Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2005)
11 1 1 1 1 111 ■ 11 111 1 11 11111 Community members honored at Town and Country 11 1 11 1 111 Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 07403 VOL. 124 NO. 3 10 Pages Wednesday, January 19, 2005 M orrow C ounty held its annual Town and C o u n try banquet on T hursday, Jan 13, in Heppner at the Elks Lodge D uring the banquet, the Heppner Chamber honored six citizens and one business. The Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro R odeo Q ueen Jessica W ainwright and Princess Heather Yocom were also recognized at the banquet The citizens honored were: Jim Swanson-Man of the Year; Judie Laughlin- Woman o f the Year; Karen S m ith -G riffith -C itiz e n - Educator of the Year; Kyle H u d d lesto n and Shanna Rietmann-Youth of the Year; and Ed B aker-L ifetim e Achievement award Pioneer Memorial Hospital/Morrow County Health District was honored as Business of the Year. This year’s Man of Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon the Year award went to Jim Swanson o f lone and was presented by Jannie Allen Allen said that Swanson is well respected by people of all ages, but especially by the toddlers and pre-schoolers in lone who know him as the “nice cereal man.” A trip to dow ntow n lo n e isn ’t complete without a stop at Wheatland Insurance for a handful o f cereal, she said From St. W illiam’s Catholic Church to the lone School F oundation and Booster Club, Swanson is involved in every committee, activity and event that takes place in lone, said Allen. “If help is needed he’s there,” she said His giving doesn’t Wayne Hams sworn in to lone stop at the city limits as Swanson has been involved City Council position #2. with the M orrow County Fair Board, Soil and Water C o n serv atio n D istrict, Recreation District, MCGG B oard o f D irecto rs and scholarship com m ittees Again, the boundaries do not stop at the county line, he also works on the state and national level for the Wheat League Currently, Swanson coaches junior high and JV boys' basketball in lone He has also coached L ittle League in the past He is knowledgeable about sports, but some of his best lessons are ones of sportsmanship and teamwork, said Allen In Swanson’s office David Heagy sworn in to lone at W heatland Insurance City Council position #1. hangs a plaque that Allen thought best summarized his commitment to lone and M orrow County, quoted from Abraham Lincoln, “I like a man that is proud of the place where he lives I like a man that lives so that his place is proud of him ” This year’s Woman o f the Year award went to Judie Laughlin o f Heppner and was presented by Cyde Estes Laughlin moved to lone swears in new mayor and councilmen Mark Bruno (left) sworn in as new lone City mayor by city recorder Melissa Ross. On Monday night, Jan 17, the City o f lone swore in its new mayor and four councilm en, with M elissa R oss doing the honors Mark Bruno was elepted as mayor and David Heagy, Wayne Hams and Craig Holland were elected as City councilmen The mayoral position holds a tw o -y ear term and the council positions are four- year terms With Bruno taking the office o f mayor, his council position was vacated The new board discussed and nominated outgoing mayor Robert Ball for council position #4 Ball accepted the position and was sworn in later in the meeting. Health Dept, to hold flu shot clinic The Morrow County Health Department will be holding a flu shot clinic on Thursday, Jan 20 at their office located at 120 S Main Street, Heppner The clinic is open from 8 a m to 5 p m All flu v accin atio n restrictions have been lifted Gilliam County Judge Laura Pryor to speak at WCVEDG annual meeting Jan. 27 voice in the state legislature The Willow Creek Valley E conom ic Development G roup will hold its annual m eeting Thursday, Jan 27 at John’s Other Place in Heppner The m eeting will be in conjunction with the weekly H eppner C ham ber o f Commerce meeting and will be a no-host luncheon starting at 11 30 a m Guest speaker for the meeting will be Gilliam County Court Judge Laura Pryor Pryor is the founder and Chairman of the Eastern Oregon Alliance, a coalition to improve Eastern Oregon’s WCVEDG will also elect 2005 officers and p re sen t goals for t h e coming year at the annual m eeting “ T h e public is very much Laura Pryor invited to attend, especially those who are interested in joining or participating in economic development in the Willow Creek Valley,” said president Craig Holland sworn in to lone David Sykes City Council position #3. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Shanna Rietmann Nicole Mahoney and Victor Vander Does accept the business of the year award on behalf of Morrow County Health District and Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Heppner in the eighth grade from C alifo rn ia and graduated from Heppner High School. She has been married for almost 42 years and has three children and three grandchildren Being active in her children’s lives, she was a room mother for many years and she and her husband established and supported a swim team for several years. She also opened their home to two Japanese exchange students. Laughlin has been active as a 4-H leader, 4-H judge and 4-H style show coordinator and as the fair superintendent When she was no longer an active 4-H leader she still provided decorations to the 4-H annex and style show In continuing her effort to give to the community, Laughlin was a longtim e S o ro p tin iist, including serving as p resid en t of the o rg an izatio n W hen the Soroptimists disbanded, she continued her service through W illow Valley Service Club In 2004, she created a quilted wall hanging that was raffled to raise money for the Farm Foundation mural project The raffle brought in $500 for the project. She is also active in her church, St P atrick ’s C atholic, where she has provided the church bulletin for 15 years. She also provides decorations for the church’s annual ham dinner She creates banners for every kind o f activity and supplied the cover for the church's 100lh anniversary celebration For the Chamber, Laughlin has provided the design and the buttons for the annual St P a tric k ’s celebration for 16 years and has served on the committee for 20 years She also shared her office space with the Chamber for many years and has been a “leprechaun” at the festivities She also uses her creative skills to promote and coordinate art programs in the community. She also created the buttons for the “Yes” for the hospital levy this last election year L a u g h lin ’s most recent venture has been to be a devoted volunteer for the Pioneer Memorial Hospice program She provides the callig rap h y for all the Hospice's thank you cards and gives o f herself to those in need Her favorite project today is the A dopt a Grandparent program This year’s Citizen- Educator o f the Year award went to Karen Smith-Griffith and was presented by Dick Allen She grew up in Hood R iver and received her b a c h e lo r’s degree from O regon C ollege of Education and her master’s degree in special education from the U niversity o f Oregon. Smith-Griffith began her teaching career as a classroom teacher in Spray where she met her husband, John Griffith Later, she moved to Heppner with her husband and son, Aaron That same summer a special education job came open to be shared between Heppner High School and lone Schools Having worked continued page six Morrow C ounty Court Queen Jessica Wainwright and Princess Heather Yocom. W E HAVE M CGG n o w c a r r ie s W r a n g le r Wranqler B o y s ’, G ir ls ’, W o m e n ’s, M e n ’s BRAND W e s te r n S h ir t s & J e a n s M o rro w C ounty C ra in G ro w e rs Le x in g to n 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 F»r f irm *q u ip m *n t. yl*it our w»b «It* at w w w .m c Q .M t
