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Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper
VOL.96 NO. 37
HEPPNER, OREGON
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1978
TWO SECTIONS-16 PAGES
County school enrollment up 137
students over last year
A sharp increase in enroll
ment in Morrow County scho
olsparticularly in the Coun
ty's north end has produced
a new set of problems for .
school system officials.
"It's the biggest jump (in
enrollment) yet," said Super
intendent Matt Doherty.
Enrollment at the start of this
year's school year came to a
total of 1,749 students 137
more than were enrolled at
this time last year, he noted.
Bearing the brunt of the
increase in northern Morrow
County schools. In Irrigon,
A.C. Houghton Elementary
experienced a 20 per cent hike
in enrollment, rising from last
year's total of 408 to 509. River
side Junior High's start-of-the-year
enrollment totaled 393
up 72 from last year, and
Riverside High School noted
an increase of 50 students,
with 393 students now attend
ing classes at the Boar dm an
high school.
Enrollment was down sli
ghtly in Heppner and lone.
Heppner Elementary showed
enrollment figures dropping
from 468 last year to 432 this
year. ... lone schools dipped
from 199 to 189. At Heppner
High School, enrollment rose
by 10 with a total of 226
students taking classes at the
start of this year.
Based on past experiences,
Morrow County school offi
cials are predicting that 50 to
60 additional students, will
enroll in the county by the end
of the current school year.
The student boom has pushed
several classrooms in north
Morrow schools to the 30-35
student range, well above the
25-student limit the school
system has been trying to
maintain.
Some bus routing has been
altered due to the increase,
and a new bus has been added
to the north Morrow fleet to
take up some of the slack.
Class loads may have to be
adjusted . to more evenly
distribute teaching . duties.
Doherty said that a class
room might have to be
established in the old school
building adjacent to A.C.
Houghton to ease the overflow
situation. .
The Morrow County School
Board is expected to take up
the enrollment problems dur
ing a Sept. 18 meeting at 8
p.m. in Lexington. "At this
point, we're not really sure
what we'll recommend to
them," Doherty said.
A new Boardman Elemen
tary School, which was funded
by county voters earlier this
year, should solve the north
end's elementary school
crowding problems for the
near future, at least.
But, noted Doherty,
"it will be at least a year
before the school is built."
Columbia Basin customers
can expect rate increase
Columbia Basin Electric
Coorperative will be consider
ing rate increases over the
next two years, in response to
purposed rate hikes in the
price of wholesale electricity.
The Bonneville Power Ad
ministration, the federal agen
cy which sells electricty to
Pacific Northwest private util
ities, municipalities, public
utility districts, and coopera
tives like Columbia Basin, has
announced plans to increase
its wholesale rates by Decem
ber 1979.
Columbia Basin Electric
receives its power from Bon
neville, and the cooperative
plans to raise its rates to cover
the Bonneville increases. The
exact amount by which co
operative rates will be increa
sed is not known, but indica
tions are that retail rates to
Columbia Basin consumers
will be significant.
"Raising rates is not an
enjoyable task," said Colum
bia ' Basin manager Fred
Toombs," but our costs are
going up like everyone else's.
We have tried to be as frugal
r in our operation as possible,
putting off until absolutely
necessary any rate increase,
but the time has finally come
where we simply have to make
a move if we are able to .
maintain our present level of
service." This increase will be
the first of any consequence
since formation of the co
operative in the late 1940's,
according to Columbia Basin
officials v '
Prior to any Bonneville rate
increase, the agency must
first hold a series of public
hearings to gain public input
on the subject. Preliminary
hearings have already been
held. Columbia Basin repre
sentatives have attended
these meetings and plan to
attend those in the future to
express their concerns about
what effect the increases
would have on the price of
power for cooperative con
sumers. Columbia Basin Electric
likewise has announced that it
will hold public meetings
throughout its service area to
explain the need for the rate
increases to answer questions
about them.
Remarked Toombs, "This is
everyone's chance to let their
views be known. It's your
opportunity to express your
opinion on the proposed rate
increases, both pro and con."
The dates and times of these
meetings have not been sched
uled. In the meantime,. Toombs,
encourages cooperative mem
bers seeking further informa
tion to contact either him or
their district representatives
on the firm's board of direc
tors. Weather
Cristopher Wright IdUed in
two-car crash Monday evening
Christopher F. Wright, 18, of
Lexington was killed Monday
afternoon in a two-car collis
ion on secondary Meyers
Road, near the Buttercreek
Junction area of northeastern
Morrow County.
The accident occured after
Wright's eastbound car ap
parently veered off the right
side of the roadway pavement.
The youth apparently over
corrected his steering, caus
ing him to swing into the path
of an oncoming car operated
by Gordon Hoffnagle, 20, of
Heppner, according to state
police at Hermiston.
A passenger in Hoffnagle's
car, Randy Worden, 18, also of
Heppner, suffered superficial
injuries in the crash. Hoff
nagle received cuts, abra
sions, and was examined to
check for possible internal
injuries.
I
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ii In mnr.i M 0hrUr.
He was born March 19, 1960,
in Portland, the son of the late
Harvey Wright and Pat Maj
eske Wright. A 1978 graduate
of Heppner High School, he
was scheduled to enter Trea
sure Valley Community Col
lege at Ontario this monty.
Memorial services are to
day, Thursday, at 10 a.m. at
the Lexington Church of
Christ, with the Rev. Neil
Chabot officiating. Sacred
selections will be sung by
Wilma Cheney with Betty
Marquardt as accompaniest.
Private interment will be at
the Lexington Cemetary. Swe
eney Mortuary is in charge of
arrangements.
Chris is survived by his
mother, Pat Wright, a bro
ther, mark Wright and a
sister, Sandy Wright, all of
Lexington; maternal grand
mother, Freda Majeske, Lex
ington ; paternal grandpar
ents, Mr. and Mrs. W. Wright,
of Woodburn.
Contributions may be made
to the Chris Wright Memorial
Scholarship Fund in care of
the Bank of Eastern Oregon.
Lexington to consider new fire truck
Lexington residents are in
vited by the City Council to
attend a hearing at the
Lexington School Building on
Wednesday, Sept. 27, 1978 at
7:30 p.m.
Under discussion will be the
purchase of a new fire truck to
replace the present 1954 mod
el. The new truck and equip
ment will cost an estimated
$48,000-$49,000.
The city has enough money
on hade to make the down
payment. Payments will be
about $7,400 a year for six
years. If residents are gen
erally in favor of purchasing
the new truck, voters will be
asked to approved a six year
serial levy of $7,400 a year,
and an election will be
scheduled before the Nov. 7
election.
Do"c:?iT Sen. Cook slates visit
HI LOW PRECIP
Wed., Sept. 6
Thurs.,Sept. 7
Fri.,Sept.8
Sat., Sept. 9
Sun., Sept. 10
Mon.,Sept. 11
Tues.,Sept. 12
66 53 .04
61 47 .17
71 45
72 62
67 45 .18
66 47
rl 40
State Senator Vern Cook, Cook, a 22-year veteran of The public is invited to
Democratic candidate for the
U.S. Senate position currently
held by Republican Mark
Hatfield, will bring his cam
paign to Heppner next week.
the Oregon Legislature, will
be the featured speaker at a
no-host dinner starting at 6:30
p.m. in the West of Willow on
Tuesday, Sept. 19.
attend. An opportunity will be
provided to meet with and
question the candidate.
Irrigon
voters to
polls
Tuesday
Voters in Irrigon will go to
the polls next Tuesday, Sept.
19, to decide whether or not to
approve a seven-year, $12,800
serial levy for the Irrigon
Rural Fire Protection Dis
trict. The fire district is seeking
the funding in order to buy a
new fully equiped, 2,000-gallon
capacity fire truck in order to
increase the water capacity of
the district's fire fighting
trucks.
Polling will be held in the
Morrow County Office Build
ing in Irrigon.
Retirement for couple brings end
to long history of business here
A family tradition in
Heppner retailing came to
an end last week when the
Thomson Brothers Groc
ery on Main Street closed
its doors.
Owner James G. Thom
son Jr. and his wife,
Madge, sold out their
inventory and placed the
store building on the mar
ket to enter retirement.
The couple had been con
sidering retiring for seve
ral years, deciding to
make the move now "to
take the time to enjoy
ourselves while we're still
able to," according to
Thomson.
The Thomson family has
roots firmly entrenched in
Heppner's business com
munity, starting just be
fore the turn of the
century, Thomson's father
James Thomson sr., oper
ated the Orange Front
grocery, located in what is
now the Case Furniture
building. The elder Thom
son's brothers, Charles
and George, joined him in
the business, and in the
early 1900s, they purcha
sed the current Main
Street store building from
Henry Heppner, namesake
of the Morrow County seat.
The brothers enlarged
their operation, expanding
the store into space form
erly occupied by a shoe
shop and a music store,
eventually creating the
Thomson Bros. Depart
ment Stores In addition to
groceries, the Thomson
brothers sold men's and
women's clothing, dry
goods, shoes and other wares,
res.
Jim Jr. entered the
family business in 1926,
working in the grocery
division, where he remain
ed throughout his career.
While the grocery busi
ness appealed to him, so
did a youthful thirst for
adventure. In 1928, he and
two companions took pass- '
age on a freighter and
steamed to the Orient,
making stops in cities like
Tokyo, Yokahama, and
Shanghai, returning after
three months overseas.
- Thomson admits that he
toyed with the idea of
becoming a merchant sea
man, but a number of
circumstances popped up
to cloud that dream like
the Depression.
Business wasn't as us
ual, to say the least, after
the stock market crash of
1929. All of Heppner's
banks folded, and money
was so scarce that the city
printed its own sheepskin
script for use in local
trading.
"Dad carried a lot of
people over when the times
weft' tough"?' recalled Thom
son. "Quite a few re
mained loyal customers over
the years, and manv
of their children went on to
trade with us."
Money was not the only
thing that was scarce
during the depression
years, Thomson recollect
ed. "The Office of Price
Admistration rationed but
ter, sugar and other things.
It made it difficult to get
merchandise to sell." f
The dark days of the
Depression were made
brighter, for Thomson at
least, when a new scl j1
teacher arrived in town in
1931. Two years later she ,
became Mrs. Thomson. '
Thomson bought out the
store's inventory from his
father, the last surving
member of the original
Thomson brothers, in 1942.
He eventually closed out
the dry goods sections and
remodeled the grocery in
1948. Since then, Thomson,
in his white grocery apron,
has been a familiar sight to
shoppers passing through
his checkout stand or
walking by his Main Street
window.
While many of the faces
have changed over the
years, "people are still
friendly, and friendships
have stayed the same,"
Thomson commented.
Since his years of runn
ing a grocery store have
prevented him from taking
but a very few extended
trips, Thomson said he and his
wife were looking forward to
being able to do some travel
ing, hunting and fishing. "I
could never depend on having
, the time off to do these things
before," he noted.
Two days into his retire-'
ment, "it feels good, so
far," he said.
A long history of retailing in
Heppner ended recently when
Thomson Bros. Grocery clos
ed its doors. Jim and Madge
Thomson take a brief moment
from their cleaning activities
for a picture.
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