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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1992)
mmm ■ ••i Health Dept, to give hepatitis B shots BESSIE U OF WETZELL ORE newspaper LIB 35C azette imes VOL. 111 Oregon infants bom on or after April 15, 1992 will be eligible to receive hapatits B vaccinations from local county health depart ments as part of a prevention strategy designed to control the spread of hepatits B, according to David Fleming, M .D., state epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Division. A reasonable fee may be charged for the im munizations, but no one will be refused vaccine for an inability to pay. This vaccine is available through the Morrow County Health Department at all im munizations clinics. Clinics are: first and third Tuesdays, 1:30-4 p.m. Boardman City Hall; second and fourth Tuesday, 1-4 p.m., County office building, Irrigon; third Tuesday 11:30-12:30, lone City Hall and Thursdays, 8:30-12 and 1-4:30 p.m ., Heppner, Health Dept. Office. “ Early immunization is a vital part of our efforts to combat hepatitis B,” said Dr. Fleming. “ Early vaccination virtually eliminates the chance a child will become a carrier and unknowing ly pass the disease on to others during adolescence and adulthood. In addition, preven ting transmission of the disease during early childhood is impor tant because of the high likelihood of chronic infection and chronic liver disease that occurs when young children become in fected.” Hepatitis B is a liver disease that is spread primarily through blood and sexual contact. It dif fers from hepatitis A, which is spread through contaminated food and water. No vaccine is available currently for hepatitis A. The Health Division, along with the Oregon Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Oregon Hospital Association, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, and the Oregon Conference of Local Health Officials is recom mending that each newborn follow a three-stage immuniza tion plan to protect against hepatitis B. The plan calls for each baby to receive its first hepatitis B vaccination before leaving the hospital, its second dose at age one to two months and its third dose at age six months. “ The vaccination schedule we are recommending is very cost- effective,” said Dr. Fleming. “ Immunizing an infant costs one- fourth as much as immunizing an adult. While the hepatitis B vac cine is also considered beneficial for older children and adolescents, our highest priority is infants. We strongly recom mend that parents try to obtain hepatitis B immunization for older children through their own health care providers.” The Health Division’s new ef fort was prompted by a recent ad visory from the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee of the federal Centers for Disease Control. The committee noted that hepatitis B cases increased 37 percent nationally between 1979 and 1989. In 1991, the Health Division reported 303 hepatitis B cases in Oregon, a rate of 10.3 cases per thousand. “ The recommended schedule for hepatitis B immunizations is consistent with our goal of ensur ing all children are adequately immunized by their secondary birthday,” said Dr. Fleming. The Oregon Benchmarks, a series of measurable objectives adopted by the 1991 Oregon Legislature, call for increasing the percentage of Oregon two-year-olds who are adequately immunized against communicable diseases to 78 per cent by the year 1995, 90 percent by the year 2000, and 98 percent by the year 2010. Health division officials estimated that only 63 percent of Oregon two-year-olds were adequately immunized in 1990. NO. 35 8 Pages Wednesday, September 9, 1992 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon HIT plans Gay Nineties meodrama Mike McGuire interim postmaster Mike McGuire Mike McGuire, postmaster from Tygh Valley, is serving as interim officer in charge at the Heppner Post Office since the retirement of Ken Naims J uly 31. McGuire says that he has “ no idea” when a perm anent postmaster will be appointed, but probably within two to eight months. McGuire says that the post office is cutting 30,000 management positions, in many cases by offering early retirement options. Workers whose jobs are being eliminated have first choice in vacant positions, so displac ed postal employees will have first pick for the Heppner posi tion before the spot is opened up. McGuire, 32 started his career with the post office six years ago as a clerk at Dayton. After seven months there he transferred to another clerk’s position at McMinnville. He was named postmaster at Tygh Valley, which is around 30 miles south of The Dalles, in September of 1990. McGuire was bom in Baker and has lived in Bend, Mitchell and Amity. McGuire is living in Heppner with his wife, Nancy, and their three children, a boy, three years old, and two girls, five and eight. Nancy home schools their children. McGuire says that working as on officer in charge provides training and valuable experience and added that his family is en joying their stay in Heppner. “ It’s a nice town. We’ve been pleasantly surprised. There are good people here.” Show kids safe way to school Parents should not only show children the way to school, they should teach them how to get there safely, advises the Automobile Club of Oregon. “ It’s important for parents to walk first-time and very young students to school or to the bus stop several times, even if they insist they know the way,’’ said Scott Thompson, safety represen tative. “ Decide on the safest route to school, point out possi ble traffic hazards and establish safe walking habits.” Thom pson rem inds all motorists to be especially alert in the vicinity of school crossings and bicycle paths because youngsters can be unpredictable. Inquisitive, impulsive and fast, they may dart out between park- .Junior golf mini tourney Sat. The Junior golfers will hold . their m ini-tournam ent and barbecue Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Willow Creek Country Club. All students who signed up for lessons this summer are invited to attend. Eight to 10-year-olds wil play five holes; 11 and older will play nine holes. Tee-off time will be at 9:30 a.m. HES open house set for Sept. 10 An open house at Heppner Elementary school will be held Thursday, Sept. 10 beginning at 7 p.m. After a brief welcome in the gymnasium, students and parents may visit the classrooms. Grains commission sets conference call The next regular meeting of the Oregon Grains Commission will be held on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. via conference call. All meetings are open to the public and anyone wishing to be connected to the call will be pro- vided access at the Oregon Grains Commission office, located at 1200 NW Front Ave. Suite 520. Please call at least 24 hours in ad vance of the meeting if you are interested in being connected. Stokes Landing to hold rummage sale Stokes Landing Senior Center will have a rummage sale. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11 and 12. A variety of items have been donated to the center and will be available at bargain prices. Items for sale include clothing for men, women and children, household furnishings and houseplants. A lunch will be available for shoppers. The sale opens at 9 a.m. both days and will close at 5 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Proceeds from the sale go to Stokes Landing for care and upkeep of the building. ed cars, from behind shrubbery or other obstruction. “ Children have a relatively short attention span especially in the early grades,“ said Thomp son. “ Even if they know all the safety rules, they are likely to forget them when pursuing a wind-tossed school paper or favorite toy.“ First time students are par ticularly vulnerable since they lack experience in traffic and have not yet fully developed the ability to judge vehicle stopping distances accurately. Collisions are the leading cause of death for youngsters 15 and younger, claiming nearly 44,OCX) lives in the last decade. Approx imately 70 percent of these traf fic incidents occur on the way to school and in the afternoon bet ween 3-6 p.m. Nearly half the deaths and in juries of pedestrians between the ages five and 14 occurred bet ween intersections in 1990 (the latest year for which statistics are available), noted Thompson. In cidents like these occur, in part, because students get careless or act impulsively. Thompson offers these addi tional tips to remind motorists to drive cautiously when school is open: Watch for school zones that limit driving speed and turns dur ing specific hours. Pay attention to adult school crossing guards and AAA School Safety Patrol members stationed at key intersections. Patrol members can be identified by their bright orange belts. Be alert for young bicyclists who may appear suddenly from yuour blind spot. Obey local traffic laws concer ning school buses. Heppner Intergenerational Theatre (HIT) plans a Gay Nineties melodrama “ Dirty Work At The Crossroads” or “ Tempted, Tried and True” (with music) for the first week in November “ Anyone, any age, in any community in Morrow County who wants to help put on this pro duction should come to a meeting this Saturday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m. at the Senior Center on Main Street, Heppner,” said organizer Jane Rawlins. “ The cast of 10 follows, but many, many more people are needed for this production,” she said. The cast is Nellie Lovelace, as true as she is tender; Adam Oakhart, as brave as he is bashful; The Widow Lovelace, as sweet as she is simple; Munro Murgatroyd, as wild as he is wicked; Ida Rhinegold, as deep as she is dyed; Mookie Mugug- gins, as rude as he is rustic; Mrs. Upson Asterbilt, of Newport and Brooklyn, Leonie, her daughter, a Madison Ave. Belle; Fleurett, their French maid. Ooolala; and Little Nell who never had a father. The plan is to perform “ Dirty Work at the Crossroads” in Heppner, lone and Boardman with cast and crew from the three areas. “ We are shooting for crowded houses, enthusiastic ap plause and great houses.” said Rawlins. The number who attend this meeting will determine whether or not all this will happen.” she added. For more information, call 676-9435. j !‘ Kari Morgan competes at pageant Kari Morgan of lone, com peted in the Miss Teen of Oregon scholarship and recognition pageant Aug. 21-23 at Corvallis. The competition was based on six categories: scholastic records, service and achievement, per sonal development, general awareness, personality projection and poise and personality by judges’ interview. First place winner received a $1,000 scholarship and a trip to the Miss Teen of America pageant next August. * Sixty-nine girls competed in the pageant. Although Kari was not selected as one of the top 12 Kari Morgan finalists, she did receive one of the six awards in the services and businesses, friends and family. achievement category for her Attending the pageant were her athletic and activities accomplish mother, Debbie Morgan, grand ed at lone High School and her parents Robert and Helen service in the church and com Heideman, all lone, and Cynda munity. Kari was sponsored in Stevens and Loa Henderson, both the pageant by several lone-area Hermiston. St Patrick’s Parish to begin classes St. Patrick’s Parish will begin religious instruction for grades K through eight on Sunday, Sept. 20 from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Teachers will be Kay Proctor, Pam Worden, Shannon Miller, Barbara Judd, Trish Sweeney and Bill Kuhn. This year music will be a regular feature of the classes and will be conducted by Lori Straley. Awards will be given monthly for attendance, and the “ Green Light for God” system will be used for rewarding good behavior. Everyone is welcome to attend. An adult study group will begin on Monday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the parish office. The first topic to be considered will be “ Social Justice.” Also for adults, the Rite of Christian Initiation will begin in the parish office on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m. This is a program of instruction for those interested in joining the Catholic faith or those who were Catholics that wandered away and wish to return. For further details phone Fr. Gerry Condon 676-9462. Catholic church to present ‘Herstory’ “ Herstory: The Mother's Tale” , with Sheila O’Connell Roussell will be presented at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall on Saturday, Sept. 26. This one-woman presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. This musical program spotlights human events surroun ding the presence of Jesus on this earth. Mary of Nazareth, near the end of her life, shares her memories with a Greek named Luke, who is writing down the Gospel as she speaks. The script and lyrics were writ ten by Sheila O’Connell Roussell and Terri Vorndran-Nichols. Roger Nichols wrote 16 original melodies for the play. He has also written the music for such hits as “ We’ve Only Just Begun” , “ I Won’t Last a Day Without You” , “ The Times of Your Life” , and many others. He and his wife, Terri, will be present. This will be the first presentation of Herstory as a one-woman show. Tickets may be purchased in Heppner at the R & W Drive-In, Murray Rexall Drugs; June Crowell, lone; and Martha Munkers, Lexington. There is a suggested $5 donation per ticket. St William’s slates events Catechetical classes for grades K through eight will begin on Sunday, Sept. 20 at St. William's church in lone. Classes will be taught by Eileen McElligott. Anita Orem, Lucy Tworek and Jeri McElligott. Everyone is welcome. Work has recently been com pleted on a new sidewalk by men of the parish. A foundation has also been set for a chair-lift. A parish picnic was held at the home o f Dick and Loa McElligott. It was well attended, and everyone enjoyed the barbecue. Members of the Holy Name Society are planning an outing for altar servers on Sunday. Sept. 20. This will include water skiing and a barbecue. Bank o f EastemOregon HOME LOAN PROGRAM Rates as low a s 7.125% H A ^ K OF D H a ste rn — Oreqon Arlington • Heppner • lone )<nt I n J t / u i h h ill I h i i h *• I h i i i t i l H w ik Member FDI C
