Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1984)
m ""pit'ni" y" p i0i y 0pt njiii npi w y php y w w ip" iwnnrmi i CESS I E WETZELL U OF ORE NEWSPAPER LIB EUGENE Oft & 7 4 0 3 Tlie Heppreeff IM2(2UU( LI VOL 102 NO. 2. THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1M4 Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Heppner, Oregon 25c 8 PACKS Weather by the City of Heppner High Low precIp Tues.; June 19 77 53 12 Wed., June 20 59 48 39 Thurs., June 21 61 43 13 Fri., June 22 75 48 Sat., June 23 83 54 Sun., June 24 86 51 Mon., June 25 89 55 Currin takes 1st in nation Mike Currin Mike Currin, son cf Ren and Judy Currin, Heppner, wen first place in steer wrestling event at the College Nationals Finals Rodec at Bczeman, Mcntana last weekend. He earned the honor by accumu lating mere points in that event than any ether competi tors during the year. For his efforts, he won a saddle, a silver buckle, a $1,000 scholarship, a scholar ship for $1,500 for Blue Moun tain Community Co llege, and $1,600 for himself from the jackpot event. Mike, 19, a freshman at BMCC was "unaware that he'd won until they called his name," says his mother .Judy. North fork of Willow Creek Road Work may start in fall Work could possibly begin this fall on the north fork of Willow Creek Road to CuU forth Park said Morrow Coun ty Judge Don McElligott. The road has deteriorated and is full of chuck holes ; it has been in very poor condition for the past several years. The final design conference wiui the Public Works Direct or and the Bureau of Public Roads was held Tuesday, June 12, and contract negotiations are currently underway with minority contractor, Lopez Paving of The Dalles. McElligott estimates that the contract negotiations will continue for about two months. Then, after approx imately another month of gov ernment processing, the con tract can be signed and Lopez Paving can begin subcontract ing the right of way clearing and the fence building on the project. The subcontracted work could possibly be done this fall and the crusher moved in to make the gravel for the pro ject. It is hoped, McElligott concluded, that the actual con struction can start next spring although it had previously been expected to begin this summer. She says that it was a close event. "Mike's excited ;the national championship Is what they work all year Ic win. I'm thrilled. We have gone tc quite a few rodeos and we always think they're champ ions, even if they don't win." she concludes. (Several other local youth competed at the C.N.F.R. last weekend. Details about their performance will be published as they are made available tc the Gazette-Times.) CBEC Board of Directors met June 21 The Columbia Basin Elec tric Co-op Inc. Board of Direc tors met Thursday, June 21. and approved a change from the auditing firm employed last year which had moved its office from the Hermiston area to a firm in the Pendleton area Also discussed at the meet ing was the necessity of hiring a replacement for co-op attor ney, Herman Winter. It was decided to interview several carxlidates to be certain to avoid anv conflict of interest Park at Willow Creek Dam Construction will take longer than expected Construction of a recreation park on the Willow Creek Lake near Heppner will take longer than anticipated, the US Army Corps of Engineers said last week. Corps officials said con struction of the campground and park facility, planned for the upper end of the lake, could possibly start in sum mer of 1985, however, they weren't making any promises. The Heppner Economic De velopment Corporation, a non profit group working toward development in the Heppner area, has been working on the park project for over a year, and members were not pleas ed with delays on the project by the Corps. "Our patience is kinda run ning out," development cor- ' poration President Jim Hayes told the gathered Corps offi ;, cials. "We don't want to ; ridicule you, but we find it difficult to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time. We don't want to be put ; off." Col." Bob Williams of the Corps' Walla Walla district office said the reasons for the delay are that a master plan for the park must now be developed befor? the corps ; can do anything. Williams said his office or iginally tried to move ahead with the project without the plan and cut out some of the red tape, which he says didn't work. "A year ago when economic development corporation came to us it was thought a campground would be benefi cial," Williams told the crowd, which included Morrow Coun ty Judge Don McElligott, Hayes, Fish and Wildlife offi cial Glen Ward, Heppner May or Cliff Green, and Tom Ime son of Sen. Mark Hatfields Portland office. "We discussed cost sharing, and you all agreed to share the cost. We did a rough layout to get a fix on costs, which looked to be around $180 to$200 thou sand." Williams said not much planning had gone into the park project, and that now a long-range plan requiring pub lic hearings and meetings in Heppner would need to be completed before the Corps makes any advances on the park. The plan, which is expected to take four months to comp lete, would address all aspects of the project. "We thought because of the cost sharing (The county a greed to provide labor for construction of the park) we could short cut that (long range plan)," said Williams. "We were over exuberant and we got stopped in our tracks. It caused some confu sion here (in Heppner,)" said Williams. "We got stopped, not be cause we tried to reneg on it, New minister arrives at Heppner United Methodist Council approves testing of well At a special city council meeting Tuesday, June 19, it was reported that drilling at the well on Pete Lennon's land hat gone to more than 1,000 feet deep with apparently no more water coming into the well than the 135-150 gallons per minute which was tested at 893 feet. "The decision was made to test pump and see what we have. If there is 150 gallons per minute or better, we will develop the well; if not, we will abandon it," reports Hep pner Mayor Cliff Green. Councilman Warren Plo charsky said the recently completed 24 hour test was not long enough. Jerry Branton, city engineer handling the project, said it would cost approximately $4,000 to $4,500 for a 48 -hour test. A one month extension of the option on the land cost an additional $1,000. Buckner Pump Service will try to com plete the additional test before the end of the month so the land purchase can be complet ed. The five and one-half acre site is costing the city $15,000. The new well will be for emergency use, but in a drought season it will add about 12 percent to the capa city of the present water sys- Summer story hour scheduled Story hour will be held this Thursday, June 28, 10:30 a.m. at the Heppner Library. All children are invited to attend. Story hour is scheduled for the last Thursday of each month during the summer. It will resume its regular sche dule of every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the fall. tern. The city's six other wells are located on Willow Creek. The city wanted one in a different location in case something happened where the present wells could not be used. Financing of the project comes from bonds approved to update the water system sev eral years ago. Look for color insert Central Market 's grocery ad will be a flyer in this week's paper. Look for the 8 page full color Family Grocer insert for many specials. The Rev. Susan West Thursday, June 21, the Rev. Susan West arrived in Hep pner as the 40th pastor of the Heppner United Methodist Church. County budget reduced by $125,000 This year's Morrow County budget has been cut by $125,000 says Don McElligott, Morrow County Judge Voters had approved tins amount for the const ruction of a park campground above the Willow Creek Dam; however, since construction of the park has been delayed, the amount bud geted for its construction has been cut from the budget. Since $100,000 of the amount was to have been received by the county from the Army Corps of Engineers, the actual amount of the tax-funded spending cut from the budget is $25,000. McElligott further explains that because three percent more taxes than expected have been collected .the carry over, into the next fiscal year will be greater than expected. Because of larger carryover, it is hoped that the tax rate will be no higher than last year, ($3.50 per $1,000 assess ed property value). The exact amount will not be known until all calculations are in, but McElligott concludes that vo ters approved a higher rate than will be levied. Big trout caught at Willow Creek Dam At least two Heppner resi- dents have had good luck fishing the lake behind Willow Creek dam during the past couple of weeks. Max Harris reports catch ing a 23" trout that weighed "close to 10 pounds" on Fri day, June IS. The same day, he caught another fish which was only 19 inches long. Hoy Quackenbush who was trolling in a boat with Kenny Marshall June 19 caught a 21" 6 lb. trout. It was "quite a thrill," he said. I had "a lot of fun getting him in. Every time he went out of the water I thought he was lost. The net was hardly big enough." Quackenbush says he has only been fishing on the lake a couple of times, but that the fish he has caught have aver aged 10" - 11". According to Glen Ward of the Oregon State Department of Fish and Wildlife, there were 1,600 legal trout and 16,000 sublegals (which should reach legal size near the end of July) planted at the dam. 2 Heppnerites on EOSC honor roll Cindi Bergstrom and San dra J. Ward both of Heppner are among 221 students who were listed by Eastern Oregon State College on the spring honor roll. To qualify for the honor roll . students must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher , on 12 graded credit hours for the term. The Rev. West was appoint ed to the church here during the annual conference of the Oregon-Idaho United Metho dist Churches held at Wilium- Gospel concert set at Christian Life Center The "First Edition", one of the Northwest's newest gospel groups will be in concert at the Christian Life Center, 535 Morgan, Heppner, Friday, June 29 at 7 p.m. The 38 musicians who make up the "First Edition" are Junior and Senior High young people from Puyallup, Wash ington. They are an outreach ministry of the First Assem bly of God, Puyallup. Thirty-three vocalists are supported by a rhythm section including, piano, Rhodes, and drums, plus other musicians who play trumpets, flutes and percussion instruments. Their music is gospel, mid dle of the road. The concert will present some of today's significant gospel tunes with a fresh touch. The Rev. Leroy Warnell of the Christian Life Center says everyone's welcome to attend the concert. ette University, Salem, during the first week of June, where she was ordained as an elder and granted full membership in the conference. She has recently completed probationary status with the conference serving the United Methodist Church at Warren ton as pastor and at Astoria as assistant pastor. She also did some work at the Astoria radio sta tion, giving programs on religious news and folk music. The Rev. West is a native of Owensboro, Kentucky, on the Ohio River. She is the second of the five children of Ann and Bill West, having an older brother, two younger brothers and a younger sister. After high school she attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington from which she was graduated in 1976. She was employed at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. She has become the first cler gyperson in her family. Her seminary training was com pleted in 1981 in Denver at the Iliff School of Theology. During her time in seminary she served as a student pastor at churches in east-central Kansas in three small wheat- area communities: Lost Springs, Hope, and Lincoln. She experienced a big sum mer wheat harvest during this service. - Her hobbies- and special in--teresLs include her cats, am ateur photography, sewing and outdoor sports (she is particularly looking forward to some cross-country skiing.) The Rev. West is not occupy ing the Methodist Parsonage alone. Twin black and white male cats, Jesse and Frank (the James brothers) and a choice purebred, blue point Siamese female named Zosa keep her company. Last Sunday, June 24, she occupied the pulpit in Heppner for her Hello sermon and met some children and adult mem bers of the congregation who agree that she has a ' good clear speaking voice. She is looking forward to visiting with people throughout the town and surrounding area. Asked about plans and hopes for the church, the Rev. West stated she expects to serve folks of all age groups, but is "especially hopeful of strengthening the childrens' and youth programs and of involving as many people as possible." Reunion set at Lexington The Lexington high school class of 1959 will celebrate their 25-year reunion Sunday, July 15 at noon at the school grounds in Lexington with a no-host potluck picnic. A spokesperson for the class says that all classes of Lexing ton high school are invited to join the potluck and catch up on old times. Each class member should bring his fam ily, table service, a potluck dish of appropriate size, and pictures or other interesting items from memory lane. WCCC to celebrate July 4 The Willow Creek Country Club will celebrate July 4 with a family playday and barbe cue announced a spokesperson for the club. Bev and Ed Gunderson, chairpersons and the follow ing committee: Trish and Dave Gunderson, Lucille and Ray Massey, and Wanda and Vern Willis will be in charge. Persons whose last names begin with A through I are asked to bring dessert, J through z to bring salads. Play will begin at 4 p.m. concluded the spokesperson. Legion sponsors fireworks at lone The lone American Legion will hold the annual lone fireworks display on Tuesday, July 3, at approximately 9 p.m. on the lone football field. Everyone is invited to attend says a spokesperson for the legion. To help insure the safety of everyone attending, only the fireworks being set off by the members of the Legion will be allowed on the field this year. Spectators are asked not to bring sparklers, firecrackers, or any other fireworks so that everyone may enjoy the dis play in safety. but because we probably push ed to hard on your behalf," he said. Work in the master plan for use of the lake has already begun, with a study group from the corps meeting at the courthouse in Heppner Tues day at 1:30 p.m. Concerning ether aspects cf the dam project, Ccrps engi neers said the dam is still "seeping" at the rate cf fcur cubic feet cf water per second, down 95 percent following grouting work now completed. . The engineers said the leak ing should slow down more as the dam calcifies over the years. "Structurally it's fine," said Williams. On the irrigation subject the corps indicated there won't be any irrigation for at least two irrigation seasons. The irriga tion issue will be held in abeyance while local farmers decide about forming an irri gation district, thus prevent ing anyone else from filing on the available water. About rules for use of the " lake behind the dam, Corps officials admitted there are no rules now limiting the size of boats or motors on the lake. Water skiers have been seen using the lake; however, this may change if rules against motors are adopted later. Corps officials said by the end of September several con tracts around the dam, includ ing replacing the Alphalfa St. bridge, building a parking lot and boat ramp on the lake, completion of decking on the dam, and the flood warning system, will be completed. The flood warning system will include 17 precipitation and temperature gauges and five stream level gauges, stra tegically located on Hinton, Shobe, Balm and Willow Creeks. Lions to sell fireworks The Heppner Lions will be selling fireworks on Main Street between the Country Rose and the office of Abrams, Kuhn & Spicer from June 29 through July 4. Fireworks will be sold in the evenings on June 29, July 2, July 3 and all day on June 30, July 1 and July 4. The selection of fireworks will be bigger and better than ever said a spokesperson for the Lions. Proceeds received from the fireworks sale will go toward the retirement of the Heppner Swimming Pool So lar Heating Project debt. "Your past patronage of the fireworks has been appreciat ed. We look forward to doing business with you this year," concluded the spokesperson. G-T closed July 4th Since next Wednesday July 4, is a holiday, the Gazette Times will be printed and mailed on Tuesday, July '3 instead of Wednesday. News and classified ad deadlines will be 5 p.m. Friday, June 29 for this week only. Deadline for display ads will be S p.m. Monday, July 2 for this week only.
