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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.