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Manager Fred Toombs retires from C B E C
B E S S I E WE T Z E I-L
U OF ORE
N E W S P A P : R L I S
E UGE NE Oh 6 7 4 0 3
By Merlyn R o binso n
HEPPNER
50 <
imes
VOL 117 _____ NO 35______ 8 Pages
Wednesday, September 2,1998
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Shermans retire after 30 years
It’s a bittersweet farewell for
Cal and Bev Sherman, long
time owners of Cal’s Service
Center in Heppner. The
Shermans are retiring from the
station after 30 years of
operation.
Devin Oil began operation of
the gas station as of Sept. 1.
Both the Shermans say that
they will greatly miss the
people who come by the station,
people who have become good
friends over the years. What
they won’t miss, however, are
the long hours that operating a
service station require. Many
years of standing (or running as
his hectic pace demands) on
concrete floors taken a toll on
Cal’s health and knee surgery,
unfortunately, is in his future.
Cal was bom in Heppner, but
his parents, Allen and Irene
Sherman, then moved to
Alaska, where his father was a
commercial fisherman.
Cal
attended grade school in Alaska
and then the family moved to
Seattle, where he attended high
school. After high school he
returned to Heppner to work on
his uncle Harold Evans’ ranch.
(The ranch is now farmed by
Bob Mahoney.)
Returning to Heppner was a
good move for Cal, because this
is where he met his future bride.
Cal jokingly said that she
agreed to marry him because he
had the "prettiest car in town."
Whatever it was, Bev and Cal
were married on December 11,
1952, and have now been
mamed for 45 years.
Bev had been bom and raised
in Heppner. Her parents were
Esther and Ted Burnside.
The Shermans have three
children, Ron, who lives in
Portland, and Barb Watkins and
Janice Huddleston, who both
live in Heppner; and seven
grandchildren, Jacob and Jenny
Sherman, Jeff
and Julie
Watkins and Kyle, Mahaley and
Jared
Huddleston.
Three
generations of Shermans have
worked at the station, Cal, Ron
and grandson Jeff.
After Cal and Bev were
mamed,
he worked for
Caterpillar for 15 years, first in
Heppner at Empire Machinery,
where the Bank of Eastern
Oregon and Morrow County
Title and Abstract are now
located, and then at Stone
Machinery in lone, in the
building next to the Grange
Hall. Cal often filled in at the
Chevron station in town on
Sundays.
Bev stayed home to raise her
family and helped out by
babysitting six to eight children
a day, taking in ironing and
cleaning houses for people.
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After 20 years as manager of
Columbia Basin Electric Co-op,
Fred Toombs has retired. Jerry
Healy, formerly the office man
ager, now holds that position. Fred
and his wife, Nadine, can now
catch a few extra winks as they
will no longer be disturbed in the
night by telephone calls about
power outages.
Those outages can occur when
severe storms raise havoc with the
system. But in spite of the hard
ships those outages create, Fred
says there have been some hu
morous moments. Often crews
have to manually scrape ice from
heavily laden lines. On one occa
sion says Fred, an irate customer
called to say that it would be more
convenient if that type of work
were accomplished in the sum
mer.
Fred knows all about utility
work-from the top of a very tall
pole to a jumbled desk Before
beginning his “learn on the job”
experience, he and Nadine both
grew up in Wells, NE. After high
school graduation, he enlisted in
the Navy. Following basic train
ing in California, he served four
years as a construction engineer
with the Seabees. During the con
struction of roads and airplane
runways, he experienced a gamut
of weather conditions, from the
chilly days in New Foundland to
the heat-searing tropical climate
of the Bahama Islands.
Fred was discharged from the
Navy in 1958 in Jacksonville, FL.
He returned to his hometown, hop
ing that he wouldn’t be recalled
during the following two years. It
was then that childhood acquain
tances became lifetime mates.
Fred and Nadine were married on
Jan. 10, 1959. For a short time
after, he worked for a Standard
Oil Company distributor.
Without prior experience Fred
was hired as a lineman for Wells
Rural Electric. Wells was a small
co-op that provided electricity for
about 500 customers. More gen
erators were built before this co
op opted to receive central sta
tion power from Idaho Power
Company. At a time when all
power pole holes were hand-dug,
these crews worked long hours to
build additional transmission lines.
Fred recalls climbing 21 poles in
one day to make updates. As a
result, that weary pole climber
collapsed on their floor upon ar
riving home.
Another painful experience
occurred when Fred was climb
ing a very slick power pole. About
35’ from the ground, his climbers
failed to dig in and he slid feet-
first to the ground. His scraped
body was festooned with large
splinters.
That job experience led to a
position at Wendover, UT. in 1961.
For five years, Fred wore two hats,
as district manager and lineman
for Wells Rural Electric Coopera
tive, which had purchased the
Wendover system. Before becom
ing a full-time stay-at-home mom,
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Fred Toombs
Nadine worked in that utility of
fice. Because they had no two-
way radios, she frequently had to
track Fred down when he was
needed elsewhere.
A career move took the
Toombs back to Wells in August,
1969. Fred became the member
services manager, a fancy title for
promoting the use of electricity by
selling appliances and providing
customer hookup services as the
use of electricity expanded. Fred
says he kept rolls of Lifesavers in
his pocket to give to children. By
making friends with the young
sters, he thought he would have a
better chance of introducing and
educating potential customers
about modem appliances.
In April, 1975, the Toombs
moved to Sidney, NE. But. after a
few months, he was hired as man
ager for W heatland REA in
Wheatland. WY. In 1978, Fred
decided to interview for the CBEC
manager position in Heppner.
Nadine says she was not happy
about moving again, but Fred told
her that it was unlikely that he
would be hired. But if he did get
the position, he said they would
probably only be in Heppner for
two to three years Like a dutiful
husband, he told her that some
day he would build her a new
home.
“ So much for prom ises,"
Nadine said. After so many
moves, the Toombs now have a
remodeled, modern home on
South Court Street in Heppner
And despite many relocations, the
Toombs have provided a nurtur
ing environment for their four chil
dren who now have families of
their own. Their children are
Lourinda Beierle. of Pinedale.
WY. the mother of Megan and
T arnn; Ronald Toombs, of
Boardman. the father of Michael
and Anthony; Patti Nairns, of
Bend, whose sons are Nathan and
Dane; Wendy Bodley of Boise.
ID., the mother of Dean. Danika
and tw ins Dennon and Dreanna.
Along with his roles as father
and grandfather, Fred said his big-
gest challenge as CBEC manager
has been upgrading the system to
prevent long-term outages Im
provements to the system have
reduced the average outage hours
from 28 to around three hours per
person annually. Increasing opera
tional costs and imposed regula
tions continue to be a major con
cern. The Washington Public
Power Supply (WPPS) plan for
nuclear energy failed, however it
w as very costly for all co-ops that
bought into the proposal.
"The plus side of managing
CBEC has been the support of the
board of directors and the dedi
cation of the employees," Fred
said. “People throughout the co
op territory care about one an
other." So like others. Fred par
ticipates in community service.
He served as president of the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce.
As a board member of the Hepp
ner Economic Development Cor
poration, he helped initiate the
renovation of the old hotel build
ing on Main Street into what is now
the St. Patrick's Senior Center.
Fred said that when they first
came to Heppner. he was dis
mayed to see power poles on
Main Street. Last year’s Main
Street renovation resolved that
problem by removal of those lines.
Other community enhancements
aided by CBEC under Fred’s ten
ure was the installation of new
field lights for the rodeo and foot
ball at the fairgrounds.
With retirement, the Toombs
now have travel plans in mind. The
use of a recreational vehicle will
provide all the comforts of home,
as Fred said his days of “roughing
it" are long past. While at home.
Fred said he dabbles in w oodwork-
mg-their remodeled kitchen attests
to his carpentry skills. A pictur
esque. landscaped yard at the
Toombs is perhaps aided by the
absence of pets. Fred says he
developed a dislike of dogs be
cause of experiences during his
meter reading days.
School starts in Morrow County
Cal and Bev Sherman
In February of 1968 the
Shermans bought the service
station, which has changed
names several times over the
years. It was first Cal’s
Richfield, then Cal’s Arco and
Cal’s Mobile before they got
tired of changing names and
decided to
name it Cal’s
Service Center when they went
to Union Oil. The station is
now with BP.
When they first started their
mom and pop operation, Bev
did the janitorial work and Cal
pumped gas, changed the oil,
fixed tires and did all kinds of
major and minor auto repair.
"It was nothing for him to
work 14-hour days," says Bev.
"A lot of times seven days a
week." In the early days the
station was open from 6 a m. to
10 p.m.
"Back in those days during
hunting season there were four
to five gas stations in town and
on Thursdays and Fridays the
customers were backed up onto
the streets," said Cal. "Of
course gas was only 30 cents a
gallon back then."
In addition to the gas prices.
Cal says that what has really
changed is the number of
businesses Heppner has lost
over the years. "There used to
be three car dealerships in town
and there was even a J.C.
Penney," said Cal.
State and federal regulations
have taken their toll on
privately owned gas stations,
added the Shermans, with the
DEQ "creating a lot of problems
for small operators" requiring
that they put in underground
tanks.
The Shermans say they have
no special plans other than a
trip to the coast for a couple
weeks, going camping and
spending more time with their
grandchildren.
But
they
definitely plan to stay in
Heppner. "We’ve met a lot of
special people and we’ve made
so many friends,” says Bev.
"We’re so lucky to live in
Heppner."
"It’s going to be an
adjustment," she added. "We
sure will miss the people But
we’re sure that Devin Oil will
take good care of our
customers."
Picture day
Picture day will be
Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Heppner
High School and Thursday,
Sept.
10,
at
Heppner
Elementary School.
Vinson-Way
reunion set
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School only started Monday in Morrow County, but it may ba already
getting old for some Heppner students “It’s boring," said Stacy Dalvaaux
(right), 13, an eighth grader at Heppner Junior High School, “tt’s good,
but slow.” added Larena Penturf, also a 13 year old eighth grader at
HJH. The two were waiting for their bus after classes Monday.
Monday, September 7th for Labor Day.
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Have a Great Holiday!
M o r r o w C o u n t y G r a in G ro w ers
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For farm tquiprrwnt. visit our wtb site at www megg ntt
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Morrow County Grain Growers will be CLOSED
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G-T closed Sept. 7
for Labor Day
Lexington
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The Vinson-Way reunion will
be held at the Lexington Grange
Hall on Sunday, Sept. 6, with a
potluck dinner beginning at
12:30 p.m.
Friends and family and are
invited for visiting and
fellowship.
The Gazette-Times will be
closed on Monday, Sept. 7 for
Labor Day The deadline for news
articles is Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m.
Deadline for all advertising and
public notices is Tuesday, Sept.
8 at noon.
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