Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1998)
» 4 4- j % > -, i » c I » ■ —X- * 4 • K * . J 4. * Fall into winter bazaar scheduled Oct. 24 P r S S I F 0 F HEPPNER Cathy Halvorsen (left) and Jannie Allen with craft items imes % VOL. 117 NO. 42 IQPages Wednesday, October 21,1998 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Parents Club ’Spooktacular’ carnival planned Oct. 29 The Heppner Parents Club is once again hosting its annual "Spooktacular Carnival" on Thursday, October 29, at the old Heppner Junior High building. New this year will be a taco feed which will be held from 5-7 p.m. in the school cafeteria. The dinner will include a drink and dessert. The carnival will begin at 6:30 and run until 8:30 p.m. As in the past, the carnival will offer something for the entire family. The Parent's Club is also holding a raffle for three stuffed Halloween yard decorations. The tickets for the raffle items may be purchased from any fifth or sixth grade student up until the night of the carnival. Tickets are 25 cents each or five for SI. The winners will be drawn at the carnival. The raffle items are on display in the showcase at the grade school. All of the "old favorite" games such as cakewalk, bingo, goldfish, hoop shoot, hole-in- one golf, fortune telling, will be featured, along with a few new surprises. The Parent's Club will not hold their "Haunted House" this year, as they decided to take a year off and start planning for the following year. Moving into a new building will take a great deal, of preparation and the parents are looking forward to a new and scarier haunted house next year, said a spokesperson. Parent's Club invites everyone to put on their best costume and come have a fun. safe Halloween party. Ticket prices are 25 cents each or five for $1. For more information call 676-9442 676-5110. This Saturday, October 24, marks the fourth annual Fall Into Winter Bazaar in lone. This event has become a favorite among area residents as there are wonderful crafts, delicious baked goods, a quilt raffle and homemade soup luncheon featured Craft items concentrate on the holidays of Halloween and Christmas, but there are many other items as well. The Ione Legion Hall is the site of the bazaar, which begins at 11 a m. To ensure that everyone gets a fair chance at shopping, no one is allowed into the hall before 11. At that time they can search for that perfect Christmas present or favorite cookies from the works of over 100 artisans and bakers. Everyone is welcome to sign up for the six door prizes to be given away during the sale. For lunch, there is a choice of two soups - chicken and wild rice and beef noodle-bread and a drink for $3.50. Shelly Rietmann is preparing the soup. Pieces of pie may be purchased for $1. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m Former lone resident, Kate McF.lligott, has made and donated a beautiful queen-size quilt for this fund raiser. Tickets will be sold during the bazaar, with the drawing at 2 p.m. Tickets are SI each or six for $5. All proceeds from the Fall Into Winter Bazaar are donated to the Jason Halvorsen Memorial Scholarship Fund. Since the first scholarships was given in 1995, over $6000 have been awarded to scholarship recipients of Ione High School. Dentistry group to operate dental clinics Roy Drago to retire as MC Sheriff Not many people who have been in law enforcement for almost 30 years can say that they actually look forward to going to work each day. Suffering from bumout and frustration, they often count the days until retirement. Not so for Roy Drago, who will retire with mixed emotions at the end of the month after 15 years as Morrow County Sheriff. "I look forward to every day," said Drago. "There hasn't been a day I haven't enjoyed going to work. I'm going to miss it terribly." Drago will hand over the reins to undersheriff Verlin Denton and will then act as undersheriff until Dec. 31. Drago, whose youthful looks belie his 68 years, will then work part-time for the office transporting prisoners. Drago started his career in law enforcement as a New York City police officer walking a beat in a precinct between Spanish Harlem and Black Harlem in the Bronx. "It was not nice," says Drago in understatement. Drago says that Morrow County has also seen a growth in gang activity and a tremendous increase in the sheer number of cases that pass through the sheriffs office. "Our crime rates have soared." he says. "The first year I was here, we had one hundred and some cases. Now we see over 5,000 cases. Probably 85-90 percent of the activity is on the north end of the county. There is a lot of gang activity and the gangs have a lot of impact on every day police work. It's a lot more dangerous." he added, remarking that one of the early county sheriffs. Sheriff Bauman, didn't even carry a gun. While the increase in cases can be partially attributed to the increase in population, Drago also is quick to praise his department. "When I first became sheriff, there was a lot of animosity," said Drago. "No one ever called the sheriffs office because they didn't think anyone would come. We do Sheila Dahlman Roy Drago answer the calls. I'm proud of the progress the sheriffs office has made over the last 15 years. We've become a service oriented police department. We're not supermen, we're not magicians, but we do the best we can." "It wasn't me," he hastens to add. "It was everyone working together, everyone pulling together." The voters in the county have also been happy with the department under Drago's direction. The four times he was up for election no one ever ran against him. Drago's cases over the years included two bank robberies in Ione, both involving the same man, who, says the affable Drago, keeps in touch and has been doing very well since then. Drago was also head of the department during a 1990 murder case. Morrow County Sheriffs Office Deputies Larry Sample and Jim Hankins and Mike Wilson with the Oregon State Police were instrumental in solving the crime. Hankins began investigation of the case, found what looked like a grave and then discovered the body of a woman who had been murdered. The murderer had, in the meantime, fled to Mexico, but the department successfully presented the case to the Mexican attorney general, the man was found guilty and was sentenced to prison in Mexico. Drago became a member of the Oregon State Sheriffs Association Board of Directors in 1987 and also served as treasurer and vice president before becoming president of the association in 1990. He still serves on the board. Drago says that while he is not quite sure he is ready to * Doctors Hayden of the Hayden Family Dentistry Group, P.C. Temporary MCHD administrator Sheila Dahlman was on the job at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner as of Oct. 10. Dahlman, who also acts as administrator at hospitals in Pomeroy and Mattawa, specializes in providing temporary rr administrative services financially troubled small rural hospitals. Dahlman, who is expected to work with MCHD around six months, lives m Joseph. Her husband is CEO of Wallowa Hospital in Memorial Enterprise, They have four children. MCGG annual meeting Nov. 2 The Morrow County Grain Growers annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 2, at the Morrow County Fairgrounds in Heppner. Dinner will be served by the Willows Grange from Ione at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will include reports from the officers and the election of directors. The six nominees for the four three-year director's positions are Virginia Grieb. John Luciani, Bamey Lindsay. Robert Worden. Joe Reitmann and Travis Harrison. Nominees for the associate director positions are Todd Lindsay. Vem Frederickson, Gary Rea and Harvey Childers. The featured speaker will be Brad Upton, a top comedian in Seattle. FENCING 0. SALE i £ Eivest ENDS iii auni working Mywtem SATURDAY tu » M orrow C ounty G rain G rowers Lexington 989-8221 • 1 -800-452-7396 continued page 8 u pr** * i; T Hayden Family Dentistry, a dental group based in Eugene, has announced that it will assume operations of the Heppner and Boardman dental offices currently operated by the Morrow County Health District. The transfer will be effective as of November 1. Dr. Christopher Hayden, senior dentist with the group, said, "We are greatly pleased to begin this service for the people of Morrow, Gilliam and Wheeler counties. We are looking forward to a long and cordial relationship." Dr. Hayden practices in association with his two brothers, who are also dentists. Dr. Ross Hayden and Dr. Matt Hayden. The Hayden family has a long association with Eastern Oregon. Many of the family members attended nearby Walla Walla College and have family roots in Bums. Interested individuals are welcome to contact the nearest office for an appointment. The Heppner office phone number is 676-9118 and the Boardman office number is 481-9311. Morrow County Health District human resources director Scot Jacobson said that the district is in the process of finalizing the contract with Hayden Family Dentistry. The MCHD Board earlier voted to explore the sale of the dental practices in order to improve the cash flow for the financially ailing district. for farm equipment, mit our web site at www mcgg.net >.• i
