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Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Relay Challenge set for June
The Official Newspaper of the
City of Heppner and the
County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S 240-420
Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
Published weekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner,
Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner,
Oregon. Office at 147 West Willow Street Telephone (541)676-9228 Postmaster
send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O Box 337, Heppner.
Oregon 97836. Subsc riptions: $18 in Morrow , Wheeler, Gilliam and Grant Coun
ties; $25 elsewhere.
April Hilton-Sykes..............................................................................News Editor
Stephanie Jensen .................................................................................Typesetting
Monique Devin
Advertising layout 6c Graphics
Bonnie B en n ett....................
Distribution
Penni K eersem aker........................
Printer
David Sykes, Publisher
Marsha Sweek selected for
Smithsonian workshop
Marsha Sweek, director of the
Morrow County Museum, is one
of 18 museum professionals in
the nation selected to participate
in a five-day workshop in
museum management at the
Smithsonian Institution's Center
for Museum Studies during the
last week of February.
According to Sweek, the
workshop will focus on planning,
finances, facility management
and development, which will be
particularly applicable to the
museum's current project to
develop the facility for the
agricultural collection.
Sweek has been director of the
Morrow County Museum for
almost 10 years and last year
addressed
the
American
Association of Museums' annual
conference in Atlanta at the
invitation of the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibits
Service.
Heppner man completes laser
printer training
tenance, Grace anticipates further
expansion of services and prod
ucts in the future.
Grace’s business, Ray Grace
and Associates, or RGA, is lo
cated at 468 West Street #222,
Heppner. His phone is 676-5354,
and his fax is 676-5292.
The Morrow County 24-hour
Relay Challenge has been
planned for June 13-14 at
Riverside High School in
Boardman.
The relay will include as many
as 30 teams of 10 members each
who will run or walk one mile
around the RHS track and then
pass a baton off to the next team
member for 24 hours.
While the teams are circling
the track, a community picnic
has been planned with different
types of entertainment, food and
camping. A health fair is also
being organized to provide
information
about
services
available to the community.
According to a Relay
Challenge news release, Heppner
City Police Chief Doug Rathbun
has allowed HPD Officer Merle
Cowett to participate on the
planning team support this drug-
free youth activity. Boardman
Police Chief Sayles and his wife
Marja will serve as contact
Holly Rebekah Lodge holds meeting
By Delpha Jones
The Past Noble Grand Club of
the Holly Rebekah Lodge met at
the home of Luella Taylor on
Monday evening for a belated
Christmas party.
A dinner was enjoyed, after
which an election of officers was
held. The same ladies were
elected as last year: Anita
Padberg,
chairman;
Joyce
Buchanan, vice-chairman; and
Kathy Tellechea, secretary.
Secret sister names were
revealed and names were drawn
for the coming year.
Those present were: Joyce
Buchanan, Dorothy Jackson,
Virginia Peck, Kathy Tellechea,
Community grant funds available
Ray Grace
Ray Grace of Heppner recently
completed training in mainte
nance and repair of laser printers
and copiers at Don Thompson
Seminars in Chatsworth, CA.
According to Grace, the need
for training became apparent
when he began selling laser car
tridges early last year. Demand
for local service outweighed need
for cartridges in the eyes of most
area businesses. Grace said his
goal is to provide Morrow and
western Umatilla county busi
nesses with “big city” service,
utilizing an inventory of routinely
used parts, along with overnight
delivery for less common parts.
Having begun last year as a
provider of printer cartridges, and
this year adding service and main-
The Morrow County Commis
sion on Children and Families has
established a Community Devel
opment Fund to be used for com
munity needs and to leverage
other funds for the children, youth
and families of Morrow County.
Approximately $1,000 will be
available each quarter and the
maximum grant would be $500.
Examples of reasonable com
munity development fund re
quests include seasonal program
needs; small capital expenditures
(except for private property); ser
vice program staff training; one
time events, and pilot projects.
Home day care providers may
also apply for funds to enhance
the quality and availability of
their services, but they must be
registered by the state or have reg
istration forms submitted to the
state for approval at the time of
request for funds.
Recent proposals approved
were $500 for a Boardman com
munity recreation expansion
project, and $500 for a parenting
project for Sam Boardman El
ementary School.
New proposals will be re
viewed on April 14 during the
monthly commission meeting but
must be received by the commis
sion office by March 31 to be con
sidered. Applications are avail
able at the commission office at
120 South Main in Heppner, or
by calling 676-9675.
4-H seeks new leaders
4-H is looking for new 4-H
leaders. There are children that
would like to be in 4-H, but
without leaders they are not able
to be placed in clubs.
Leaders in all areas of the
county and in all program areas,
home economics, livestock,
horse and small animals, are
needed.
"The county is growing by leaps
and bounds and is expected to
continue growing for some time,"
sa id
an
E x ten sio n
spokesperson."We need activities
for the children that are here and
for the new families coming to
people for the Morrow County
Ambulance service who will
provide an on-site EMT and first
aid services. Sayles and his
department will also provide
security for the event. According
to the release, the Morrow
County Court has also given their
endorsement.
"After
an
outstanding presentation on the
part of student Paula Spicerkuhn
to the county school board, we
now have their endorsement as
well," said the release. Jon and
Alisha Blake worked with the
school district to secure the RHS
site.
For more information or to
participate, volunteer or sponsor
a team, contact: Marilyn Bader-
Nesse, 676-9191 or 481-2911;
Dar Merrill, 676-9675; or relay
director, student Heidi Kurts,
676-9835.
A planning meeting has been
scheduled for March at 3:30 p.m.
at Beecher's Restaurant in lone.
Everyone is invited to attend the
meeting and a no-host dinner.
Morrow County. 4-H is a great
way for new families to become
acquainted
with
their
communities
and
the
communities with them."
All leaders are provided with a
"New Leader Training" when
they sign up. The Extension
stresses that leaders don't have to
be an expert at anything; they
just need to help give youth a
positive hands on experience.
Many resources are available and
many experienced leaders are
glad to help new leaders.
Anyone interested may call the
Extension office at 676-9642 or
1-800-342-3664.
Kathy Clark, hostess Luella
Taylor and co-hostess Delpha
Jones. Also present were Cecil
Jones and Bob Taylor.
There was some discussion on
a trip to the Oddfellow home in
Portland and Dorothy Jackson
was appointed to look into this.
Janet Balfe returned to her
home in Anchorage, Alaska on
Friday evening. She was called
here by the death of her mother,
Leila Palmer. Also present from
a distance was Ken Marshall,
father of Max Palmer, from
Zillah, Washington. Mike and
Barbara Palmer, who had been
here staying with Leila for
several weeks, will remain for a
few days.
Local girl enrolls
in riding program
Sybil Krebs of lone recently
enrolled in the American Quarter
Horse Association Horseback
Riding Program. The program
provides
AQHA
members
recognition for time spent riding
or driving American Quarter
Horses.
Current AQHA members
complete a program application
and pay a one-time $25
enrollment fee. Each enrollee
receives an official AQHA log
sheet to record their hours
driving or riding their quarter
horse. Participants need not own
their own horse, but all official
hours must be accrued with a
registered American Quarter
Horse.
The first award, a program
recognition patch, is given after
50 hours have been logged and
verified.
Patches and nine
subsequent awards are presented
at 100 to 5,000-hour levels and
range from merchandise gift
certificates to a trophy belt
buckle at the highest level.
Jim Bret Campbell, AQHA
manager of the horseback riding
program, said, "The horseback
riding program is a unique
opportunity to earn rewards
outside
of
traditional
competition. In some cases the
program rewards people who
already spend many hours riding
American quarter horses. For
others, the horseback riding
program is an incentive to get out
and ride."
Wheat scholarship
program offered
“Inland Umpire Rank was willing to
take a chance on ns—two young
fanners in their 20s anil a farm wife
who was taking over the reins of a
family farm operation . I f you want to
do business with a truly people's
hank,' there's no place better than
Inland Empire."
‘
Ceri, Ken. Pnige,
and Virginia Grich
Wheat Farmers
Bank Customers Since 1986
Established in 1948
INLAND EM PIRE BANK
“Committed to People and Community ”
Hermiston ♦ Umatilla ♦ Stanfield ♦ Boardman ♦ Pendleton
Member FDIC
The
Oregon
Wheat
Foundation, Inc., has unveiled a
scholarship
program
for
graduating
seniors
whose
families are members of the
Oregon Wheat Growers League
(OWGL). Students whose family
members are employed by
OWGL members are also
eligible.
One $500 award will be made
to a qualifying student from each
of the participating counties,
which include Morrow, Baker,
Gilliam, Klamath, Malheur,
Sherman, Umatilla, Union,
Wallowa and Wasco. In addition,
one award will be made in the
north Willamette valley and one
in the south Willamette valley.
Application forms, which
must be returned by March 15,
are available through high school
counselors' offices in the
participating counties. They may
also be obtained from OWGL
county presidents or from the
OWGL office, P.O. Box 400,
Pendleton, OR 97801.
Wednesday, February 18, 1998 - FIVE
Obituaries
Doris Hazel Stract
Dons Hazel Stract, 72, for
merly oflone, died Sunday, Feb
ruary 15, 1998 in Portland.
Graveside services were held
Wednesday, February 18, 1998 at
IOOF Cemetery in Estacada
Mrs. Stract was bom on Sep
tember 28,1925, in lone to Albert
and Echo Palmateer. She received
her education in lone, graduating
from high school there in 1943.
She attended nursing school in
La Grande and worked at the tu
berculosis hospital in The Dalles.
She moved to Portland where she
worked until her marriage to
Leonard John on December 18,
1945, in San Francisco. While liv
ing in California, she was em
ployed by Aetna Insurance Com
pany. She moved back to Oregon
in 1969. She worked at Holliday
Park Hospital for many years, re
tiring in 1977.
She enjoyed genealogy re
search, needlework and ceramics.
She was a m em ber of
Gethsemane Lutheran Church in
Portland.
Survivors include her daugh
ter Marilyn and son-in-law Terry
Eakin of Grass Valley; daughter-
in-law Ruth Stract of Sacramento,
California; sister-in-law Rosetta
Palmateer of Heppner; and four
grandchildren, Jennifer and
Michelle Stract of Sacramento
and Tara and Trent Eakin of Grass
Valley.
Estacada Funeral Chapel was
in charge of arrangements.
Bennie Lee Middleton
Tolar
Bennie Lee Middleton Tolar,
90, Echo historian and long time
resident,
died
Thursday,
February 12, 1998, at Good
Shepherd Community Hospital in
Hermiston. The funeral was
February 16, 1998, at the Echo
Community Methodist Church
with burial at the Echo Cemetery.
The eldest of six children,
Bennie Lee Middleton, was bom
March 30, 1907, at Ballinger,
Texas, to Benjamin Bond and
Mattie
Elizabeth
Sommers
Middleton.
As the first bom, she was
supposed to have been a boy so
was named "Bennie," after her
father. She told family members
she and her younger siblings had
"the happiest of childhoods,"
growing up in Texas.
In 1924, she came to Echo with
her family and completed her
senior year of high school at
Echo.
She began playing the piano
and organ at the Echo
Community Methodist Church
and continued as church
musician for some 72 years.
In January 1926, she married
Empie Ray Tolar who had come
to
Eastern
Oregon
from
Fayetteville, N.C. They met
while working on the Meyer's
ranch out of Echo where sh was
cooking and he was "skinning
cat."
She loved her church and town
almost as much as she loved her
family. Her children say they
could never get her to stay at
their homes longer than a day or
two because she always wanted
to get back to Echo, back home.
Coming over the hill north of
town and looking on the
community she would say, "This
must be the most beautiful place
in the world."
Mrs. Tolar was Echo
correspondent for the East
Oregonian, Hermiston Herald
and the Walla Walla Bulletin for
many years. In addition to the
weekly news items she reported,
she became the unofficial
historian of the town. She wrote
numerous historical vignettes
about Echo and in 1976, she
published the series under the
title "Echoes from the Past”. In
1977, Mrs. Tolar published
"Days Gone By", a collection of
stones about her childhood in
Texas.
She was a member of the
National Pen Women, Veterans
of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, the
Echo Methodist Church and
numerous other community
organizations.
Survivors include her children.
Vara
Louise
Blahm
of
Hermiston, Mary Ruth Colbum
o f The Dalles, Joseph Ray Tolar
of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Michael
Gray Tolar of Boardman, and
Robert Lynn Tolar of Portland;
13 grandchildren and 12 great
grandchildren; and brothers, Earl
Middleton of Reedsport and
Keith Middleton of Echo Her
husband, Ray, died in 1969
Memorial contributions may be
made to the Echo Community
Methodist Church, directly or
through Bums Mortuary of
Hermiston, P.O. Box 289,
Hermiston, OR 97838.
Dorothy L Snyder
Dorothy L. Snyder, 71, Imgon,
died Thursday, February 12,
1998, at her home. A memorial
gathering for Mrs. Snyder was
held at her home on Feb. 15,
1998. Disposition was by
cremation.
Dorothy L. Hein was bom
Dec. 29, 1926, at Napa, Calif., to
Charles and Evelyn Hottel Hein.
She graduated from high school
in Mabton, Wash.
Mrs. Snyder had been a
resident of Imgon the past 39
years and was an active member
of the Lions Auxiliary Club in
Imgon.
She enjoyed visiting her
children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
Mrs.
Snyder took pride in her home
and enjoyed entertaining friends.
Survivors include a son,
Christopher of Junction City;
daughters, Ricki Gross of
Aurora, 111., Tamara Hamilton of
Milton-Freewater, Kelli Snyder
of Imgon and Judith Wood of
Medford; a brother, Leigh Hein
of
Napa,
Calif.;
nine
grandchildren and seven great
grandchildren. She was preceded
in death by her husband, Tom E.
Snyder, her parents, and a sister,
Betty Kunkel.
Memorial contributions may be
made to St. Mary's Cancer Clinic
in Walla Walla, through Bums
Mortuary of Hermiston, P.O.
Box 289, Hermiston, OR 97838.
James Garnet Barratt
James Garnet Barratt, formerly
of Heppner, died Sunday,
February 1 at Corvallis.
A celebration of life service will
be held at the Episcopal Church
of the Good Samaritan in
Corvallis at 1:30 p.m. on
Thursday, February 19.
Memorial Contributions, for
those who wish , may be made to
the OSU Foundation/Jim Barratt
Scholarship@, 517 Snell Hall,
Corvallis, Oregon, or to the
Episcopal Church of the Good
Samaritan, 35th and Harrison,
Corvallis, Oregon 97330.
ODFW to
discontinue John
Day trout stocking
Changes to the trout stocking
program in the John Day River
Basin are being proposed by the
Oregon Dept, of Fish and Wild
life (ODFW). Public comment is
being sought on the proposal,
which would eliminate stocking
of hatchery rainbow trout in tribu
taries of the John Day River in
habited by wild trout and steel-
head. These releases would be
shifted to local lakes and ponds.
Currently the only streams
stocked with hatchery rainbow
trout in the basin are the North
Fork John Day River, Camas
Creek and Canyon Creek. Under
ODFW’s proposal, stocking in
these streams would be discontin
ued this year.
Research has shown signifi
cant increases in juvenile wild
trout production in areas where
hatchery trout were removed or
stocking was eliminated, accord
ing to an ODFW news release.
Eliminating releases of hatchery
trout will reduce competition for
food and habitat with native ju
venile salmon and steelhead, they
said.
“Anglers are more successful
catching hatchery trout in lakes
and ponds than they are fishing
on area streams," said Mike Gray,
ODFW fisheries biologist in John
Day. “The low percentage caught
by anglers does not justify the
cost and the impact these fish
cause to w ild fish populations.”
The public is urged to com
ment on the proposed changes.
Comments or concerns should be
received by Sunday, March 1 and
can be sent to ODFW, P.O, Box
9, John Day, OR 97845, or e-mail
to odfwjd@orednet.org.
Copy Paper
Ream • Carton
Gazette-Times
676-9228