Court experiences make special memories for Queen Brenda
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HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 115
NO. 33
8 Pages Wednesday, August 14, 1996,
Wheeler Point fire 3-4 miles from Spray
The Wheeler Point fire has
had only a small amount of
movement since Monday, Gary
Clark of the Heppner Ranger
District told the Gazette-Times
Tuesday.
Clark said that the fire sprang
up and moved toward Spray
on the southeast corner, but
that was stopped and the fire
remains between three and
fourth miles from Spray.
A community meeting was
scheduled Monday night for
Spray area residents to obtain
accurate information concern
ing the situation and learn
about contingency plans. No
evacuation had been schedul
ed as of presstime, according to
Joanie Bosworth, U.S. Forest
Service public affairs assis
tant, Umatilla National Forest.
Clark said that the east edge
of the fire has been held where
it was Monday and that it is still
at around 21,000 acres. He add
ed, however, that lightning
was supposed to be headed
this way Tuesday.
According to Clark, the
perimeters of the fire are as
follows: south edge-Sourdough
Ridge, about four miles north
west of Spray; east edge-near
Henry Creek in Dixon Basin,
roughly a mile and a half west
of Kahler Basin (west of Hwy.
207); north edge-on a line from
Crawford Spring on the north
east comer to Wheeler Point on
the northwest corner; south
west corner-a little north of
Frizzel Mountain.
The Wheeler Point fire had
burned approximately 20,000
acres, as of 7 a.m., Monday,
Aug. 12. The fire, located 15
miles east of Fossil, burning
portions of Wheeler County, is
burning on both private and
federal lands.
The cause of the fire is still
under investigation. It was de
tected at 10:45 a.m. Saturday,
Aug. 10, and quickly grew to
7,000 acres by 3:30 a.m. Sun
day. The fire has destroyed 18
buildings.
At this point the fire is about
70 percent lined, said an
Oregon Dept, of Forestry
(ODF) news release, with no
estimated time of containment.
Governor Kitzhaber declared a
state of emergency Monday,
which will remain in effect un
til the threat is "significantly
relieved."
Approximately 500 firefight
ers are taking part in this effort,
which is a cooperative incident
management effort with per
sonnel and equipment from
ODF, U .S. Forest Service
(USFS), State Fire Marshall,
W heeler County Sheriff,
Wheeler County Search and
Rescue, Fossil and Spray Fire
Depts., Boise Cascade and Kin-
zua Resources, and private log
ging and firefighting contrac
tors.
The fire is being managed
under a unifed command bet
ween the ODF and USFS. One
firefighter has been treated for
heat exhaustion. No other in
juries have been reported, said
the news release.
Approximately 35 homes
have been evacuated, the news
release continued. No further
evacuations are imminent, al
though a contingency evacua
tion plan for the community of
Spray has been developed.
Spray lies about four miles
south of the fire.
Lamb auction to benefit teens
A lamb auction to benefit the
Heppner teenagers injured in
an auto accident July 11, will be
held following the 4-H and
Future Farmers of America
market sale, which will be held
Saturday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m.
Those who don't want to
purchase the lamb, but want to
make a contribution, may make
donations by calling 676-5110 or
676-5250.
The lamb to be auctioned off
will also walk in the parade
starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Power outage moved to Aug. 23
A power outage, originally
scheduled for this Friday, Aug.
16, and affecting Columbia
Basin Electric customers, has
been rescheduled for Friday,
August 23, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The outage, planned for Bon
neville Power Administration
maintenance, will affect Hepp
ner, lone, Lexington, Ruggs,
Olex, Cecil, Morgan, Hinton
Creek, Willow Creek, Rhea
Creek, Rock Creek, Shutler
Flat, Lower Willow Creek, Mik-
kalo, Clem and Ajax.
Junior golfers to compete
Heppner Junior Golfers will
compete in a tournament in
Echo on Tuesday, Aug. 20,
with Hermiston juniors.
Pete Strawick is the instruct
or.
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Evelyn Sweek
to be honored
Evelyn Sweek
By April Hilton-Sykes
Evelyn Sweek, dietary super
visor at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital and Nursing Home in
Heppner, has been selected for
the Oregon Health Care Asso
ciation's "Love is Ageless"
award, in recognition for her 35
years of service.
Sweek will receive her award
at a luncheon on Wednesday,
Sept. 11, at the Oregon Health
Care Association's 46th annual
convention at the Oregon Con
vention Center in Portland.
Sweek was bom in Portland
and raised in Newberg, moving
to the Monument area in 1948.
She graduated from high
school at Monument, out of a
graduating class of two. The
high school at Monument, with
only 20 students, was quite a
bit different than her school in
the valley, with 1900 students.
When she moved to Monu
ment there were no paved
highways and no electricity.
She met her husband,
Clayton, in Monument and
they were married when he
went into the service during the
Korean War. She worked for
General Motors while her hus
band was in the service.
The Sweeks have four child
ren, Mike, Heppner, Dana,
Washington, Curtis, Hermis
ton, and Sheridan, Pendleton,
and five granchildren.
Evelyn comes by her profes
sion naturally. Her grandfather
started bakeries all over the
U.S. and both her mother and
father, who were born in
Poland, were bakers, too.
" I didn't want to get into
food service," laughs Evelyn.
But she started work at Pioneer
Memorial Hospital, "only for
one year" as a cook in 1961.
After two months as a cook,
she became dietary supervisor
and that one year turned into
35. In 1971 Evelyn received her
dietician manager's certificate,
which is equal to a year in col
lege, through the University of
Florida.
"I'v e got a very rewarding
career," says Evelyn. "I feel
very honored to receive this
award. I feel wonderful."
Morrow County Fair and
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo's 19%
Queen Brenda Holtz is the
17-year-old daughter of Elmer
and Sandy Holtz of lone. Like
all of her princesses, she is the
youngest member of her fami
ly. She has three older broth
ers, Jim, who works for his un
cle and cousin on their wheat
ranch; Brian, who just graduat
ed from Blue Mountain Com
munity College (BMCC) and
will work for lone Repair after
completing his harvest job; and
Gregg, who still has one more
year at BMCC.
"M y family has always sup
ported me-even with early
mornings and long trips to
horse shows and parades, " the
queen said. "M y brothers and
their friends tease me and keep
me humble, but when I'm
down, they always know how
to make me feel better. Dad
and Mom haven't missed a
parade or rodeo all summer,
which is normal. They've been
to nearly every horse show,
basketball and volleyball game
I've participated in and never
missed any of my brothers'
football games either."
The blue-eyed brunette has
lived in the same house in lone
all of her life and will be a
senior at lone High School this
fall. She began playing volley
ball in sixth grade, basketball in
the seventh grade and is a
member of the Lady Cardinal
varsity volleyball and basketball
teams. She competed in track
one year in junior high, but
found the springtime too busy
with horse show competitions
to continue with the sport.
Brenda has been a class of
ficer several years and is a
member of the Heppner-Ione
International Club which is
planning a trip to Italy next
spring. She was chosen to at
tend the American Legion
Auxiliary-sponsored Girls'
State this summer at Linfield
College where she was elected
a delegate from her county.
The queen credits former
area resident Gayle Papineau
with her interest in horses.
When she was in kindergarten,
her babysitter, Gayle, always
had horses around, so she got
to help feed and brush them.
Gayle and a neighbor, Laurie
Barrow, whom the queen has
dubbed her "other mother,"
encouraged her interest in
horses by starting the lone Jr.
Riding Club for several area
kids like Brenda.
Later, Brenda became an
associated 4-H horse club
member and finally a regular
4-Her. Longtime Heppner 4-H
leader A1 Brazel also helped
Brenda with her riding skills
when the two clubs had joint
meetings, and going "above
and beyond" a 4-H leader's
duties by traveling with her
and her parents to area horse
shows.
Brenda's experience includes
a couple of years in a cooking
club, learning basic cooking
skills and how to behave in
front of people while demon
strating how to bake chocolate
chip cookies. A year in a sew
ing club helped her decide that
sewing is probably not for her
since the white shirt and black-
with-white figured pants outfit
she struggled to make is still
hanging in her closet, just the
way it was at fair six years ago.
Eight years in Martingales
4-H Horse Club has helped her
decide to follow a horse-related
study program at college after
graduation next spring. "I just
can't see myself being happy if
I'm not working with horses in
some way, or maybe teaching
others to work with them," the
queen said candidly.
The queen encourages any
girl who can ride and thinks
she might be interested in
representing the Morrow
County Fair and Rodeo to try
Queen
Brenda Holtz
Eyes: Blue
H air: Brown
Parents: Elmer and
Sandy HMtz
Age: 17 years old
Senior at IHS
Activities: Lady C ar
dinal volleyball & basket
ball, class officer, Interna
tional Club, Girls’ State,
4-H horse & cooking
clubs.
Brenda and two new friends, Mickey Bergantzel of Albany (left) and
Julie Thayer of Scio, smile for the camera in their dorm at Linfield
College during the 56th session of Oregon Girls’ State.
out for the court next year
because it is a fun and learning
experience. Times she has
shared with the other girls on
the court are special memories
not everyone can have.
This year on the court has
had its ups and downs for the
queen and her court. She says
it's been a challenge to main
tain the poise and fulfill the
duties of queen without prior
experience as a princess. "It's
an honor, though," she ad
mits, "that the fair and rodeo
board, the rodeo committee
and the fair committee had
enough confidence in me to
select me for this position. I just
hope I have lived up to their ex
pectations."
Among the challenges, the
queen says, was coordinating
outfits and trying to find a
cream-colored hat, belt and
boots to match her official out
fit. " I thought we never were
going to get things worked
out," she said, "but, finally, it
all came together."
Another time she remembers
as difficult was during the
parade at The Dalles, when her
official mount, a six-year-old
paint mare named Spooks
Painted Bar, bucked along the
parade route. " I had to get her
back under control and pretend
that nothing had happened, so
1 swatted her once to get her at
tention and kept smiling and
waving to the crowd and mak
ing her follow along in our pat
tern."
Queen Brenda has learned
how to handle horses in many
situations from her years as a
pennant bearer for Queen Judy
Jepsen, herding cattle, riding
mountain trails and the hills in
Morrow County, her 4-H ex
perience, cross-country jump
ing, her riding coaches, and
years of experience at sanction
ed area horse shows.
The best part about being
queen of the fair and rodeo
court, she says, has been the
support from her princesses,
pennant bearers and the com
munity. "M y princesses and
pennants have been dedicated
in coming to the parades and
rodeos, and have worked hard
keeping their horses and out
fits in shape," Brenda noted.
"People have been wonderful
coming to our fund raisers and
giving donations. When they
see us at parades and rodeos,
they come up to us and con
gratulate us or tell us how good
we look and what a good job
we're doing. It's wonderful to
feel such support from every
one."
The most memorable event
so far, the queen recalls, was
her coronation at the Town and
Country banquet in January. "I
was so nervous about having to
give a speech in front of all
those people that I put horse
radish on my baked potato.
And, when I got up to go on
the stage, my knees were shak
ing so bad that I thought
everybody could see and hear
them, but afterwards everyone
congratulated me and told me
I'd done a good job. I was so
excited I couldn't stop thinking
about it for days."
She expects the grand entries
at the Morrow County fair and
rodeo to be just as exciting, but
not as intimidating, as she and
Spooks run around the arena
greeting rodeo fans and hear
ing their cheers and applause.
"My court and I hope everyone
comes to the fair and rodeos.
We know the show will be en
joyable, and we will have fun
meeting and talking with
everyone," the queen con
cluded.
Fair in full
swing«
The Morrow County Fair is in
full swing this week at the Mor
row County Fairgrounds in
Heppner.
The fair will feature contests
and exhibits, demonstrations,
fashion shows, a market sale,
food booths and concessions,
entertainment, a Saturday mor
ning parade and a street dance
Saturday night.
For more information, see the
Morrow County Fair and
Rodeo Premium Book and the
Heppner Gazette-Times special
fair and rodeo supplemental.
County Jackpot
Rodeo Sunday
The Morrow County Jackpot
Rodeo, featuring Morrow
County residents and alumni,
will get underway Sunday,
Aug. 18, at 1:15 p.m.
MCGG will be back to REGULAR HOURS
Monday, August 19th
We will be CLOSED SATURDAY, Aug. 17th
‘See you at the Morrow County Fair & Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo'
Morrow County Grain Growers
_______________Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396_______________