Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1994)
BESSIE W E T Z E L L U CF ORE NE WS P A P E R E t ' ~ £ £ O R Burkenbine steps down as fire chief LI 3 Q 7 4 r . ■* HEPPNER Forrie Burkenbine serves 28 years as fire chief imes VOL. 113 NO. 50_______ 8 Pages Wednesday, December 14, 1994 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon June Crowell retires from Bank of EO June Crowell After nearly 28 years with the Bank of Eastern Oregon, June Crowell, lone branch manager, will retire effective Dec. 31, George Koffler, Bank of Eastern Oregon president, has an nounced. An open house will be held in honor of Crowell at the lone branch on Wednesday, Dec. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Crowell, 62, started in the banking business in 1950 right out of high school with First National Bank, now First In terstate. She worked on and off with First National for 15 years while she had her family and then stayed home for two years nal, Utah, and their three with the children before joining children, Heather, Michelle the staff at the Bank of Eastern and Jeremie. Crowell says that she will Oregon in 1967. She first work ed at the Bank of Eastern miss her job and the people at Oregon as a teller, then as a the bank. bookkeeper and then was nam Mardean Patton, who has ed branch manager in May of been with the bank for five years, has been promoted to 1974. Crowell commented that the lone Branch bank supervisor, biggest change in the banking effective January 1. She will be business has been computers. responsible for the operations " I think they've been a of that branch. Patton started marvelous help,” said Crowell, out as a teller at the Heppner who noted that when she branch in the fall of 1989 and started, posting was done by then transferred to the lone branch around March of 1990. hand. Crowell says that she has no At the lone bank, in addition to special plans after retirement working as a teller she handl other than enjoying her fami ed new accounts, was proof ly, spending more time with operator and also worked as a her grandchildren and perhaps back up teller for the Arlington doing more camping. Crowell branch. "It's a great place to and her husband, Howard, work,” said Patton. Anita Orem, who had been who is a retired lone Schools custodian, have three children working at the bank part time, and nine grandchildren: son will now take on a full time Gene and his wife Kristy, lone, teller position and Natalie and their two children, Jory Hodges has been hired for the and Erin; daughter Sharon and part time position. Richard her husband Brian Rietmann, Wood, who is an agricultural lone, and their four children, loan officer for the Bank of Andrew, Alyssa, Alan and Eastern Oregon will be respon Alex; and daughter Karen and sible for the lending activities of her husband Rick Kandle, Ver- the lone branch. lone businesses plan second annual open house By Anne Morter The businesses of lone will hold their second annual holi day open house on Wednes day, December 21. Local business people will serve refreshments and many will give away door prizes through out the day. Businesses planning to par ticipate include Wheatland In surance, Bank of Eastern Oregon, lone Key Lock, lone Repair, Bristow's Market, Mor row County Grain Growers, Beecher's Restaurant, B & C and the community alike. "It's Repair, the Post Office and the a good chance to visit the local tain Community College Coor businesses and enjoy their dinator for Morrow County will hospitality while we express be on hand to answer ques our appreciation,” Snider says. tions. Woolery House. Creative Care As an added bonus, the Preschool will have a display 1CABO (lone Community-Agri and Anne Morter, Blue Moun- Business Organization) will hold a lunch meeting at noon at Beecher's Restaurant. Everyone is invited to attend the meeting. According to spokeperson Nancy Snider, last year's event The Low Income Energy was well attended and en Assistance Program (LIEAP) joyable for the business people has money available for eligible low income families. The pro gram helps offset the costs of home energy that are excessive midnight, for some households. This alcohol and drug free Money will be allocated on a dance is sponsored by the firstcome basis. A video will be Oregon Together group of previewed and helpful hints for reducing energy consumption HePPner UBdnglan Ad- mission to the dance is $1 per will be discussed. person, or $2 per couple. Guidelines for determining household eligibility for one person is not to exceed $767 per month, $1,025 for two persons and increases of $258 per per 15, at 2:30 p.m. in the multi son for additional members. purpose room. Applicants must bring proof Everyone is invited to attend. of all household income (in- There is no admission charge. Teen dance set Dec. 27 Dan Burns of Three D Pro- ductions out of Pendleton will provide music at the winter dance for high school and col- of age) on Thursday, December 29, at the Heppner High School cafetorium from 9 p.m. to 'Temporary' is a state of mind. For Forrest Burkenbine of Heppner, a "temporary” ap pointment turned into a 28 year stint as the city's volunteer fire chief. According to Mayor Bob Jepsen, Burkenbine was ap pointed fire chief in January of 1967. Two others considered for the job, Bill Farrah and Clyde Allstott, were out of town, and a third, Howard Bryant, was not at home. His wife, according to Jepsen, who quoted city records, assured the council that Bryant would not be interested. So, Burken bine agreed to act as fire chief until "something else could be worked out” . As Burkenbine's career with the fire department advanced, so did his professional career. A year before he joined the force, he started working as a meat cutter at what is now Cen tral Market. He worked as a meat cutter until 1961 when he became store manager. In 1976 he bought the store. Burkenbine says that his staying power on the depart ment is a result of "loving what you do.” T wouldn t have stayed with it all these years if 1 didn't,” he said. "If there was something about the job 1 found extremely unpleasant, I wouldn't have stayed with it for 39 years. You have to overlook all the bad things and look at the positives. I enjoy the camaraderie with fellow firemen. Everyone that has stayed with the department has done so because thev enjoy the job." Burkenbine says that the job of fireman has changed drastically over the years, paid men do not practice fear. They practice safety, but not fear/' Burkenbine also credits his department for going above and beyond the call of duty, buying things for the depar- ment over the years. Some of the money for the purchases is generated by the firemen more accidents than his depart ment has had in 40 years and adds that a healthy fear of fires has contributed to those statistics. "By practicing safety, you practice fear. Some of the everything. There are no specialty jobs.” Burkenbine has put a great deal of thought into transferr ing the title of fire chief to a new man. "When I took over (from former chief Charles Rug- gles) there was no transition time. There needs to be a tran sition. The last four years I've been training, unbeknownst to them, four people to take over.” Burkenbine stresses that the election of a fire chief is not a popularity contest, but in stead is based on training, ex perience, and the ability to manage people. For the new fire chief, Rusty Estes, training began 20 years ago as Burkenbine supervised a junior fire department of four high school students. Besides Estes, Burkenbine's son Allen, who was a junior member, is still active in the department. While the department has grown from eight or nine peo ple when Burkenbine was named chief to around 20 now, he says that more volunteers are still needed. Burkenbine, who cites back problems as part of the reason he is stepping down, says he will remain on the department. "Contrary to the news media reports,” he jokes. "I am not retiring because of Ballot Measure 8. (Measure 8 requires public employees to pay their own pension.) The firemen voted Burkenbine in as fire marshal. While he will no longer be actively involved in fighting fires, he will serve in an advisory position, in vestigating suspicious "smokes and smells” , lie is also involv ed in emergency management, the fire board and the District 12 Fire Training Association. Burkenbine was born and raised in Heppner and graduated from Heppner High School. His wife, Gail, was raised in Pendleton. The cou ple, who married in 1957, have three children and seven grandchildren: Lisa Heim- bigner, who is an RN at St. Mar}r's Hospital in Walla Walla, and her two daughters, Aman da and Sarah; Connie LaFarge, who is a paralegal in Salem and her daughter, Allison; and Allen, who works at Central Market, and his four daughters, Monica, Jennifer, and twins Samantha and Stephanie. donating $2 apiece for each fire they attend. Their most recent purchase was a $7,000 set of three air bags that are capable of lifting up to 35,000 pounds and are used sometimes in stead of the Jaws of Life. Burkenbine says that firemen in a small department are also given a chance to deal with more different kinds of situa tions. "In a volunteer depart ment, everybody has to do "Times have changed," says Burkenbine. "Back then all you had to do was walk in and at tend the meetings. Things are more complex now." Now, he says the job entails much more than handling fires, as deman ding as that may be. (The Heppner department has handled over 1,000 fires over the years.) A fireman now must have around 72 hours of train ing and the local firemen have around 100 hours a year of ongoing training, he says. Handling automobile accidents is also an important part of the job. Burkenbine says that his department handled around 13 auto accidents last year. In ad dition to operating the "Jaws of Life” firemen must be trained in First Aid. Almost all the local firemen are now certified by the state. "It's something that the firemen have wanted to do, which helps insurance rates for the residents of our district. Burkenbine says that while the training is only recommended now, in the near future it will be required. Burkenbine is proud of his department's safety record, both for firemen and for the vic tims. Over his stint on the department there have been only four fatalities and very few minor injuries. "Fires are ex tremely serious," he said. "And one thing I have always stressed is safety. If you're in jured, you can't put the fire out." Burkenbine says that a paid fire department can have Heating assistance available for low income cluding scholarships and grants) for all members; social security numbers for all household members; a current electric bill and a current heating bill if other than ‘XVe’ti electric. Applications will be taken December 21 at the Neighborhood Center at 10:30 a.m. For more information, Call 676-5024. keep you warm winter Concert at Heppner Elementary The Heppner Elementary School kindergarten through fourth grade winter concert is slated for this Thursday, Dec. • s r P o o t» e * e Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 1-800-824-7185 '*•".>*/?•' * * ‘ * ■ / * * ' ' / • * * !" - * ' t ? a >»¿ w V
