Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1999)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 17,1999 - FIVE O’Ducky race names winners Eva Chitty was the first-place winner of the Heppner St. Patrick's Celebration O'Ducky Race held on Willow Creek on March 13. She won $100. Second place went to Fritz Cutsforth, who won $75; third Corps assists place was Pennie Miller, who won $50; fourth-Mike Creevan, Gresham, $25; and fifth-Renee' Devin, $10. The O'Ducky Race was sponsored by the Colt Football program. Fashionable medical alert jewelry carries important information with you everywhere you go. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintained water releases from the Willow Creek Dam in Heppner for the O'Ducky Derby held Saturday, March 13. water regulators announced. Discharges from the dam are at 12 cubic feet per second. The flow adjustment is done each year to facilitate the O'Ducky Derby, part of the city's annual St. Patrick's Day celebration. The race runs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Following the race, flows were increased, decreased or held steady depending on weather conditions at that time. The operation of the dam to aid the holding of the race will not affect the flood control function of the protect. "This is one way for the Corps of Engineers to give a little back to the community we serve," said Russ Davidson, Corps hydraulic engineer. "We're happy that we can do it." In past years the Corps has either increased or decreased flows to facilitate the event. ! Chamber Chatter By Claudia Hughes, Chamber Manager ♦ I ! $ Jewelers Httpiiar 674-1200 The family of John Tellechea want to express their thanks to everyone in this community for all the prayers, love, care, support and sympathy that we have received during this tragic time in our lives. Thank you to the employees at Kinzua Resources who helped at the scene of the accident and came to the hospital to wait for my arrival from work. Thank you to Peggy O’ Neal at Oregon Potato Co. for driving me to the hospital when I wasn’t in any condition to be driving. Thank you to Dr. Wenberg and all the nurses who tried to save John when it just wasn’t possible. Thank you, Father Condon, for getting to the hospital as quickly as you did. Thank you to everyone who brought food to our home, called, sent flowers, made donations to the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Youth Group and the Memorial Fund in John’s memory; to everyone who attended the memorial service and to St. Patrick’s and the St. W illiam ’ s Altar Societies for the delicious dinner following the memo rial service. Thank you to Pat Sweeney at Sweeney’s Mortuary for taking care of all the ar rangements. You did a wonderful job. Thank you to Father Condon for the beautiful service for John; Carley Drake for the music; Kelly Straley, altar server; John Renfro for doing the readings, and to Rick Johnston for speaking. We know it wasn’t easy, Rick, but you did a wonderful job -it was a fittin g tribute to a very special man. Thank you to everyone at Oregon Potato Co. for their support, for letting me have time off and for the care they showed me. To Bob and Luella Taylor, and John and Pam Renfro, without you, I , m couldn’t survive this tragedy. I hope you know how much I appreciate Jr __ and love you. If heaven is what John thought it would be, then he is in a better place, at peace and waiting for us. It helps to ease the pain in our hearts to know that John believed he would go to a better place when he died. For his family, this time came far too soon. We w ill miss him. Kathy, Jim, Phillip Tellechea ! What a terrific community. People worked long, long hours to make the weekend happen for one and all. The luck o' the Irish was shining upon Heppner and the St. Patrick's Committee with good weather and lots of visitors. Anything is possible if you work hard, think positive and send some messages upward. Tis grateful we can be for the committee, the participants and our visitors from as far away as Ireland. The Chamber of Commerce hopes to see a great turnout at the town hall meeting on Thursday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at the Heppner High School cafeteria. This informational meeting is being held to provide the Willow Creek Valley with information regarding the loss of Kinzua. There are no easy answers but with good communication and input from everybody involved from the workers searching for jobs, to Main Street retailers, to those capable of assisting Heppner, we should be able to move toward some long term and short term solutions. Representatives will be on hand to answer questions and open discussion on how to move forward will be facilitated. Please attend. Next Tuesday's Chamber meeting will be a conference with Representative Lynn Lundquist. Visitors are welcome at noon at Kate's. Thought for the week: "The secret to a happy life is to accept change gracefully." James Stewart lone Youth Group serves the poor L to R: Tori Odinet, Adrienne Swanson, Nikki McElligott, Adam Neiffer, Jeremy Rietmann, Adam McCabe, Allison Haivorsen, Niki Sullivan, Charissa Gates, Jessica Krebs, Shelby Krebs, Ashley Carmack, Jacob Neiffer, Korey Morgan (man in front is a resident of the Foster Apartments where the group passed out hygiene kits). lone Youth Group members met and prepared 35 hygiene kits to give to the residents of the Bumside area of Portland. The hygiene kits were built around a case of toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by Dr. and Mrs. Greg Jones of Hermiston. Youth Group members brought shampoo, razors and shaving cream, soap, and other items to add to the kits. For the second time in February, lone Youth Group members traveled to Bumside to serve the poor. Members who were new to the Bumside experience served a meal of split pea soup, salad, sandwiches, bread, pastries, and coffee at the Blanchet House soup kitchen. A second group delivered meals to shut-ins and served lunch to senior citizens at Loaves and Fishes. The group visited the Macdonald Center, where staff and volunteers provide a morning hospitality program for the people of Bumside. They offer clothing and hygiene items, and provide a home-like atmosphere where people can have coffee or hot chocolate and chat. Their afternoons are spent in an outreach visiting program where they go to the single occupancy hotels and visit the isolated residents. The director of the center, Jerome Webber, explained their services and spoke to the group about his love of the poor of the area. He noted that Portland has the second least affordable housing in the United States. Niki Sullivan said she felt Webber had the biggest impact on her of everyone she met all day. "I always learn something new about people," she said. "I was surprised so many people in the area are so close to being homeless." Jessica Krebs learned that everyone has a different story or reason for being homeless. "I was also impressed at how appreciative the people were of us coming down and helping out," she said The lone group donated their extra toothbrushes and toothpaste to the center. The next stop was Outreach Ministry of Bumside. Staff member Jesse Nava took the group to the Foster Hotel where they went door to door and passed out the hygiene kits. Leaders Cathy Haivorsen and Jeri McElligott were surprised to meet an old acquaintance at the hotel, one of the residents who answered his door as the group was passing out the hygiene kits. When told that they were from lone, the man took a 1994 Heppner Gazette Times out of his dresser and showed it to the group. He had been featured in an article about lone Youth Group going to Bumside to serve in a soup kitchen. He had first met Haivorsen and McElligott in 1990 on their very first service trip. He had his picture taken with the youth serving at Transition Projects, and was sent the paper with his picture in it and an lone Cardinal shirt. When the group met him the second time, he was eating at Blanchet House and stopped Haivorsen when he recognized the lone logo on the shirt she was wearing McElligott again took his picture, with Haivorsen this Shelby Krebs, Charissa Gates & Tori Odinet help unload the Blanchet House van. Cathy Holvorsen & Jeri McElligott with Don Drendel at the Foster Hotel. time, and sent the paper to him. He has been living at the Foster Hotel for a year and a half. He stated that prior to that he had been living in a tent. He was aaxious to again have his picture in the paper and for the group to send him another Cardinal sweatshirt. Sisters of the Road Cafe was closed for the day, but the group was invited in to look around and speak with one of the volunteers. The cafe offers a hot, prepared meals program, a job training program and is an advocate for women and children. A meal can be purchased for $1.2 5, for $ 1.00 in food stamps, or for 15 minutes of work. Sisters was the first cafe in the country to offer meals for food stamps. There are two meal choices on the menu per day and they are open Monday through Friday. Traveling to Portland from lone were adult leaders, Jim Swanson, Cathy Haivorsen, and Jen McElligott, and youth group members, Niki Sullivan, Jessica Krebs, Tori Odinet, Jacob Neiffer, Nikki McElligott, Allison Haivorsen, Charissa Gates, Adrienne Swanson. Jeremy Reitmann, Shelby Krebs, Ashley Carmack, Korey Morgan, Adam Neiffer and Adam McCabe Legion, Aux birthday The Heppner American Legion and Auxiliary will celebrate the Legion birthday with a potluck din ner on Monday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the United Methodist Church basement. Cake and ice cream will be fur nished by the Auxiliary. Youth and children’s chairper son Judy Rickert asks members to bring pennies that will be sent to the Make a Wish Foundation. Members are asked to bring articles for the Walla Walla Vet erans Hospital. They are in need of the following: disposable razors, denture adhesive, alcohol-free shaving cream, shampoo, lotion, deodorant in travel size and cloth ing in good condition. For more information, call 676-9677. Everyone is invited to the Le gion and Auxiliary birthday cel ebration on March 22.
