itmmm
t»
P r S S I K
r* O P r
A
7
: L
i°.,
WWII vet receives honors 46 years later
azette
imes
350
VOL 110 NO. 15___
W ' T
A
____ Wednesday, April 10, 1991____________Heppner
35*_________6 Pages
Alva Jones celebrates 100th birthday
Fire didn’t deter this World War
II vet from receiving his combat
medals, although it took him a bit
longer to receive them.
The medals awarded Herman
Blettell had been lost and the place
where his military records were kept
caught fire so the presentation was
delayed until last week, when he
finally received the medals from
Veteran’s Service officer Rita Hed
man. She presented them to him at
the Morrow County annex in
Heppner.
And what a list of medals-Blettell
received the Bronze Star, the Purple
Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the
Meretorious Unit Emblem, the
Presidential Unit Emblem, the
American Campaign Medal, the
Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the
World War II Victory Medal, the
Army Occupation Medal with a Ger
many Clasp, the Combat Infan
tryman Badge, and the Honorable
Service Lapel Button.
During World War II, Blettell was
a supply sergeant with the 42nd
Rainbow Division, Third Battalion,
L. Company 222nd. He had charge
of issue of all clothing, food and am
m unition. Every day it was
necessary for Blettell to go to the
front lines and he was wounded with
shrapnel as he was delivering am
munition and food to the company
at the Siegfried line. At the Siegfried
Line, he said, the Germans had con
crete bunkers three stories
underground. After he was wound
ed he spent a week in the hospital.
He was bom in North Dakota to
Louis and Annie Blettell.
Born in 1910, Blettell came to
Pendleton in 1931 and to Heppner in
1932. At one time he worked for Bill
Doherty on his ranch. In 1942, when
he was 32, Blettell was drafted into
the Army. At that time he was work
ing for St. Anthony’s Hospital in
Pendleton. After his stint in the Ar
my, he returned to Heppner in 1945,
the year he started farming on his
own ranch. In 1951 he married Mary
Brandon. When they met, she waited
tables at the Elkhom Restaurant,
owned by Eddie Chin. Mary passed
away in 1988. Blettell, now 80 years
old, has been a member of the
American Legion for the past 46
years. He was a post commander in
Christman convicted on
manslaughter charge
Four generations of the Jones family, sitting 100 year old
Alva Jones, clockwise standing-granddaughter Bobbette Hed-
man, Bob Jones, great-granddaughters Tiffany Hedman and
Brianne Jones.
Heralded as one of the areas
oldest patriarchs, Alva Jones, Hepp
ner, celebrated his 100th birthday
recently as family members and
friends came to wish him many hap
py returns and to share his birthday
cake.
Bom March 31, 1891, Jones, very
trim, alert and up-to-date, continues
to be in good health. A recent rare
hospital stay was only a minor set
back for him when it comes to walk
ing for exercise.
This very private centenarian has
lead a productive life as a farmer in
the Rhea Creek area, where his
father and grandfather before him
also farmed. That tradition is now
being carried on by a son and
grandson.
Jones said that a frugal lifestyle
kept everyone going during the
depression at the end of the 20s.
There wasn’t much money and you
paid your debts when you could.
And things didn’t get much better
during the drought years of the 30s,
he said.
A lot of business deals then were
made on the strength of a handshake
and farmers didn’t have much to sell.
People were self-sufficient, raising
most of their food and making do
with whatever they had, he said.
Mechanization revolutionized far
ming during Jones’ lifetime and
made it much easier. But a farmer
couldn’t over-produce when it came
to raising wheat in those days. And
lack of moisture or competition from
weeds made it even tougher, he said.
In contrast, today there are
chemicals that can control specific
things, even before plowing, he
noted.
In the late 20s, Jones began farm
ing with an iron-cleated John Deere
tractor. It was later replaced with a
track-layer UBA tractor. The first
tractors didn’t have much traction in
the front wheels, but they made far
ming easier and faster, he said.
Family farm life was interrupted
when he was inducted into the Ar
my during World War I. His divi
sion landed in France by boat in
1918. After fighting on front lines,
he came down with the mumps as the
war ended and spent a period of time
in a French hospital.
At home in 1920, he married Han
nah Wilson, an Irish lass. They were
married 31 years before she passed
away in 1951. Their sons, Robert of
Heppner and Donald of Phoenix, six
grandchildren and four great
grandchildren are a part of the Jones
current generations.
New barge loaded on Columbia
navigating the Snake River if water
levels are reduced in the future to aid
salmon populations.
Barge shipment is the cheapest
way for Morrow County Farmers to
get their wheat to Portland. This new
barge, owned by Shaver Transpor
tation. holds 3,600 tons of wheat, or
120,000 bushels, and will be
transported down river with three
other barges.
Truck shipment is more expensive
with 120 trucks being needed to
transport what one barge can haul.
New shaver barge is loaded at Hogue-Warner
One of the first new barges built
for the Columbia River in recent
years is loaded with wheat at the
Morrow Co. Grain Growers Hogue-
Wamer dock Tuesday.
Because of uncertainty over the
extent of salmon preservation
methods to be taken on the Colum
bia in the coming years, building a
new barge could be considered a
financial risk.
The barge, which measures 273
feet long. 42 feet wide, and has a 14
foot draft could have difficulty
Carl D Christman, lone, was
found guilty of second-degree
manslaughter Monday in the hit-and-
run death of an accident victim last
year.
Christman, 32, was also found
guilty of failure to perform the duties
of a driver involved in an accident
(hit and run), three counts of
recklessly endangering and reckless
driving.
Testimony during the four-day
jury trial, held in Morrow County
C ircuit C ourt, revealed that
Christman's blood alcohol level two
and one half hours after he ran over
and killed 26-year-old Steve Burland
on Highway 207 south of Butter-
creek junction May 11, 1990, was
.23, nearly three times the legal
limit.
Burland, who recently moved to
Heppner from Montana, had been
thrown or crawled from his vehicle
after a one-car accident and was be
ing attended to by passing motorists.
Christman, who was driving toward
Hermiston, approached the scene,
swerved around a car blocking his
path and ran over the victim at a high
rate of speed, say witnesses.
Burland was alive and responding
to aid at the time and an ambulance
had been called.
The three counts of reckless en
dangering resulted from Christman
nearly striking three people helping
Burland. The three jumped out of the
way at the last second.
Christman, who testified he drank
10 cans of beer before getting in his
Power outage caused by accident
A motorist hit a power pole Satur
day evening April 6, causing an
outage which lasted over eight hours
in some areas served by Columbia
Basin Electric.
CBEC Manager Fred Toombs
said that a vehicle broke a pole on
the main transmission line at
Baseline Road and Highway 207
around 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Hepp
ner. lone and Lexington were
restored power in about an hour, but
some homes in the Sandhollow area
were not restored to power until 5:30
a.m. the next morning.
Richard A. Peterson, 34, lone,
was cited in connection with the ac
cident on charges of failure to per
form duties of a driver (property
damage) and careless driving.
55 Alive driver’s course set
By Anne Morter
The “ 55 Alive” classroom
refresher course for drivers 55 years
and older will be held next Monday
and Tuesday, April 15 and 16 at the
Willows Grange Hall in lone. Each
Conservation
Farm to be
announced
The Spring Wheat League meeting
will be held at Willows Grange on
April 25 at 7 p.m. according to Mor
row County Extension agent Fred
Lundin.
Lundin says that the conservation
Farm of the Year award will be nam
ed at that time.
car that evening, and two more while
driving, stopped briefly after killing
Burland to talk to a flagger at the
scene. He left, however, and was
later apprehended by the Oregon
State Police in Echo where he was
being thrown out of the Echo Tavem
for causing a disturbance.
Christman admitted on the witness
stand he was drunk, but said poor
visibility prevented him from seeing
the victim. Testimony showed,
however, that he was wearing
sunglasses at the time.
Witnesses said that although the
accident occurred around 8:45 p.m.
visibility was not a problem. The sun
had gone down but it was not yet
dark, the sky was clear and there was
a full moon.
Morrow County District Attorney
Jeff Wallace brought charges of first
degree m anslaughter against
Christman, but the jury decided on
the lesser charge of second degree.
Judge Richard Courson presided
over the trial, which began last
Wednesday, April 3, and ended after
a three-hour jury deliberation Mon
day, April 8.
Courson ordered a pre-sentence
investigation with sentencing ex
pected May 17.
Manslaughter is a Class B felony
with a maximum penalty of 10 years
in prison. Hit and run is a Class C
felony punishable by five years in
prison. The reckless endangering
charges are misdemeanors and have
a maximum one year and $2,500
fine for each.
session will run from 8:30 a m. to
1 p.m. and the cost of the course is
$8. Interested parties should contact
Helen Crawford at 422-7575 in the
evenings for further details.
1974 and has been a vice
commander.
Blettell is a 52-year member of the
Elks’ club and for five years was a
trustee.
One of Blettell’s brothers, David,
died in World War II during the lan
ding at the Philippines. Three other
brothers also served during the war.
Bud, A1 and Wally. Wally died of
a heart attack after discharge, as a
result of an accident in the service.
Blood drive
scheduled
A Red Cross blood drive will be
held Monday, April 22 from 1 to
5:30 p.m. at the Heppner Elks Club.
For more information call Dana
Reid, 676-9187 days or 676-9973
evenings.
Pool to open
June 16
The Heppner City Pool will open
June 16 with reduced hours, accor
ding to information received at
Heppner City Council meeting April
8. The last day of school is June 7.
Following a free swim on June 16,
the pool will be closed on Mondays,
with the exception of lessons held
from noon to 3 p.m. Hours Tuesday
through Friday are: 11 a.m. to 2
p.m.-lessons; 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
open swim; 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.-lap
swim: 7 to 8:30 p.m. open swim.
Saturday and Sunday the pool will
be open from 1 to 5 p.m for an open
swim.
Season ticket prices are the same
as last year but individual session
swims and lessons are up. Family
tickets are $60; individual season
tickets-$25; each session (any
age)-$l; and lessons are $15 per stu
dent. Season tickets and swim lesson
fees may be purchased beginning
June 16.
Employees required to operate the
pool are down from eight last year
to six. because of the reduced hours.
The manager requiring a water
safety instructor’s card, would be
employed at $7.50 an hour; an assis
tant manager, also requiring a water
safety instructor's card would
receive $6.50 an hour, except when
he assumes the manager’s duties at
$7.50 an hour. Three WSI lifeguards
would receive $6 an hour and a
cashier would receive $5 an hour.
A community work day is being
planned to paint the pool. A crew
will prepare the pool surrounding
area for painting, but volunteers are
needed for painting.
A special fund has been set up at
the Bank of Eastern Oregon for
donations to renovate the pool’s
filtering system. The Oddfellows
have donated $2,500 and the Sorop-
timists $500 toward the renovation
which is estimated to cost $6,500.
In other business at Monday’s
meeting, the city council voted to in
crease city sewer rates to offset
$29,163 required for operation. Ac
cording to City attorney Bill Kuhn.
Measure 5 required that utilities pay
for themselves. In previous years ci
ty funds were used to make up the
difference between rates and costs.
REHEM BER A P R IL 15
Last day to con trib u te to you r
IR A for 1990
See
Barb
D AN K OF
X jju a & te m O reqon
•
Arlington
Heppner • lone
" Y m r Independent Home
Onmed Bank
F0,c