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Canadian exchange student fits right
in with host fam ily and com m unity
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HEPPNER
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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.