Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2000)
Thoughtless hunters turn Slaughterhouse into dump B o n j l o '.7 a 1 5 9 1 1 U o f .) Lucane, OR L ib r ar y 97403 Dick Sargent looks over some of the many animal carcasses dumped on Slaughterhouse Road near Heppner VOL. 119 NO. 47 10 Pages Wednesday, November 22.2000 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Top saddle bronc rider calls Heppner home Heppner is now home base to one of the world's top rodeo cowboys. PRC A saddle bronc rider Chance Dixon, currently ranked seventh in the world, now calls Heppner home Dixon, originally from Bend, began rodeoing at the age of five. He participated in pee wee and high school rodeos and then was recruited by Blue Mountain Community College to compete in their rodeo program. He attended BMCC on a rodeo scholarship from 1989-91 and was a college champion for three years. "BMCC had a really good rodeo team. I wasn't going to school to leam, but to rodeo," said Dixon, who added that he wished he had emphasized his studies a bit more. After his stmt at BMCC, he went pro and made his first finals in 1994. About that time, he met Heppnerite Roger Britt at the Spray Rodeo. He and Roger and Rita Britt became "more family than friends," says Dixon, and the Britts are like grandparents to Dixon's twenty-two-month-old son, Riley. Dixon had been staying with the Britts for the last several months and recently moved into the Britt's rental home. "I like small towns," said Dixon. "It's nice to come back from the big city to a nice quiet little town It's a good place to raise kids." Dixon won the Dodge National Circuit Finals at Pocatello in 1995, won the Columbia River Circuit finals five times and was the Columbia River Average champion three times. ”1 love to ride broncs and I love to win." he said. "That's what's kept me going for so long- I love to win." Dixon experienced a time, however, when riding and rodeo just weren't enough. In 1996 he suffered a shoulder injury after the national finals, which required surgery. "I allowed it to play head games with me and lost about three years." said Dixon of the injury "It was more mental than physical. I was either going to get back to the finals or quit. Then I realized I had quite a few years to do what I love to do. went back to having fun, and now look where I’m at." Dixon is once again headed to the national finals on November 27. He said that he averages around 100.000 miles a year traveling to rodeos. He has his own pilot's license for small aircraft, but generally travels by charter, commercial flights or by vehicle, with traveling partners. Rod Warren, two-time Canadian all- around winner and currently 15th in the world standings in saddle bronc riding, and Toby Adams. Chance Dixon at Cheyenne Frontier Days G-T to close for Thanksgiving The Gazette-Times new spaper office will be closed Thursday and Friday. November 23-24 for the Thanksgiving holiday A safe and happy Thanksgiving to all. Trash is also dumped on Slaughter House Rd -chunk up the carcass and throw it in the garbage: -add the carcass, with permission, to the farmer or rancher's dead pile or slash pile; -dispose of the carcass unobtrusively in a public forested area and let nature take Us course Krein also reminds hunters tnai offensive littering is illegal. Bob Krein of the Heppner office of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says there is no one specific solution to the problem. Krein said, however, that hunters have several options in disposing carcasses to avoid offensive littering on private lands: Heppner natives make discovery Parade of In the "What a Small World" "Morrow Warehouse Milling lights category, two former Heppner Co., Proprietor of Woolgrowers residents, both living in the Warehouse and Heppner Roller Portland area and both working Mills, Grain-Flour, Feed, Steam November 30 for Washington County, came Rolled Barley, General Storage Chance Dixon and his son. Riley also a saddle bronc rider w ho has been to the finals for times. After his rodeo career Dixon thinks he might put his flying experience to good use and train to become a commercial pilot "If Slaughterhouse road near Heppner has long been used by some people as their own personal dump. But now at least one local resident has seen enough. "I go up there all the time and it's just a mess", says Dick Sargent who lives at the foot of Slaughterhouse road. Sargent says people dump just about everything up there, and lots of times he is the one who goes up there and cleans it up. "I've been up there many times just cleaning up after these people, and this time I just got tired of it." he says, as he shows a spot along the road where someone just dumped a fresh elk carcasse. including the head. Sargent says it gets so bad up there during warm weather that it stinks from the rotting meat, and it’s just not healthy. "There are people who walk up this way and this is what we have to contend w ith". he says, pointing to an area where someone has thrown animal bodies into a small creek, w hich drains into Willow Creek. In addition to the many carcasses, there are piles of junk, bed frames and other trash in almost ev ery draw leading up the hill. "For a long time people just used this area for their dump," he says. The state police found some addresses in the trash gave a few citations and it dropped off a little bit. "I wish people would realize that Slaughterhouse road is not their dump.” Sargent says. I can succeed at rodeo. I can succeed at anything," he said Parents Club plans wrapping The Heppner Elem entary School Parents Club will hold a Christmas gift wrapping fund raiser on Friday, Dec. 8. from 1-4 p m. and on Sunday. Dec 17. from 10 a m -4 p m at the elementary school Donations will be accepted. and Forwarding-Wool, Heppner. Oregon. May 30. 1906 Hon. County Court. Hillsboro, Oreg. Dear Sirs:-I herewith present bill for land and fencing in connection with proposed road along the east side of the Richard Kuehne place: To 1 1/2 acres of land at S60 per acre S90 "Building 1/2 of fence along across a 1906 letter concerning property in Heppner Clint Michael, son of Dan and Midge Michael of Heppner. who is a surveyor in the Washington County offices in Hillsboro, discovered a May 30. 1906. letter to the Washington County Court from R.F. Hynd. manager of the Morrow Warehouse Milling Company in Heppner. Michael gave the letter to Bruce Thomson, senior budget analyst for Washington County , who also grew up in Heppner His parents operated Thomson Brothers Grocery in Heppner. Thomson, in tum. gave the letter to his sister. Meredith Thomson, who is currently living in Heppner The Morrow Warehouse Milling Company was a wool warehouse and gram storage facility which also provided "forwarding" The letter reads as follows: road $43.50 $133.50 I figure that division fences are built and kept up jointly by land adjoining, and am charging the county with what the neighbour on other side of fence would build otherwise, charging nothing for the upkeep of fence after built. Trusting you will find above correct and satisfactory. Yours very truly. R.F Hynd Heppner's fourth annua' Parade of Lights will be held Thursday. November 30. beginning at 6 p.m. on Main Street Businesses and indiv iduals are invited to enter. Cash prize' will be aw arded for the best decorated vehicles or floats First place is S200: second place is $150; thv\j place is $100: and the fourm place Kris Kiingle award is a v " gift certificate. Entry forms are available : the Gazette-Times, the Heppner Chamber of Commerce offvc Central Market and the Bark "I Eastern Oregon. Entry blank is on page 4 Bond Committee plans meeting A meeting of the Morrow County School Bond Committee will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 29. at 7 p.m at Heppner High School HAPPY THANKSGIVING from a P o f us M M orrow County Or* in Growers. W c will be closed TViAnkssivm5 M orrow C ounty G rain G rowers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 t . Imt mit art V» 11 a aa meg <at
