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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2004)
FOUR • Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 23, 2004 Letters to the Editor Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed. The Gazette-Times will not publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone 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 accuracy o f statements made in letters. (Any letters expressing thanks w ill be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks" at a cost o f \7.) teachers and also me. 1 hope HES fifth and sixth graders speak out [E d ito r’s Note: Fifth and sixth grade students from Heppner Elementary School wrote letters to the editor as part o f class project. The subject o f the letters range from ideas fo r the old pool to su p p o rtin g our local businesses.] To the Editor: I think som ebody from the Fish and Wildlife Society should clean up the creek. There are tons of tires and cans in the creek. The cans and tires are making the creek dirty. The fish are dying because of the garbage in the creek. I think everybody who really like fish should pitch in. E verybody w ill appreciate those who help clean the creek, especially the people who like to fish. So pitch in. (s) Tomas Elguezabal Heppner To the Editor: My name is Lindsay Cutsforth and I am a fifth g ra d e r at H eppner Elementary. I’m writing because I think the com m unity should try to donate money to try to get a clothes store in Heppner. We have to pay lots of money for gas to go to Hermiston, Pendleton or Tri-Cities just to get clothes. This is especially bad since the gas prices are $2.50. It would be nice if we could get a clothes store for women, kids and men. It w ould even be nice if G a rd e n e r’s M en ’s W ear w ould have som e kids clothes and a little bit more for women. If the community did I ’m sure a lot of people would appreciate it. (s) Lindsay Cutsforth Lexington To the Editor: My name is Kyle Tayloe and I’m a student from Heppner Elementary School. I think it is cool how the community of Heppner supports our school. The magazine sale and bringing box tops to school are two of the ways the citizens of Heppner support HES. I w ould like it if there was a shop that would open and all the m oney would go to the school. It could sell little toys or just even used stuff that people give to the shop. We could have new co m p u ters, playground balls and new black top. This would help my siblings, the school, my that this could happen so Heppner would be happier, (s) Kyle Tayloe Heppner To the Editor: My name is Colter R aver and I am a sixth grad er at H eppner Elementary. I am writing to say I think we should do something with the old pool. I was thinking that we should make it into a skateboard park. Then the kids w ith sk ateb o ard s wouldn’t get bored and have to ride on the street. They would have more fun and wouldn’t do stuff they’re not supposed to. It would be safer for pedestrians. I would go to the skateboard park and have fun instead of riding around town. (s) Colter Raver Heppner To the Editor: My name is Donald Matthews and I go to school at Heppner Elementary. I was wondering why the City shut down the bike track? M any kids think that Heppner is boring and the bike track is a fun place to be. It was a great place to ride bikes with my friends. The bike track used to be a bunch of weeds and dirt. What was the problem with weeds, dirt and a few hills? There was even grass growing in until the City destroyed it. If everyone on that street hates the dust, the City should water it more and maybe grow some grass. If the C ity d o e sn ’t build another bike track or a fun place to play in the town it will be a little bit boring. (s) Donald Matthews Heppner To the Editor: My name is Jessica Hughes and I am a sixth grad er at H eppner Elementary. I have an idea to share with you all. You know the old pool at the front of town? On my gosh, it is so old and yucky. So let’s do something with it. It’s just sitting there doing nothing; nobody can use it like it is anyway. So let’s change it. H e re ’s my idea: L e t’s m ake it into som ething. A ctually we could m ake it into tw o things. A roller-skating rink in the spring, summer and fall and in the winter it could be an ice-skating rink. We would need equipment to repave it and put ice over it, but we w ould gain the m oney back from customers. I think it would be a good recreation addition to the town of Heppner and would look a lot cleaner and nicer than that old rusty pool. Please think about the Effective June 25, 2004, the Fire Chief of the City of Heppner is imposing a CLO SED SEASON for open burning based on local fire safety concerns. This burning ban is for the City of Heppner. A reminder that open burning also includes a “burn barrel.” The closed season will remain in effect until further notice this fall as per ORS 478.960. idea. It would look really (s) Ian Murray cool and be really fun. Heppner To the Editor: (s) Jessica Hughes Heppner Hi, my nam e is Devin Robinson and I am To the Editor: fifth g rad er at H eppner My name is Emily Elementary School and I am Thompson and I’m a sixth here to say that I appreciate g rad er at H eppner all the people that ate at the E lem entary School. The Colt Soup Feed. magazine sale at HES was a The feed helped us su ccess. It raised about pay for things like pads, $4000 fo r the T u pper helmets and footballs. Some Outdoor School Program. of those things help protect I appreciate all of the us like pads and helmets. I money people gave towards hope that next year more Tupper. I am w riting people will attend the feed. because I want to encourage Because pads get old after a m ore people to buy while and may not protect magazines or at least give us. some donations. If we don’t I also appreciate the raise about $4000, the kids people that supported us that are com ing to sixth d u ring our C olt gam es, helped us fight on and take grade can’t go to Tupper. T upper was the victory. I appreciate awesome. I’ll remember it everything our community forever. I really want the has done for Colt Football, younger kids to go to Tupper (s) Devin Robinson and have great memories Heppner too. So please, help support To the Editor: Tupper Outdoor School. It My name is Brynna would be horrible if it had Rust and I’m a sixth grader to go. at H eppner E lem en tary (s) Emily Thompson School. Heppner I ’m w riting today because I think that the gas To the Editor: price is rid icu lo u s. I t’s My name is Ashley almost up to $3. Ahhh. So, I Wolff and I am a sixth grader thought of an idea how to at H eppner E lem en tary help. School. I am w riting to Maybe people can inform you about an start walking more. I think amazing program called the people should start walking Great American Bake Sale. if they live in tow n. Or T his year, people could ride bikes. I approximately 13 million saw a person who drove to kids in the United States the store when he lived right alone are at risk for hunger. by it. I mean right by it. On The Great American Bake the news recently, there has Sale helps solve this by been a report that people having kids all across the spend more time in their cars country hold bake sales and than exercising. And that’s send all their proceeds into one reason th ey ’ve been Share Our Strength. Share overweight. Our Strength then turns the H e re ’s an o th er money into grants for non point. W hen people are profit organizations fighting driving in cars they ju st childhood hunger in the wave. I mean that’s fine, but United States. Since it was if you ride your bike, or started in 1984, Share Our walk, you can say hi and talk Strength, or SOS, has raised for a while. It would make and distributed more than the C ity o f H eppner $74 million to anti-hunger friendlier too. So park that o rg a n iz atio n s here and car, save money and get in overseas. shape. I think that this is a (s) Brynna Rust wonderful program and I am Echo trying to start a bake sale To the Editor: here. If anyone would like to My name is Jordan help please contact me, I Hatfield and I am a sixth greatly appreciate all the g rad er at H eppner help I can get. E lem entary School. I ’m (s) Ashley Wolff writing to you today because Heppner I appreciate what the city did To the Editor: at that old vacant lot, which My nam e is Ian is now Heritage Plaza. M urray and I am a fifth As you all know, I g ra d e r at H eppner still go to the elementary Elementary. I have always school and I have to walk known that we have had a through the Plaza every day. great community and strong It is nice to walk or ride businesses. through it. Plus, it is nice not I can alw ays go to get chewed out for getting dow ntow n and buy a mud on the carpets at home delicious apple, fresh food, and at school. our medicine and lots of I ’m also w riting other things. We need people about the road to school. to keep these businesses Quaid Street is the road I running and the gas prices ride on. It think it would be are high and we don’t want easier for the kids walking to d riv e all the way to on that street to put a better H erm iston ju s t to get sidewalk in or a bike lane for groceries. We had a shoe the people riding bikes. It store, but it closed down would help the drivers too. because not enough It w ill help the d riv ers business. I don’t want that to because they won’t have to happen to the stores that are stress out about the kids left. walking. To the people that (s) Jordan Hatfield shop here in Heppner, I hope Heppner you continue to do so and To the Editor: the people that don’t, I hope My name is Araceli that you think about what I Z avala and I ’m a sixth said. PROPANE SALES A SERVICE Thinking o f changing from oloctric or oil to propanot CALL: M ORROW COUNTY G R A IN G R O W ER S Lexington, O R 1 - 800 - 452-7396 • 1 - 541 - 989-8221 Homo Hooting, Shop Hooting, Hot Viator Hooters, On Demand Water Hooter g rad er at H eppner Elementary. I have an idea that involves the Heppner Public L ibrary. See the public library is really a cool place to be, but a lot of people don’t seem to realize that. There you can do a lot of fun things like getting on the In tern et and search in g w eb sites, w atching and listening to music videos on the Internet and you can also learn a lot of things there. My point is that I hope people will take this into consideration and go to the library more often. Instead o f ju s t sittin g at hom e watching TV, you can come to the library. I hope people will do what I suggest and go to the library more often. (s) Araceli Zavala Heppner To the Editor: My name is Brent Eckm an and I ’m a sixth g rad er at H eppner Elementary School. I want to say that I appreciate all the donations for Diabetes Walk For the Cure. This walk is held each fall to raise money to fight this disease. You d o n ’t know how much I appreciate it. W hen I was first diagnosed, I really wasn’t thinking about finding a cure. But later on, I realized that I wanted to help find a cure because I didn’t want kids to go through what I had to go through. I hope next year that even m ore people w ill donate. To the ones who donated last year, I really appreciate your support. (s) Brent Eckman Lexington To the Editor: My nam e is Joe Armato and I’m in the fifth grade at H eppner Elementary School. S o m e t h i n g happened a while ago, it was made by volunteers and now it has been tom down. Some of you may wonder what it is, well, it’s the bike park. I used it every once and a while, but normally in the sum m er. Now that it is turning sum m er again, I wanted to use it and then a friend told me it was tom down. Two days ago, I wanted to ride on it and then I remembered it was tom down. So, the city should either let kids have bikes on Main Street, so that we can ride around in other places or build another bike park, (s) Joe Armato Heppner To the Editor: Hello, my name is Erin Price and I am a sixth g rad er at H eppner Elem entary School. I am pleased to say that I enjoy that Heppner looks so great. Downtown Heppner looks wonderful and so does the new Heritage Park. But there is one thing that I would w ish the C ity w ould do next... the old swimming pool. I am not sure what the Heppner workers are working on since Heritage Park is finally finished. I heard it would be a skating park, which is a good idea since the bike trail was flattened. I w ant to rem ind everyone that I appreciate all the hard work on Heppner. It’s the best looking town in Oregon. (s) Erin Price Heppner To the Editor: I love H eppner everything. We are a strong sm all tow n th at holds together. I’ve noticed that H eppner has su p p o rted anything from som eone’s new idea to the 2A baseball championship. Take last year for instance, there were more people from Heppner that atten d ed the G rid K ids football championship than there were from Hermiston. Or how almost every sports fan in Heppner goes to the regular season games. Or the new Heritage Park, it was probably som eone’s idea that we supported. But we can’t forget the volunteers that make it happen. That’s why I would like to suggest some kind of day that would honor the v o lu n teers o f H eppner. B ecause w ithout them Heppner would never be the way it is. (s) Justin Gutierrez Heppner To the Editor: I w ould like to co n g ratu late the C ity o f Heppner and all the groups that made Heritage Plaza happen. They took an icky lot and made it into a really neat park. The equipment from the Ag Museum shows the history of our area. T his show s that r when people decide to work together, things can happen. Heppner has a lot o f city • pride and I’m proud to live in a place where people are proud of their town. (s) Kellee Jones Heppner To the Editor: Hi, my name is Matt Hams and I ’m currently going to H eppner Elementary School. I wrote this letter to talk to you about the creek. The creek is very dirty, people treat it like a trash can. There are lots of th in g s that co u ld hurt somebody and it is almost summer, so lots of kids are going to be dow n there fishing and rafting. So, I think we should get some volunteers to clean up the creek and make it safe for kids and fish. (s) Matt Hams Heppner To tne Editor: S o m etim es I get f bored in the middle of the summer so I have made a list o f 10 th in g s to do this summer: 1) Play basketball. 2) Go swimming. 3) Have a paint ball war. 4) Go bike riding. 5) Play baseball. 6) Play football. 7) Play with your friends. 8) Work for senior c itiz e n s (C all 676-5927). 9) Play with your dog. 10) L ast but d e fin ite ly not least, read a book. Hope you don’t get bored. (s) Kyle Vanderwalker Heppner To the Editor: L ately, I have n o ticed th at p eople are driving too fast in Heppner w hile kids are o u tsid e playing near the road. I think that the d riv ers need to w atch how fast they are going. The d riv e rs also need to see how fast they should go on streets that are close to the schools. If they don’t stop going so fast, one of these days a kid is going to get ran over. (s) Hollie Whatley the way Heppner continued page 5 su p p o rts 4
