TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 25, 2003
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Letters to the Editor
Heppner
G A Z E T T E -T I M E S
U.S.P.S. 240-420
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D avid S y k e s ............................................................................. Publisher
Editor
Katie W all
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HHS alumni golf tournament
shots, can be purchased for
scheduled
those w anting to improve their
The Heppner High
School Alumni Committee will
again spo n so r a g o lf
tournament on Saturday and
Sunday, July 5-6, at Willow
C reek C ountry C lub in
Heppner. The event is the
committee’s annual fundraiser
and is open to everyone who
is out o f high school.
“Teams compete in a
scram ble format so even
inexperienced golfers can take
part and have fun,” said Dave
Allstott o f the committee.
Mulligans, or second chance
We Print
E n v e lo p e s
Heppner Gazette-
Times
6 7 6 -9 2 2 8
score. “This tournament is a lot
of fun and we’ve been able to
raise funds for a lot of worthy
youth activities,” Allstott said.
A steak barbecue is
held at the clubhouse following
play on Saturday. Cost for the
tournament is $40 and includes
dinner. Extra dinner tickets can
be purchased for $ 10 each.
The to u rn am en t
winners will have a team
photo and th e ir nam es
engraved on a plaque which is
on display in the high school
trophy case. Other prizes
include Mustang golf balls,
and a few lucky golfers will
take home a club made by
HHS golf coach, Greg Grant.
For more information
or an entry form, contact Dave
or Patti Allstott at 676-5216,
or John and Sonja McCabe,
676-5231.
Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed. The Gazette-Times will not
publish unsigned letters. Please include your address a n d p h o n e num ber on all
letters for use by the G-T office. The G -T reserves the right to edit. The G -T is not
responsible for a ccuracy o f statements m ade in letters. (A ny letters expressing
thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “C ard of Thanks “ at a cost of f 7.)
Morter and Morrow County
deserve apologies
To the Editor:
In regard to the letter
written to the editor by Mr. A1
Beck o f Warrenton, Oregon.
1 would like to come to the
defense o f Anne Morter. I
have known Anne for about 10
years. She is a dynam ic
individual that puts intellect and
thought into the tasks she
takes on. She is rock solid and
can stand on her merit. 1 have
known her to be a strong
supporter of her community.
Anne is a generous person.
After our tragic house fire
several years ago Anne was
the first to arrive not only with
sympathy but clothing and
other essentials from her own
family’s closets.
Poor sportsmanship
To the Editor:
Last Thursday, June
1 2 ,1 witnessed some o f the
worst sportsmanship I have
ever seen. And incredibly, it
happened at a summer league
girls’ basketball game.
The young woman
coach from Riverside acted
like it was the NBA finals.
There was only one referee,
but she complained loudly
about almost every call and
soon had the girls on her team
chipping in. It was truly a
pathetic scene. I’ve been a big
fan o f high school sports for
decades, but the behavior o f
this “coach” made me wonder
a t MCGG
T uesday, J u ly 1 st
from 9 a.m .«12 n oon
A fire e x tin g u ish e r tech n icia n
unit be on h a n d to service
yo u r fir e e x tin g u ish e rs.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.
For m ore than a
thousand people living in the
northeast Oregon town o f
Heppner in the year 1903, the
end of the world began with a
gathering o f clouds in the
southern sky. “Days of Sorrow
in Heppner,” proclaimed the
headline o f the H eppner
Gazette, which carried the
story o f the flood that roared
through town on a summer
Sunday evening, “leaving only
death and destruction in its
jo/ve pouinb
jury
êm es ceLeéi^nopr
~
what the future holds. If that’s
the kind of example our young
athletes are receiving, high
school sports will soon have
as many examples o f poor
sportsmanship and childish
behavior as college and the
pros.
I have nothing against
Riverside; I have friends there.
But they should be seriously
concerned about the message
they are sending by allowing
such a childish woman to
coach a team, even if it’s just
a summer league game. It was
embarrassing.
(s) Phil Jergins
Echo
Days of Sorrow book now for sale
FIRE EXTINGUISHER
SERVICE DAT
Friday, July 4th
1
w ould
be
disappointed if those who
don’t know Anne personally
to think of her in the terms that
Mr. Beck described. Her
com m ents to The D aily
Astorian were clearly taken
out of context. It is unfortunate
that Mr. Beck feels he needs
to stir up trouble in our
community. Mr. Beck is trying
to weaken what holds our
small community together- the
people. I take that personally.
Shame on you Mr. Beck.
Perhaps your ap o lo g ies
should go to Anne Morter and
all of us in Morrow County,
(s) Mary West
lone
Music starting at 3 p.m.
ÍW W
tl'Ò U S J^
* Local Musical Talent Show
Thursday, July 3
*
FUN FOR THE KIDS
* Volleyball Tournament
(Teams W elcome!)
The Joanna Connor Band
and
C a ll
lo n e City H all
f o r m ore
inform ation at
( 5 4i} 422-7414
Jim m y L lo yd Rea with Doug R ow ell
wake.’’Now,-100years after
the flood almost destroyed this
community, the new book
Days o f Sorrow describes
what has been called Oregon’s
most deadly natural disaster.
“The place that best
captures the devastation
Heppner endured is the town’s
cemetery,” says author Mark
Highberger. “So many o f the
gravestones share the same
date o f death and hold the
same dark message: lost in the
flood, perished in the flood,
drowned in the flood.”
T his cen tu ry -o ld
trag ed y stru ck w ith o u t
warning on a hot Sunday
evening in June, when a
cloudburst in the hills above
town sent a torrent o f water
roaring toward Heppner. As it
cut a sw ath through the
community, the flood swept
away the lives o f more than
200 people as well as 140
homes and 30 businesses.
Yet even though the
story o f the flood is a tale o f
death and loss and heartbreak,
it’s also one of courage, as two
men raced their horses against
the
w ater,
g a llo p in g
downstream to warn other
towns; o f com passion, as
people from around the
N orthw est donated food,
medicine, and labor to the
rescue; and o f endurance, as
the survivors buried their dead,
restored their town, and rebuilt
their lives.
“Perhaps the most
dram atic elem ents o f the
disaster were the sacrifice and
the resilience o f the people
who survived it,” Highberger
says. “In this way, the story of
the Heppner flood, more than
anything else, is a testament to
the human spirit.”
The first edition o f
Days o f Sorrow is available
for $ 19.95 at local bookstores
or from Bear Creek Press at
1 -8 0 0 -355-2554
or
www.eoni.com/~-highberg/
bear creek_press.html.
Music sponsored by the Morrow County Unified Recreation District
j
«
St. Pat’s Senior
Center news
Obituaries
Three apartments are
being read ied for new
occupancy at St. Patrick’s
Senior Center. Two will have
new carp et; all w ill be
th o ro u g h ly clean ed and
p ain ted b efo re the new
residents move in. Other
improvements are four new
frost-free refrigerators for
those apartm ents not yet
equipped with the newer
model.
While noting these
changes, being reminded of
some brief historical facts
seem s a p p ro p ria te . The
building was dedicated and
first occupied in 1988 (date on
the plaque). The building was
originally the historic Heppner
H otel. To p u rch ase and
renovate the hotel was a
million dollar project. Funds
came from a block grant from
the federal government (about
half), a loan initiated by the
City, a generous donation from
the Odd Fellows Lodge, the
senior citizen organization who
had provided the weekly meal
for a number of years, and the
massive efforts o f volunteers
who helped with much of the
interior work.
A ccording to Bill
Kuhn, who has been legal
counsel from the beginning, as
many as seventy people would
spend time on the weekends
tearing out what needed to be
changed to ready the interior
for creating the apartments.
The first step, however, and
most costly, was to re-roof the
whole building.
The Heppner Housing
Authority (HHA) owns and
managers the building; the City
o f H eppner holds the
m o rtg ag e for the loan
n ecessary to finance its
development. HHA is a duly
formed government entity,
appointed by the city council
to
p rovide
housing
rehabilitation- an inhabitable
environment for the people it
serves; in Heppner those are
the seniors. It consists of seven
members, appointed by the
city council and who are
representatives o f the people
whom it serves: The mayor,
Bob Jepsen and one council
m em ber, Kay R obinson,
additionally, an apartment
residents, George Jeffries, two
members of the Senior Center
Board o f Directors, Archie
Padberg and Judy Buschke,
and two citizens at large,
Barbara Watkins and Karen
Dubuque; these persons are
the required num ber and
m akeup the HHA. Judy
Buschke is a member o f both
the City Council and the Senior
Center Board. More about the
HHA will come in later articles.
Any questions may be given
to a m em ber o f the City
Council, HHA, or Senior
Center Board of Directors.
Cara Kennedy is the
new m aintenance person
covering the dining room and
kitchen on the first floor. The
Heppner Christian Church will
provide the volunteers for
serving the noon meal at the
Center on July 2. The menu
has not been announced at this
time.
La Verne Manford
“Pete” Peterson
MCHD to hold
meeting
The Morrow County Health
District will be holding its
regular board meeting,
Monday, June 30, at 7 p.m.,
at the Morrow County
Annex in Iirigon.
On the agenda are the
CEO’s report, the 2003-04
budget am endm ents and
adoption and the Boardman
District, the May 20 election
results, trauma designation/
CAH, and the May financials.
Heppner Gazette-Time
LaVerne M anford
“ P e te ” P eterso n , 80, o f
Boardman, died Thursday,
June 12, 2003, at G ood
Shepherd Medical Center in
Hermiston.
A funeral was held
June 19 at Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church in Boardman
with burial at Boardman’s
Riverview Cemetery.
Peterson was born
April 30, 1923, at Choteau,
MT, to Casper A. and Clara
Anderson Peterson.
On July 21,1946, he
married Lois G Gronberg at
Choteau.
He was employed as
a heavy equipment operator in
construction for more than 50
years, working throughout the
N orthw est and M ontana.
After he retired from Rogers
Construction he served as an
EMT for a few years.
P eterso n w as a
M ason, a m em ber o f the
Lutheran Church and a life
member o f the National Rifle
Association.
Survivors include his
w ife, Lois, at the home;
daughter, Lorrie Phillips of
B oardm an; son, L arry
P eterso n o f G resham ;
grandsons, Dean Phillips and
Terry Phillips; one great-
g ran d so n ; b ro th er, Rex
Peterson o f Choteau, MT;
sister, Maxine Edwards of
Sheridan, MT; and many
nieces and nephews. He was
preceded in death by his
parents.
M e m o r i a l
contributions may be made to
the Boardman Senior Center
or Alzheimer’s Association
through Bums Mortuary of
Hermiston, P.O. Box 289,
Hermiston, OR 97838.
Bums Mortuary o f
Hermiston is in charge o f
arrangements.
SWCD reminds
everyone to fight
puncturevine
The Morrow Soil and
Water Conservation District/
W eed C o n tro l A d v iso ry
Board is reminding residents
o f Morrow County, “It’s time
again to check for and control
puncturevine in the area.”
It is up and flowering
along roadsides and gravel
areas. Spray it, pull it, bag it
and bum it now before the
seed ripens and falls off.
Puncturevine or Goathead is
very painful if stepped on by
people or pets. It is easy to
control, but it does take
persistence. If you are unsure
o f the identity o f a weed or
need
a
ch em ical
recommendation, call Morrow
County Weed Supervisor,
Dave Pranger at 989-9502.
City of Heppner
mails
water
reports
The City ofHeppner’s
2002 water quality report has
been mailed to residents.
The report describes
the quality of the city’s drinking
water and explains health
information, monitoring data
and the sources of water.
The re p o rt also
provides updates on the
progress o f the city’s water
supply development projects.
Anyone who did not
receive a copy of the report in
the mail can pick one up at
City Hall or call 676-9618 to
receive one.
Order Magnetic
Door Signs HERE
Heppner Caiette-Times