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Burkenbine steps down as fire chief
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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
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