Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1977)
''fm-y .f ft V- f -' - - -v-v -W'Mi - f w e 1 ' - 'Ji f f V- - nr BESSIE U OF ORE NEWSPAPER WET2ELL LIB Cattleman honor goes to ' 1. Vr . ( .. i r . Oi fie workin9 end. . . Chuck Acock shows how a man gets the honor of being named Cattleman of the Year for Morrow County. The Acocks' run a herd of 140 horned herefords in ad dition to holding down full time jobs elswhere. From what Chuck Acock calls a "relatively small cattle operation" comes some of the most preferred breeding bulls and replacement heifers around, and he isn't about to leave well enough alone. Morrow County livestock growers appreciate Acock's efforts to the extent that most of the Acock brand stock purchased at the annual Horn-Acock production sale never leaves the county. They have also seen fit to award him the distinction of 1977 Morrow County Cattleman of the Year. Acock will be honored for his selection at the Dec. 9 Farm-City dinner at the St. Patrick's parish hall, Heppner. Along with his wife, Helen, Acock manages some 70 head of adult registered purebred horned hereford and 70 head of young stock which range on his 110 irrigated acres south of Boardman. The Acocks continue the operation despite the fact that both leave the ranch each morning for full time jobs . As a working foreman on the paint crew at McNary Dam Acock says the cattle are not his primary occupation. "Cattle is my highlight but not my livlihood," Acock says. "I'd like to work with the cattle all the time but there are other things to consider." It would be nice to think that the cattle are self-supporting, Acock says, but with purchasing animals and developing the herd to a quality level, it becomes an expensive porposition. Helen is employed at the Hermiston Veterinary Hospital and has worked with Hermiston veterinarian Norden Stefanites for the past 18 years. "Because we both work, these cows have to do what they do on their own," Acock says. "They do it inspite of us, not because of us," adds Helen. THE - t IT m?: K Morrow County's award winning newspaper .in. mum & i of VfcwjC- VOL.95.NO. 50 HEPPNER, OREGON THURSDAY, DEC. 8, 1977 12 PAGES 15c News briefs Shirley R ugg to Forestry Board Shirley Rugg, Heppner, was recently appointed by Gov. Straub to fill a vacancy on the State Board of Forestry. Rugg, the only member of the Board from Eastern Oregon, participated in a swearing in ceremony Dec. 1 in Salem. She will serve on the Board for a three-year term and will participate on the Fire Protection and Management committees. She will return to Salem Dec. 14 for an orientation day and the Board will hold its quarterly meeting the following day. Merchant Bonanza drawing Saturday The first drawing in the Heppner area merchants' Christmas Bonanaza with $500 in cash merchandise certificates -will be held at 3p.m. Saturday in Hep pner. Winners will be notified by phone and if not at home a letter will be sent notifying them of their winnings. Similar drawings will be held on each Saturday af ternoon through the Christmas season. The cash cer tificates are spendable at any participating merchant, a complete list of which appears on page 12 of this issue. City adds to bare budget A supplemental budget allocating $4,300 in anti recession funds to the city street, water and sewer departments, was approved Monday by the Heppner City Council. Carryover anti recession funds of $780 will be added to the $1,961 received from the government to date and the $1,559 still anticipated. A breakdown of the supplemental budget shows $1,900 earmarked for sewer department materials and supplies, $1,500 for water department materials and supplies and $900 for street department materials and supplies. City seeks sewer engineer The Heppner City Council last week decided to send inquiry proposals to various engineering firms in the area concerning Phase I of federal grants trom me Environmental Protection Agency. Grant funds are to be used to upgrade sewer treatment plant facilities to comply with future standards of the Department of Environmental Quality. An engineer's assessment of the sewer facility is necessary before the city can submit a grant application. $4.5 million, school bond for build ings prop ose d The Morrow County School District Long Range Planning Committee Monday voted to recommend that the School Board present a bond issue of approximately $4.5 million before county voters to fi nance construction of an elementary school in Board man and a junior high school in Irrigon to eliminate present overcrowding in the schools and allow ' for projected growth in the area. The committee also recom mended inclusion in the bond issue construction of a new shop building at Riverside High School, a multipurpose room at A.C. Houghton Ele mentary, a new heating sys tem at the lone School to replace the 24 year-old boiler, remodeling old shop buildings at Heppner High School and Riverside High for other classes, and expansion of the library at Heppner High School. District Supt. Matt Doherty estimated that, based on present county tax valuations, a $4.5 million bond issue would require roughly $1.60 per thousand over the present $7.58 per thousand school tax money. Several members pointed out that at the rate the county valuation was increas ing the rate would be consider ably less by the time construc tion was started. Doherty said the School Board would decide at its Dec. 19 meeting whether or not to present the bond issue to county voters. "I don't think the bond issue is at all unrealistic, consider ing that schools in the Board-man-Irrigon area will have at least 100 new students by next fall and construction wouldn't be completed until consider ably later," Doherty said. A proposal by the Board- man-Irrigon Long Range Planning Committee recom mended district members con sider construction of the new schools and related buildings expected to accommodate growth in the area for a maximum of four years. Dan Daltoso, chairman of the Boardman-Irrigon committee said "It is our feeling that this measure will satisfy our needs for a four year period of time and only for that length of time." In discussion that followed, one committee member said that "what the county would accept and not what was needed" was the issue. Sever al members expressed the idea that "construction will never be cheaper than it is today." Doherty presented figures on school population projec tions and construction costs of the buildings under considera tion. The Sept. '77 enrollment at A.C. Houghton Elementary School was given as 413, projected at 571 in Sept. '70; Riverside Jr. High, Sept. '77, 127, projected 169, Sept. '70; Riverside High School, Sept. '77, 194, Sept. '79, 230. Many members protested that these projections, based on past enrollment increases, were much too conservative. One commented, "We got in the situation we're in now by Continued on Page 3... WVathtT High Lo Precip Wed, Nov. 30 Thurs., Dec. 1 Fri.,Dec.2 Sat., Dec. 3 Sun., Dec. 4 Mon.,Dec. 5 Tues., Dec. 6 47 56 59 59 45 42 58 33 39 52 48 35 24 33 .11 .08 .08 November Precipitation 2.40" Normal for the Month 1.44" 1976 November Precip .46" The Acocks take pride in the fact that the stock is raised completely without feed supplements. There's no creep feeding going on at the Acock ranch. "We're promoting a herd that is structurally sound and every cow raises her own calf without supplements. Any cattleman knows a calf has to have milk to develop properly," Acock says, noting that the milking ability is bred genetically through the sire. And once the calf leaves its mother, it stays on its own. "It makes for a better animal if they have to get out and rough it," Acock says. "When we sell our stock we know the buyer is going to send them out in the hills to get by without bellying up to a feeder." Serving as herd sires this year are two bulls purchased at the Stone Hereford dispersion sale in August of last year a sale in which $2.2 million worth of cattle exchanged hands. Acock says h'k is expecting good things from SR Saint Junior, son of the Royal Saint and SR Big Arthur L452, son of Big Arthur. Both tip the scales in the one ton range and, at two years old, they are still growing. About 30 head have been bred to each, and are planned for spring calving. Acock says he tries to group the calving to prevent too big a variation in the calves' ages. The Acocks are now in the process of making arrangements for their annual production sale held in conjunction with Buttercreek rancher Brent Horn. The sale is scheduled for the last week in January at the Buttercreek Breeding Center, and Acock plans to have about 20 bulls and 12 females on the block. "We have cattle that will make other people's stock better, but we're still trying to make our own better, too, Acock says, "We use a critical eye on the cow herd and if they don't stack up, we get rid of them." Buyers used to come directly to the Acock's Boardman ranch, where the cattle operation has been located for the Dast 12 vears. to make their purchases. But since 1968, the Acocks have annually held a formal bull production sale and for the last three years they have added female replacements to the sale. The family business operates under the name of C.W. Acock and Son. The other half of the title comes from Bill, an OSU pre-vet graduate, now seeking a Masters degree in Animal Nutrition at the University of Nebraska. The Acocks also have two daughters, Mary Thompson, Hermiston, and Nina Sellers, Portland. With the kids out of the house, Helen still keeps active in youth work by serving as leader of Morrow County's 4-H Beef Club. For the past 14 years she has been teaching "patience and good sportsmanship" while imparting some of the techniques and practices of the cattle raising trade. "I've seen my share of tear-filled faces as the kids wave goodby to their animals after an auction," Helen says, "But when you come down to it, the name of the game is beef and the moment of truth is when that carcass is hanging up on the rail. I think the kids understand this, but it's still usually a hard parting." Chuck also keeps his hand in the 4-H and FFA movements by actively seeking buyers for the youngsters' yearly livestock auction at the county fair. "Chuck runs himself ragged going all over the county rounding up buyers," Helen says. "As much work as the kids put into their animals, they deserve a little promotion," says Chuck. The Acocks have maintained a 10 per cent discount of all livestock purchases by 4-H and FFA members. In summing up their committment to the cattle business, the satisfaction and enjoyment of the Acocks is apparent. "We both really are pleased with everything," Helen says. "There's no more beautiful sight in the world than walking out in the field at daybreak to see a brand new calf nursing on its mother." As 1977 Morrow County Cattleman of the Year, Chuck Acock and his wife Helen now have a new dimension to add to the rewards derived from raising cattle. Farm-City Day is tomorrow CowBelles and cattlemen will come together for their fall meetings, scheduled to precede an afternoon of enter tainment and speakers and an evening awards banquet as the annual Farm-City Day toasts area agriculture and business. It all takes place Friday, Dec. 9, at the St. Patrick's parish hall beginning with a 1 p.m. welcome address by Morrow County Livestock Growers President Charlie Daly. Both the CowBelles and the livestock growers will then conduct their business meet ings followed by guest speak ers dealing with pertinent topics such as livestock hor mones and pest control on the farm. Virginia Grieb will narate a travelogue of her family's recent trip to Scot land. A special style show will start at 3 p.m. and will be offered for CowBelles, their guests and the livestock grow ers. Local models comprised largely of downtown business people will display garments supplied through the courtesy of Kroll's Department Store, Coles Kuue of Fashions and The ' Lebush Shoppe. Other ensembles will be made by the models. Fashions shown will be for men, women and children with narration pro vided by Daly. A social hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. will kick off the Farm-City Dinner, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce ' and the livestock growers. The featured speaker for the evening will be Don Ostensoe on, "Agriculture Will the Government Give It a Second Chance?" Special awards to be handed out at the banquet include Morrow County Conservation Man of the Year won by Gene Majeske, Morrow County Cat tleman of the Year won by Chuck Acock, business a wards presented by the Cham ber of Commerce and carcus contest awards from the county fair. Everyone attending the din ner will be in the running for a diamond pin valued at $100 donated by Randall Peterson. The $4 tickets for the dinner and proceedings will be avail able at the door. . ,J , ! s " 1 - 'I ' ' . - i. : - ' t f - '! i ' -i ; A i Is Charlie blushing? Well, maybe Charlie Daly is blushing a little but he's enjoying helping Carolyn Cole (center) and Birdine Tullis pick out fashions for models at the upcoming Farm-City Banquet.The style show is scheduled for the afternoon program; please see accom panying story for details. A j -.. i ...
