Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1991)
r i f O ' • M 7; w c* 7 * f 2 c* k* E w L to L »> i r ■ ' »I u o r E u 3 : Budget cutting proposals to be aired Oct. 17 o R r li E v; 3 P A P " R L I 3 e or 9 7 4 : t 35C azette imes VOL 110 NO 42 8 Pages Wednesday. October 16, 1991 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon Cutting the city police depan men’. the swimming pool, the library or spending cash carry „ver are sc» eral of the budget cutting options which will be presented to the Heppner Ci ty Council Thursday, Oct. 17. The city is faced with a $63,763 budget shortfall for the upcoming year because of a loss of hinds stem ming from the passage of Measure 5. While Heppner city administrator Gary Marks has suggested eight op tions in terms of budget cuts, he stresses that these are merely sugges tions and the city council may or may not select one of the proposed options. The cuts will require policy decisions on behalf of the board, he said. Marks suggests that the general government (administration) division be cut $22,804 which does not con stitute a policy decision. Cuts in that division include redistributing the treasu rer’s pay to water and sewer-$4,500; cancelling the landfill transfer from the general fund $8,000; cutting the city contribution to the Chamber of Commerce manager’s pay $2,304; cutting vaca tion and sick leave line item $3,000; and cutting the account for unex pended line items $5,000. In explanation for those cuts, Rene Devin, city treasurer, said that reim bursement for the time the treasurer spends on city water and sewer will lon e’s Walt Jepsen to celebrate 100th birthday *» ito-TE*- 100 year old Walter Jepsen enjoys a quiet moment with his dog The 100th birthday celebration for Walter Jepsen, lone, will be held Sunday, October 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the lone Legion Hall. This hale and hearty centenarian shouldn't have a problem with blow ing out 100 candles on his birthday cake And to help him celebrate the occasion all nine of his children, other family members and a host of friends will be there. Jepsen was bom in Ring, Den mark. on October 22, 1891. The son of Lars and Elsa Jeppessen, Walter had five brothers and four sisters. Denmark was a poor country then, he says, and it was a difficult strug gle for a large family. At eight years of age, Jepsen went to live with his maternal grand parents on their small farm Milking cows, doing chores and tending crops instilled in him the love of making things grow, he says. But there were many times when Jepsen and his siblings went to school hungry-and there wasn't any food to make lunches to take with them. So after finishing the sixth grade, he quit school and went to work parttime at a mill. His meager wages were given to his mother to help support the family. As he grew older and stronger he found jobs in a creamery and later in a cheese factory. Most Danish farmhouses had grass roofs, he says. And handmade furniture graced the rustic family liv ing quarters on the second level. The ground level served as a bam for the cows. Accustomed to hard work during daylight hours. Jepsen didn’t neglect his education. He often sat up late at night reading by dim lamplight Reading materials were scarce, he says, but with the family’s strong religious faith, there was always a Bible to read. A desire to live in a free country and to find a better way of life pro mpted Jepsen to follow the footsteps of an older brother and sister, both of whom had emigrated to the United States. Jepsen arrived in the United States on March 24, 1911—one of 2,000 immigrants who disembarked from the boat at Ellis Island. With only a few dollars in his pocket and little knowledge of the English language, going through immigration pro cedures was a confusing time for Jepsen. The confusion, compounded by spelling errors, created a name change Instead of his rightful name of Valdimere Jeppessen, his citizen ship papers read ‘Walter Jepsen’. And his sister who had promised to meet him was nowhere to be found Not hesitant about hard work, he found work on dairy farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the wintertime, between milking hours, he grasped an opportunity to attend school to learn the language of his new country. Lured by stories of opportunities in the west, Jepsen bought a $25 train ticket for passage from Min nesota to Spokane. He then found work on farms and by saving his wages he purchased his first farm at Bull Run near Portland for $500. When World War I broke out. Jepsen enlisted in the Navy in 1917. He was stationed in Bremerton, Washington, for his basic training. During his three years of military service he served as a fireman aboard the USS Bremerton. Jepsen says he enjoyed serving in the Navy as his ship sailed to many different parts of the world. When the war was over, he asked to be discharged at England. From there he returned to Denmark. That was the last time that he saw his family in that country. His mother, however, lived to be 103 after rear ing her own 11 children and five grandchildren. He then sailed back to his Oregon property at Bull Run to get on with his American life. To date he has never flown in an airplane and he says he intends to keep his feet firm ly planted on the ground. But his adventurous nature pro mpted him to sell his holdings and give Eastern Oregon a try. He at tempted to ride a bicycle to the Heppner junction, but gave that up because of unimproved roads. A nde on the train brought him to Heppner and he soon found himself working for John Padberg for $5 per day. After working for wages for more than a year, he made a $300 down payment to Grant Olden for the Rhea Creek farm that was to become his permanent home. Jepsen’s Christmas gift to himself one year was a trip to Portland where he bought ranch supplies. That trip involved a bonus, since it was at that time that he met his future wife. On January 1, 1924, Matilda Berns and Walter Jepsen were mar ried in a church at Oregon City. Their honeymoon was a trip from Portland following the old Columbia River route back to the farm. Basic necessities in a one-room house greeted his new bride. But the times were hard, they were young and there was much work ahead of them, he recalls. During the Great Depression of the 1920s what sold for less than 30C a bushel. So in addition to having milk cows, Jepsen decided to go in to the egg production business. Chicken houses built on the hillside housed laying hens raised from baby chickens. None of his family ever went to bed hungry, he says, except when behavior problems invoked such type of disciplinary measures. Babies were welcomed into this busy household. And as the children grew, so did the farm. A five-room two-story house was built to accom modate their growing family. Matilda Jepsen passed away in 1972. With the children grown and gone, Jepsen continues to live alone in the house built in Keck Canyon in 1955-the preferred lifestyle of a stalwart, self-made person. He retired the chicken business after more than 20 years, but continued to milk cows until age 98. Scattered throughout the United States are Jepsen’s 14 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 12 great- great grandchildren. Coming to lone for the birthday celebration are Jepsen’s nine children; Elsie Baca, Falston, Md.; Betty Mault, Coos Bay; Bob Jepsen. Heppner; John Jepsen. lone; Mary Holtz, Federal Way. WA.; Virginia Wood, Skokie, 111.; Anna Larson. Portland; Frank Jepsen, Milton- Freew ater and Evelyn Elder, Eugene. Jepsen is the last living member of his immediate family-all of whom lived to a very old age. A brother, Chris, from Chervola. Washington passed away last year after his 101st birthday. be transferred from the general fund to the appropriate accounts-$4,500 Bids have not been let for final closure of the former landfill. Budgeting for that will probably oc cur in the next fiscal year, $8,000. According to Devin, monies which were kept for accumulated sick or vacation time were cut because no one near retirement has accumulated the time, $3,000. She said that $1,000 will remain in that account in the event that a situation may occur. After initial administration cuts, however, a shortfall of $40,959 still remains. The eight suggested options to deal with the needed cuts follow: Option I: Spend in full the portion of cash carryover as programmed by the 1991-92 adopted budget, $63,763. That, however, will reduce the 1992-93 estimated carryover to $40,701 from $104,464. Officials caution that it may make the budget cuts for the following even more dif ficult and will reduce the money the city earns in interest. Option 2: Adopt the ad ministrator’s suggested cuts of $22,804 and cover the balance with cash carryover. Spending $40,959 of the $104,464 carryover will leave an estimated carryover of $63,505 for the 1992-93 year. Option 3: Adopt administrator’s suggested $22,804 cuts, eliminate the swimming pool and library divi sions and spend a portion of the car ryover. This option assumes library closure on November 30, 1991. with one month's severance pay plus ac crued vacation time paid to the librarian. Eliminating the pool would amount to $4,288 in savings; eliminating the library. $9,18! This plan would still require spending of $27,490 in carryover and would reduce the 1992-93 carryover to $76,974. Option 4: Adopt administrator’s suggested cuts, eliminate library and a police patrolman position and spend a portion of the carryover. This option assumes library closure and elimination of positions as of Nov. 30, 1991 with one month’s severance pay plus accrued vacation time to the librarian and patrolman. Eliminating the library would amount to $9,181; the patrolman $15,503; spending cash carryover $16,275. 1992-93 cash carryover would be reduced to $88,189. Option 5: Adopt administrator’s cuts, eliminate library and pool divi sions, eliminate police patrolman position and spend a portion of car ryover. This option also assumes library closure and elimination of positions as of Nov. 30, 1991, with one month’s severance pay plus ac crued vacation time to the librarian $9,181 and patrolman $15,503; pool $4,288; carryover $11,987 This plan would result in a 1992-93 car ryover of $92,477 Option 6: Adopt administrator’s suggested cuts, eliminate library division and patrolman as previous ly stated along with the assistant police chief at $17,639. This option assumes library closure and elimina tion of positions as of Nov. 30, 1991, with one month’s severance pay plus accrued vacation time to the librarian, policeman and assistant chief. This plan would increase the estimated carryover by $1,364 from $104,464 to $105,828. Option 7; Adopt administrator’s cuts, eliminate the swimming pool division at $4,288 eliminate the assistant police chief at $17,639 and patrolman at $15,503 and spend $3,529 of carryover. This option assumes elimination of positions as of Nov. 30, 1991 with one month’s severance pay plus accrued vacation time and would reduce the 1992-93 carryover to $100,935. Option 8: Eliminate the police division at $60,092 and redistribute the treasurer’s pay to the water and sewer funds at $4,500. This option assumes the elimination of positions as of Nov. 30, 1991 with one months severance pay plus accrued vacation time. This option would increase the 1992-93 carryover by $829 to $105,293. Funds may be cut from general government (administration, police, fire, pool and the library . City water and sewer funds are self-supporting. A proposal to create a county-wide library district including Heppner and Boardman is in the works and. if approved would ease the citys’ budget situation. Kiss the goat “ winner” Forty-eight days without rain The Heppner area has not had any rain for 48 days, since Aug. 28 when there was .01 of an inch precipita tion, according to city weather recorder, George Stillman. The lack of rain combined with unseasonably high temperatures, has caused area farmers to fear for their crops. Some farmers have delayed planting because of lack of moisture in the soil and the danger of fire in CRP grass is extremely high Fire danger in the forest is also extremely high- at level 4-and the woods have been closed to woodcutters. No chain saws are allowed. Rainfall in August totalled .21 of an inch, with .20 of that falling dur ing a thunder shower on Aug. 19. August average for the last eight years is .565. In August of 1984 there was .63 of an inch, in 1985 .34; ’86-, 12; ‘87- 23; ‘88-.0; ‘89-1.95 ‘90-1.04 and ‘91- 21. September’s average for the past eight years is .66. 1984 Sept total was 1.59; ‘85-1.60; ‘86-1.44; ‘87- .01; ‘88- 52; ‘89-14; ‘90-.0; and ‘91-,0. According to Stillman. September’s rainfall the last five years has been below average PMH employees set negotiations Pioneer Memorial Hospital and employees, represented by the American Federation of state, coun ty and municipal employees will continue negotiations on Thursday, Oct. 17. Fiddlers concert Oct. 19 The annual Blue Mountain Fid dlers concert, sponsored by the Lex ington Grange, will be held Satur day, Oct. 19 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the grange. A stew supper will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Cost is $3 for the supper and $1.50 for the concert. The public is invited to attend Neither side will comment on the negotiations. Hospital employees voted 46 to one to join the union in a secret ballot in August Photo by Joyce Hughes L-R: Bob Taylor and Carl Martin hold the goat while Larry Mills gives it a kiss. By Delpha Jones Larry Mills, manager of Morrow County Grain Growers won the ‘‘Who Will Kiss the Goat?" con test and got to do just that at the Oddfellow-Rebekah lodge Saturday. Oct. 12. Whoever accumulated the most money in his donation jar won the contest. Over $100 was raised in the contest. Other participants in cluded Carl Martin, Oregon State Police Officer and Bob Taylor. Lex ington mayor. The contest was sponsored by the Oddfellows and Rebekahs Proceeds from the contest will be used for a new roof for the lodge. Following the contest a hot turkey sandwich supper with salad and dessert were served followed by a pinochle party. Those winning prizes were Marianne Palmer, Darlene Scroggins, Sue Vinson. John Tellechea and Darrel Vinson A rummage sale was held during Saturday and Sunday All events were well attended Proceeds from the sale also went toward roofing the building Club members hope to finish the project before bad weather. 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