BESS I E WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER LIB
EUGENE OR 97403
Dam public meetini
o
ay eveniii
g Montd.
Questions to be answered
on flood plain, dam
A public meeting for com
ment on the proposed Willow
Creek Dam has been sche
duled for Monday, March 6 at
7:30 p.m. in the Circuit
courtroom at the Courthouse
in Heppner.
The meeting is being orga
nized by the Heppner Cham
ber of Commerce.
Officials from both the
county and City of Heppner
will be on hand to hear
comments or accept written
statements from the public.
From those comments, the
County and City are expected
to make a decision on whether
Motivation speaker here
for Tuesday session
The Heppner Chamber of
Commerce Merchants Com
mittee invites all businessmen
and the public to hear Troy
Bussey Tuesday, March 7 at 7
p.m., Heppner Elementary
School.
The speaker is president of
Bussey Associates, a firm that
works with individuals, busi
nesses and companies in the
fields of motivation, com
munications, management
and retail sales.
Randall Peterson, Mer
chants Committee chairman,
said Bussey will conduct a
three-hour session in Heppner
with refreshments served afterwards.
In this issue...
Morrow
SWCD
Annual
Report
Club leads Heppner
in spring cleanup
With signs of spring beginning to appear in the area, the
Heppner Garden Club is again getting ready for a Spring
cleanup and Litter Awareness Campaign.
The project was inaugurated last year and the work was
carried out mainly by grade school children and the club's
cleanup committee, led by Irene Swanson. This year the
effort has gained the support of other local organizations who
will be working the week of March 18-25 towards a goal of
having a clean, spruced up town by Easter Sunday, March 26.
Heppner Mayor Jerry Sweeney said he intends to declare
an official city-wide Cleanup Week, with the city crew
helping to haul garbage to the dump.
"The city will cooperate to the fullest extent in this
effort," Sweeney said.
Also assisting the Garden Club in the spring cleanup
campaign will be the boy Scouts, Bluebirds, Junior Garden
Club, Future Farmers of America, Lions Club and the
Chamber of Commerce.
Organizations seeking more information on ways to help
are asked to contact Dave Harrison or Larry Mills of the
Lions dub, Rev. Ken Miller of the Chamber of commerce or
Bob Lowe of the Heppner Garden Club.
All house owners or renters are asked to cooperate in the
campaign by cleaning up yards and side walks and generally
sprucing up their outside living area. Help will also be needed
or not construction of the
proposed dam should proceed.
A special committee of the
Chamber that has spent se
veral weeks investigating the
Heppner's flood plain and the
impact it will have on the
community, will present its
recommendations at the meet
ing. The Chamber Flood Plain
Study Committee recognizes
several areas of concern in
regards to the flood plain and
proposed construction of the
dam. Among those concerns
are assurance the flood plain
will be eliminated if the dam is
In this issue of The Gazette-Times the Morrow Soil
& Water Conservation District publishes its Annual
Report. The SWCD will hold its Annual Meeting
Tuesday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall, St.
Patrick's Catholic church.
Included in the meeting program will be a panel
discussion concerning the Clean Water Act (commonly
referred to as 208) and a special film presentation
depicting the farmer's committment to his land.
The public is invited to attend the meeting. Please
see special section for more details.
built; protection for Willow
Creek irrigators below the
dam; and assurance that
multiple-use provisions be
part of the dam.
Representatives of the
Flood Insurance Administra
tion and the Corp of Engineers
will be at the meeting to
answer questions concerning
the flood plain and the dam.
Individuals or groups that
wish to comment on the flood
plain or dam, but who cannot
attend the meeting, should
send comments to chamber of
Commerce, Box 337, Heppner.
"In addition to the motiva
tion a speaker like Bussey
gives, he will also provide
information that small busi
nessmen can use in everyday
management," said Peterson.
Persons interested in at
tending should make reserva
tions with Randall Peterson at
, 676-9200. Businesses are being
asked to make a contribution
to help cover expenses.
in picking up litter in the city parks and other public areas.
The Garden Club hopes that with everyone working together
in a city-wide effort, Heppner will look fresh and clean for
Easter Sunday.
Details concerning collection of extra trash and teams
responsible for different areas of the city will be announced
in the near future.
Voters approve road
levy by 6 to 1
By more than a 6 to 1 margin, Morrow County voters
Tuesday approved a three-year, $195,000 road levy for
maintaining and improving county roadways.
The levy was approved by wide margins in each of the
county's five voting precincts, although the turnout appro
ximately 21 per cent county-wide was lighter than
expected. Only 659 of the more than 3,080 registered voters in
Morrow County showed up at the polls.
In the Heppner precinct, 223 ballots supported the levy
while 29 were opposed. The lone precinct showed 112 in favor
and 22 against, Boardman showed 86 in favor and seven
against, Irrigon voters supported the levy by a 66 to 23
margin and Lexington polling showed 82 in favor 2nd eight
against.
With the passage of the levy, county property owners can
expect an increase of approximately 5.7 cents per $1,000 of
taxable property. The rate will rise to 56.4 cents per thousand
from the present rate of 50.7 cents, based on an estimated
county valuation of $340,000,000.
mr w - . mu
VOL. 96 NO. 9
Kids are No. 1 with Jim Ackley
The morning after the
Mustangs and the Fillies
closed out their home basket
ball seasons, the gymnasium
at Heppner High School was
buzzing with some 40-plus Colt
roundballers. And just as the
previous evening's full house
demonstrated the community
support for the interscholastic
athletic program, the turnout
of the pint-sized players held
the promise of more good
things to come.
On hand for both occasions,
as he is for a good part of the
youth-related activities going
on here, was Jim Ackely
teacher of music, professional
musician, basketball drill ser
geant, local promoter, disci
plinarian, motivator and all
around good guy.
"I guess I'm just a kid at
heart.. .1 like working with
them in any area I can," said
Ackley, whose involvements
range from generating excite
ment at the varsity games by
directing the hottest pep band,
around to teaching pick and
rolls to 4'i-foot-tall basketball
players.
Somehow sandwiched in
among the long list of Ackley
extra curriculars, comes a full
day of developing and guiding
the musical talents of Heppner
students. Starting his day at
the high school, Ackley over
sees 46 students in two periods
before heading down the hill
for 100 students in grades 5-8
at the junior high.
But for Ackley, the job of
music education means much
more than just getting the
players to hit the right notes.
He combines a pocketful of
tricks with a lot of dedication
to motivate the kids and help
them meet challenges.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm
in the younger grades and I
try to guide it in the right
direction, sometimes using
games and ' techniques or
encouraging them to write
their own music to keep the
interest up," Ackely said.
11
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HEPPNER, OREGON,
"Basically it means teaching
responsibility which I start
right off with the fifth gra
ders." Now in his fifth year as
director of the Heppner music
program, Ackley has seen his
first crop of fifth graders enter
high school as freshmen.
There's been a lot of changes
in the program and most have
come through the hard work of
the man at the top.
, "There were four musical
directors in the three years
before I came here," Ackley
said. "The program was
pretty unstable and the kids
were taking bets on how long
I'd last."
But last he did, and the
entire Heppner music pro
gram is fortunate for it. After
taking the post, Ackley noted
the major thrust of work was
needed at the high school
level. The band hadn't
marched in years and interest
in the concert band was cool at
best. Ever since, he has been
working at building the band's
halftime show at the games
and adding his own brand of
enthusiasm to the concert
program.
"The main thing is atti
tude," Ackley said. "The kids
are proud to be in the program
now and they know they can
do a good job."
Ackley said the reception he
has received from the school
district towards expanding the
program has been "super". A
big plus has been the oppor
tunity for the youngsters to
showcase their talents outside
the practice room and Ackley
is still hoping to expand the
concerts and music tours at
each level.
Already on the slate are
high school and junior high
pops concerts, a junior high
band festival, Christmas and
Springtime conerts for the
fifth and sixth graders, high
school exchange concerts and
the pep band, all of which are
welcomed and appreciated by
P
lone girls join Fair
and Rodeo Court
Joining Queen Donna Palmer on the 1978 Morrow County
Fair and Rodeo Court are Princesses Kim Pettyjohn,
daughter of Paul Pettyjohn Jr., lone, and Laurie Childers,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Geo Childers, lone. The selection
of princesses was announced last week by the Fair Board.
Laurie, a 1977 graduate of lone High School, is presently
attending Blue Mountain Community College and Kim is a
sophomore at lone High School.
Details and a photograph of the court will appear in next
week's Gazette-Times.
HHS athletes to be
honored March 7
Heppner High athletes who participated on the school's
five basketball teams during the past season will be honored
at the winter sports dessert scheduled for Tuesday, March 7,
beginning at 7 p.m. in the high school cafetorium.
Special awards and recognition of participation will be
presented to the distript runner-up varsity girls, by coach
Sherri Brock; varsity boys, by coach Tom Day; junior
varsity girls, by coach Les Payne; junior varsity boys, by
coach George Koffler and freshmen boys, by coach Dale
Holland.
FSIW?9 PW" -rwmmm
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1978
the community.
"I'd like to see some
competition among the pep
bands and I'm trying to start a
coast tour for the high
school," Ackley said, looking
ahead.
Shifting gears to the athletic
scene, the Colt basketball
program has come a long way
since its inception several
years ago, and again, much of
the progress is attributed to
the efforts of Ackley. This
year, thanks to $450 donated
from sponsors, the Colts are
taking the court in brand new
uniforms and interest among
both players and their parents
is running high. And it
continues running high, right
through the junior high Pony
teams, one of which is coached
by Ackley.
"The kids go through the
colt program and then some of
them come back to me in the
eighth grade," said Ackley,
whose most recent Pony boys
team just finished a 10-2
season by taking the cham
pionship game in a junior high
tournament. "In coaching I
try to be tough with the kids
and instill some character to
help them get ready to face
high school.
With all his talk about
character and responsibility,
Ackley said he still realizes
that attention has to be paid to
other aspects of the youth
community. To that end, he
has this year taken on a new
roll as a promoter setting up
teen dances "to give the kids a
little something more to do".
Providing the music at some
of the dances is his own
professional group, the Jim
Ackley Band.
While admitting that time
for his own interests is
definitely "limited," Ackley
still plans on expanding his
own musical career which
began with the piano at age
seven, original compositions
in the seventh grade and
various bands from the tenth
mfT-mm
12
.
(S)l lit j
OYj S DC
Heppner music director Jim Ackley brings
his own brand of enthusiasm into each of
his many youth-related projects. Above he
shows his approval of the high school pep
bands latest performance
grade on, including seven
years with a group called the
13th Story. Also in the picture
are his furniture upholstering
hobby and an interest in
sports, especially bowling.
"With all these things going
on, you've got to set your
priorities," Ackley said.
"Number one for me happens
to be working with kids."
Lest one think that Ackley's
efforts are forever being
channeled outward, rest
assured that he too is on the
Doherty to address
Chamber Monday
Morrow County School District Superintendent
Matt Doherty will be the guest speaker at Monday's
Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting.
Doherty will address the upcoming $4.8 million
bond issue proposed by the district for construction and
remodeling of schools in Heppner, lone, Boardman and
Irrigon.
Firms mark
anniversaries
Farley Motor Company of Heppner celebrates it
30th Anniversary this month and Les Schwab Tire
Center of Heppner marks one year in business here.
James J. Farley started with a Pontiac dealership
in Heppner on March 6, 1948, adding the Buick and
GMC lines in 1951. Farley Motors then acquired the
Ford car and truck line in 1971.
An open house will be held at the Company's
showroom on Tuesday, March 21.
Les Schwab Tire Centers purchased Miles Tire
Service last year, bringing to Heppner the Northwest's
largest independent tire dealer.
Robb Rush, manager and Kevin Rountre,
assistant manager are conducting a First Anniversary
sale during the next two weeks.
c4 X!s
PAGES
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receiving end of some of the
benefits.
"There's nothing more sat
isfying than watching the kids'
faces when they know they are
accomplishing something," he
said. "If you're looking for
something that kind of sums
up my way of thinking, I
always remember a quote
from Muhammed Ali that
goes, 'Service to others is the
rent we pay for the room we
have on earth'."
Jim Ackley is speaking from
a high rent district.
'FA.'
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