BESSIE WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER L I B
E U G E N E OR Ö 7 4 0 3
The Heppner
Gazette-Times
M o r r o w C o u n t y ’a H o m e - O w n e d W e e k l y N e w s p a p e r
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H eppner, Oregon
25‘
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5 Z.
Weather
High
Tur , July 9 99
Will . July 10 91
Thurs . July II »>
Fri . July 12 9U
Sal , July 13 to
Sun . July 14 92
Mon . July 15 92
Low
57
55
5«
51
50
55
55
i*i«P
h> the ( ' it> of Heppner
Youthful workers contribute much to county’s grain harvest
Christopher Rea unloods bank-out w agon
Much work remains before rural fire district becomes a reality
lone Kire Chief Harvey Childers
and Assistant Chief Ashley McCabe
have spent their spare time during
the past several months trying to get
a rural fire district on the fall
ballott
As they began working to form a
district with lone at the center.
McCabe says that they discovered
that a rural fire district had been
formed in 1952 which both Morrow
County and the state of t ircgon say is
still valid Thus far. with a list of
property owners in the district, they
have been trying to get a letter out
stating their intentions to form a
district ask for support, and recruit
more people
In order to get a measure on the
ballot. McCabe explains, it will be
necessary to form a hoard of direc
tors and a budget committee to
determine the amount of money
needed to get the district started and
to keep it operating
For a rural district, it will lie
necessary to purchase another fire
truck The town currently has only
one truck jnd it is not permitted to
leave city limits More turn out
gearhoots. coats, and pants, will
also be needed for the additional
volunteer firefighters milk'd
Currently, says McCabe, four fire
fighters in addition to himself and
the thief attend the regular training
sessions the first and third Wednes
days of each month "Others show-
up when the fire whistle blows, but
they need to train regularly with the
crew to be effective during an actual
_
f.rc Three of the volunteers work
outside of lone, so more help is
needed for the city fire district,
especially if a fire should occur
during the day. or on weekends
Both McCabe and Childers have
current KMT certification and are
able to handle other emergency
situations as well as fires
McCabe says that they believe a
rural district would help the com
munity because currently the only
fire protection is provided by farm
equipment and water which farmers
keep on their trucks
McCabe says that so far informal
inquires indicate that people in the
area support the idea although some
say they want to reserve judgment
until they see how it will effect their
property taxes
Indications are also that they will
need a pumper truck for buildings
and a tanker truck for brush fires
McCabe points out that by the time a
pumper truck could arrive at a fire
ten miles or so from town, they
might not be able to save the
surrounding buildings
We have been trying to recruit
more firefighters says McCabe lie
cau*<- they arc ihc also necessary (or
th, ^ dutrtet We arc fortunate to
have an excellent training associa
tion in this area and anyone who
would like to volunteer is urged to
attend one of the regular training
meetings or contact any of the
volunteers, Childers Met abe, Tom
tiates Dennis Thompson. Jim Boor
and John Kk.xtrom
Spray
principal hired
at
lone
Kichard Allen. 35, Spray, was
Having done some under
officially hired as the new principal
at lone Schools at the Monday. July
15 school board meeting Allen,
the board s first choice from among
37 applicants, will be "on the job" in
lone on Monday, July 22
Allen and his wife Janie have two
children, Steve, seven, and
Kluabeth, four
He has been the principal at Spray
schools since 1979 Prior to that he
taught grades six through eight.
English reading, math, and P K at
Kossil He also did some coaching
during his five years there From
1972 to 1974, he taught grades five
and six in the Salem school district
graduate work at Faster Oregon
State College. Allen received his
Bachelor of Science degree in edu
cation at Oregon College of Fduction
in Monmouth in 1972 His Masters
degree in education was awarded by
Portland State University In 1982
Since that time, he has continued his
education by doing some course
work at the University of Oregon
though not officially enrolled in a
doctoral program
Allen replaces Chuck Starr who.
after serving nine years as principal
of lone Schools, has recently been
hired as Assistant Superintendent of
Morrow County Schools
Schools increased by 91 students last previous year, the school board was
year, making it the highest number told Monday night
Since 1973 the county has gained a
of students enrolled in the history of
total of 697 students, with 748 more in
the district
As of the last day of school 1,813 Hoardman and Irngon. 10 more in
students were enrolled in the seven Heppner and 61 less in lone schools
"There are three significant
things about these figures." super
intendent Doyle McCgsiin told the
hoard He said the kindergartens
ended the year higher than any other
class, the ending enrollment in the
district was higher than the begin
mng. which is unusual, and "the
enrollment is the highest this district
has ever had.”
McCaslin said with the higher
kindergarten enrollment the school
district will need to begin thinking
about adding classroom space,
“espec ially at the north end of the
countyi "
"We are about tilled up. particul
arly at the elementary level,"
McCaslin told the board, and he said
with a projected population increase
in the county of 80 percent by the
year 2000 . W'e are going to have to
look at adding classes at the lower
levels "
In other business, the board
elected Joe Stevens of Hoardman as
chairman for the coming year Hr
will replace Jerry McFlligotl. lone,
who has served ax chairman for the
past two years
Stevens. 48. has been on the hoard
since 1982. is a personnel manager
for Lam Weston in Hermiston. is
married and has four children
The board also elected Kandy
Hughes as vice chairman
In other action, the board
learned that recently appointed
assistant superintendent. Chuck
Starr, does not have enough class
room credits to qualify for a super
intenedent's certificate Starr will
apply for a "restricted" certificate
until he is able to finish up the
necessary classes. McCaslin said
Starr was hire last month to replace
John Fdmundson. who resigned as
assistant superintendent
-received resignations from
teachers Stan Scott, elementary PK
teacher at A C Houghton and Sam
Hoardman. Curt Weiss, speech and
language therapist in North Morrow
County and Theresa Kudd. language
arst teacher at Riverside High
appointed Sue Proud fool to the
district budget committee,
replacing Gay Harshman
learned that because of low water
in the irrigation ditches at Irrigon,
the school found it necessary to
switch to more expensive city water
It expectes io switch back to
irrigation sometime this week
hired the following teachers
Cara Costa for one half year grade
four at Heppner, Linda Dutrher,
from Spray, for language arts at
Heppner High, Barbara Hayes.
Heppner. as librarian Heppner
High. Robert Isted, Medford, for
elementary band and chorus Joy
Krein. Heppner for grade two at
Heppner. Cheryl M(\utt. for
special education at Sam Hoardman
Elementary school, and lee Block
for math and computer science at
Heppner High
Deirdre and John Hempel
1
harvest His wheat isn't ready, so
one of his combines is also cutting in
the field
Keith estimates they should be
done with the harvest at the first of
next week with the help of my
neighbor "
Meanwhile down the road, work
mg in a Morrow County Grain
Growers elevator in l>exington, is
Bill Kenny a local man who is in his
third year running elevators during
harvest
One of the many seasonal workers
hired during harvest by the co-op
Kenny says it's hard work, but a
good way to make money for col
lege
The son of Bill and Marge Kenny,
he is a graduate of Oregon State
University, and is presently a teach
er at Albany high school
“ It really helps out on expense a
lot," he says of working in the
harvest "You make quite a bit of
money because of the overtime
You reallv don i have min h me fm
anvtiling else Ihougl
Kill
who works 14 hours a day six and
seven days per week
So far he s worked at the Me Nab
Kuggs ami now the Lexington eleva
tors, where his duties include weigh
ing and unloading the truck- keep
ing the records and testing and
sampling the grain
\ lot of
shoveling too. he adds
Hill, who got out of school in
Albany on a Friday, and w.i- at the
elevator to start work the next
Monday, says he may use som« >1
the money he earns this summer to
go back to college ami gel his
masters degree
W
r
Marvin Padberg (left) and Keith Rea direct the harvest cr <w
More
students enrolled than ever before
Enrollment in Morrow County county schools, up from 1.722 the
New administrator arrives
John Hempel. 30. Idaho, and his
wife Deirdre, have moved to Hepp
ner where he assumed the duties of
administrator of Pioneer Memorial
Hospital Monday. July 15 He was a
Navy hospital corpsman on duty
with the Marine Corps and ran a
hospital in Oklahoma prior to com
ing to Heppner Both he and his wife
have degrees from Idaho State
University
Hempel told the Chamber of Com
merce Monday that he likes the
northwest and that is "one reason
we came here." He says that he had
been "favorably impressed with
Heppner and when it ithe admims
After a year of standing idle the
combines have starlet) up. the grain
trucks are rolling to the fields, and
the crop is coming in. as it s harvest
time once again in Morrow County
By far the busiest tune of the year,
harvest means long hours, hard
work and the combined efforts of
many people to get the thousands of
bushels of grain to market
An example of this effort exists on
the Keith and Judy Kea farm outside
of lone It means that 15-year-old
ton Gary is driving the big combine
to harvest the grain, and 15 year-old
Christopher is waiting nearby with
the tractor, pulling a bank out wag
on to pick up the grain
It means that 23 year old Army
Sergeant Craig Kea home on leave,
Is also helping out with the harvest
Directing traffic in the field over
the CB radio is father Keith, who
drives the big semi, hauling the rut
grain to the family storage bins
located on the farm
Gary has been driving the com
bine for three years now, and both he
and Christopher are doing real well
says their dad, who estimates their
yield will be between 35 and 40
bushels of wheat, and one ton of
barley per acre
Meanwhile Judy listens in on the
conversations in the fields, over her
own CB radio, located in the kitchen
of the family home overlooking the
farm
She's been planning the family
meals for the w.ek. saving she
doesn't feel right until the planning
is complete
Also there to help with the harvest
is Judy’s brother, a school teacher
from la Grande who has been down
for five years now
* On this day. neighbor Marvin
Padbrrg is also working in the Itea
trator s position > came open, we
jumped at it We came from a
small town and like small towns, he
emphasized
He says that it is much easier to
work in a community which has the
years, as Heppner has It's his wish,
he says, to cut the amount of
dependency on the tax base and for
the long term, to make the hospital
as free of tax support as possible
Hempel describes Pioneer as a
"good hospital with a good staff,"
and is confident that together they
can provide quality health care to
the community
Joe Stevens
Bill Kenny shovels wheat at M C.G G elevator m lexingt n
Sue Robinson watches Bill Kenny record her load of'& arley
Expected wheat crop down 20 % from 1984
Oregon farmers are expecting to
harvest 52 8 million bushels of
winter whe-at in 1985. 2<l percent less
than 1984 according to the Oregon
Crop and Livestock Kcporttng
Service If realized, this will he the
smallest winter wheat «rop since
1979 Planted acreage was oil nine
percent I 03 million acres, of which
960 thousand acres are intended lor
harvest as grain, nine percent fewer
than a year earlier, eight bushels
lews than last year's record yield
brx-ause of drought conditions state
wide
Oregon's spring wheat acreage is
up in 198.5 Ninety thousand .o res
were planted 29 percent more than
a year ago. while 31 p»'rcenl more or
85 thousand acre*, are intended (or
harv«*st as grain
Despite drought reduced yields
Oregon's 198.5 harlev crop should lx-
10 perrenl more than the I9H-I < rop
with a total of 19 I million bushels
Sevenleen percent more M o . wxh
acres were planted and 18 percent
more (330,000) are intended lor
harv«*st. for the largest acreage
since the early 70s Yield* .ire
expe«'led lo average 58 bushels per
acre, down from 82 hii»h«-ls in 1984