Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 1980)
Tin- Heppner (Jiictle-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, January 1, 19H0 THREE Instant lawn grower in Morrow County called Pacific Northwest's largest turf producer Morrow County is the home of the largest instant lawn growing company in the Pacific Northwest and many people may not know it be cause it is so hard to find. Earth Carpet is located about 10 miles north of lone, just south of the coal-fired plant, so it is not situated on one of the most traveled roads in the county. Eric Anderson is the boss of the few million dollar opera tion. He is a Heppner High School graduate and he was an , agricultural major at Oregon State University. Anderson admitted the roads' were bad and somone had taken some of the Earth Carpet signs down so the place , may be hard to find but he said customers are glad they do ;find Earth Carpet once they receive their turf. "We have high standards and we worked hard to get that way," Anderson said. "We have a classy product and a reputation for quality." The reason for the high quality turf, according to Anderson, is because there are no weeds in the area and he uses only the best grass , seed to keep it that way. Because of the high quality of the turf, Earth Carpet is a . year-round operation with the summer being the busiest time of the year. Anderson said there are four . harvesting crews in the sum- m m w x v-' j f tiM r llLU if :;:r;: :-r'r (ml ?Xn,. An Karth Carpet employee cuts the fine grass. f . I mer months, two working at a time, and the crews split time from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. Earth Carpet delivers turf in truckloads to Washington, Nevada, California and Ore gon. The demand for the Earth Carpet product makes it a must for Anderson's em ployees to work long hours but ' they are paid handsomely for their efforts. Anderson said, most of his workers make $70 to $100 a day for 10 to 12 hours of work. Many of his em ployees work less than five days a week. Anderson said some of his workers are just now getting some time off after working six days a week and 12 hours a day most of the summer. He has 35 workers in the summer and 14 in the winter. Anderson admitted he has trouble keeping help at Earth Carpet. "If you have a damn good attitude, you got it made here," he said. "When it gets cold, some decide not to stay. Fairness is important to us." The 32-year-old married man had been in the turf business for three years and he has been farming seven years. He has 1,400 acres of irrigated land and 3,000 acres of dry land with wheat and peas. Two wells, drilled 1,400 feet into the ground, supply the water to irrigate the 550 acres of the turf part of the farm. The wells give out 3,000 gallons of water every minute. Ten circles and eight wheel lines aid in the irrigation. "Each circle is worth one quarter of a million dollars so thousands of dollars of turf could be ruined very quickly if a worker did not know what he is doing," Anderson said. The turf sells for eight cents a square foot for rolled turf and seven-and-one-half cents a square foot for slabs of turf. Earth Carpet is the only company in the Northwest to have both slab and rolled turf. About 80 percent of the Earth Carpet turf is "Bluegrass." The expensive operation does not stop with the value of the turf. Anderson recently purchased a dozer-type rig for $35,000. Anderson said he is proud of the lone football field and Earth Carpet was the com pany that seeded the field. Anderson said he is no longer the all-work type of person he once was. "I am trying to give leisure time more emphasis," he said. "In fact, I am trying to build Earth Carpet so I won't need to be here all the time." School gets Earth Carpet Construction is continuing at Sam Hoardman Klementary School in Boardnian as the lawn is now being put in. This pre-grown grass turf was grown at the Earth Carpet farm. 4' ,' 1 Application fonns available for Ranger District employment Application forms are now : available for summer and seasonal temporary employ ment with the Heppner Ran- ger District of the U.S. FOrest i Service. The recruitment period dur ing which applications will be accepted lasts until Jan. 15, 1980. Approximately 26 positions will be filled this year includ ing field jobs as aids and technicians in forestry, and fire control. Applicants must be 18 years of age on the date they are available for work in order to receive considera- , tion. Salaries range from $3.91 per hour for GS-2 positions to $5.41 per hour for GS-5. More openings The Heppner Ranger Dis trict will have a seasonal, part-time position (Saturdays and Sundays) for a fire dispatcher. Interested persons should apply now through the summer seasonal temporary employment program. For more information contact Larry Bowman, 676-9187. - Selections for seasonal jobs will be in mid-February with some jobs starting in April. Employment can last until Dec. 31, 1980. , No written examination is required for field positions, but some jobs may require a driver's license or a physical fitness test. Education availa bility and experience will determine chances for em ployment. Applications are available at the Ranger District Office in Heppner near Heppner High School. The phone num ber is 676-9187. Review shows many tragedies cont. from page 1 : Heppner Patrolman Doug Rath bun arrested two juve niles from Yakima who had a stolen coin collection, posses sion of marijuana and a stolen car. A 28-year old Lexington man, Martin Potter, was OBITUARY Leonard E. Rill Leonard E. Rill, whose grandmother, Mrs. Ninon Rill, lives in Heppner, was fatally injured in an automobile accident near Ellensburg, Wash., Dec. 21. He was 24. For several summers he stayed with the family of William Rill, his uncle, nd worked on the family farm near Heppner. He was born April 17, 1955, at Connell, Wash., His family : moved in 1971 from Othello to ' Kittitas, Wash., where Leo nard was graduated from high J school in 1974. He was the owner-operator of a hay truck and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). ; Surviving are his parents, ' Mr. and Mrs. Evan L. Rill, Ellensburg; three brothers, . Mike, of Quincy ; and Rex and Doug of Ellensburg; two sisters, Mary and Ninon, both : of Ellensburg; his grand mother, Mrs. Rill of Heppner, and . two uncles, Cecil and William Rill, both of Heppner. Final rites took place in Ellensburg with officers of the LDS church officiating. killed in an automobile acci dent when a truck he was in with three other people went off the road and overturned. The two new schools in north Morrow County were named Sam Boardman Elementary and Columbia Jr. High. A leak in the city water line made it necessary for citizens to boil the water before using it. city officials used a dye to trace the leak. Dr. Joe Gifford and the hospital trustees were trying tofindanotherdoctorto come to Heppner. The Morrow County Court asked the State of Oregon to declare the county a disaster area because of the $500,000 in damage caused by flooding. A benefit was planned for Rosemary Cox, whose home and belongings were de stroyed in a fire. Dr. Wallace Wolff was flown to Portland when he suffered a heart attack while making his rounds at the hospital. Because of problems pas sing a tax levy, the hospital board voted on reducing it $45,000. Janice Healy of Heppner was name princess of the Pendleton Round-up and a year later was named as queen. The Heppner Lions Club resurfaced the Heppner High School track. Gun Club elects officers A meeting of the Morrow County Gun Club took place Dec. 28 and officers were elected. Ron Haguewood was elected president, Bud Englert vice president and Donna Hughes secretary and treasurer. The first shoot of the year is scheduled for this Sunday at 10 a.m. All interested persons are invited to join the club. ii! i 1 01t)F Ife OREGON CHIEF Sliced Bacon . if Weinervsl $i29 wSi P1 , II U Al amilyPac PoriLoin Chops $129 s. Western Family Hot or Regualar Chili Concarne 59 i5 oz. Orville Redenbacher I 30 oz. Corn 69 Western Family 32 oz. Salfine Cracker 9Sr PUBLIC HEARING A public hearing for an amendment to a zone boundary will be held by the Heppner Planning Committee on January 14th, 1980 at 7:30 p.m.. at 188 West of Willow Street, City Hall, Heppner. Oregon. The request is for a zoning change from Industrial to R3 Residential on Riverside Avenue. Block 10, Lots (6) and (7) of Mount Vernon's Addition. John Shaw, Chairman, Planning Committee Publish January 3, 1980. Penny Smart 2 f or9 85 sq.ft. Lettuce ry 3 heod8$i00 VJ 3 lbs. I inl .Cyy Tomato II UvlW 'fiffi?,... 1 WW IV-I Z4oz. 8 I i V WN X i tin. i STvte. "... 5 SSSf 219 mmi o Shortening ID SPUDS id ib. v Price Effective Jan. 4,5,and6 MARKET Grocery 676-9288 Meats 676-9614 t
