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Gingerbread House fills community need
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L-R: Ginger Perez, Ramona Franke, Adam Perez and Alex Usenko
Marjorie Worden celebrates 100th
Surrounded by family and
friends, M arjorie Worden
celebrated her 100th birthday
by cutting her own slice of bir
thday cake at a party in her
honor at the Pioneer Memorial
Hospital Nursing Home.
Majorie Ebbert was born
Sept. 23, 1895 at Condon,
where her family farmed dur
ing the era of horse-drawn
machinery and pioneer lifes
tyles. She attended school
there and went on to teach at
the Mikkalo county school bet
ween Condon and Arlington.
M arjorie married Floyd
Worden on Dec. 31, 1919. The
Wordens farmed on a place
now owned by the Potters. In
1926, they moved to the
Eightmile area. That farm is
now being operated by a
grandson, Bob, and his wife,
Pam and their family.
In addition to wheat farming,
the Wordens developed a herd
of purebred Polled Hereford
cattle.
Like other seedstock breed
ers, the Wordens participated
in cattle shows and sales
throughout the northwest and
in California. They won many
ribbons and championships
and became well-known for
their select herd of breeding
stock. She was always on hand
to help groom their cattle and
once quipped that snuggling
up to an amiable animal was
one way to warm up during
those chilly wintertime shows.
The Wordens had three
children: Wilbur Worden,
Heppner, and Doris Knighten
and Dorothy Gemhard, both of
the Portland area.
Mrs. Worden's room has pic
tures of her large, extended
family that includes six grand
children, 12 great-grandchil
dren and four great-great
grandchildren. Family mem
bers pay frequent visits,
especially the daily visits from
her son Wilbur and his wife
Rita.
bus children long distances in
those days.
Family life has always been
Mrs. Worden's focus. She also
enjoyed flower gardening,
sewing and helping others. She
Marjorie Worden
The Worden children attend
ed the Eightmile county school
near their home during their
primary years. By living in a
rented apartment in the Chaf
fee house, all three children
graduated from Heppner High
School. It was not feasible to
Voter turnout below normal
Morrow County Clerk Bar
bara Bloodsworth said that the
total turnout for the Sept. 19
mail-in election concerning fun
ding for the Morrow County
Unified Recreation District was
58.7 percent. "It was not as
good as normal for a vote by
mail," said Bloodsworth.
A breakdown of precinct
percentages is as follows: no. 1,
North Boardman, 54.7 percent;
no. 2, South Boardman, 48.5
percent; no. 3, Hardman, 50
percent; no. 4, lone, 75.7 per
cent; no. 5, North Irrigon, 55.8
percent; no. 6, South Irrigon,
41.1 percent; no. 7, Lexington,
68.9 percent; no. 8, Northeast
Heppner, 71 percent; no. 9,
Northwest Heppner, 70.2 per
cent; no. 10, Southeast Hepp
ner, 71.2 percent; and no. 11,
Southw est Heppner, 60.1
percent.
Elizabeth Allen honored
Health Dept,
flu shot clinics
The Morrow County Health
Dept, has scheduled flu shot
clinics at the following
locations:
Irrigon Senior Center, Oct.
18, 1-7 p.m.; Heppner Health
Office, Oct. 19, 8:30 a.m.-7
p.m.; lone City Hall, Oct. 23,
4-7 p.m.; Boardman Health Of
fice, Oct. 24, 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.;
Heppner Senior Center, Oct.
25, 10 a.m.-noon.
Seniors are reminded to
bring their medicare cards.
Cost for the shot is $9.
became involved with 4-H
when her own youngsters were
at home.
The Wordens moved to
Heppner before Floyd passed
away in 1963. Up until recent
years, she has maintained her
own house near the Heppner
Elementary School. She also
became active in Eastern Star,
where she held offices and
became Worthy Matron. She
belonged to the Degree of
Honor, the Rebekahs and the
Morrow County Cattle Women.
Her lifestyle of 100 years
depicts the hardiness of women
who reared families and main
tained ranch households before
there were any of today's
conveniences.
Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen of lone was
selected as a winner in the 1995
Kids' Hall of Fame by Pizza
Hut and National Geographic
World.
Elizabeth, a seventh grader at
the lone Schools, won a $50
U.S. Savings Bond for her
work with the homeless. In the
summer of 1994 she organized
a diaper drive, collecting over
one million disposable diapers.
In August 1995, she collected
375 pairs of socks.
Elizabeth, the daughter'of
Jannie and Dick Allen, is in the
process of conducting a coat
drive and will continue collec
ting coats for the homeless un
til the end of October. Anyone
wishing to donate a coat may
contact her at 422-7563.
She was nominated for the
award by Dave Gunderson and
Linda Shaw, Heppner school
teachers.
By April Hilton-Sykes
There's a gingerbread house
in Heppner. But it's not the
kind you eat and definitely not
the one with the wicked witch.
This gingerbread house is
dedicated to enriching the lives
of a group of people who don't
always have a home, much less
a loving one.
Ginger and Adam Perez'
Gingerbread House has pro-
I vided a home for seniors and
mentally or physically disabled
adults since August of 1994.
Ginger started her career
working in a nursing home in
Bellingham, Wash. " I enjoyed
the job," said Ginger, "but the
stress level was too much.
Things were different in the
whole industry back then. I
think they (the residents) got
good care, but at that time nur
sing homes were a place to
d ie." After she moved to
Oregon, Ginger worked for a
program funded through the
Salem office, working one-on-
one with mentally retarded
people in nursing homes. From
there she was hired by Mental
Health as a case manager. She
nad been working with a pa
tient who she got very attach
ed to. She wanted to do more
for her patient-she wanted to
provide her with a loving
home.
Adam had been working at
Kinzua Corporation, but when
the company shut down during
the change of ownership, he
figured that it was the perfect
time for them to start doing
what they loved. So, when
Kinzua Resources called him
back after the sale, he told them
'no', he was just too busy. By
then, the couple had already
jumped head first into their
new enterprise. "We had to get
this going," said Adam. "It
was a necessity."
Ginger then began working
with a vengeance at the
Gingerbread House. At first
she got up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. and
worked until the Gingerbread
residents went to bed-all this
in addition to her job as a men
tal health case worker and tak
ing care of her family, which in
cludes Jamie, now a freshman,
and A.J., a seventh grader. But,
she and Adam love the job.
"Y ou have to care," said
Ginger. "If you didn't you
couldn't do it. It's too deman
ding."
"Caring is a number one
priority," added Adam."It's an
around the clock job, but the
reward is almost instantan
eous. To see someone in jeo
pardy of being placed in an in
stitution and then put them in
a home setting, the glow is
almost instant."
The residents at the Ginger
bread House are all placed
Merchants to meet
The Heppner Merchants'
Committee will meet next
Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. at
Kate's Pizza.
Holiday promotions will be
discussed.
All Heppner merchants are
invited to attend.
Waldport Oct. 17-20. She will
not be in the Heppner office
Oct. 19.
.issues, "which protect the
employees as well as the peo
ple who live here."
Ginger and Adam credit the
local medical personnel with
much of their success. "W e
couldn't do this without the
support we have from Dr. Ed
(Berretta), Dr. Jeanne (Berret-
ta), Dr. (Ernie) Atkins and John
and Ann Murray (pharma
cists)," says Ginger. Ginger
says that Ann Murray worked
"diligently" to be able to pro
vide a Gingerbread resident
with a special restricted
medicine. "They have been
very supportive," adds Adam.
"W e've probably got some of
the best medical facilities in the
state."
Gingerbread House resident
manager is Ramona Franke,
who assists with operation of
the home, caregiving and cook
ing meals. "She's wonderful,"
says Ginger. "Sh e is excellent
help. She's our right arm.
We're really dependent on
h er." Other employees are
Tami Howey, Matt Larive and
Stacie Cline.
Mental Health and Senior
and Disabled Services (SDS)
also provide support. Alex
Usenko, SDS district manager
for Umatilla, Morrow and
Grant counties, is often in con
tact with the Perezes. "Places
like this are rare, extremely rare
in rural communities," says
Usenko. "This offers people
out here a real choice for the
first time. Before people either
had to go to a nursing home or
move out of the area. The good
news now is that they can stay
right in their own community
if they want."
The Perezes now have two
locations in Heppner, one on
Gale Street and one near the
Sheriff's Office.
The Perezes first moved to
Morrow County from Bell
ingham in 1985 looking for a
change in careers and environ
ment. The Bellingham area was
growing "too big, too fast"
and, adds Ginger, "W e've
never been big city people."
Adam wanted to try his hand
at ranching and got a job work
ing for the Dave Cheney ranch.
The family moved to lone in
1987 when Adam was hired by
Kinzua Corp. In 1992 they
moved to Heppner. Adam is a
lieutenant with the Heppner
Volunteer Fire Department and
also drives ambulance. He is
also on the Morrow County
Mental Health Advisory Board
and helps out at the local school
with a monolingual Spanish
speaking student. Ginger has
been a member of the Morrow
County Commission for Chil
dren and Families, but had to
give it up because of a lack of
time. Their family also includes
daughter, Shannon Anderson,
who lives at the Mountain
Home Air Force Base in Idaho
with her husband, who is in
the Air Force, and their
daughter, Mercedes. Ginger
used one of her precious days
off recently helping Mercedes
celebrate her third birthday.
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Veteran's service office closed
Veterans' Service officer Rita
Hedman will be attending a
veterans' conference in
there on a contract basis with
Senior and Disabled Services or
Mental Health. Mental Health
serves people from 18 to 62
years old. Senior and Disabled
Services assists people over age
62 or those with physical or
mental disabilities. The Perezes
provide total care for the peo
ple who live there, which in
cludes laundry, hygiene,
grooming, cooking, house
keeping and, if the patient re
quires it, feeding.
Adam and Ginger get refer
rals from all over the state, but
don't accept everyone. They
say they look for that perfect
match. "M ost of our people
here don't have families," said
Ginger. "W e are pretty much
their families. That's really the
best part of it. Once they've
been here for awhile, they
become your family."
Ginger and Adam agree that
they don't get away very often,
since they not only work at the
Gingerbread House, but also
live downstairs. But that's just
fine with them. "W e eat, sleep
and breathe t h is ," adds
Ginger. "Now we're used to it.
We're more comfortable. When
we're not here, we worry about
them ," adds Ginger."They
become your grandfather or
grandmother or child." The
Perezes say that the recent pur
chase of a cellular phone adds
to their peace of mind and
"paid for itself" the first day
they purchased it.
Adam and Ginger say that
sometimes problems arise
because of the misconceptions
people have about mentally ill
and retarded people. "W e're
really concerned about the
com m unity," says Ginger.
"W e don't want to bring
anyone in who will harm the
community...and we won't.
But everyone in this house has
the same rights as everyone
else. We want people with
enough respect and dignity
that they can go by the rules,"
says Adam.
'It's all a matter of trust,"
says Ginger. " I think a lot of
the people who have lived in
institutions have a mistrust of
caretakers. If you can get their
trust and love them, it's okay.
At first it's very traumatic for
them, because mentally retard
ed people like things to be
ordered. Once you get that
established, then they feel
secure. They've gone through
so much trauma in their lives,
I think they deserve to be taken
care of with the same respect
that everyone else does.”
The Perezes develop pro
grams for their residents, bas
ed on their behaviors. In addi
tion to establishing a regular
routine, they plan individual
activities. Bingo games and
have a home bowling seL They
also take the residents on an oc
casional outing. They say the
the men residents especially
enjoy going for drives in the
Perezes' 1954 Hudson Hornet.
The Gingerbread House is
very serious about the house
rules on sanitation and other
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