Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1993)
p o r u N EV-'S t-vr,z S 1 £ OR £ PA P E R £ Q R Canadian exchange student fits right in with host fam ily and com m unity ; N E T f S 7 l HEPPNER unes VOL. 112 NO. 49 8 Pages Wednesday, December 8, 1993 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon Three options presented for pool design Architects Tim Rundquist and Chris Hard of the American In stitute of Architects, Spokane, W A., presented three plans for a local swimming pool at a public meeting in Heppner Dec. 4. Rundquist and Hard had col lected information from interested citizens the previous day at another public meeting. The three options included a bare-bones basic design, a mid- priced option with a few more amenities and a covered pool. The basic option, estimated at around $775,000 would include a six-lane, 25-meter pool with a waterslide, a separate wading pool, a bathhouse and a cement deck. The water depth would in crease from three to six to eight feet. The government requires that the pool be handicap accessi ble, so a lift would have to be installed. Option two estimated under $ 1 million, would provide a six-lane 25-meter pool with a waterslide, in addition to a fan-shaped zero- depth section and a sand play area. The six-lane section would range from three to six or eight feet, but the zero-depth section would gradually slope down, • much like a beach. Because of the zero-depth section, a lift would not be required to provide han dicap access. According to city manager Gary Marks, the zero-depth facility also makes the pool more accessible for seniors and small children. “ I have been told that this increases pool usage,” said Marks. This option also includes a bath house, a cement deck with “ mushroom” sun shelters and a grassy play area. Marks said that some discus sion was held concerning reduc ing the six lane pool to a four-lane facility and instead constructing an exercise room in the bath house for year-round use. Details on equipment for the exercise room and staffing, if necessary, have not been discussed. Option three, the covered pool, estimated at around $1.7 million would consist of a six-lane, 25-meter pool, a separate one- foot wading pool and a separate therapy pool. This option would have a cement deck and a cover. Staffing and year-round operation of the covered pool also were not discussed. Marks said that ways to make an extended season for the open air pools were being examined. These could include wind shielding or perhaps a super heated pool that could perhaps in crease usage from three months to five or six months. Marks said that the preliminary report is expected after Christmas Heppner High School’s ex change student Eric Fournier, Canada, is a ‘prince of a fellow’ as he was chosen for the homecoming court by a populari ty vote. And it’s said that girls haven’t been shy about asking him for dates, although having the girls do the asking took Eric some getting used to. Fournier arrived here August 26 to spend the school year with his host family, Gary and Mar tha Munkers and their sons who live in Lexington. His airplane ride started in Montreal, Canada. After touching down in Detroit and Seattle, he boarded a plane for Pasco, WA. “ I love it here, the Munkers are like my own family,” Four nier exclaimed. And the Munkers agree that he has become “ fami ly” , sharing the same interests as his fellow classmate, Ryan Munkers. Without knowing where he might be located in the United States, he applied for this trip as a first-time exchange student. Much to his liking he has readily taken to life in a sparsely populated area where sports are a dominant activity. A drawback he said is the lack of large city shopping options. However with his participation in many extra curricular activities little time is left for shopping. Perhaps that is fortunate since he learned that the rate of exchange between Cana dian and American currency has lessened his buying power. F o u rn ier’s home is St. Nickolas, a suburb of the city of Quebec. Quebec is capitol of Quebec Province in eastern Canada, boasting a population of around 300,000. Although French is his native language, Fournier has no problem with English. He has taken seven years of English courses, although on- ly two years of English are re quired in Canada. Being bilingual is an asset in today’s world, he said. His father is general manager for Canadian Indians called ‘Montagnais’ in French, which means ‘men from mountains’. His job is to assist with economic development and government programs for these native Cana dians. Fournier’s mother is manager of a men’s boutique. His 20 year old brother is attending pre-college. Fournier will also be attending pre-college for two years at St.- Laurence. The next step will be attending the University of Laval. With his plans for a business career, he said he hopes to “ in vest lots of money.” Fournier has completed 11 years of schooling required in Canada However he is taking a full schedule of classes in Heppner. Some of those classes are a repetition of former subjects, he said, but there are differences such as the study of government and the personal finance course as opposed to business finance studies. He claims that school work is easier here, but he em phasized that there is always something new to learn as he con tinues to improve on his English Live nativity planned at Hope for study by the pool commission and the final report by mid- January. Then the pool commis sion will make its recommenda tion to the Willow Creek Park District. The project would then go before the voters, if the pro ject moves ahead as planned. “ I feel really encouraged by the whole pool project,” said Marks. Marks’ time was loaned by the city council to the pool commission to administer the pool project. While no pool site has been determined, many options were offered by citizens at the Dec. 3 meeting. Proposed sites include Hager Park, Heppner High School, M orrow County Fairgrounds, the existing pool site, the Lexington baseball field, an undetermined site in lone, Heppner Middle School, (con tingent upon moving the junior high school to the high school and the property becoming available) and two other sites in Heppner, one called “ Wright’s property” and the other the “ Railroad /Hops’ property” . Not all sites may be feasible, because of ownership, accessibility, sewage problems, flood plain problems or wind. State officials have said the the present pool site would not be approved for construction of a new pool, according to Rundquist. Livestock growers to hold meeting The Morrow County Livestock Growers annual meeting will be held Friday, Dec. 10 beginning at 1 p.m. at the Heppner Elks Club. A social hour and beef and wine tasting hosted by the Mor row County Livestock Growers and a beef promotion by Wayne Philen will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. The “ New Skinny Beef Cookbook" will be available for sale at that time. Philen, a graduate of Horst Mager’s Culinary Institute, has been a corporate chef at Henry’s Supper Shop in Portland. He has also been the chef/executive chef at The Embarcadero and Camp 18 on the Oregon coast. He is currently the retail food service program director for the Oregon Beef Council in Portland. The appetizers will include a cheese pin wheel, three beef hors d’oeuvres, three cheeses, fruit and eight wines from Oak Knolls Winery. The prime rib dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Cost for the din ner is $15. Fred Obermiller is the after-dinner speaker. Call the extension office. 676-9642 to RSVP. Leave your name and the number in your par ty attending. Madrigal singers to perform The H erm iston M adrigal singers will be presenting a musical program Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Heppner Junior High school auditorium. Free tickets may be picked up at Peterson’s Jewelers, Central Market or Coast to Coast. There is no charge for the concert. The living Nativity complete with Mary, Joseph, shepherd, wise men, angel, sheep, cow and a donkey may be seen this Sun day, December 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Church, located at 675 Alfalfa Street near the Willow Creek dam in Hepp ner. This is a joint ministry ven ture of the Hope and Valby Lutheran churches. There will also be an opportunity to see the inside worship area and visit with members of Hope and Valby congregations. Prior to the living nativity scene the congregation of Valby will hold morning worship ser vice at 9 a.m. Bible study on the Letter of Hebrews is at 8:15 a.m. and open to all interested adults. Hope Lutheran church will hold worship services and Sunday school at 11 a.m. Pastor Stan Hoobing will preach on the theme “ John the Baptist: The Pointer” based on reading the Evangelist John 1: 6-8, 19-28. “ Christ” , the second word in the series “ A Savior Christ the Lord” , will be presented at the second mid-week advent service. Service at Valby is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8 and at Hope on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. A free will offering will be taken for the m inistry o f the Evangelical Lutheran church in America. and adapt to some American slang expressions. Fournier likes to ice skate and he was disappointed to learn that this area doesn’t have weather that permits winter-long ice skating. At home he also plays hockey at a convenient lighted ice rink that is only two minutes from his home. But one of the things that attracted him to the United States was football, so he par ticipated as a member of the local team. He is now manager for the basketball team. He said he was disappointed that the football team didn’t make it to the state championship playoffs, however he said he intends to be a part of a winning basketball team in the spring with an eye on a state championship. He is also involved with the Outdoor Club and the drama department and he has gone on deer hunting outings with the Munkers. With his involvement in this busy family’s activities, Martha Munkers said that the family seldom has dinner before 9 p.m. Fournier was surprised to learn that following the family’s Thanksgiving feast, the women were busy making crafts instead of going shopping. “ Especially my mother misses me alot,” Fournier said. So he talks regularly on the telephone with his family. He has also call ed friends that are now visiting in Spain and Czechoslovakia. However Martha quipped that those phone calls might be limited when his father receives the telephone bill. But Fournier said he likes to work and with help from his family, he earned part of the money for his trip expenses. Dur ing weekends and summers he has had jobs at a golf course and a mini mart. He has also helped with the maple tree sap harvest that produces famous Canadian maple syrup. His Christmas vacation will be spent here with his adopted fami ly. However he’s hoping he can get a no-interest loan from his father so that during school spring break he can realize the American dream vacation o f visiting Disneyland and see parts of the golden state with other exchange students and hosts. But regardless of that outcome, he will be graduating, in June for the second time with his Heppner classmates. He will also be con firmed in the Catholic Church where he has regularly attended youth confirmation classes. In the meantime, the word ‘bored’ doesn’t seem to be in the French language as he rushes about cap turing his “ dream of visiting the United States.” Construction to begin on new sewer The ground breaking for the long-awaited new Heppner sewer treatment facility was held on Monday, Dec. 6. On hand for the ceremony were Mayor Bob Jepsen, former mayors, Cara Osmin and Kay Robinson, city manager Gary Marks, county planning commis sion chairman Kent Goodyear, council member Martha Doher ty, police chief Doug Rathbun, Allen Rieke of the Anderson Perry Engineering firm, Mike Becker of Mike Becker Construc tion, LaGrande, Fred Hoskins, landowner, and Osmin’s third- grade class. The former treatment facility was constructed in 1953, but an updated, more efficient facility was mandated by the Department of Environmental Quality. The project also includes spraying treated effluent on the Willow Creek Golf Course during the summer months. The city has been working toward completion of the project for the past seven years, but problems with siting. L-R: Cara Osmin, Kay Robinson and Heppner mayor Bot Jepsen dig a piece of the first dirt at the sewer plant ground breaking ceremony. government regulations and in creased costs hampered progress. Budget for the entire project, including architectural and engineering costs, construction, fees, contingency and purchase of a new sludge truck, is $1,957,000. The project will be funded through a $625,000 bond; $120,000 in interest from those bond monies; a $742,000 En vironmental Protection Agency grant; a $250,000 O regon Economic Development Depart ment grant; and two different OEDD loans together amounting to $220,000. Work on several aspects of the project is expected to begin this week, with the estimated comple tion date of July 30, 1994. The project must be in operation by August 30, 1994 to maintain the EPA grant funds. Second week punch card winners announced The lucky winners in this week’s Christmas Punch are: Or- val Matheny-Central Market; An nie Schwarz-Coast to Coast; Diana Grant-Les Schwab; Shirley Harris-Green Feed; Rhonda Looney-Pettyjohn’s and Sylvia Westrom-Shoe Box. Each won a $25 gift certificate to the named store. There’s still two weeks to enter the Christmas Punch. Six $25 gift certificates will be given away each week. All entries go into the final drawing Dec. 21 when one lucky winner will win $600 in gift certificates. Pick up your card at any par ticipating business, have your card punched with any $5 pur chase at any business and deposit punched card at any of the 12 par ticipating area businesses.
