Page 8 • Special Edition • Morrow County Fair and Rodeo • Heppner Gazette-Times. Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Grand Marshals have long, dedicated and active roots in community
The Currin Family is a
name well know n in the
sport of rodeo. This years
G rand M arsh als for the
Oregon Trail Pro rodeo have
long, dedicated and active
roots in our com m unity.
Both Tom and M arlene
Currin have devoted most of
their lives to Rodeo and our
community. Both Tom and
Marlene lived in Heppner as
children. Tom has lived on
Little Buttercreek his whole
life and graduated from
Heppner High School. He
continued his education at
OT1; majoring in the Field of
a g ric u ltu re : W hen he
re tu rn e d , he took the
partnership in the family’s
cattle ranch.
T om ’s rodeo volunteer
days reach back to the
1960’s when Cornett Green
asked for his help running the
timed event chutes and later,
taking entries and helping to
calc u la te the all around
awards. His skills expanded
to the Vice Chairm an for
three years and Chairing the
rodeo committee for one. In
all, Tom served for nine
years. He rem em bers the
rodeo in the earlier days as
an amateur Rodeo. Later the
rodeo became PRCA in the
early 1970’s and Tom was
able to help m ake it
successful along with other
v o lu n te e rs such as Tad
Miller, Charlie Daly, Jerry
D ougherty, Rod M urray,
O rval M atheny and Ray
French.
About the time Tom was
volunteering Marlene served
as the rodeo princess and
then queen in the 1960’s. In
her youth Marlene enjoyed
barrel racing and then went
Mark Your Calendar!
10th ANNUAL
MICROBREW
BEER & WINE
TASTING!
to school and worked at the
N o rth w est School o f
Business in Portland. She
came back and married Tom
on May 24th,, 1981 and had
two sons, Jefery and Ryan.
She was the Fair Secretary
fo r five y ears and also
volunteered as Chaperone
for the Rodeo court from
1986-1988. Jerry G entry
later recruited Marlene as the
Rodeo Secretary. She served
in this position for thirteen
years. She was a part of the
large transition of the present
day fair and rodeo grounds.
The new facilities took many
ho u rs
of
p lan n in g ,
proposing, budgeting and a
“get it d o n e” attitude to
im prove and update the
grounds. M arlene enjoys
ev ery an g le o f ro d eo
in clu d in g the d e d icated
volunteers who make the
event happen.
Rodeo was not the only
place this couple has left
their mark. Tom was the
treasu rer o f the M orrow
County Livestock Growers
for 31 years and served on
the ASC; Morrow County
Grain Grower and County
Road committees. After 40
years he still keeps score at
the bucking chutes at the
Pendleton Round-Up each
year. M arlen e was the
d ire c to r o f the F am ily
Community Education for all
o f Morrow, U m atilla and
U nion c o u n tie s. She is
presently the President of the
Heppner Book Worms and
her greatest passion today is
quilting with friends and
family. Both love life and
what it has to offer them.
To this day, if asked, both
Tom and Marlene would be
there to assist in any way
they could. Rodeo is in their
roots. T hey support this
popular sport and the town
of Heppner. Their devotion
and commitment has helped
make the fair and Oregon
Trail Pro Rodeo what it is
today.
(•rand Marshals Marlene and Tom Currin
Superintendents will be anxiously
awaiting exhibitors
Once again the Fair Superintendents will be anxiously
awaiting exhibitors on Monday afternoon, Aug. 14, from 1
- 8 p.m. to receive all the entries in the fair. Open Class
fruits, vegetables and flowers will also be accepted on
Tuesday morning from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m.
This year all Open Class exhibits will be released on
Sunday morning from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the same time
4-H exhibits are released. If for some reason you can’t make
it on Sunday morning, the Fair Office will be open Monday
thru Friday the week following fair from 8-12 and 1-5 for
pick-up of items. After 30 days those exhibits that are left
will become the property of the Morrow County Fair and
may be discarded.
THURSDAY, AUG. 17th
6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
MORROW COUNTY
FAIRGROUNDS
Dinner presented by Bucknum't Catering.
Featuring Krazy Kabobf & Oysters Galore!
^
Miw/uuj'J D aluj
HEM
P O R T OF MORROW
P.O. Box 200, Boardman, OR 97818
Phone:(541)481-7678 • Fax (541) 481-2679
We are proud to support the Morroiu County fair,
the Oregon TraiC Pro %pdeo,
and Morrow County Jackpot H(pdeo!
217 North Main • Heppner • 676-9158
Serving the Willow Creek Valley
Port of Morrow Commissioner»:
Marv Padbcrg. President • Don Russell, Vice-President / Treasurer
Larry Lindsay, Secretary • Jerry Healy, Commissioner • Joe Taylor, Commissioner