Original one-act drama to come to life
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Playwright Fr. Gerry Condon directs cast of his original one-act drama, ‘St. Patrick. Apostle of Ireland’.
By Doris Brosnan
V0L. 121
NO. 10
10 Pages
Wednesday, March 6,2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner merchants plan April Fool ‘Tom Foolery’
By Doris Brosnan
“Lots of Tom Foolery!” is one
person's description o f the
basketball event planned for April
Fool’s Day in Heppner.
The Heppner merchants
will entertain on court at Heppner
High School that evening, and
some o f them m ight even
dem onstrate some basketball
prowess. Complete team rosters
will be published at a later date,
as firm commitments are still
coming in.
Megan Orr claim s Elks “Hoop
Shoot” regional championship
Megan O rr with her trophies
Having already tasted glory
in local, district and state
com petitions, Megan Orr o f
Heppner captured another first-
place finish on Saturday, March
2, when she wowed the crowds
at the Elks “ Hoop S hoot”
Northwest Region Championship.
Megan, the 12-year-old daughter
o f Jeffrey and Lana Orr,
demonstrated an accuracy from
the penalty line well beyond her
years and brought honors to her
hometown of Heppner. Megan, a
sixth-grader in Mrs. Dowdy's
class at Heppner Elementary
School, says that she w asn’t
scared during the competition, but
was pretty excited when she won.
Representing Heppner Elks
Lodge No. 358. Megan, a sixth
grader in Heppner Elementary
School, sank 21 out of 25 free
throws in the 12 to 13-year-old
girls division, making her a “true
standout in the field" of more than
three million boys and girls, ages
eight-13, who have participated in
the contest since last fall. Now.
M egan will travel with her
parents, courtesy o f the
Benevolent and Protective Order
o f Elks, to Springfield,
Massachusetts-“the birthplace of
basketball” - to be among the 72
top youngsters vying it the chance
to claim one o f six national
trophies awarded at the Elks
“ Hoop Shoot” National Free
Throw Contest on April 18-21.
A great showing in the
national championship will not
only call Megan a. place in Elks
“Hoop Shoot” history, but also
land her name on a plaque in the
Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame.
Now in its 30th year, the Elks
“ Hoop Shoot” Free Throw
Contest has seen more than 91
million participants since its
inception, making it the largest
coeducational youth sports
program in the nation, according
to a news release. Funded entirely
by the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, the Elks “Hoop
Shoot” Free Throw Contest has
served as a testing ground for
sports legends C leveland
C av aliers’ Trajan Langdon,
WNBA 2041 Rookie of the Year
Jackie Stiles of the Portland Fire,
Iowa Haw keyes head coach
Steve Al Alford. Olympic gold
medallist and former Golden State
Warriors Chris Mullin, former
North Carolina State star Jennifer
Howard, and former Chicago
White Sox third baseman Chris
Silopek.
The
Benevolent
and
Protective Order o f Elks is a
patriotic and philanthropic
fraternal organization w ith nearly
1.2 million members in more than
2.000 com m unities, said the
release.
Word on the street is that
the Main Street Westside “Blue
Bruisers” (or is that going to be
“Bruises”?) has 21 team members
to draw from, including In-the-
Key Koffler, Hustlin’ Harrison,
M ake-M y-D ay
Murray,
Hollomon the H ow itzer and
Proctor the Pro. Rumor has it that
Main Street E astside, the
“Goldtrotters” (or will that be the
“Goldwalkers”?), has only 18
team members but think that the
expertise of their players will be
more than enough to “beat the
bruises!” Some of those players
will be Free-Throw Fowler, the
G reen M achine, Howling
Houweling, Over-the-Top (and-
Through-the-Net) Orr and High-
Speed Helfrecht.
O f course, the teams will
have cheerleaders, rooting them
on to victory. Names of those
energetic accomplices will be
included in the forthcom ing
detailed rosters. The official
officials will be experts at
catching prohibited maneuvers
and maintaining less than mayhem
on the court. The announcer will
closely follow the skillful handling
of the ball by the blue and the gold
teams. The snack shack will
provide healthful noshes, and the
EMTs and a local doctor will be
courtside. for emergency use only.
Determined to entertain
and offer something for everyone,
the merchants also plan halftime
entertainment that will offer a
twist or two to tradition: of course,
the cake raffle; a 331/3/331/3/331/
3 (rather than 50/50) raffle; and
parent/child hoop shoot.
The game itself will offer
a twist or two to traditional rules
of play, but the merchants report
that the changes will be easy for
spectators and maybe players, to
follow. The changes guarantee
“tom foolery” and entertainment
on April Fool’s Day.
The revenues generated
from the $3 adult tickets ($1 for
elementary students, $2 for high
school students) will help w ith the
continued efforts by the
m erchants to beautify and
improve Main Street.
More information on the
April Fool’s event, which will
begin at 7 p.m.. will appear in the
Gazette after the St. Patrick’s
Day Weekend Celebration.
Class member identified
Another member of the
class of 1924 has been identified
from a photo that appeared in the
Feb. 27 Gazette-Times. Leita
Barlow, pictured eighth from left,
back row, was a sister to Charlie
Barlow and m arried Truman
Messenger.
“Saint Patrick. Apostle of
Ireland”, the original one-act
drama authored by Father Gerry
Condon of Heppner’s St. Patrick
parish, will come to life next
week, a fitting precursor to the St.
Patrick's Weekend Celebration in
Heppner.
“Apostle” results from Father
Condon’s desire to contribute to
the yearly event named for Saint
Patrick and to provide factual
information on the spiritualism of
this bishop o f Ireland. Pat
Sweeney, one of the actors, said
that he is especially “impressed
with the hard work Father Condon
has accomplished to bring this
entertainm ent” into the local
celebration. “ He is filling an
im portant niche,” Sweeney
added. The play is the culmination
of Condon’s interest in drama, his
futile search for an already-
w ritten drama based on fact
rather than on myth, and his
research into the man who
evangelized the Emerald Island in
the 400’s A.D. Condon hopes
“ A postle” will entertain and
inform as it takes the audience to
four locations significant to
Patrick's evangelism.
Two perform ances of
“Apostle” are planned for next
week. On Sunday, March 10, the
16 actors will appear on stage at
the lone Grange building. On
Thursday, March 14, they will
perform on the stage of the St.
Patrick Parish Hall in Heppner.
Billed as “dessert theatre,” the
lone event will begin at 4 p.m. and
the Heppner evening will begin at
7 p.m.. Both occasions will begin
with desserts, followed by the
voices of a local singing group,
“The Sentimentalists.”
Cast and production staff
members come from St. William
Parish in lone and St. Patrick
Parish in Heppner. Most of the
cast members will be on stage for
the first time or for the first time
since some high school
productions. Heading the cast w ill
be Joe Lindsay as Patrick.
Bringing the other historical
figures to life will be Barney
Lindsay, Pat Sweeney, Tom
Wolff, Brian Kollm an, Dan
Lindsay, Ken Turner. Luke
Murray, Dan Van Schoiack, Tom
M cElligott, Ashley McCabe.
Gayle Arbogast. Larry Lutcher,
Debbie G utierrez, and Jim
McElligott and Kathy McCabe.
Joe Lindsay, who might be
considered the veteran actor in
the cast, sounded confident as he
discussed his lead role in Apostle.
He has performed in several
musicals while attending college,
though never as the lead. Another
actor,
G ayle
A rbogast,
complimented Lindsay on his
portrayal and especially his
presentation of the prayer of St.
Patrick’. Lindsay explained that
working on the dram a has
allowed him to see St. Patrick as
“a real person. And now 1 better
understand how much courage
he had to have.” Arbogast added
that she, too, has gained “more
understanding of what Patrick
had to overcome - the Druids, the
paganism - in order to bring
Christianity to Ireland.”
The production, publicity, and
hospitality crews for the two
showings o f Apostle include
Nelson Connor, Kim Armato,
M artha Munkers, Mary Ann
Elguezabal, Ashley Ropp, Leann
Lindsay, Pat Dougherty, Marj
Kenny, Karen Wolff, Evelyn
Sweek, Doris Brosnan, Jessica
Connor, Ashley Wolff, Kelsey
Wolff, Mary Arbogast, Winnie
Flynn, Pat Gentry, Angela Moore.
Judie Laughlin, Janet Greenup,
Eileen M cElligott, Conrad
Tworek, Joe McElligott, Kathy
Morter and June Crowell.
The “Sentimentalists” will
provide the prelude to the drama
as they sing “ G lorious St.
Patrick," a musical tribute with a
distinctive Irish rhythm and sound.
Members of this local group are
Luvilla Sonstegard, Lynnea
Sargeant, Cam Wishart, Norma
French, Janet Greenup. Barbara
Pettyjohn, Darlene Marquardt,
Gayle A rbogast, Bonna Rae
Miller, Cara Osmin and June
Jones.
On March 3, as the actors
prepared for a first dress
rehearsal o f Saint Patrick,
Apostle of Ireland. Father Condon
worked with some production
details and declared his
confidence in the cast that will
perform his first dramatic work.
He adm itted hopes that the
audiences will be large and his
contribution to the March
celebration deemed worthwhile.
Admission will be a free-will
donation.
Michele Hams solves puzzle, wins gold coin
Darrell Raver of the Bank of Eastern Oregon presents a commemorative
Oregon coin to Michele Hams, winner of the “Find the Hidden Shamrock”
contest.
A veteran puzzle-solver, Michele Hams of Heppner, found the
hidden shamrock and won a gold Oregon commemorative coin donated
by the Bank of Eastern Oregon.
Hams followed the clues in the Gazette-Times and found the
hidden Shamrock w ith a flashlight Thursday night in a tree at Heppner
High School “I was just frantic,” said Hams, who said she just barely
beat out another participant.
This is the second time she has solved the puzzle. She also
claimed the prize in 1993.
The contest is sponsored by the bank and the Gazette-Times.
Sign up for Cruz-In
The Second Annual St. Paddy's Cruz-In has received 24 entries
so far for the various categories o f vehicles. Participants may register
until Saturday, March 16. at 10 a m.
Judging will take place between 2-3 p.m. with the awards
presented at 3:30 p.m. Categories include vintage, foreign, classic
and modified - cars and pickups. Additional awards w ill be given for
Leprechaun's Choice, People's Choice, County Judges' Choice.
Period Dress awards for men and women, and also an award
honoring a Car Club group.
Main Street closed for shamrock painting
Main Street in Heppner will be closed this Thursday. March
7. and Friday. March 8, if necessary, for painting of the downtown
shamrock, announced city public works director Craig Canham
Parking will also be interrupted on Main Street Monday,
March 11, through Friday. March 15, for painting of parking lines.
Canham said.