Students learn about gun safety
E 3 - 1 i o 7 a t z 311
U o f 0 Ile •.•3.1 vìi * L i b r a r y
Lu..one, C.»
At a recent hunter s education class, students became fam iliar with different firearm action tspes while
shooting 22 rim fire, while parents of the young students helped out on the range. Landowner Wilkinson
Ranches allowed the class to hold its field day activities on the property. Twenty-six students participated
in the class taught by volunteer instructors Tom W o lffa n d Jim M arqu ard t.
Health district discusses
sale of Boardman Clinic
Youth athletic program aims to
strengthen minds as well as bodies
A new athletic program
for kids in the Heppner area is
designed not only to strengthen
young athletes' bodies, but
perhaps more importantly, their
hearts and minds as well.
"We teach life skills,"
said Gene Heliker, organizer of
the program. Blue Mountain
High Five "It's the mentoring,
the teaching, the nurturing of our
kids. It's not about the best five
on the team, it's about every km
in the program."
Heliker said that he
hopes
that
through
Blue
Mountain High Five, young
people will be better able to
resist some of the pressures of
today's society. "We will never
impact the drug and alcohol
problem by stopping the
distribution. I hope to influence
the next generation to be better
parents, so that their kids have
the education and attitude to say
no. When we say no, we stop
demand. When we stop demand,
no one makes money (on
drugs)."
Heliker said that one
important aspect of the Blue
Mountain High Five program is
coaching. One of his goals is to
create a relationship with the
coaches and "have an impact on
the younger coaches." "The
reality is that they (coaches) are
just like teachers." said Heliker.
What we tend to overlook is the
power of the passion of sports.
My commitment is to watching
him (the young athlete) grow.
Saying the right things at the
right time can easily influence
how he makes his decisions,
towards grades, drugs, his social
environment. We have a lot of
leverage with the athlete."
And Heliker certainly
has a lot of experience in that
area. One of the founders of the
very first inner city "midnight
basketball” program, which
helped put troubled kids to work,
back into high school, and into
college, Heliker has coached
high school and college athletes
for the past 14 years through a
program called High Five
America. High Five America is a
non-profit organization which
trained college and professional
athletes and also stressed
community service. He and his
wife, Louann. have over 100
hours of continuing medical
education and for the past 12
years have operated a wellness
consulting company in Southern
California, conducting seminars
at high schools and colleges to
show athletes how to create
better diets and select better
dietary supplements.
A Heppner High School
alumnus. Heliker said that he and
his wife decided to leave the
"drug and gang scenario" of San
Diego to return to Gene's
hometown to raise their three
children. He hopes to implement
some of the aspects of High Five
America into his local program.
Blue Mountain High Five. "We
want to get athletes involved
with existing programs and also
have our own programs, such as
assemblies and retreats," said
Heliker. "We want to offer a
remedial counseling program,
pius a remedial work program."
The remedial program, which
would be voluntary, would allow
the young athlete who has had a
problem with drugs or alcohol to
opt to serve as a coach and act as
a mentor to younger athletes. "It
forces them to take a public stand
and speak out against bad
decisions," said Heliker. The
program would require a
partnership
between
the
youngster, the school, the parents
and coach.
The essence of the
program is apparent in its
mission statement. "The mission
of High Five is to use the
platform of athletic excellence to
educate and empower young
athletes to make healthy choices
in regards to academics, athletics
and the learning of life skills
necessary to create moral, ethical
and prosperous adults and to
encourage them to be leaders
amongst their peers in the war
against drug and alcohol abuse,
gangs and violence," said
Heliker, who plans to focus on
the sports aspect of the program.
Stuart Dick, who has a master's
degree in family counseling, will
focus on the community service
and counseling aspect, says
Heliker.
The Heppner Elks Club
has made a commitment to stand
up against drugs and alcohol and
has joined with Blue Mountain
High Five as co-sponsors of the
first annual Labor Day weekend
basketball clinic in Heppner,
which will be held this Friday,
August 31, through Sunday
September 2.
The clinic is open to
students in grades six through
eight.
The boys' clinic will be
held from 8:30 a m. to 12:30 p.m.
on Friday and Saturday and
12:30-3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The
girls' clinic will be held from 2-6
p.m. on Friday and Saturday and
4-7 p.m. on Sunday. The clinics
will be held at the Heppner
Middle School gym on Friday
and the Heppner High School
gym on Saturday and Sunday.
Registration is
$20 per player
A n o t h e r
upcoming event co-sponsored by
Blue Mountain High Five and the
Heppner Elks, is the resurrection
of the annual
Christmas
basketball tournament, scheduled
for December 29-31. All
proceeds of the tournament will
go toward
kids'
athletic
programs.
For more information,
contact Gene Heliker, 676-5299.
Port o f Morrow
to receive grant
I he ( >regon Parks and Recreation
Department (OPRD) has announced
that Port of Morrow will receive a
$20.450 grant to fund an extension
of the existing w alking trail along
the scenic Columbia River at the
Port of Morrow’s Riverfront Center.
The trail will surround an area
designated for tounsm, recreation,
corporate offices, a new hotel and
restaurant and community facilities.
The grant is from OPRD's Local
Government Grant Program, funded
by lottery funds to help cities,
counties. METRO, park and
recreation districts and port districts
acquire, develop and rehabilitate
park and recreation areas and
facilities.
The grant is one of 23 awarded
for small grant requests (those
costing less than $50.000). OPRD
received requests for 39 projects
in the less than $50.000 category
totaling $678.464.
Port of Morrow will match the
state grant with $22,250 to fund the
total $42.700 cost of the Riverfront
Center frail project. The Local
Government Grant Program provides
up to 50 percent of project costs for
cities with populations over 5.000
and counties with more than 30,000
residents. Ihe program's mles require
smaller cities and counties to
contribute 40 percent in matching
funds.
Hwy 395 open,
delays expected
Highway 395 between Ukiah
Junction and Dale is now open to
single lane traffic. The 15-mile
section between mile points 50 and
65 had been closed since Aug. 15
due to wildfires in the area. However,
motorists can still expect delays of
an hour or more, as pilot cars move
vehicles through the area. Because
crews are still rcnxmng debris, only
one lane will be open at a time.
"We are asking motorists to watch
out for trees and debris and to please
not stop along that stretch of road."
said Marilyn Holt. ODOT
Transportation Maintenance manager
for Ukiah. Travelers should expect
long delays for a week or more as
ODOT. The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department and
firefighters remove hazardous trees
and debris that may fall onto the
highway.
ODOT will remove the pilot cars
and open the highway to two- lane
traffic as soon as possible
Morrow County Health
District Board member Ed
Glenn, at the board's regular
meeting
Monday
night,
suggested that the district try to
void a contract with a Heppner
real estate firm to sell the empty
Boardman clinic and instead
make the building available to
Boardman physician Dr. Robert
Boss at a "token" fee. "By token,
I mean like a dollar a year," said
Glenn.
Glenn said that Dr. Boss
has indicated that he could use
more space and agreed to
maintain the district's building
until it was sold, at which time
he would expect to be
reimbursed. Dr. Boss operates a
clinic next door to the district's
building.
The board indicated that
if a private individual was to rent
or lease the building, they would
be required to pay property taxes.
By law, the district is not
required to pay taxes on the
building. They also suggested a
cost of 50-60 cents per square
foot for rental of the building.
With 2.800 square feet, rental of
the building at 50 cents per
square foot would be $1,400 per
month.
The board agreed to do
some upkeep on the building and
grounds,
and
agreed
by
consensus to allow the district's
real estate contract to remain in
effect through the contract's
expiration date in December
unless the real estate company,
Heritage Land, was willing to
terminate the sales contract early.
Gene Allen, Boardman,
indicated that it was possible that
the City of Boardman may be
interested in providing land so
that the district could build a new
clinic which would accommodate
Boardman's grow ing community.
He and board members John
Prag, Boardman, concurred that
the city wished to maintain a
relationship with the health
district and indicated a new spirit
of cooperation.
Prag, Glenn and Allen
suggested that if the Boardman
clinic were sold, the proceeds be
put into a fund toward a new
Pool to close;
school to begin
The last day of the
summer season at Willow Creek
Waterpark in Heppner will be
this Friday, August 31. The pool
will be open from 1-5 p.m. and
7-9 p.m. as usual.
The closing of the pool
for the summer can only mean
one thing. Yes, school starts for
Morrow County students the day
after Labor Day, Tuesday,
September 4.
Colt Volleyball
clinic planned
facility in Boardman. They
anticipated that the community
would probably need a facility
"approximately double" the size
of the current clinic building.
The group said that
Boardman citizens are planning
for growth and anticipate greater
health needs in the future and
voiced
concern
that
the
community would be left without
a health care provider when Dr.
Boss decides to retire. "It's never
ever been a thought that the
district wouldn't do something
there (in Boardman)," said board
member Linda LaRue.
Morrow County Health
Department
director
Laura
Bumside-McElhgott, said that
plans for a race track near
Boardman include a "huge clinic
and mini-hospital." Prag, Allen
and Glenn, however, expressed
doubts that the project would
actually be completed.
In other business, the
board:
-heard a report from
Nicole Mahoney, accounting
assistant, that the district showed
an $88,397 loss for last month;
-accepted a bid for a
boiler from Cole Industrial for
$93,000, which includes district
work;
-heard a report from
Victor
VanderDoes,
administrator, that the hospital’s
construction project is on time
and running smoothly:
-discussed credentialling
of the district's care providers;
-heard that Murray's
Drug will soon accept Lifewise
prescription drug cards, which is
the district's prescription plan:
-heard that the state has
applied for HPSA designation for
Boardman to the federal
government:
-approved an interim
construction loan from the Bank
of Eastern Oregon until USDA
funds are received;
-discussed the critical
access network with St. Charles
Medical Center in Band.
-learned that Dr. Ed
Berretta will begin working at
the Heppner clinic and hospital
September 1.
AGLOW seminar
scheduled in
Ontario
An
AGLOW
International seminar has been
planned for Friday and Saturday,
September 14-15. at the Sizzler
Restaurant in Ontario, 830 S.E.
1 st Avenue.
For more information,
call Arlene Kinsey, 541-523-
4791,
A free Colt volleyball
clinic has been planned for
Sunday, September 9, at the
Heppner High School gym.
The clinic will be held
from 1-3 p.m. for children in
third and fourth grades and from
3-5 p.m. for those in fifth and
sixth grades.
High school volleyball
players, with assistance from
coaches, will lead the clinic,
teaching basic volleyball skills.
Those planning to attend
should bring gym shoes,
volleyball knee pads and a water
bottle.
Knee pads will be
available and students may also
sign up for the Colt volleyball
program.
Registration/release
forms will be available at
Heppner Elementary School and
may be returned to the school or
to Missy Cutsforth.
For more information
contact Cutsforth. 989-8104
Basketball clinic
set in Heppner
The Heppner Elks
Lodge and the Blue Mountain
High Five have joined together
to present the first annual Labor
Day weekend basketball clinic
in Heppner.
The clinic which will
include students in grades six
through eight will be held
Friday, August 31, and Saturday
and Sunday, September 1-2.
The boys' clinic will be
from 8:30 a m. to 12:30 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday and 12:30-
3:30 p.m. Sunday The girls'
clinic will be held from 2-6 p.m.
on Friday and Saturday and 4-7
p.m. on Sunday. The clinics will
be at the Heppner Middle School
gym on Friday and the Heppner
High School gym on Saturday
and Sunday.
The registration fee is
$20 per player.
Organizer Gene Heliker
says that mission of the clinic is
not only to provide instruction,
but to empower students so they
can make healthy choices.
For more information
contact Gene Heliker, 676-5299.
G-T closed
Monday
The Heppner Gazette-
Times will be closed Monday,
September 3, for the Labor Day
holiday.
The news deadline for
the September 5 newspaper will
be this Friday, August 31, at 5
p.m.
The ad deadline will
remain the same, Tuesday at
noon.
The G-T staff wishes
everyone a safe and happy
holiday.
WE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY
FOR LABOR DAY
H ave A Safe And Happy Holiday!
Morrow County Grain Growers
L6xington 989-8221 • 1-800-452*7396
tm i»» iwmn «wwwiimnw n»BWl
/