Heppner Gazetle-Times, Hepprier, Oregon Wednesday, July 1, 1992 - FIVE
Store summer foods properly
Barbecued chicken, baked
beans, com on the cob, potato
salad, and watermelon. Summer
is here and so are all the wonder
ful foods the season brings.
However, some of these summer
time treats need a little extra
precaution from consumers
before eating.
Summer is the season for pic
nics and camping trips. That calls
for some consideration when it
comes to packing the food.
“ I guess the utmost thing to
consider would be refrigeration of
products. Don’t leave them out
too long,” says Jim Black, ad
ministrator of the Food and Dairy
Division of the Oregon Depart
ment of Agriculture. ‘T go cam
ping myself and we use a good
old cooler along with ice blocks.
There are a number of measures
you can take to keep that
temperature down.”
Each summer, local health
departments report outbreaks of
food borne illnesses associated
with products like potato and
macaroni salad. In many cases,
the salad sits on the picnic table
in the hot sun for too long. The
temperature is perfect for incuba
tion of food borne organisms.
“ Refrigeration again is your
best safeguard with those kinds of
products,” warns Black, who
says time is as important as
temperature. “ Don’t just keep
them for several days. Two or
three days usually doesn’t make
any difference assuming proper
handling and temperature. But
beyond that, you may want to just
throw it out.”
Black repeats a popular motto
among food safety specialists:
“ when in doubt, throw it out.”
Another favorite summer food
is now a new source of concern
for some. Melons unitl recently
have never been considered a
problem. However, a salmonella
outbreak in northeastern U.S. last
summer was traced to the con
sumption of cantaloupe that had
been contaminated.
“ We are surmising perhaps
fertilization was the source,
perhaps using animal waste in the
field ,” says Black. “ O f course,
m elon s are grow n on the
ground.”
People don’t normally eat the
rind. The problems may have
taken place when the knife used
to cut the melon spread whatever
organism was on the rind onto the
part o f the fruit that is eaten.
The best advice in dealing with
melons is to wash the outside rind
after you buy it using brush for
the rough exterior o f cantaloupes.
Watermelons have a smooth sur
face and don’t need the brush but
do need the washing. Black has
some additional advice: “ If you
need to cut into the melon and
consume only part o f it, then you
should refrigerate the leftover
portion. Again, refrigeration
retards those bacteria that can
make us sick .”
Several other summertime
foods are relatively sate and don’t
need the same kinds o f precau
tions as melons. Most o f them,
like many fruits and vegetables,
have a high acid content which
a lso retards any organ ism
growth. Those foods, such as ap
ples and pears, can be kept out o f
refigeration most o f the time
without any problem.
There is yet one more food
safety concern for the summer.
Black says contamination should
be minimized.
“ Many times things are chop
ped on the same cutting board,
for instance that you cut your raw
chicken on. Those raw products
have organisms that could pro
duce illness.”
Black recommends a good
cleaning and sanitizing o f the cut
ting board after chopping up raw
meat products.
D espite the warnings and
precautions, summer continues to
be a great time to enjoy food.
With a little common sense, those
foods can be safe as well as
delicious.
For more information, contact
Jim Black at 378-3790 or Bruce
Pokamey at 378-3773.
St. Patrick’s
Senior Center
Bulletin Board
Eighty-five people were in attendance at the birthday dinner at the
Senior Center June 24. Six meals were taken out. Members of the
Catholic church served. Ida Lynn won the meal ticket, Ada Werner
the door prize. Louise Britt of Spray, the guest prize and special gifts
were presented to Maggie Jones and Pat Burke. Music was provid
ed by Rosalie Scharen and Sharia Erich on violins. The music was
enjoyed by all.
The quilters have chosen a new design for their next quilt. Anyone
interested in seeing it may come by the senior center Mondays from
1 to 4 p.m.
July 18 the senior bus will leave from the senior building at 10
a.m. for Penland Lake. Seniors are invited to a potluck picnic at the
Gonty cabin. The bus will return around 3:30 p.m.
Steve Arntt to receive scholarship
Steve Arntt of Heppner. has
received a scholarship to attend
the innovative Oregon/Waseda
summer program at Lewis &
Clark College, July 22 to Aug.
29. The $500 scholarship is
through the Oregon Partnership
for International Education and
funded by generous contribution
from the chairman’s fund from
PacifiCorp Foundation, Mr.
Tadamasa Ohno, president of
Daioh International. USA Cor
poration, and individuals in the
business community.
Arntt is a senior majoring in
political science at Oregon State
University.
The Oregon/Waseda summer
program, sponsored by Waseda
University, one of Japan's most
prestigious universities, and a
select group o f public and private
schools in Oregon, is bringing
together 30 American and 30
Japanese students for a five-week
residential summer colloquium
on “ Private Rights and the Com
mon G ood.”
Arntt is the son o f Gene and
Sharon Arntt o f Heppner.
A limited number o f scholar
ships for the program are still
available. To attend the program,
applicants must have completed
their first year o f college and have
a grade point average o f 2.5 or
higher. For more information
con tact
G reg
C a ld w e ll,
Oregon/Waseda Summer Pro
gram, Lewis & Clark College,
Campus Box 192, Portland, OR
97219. Or call (503) 768-7305 or
fax (503) 768-7301.
Kids program to begin
The first day o f the
Neighborhood Center sponsored
summer program for Heppner
area kids July 6 will include a
field trip to Boise Cascade Tree
Farm, the PGE Power Plant at
Boardman and TACX hay cube
and pellet plant outside
Boardman.
On Tuesday
Dr.
Jeri
Withycombe. Morrow County
Mental Health, will do small
group work with the children.
Wednesday's field trip will in
clude visits to Finley Buttes land
fill and the Navy Bombing
R ange.
T hursday
Sandra
VanLiew will teach spinning and
weaving with natural fiber and
Friday the Forest Service is in
charge o f the program.
A total o f 75 kids have enroll
ed, with an expected average dai
ly attendance o f 70, said Grace
Drake, program director.
Drake says that volunteers are
still needed on Wednesdays and
for the last week o f the program.
For more information or to
volunteer, call Drake at 676-9439
evenings.
Extension plans program on aging
Morrow County Extension
Service will host “ Investing in
the Future: Counties Respond to
the Challenges o f America’s A g
ing Population and Aging In
frastructure,” July 9 at the Ex
tension Conference Room. The
program will begin at 8:30 a m.
and end at 1 p.m.
The program is presented by
the National Association o f Coun
ties in partnership with the
Cooperative Extension System,
the Administration on Aging and
the
F ederal
T ransit
Administration.
T he aging o f A m e rica ’s
population and the deterioration
o f our nation’s infrastructure will
have a direct and dramatic impact
on county governments across the
co u n try --in c lu d in g M orrow
County.
Today, seniors are the most
rapidly growing age group in this
country. By the year 2030, one
in every four Americans is ex
pected to be over the age o f 65.
At the same time, the in
frastructure in this country-our
roads, bridges, water and sewer
systems, and public facilities is
barely adequate to fulfill current
needs and is insufficient to meet
the demands o f the future, accor
ding to the program. To meet the
needs o f the aging population and
the aging infrastructure, we must
consider the interrelationships
between human and physical ser
vices, they said.
Appearing live via satellite will
be Fernando Torres-Gil, pro
fessor of public policy UCLA;
and Alan Pisarski, national
transportation consultant. Also,
county officials from across the
country will discuss the issues
and highlights innovative county
aging
and
infrastructure
programs.
Locally, the conference will
provide a forum for discussing
the impacts of aging population
and deteriorating infrastructure
will have on our community and
for developing a strategy to ad
dress these concerns.
Through the use of satellite
telecommunications, the video
conference will enable county and
community leaders in Morrow
County to join with over 3000
county officials at the NACO
conference in Minneapolis as well
as an estimated 5000 other coun
ty leaders who will be par
ticipating in the satellite con
ference. Participants are asked to
bring a “ brown bag” lunch.
Government, community and
business leaders interested in par
ticipating in the program should
contact Carol Michael-Bennett,
Morrow County Extension agent,
676-9642.
Yeager family to hold reunion
The Yeager family will hold
their second family reunion on
July 4 and 5 at Morrow County
Fairgrounds in Heppner. Potluck
dinners are planned for 2 p.m. on
July 4 and 1 p.m. on July 5.
General get-togethers will start at
10 a.m, each day.
Henry Glover Peck, Lexington
and Harold Peck, Heppner, are
two o f the Yeager grandsons still
living in Morrow County. In
1878 James Labon Yeager left
Kansas at the age o f 23 and
traveled to Illinois near the town
o f St. Marys, to work in the cor
nfields as a com husker. In 1879
in the early party o f the corn
husking season he was invited to
a com husking party at St.
Marys. At the party he bid on a
lunch basket made by Lorettie
Sophronie Turner, who worked
in a country home near there.
They were married on March 4 ,
1880 by Elder Ed F. Carfield at
St. Marys.
They moved to Kansas where
their first children were bom, and
boarded the “ Emigrant Train” to
Oregon in 1884. The train was
made up o f 30 to 40 boxcars with
one engine. Each car was assign
ed to a family, except for the
center one which was left empty
so the families could cook. They
brought along their household
goods, farm tools and carpentry
tools and some families brought
along a horse and a cow. One
family had two cows and sold
milk to the families with small
children.
The trip over the Rocky Moun
tains was a memorable one, when
they got to the high mountains,
the railroad company hitched
another engine to the rear o f the
train, to help shove it over the
mountains. This trip took several
weeks. Once a week the train
would stop for the day by a
stream where the women could
wash their clothes in the cold
water.
They finally reached Arlington,
where they camped for several
days until they found a freighter
to take them to a little trading post
Country club
plans
barbecue
There will be a family barbecue
and play day at W illow Creek
Country Club on Sunday, July 5
at 3 p.m. The play will be a Flag
Tournament with a putting con
test. Hosts for the afternoon are
Bob and B etty R ietm ann,
chairm en, Ray and Norma
French. Louie and Betty Carlson
and Bill Rietmann.
Each family will bring their
own meat to barbecue. Those
whose names begin with A
through I should bring salad: J
through Z should bring dessert.
at Heppner.
On April 1, 1884, they camped
at the old Furgeson Ranch a few
miles below Heppner. They then
rented a room at the Ellis Miner
Hotel at $1 per day. James’ first
job was building fences over the
hill on the old J.O. Wilson
Ranch, a mile or so up Hinton
Creek. In 1885 they bought their
first piece of property, an acre on
the hillside across from where the
depot now stands. There was no
railroad then. The Yeagers' had
nine children with the last seven
bom in Heppner. They are now
all deceased. Mrs. Yeager died
March 29, 1920 and Mr. Yeager
June 2, 1941. They are both
buried at the Heppner Cemetery.
Mr. Yeager was a registered
undertaker and a county coroner.
He served during the great flood
of 1903 and owned and operated
a furniture store and a
greenhouse. He was a carpenter
and plumber by trade. He built
seven houses in Heppner, some
of which are still standing. He
was a member of the Odd Fellow
Lodge in Heppner.
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tl
Spectators watch from bridge in Lexington as
Black Horse reaches near flood stage around 8 p.m. Sunday.
A cloud burst reported by Lyle Peck gave Lexington residents
time to prepare for the flood that luckily never came. A small
amount of water went over the bank by the Chevron Station
but caused no damage.
Pool commission meets
The first meeting of the Willow
Creek Park District’s Exploratory
Swimming Pool Commission was
held on June 18 at the Morrow
County Public Works office in
Lexington.
Commission members decided
to investigate a number of newly
constructed pools around the state
and put together a presentation
that would be delivered to each
of the three communities within
the park district. These public
forums will give everyone an op
portunity to educate themselves
about swimming pool projects
and to voice their opinions on
possible locations, funding ideas
and concerns. The meetings are
tentatively planned tor sometime
this fall.
Commission members are Barb
Collin. lone urban; Skip Mat
thews. Heppner, at-large; Mark
Miller. Lexington rural; Mark
Pointer, Lexington urban; Ginny
Naims, Heppner urban and Mol
ly Rill. Heppner rural. The com
mission has one vacancy for an
lone rural member. Gary Marks
is the commission administrator.
Commission members would like
to hear comments at any time
prior to the meetings.
The commission was appointed
by the park district board to in
vestigate a potential pool project
and to assemble a set of recom
mendations for board action.