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