Local kids have lunch with Santa
Area children visit with Santa while their parents take advantage of some free time for Christmas
shopping Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Heppner Elks Club. The annual lunch with Santa is sponsored
by the Heppner Chamber of Commerce.
Local families have ties to crash victim
VOL. 114
NO. 51
10 Pages Wednesday, December 20, 1995,
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
M ID CO to begin Morrow Co. service
Mid Columbia Bus Co., Inc.
(MIDCO) will be providing pu
pil transportation for the Mor
row County School District, ef
fective Tuesday, Jan. 2, accor
ding to the school district.
MIDCO is a family-owned
and operated transportation
company that specializes in
rural pupil transportation for
school districts. MIDCO pre
sently operates 25 contracts
with school districts, education
service districts and Head Start
programs in Eastern Oregon
and one school district in
Idaho.
"Their goal in Morrow Coun
ty, as in all school district op
erations, is to provide safe,
reliable, and cost effective
transportation, for your student
and the other children in the
county," said school superin
tendent Chuck Starr.
Starr said that MIDCO has
retained the current transpor
tation managers, Burke O'Brien
and Everett Moore, to remain
locally and perform day-to-day
operations as they have the
past several years. "They felt it
essential to retain these skilled
managers in order to provide
you with consistency and con
tinuity in dealing with someone
you know and trust," Stan-
added.
"Employment was also of
fered to all existing school bus
drivers employed by the dis-
trict," said Stan. "By retaining
the drivers, on their same
routes, MIDCO again is look
ing to maintain consistency and
continuity through experienc
ed and skilled drivers who will
provide safe transportation for
your student."
According to Starr, the fol
lowing drivers have indicated
that they have accepted em
ployment with MIDCO begin
ning Jan. 2:
Heppner/Ione-Shawn Wil
son, Kay Proctor, Gerald Berg
strom, Pat Dougherty, Rudy
Bergstrom, Marie Rudisill, Ed
Baker, Jan Coe, Rick Pettyjohn,
Jim Rudisill, Bob Worden, Gin
ger O'Brien, Bill Adams, Glenn
Anderson, Shirley Martin and
Betty Bergstrom.
Boardman/Irrigon: Kellie
Adams-Morgan, Evelene Fin
ley, Rosa Rodriquez, Carolyn
Maret, Robin McCord, Lloyd
Peck, Brenda Newport, Arlene
Flanagan, A1 Hensley and A1
Gordanier.
MIDCO will be installing
F.M. communication radios, in
any route buses not presently
equipped with them. In addi
tion, MIDCO will be installing
base stations in each of the of
fices. This radio system will
allow each of the buses to stay
in constant communication
with its home base, with buses
on routes and with other MID-
CO centers for emergency
Lighting contest winners announced
backup and dispatch of main
tenance and support vehicles.
Thses radios also allow the ac
tivity buses to be in constant
communication with other
MIDCO offices for backup sup
port, as they drive through
Eastern Oregon/Washington.
A safety officer is being
assigned to the district's opera
tions to assist the local mana
gers with emergency evacua
tion drills, driver training and
education programs, route
evaluations and to establish
monthly employee safety and
committee meetings.
A special needs manager will
be assigned to the district's
operations to evaluate and
recommend pupil transporta
tion for special needs students.
MIDCO has provided an op
tion to the district to utilize 47
passenger motorcoaches to
transport students on activity
or field trips.
If you have any questions
regarding your bus route or
anything else, call Burke
O'Brien, 676-5861, or Bruce
Flatt, 1-800-574-3424, in the
Heppner/Ione area, or Everett
Moore, 481-7551, or Doug Flatt,
1-800-574-8676, in the Board
man/Irrigon area.
"The Morrow County School
District looks forward to work
ing with MIDCO in providing
continued safe transportation
for your children," concluded
Starr.
Fountain is the cousin of
Two Heppner families have
Chuck
Bailey of Heppner.
a link to a man whose plane is
Bailey
and
Fountain's mother,
believed to have crashed in the
Mildred
Robinson
of Mollala,
southeastern Canadian rockies
are
first
cousins.
Robinson
was
on Nov. 28.
born
in
Fossil
and
Bailey
was
Wayne Fountain, 45, Molalla,
was one of five men aboard a born in Kinzua.
Robinson and Jack Maben of
twin-engine plane carrying
Heppner
were classmates in
employees of the Hessel Trac
Mollala
and
the children of the
tor and Equipment Co. The
two families also attended
plane had taken off from school together.
Calgary Alberta, en route to
Radar trackings showed that
Hillsboro. The search centered the plane descended quickly in
on an area between Castlegar to a mountainous, snow-cover
and Cranbrook, British Colum ed area. The search, which has
bia, about 100 miles north of since been called off, involved
Spokane.
as many as 13 aircraft.
Besides Fountain, a customer
service representative for
Hessel, the other employees,
who had been returning from
a training session in Calgary,
were David T. Gorin, 45,
Hillsboro, the pilot of the
Rockwell 700 aircraft; Arthur
Brown, 41, Gresham; Don
Moxley, 41, Tangent; and Neil
Tofell, 50, Gold Hill.
Bailey reported that Robinson
commented on the dedication
of the Canadian Armed Forces
Search and Rescue team and
the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police.
hristm as R iessi
Lundquist
announces
candidacy
Representative Lynn Lund
quist (R-Powell Butte), the Ore
gon House Majority Leader,
has formally announced that he
will seek a second term in the
Oregon House of Representa
tives. Lundquist has filed doc
uments with the Elections Divi
sion that will put his name on
the Republican primary elec
tion ballot for House District 59.
During the 68th Legislative
The Randall Petersons took first place in the indoor lighting
Session, Lundquist served as
category.
chair of the Business Subcom
195 N. Gale, won $20 for first mittee of the Commerce Com
The Ronny Brisbois house
place in the indoor category. mittee. He also served on the
hold, 605 Morgan, was the win
The Joyce Hughes family, 215 Joint Ways and Means Com
ner of the outdoor Christmas
S. Court, was second and re mute, the Legislative Rules
lighting contest, sponsored by
Committee and is currently ser
ceived a $10 prize.
the Heppner Chamber of Com
Receiving honorable mention ving on the Emergency Board.
merce. He won $50 for his dis
for their lighting displays were He and his wife, Barb, own and
play.
Gene Hall, Greg Sweek, Larry operate a ranch in Powell Butte.
The Richard Paris home, 315
District 59 includes Baker,
Mills, Glen Ward and Lowell
Water Street, came in second
Crook,
Gilliam, Grant, Sher
Jones.
and the Ernie McCake resi
man,
Wheeler
counties and
The Shoe Box received
dence, 355 Water Street, was
portions
of
Morrow
and Wasco
special recognition in the Fes
third. Second place was $25
counties.
The
primary
election
tive Business Lighting Display
and third, $15.
is
May
21,
19%.
category and a $15 award.
The Randall Peterson home,
From the Gazette-Times
To all our friends and customers
W e wish a M erry Christmas
we will be closed Dec. 23,24 & 25
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396