TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 16, 2000
CARA passage shocking
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Letters to the Editor
H eppner
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publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone number on all
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responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters.
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S 240-420
Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
Published weekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon
under the Act of March 3,1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon Office at 147
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the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836 Subscriptions: S22 in
Morrow County, $16 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 62 years or older); $29 else
where
David Sykes................................................................................................................Publisher
April Hiltoo-Sykes ....................................................................................................... Editor
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Q u een T r a c y
seat over fences.
Queen Tracy has always lived
in their picturesque mountain
home in the Blue Mountains
above Anson Wright Park. Her
family moved here from the
Willamette Valley before Tracy
was bom. Tim says that during
his growing up years he had
relatives living in this area. Tim
and his father became familiar
with the mountains during
fishing and hunting trips. So,
after he and Kathy were married,
he convinced Kathy that the
"wide open spaces" in Eastern
Oregon would be a great place to
raise a family. At first Kathy was
overwhelmed by the remoteness
of this area. Also they had to
adjust to harsh, snowy winters,
sometimes inconvenienced by
frozen water lines and drifted
snow when their daughters were
babies. The deck of their modem
home now overlooks a forested
acreage where they have put
down roots for the past 22 years.
Perhaps that pioneering spirit
was ijanded down from Tim's
ancestors who came westward
from Virginia by covered wagon.
So, when the Rankin girls
started school, they rose at 5 a.m.
to have time to trudge about a
mile to the main highway where
they met the school bus for that
long ride to School. It was cold,
dark and scary walking down
that road during winter mornings,
says Tracy.
However as soon as her sister,
Jennifer, became old enough to
steer an old jeep down their
private road she herded that
vehicle to the bus stop on the
highway. Tim and Kathy usually
had to leave much earlier to be
on time at their places of
employment. Becoming self-
reliant and responsible were
instilled during Tracy's growing
up years. As accomplished
drivers, all three girls are
proficient at safely towing a
trailer loaded with horses.
Years of hard work have made
their place a haven for their
family and their animals Like
their parents, the girls became
horse
enthusiasts
and
accomplished trainers. Presently
they have 13 horses, excluding
the "extras" the girls have
brought home.
Tracy's personal mount, "April
Drift" is a seven-year-old sorrel
Quarterhorse mare who grew up
there. She has been trained
exclusive by Tracy. She says her
mare is "strong willed," but after
years of training she is
dependable and "willing to
please" and adaptable, whether it
be at horse shows, parades or
rodeo events.
Queen Tracy graduated from
Heppner High School this year.
In spite of the many miles of
travel between her home and
school, Tracy was involved in
many school activities and
community service events. She
was on the volleyball, basketball,
track and golf teams. She
belonged to the Wildhorse,
Outdoor, OSSOM and drama
clubs. She was also an FFA
member and continues to be
active in the Wranglers Club and
the Barrel Club. She was also an
honors student, earning a
scholarship to Blue Mountain
Community College. This "last
chick to leave the nest" will be a
student there this fall.
To help finance her college
years, Tracy has held outside
jobs every summer including
baby sitting and outside work for
the Y.C.C. Forest Service. This
from pa*e one
summer she has been employed
at Central Market, where she is
privileged to have flexible hours
to accommodate her court duties.
The official outfits for this
year's three-member court were
made by Yvonne Morter, lone.
The princesses' divided riding
skirts and vests of "cinnabar and
sand” are accented with white.
Tracy's white outfit also has
colorful accents and all these
outfits are lavishly adorned with
covered wagon appliques and
fringes. Along with work outfits,
this court also has some colorful
chaps that will be used for arena
participation when the girls help
run back stock in the arena
during the Morrow County
performance.
Tracy says that along with a
demanding schedule, they have
enjoyed some fun activities like
water skiing while in Prineville.
There were also canoe races and
swimming at Wallowa Lake
during their trip for the Joseph
Rodeo, although the girls "got in
trouble" for diving off the docks.
This trio also had an enjoyable
time when they met with a
Japanese delegation of Portland-
based grain buyers who visited
Morrow County tp, learn more
atnmt local wheat. The court was
asked to explain, about rodeo»
since these men had never seen
this type of show.
The girls graciously tried to
answer all questions, including
one that asked, "Do the
contestants ride pigs?" After a
luncheon Tracy and Salli paired
up with two Japanese men for a
friendly game of golf. "They
spoke English," says Tracy, "But
when they reverted to the
Japanese language, we didn't
know if they were commenting
on our golfing or us. It was great
fun."
Always the creature lover,
Tracy will again have 4-H lambs
to show and market at fair. She
has always been fond of birds
that have shared their home. One
time she was very upset because
a pet bird escaped its cage and
flew outdoors. Tracy also plans
to show some of her "friends"—
her pet Rhode Island Red or
Barred Rock chickens at the fair-
- a busy time for a busy girl, who
a short time ago was a mutton
buster and a peewee barrel racer.
A week of fair activities, grand
entries, the parade and court
luncheon round out the schedule
for Queen Tracy and her
princesses, Salli McElligott and
Rachel Faber. Tracy says they
are looking forward to these
events and to greeting both local
people and out-of-town guests.
Tracy's special guests are her
supportive grandparents, Bob and
Marcy Logan of Beavercreek,
who plan to be on hand for the
festivities.
Rodeo
from page one
respectively.
The local favorites and the
nationally ranked contestants will
fill the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
with
outstanding
talents,
determination and drive from
Aug. 18-20. Don’t miss out on
the opportunity to see such skill
in these professional cowboys
and cowgirls. They are here to do
what they do best, rodeo.
Wc Print BU8INE88 CARDS
H eppner (io eette- Times
Speak up, don't enable drug problem
To the Editor:
In support of an individual's
bravery-
I am submitting this letter in
support of Cindy Brosnan's letter
in the August 9 edition of the
Heppner
Gazette-Times.
Ironically, also in support of
Juliana Wanous for her bravery
as well. I have been a member of
this community for a short while,
moving here three years ago with
my husband and family. We
moved here for the very reasons
Cindy stated. Heppner is a lovely
town with tremendous potential
for a wholesome life style.
I have heard that Heppner
suffers from a drug problem that
seemingly goes unnoticed. I
think that "unnoticed" is the key
word here. This is a small
community. Most of us do know
our neighbors. Most of us
probably do have an idea that
there might be "something
funny" going on next door.
The sale, use and distribution
of drugs have behavior-specific
clues that might speak to your
intuition. Trust your intuition.
Maybe you have witnessed the
actual use, solicitation, or
evidence of drugs in your own
home, office or classroom. Speak
up. Protect yourself, your
children, and your neighbor from
becoming a victim of potential
robbery or abuse. Call one of our
local law enforcement agencies.
Start a Neighborhood Watch
program.
We have a city manager that
cares a great deal about the
future of our community. All of
the members of our city council;
our mayor; our city, local, state
and county employees; business
owners; and the many, many
generous citizens who tirelessly
donate their time and resources
to make this a better place to live
need our support.
We need to support each other
by adopting a zero tolerance
approach to drugs in our
community. Don't enable the
problem to exist by remaining
silent.
If you or someone you know
has a drug habit, then you need to
speak up too. Ask for help. Life
has many challenges, some seem
overwhelming. A senes of
challenges can knock you down.
It's sometimes hard to see these
challenges as opportunities for
personal growth, and we all may
need a crutch at some time.
There are crutches that hold you
up and there are crutches that
allow you to fall. Pick one that
makes you proud of who you are.
We all have something positive
to
contribute,
contributing
enhances your self worth and
your community's value.
(s) Pam Schmidt
Heppner
recent reports, the present parks
are 15 billion dollars in arrears
on current maintenance. In
addition there is no provision for
federal payments in lieu of taxes
to local governments for taxes
lost.
The sponsors have provided
for this by allowing no input
from local governments, ranchers
or other citizens who may be
affected. The unforgivable part
of this legislation is that our
Congressmen have removed
themselves from any supervision
of these funds and pretty
effectively prohibited every one
else except the presidential
appointees from doing the same.
One lesson that we should all
learn from CARA is never to
trust a politician. After all the
talk about fiscal responsibility, a
Republican
congressman
sponsored this legislation in the
House and Sen. Murkowski R,
Alaska sponsored it in the
Senate. It passed out of
committee with four Republican
senators, including our own
Senator Smith, joining the solid
Democratic minority to pass the
bill.
Since Senator Smith had
promised as late as the day
before the vote to oppose CARA
perhaps we should all hear an
explanation before he returns to
Washington. For those of us who
are used to dredging rivers and
harbors or an occasional new
post office as pork barrel politics
this new "green pork" seems like
the final insult. I urge everyone
to call or write Wyden and Smith
this week to express your views.
(s) Don McElligott
lone
To the Editor:
The last three weeks have been
a particularly shocking time for
those of us who have become
hardened to the excesses of the
Clinton administration. I am
refemng to the passage out of the
Natural Resource Committee of
the
CARA
act
which
appropriates about three billion
dollars a year for 15 years off
budget, an entitlement, to acquire
lands for federal parks , federal
conservation areas and state
parks. Also for trails, baseball
stadiums, urban parks, wildlife
and endangered species habitat as
well as for environmental
societies projects.
In effect this money would be
spent at the discretion of the
President and his secretaries of
interior
and
agriculture.
Although about a billion a year is
reserved for the states, it is not
allocated on any recognizable
fair basis but will be granted at
the discretion of the same people.
The bill allows the federal or
state governments to condemn
private lands to form or add to
existing parks and reserves.
The big sales pitch is that this
will not cost us taxpayers any
money because all the funds will
be taken from existing offshore
oil royalties. The proponents,
including our own Senator
Wyden, forget to tell us that
these moneys currently are
deposited in the general fund and
will have to be replaced if we are
to maintain our armed services,
infrastructure, social security and
other expenditures.
Nothing in this bill provides for
maintaining
these
new
acquisitions and, according to
Heppner, Nyssa loses a great man
(Editor's note: The follow letter
to the editor was reprinted from
the Argus Observer, Ontario.)
To the Editor:
The Heppner and Nyssa
communities of this state lost a
wonderful man and good teacher
with the recent passing of Juan
Elguezabal. Mr. Elguezabal was
a teacher, coach, and friend of
mine.
I first met Mr. Elguezabal
when I was in his seventh grade
social studies class at Nyssa
Junior High in 1978. At first I
thought he was a bit gruff, but as
I got to know him I began to
really like him and he became
one of my favorite teachers.
When I entered Nyssa High
School as a freshman in 1980, he
was the line coach for the
football team, and since I played
one of the positions on the line,
he was my coach. Mr.
Elguezabal was tough and he
worked us hard, but he was fair
and was one of the best coaches
I ever played for. I learned quite
a bit from this man, and it comes
across in my own teaching and
coaching.
I next came in contact with Mr.
Elguezabal several years later at
my father's funeral in 1995. He
was one of my former teachers
that showed up to pay their last
respects to my father and to be
there for me and my family. I
appreciated that more than he or
anyone else would ever know.
Although I never played
baseball for him, I know that he
was an excellent baseball coach
and my son was able to play for
him when he played on the 1997
Owyhee All-Stars Little League
Baseball Team. My son liked
him and I knew that he was
getting great coaching from Mr.
Elguezabal and the rest of the
coaching staff.
I last saw Mr. Elguezabal after
this year's Ontario High School
graduation as we were both
going to our cars. It was hard to
see him in the condition that he
was in, and I knew that his
cancer was advancing, although
I did not know how bad it really
was. I hugged him and told him
that I was praying for him. I had
a feeling this would be the last
time that I would see him, and I
thank God that he let me have
that chance.
I am writing this letter to let the
Treasure Valley know how much
Mr. Elguezabal meant to my life
and the lives o f many of his
former students. He was a good
man who did a lot for me, as far
as influencing my life, and I just
wanted to tell him one last time.
My condolences and prayers go
out to the family he has left
behind and I appreciate you
sharing him with me.
(s)Joe Gamer
Social science teacher
Ontario High School
Nyssa High School Class of 1984
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F IN E B A S K E T S
Opening August 43, 2Q00
SUPPLIES - CLASSES» - GALLERY
Other "shops" will open about every 2-3 months
A R T IS A N V IL L A G E
288 N. Main Street, Heppner
(5 4 1 ) 6 7 6 -8 2 8 2
Hours:
Mon.-Thurs.: 9:30-6 • Friday: 9:30-5
Sat.: Closed • Sunday: 1-5
FREE
DRAWINGS:
Free Basket
Free Class
Free Supplies
•See our Basket Making Demonstrations at the Fair on Aug. 16-18
from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (outside near the old beef bam).
1
COOD LOCK
TO ALL THE CONTESTANTS
AT THE
OREGON TRAIL PRO RODEO
AND
MORROW COUNTY RODEO
Jöu&1/aßu&.
Heppner Hardware
106 E. M ay Ave. • Heppner
676-9961
b
FREE RODEO TICKET
with purchase of $25 or more
Wrangler Western Wear
men’s or ladies’ regular-priced items.
One per customer while they last.
O E M
G a r d n e r ’s M en ’s W e a r
193
The Western Original"
N . Main St. • Heppner
(541)676-9218