is being planned and everyone
interested in learning more of the history of this area and of
Oregon is cordially invited to attend.
Boardman hires officer
Ralph LaFontaine, a former Olympia, Wash,, resident will
begin duties as public safety officer in Boardman Oct. 1.
The new position combines police responsibilities with
volunteer fire fighting. LaFontaine was selected by the city
last week from three finalists gleaned from a field of 14
applicants.
Boardman's new public saftey officer has a long list of law
enforcement and fire training to his credit. His record
includes law enforcement officer for the Nisqually Indian
community in Yelm, Wash.; reserve deputy for Thurston
County, Wash.; investigator for the Washington Senate and
arson investigator for the U.S. Marine Corp.
LaFontaine is certified by Washington state in jail
operations and fire investigation.
Weather
HI LOW PREC.
Wednesday, Sept. 21 59 45 .17
Thursday, Sept. 22 65 38
Friday, Sept. 23 58 48 .19
Saturday, Sept. 24 63 55 .14
Sunday, Sept. 25 63 45 .09
Monday, Sept. 26 63 35
Tuesday, Sept. 27 60 45 .09
MES
10 PAGES
One official questioned the
feasibility, especially in the
Children's Services division,
where Judge Nelson is called
upon in many of the juvenile
cases. Juvenile court is held at
the courthouse in Heppner.
Asked if he would travel to
Boardman to hear cases if the
offices move, Judge Nelson
replied, "No, I wouldn't and
couldn't put myself in the
position of traveling to hear
juvenile cases because that's
all I would be doing is
traveling."
Additional information con
cerning the relocation of the
Unless the Heppner Child
Development Center can find
a new home by this Saturday,
October 1, it will forced to
close its doors.
The gymnasium at the
Seventh Day Adventist
Church has housed the center
since its beginning three years
ago, but the church now needs
the room for youth programs
of its own. Numerous attempts
to find a new building since
December have failed, leav
ing the center in a desperate
situation this week.
Operating as a non-profit
corporation, Heppner's day
care center is presently certi
fied for 30 children, from ages
six weeks to 10 years, and is
used extensively by area
mothers on a full-time, drop
in, or after school basis.
Members of the center's
Board of Directors met Mon
day morning to discuss the
emergency situation. The
group considered the possibili
ty of using the dormitory
building at the fairgrounds,
but expressed concern about
whether it would be large
enough to house the center. A
recent request to use the 4-H
annes building has been turn
ed down by the fair Board
because of possible usage
conflict and heating problems.
15 CENTS
joint offices from Heppner is
expected from regional and
state levels in the near future.
Lowe is
top grid
picker
Rallying for a comeback in
last weekend's Football Con
test, Lyle Lowe of Heppner
went eight-for-ten in the
regular games and edged out
two other prognosticators for
first place and a $10 cash
award.
Roberta Klaus of Heppner
finished second picking up $5
This week's
contest
page 7
for her efforts with eight
correct picks. She missed the
tie-breaker score by a total of
23 points.
Not far behind Mrs. Klaus
was Bob Ployhar of Heppner
with an 8-2 record, missing the
tie-breaker by 28 total points.
A new contest appears in
this week's issue of the
Gazette-Times and readers
are urged to fill out their
entry forms and return them
to the Gazette-Times office
before 5 p.m. Friday.
Minnesota's upset win over
UCLA stymied everyone ex
cept entrant Gene Pierce this
past week and many missed
on the Florida-Mississippi
game. Heppner's loss to
Riverside of Boardman also
threw more than a few
entrants.
Lowe and Mrs. Klaus can
pick up their checks at the
Gazette-Times.
Monica Swanson, Dawn Stu
chell and Kathy Hazen, mem
bers of the Development
Center's Board of Directors,
explained some of the difficul
ties they had encountered.
Knowing that the Adventist
gymnasium had to be vacated,
the Board found what it
thought to be a suitable
building in December only to
discover in June that modifi
cations costing $2,000 would be
Center asks
fairgrounds use
Armed with letters of sup
port from mothers, business
men and concerned com
munity members, represen
tatives from the Heppner
Child Care Development Cen
ter and the Children's Ser
vices Division met with Judge
D.O. Nelson Tuesday to dis
cuss their critical need for a
new building to house the
Center by Oct. 1.
The group asked the Judge's
help in pursuading the Fair
Board to reconsider its de
cision not to allow the Devel
opment Center to use the 4-H
Annex at the fairgrounds, a
building they considered per
fect for its purposes.
The Fair Board turned down
the request at a meeting on
Sept. 22, but the group felt the
case for day care facilities in
the community was not thor
oughly presented.
The possibility of using the
dormitory building at the
fairgrounds was eliminated
Monday after it was found to
be too small.
Center advocates said they
would be more than willing to
vacate the premises for a
month during fair time and
felt some kind of arrange
ments could be worked out for
other usage conflicts. One
advocate explained, "Eleven
months of day care is better
than none at all. We've
exhausted every other poss
ibility." The group called another
Wheat growers
meeting set
The Oregon Wheatgrowers
League will conduct its fall
workshop next Tuesday and
Wednesday, Oct. 4-5 at Indian
Hills Motor Inn in Pendleton.
Groundwork for the organi
zation's goals and direction
for the coming year will be
planned and wheat growers
from throughout the state are
urged to attend.
According to Wes Grilley,
executive vice-president of
OWGL, "A series of questions
that are seeking answers" will
be formulated and later sent
to the counties for recom
mendations. The issues will
Mollahan hired
as city officer
Heppner Police Chief Dean
Gilman Tuesday announced
the hiring of John Mollahan as
a patrolman for the city.
Mollahan, who will begin his
duties Oct. 1, fills the vacancy
on the force left by Doug
Rathbun's resignation earlier
required to meet certification
requirements. Constant ef
forts since that time check
ing out possible church or
public buildings has met
with dead end results.
Swanson, the 6riginal direc
tor of the center, emphasized
that money and staffing were
not the problems. She said
that financial problems of the
past had been overcome and
the center is now operating in
Fair Board objection poss
ible heating inadequacy
invalid since the same type of
ceiling heating is used in the
present center lodging.
Judge Nelson discussed the
problem with the day care
group and commented they
couldn't have picked a worse
night to make their first
request to the Fair Board,
since many problems had to
be ironed out that night and
the Rodeo Board was meeting
at the same time.
He said that while the
County Court would refuse to
go against any decision made
by the court-appointed Fair
Board, he would talk to
members of the board and see
if they would be willing to
meet with the Development
Center group again.
"I think you should make
your presentation again," Nel
son said.
The Center representatives
emphasized that they were not
asking for financial help and
would pay utilities or rent for
any building the Center used.
As a closing point, Judge
Nelson said the 4-H Annex or
any other publically used
building could only be consid
ered a temporary measure
and not a permanent answer
to its housing problem.
As of press time, no further
action had been taken and the
fate of the Heppner Child
Development Center remain
ed in doubt.
then come to a vote at the
OWGL state convention next
year.
Areas of concern to be
covered by committees at the
workshop include; national
legislation, marketing, mem
bership, wheat use and re
search, public affairs, tax
ation and legislation, safety
and health, production and
use, transportation and Wheat
Hearts, a women's group
connected with OWGL.
Wheat growers wanting to
have a voice in the direction of
OWGL next year are invited to
be part of the workshop.
this month. Rathbun is mov
ing to Sweet Home where he
will be employed as a city
police officer.
Mollahan formerly worked
four years as a city patrolman
under Gilman before serving
eight years as Morrow County
Sheriff.
the black. "And we think the
staff is one of our strongest
assets," Swanson said.
Building specifications
to meet state and federal
certification include 35 feet of
space per child, one bathroom
per 15 children, and an outside
playground area. Inspection is
done by the fire marshall,
state sanitarian, and Chil
drens' Services Division.
"We have community sup
port,"Swanson commented,
"otherwise we wouldn't have
20 odd warm little bodies here
today." But, she said, support
from working mothers isn't
the influential kind helpful in
obtaining a home for the
center. Letters from 17 moth
ers and supporters had been
received expressing concern
over the fate of the center,
which the board planned to
present to County Judge D.O.
Nelson in an attempt to enlist
his support and help in
obtaining use of a county
owned building.
The board wanted to empha
size that the center is not state
or federally funded, though a
few low-income, working
mothers receive child care
subsidies through the 4-C
Council. Parents are charged
on a fee schedule based on age
of child, number of children
and hours of care.
The exact number of fami
lies using the Development
Center's services was difficult
to determine, though from
about 12 up to a maximum of
30 children are there daily.
Doubts about the continued
existence of the center have
already caused many mothers
to find private child care.
Four or five full-time staff
members care for the children
daily giving snacks and hot
luncehs, playing games, pro
viding general supervision
while several substitutes are
on call when an overflow of
children shows up. Certifica
tion requires the presence of
one adult per four children
under 30 months, one per five
children from 30 months to
four years, and one perseven
children over five years old.
A comment of Eva Griffith,
employed through the Foster
Grandparent Program, sum
med up the feelings of the staff
about possible closure of the
center: "I don't know what a
lot of these mothers are going
to do. They'll have to try to
find private babysitters.
There is a real need for a day
care center in Heppner."
With time running out, the
Heppner Child Development
Center Board of Directors,
continues to explore last
minute options. Member
Kathy Hazen remarked, "We
have to move one way or
another either into a new
building or out on the street."
Inside
McCurdys
celebrate
page 4
Hunters take
to woods
page 5
Cardinals whip
Mt. Vernon
page 7
Navajo cowboy
rides
page J.0