Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2000)
Princess Rachel Faber presides over Fair & Rodeo with sweet disposition and face to match B s c a i e Ta t~ * 11 U o f 0 fi8»3?a;vîr L i b r a r y ¿U : 3n o » OR ' ^Punej/n j rQaeltel j Cf-abtr 9 / 4 “Eyes: MazeC ¡Hair: Auburn I Age: 19 years oCd I 2000graduate of i Meppner Migh Schoof | 'Parents: 1 John & Karen Ludarti I Activities: i CViCd Morse C(ub, 1 OSSSOM Club, go(f I 4-M, photography, j famiiy activities, riding; [_ Coves animals I VOL. 119_____ NO. 31 8 Pages Wednesday, August 2,2000_______ Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Filmmakers include Heppner in OPB program Everyone in Heppner knows it's a unique place, but now, thanks to a trio of Oregon film makers, the whole state will too. The three film makers, Chip Whiting, T.J. Richard and Pat Hart, of Ninety-Nine Productions, L.L.C., an independent production company based at Eugene, are in the process of filming a program, "Exploregon," for Oregon Public Broadcasting. They have selected 10 unique sites in Oregon and plan to feature one in each of 10 programs. Each of the programs focuses on a town, or former town, shaped dramatically by a major event or industry. Heppner, of course, was selected because of the catastrophic 1903 flood which left 250 people dead. During their filming in Heppner, which began on Friday, July 28, "Celebrate Heppner!" day, Whiting, Richard and Hart visited with local people and also stopped at the Morrow County Museum, commenting that the museum is probably "the best" they had seen. Other featured sites include: -Crescent City, east of Eugene, a railroad town. -Scottsburg, near Drain, a large town 100 years ago which was wiped out by a flood. -Jacksonville, near Ashland, which was shaped by the gold rush. -Oakland, north of Roseburg, which was moved for the railroad. -Toledo, on the coast, where a large lumber mill was built during WWII to process spruce to build by-planes. By the time the mill was built, however, the war was over. Toledo continued to produce lumber and was a big town and the county seat at the time. Back then Newport was still a sleepy little village. -Brownsville, near Albany, which is purported to be Oregon’s third oldest town and had a large woolen mill at one time; -Shaniko, northwest of Heppner, which was the wool capital of the world from 1900- 1910. Back in its heyday, on one day, $5 million is rumored to have exchanged hands. Now there are only five people living there and "a lot of historic buildings." -Granite, which was an old gold mining boom town. •Bay Ocean, a coastal town near Tillamook, touted by the developer as the "next Atlantic City," but was instead washed away by the ocean. The three say that their film is not only driven by the central 99 Productions, L.L.C., film makers (left to right) T.J. Richard, Pat Hart and Chip Whiting, film a portion of their OPB program in Heppner. story, but also by interviews of the locals. The project also entails extensive research. "The facts are there, but a lot of the old timers have stones first hand that don't get passed on," said Hart. "It's been a great trip. We've met a lot of great people. Most everyone is anxious to tell the stories." The three say that if the programs are well received, they may extend their project. All three of the film makers worked for the same television station, KVAL, a CBS affiliate in Eugene, prior to starting their own business a year ago. Before they were able to begin filming, they had to first do a pilot program and sell their idea to PBS. "It's hard to get a show on PBS," said Whiting. "Especially if you're not from Portland." The project is sponsored by the Oregon Forest Industries Council. Whiting, 36, who lives in Eugene with his wife and two children, started his career in sales at a Medford television station and then moved into production. Richard, 32, who lives in Eugene with his wife and two children, attended the U of O prior to his employment with KVAL. Hart, 27, who also lives in Eugene with his wife and child, was the only one of the three who had planned a career in film early-on. He says he was the ubiquitous student in high school always carrying around a camcorder. After high school he enrolled in the broacasting program at Lane Community College in Eugene. The date the program is scheduled to be aired will be announced later in the G-T. Football camp scheduled South Morrow County Football camp for grades 5-12 will be held Aug. 7-10 from 5-9 p.m. at the Heppner High School. Cost is $25 per camper. Each camper will receive a cap. Registration forms are avail able at Heppner and lone high schools, and will also be available at the beginning of the camp. For more information, call Dale Holland, 676-5034 or Greg Grant, 676-5257. With a disposition as sweet as her face, and a genuine love of kids and animals, Princess Rachel Mardell Faber will surely preside over the 2000 Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo with a kind and gentle touch. The auburn-haired beauty, with naturally wavy hair, big hazel eyes that change colors depending on her mood, and a dimple in her chin, is the daughter of John and Karen Luciani of Butter Creek and Jonathan Faber of Boise, Idaho. The 19-year-old princess, who was bom in Umatilla, has had a varied school career, all in the Umatilla-Morrow County area. The family moved from Umatilla to Hermiston when she was four years old. She attended the Bethlehem Lutheran Preschool and then Rocky Heights Elementary in Hermiston. They then moved to Pendleton where she attended second and third grades at Lincoln Elementary. The family returned to Hermiston where she completed elementary school at Rocky Heights Elementary and then attended Armand Larive Junior High her seventh-grade year. She attended eighth and ninth grades at Hermiston Christian and then transferred to Heppner High School her sophomore year. She commuted from Hermiston to the ranch on Butter Creek to catch the bus to HHS her sophomore and junior years before the family built their ranch on the family homestead. Rachel graduated from HHS this year and plans to attend Blue Mountain Community College this fall. She is thinking of a career in clothing design or as a veterinarian assistant. At HHS, Princess Rachel was active in the OSSOM Club and Wild Horse Club and played golf her senior year. She is a also a graduate of John Casablanca's School of Modeling at Beaverton. During her senior year, she worked at a teacher's aide for Heppner Elementary teacher Mary Ann Elguezabal. "She loves children," says mom Karen, who notes that Rachel was also a teacher's aide at Hermiston Christian. "She has a mild disposition and is easy going and very cheerful. She's fun to have around." "But," adds Karen, "she's also very opinionated and has high morals." Rachel was baptized at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hermiston. Princess Rachel has been active in 4-H off and on since she was nine and has had both rabbit and dog 4-H projects. She started nding horses when she was 10 years old. She also likes photography and hanging out with her friend Jennifer Dilley. Rachel especially enjoys family activities, boating and family vacations to the coast. One of her Princess Rachel Faber Princess Rachel working as a teacher's aide with Heppner Elementary School students. favorite vacations with the family was a trip all the way down the Oregon coast. A love of animals also rates high on her list. Rachel has three dogs of her own, Annie, a four- year-old Dalmation; Bear, a six- year-old American Eskimo; and D-dog, a 10-12 week-old black lab-mix "mutt" that was dropped off at the ranch that she just had to adopt (and which, according to mom, is turning into an expensive proposition with all his vet bills). Their menagerie also often includes grandfather George Luciani's lab, Coalie, who sometimes thinks he belongs to the family. In addition to a busy court schedule, Princess Rachel works at Merle Norman Cosmetics in Hermiston, where she sells cosmetics and does make-overs, and on the Luciani wheat ranch, driving truck. Because of an incident with a wheat truck, on which she'd rather not elaborate, Rachel laughs that she has been instructed to "keep all eight on the road." Like many members of fair and rodeo royalty. Princess Rachel's family has a history of involvement in FFA, 4-H , fair and rodeo. Her mom, who is from Moses Lake, WA, was a Grant County Washington Rodeo Court Princess in 1972 and participated in horse shows. Karen has worked for Wilcox Furniture for 17 years, mainly in Hermiston, but was also manager at the Pendleton Wilcox store for two years. Rachel’s dad John was active in FFA. He was bom in Pendleton but has lived on Butter Creek all of his life, first at Pine City and then at the family ranch. He operates a dry land wheat ranch. Her grandfather George Luciani, Butter Creek, was a member of the Morrow County Fair Board for 12 years, from 1967-78, and grand marshal of the parade in 1990. All three of her dad's sisters were court royalty. Sheila Luciani Cozad, Lexington, was Morrow County Fair Princess in 1968 and queen in 1969. Patti Luciani Matheny, Sandhollow, was Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Princess in 1972 and Karla Luciani Anderson, now living in Cairo, Egypt, was princess in 1965. The princesses' family also includes grandmother Bea Luciani, at the Butter Creek ranch; grandparents, Willard and Dorothy Benson, Moses Lake; grandmother, Mardell Faber, Moses Lake, and grandfather, the late Fred Faber; uncle Norman Benson, Moses Lake; step mother Gail Faber, Boise; step sister Rachel Schultz, Boise; and step-brother, Jeremy Schultz. For the Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo, Rachel’s official horse is Skipper's Dandy Lad, a 19-year- old, light bay, registered Quarter Horse with a lot of court experience. He was a parade horse for a year for the Pendleton Round-Up Court. "He's sweet and loving," says Rachel "He's a babysitter-take-care-of-you kind of horse, very talkative. He sticks his nose out of the horse trailer when we're driving down the roade. He gets attracted to other horses. He likes to have a buddy. He may be old, but he's got get up and go.” Rachel's favorite experience so continued page two LOOK GOOD FOR THE FAIR AND RODEO! 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