Portland kids experience rural life
Bésalo Watsell
U o f o ¡ie«rs;>a~ar L i t . e y
Suge.ie,
OR
9 74J3
Centennial students watch a demonstration.
VOL. 122
NO. 19
12 Pages
Stories o f
The Flood
Wednesday, May 7,2003
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Local children show support for troops
Left to right: Centennial students Austin Porterfield, Hayley Porterfield, Haley Peterson, teacher
Jerrod Miller, Danny Craft, John Ltberg, Jocelyn Hays, Emily Carpenter and Daniel Keys.
As part o f the
centennial year, the
Heppner Gazette-Times will
he running personal
accounts o f the 1903
Heppner flood, from now
until
the
flo o d
commemoration event.
O ur first account is
from John Leach, a retired
Portland pharm acist. “ 1 was
a young m an clerking in a
store when 1 went through the
H eppner flood o f June 14,
1903. In the c a ta stro p h e ,
one-fourth o f the population
was wiped out in 20 minutes
by a wall o f w ater that cam e
down W illow Creek.
“ H e p p n e r ’s
population was about 1000 at
the time. Most who died were
killed by crum bling houses-
crushed. We buried upwards
o f 225 w ithin a few days.
B odies and parts o f bodies
w ere un co v ered for som e
ears afterward.
“The first day, bodies
w ere brought in on horse-
draw n trucks like so m uch
c o rd w o o d . It w a s h o t
w e a th e r a n d w e h a d no
e m b a lm in g fac ilitie s. We
turned M ike Roberts’ saloon
into a morgue. Crude coffins
were m ade o f rough lumber.
“ N e rv e s
w ere
shattered. G rie f and fatigue
w ere great. If w e thought a
body w as that o f so-and-so,
we listed it and put the name
on a board to be stuck at the
head o f the grave. If that
person cam e walking in later,
the nam e w as scratched o ff
the list. We opened on box
m arked ‘Geo. C’o n ser'(bank
c a s h i e r ) a n d f o u n d h is
C hinese cook in it. G eorge
was alive.
“N o one will ever be
ab le to a c c u ra te ly list or
num ber the dead because o f
the nature o f the transient
p o p u latio n o f the frontier
tow n- sheep shearers, sheep
h erd ers, co w b o y s, hobos,
G ypsy basket m akers w ho
c a m p e d a lo n g th e c re e k ,
gam blers and ladies know
only by trade nam es such as
Molly, May, Kitty, Lulu, etc."
P h o to b \ Sand> M atthews
(front L-R) Mary Ann Elguezabal, along with Kylee kollman, 5 and
Carrie Haguewood, 9 deliver boxes to Heppner Postmaster Sally
Larsen (back).
T h e S t. P a t r i c k 's
C atholic C hurch catechism
ch ild ren 's classes have been
praying for all the soldiers who
are serving in the war. A long
w ith th e i r p r a y e r s , th e y
d e c id e d to s e n d c a r e
p ac k ag e s to local so ld iers
serving in the M iddle East.
T he children packed
up “goodies” including, Girl
Scout cookies, gum , candy,
toothbrushes, lip balm, lotion,
w ipes and m any o ther item s
th e c h ild r e n th o u g h t th e
soldiers w ould enjoy. They
also included pictures, letters
and notes from all the children.
St. P a tr ic k 's A lta r
Society donated the m oney to
pay for the postage for the
packages. Packages will be
se n t to L ev i G e e r, S ta cy
L auritsen, John M artin, Phil
Appleton, Eric Schonbachler,
Joseph B aker and D errick
Campbell.
P o s tm a s te r S a lly
Larsen also asks that any one
wishing to send care packages
to local so ld ie rs o v e rse a s
contact her about guidelines
and a list o f which items m ay
or m ay not be sent.
MCURD seeks proposals
The M orrow C ounty
Unified Recreation District is
now
s e e k in g
f u n d in g
proposals.
The M orrow C ounty
U nified R ecreation D istrict
funds activities each year for
th e b e n e fit o f the g e n e ra l
com m unity. T hose activities
ran g e
fro m
f u n d in g
e n te r ta i n m e n t fo r b ig
c e le b r a t io n s to g iv in g
instruction in the arts. In May,
M C U R D r e q u e s ts e a c h
organization seeking funds
from the district to subm it a
proposal. Any organization can
re q u e s t fu n d in g fo r th e ir
projects. There is no set format
for the request, but it should
identify the project and the
c o s ts a s s o c ia te d w ith the
project.
To subm it a funding
request, contact C yde M arie
Estes, chairman for the district,
at (541 >676-5808.
Soccer registration to be held
S o c c e r re g istra tio n
will be held this T hursday,
M ay 8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m .,
and Saturday, M ay 10, from
9-11:30 a.m. Registration will
b e h e ld a t th e H e p p n e r
Neighborhood Center.
T his is the third year
o f soccer for the com m unity
and children ages four through
12 are invited to jo in . You
m ust be four by Jan. 31,2003
and under 12 through July 31,
2003.
Registration is $ 3 1 for
the first child and $28 for
additional children in the same
f a m ily h o u s e h o ld . L a te
registrations will be subject to
a late fee. G am es will be held
in Hermiston.
If you have any
questions you can contact Tina
or Darrell Raver at 676-8710.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
The annual Heppner-
Centennial student exchange,
where Heppner students travel
to the Portland area and attend
school at C entennial M iddle
S c h o o l a n d C e n te n n ia l
students travel to Heppner and
attend H eppner Junior High,
was held the week o f April 20-
26. M onday the C entennial
students attended school at
HJH; Tuesday they toured the
Pendleton U nderground and
Umatilla Museum; Wednesday
they toured w ith the Forest
Service; Thursday, they went
to th e M a rk a n d T am i
R ie tm a n n ra n c h an d th e
Wilkinson indoor rodeo arena
at th e M o rro w C o u n ty
F a irg ro u n d s in H e p p n e r;
Friday they were on their own
w ith their host fam ilies and
attended a dinner and dance;
and on S a tu rd a y retu rn ed
home.
C entennial students
a lw a y s seem to pro v id e a
positive and refreshing look at
rural life. Follow ing are some
o f their observations:
Austin Porterfield, 14,
lives in Portland with his lather,
Loren, a purchasing agent, and
stepmother, Wendy, a teacher,
his e ig h t-y ea r old brother,
X av ier Fay, and three-year-
old brother. Eli Porterfield. His
m o m D a r la S h e ld o n , a
secretary, lives in Fairview.
D uring his visit to H eppner,
Austin has been staying w ith
the John and Sonja M cC abe
fam ily . H e s a y s he lik e s
“ e v e r y t h i n g ” a b o u t th e
e x c h a n g e , but e s p e c ia lly
enjoyed the Forest Service trip
to Bull Prairie. “ It's more laid
b a c k h e re -v e ry m uch so.
People a re n 't as uptight and
people at school are a little bit
more trusting. Fhey let you be
independent. E veryone's not
in a rush. Fhey enjoy life and
a r e n 't as c o n sc io u s ab o u t
l.exi Matteson (left) gives a roping lesson. Photo by Sandy Matthews
things. They do w hat m akes
them tick.”
H ayley P orterfield,
14, a cousin o f A ustin's, lives
in Portland with her father,
Rob, a m echanical insulator,
and m om , Jill, a hair dresser.
She has three older brothers,
Jerem iah, 21, Brody, 19, and
B rogen, 17. She stayed in
H eppner w ith the J e ff and
LanaO rr family. Hayley liked
working w ith on the Rietmann
ranch. “ I liked w orking the
cattle today. That w as really
fun. Here, people are m ore
into rodeos and the outdoors.
In Portland, there's a lot more
stuffto do.” But, she adds, “ It's
a cool experience to be in a
smaller town.
H aley Peterson, 13,
lives in Portland w ith her
fath er. C u rt, w ho o w n s a
co n struction com pany, her
m o m , K a re n , a p h y s ic a l
therapist, and sister Nikki, 16.
Haley, w ho stayed w ith the
Jo h n and D iane K ilkenny
family, says that her favorite
th in g d u rin g her v isit to
H eppner w as visiting the “t-
shirt com pany,” Fabrics Etc.
Her least favorite activ ity was
v i s i t i n g t he “ U m a t i l l a
M useum”. She likes “how you
can w alk everywhere and how
e \ erybody knows e \ erybody”
in Heppner. “ Fhey (H eppner
people) probably have closer
friends. T h e y 're really nice
people. At our school, there
are a whole bunch ofcliques.”
H aley says she m isses her
sister, but adds, “ This is the
most I've ev er done in a week.
It was pretty cool.”
Danny Craft, 14, lives
in D am ascus, with his dad
Rick, a doctor, his m other, a
stay-at-hom e m om w ho also
helps at the office, a sister.
K acey , I 7, a n d b ro th e rs ,
Rick, 16, Bradley, I I , and
Jeffrey, eight. Danny, w ho
stayed w ith the M ary Ann
Elguezabal family, says that his
favorite H eppner experience
was at the Rietmann ranch and
his least favorite w as a regular
school day on M onday. He
says that there “ isn 't a huge
difference” betw een city and
rural kids, but, he adds, “ It
seem s at Centennial there are
m ore obvious social classes
and here everyone is friends
w ith just about everyone.”
John Utberg, 13, lives
in ( iresham with his dad, John,
a c o n stru ctio n w orker, his
mother. Debbie, w ho w orks in
a school c afeteria, and his
sister, Jordin. 12. John initially
stayed with the Rauch family,
but a family e m e r g e n c y
necessitated his m ove to the
continued page two
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