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
♦
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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.