BESSIE
WETZELL
U OF ORE
NE WS P AP E R L I B
EU3ENE
CR
»7403
The Heppner
Gazette-Times
M orrow C o u n ty 's H o m e -O w n e d Weekly N e w s p a p e r
VOI
1« Ml is
APRII. I«. IMS
Heppner, I h ffu n
27
i t »• %«.»•>»
Weather
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April 2
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April
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High
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I 1 «H
OW Precip
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h> the (lit> of Heppm
Ken Nelson receives soil conservation award
✓
Ken Nelson
Ken Nelson was named (onserva
lion Farmer of the Year for Morrow
County al the annual meeting of the
Morrow County Wheat («rowers
league
Nelson 41. has lived at the family
farm six miles north of Lexington
six miles east of lone basically "all
of his life" except for four years
when he attended lame Community
College in Kugene earning an Asso
date of Science degree in aircraft
mechanics and worked for Trans
World Airlines He and his wife.
Julie, have two daughters. Jill. 13.
and Heidi. II
Nelson is a 1962 graduate of lone
high school and says that at that
time he wasn't all sure that he
wanted to be a famer. but after
living away from Morrow County, he
returned in 1970 and began working
for wages for his dad, Alfred, and his
uncle, the late Norman Nelson By
1971, he had formed a partnership
with his dad which continued until
19111 when he leased his dad's portion
of the ranchland and subsequently
has acquired leases for more fields
He and his brother. Keith, are now
working together and farm enough
acres to more than keep busy "
"Dad. " he explains still runs tract
or when he ran although he is
retired
"Soil conservation." he says is a
way of life, "if you're serious about
il and must be considered with every
operation on the farm It has been
drummed into my head since an
early age that they 're not making
much new soil, so if we want to
continue to farm, we want to do the
best possible job of seeing that the
soil slays in the field "
Trashy fallow, grass waterways,
and seeding marginal areas to per
manent grass all conservation me
thods begun during the 'M b by his
father and uncle They received the
conservation award in 1956 for part
of the same ground which he now
farms
Trashy fallow which require* the
use of a chisel plow and disc rather
than a moldboard plow for working
up the ground keeps most of the
stuble as a mulch on top of the
ground which conserve** moisture by
shdaing the soil from sunlight and
helps stop wind loss which some
years can tie- bigger than w ater loss
He has also practice*! limited tillage
for the last two years which require**
applying a contact herbicide such as
Houndup. in the spring to kill every
thing that is growing and planning
and watching to combine operation*
such as plowing and weeding or
fertilizing and wee-ding depending on
the ye*ar and the weather
He has also experiment«*! with an
additional herbicide, («lean, coin
bin«*l with Roundup, which he says
"seems to work well to hold Russian
thistle down especially on ashler
ground "It's important to remem
her that each time the ground is
w«**!«*!. the soil is looser and more
susceptible to wind erosion if there is
a blow "
Sometime** it's nece*ssary to "just
quit farming some areas and see*!
them to grass because of the prob
lem with soil erosion Usually shal
low slee*p and ashy ground seed«*! to
grass retains the moisture and soil
Nelson i Dims 196 acre's of perman
ently *«**!•*! grass which includes
12 . 6(10 feet of grass waterways,
areas in the field where a ditch
would wash with normal water
runoff When *«*e*dcd with grass.
wat«*rways hold the water and soil in
the ground und prevent the water
from cutting a deep ditch and
washing the sent away
1-evel terrac«*i. the first of which
Nelson began in 197« seemed to be
working well he says, so he pul in
more three years m a row until he
felt that he* had covere*l the ground
which nestled to be taken care of al
that time He det ided this spring
that he had another area where he
could use a few more ditch«** and
tw*gan mapping them out with the
help of the Soil Conservation Ser
vice He says that altogether, he has
55 61(1 feet of level terraces which
look similar to diversion ditches hut
are made to hold water as well as
soil in the field rather than channel
ing the excess runoff out of the field
Nelson explain* that the terraces
which he made are big enough. 70
feet wide, that they can be farmed
over the top of. and meet Soil
Conservation Service specifications
for height, thickness and depth, so
that they will do what they are
d«*signe*t to do
"It’s important," he explains to
"look at everything that comes
along as far as soil cornersation and
to try the methods which look like
they will conserve soil and increase
production The Extension Service
and Soil Conservation Service, do a
go«*! job of presenting information
about what is new and what works
Varieties of wheat also can help to
I'onserv e soil because the newer
varieties, such as Stephens are
higher producing and a higher yield
generally means more stubble,
which, may not ho real significant,
but every little thing added together
h«*lps Stubble, however, can be a
problem if therr is a lot and it's not
handle*! propecly. it will be* difficult
to get the drills through the ground
to x«*e*d
"Wheal research, fertilizer and
chemicals have made* farmers far
better off than they would he without
Herbicides, although we h«*ar many
negative things about them, if used
properly are the lies! thing that has
happen«*! to (arming "
If not
expose*! to new things you end up
getting left b«*hind, he conclude*!
"You have to tie committed to it t soil
conservation i to do a g«*id job of it "
Appreciation dinner honors
volunteer firemen
Heppner Mayor Cura Costa presents Fire Chief Forrie Burkenbine with
certificate of appreciation, during dinner held Monday in honor of Heppner s
Volunl«*er Fire De*portment
The dinner, sponsored by the Heppner Chamber of Commerce was held at
the* Heppner Bowl, and was inter I«*! ■ show the town's appnx-iulmn for the
hard work and dedication of the vo infeer (ire department
Burkenbine acce'pted the certifies and told the gather«*«! firemen and
their wives we couldn’t get along uthoul you "
Rabbitry brings *a little more' with each trip to market
stock bett«*r
cause*! a drop in production and with
Another change we would con culling
out some of the poor moth
sider. she continues, is building the ers. the doe popujation is down
barns with a coni roll«*! environment
so that we do not have the* heat to lo too Corrine Iwgan breeding re
«ontend w ith in the summer and the placement stock a mon'h ago and
cold during the winter laist winter, expects to have it built back up to 500
which was more severe than some do«** within another month
DA investigates campaign
Gale Grill, treasurer of the com
mitt«** to elect Bill Sharkey when
aske*l about the complaints, said
H o a rd m a n . O re g o n
A number of complaints concern "most assuredly we utilized all th«'
mg thr campaign practices used in resource** available to make sure
the March 26 election hv the commit that pesiple registered lo vote and
(«*• lo elect William Sharkey have voted You can also be assured we
been received by the District Atlor campaign«*! strong und hard for our
ney suffice reported Morrow County candidate using every legal means
District Attorney, Richard McNer we could "
Bill Sharkey who was eles'tex! lo
ney
The complaints included U & I s the position of I’ort Commissioner in
office had called employe«** and the March 26 election said ohout III«'
suggested whom to vote for. offered complaints, "it is time to put all of
rules on shift time, attached fly«*r* to our difference** Ix-hind us and get
paychecks, and run a video tape down to work."
endorsing one candidate on the
company's closed circuit TV syx
tern None of the*«* actions accord
mg to McNerney. are illegal as long
as they are reported as campaign
contributions
Il was also alleged that the com
Heppner merchants will spon
milt!*' toelect Sharkey had someone
sor a two hour Moonlight Sale on
inside the poling place resommend
Friday. April 26 This is the first
mg which candidate lo vole for and
lime they have held the moonlight
rumors suggested that numerous
sale on a Friday
illegal aliens had registrre*! to vole
Merchant« will close their husi
Both charges were* investigated,
n«**s«*s at 6 p m for supper and
says McNerney and neither were
rexipen them again al 7 p m w ith
found to tie true* Of the 65 pesiple
spe* ial merchandise mark«*! w ith
who r«*gister«*l in the week prior to
sale prices
and on election day only five were
l/H-al organizations that would
horn out of the l ! S and all were
like to have bake sales or space
citizens, he add«*«!
for selling other Items should
McNerney report«*! he ha«! never
contact Jerry Hollomon at the
had so many complaints on one issue
Shoe Box, 676 5241
before
11« BETII Ml 1.1.1 VMS
Thr Fnlrrprirr
40 years later
Receives WWII medals
Mama bunny rest« on top of nest box
< Editor's Note March 29. 1984.
the Gazette Times feature«! an ar
tide about a new business. Miles
Rabbitry, in Fuller Canyon six miles
from Heppner Last Friday, we
visited with the owners again and
learned of the progress )
"The whole experience has been
an «education during the last year
says Corinne Miles, who. with her
husband Dexter, takes care of five
bunny barns each currently housing
producing does
The animal care requires almost
full time effort from one person, she
continue**, but each trip to market
s«*ems to bring a little more Dexter
has begun a route which takes him to
Pocatello every other w«*«*k to pur
chase rabbit food, and on the return
trip he picks up fryers from other
producers to deliver along with his
own to Nor Be*» t processing plant
One thing which we could do
differently if we were to start again
is not to buy all of our breeding stock
at once, but to begin with about
one quarter of the st«x k and raise
our own. Corrine explains, "That
way we know the gintd mothers"
and would be able lo control our
Moonlight suit*
coming April 26
Seniors slate Saturday auction and rummage sale
Raymond F "Bud" Batty displays medals he earned during 54 combat
missions as a bomhadier navigator in Europe during World War II Although
Second Lieutenant Batty was separated from the .Wist Bomb («roup of the
Nineth Air Force out of England and France in 1945. he received the medals
last Saturday April 6. 1965 when he and hi* wife returned from a winter
vacation in Arizona
Batty who retired in 1961 decided that he might need his discharge papers
from the service He had a certificate of service showing the date of
se-paratmn. but not the official discharge During the process of inquiring
about the discharge, it was discovered that he had never received the
medals which he had earned
Include*! in his prestigious collection are the World War II Victory Medal,
the European. African. Middle Eastern Campaign medal with four major
battle stars, the Distinguished Flying Croa* which was awarded by General
Anderson after the successful bombing of a highway and railroad on the
Mosel river and an Air Medal with three bonze oak leaves and one silver
cluster Still to come is the Presidential Citation for service during the Battle
of the Bulge which Batty's squadron received He recalls two missions
during that battle, one when 36 bombers went out and 19 were loat. another
when 12 went out and only two returned
Batty is a lifetime resident ot the Heppner area with the exception of the
time he spent farming in several different areas following his time in the
service He has worked at a variety of occupations including managing
Heppner Nor Alas just prior to his retiremtent in 1961
From 9 a m until 5 p in Saturday.
April 13. the day'« big action will be
al the Morrow County Fairgrounds
where the Senior Citizen Mealsite
will have a large, day long rum
mage sale
An auction of exciting valuable
and useful articles such as antique
furniture and electrical appliances
will begin at Ip m About 3 p m the
moped which was donated by Ray
Boyce will be given to a lucky ticket
holder
From II 30 until I 30 a noon meal
featuring nutritious beef stew and
hearty chili, French bread and
choice servings of homemade pies
will be on sale in the senior dining
area During the hours before anil
after lunch, hot dogs and pop will be
sold near the kitchen in the large,
main hall and sales area
This senior sale is offering many
racks and tables of clothing for all
family members children s toys
and games a big collection of
books, many household articles, and
a huge assortment of miscellaneous
items Everything at the sale will be
very reasonably priced, said a
Senior Citizen spokesperson some
things are being called "unbeliev
able bargains,"
V __ 1 ». .
T I > I
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left to Right Bill Cox. Paul Jones Anna Johnson the fine antique items to be on sale al the senior citizen
Alberta Johannes, Babe and Bob Harris show some of rummage sale Saturday