Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1993)
lone Fourth dawns bright for festivities By Anne Morter HEPPNER imes VOL. 112 NO. 27 6 Pages Wednesday, July 7, 1993 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon The Fourth o f July dawned bright and clear for the annual lone celebration, providing almost ideal conditions for a day o f family fun. Good crowds en joyed the two days o f events and all of the vendors reported record sales. The celebration kicked off on Saturday evening July 3, with a junior three-on-three basketball tournament. Seven teams par ticipated in the new event, won by Steve Allen, Kelly Morgan and Luke Swanson. “ I was real ly pleased with seven teams (in the tournament) and a good tur nout of people to watch,” said organizer Jim Swanson. “ But best o f all, the kids loved it,” he added. In the tennis tournament, Stuart Dick won the men’s singles while G ail G utierrez and Cathy McCabe took the double’s title. The first annual Ken Snider Memorial Fund Auction featured 33 items, making about $2000 for the Ken Snider M em orial Scholarship Fund. The main event of the night, the three-on-three basketball tour nament, was hotly contested with the team of Hoffert, Miller and Miller of Condon taking the title. Twenty teams participated in the tournament. The morning of the Fourth featured another new event, The Dawn’s Early Light Fun Run, Walk and Kid’s Dash. The event drew 10 runners, 40 walkers and four kids in the dash. Local run ning star A1 Beck of Heppner, was first across the line in 16.13. Heppner Fire Dept gets new tanker truck Photo by Joyce Hughe* Steve Rhea (I) and Forrie Burkenbine display new tanker truck The H eppner Rural Fire Department is the owner of a new tanker truck, thanks to the Hepp ner Rural Fire Protection District. The truck was purchased this spring after a search by members o f the Rural Fire District and the Heppner Fire Department. The 1972 Kenworth truck is equipped with a 318 Detroit Engine and 13 speed Road Ranger. It carries a 4,300 gallon aluminum tank and has the capacity to drop load or pump off. The Rural Fire District also purchased a 4000 gallon folding tank which will allow for a dump- and-run tactic. This procedure will allow the tanker to drop its load into the folding tank while the smaller trucks are filling. The tanker can be away to refill in the meantime. With other units re sponding the fire department will have a minimum response of 5,000 gallons of water to be on the scene immediately. The department had previously been plagued with the problem of insufficient water supply at the scene of structure fires and large range fires in the rural district. “ We have had to transport water several miles from the fire with smaller vehicles that are just not efficient. Now the fire trucks can be used solely to fight fire without hav ing to run miles back to water,” said Steve Rhea, fireman. The truck was used as a tank transport orginally and has an aluminum chassis. With the 318 engine this truck has ample power to climb the hills out of town. The Fire Department has been fortunate for the past years of drought o f not having any catastrophic fires. However, with this year’s ample moisture, grass and other fuels are excessive. This points to a higher hazard than in the past years. The hills around Heppner are turning from green to gold and with the tall grass and weeds and thunder storms, this tanker may be in valuable, Rhea noted. Fire Chief, Forrest Burkenbine advises, “ The purchase of the Tanker Truck by the Rural Fire District Board shows their com mitment to the rural fire members and our department. The joint ef fort of the Fire Advisory Com mittee, which has members of the city council, fire department, rural fire district and the city manager, are to be commended. Not only will this addition make fire response and attack better, it also has possible financial benefits to the community,” he said. “ Now that we have a minimum o f4,000 gallons response by our fire department, many of the out- of-town landowners may find a significant reduction of their pro perty insurance rates,” says Bob Kahl, Van Marter & Kahl In surance in Heppner. Kahl said that homeowners within five miles of a fire station with a tanker response may receive in surance premium savings. He ad vises that homeowners check with their insurance agents. The process of getting the tanker ready for service has meant a lot of time and money donated by several people. Monte Evans of the rural fire board spent a lot of time in searching for and finding the tanker. The Tumer/Schultz ranch allowed the use of their shop in preparing the truck. Miller and Sons Welding built the portable tank rack and Jay Coil Fabricating built the storage compartments. Morrow County Grain Growers supplied the expertise on the hydraulic and pump installation and Kelwayne H aguew ood and M ark Schlichting painted the truck and chassis. The fire department crew has spent many hours in clean ing, sanding, replacing missing parts and preparing the truck for Deputy involved in accident A Morrow County Sheriffs Deputy, Mark Calbick, was in volved in a three-vehicle accident in Boardman on July 3 around 10:05 p.m. According to a state police dispatcher Calbick, who was driving a 1992 Chevrolet Capri, was westbound on Kunze Road approaching Main Street in Boardman when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Mari Lunn Hurd. Boardman. Hurd, who was driving a 1981 Ford Van, was east bound on Kunze Road when her vehicle veered into the west bound lane and sideswiped Calokk’s vehicle. Hurd's vehicle was then struck by a third vehicle, a 1979 Ford driven by Alvaro Orrala-Herrera, also of Boardman. Hurd and Orrala-Henera were transported to Good Shepherd Community Hospital in Her- miston where they were treated for minor injuries and released. response. The tanker will be housed in the new fire station after its com pletion along with the new pumper upon its arrival. “ With the addition of the tanker and the new pumper to arrive within the year, our hopes are to have a reclassification in fire protection rating from the Insurance Service Offices,” said Rhea. “ lone has just successfully completed their reclassification process which has been a benefit to their communi ty. Even though this process is a lengthy and complicated one, we are confident we can pass the testing process and meet the equipment requirements, this is a good start,” Rhea adds. “ Our department along with the city and the Rural Board are commit ted to providing the best fire pro tection possible.” Besides the volunteer time in preparing the tanker, working on the new fire building and acquiring the new pumper, Rhea said the depart ment has spent a lot of time in training. “ We just received a let ter of accreditation from the state o f Oregon. This has been the result of a very active training program and team effort on behalf of the firemen. Not every department is accredited in the state,” he added. »V y i ^ »*• ,• *• . .* •••.?'•• * • ' •• • ’’ .jUi- .y.>v • *• *.• v t • $ ' * .-**,?>;£• ‘ • V X V. * • > vV'. » '• * . • *•■ f - ' '< i A « • ; ' * , ^ *.«1 7 •..*’* ,c - ■ ,;-’ X -■" : : Dressed for the occasion, one of the things people enjoy dur ing the lone 4th celebration is visiting with friends Steve Cooper of Portland was se cond in 23:00 and Karen Beck was the first woman in 23:07. Organizers, Jim and Michelle Raible, were very pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm for the event. Runners and walkers listed addresses of San Jose, CA., Auburn and College Place, WA., as well as Tigard, Corvallis, Portland, LaGrande and many from Heppner, Lexington and lone. The parade was, as usual, a popular feature. Crowd favorites included grand marshal Betty Rietmann and her family in Bob Harrison’s authentic covered wagon, the Morrow County Court, antique cars, and a com bine with a 30-foot header. The afternoon was filled with many events for kids of all ages. In the frog jump, Kayla Long coaxed a 91” series of jumps from her frog. Tyson Yeigh was second and Thomas Evenson was third. Matt Starr got the max imum jump out of the small frog in the lot and Victoria Jones took the hard luck award, when after her frog jumped three times, had only covered four inches. The hoop shoot was divided by grade. In the first and second grade, Nick Christman was first, Billy Gates was second, Natalie McElligott was third and Johnnie Collin was fourth. In the third and fourth grades, Jessie Gutierrez was first and Kyle Miller was se cond. In the fifth and sixth grade, Nikki McElligott was first and Dan Scott was second. In the baseball throw. Matt Sharp won the tne 4-5 4-!> year age group. Tony Bowen was second and Cameron McCurry third. To claim your prizes contact Arlyn- da Gates. In the 6-7 year age group. Tanner Britt was first, Bil ly Gates, second and Nick Christman third. In the 8-9 year age group, Travis Bellamy threw 110’11” for first, Cory Marick was second and Bud Drummond third. The 10-11 year olds threw for accuracy. Mitch Matthews took first, Dustin Haguewood, second and Alan Gribskov, third. In the volleyball tournament the team of Melissa McElligott, Brent Sheirbon, Sam Sumner and Ryan Halvorsen defeated Dustin, Darcee an Darren Padberg and Nancy Morter. The “ H” team featuring Dana, Loren, Suzie and Nathan Heideman and Darcee Padberg edged out the defending champs in the bed race to claim the title. The evenjng, hours featured a packed house for bingo, the barbecue chicken dinner feeding over 400 and a spectacular fireworks display. This year the fireworks were dedicated to the late Bob Rietmann, for his years of dedication. The American Legion, the group in charge of the fireworks, paid tribute to Bob Rietmann and Kristine Bedortha sang the National Anthem to kick off the display. “ It was a very successful fami ly day,” said chairperson, Jim Swanson. He was pleased with the crowds and, of course, the weather that had been most unsettled during the week. Noon dessert to honor Berrettas A noon dessert in honor of Drs. Jeanne and Ed Berretta will be held next Tuesday, July 13 at the Heppner Elks Club. The public is invited to attend. The dessert is hosted by the Heppner Chamber of Commerce and will honor the fifth anniver sary of the Berrettas’ practice in Heppner. There will be a short program and the dessert will last from noon until l p.m. Heppner Library presents ‘Storyman’ As part of its “ Wild About Books” summer reading progam, Oregon Trail Library will present professional storyteller, Tom McCormack. McCormack, or ‘Storyman’ as he likes bo te called, loves to tell tall tales. He takes the thread of a story and exaggerates, punc tuates, overinflates and then com municates it to an audience using character voices, sweeping gestures and when the story calls for it, even somersaults. Many of the stories McCor mack tells comes from his own childhood when he imitated car toon characters such as Yogi Bear, Bugs Bunny and Astro, George Jetson’s talking dog. For ? the H eppner perform ance McCormack will also draw some stories from the history of the O regon T rail. A form er marketing and sales professional, M cC orm ack now travels throughout the west performing at schools, libraries and festivals and on radio. Storyman’s performance in Heppner will be held on Tuesday, July 13 at 1:30 p.m. in the city park beside the library. Admis sion is free to the public. Applications for scholarhips open The South Morrow County Scholarship Trust has announced applications are being accepted for five $500 scholarships being awarded to college sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students for the 1993-94 school year. The awards, the result of an anonym ous donation, are available to graduates of Heppner and lone High Schools. Selection criteria include scholarship, citizenship, financial need and potential for success in the given field. Applications may be picked up at Heppner High School, lone High School or the Morrow County School District office. Applications must be delivered to the Morrow County School District office by 5 p.m. August 20 . If you are looking for an alternate investment, a small number of Bank of Eastern Oregon shares of stock have become available for pur chase. Please inquire at the D A g K O F — r — ___ Member Bank of Eastern Oregon. D jE a stem Oregon Arlington • Heppner • lone i F Dl C • ».*.>•• .-
