Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1978)
TWO The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, January 12, 1978 'Sifting thYoiigh W it f."(li'lf V 7"' . .."' Ill 4 1 - tr r: jy f f W the TIMESH. 1 ', & ' . .' ' r " - . - Jr - : I ' . ;.-.-' .w !" , . w .4 -. ..... , ... i; 1 - , . - ,S-"lll","l""l"r- ,4 , i 4$ '' y " - , , -- " - B - " i I 1 I . - " """"" " j ' i 'k it: t ; - - . - .. v a I . i Heavy runoff from recent precipitation has been called the worst in nearly a decade by area farmers. Silt deposits have covered roadways and rushing water has scarred fields. Still waiting for 1st baby Tad Miller: "Farmers in state of unrest" Gifts are being given to the year's first baby by Judy's Fabric & Macrame; Bank of Eastern Oregon; First Na tional Bank; Kroll's Depart ment Store; Coast to Coast Store; Cole's House of Fa shion; Lebush Shoppe; Petty john's Supply; Turner, Van Marter & Bryant; Shoe Box; Court Street Market; Lexing ton Lumber Yard; Ray Boyce Insurance; Case Furniture; Morrow County Grain Grow ers; Cal's Arco Service; Central Market; Murray's Drug; Columbia Basin Elec tric Co-op; Peterson's Jewel ers; Cal's Cafe and Lounge; the Gazette-Times; and Pio neer Memorial Hospital. The first baby of. 1978, eligible for many gifts from local businesses, must be residents of Morrow, Gilliam or Wheeler Counties. He or she must be born at Pioneer Memorial Hospital to get the $50 discount from the hospital bill, but will be eligible for the other prize if born in another hospital to parents who are residents of Morrow County. The exact time of birth must be specified by the attending physician and a written state ment must by submitted to the Gazette-Times within 36 hours of the time of birth. OBITUARY VidaHeliker Vida Heliker, late of lone, preceded in death by her died in Seattle, Washington on Thursday, Jan. 5, 1978 at the age of 83. She was born in Hopewell, on Nov. 1, 1894, the daughter of Alfred and Irene McKinley Zink. She had been a resident of the lone community since 1916. Mrs. Heliker was a member of Rebekah Lodge No. 91 in lone, Willows Grange No. 672, Home Extension Service, lone Garden Club and the Morrow County Historical Society. Survivors include a daugh ter, Harriet Busby of Seattle, Washington; a grandson, Gene Heliker, Seattle; and a step-granddaughter, Sharon Stookey, Heppner. She was husband, Ernest Heliker, and a son, Donald E. Heliker. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 2 p.m. at the lone United Church of Christ with the Rev. William Graham officiating. Carl and Betty Marquardt sang "The Last Mile" and "In the Garden", accompanied by Rikka Tews on the organ. Concluding services and vault interment were in Lex ington Cemetery with Swee ney Mortuary in charge of arrangements. Casket bearers were Cliff Aldridge, Berl " Akers, Leo Crabtree, Darrell Padberg, Milton Morgan and Bryce Keene. Editor's note: The following article was written by Tad Miller of Heppner, past president of the Oregon Wheat Growers League. The article carries a message for both the farmer and the consumer and was first published with "Oregon Wheat" the OWGL newsletter. by Tad Miller The farm strike movement is calling for 100 per cent parity. That is the goal, although I do not believe that it necessarily has to be achieved, but it is a good figure on which to hang your hat. I believe that what most farmers want is not a guaranteed profit, but to be able to operate within an environment that enables them'or gives them an opportunity to earn a profit. With the attitude now prevailing within the present government and the Carter administration, in all too many cases this is not possible. Today, farmers are in a state of unrest. This, of course, is due to low farm prices for most commodities, especially wheat. I believe though, that there is a more basic or underlying reason for this unrest. The Carter administration has a stated, even an avowed, cheap food policy. This policy is a political one dictated by the non-farmer consumers who have come to expect cheap and cheaper food, even though the cost of everything else they buy, due to inflation, is constantly increasing. With this attitude from the Administration and the government as a Whole, the farmers are frustrated at every turn in their attempts to improve their situation. In my opionion, the first step facing agriculture is to change this attitude. That first step is already in progress through the "Farm Strike" movement. Now, it is essential that the OWGL and other farm organizations prepare themselves to move in with their ideas on what can be done. There are a number of things that the government can do administratively that would improve the situation. Some would have an immediate effect while others would have a more long range effect. Speaking of wheat, the immediate effect, working within the new farm law, might be raising the loan rate. Longer range effects might come from increased funding for F.A.S. for foreign market development. More liberal use of P.L. 480 and long range credit for importing nations would tend to move more wheat, thereby stimulating the market, as well as reducing supplies which in itself would be a market stimulant. Any supply management program such as the setaside program should be administered with the farmers income in mind not exclusively on whether this country will have an adequate food supply. These are just a few suggestions, but before they can be implemented a change of attitude within our government will have to take place. Morow County School District's newly created long range planning committee held its first meeting this week in 1968, under the chairmanship of Don McElligott. At the time the new committee members included: Dr. Wallace Wolff, Robert Jones, Ronald Currin and Orval Matheny, alternate, all of Heppner; Ted Palmateer, Garland Swanson, Louis Carlson and Harold Snider, alternate, all of lone; Mrs. Dewey West and Vernon Russell, both of Boardman; Bill Parker and Orville Buchanan; both of Irrigon; and Elden Padberg, Lexington. McElligott said the committee was formed because of the school district's need to be working toward long range goals instead of taking each item as a separate entity when an emergency arose. An lone girl, Susan Lindstrom, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. . Roy Lindstrom was named as one of the four Pendleton Round-Up court princesses this week ten years ago. Queen of the 1968 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo was also announced Berniece Matthews, 18-year-old daughter of Mr. . and Mrs. Wallace Matthews of lone. The Morrow County Museum, now one of best small museums to be found anywhere, was just a dream 20 years ago, but the first step toward making this dream a reality was taken this week in 1958 with the appointment of Mrs. Ralph Thompson and Mrs. Omar Rietmann as co-chairmen of a committee to develop a museum plan. - A tour through the beautiful building donated by Amanda Duvall with five rooms filled with fascinating items of historical significance shows the museum's reality, 20 years later, more than fulfilled the dream. In a story headlined "District 7 Football Champs Given H's at Colorful Dinner" the following members of the 1947 Heppner football squad were reported to have received their letters from coach Leonard Pate 30 years ago this week: Richard Allstott, defense; Bob Bennett, quarterback; Bob Bergstrom, back; Morgan Connor, guard; Malcolm East, end; Karl Gabler, guard; Clarence Greenup, back; Willard Hammack, back; Doyle Key, tackle; Buster' Padberg, back; Jack Ployhar, tackle; Don Rippee, back; Norman Ruhl, tackle; Jim Sumner, center; Jerry Waters, end, and Carl Thorpe, manager. The sportsmanship award was given to Buster Padberg, who was chosen for the hono by vote of his teammates. This week in 1938 the Gazette-Times editorialized about a proposed saw mill following an address by forest ranger F.F. Wehmeyer before the Lions' stating that if logging is thrown open in the Heppner district, the western yellow pine will disappear within 15 years: "A question of no little magnitude to Morrow County has arisen because of the proposed sawmill establishment here. Local folk, for the moment, are stalled in their rejoicing that Heppner is to have a payroll industry, by announcement that such an operation does not conform to forest service policy of administering the timberlands...The question now confront ing our people is: Shall an operation be encouraged here which can last no more than 15 years at the most, or shall all influence be thrown in favor of an operation at Kinzua...? "As for the future we are not so greatly alarmed. There " are compensatory forces at work in Nature over which man has no control, and while influencing his destiny, they will continue whether the lumber is made at Heppner or Kinzua..." We leave you with this thought for the week, printed 50 years ago in the Gazette-Times: "If any two classes of workmen have anything in common it is the farmer and the newspaperman. In one respect, at least, this similarity is most outstanding, for everybody knows in his own mind that he can run a better paper than the publisher, and everyone can readily tell a farmer how to run his farm." Set aside blasted; NFO program seeks $5.05 wheat THE GAZETTE TIMES Published every Thursday and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second-class postage paid at Heppner, Oregon. The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow G.M. Reed, Publisher Dolores Reed, Co-publisher Terry M. Hager, Managing Editor Jim Summers, News Editor Eileen Saling, Office Manager Elane Blanchet, Reporter Gayle Rush, Composing Chloe Pearson, Composing Justine Weatherford Local Columnist Don Peterson, state presi dent of the National Farm Organization, told a group of about 30 county farmers that the current set aside program announced by the government will result in $3 per bushel wheat which is still below the cost of production. Peterson made the remarks at the meeting of the Morrow County NFO held last Wednesday in the Lexington, Grange. Peterson said the $3 wheat will mean that for an ever increasing number of farm ers, no principle will be paid on existing mortages, no payment will be made on machinery and vehicles, and building indebtedness will not be reduced. The result, he said, will be reduced pur chases of machinery, vehicles and clothing along with in creased prices forseen for food items. Jerry Simpson, Pilot Rock, leader of the American Agri culture group told the group that complacent farmers must get off the ranch to work for better prices. Simpson said the national farm strike is focusing attention on farmers' loss of equity and lack of profit. It also is bringing public awareness to the fact that parity is a current calculated monthly index and that if farm prices would follow this index, the Ameri can economy would benefit from the generated earned income, Simpson said. According to Ray Jorgen son, area grain director for NFO, multinational grain companies and USDA statis tics set world wheat prices with no consideration given for the farmers out of produc tion. Jorgenson said NFO offers an updated program whereby farmers can influ ence prices up to 110 per cent of parity, noting that anything higher would be inflationary. Under the plan, known as the 5.05 Wheat Block, NFO members would put up 100 per cent of their old wheat crop or new wheat crop, or both, on a Grain Contract for Sale. This production would be commit ted in two separate blocks. The first block would be 90 per cent signed in Section II of the Grain Contract for Sale and would be authorized for sale by the member on a Gargaining and Sales Authori zation for sale by the member on a Bargaining and Sales Authorization Supplement at $5.05 per bushel delivered to each member's closest export terminal. The second block would be 10 per cent signed in Section I for immediate bar gaining. The member, if necessary, could sell at any time through the NFO Grain Program at the current mar ket price, part or all that has been committed on the 5.05 Block. This action is being offered to wheat producers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Northern Min nesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. It operates under a new one year NFO member ship agreement which would forgive back dues over two years old. Jorgenson said the commo dity contracts will enable members to participate in grain movements geared for export, domestic and local sales. He said grain signed on the contracts would be identi fied as being on strike. Several members attending the meet ing indicated their grain has been intered on the contracts. The group decided to solicit new members and seek sup port for the program. HEPPNER BOWL ASSN. ANNUAL TOURNAMENT JAN. 20,21,22 JAN. 27,20,29 FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY ENTRY DEADLINE JAN. 14 HEPPNER laHUJWlL Ph 676-9203 or 676-5805 it. ri O w x THE ANNUAL MEETING OF Willow Creek w Country Clm WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 7:30 p.m. COLUMBIA BASH! ELECTRIC CO-OP BUILDING
