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BESSIE V.' E T Z E L L
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NEWSPAPER L I 8
EUGENE OR 9 7 403
The Heppner
TT1 jjiwym pj,iii iiH PjTITTT
VOL. !)S NO. fi
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, I80
Jo ii nia-n ii
Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
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IIFPPNF.R. OREGON 1.37 January 1979 I
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School lunches for only 30
laid to 'good management'
.L y
By Steven A. Powell
Where can you buy a meal
of such favorite foods as fish
and chips, macaroni and
cheese, pizza, and corn dogs
for 30 cents?
Certainly not in a restaurant
and even frozen TV dinners
are more expensive than that.
But Morrow County school
students can buy a hot lunch
. for 30 cents and for teachers it
only costs 40 cents.
Why are the meals so
inexpensive?
"Good management," said
Gladys Van Winkle, head cook
at Heppner elementary who
has worked there for 20 years.
"We recycle leftovers and
use them in another dish," she
said.
Van Winkle said they cut
costs by bid buying large
quantities of food in the spring
to be used in the fall for meals.
They take advantage of all
sales and government com
modities too.
"Without the commodities,
we could not make it," she
said. "When we buy the
commodities, all we have to
pay is the freight costs."
Van Winkle said commodi
ties are all types of food
products the government buys
each month to give that food
product a push in the food
market industry.
The school hot lunch pro
gram is very popular as about
80 percent of the students and
60 percent of the teachers and
other adults at the schools buy
the meals daily.
Some students can get their
meals for even less than 30
cents if their family size and
family income meet certain
criteria.
"You can make good money
and still qualify because of the
liberal standards," said Don
Cole, grade school principal.
An example of the district
policy to receive a free meal
would be in a family of
five if the income is $10,390 a
year or less. Reduced-price
meals of 10 cents are available
to the same size of a family
with an income of $16,200.
"We have about 50 kids in
the reduced price lunch pro
gram so not all who qualify
are taking advantage of it,"
Cole said.
Another reason the school
lunches are so inexpensive is
because the state reimburses
the school district for part of
its costs.
Federal grant aids hospital expansion, Felt says
Currently the state reim
burses the school 17 cents for a
regular meal, 66 cents for a
discounted (10 cent) meal and
76 cents for a free meal.
"We do not make any
money the state keeps us
from doing that," said Linda
Padberg, office secretary who
keeps the books for the school
lunch program.
"But we do not lose money
either," she said. "The total
reimbursement fluctuates de
pending on expenses."
Padberg said the reim
bursement rate changes twice
a year to keep up with
inflation. She said the Hepp
ner schools serve approxi
mately 7,500 meals a month
The schools are not reim
bursed automatically however.
Continued on page !
Lana Reid serves some french fries to an anxious grade school student, Douglas Marlatt.
Filing deadline nears
for school board
News briefs...
City budget
announced
The deadline is Feb. 19 for
applications for the four
Morrow County School Board
positions that expire this year.
Jean Bennett's Zone V
position ends this year. Any
one living in the rural area of
Heppner at least five miles out
of town may apply for the
position.
Anyone living within the
five-mile radius of Heppner
may apply for the Zone VII
position presently held by Jim
Wishart.
The term of the county
at-large position also expires
this year. Anyone in the entire
county may apply for Pauline
Winter's position.
John Matthews' position for
Zone II expires this year so
anyone living in Irrigon may
apply for it.
The election for school
board members is March 25
and they will begin their terms
July 1. All the positions are
four-year terms except Jim
lone market seeking
state liquor license
Bristow's Market in lone
has applied for a state liquor
license to sell liquor in the
store according to owner E.W.
Bristow.
Bristow said he may be one
of many applicants because
applications are being taken
statewide because of the
vacancy. Applicants will be
investigated and screened and
final selection will be made by
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission at its public
meeting in Milwaukie March
25 and 26.
Work 'on schedule 9
for Willow Creek Dam
Work on the Willow Creek
Dam project is right on
schedule said Dug Dugger,
public affairs coordinator for
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, in a telephone
interview Monday.
Dugger said there will be a
School building
project cuts
bank deposits
The Heppner branch of the
First National Bank of Oregon
reported deposits of
$13,964,000 as of Dec. 311979.
This compares with
$17,430,000 a year earlier.
Bank officials in Portland
said the drop in deposits
resulted from the spending of
general obligation bond
monies that were on deposit
for Morrow County and the
State of Oregon. The funds
were used in the construction
of the new school in Board-man.
public meeting in early March
to discuss the final approved
project with interested per
sons in the community. The
meeting is required by law.
The acquisition of land will
proceed after the meeting.
Real estate appraisers will
value the land and make
offers to the owners.
"If we have all willing
sellers, the process will go
quickly," Dugger said.
"Otherwise we will have to go
through the condemnation
process in court where the
court decides the price and
that takes added time."
Dugger said the tentative
schedule for construction to
begin is the late summer
around August.
He said the corps is awaiting
final approval of the design
from the chief of enigineers in
Washington D.C. The corps is
also waiting for the final
environmental impact state
ment to be completed but
Dugger does not foresee any
problems in either area.
Wishart 's in Zone VII, which is
a one-year term.
Interested persons may ob
tain applications from the
school district office in Lex
ington. Petitions are available
and 25 signatures are needed
for a school board member
application and 10 needed for
a position on the advisory
council.
Instead of petitioning for a
position, persons may file at
the county clerk's office in
Heppner for a filing-fee cost.
Three persons have filed for
school board positions. Paul
ine Winter of Heppner has
petitioned to run for re-election
for the at-large posi
tion but she is being chal
lenged by Sharon S. Hill of
Boardman. Robert L. Greene
of Heppner is running for the
Zone V. position.
The three positions on the
school board that are not
being voted on this year are
held by Ken Broadbent of
Boardman, Irvin Rauch of
Lexington and Harold Snider
of lone.
Voters will select the school
board members at the same
election when they will pass on
the school budget and choose
advisory committee mem
bers. Two advisory positions
in Irrigon will be voted on
March 25.
The positions are currently
held by Louella Conboy and
Bob Byrd. Position V is a three
year term and Position VI is a
one-year term.
Two positions are also
available in Boardman. Jack
Strege is in Position I, a
one-year term, and Zon Bil
lings is in Position II, a
three-year term.
lone also has two openings.
Position I is held by Paul Tews
and it is a three-year term as
is Position V, held by Wilma
Cheney, for the lone and Cecil
areas.
Gail Hughes' three-year
term for Position V in Hepp
ner is up for election as is Paul
Sumner's Position I three
year for Heppner.
Heppner and Lexington Po
sition III, held by Sharon
Harrison, expires this year. It
is a three-year term.
City administrator Marshal)
Lovgren was scheduled to
present the city budget to the
city council last night at the
budget meeting in city hall.
The budget requests a 15
percent increase in salaries
for the 13 city employees. Last
year voters approved a seven
percent increase in salaries.
The total budget requested
for the next fiscal year is
$600,839. The budget adopted
for 1979-80 was for $465,908.
The major increase, Lov-.
gren said, is in salaries,
reserve cash, supplies and
materials.
Salaries for the four main
tenance persons, four city
policemen, two office person
nel, one librarian, one mayor
and one fire chief will go up
$23,366.
Materials and supplies will
go up $70,094 and the reserve
cash fund, which is used in
emergencies to offset expen
ses, is getting smaller every
year so Lovgren wants to put
$78,992 in that fund to build it
up.
Residents oppose
combined court
North Morrow County resi
dents voiced opposition to the
merger of the two county
justice courts at a meeting
last week in Irrigon. Approxi
mately 20 persons met with
the committee named by the
county court to discuss the.
possibility of the merger.
They were concerned that
they would not have good
service from the justice court
if they were combined.
The committee will meet
again in Irrigon Feb. 13 to
prepare a report of its
recommendation to the county
court.
Easter choir
being formed
A community choir is being
formed to sing at an Easter
program.
Arnie Hedman will be the
music director and the Rev.
John Maas is the coordinator.
The rehearsals will being in
the middle of February.
Interested persons may con
tact either Maas or Hedman.
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
Administrator A.K. Felt,
speaking before the Heppner
Morrow County Chamber of
Commerce meeting recently,
told about the expansion of the
hospital.
Felt said the Health Educa
tion and Welfare grant will
- pay lor V5 percent Of the
project as the grant was
raised from $151,000 to $312,
000.
In order to receive the
grant, the hospital is now
obligated to give service for
citizens who are eligible under
certain HEW criteria. This
free care must be given until
the amount of free care equals
the original amount of the
grant.
"Unlike most businesses, if
we have a non-paying cus
tomer come back to us, we
cannot say no," Felt said.
"Before we write someone
off as a bad debt, we will try to
see if the prsnn is eligible for
the free care if at all
possible," Felt said.
Felt said the hospital is
taking $104,000 out of the
contingency fund to match
with the HEW grant but there
still is money left in the fund.
The expansion and renova
tion will include new metal
casings, fire doors, electrical
worK and smoke detectors to
make the building legal from a
fire code standpoint. The
building had been operating
with a fire code waiver which
could be revoked at any time,
Felt said.
There will a be a ramp in
front of the hospital to the
parking ioi for persons in
wheel chairs, a reception
room a waiting room, an
office, a restroom, an ambu
lance port, and emergency
room with equipment, and
four other rooms. Those extra
rooms can be used as an x-ray
room, a physicians office or
extra emergency rooms. Felt
said.
He added that the current
x-ray room is being renovated
and the processor and x-ray
machine are being sold. He
said practically all of the
excavating for the addition is
done and no penalty had been
assessed for breaking into
hard rock.
Felt reported that occu
pancy at the hospital is under
40 percent so none of the
addition needs to be patient
rooms.
"Our problem is not having
enough patient rooms but
having enough patients." Felt
said.
Former Kinzua plywood plant employees
find employment in Boardman
Leon and Dorene Reed, 460
S. Main in Heppner, are like
many other Kinzua Mill in
Heppner employees. They do
not work at the mill any
longer.
The Reeds worked in the
plywood plant at the mill
before it shut down in Decem
ber. He was an electrician there
for 2' i years and she worked
on the stringing machine for
five years.
They said they were not
surprised about the closing of
the mill.
"We were looking for it," he
said, "but we were hoping it
would wait a couple of years."
Unlike many of the Kinzua
employees who were laid off,
the Reeds have been success
ful in finding other employ
ment. Leon Reed was hired re
cently as an electrician at
Gourmet Foods in Boardman.
Mrs. Reed said she is waiting
for a day job to open up at
Gourmet Foods before she
goes back to work.
He said they did not even
look for jobs around Heppner,
even though their home is
here, because, "There are not
any jobs here that pay."
He said the unemployment
office sent him "all over"
applying for jobs and Gourmet
Foods was the first place to
call him.
"I did not do anything and
got bored not working," he
said.
"I kind of enjoyed the month
off." Mrs. Reed added.
The Reeds said they know a
few people who have not done
anything since the layoff.
As for the long trip to
Boardman everyday, the
Reeds said it won't be bad
when they can go together if
the job for Mrs. Reed mater
ializes. The main reason the Reeds
are not going to move away
from Heppner, like many
others have done, is because
of Dorene Reeds's son, Clay
Grace. He is a junior at
Heppner High School and is
engaged to be married once he
graduates so it would be
"difficult to move," she said.
"When Clay gets out of
school, we plan to go back to
Oklahoma where Leon grew
up," Mrs. Reed said.
Leon Reed was born and
raised in Oklahoma but came
to Oregon when he was 17 "for
one year" but he has never
moved back.
He has worked in the lumber
industry since he was 17
except for a few years when he
was a farmer near Pendleton.
The Reeds also said they
cannot move because market
conditions are not favorable to
sell their home in Heppner.
"We would like to sell the
house in l'j years," he said.
The Reeds said the closing
of the plywood mill four days
before Christmas hurt a lot of
people at the mill but it made
sense from a management
standpoint because they did
not have to pay for the New
Year's holiday, they said.
Reed has quit at Kinzua and
acquired his accumulated va
cation pay but Mrs. Reed will
not quit until her job is
finalized with Gourmet Foods
because she cannot collect
unemployment benefits once
she quits.
Mrs. Reed said she will not
just take any job because,
"Everywhere pays so much
ower than at the mill."
1
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Dorene and Leon Reed
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