Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1984)
H i l K I h r H rppnrr Gazette- Tlm r«. H rppnrr O reg on H r d n r u l a y . D e c e m b e r 5. ih m German man enjoying Currin Ranch at A xel T ru m p fh e lle r Axel Trumpfheller * home 1 » 40 mile* southeast of Frankfurt in West Germany in the city of Hadkoenig Momart Hadkoenig is where "the government is" has a population of ahout 3,000 Momart hail about ion people and is in a forest areu with some aKrirulture Axel * fam ily in Momart includes his grandmother, an uncle, his par entx. a 23-year old brother, and a 12 year old sister It is not uneorn mon. he says for three generations to live in one household At 21 he says he is now responsible himself for what he does, "before 21 the parent* are responsible " Mis fam ily lives on a dairy farm in a mountainous area which has 16 dairy cows Most small farms have dairy cow*, he says, because they are needed to earn enough money Milk is the most work but it earns the miwt money Their farm is average si/e which is about 5OT0 acre* in their region They have a variety of crops including wheal, barley corn for silage, oats and rye He is currently stay mg at the Tom < 'urrin Ranch on l.ittie Butter Creek, and says that he had wanted to come to the I ruled States for a long time, s o when Brent Felsch a member of the Pendleton Chapter of Future Farmers of America spent three days on his (um ily's (arm and six months ut a neighbor's farm, he took advantage of the opportunity and asked him to try to find some families in the United States who would lie willing to take him in. if he would work for them Axel, finished his course at the speciul agricultural school he was attending July II. and says he (sicked his bags and flew to the t ruled Stales lie arrived in Haiti more. Maryland. July 24 and ttnard ed a bus for Pendleton "1 financed myself, and it was the cheapest way I could come." he said lie says that he was "surprised people on the bus were so friendly " It was the small things that I noticed that were a problem, nothing big fo r example we have McDonalds resaurants in West tierm any. but they are not like McDonalds here We also have pay telephones, but they are different from here After trying to figure out how the tele phone worked and not getting any where I finally went out and asked someone to help With changing busses too, it was different, but there was always somebody willing to help Axel says that he is glad that he made the trip When he arrived in Pendleton, he stayed on a wheat farm for three weeks, then went to Hoardman where he spent two months at a potato farm, and now he is wanting to extend his visa which expires January 24 Me has no definite plans after he leaves the Currin ranch, hut would like to spend the “ next four or five years traveling around the world, collecting experience and learning about the people and countries " Then eventually to settle back in West Germany and try to get a job There is a lot of unemployment, i f * difficult to get a job you like Another reason for coming to America, he says is that he wanted to learn the Fnglish language better Me studied Fnglish for six years in school, and for one and a half hours each wi-ek as refresher course dur mg the time he spent at the agncul tural technical school Most people he says w ill go Co a nine or 10 year school although about one quarter of the people w ill choose a 11 year school a da college All of the sch illin g is provided free, by the government, he says, but those who want to go to a college must have good grades to get in Although he grew up on his fam ily s farm and attended agricultural school, it is still necessary to pass a test at the completion of his studies to lie allowed to call oneself a farmer Before you pass the test, you only apprentice." he says Axel says that it is difficult to compare his home with the Meppner area because although at home he lives in a small village, i f * only two miles to the next v illage "Mere you drive many miles and there t* nothing " At home many people after they are out of school live with their parents and work in the same village or the next village But here, there is nobody after high school until they 're married School isn't so Important at home Sport* are not regulated by the school, he says, but by clubs Kach village has clubs which usually charge a small membership fee if there are two or three people they form a club A lot of club» are 100 years old the rule» were made then and people still join them flub» are important to the social live of the village they usually meet once a week Moat villages have a singing club and sports club Sports club« usually are active in gy mnastics and Kuropean handball, which Axel »ays has no resemblance to the version of handball played in America Some clubs like riding and tennis clubs are "only for people who have better wallets Me is a volunteer fireman in his village and they meet once a month to train Me describes their meet ings as "putting the equipment together sprinkling a little water off the front page stay around so people know we re doing something and putting the equip ment back where It belongs Then we go to the resaurant flu b s are to havefun That's the main purpose " he say* Me likes the I nited Stales. 1 would not want to extend my visa if I didn’t like it " There are more freedoms here In West Germany, there are 1« million people in about the same area as Oregon where there are only 2 6 million people At home people aren I allowed to have guns . there are a lot more rules, and the driving age is stricter because there is more traffic Although legal drinking age is 16. he »ays, to get a driver* In ense you have lobe IR First you go to driving school one evening each week for two to six months and have 10 12 driving lessons Then after all that, you must ( m s s a test and the license is expensive almost t'axi The penalty is strict for those caught driving without a license, too they can fa- denied a license for from two to five years Head 'em up <£• The right large trucks pictured above which tielong to Geophysical Service Inc . a »ubsidiary of Tcxa» I Instruments. "sent sound waves along Meppner s Main Street Tuesday as they roared from their parking spots to return to GSI's work area near Highway 74 The trucks called vibrating unit» are used to send sound move 'em out waves tar low the earth s surface and then to pick up the energy waves reflected from below ground formations with geophones or sensing devices said Field Crew Manager Bill Kelley The trucks were washed while thev were in town Mayor opens Christmas season with traditional tree lighting I he Rev I a-Hoy U nrnell li-, n ls i .irn ln -. in Christmas snrij¿s_at__thr_ downtown tree lighting ceremony INTERNATIONAL’ As Meppner mayor. Cliff Green, flipped the switch to turn on the lights on lleppner's downtown Christmas tree Friday Nov to. he told onlookers that Christmas had been in the hearts of many for several months but now it officially tiegins Coloring contest deadline nears Children who have colored pic lures for the Soroptimist s Coloring Conte»! should bring their entry to the Meppner T V office by Monday morning Dec 10 Picture* to color, for those who have not yet picked them up may be obtained from Coast to Coast HAW Drive In the Meppner T V offic and the schools in Meppner and Ion Money prizes will I«- awarded l first, second and third place w innei in each of three age divisions pre »chis I and kindergarten f ir and second grade and third an fourth grade Presidential proclamation honors home health care The President of the t nited States and the Congress have proclaimed November 25December I. 1**H4 as National Home Care Week to pay tribute to the thousands of dedicated individuals throughout America whose efforts allow more than five million elderly, infirm disabled or dying to receive skilled health and social services in the comfort and privacy of their own homes Blanche Collins. Supervising R N of the Tri-County Home Health Agency states "There is a move ment in this country to find less expensive and more humane ways to provide health care to our growing elderly population as well as child ren and young people who are temporarily or chronically ill or disabled lawmakers are finally discovering what we have known all along Home care supports the dignity and independence of our most vulnerable by keeping them out of hospitals and nursing homes for as long as possible It keeps families together and offers a com passionate and low cost way to care for our loved ones In an era of skyrocketing health care costs, home care offers an excellent alter native to institutional care both because it is less expensive and because it encourages the self reli a nee and cooperative effort upon which this nation is founded " Mrs Collins went on to note that Tri County Home Health Agency has been serving the counties of Morrow Gilliam, and Wheeler for over seven year* In those seven years some 454) patients have been admitted for care by their physicians and over tl.ixx) skillet) nursing and therapy visits have been made by the staff at Tri County Home Health Agency She toncluded by saying "The theme for National Home Care Week is When It Comes to Health ( are. There's No Place lake Home We think that says it all " Persons wishing additional infor mation on home care should contact the Tri County Home Health Agency at 67IL5I33 or stop by the office IH6 K May Street in Meppner Three O pportunities To Save On the Combine Of Your Choice Through December 31, 19&4• 1 Save W ith Low P rices Take advantage of Company authorized allow ances to give you prices even lower than last summer s best offers lo w prices coupled with possible yeai end tax beneMs make this your best opportunity to save on quality International' equipm ent 2 Save W ith Our Waiver O f Finance Plan Buy now and take delivery on any new or used qualifying com bine this year We II w.e the finance charges on new gram com bines until 6/1/85. and until 9/1/85 on corn, soybean or rice ■nbmes and 10/1/85 tor all co m p a ra b le used co m b in e s 3 Save W ith O p tio n a l Cash R ebate O r Low Rate Of F in a n cin g We want to help you buy the com bine you need to be Simply More Productive So. we re offering a choice of a cash rebate or low rate financing in lieu of Waiver of Finance Act now Stop in and get com plete details Offer expires Decem ber 31, 1984 Th.* O**« O* C ê T K «4l« « x o n K) l **rvg* m «A y «mhout Dotic# o* ofcfcgonor Planning ( lornrn to meet Dec. 10 The Meppner City Planning Com mission will hold a public hearing during the regular meeting at Mepp ner City Mall on Monday , December Id. PW4 A study session w ill start at 7 30 p m with! he regular session to follow at R p m The Commission willconsider 1 A Conditional I se permit applu at ion to allow a mobile home to be placed in a Central Commercial zone on landen Way. and (2> A Conditional Cse permit application to allow a Senior Citizens Activity Center building in a Gener al Residential zone Merchants to meet Fri. Meppner Merchants w ill hold a regular monthly meeting Frida* Dec 7 at noon at Kate's Pizza and Pastry M.C 6 6 Morrow County [Grain Growers™ Ph 989 8221 1(800)452 7396 P O B o r 3 6 7 L e x in g to n O regon 97639
