FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 20,2006
4-H members help clean Willow Creek
Local farm organizations receive grant monies
E leven
O regon
projects were among the 194
projects from 40 states and
two territories to receive
$22.6 million in USDA Rural
D ev elo p m en t
grant
assistan c e th ro u g h the
V alue-A dded P ro d u ce r
Grant (VAPG) and Small
M inority Producer Grant
(S M P G ) p ro g ram s. The
projects were announced
Wednesday by Agriculture
Secretary Michael Johanns.
“T hese
g ran ts
support farm families in rural
America by helping them to
market their commodities
and increase their financial
returns,” said Johanns. “I'm
pleased to announce that
some of these funds will
focus on developm ent of
a lte rn a tiv e fu els from
renewable energy sources-
part o f President B u sh ’s
co m p re h en siv e n atio n al
energy policy.”
"The competition for
the grants was fierce, but
Oregon still managed to be
among the top five states in
to tal am ount o f m oney
re c eiv e d
u n d er
this
p ro g ra m ,” said M ark
S im m ons, O regon State
Director for USDA Rural
Development. “I think the
ran k in g o f the O regon
p ro je c ts and our total
application package, says a
lot about the inventiveness of
rural Oregonians and their
(Back L-R): Chelsev Hedman, Colby Hedman, Thomas Holland, Clay Morter, Beth Morter,
Rebecca Jepsen, Kylee Svetich, Stephanie Holland and Eric Jepsen and (Front): Jared
Hedman.
M em bers o f the
North Lex Livestock 4-H
Club and a few parents spent
Sunday afternoon cleaning
W illow C reek through
Heppner of trash, boards,
pipes, a deer carcass, a bus
seat, a m attress and
m iscellan eo u s
o th er
interesting finds that can
become lodged in the creek
and restrict the water flow.
The City of Heppner allowed
the group to deposit the
refuse at the city yard.
The Heppner Water
Control District conducts an
annual clean up of the creek
to remove debris that can
create a flooding hazard. The
C ity o f H eppner also
conducts a spring cleanup
allowing citizens to bring
large items to the city yard.
M orrow C ounty also
accepts large items at the
(L-R): Stephanie Holland, Kylee Svetich, Beth Morter and
Rebecca Jepsen and other members of the North Lex
Livestock 4-H Club removed seven truck loads of debris
from Willow Creek.
tra n sfe r statio n s free o f bank is against Oregon State
Law.
H ep p n er W ater
charge.
C
ontrol
D istrict asks for
C itiz en s
are
your
assistance
to keep the
reminded that dumping or
throwing items in the creek creeks clean for everyone’s
or piling refuse on the stream safety.
ab ility to be forw ard
looking,” Simmons said.
The Oregon projects
that were funded included
five that were focused on
development of alternative
fuels from renewable energy
sources and six designed to
add value to e x istin g
commodities.
L ocal
p ro je c ts
in cluded: R ietm ann &
Rietmann Partnership, lone:
received $24,050 to develop
a feasibility study for the
production of high quality
micro distilled vodka and
vital wheat gluten flour from
soft white wheat.
K&S Madison, Inc.,
Echo: received $63,000 to
p u rch ase
ad d itio n a l
inventory for the Processing
of canola seed into biodiesel.
T his w ill resu lt in the
replacement of diesel fuel
used on farm w ith a
renewable resource-canola
seed.
Since 2001 the Bush
A d m in istra tio n
has
committed more than $136
m illio n to v alu e-ad d ed
agricultural investments.
Value-Added
Producer G rants may be
used for planning activities,
such as feasibility studies or
business plans, or to provide
w orking
cap ital
for
m ark etin g v alu e-ad d ed
agricultural products and for
farm -b ased
ren ew ab le
energy projects. E ligible
a p p lic a n ts
in clu d e
in d ep en d en t p ro d u c e rs,
farm er
and
ran ch er
c o o p e ra tiv e s,
and
a g ric u ltu ra l
p ro d u c e r
gro u p s.
V alue-added
products are created when a
p ro d u c e r
ta k es
an
a g ric u ltu ra l com m odity,
such as milk or vegetables,
and processes or prepares it
in a way that increases its
value to consumers.
U SD A
R ural
Development’s mission is to
deliver programs in a way
that will support increasing
economic opportunity and
improve the quality of life of
rural residents. As a venture
c ap ital
e n tity ,
R ural
Development has invested
over $72 billion since the
b e g in n in g o f the B ush
Administration to provide
e q u ity
and
te c h n ic a l
assistance to finance and
fo ste r
g ro w th
in
hom eow nership, business
developm ent, and critical
community and technology
infrastructure. As a result,
over 1.2 million jobs have
been c re ate d or saved
through these investments.
A complete list of the
g ra n ts
and
fu rth e r
in fo rm atio n ab o u t rural
programs is available at a
local
USD A
R ural
Development office or by
visiting USDA’s web site at
www.rurdev.usda.gov.
Wood shop takes hold at IHS
United Way names new director
The United Way of
U m atilla and M orrow
Counties has hired Kricket
N icholson as its new
executive director.
She begins her
United Way service Oct. 1,
replacing Lauren Dickey
who is emigrating to Brazil
after a thirty year career in
human services.
Nicholson comes to
U nited Way w ith an
extensive background in
n o n -p ro fit serv ice and
management that includes
foster parenting, case work,
youth w ork, n o n -p ro fit
consulting and training and
eight years as executive
d ire c to r for D om estic
V iolence S erv ices in
U m atilla and M orrow
Counties. She has served on
the United Way Board of
Directors on two separate
occasions.
“The Board o f
D irectors is confident in
Kricket’s ability to provide
leadership, raise awareness
of
U nited
W ay’s
com m itm ent to address
community needs in the two-
county area and enhance
opportunities for citizens to
help address those needs,”
stated board president Hal
McCune. "We are underway
with the 2006 United Way
campaign to raise funds for
our 23 partner agencies and
we foresee a seamless hand-
off from Lauren to Kricket.
Kricket will address one of
our m ain ch allen g es: to
provide opportunities at all
area em ployers for their
employees to give to United
Way via payroll deduction-
BURNING
BAN
The Burn Ban for the City of Heppner
will no longer be in effect beginning
Tuesday, September 19, 2006.
A 5-day buring permit is required
for all open (out of container) fires
and may be purchased for S I .00
at Heppner City Hall, 111 N. Main St.
Rusty Estes, Fire C hief
to m ake it sim ple and
convenient for all of the
generous people in our area
to make an impact on their
neighbors' lives and provide
a safety net for those in
need.”
The United Way of
Umat i l l a
a n d
Mo r r o w
C o u n ties
4,
i
is a local
lone High School students, under the instruction of Tom Shear, show the gardener's
n o t-fo r-
storage
shed they will be completing in the next few weeks. The shed will be available for
profit
sale
and
proceeds will allow the shop class to purchase more wood and supplies for
organization
future wood projects.
%
t h a t
identifies
and funds
community
kricket Nicholson
needs
th ro u g h
c itiz en
and
c o rp o ra te 'g iv in g . Its 17
member volunteer board of
directors and approximately
85 em p lo y ee cam p aig n
v o lu n teers
and
fund
distribution volunteers work
closely with the United Way
executive director on behalf
of the community. For more
in fo rm atio n on how to
support your com m unity
through United Way payroll
deductions and pledges, call
(541) 276-2661.
Classes for business and fun offered
locally through BMCC
Fall Term for Blue
M ountain
C om m unity
C o lleg e gets underw ay
Monday, Sept. 25 with some
personal interest classes
offered locally as well as a
range of distance education
classes.
In the local area, a
variety of classes are on the
schedule. Computer Basics
is a four-week class offered
at lone High School starting
Oct. 5. Best for seniors and
beginners, this class covers
St. Patrick’s Senior Center news
Members from Hope and Valby Lutheran will be
serving the Sept. 27 noon meal at St. Patrick's Senior
Center. The menu for the day includes scrambled eggs and
ham. with peppers and cheese, hash browns, orange and
grapefruit slices, biscuits and gravy, assorted fruit Danish
and tomato juice. Everyone is invited to join in the meal.
som e basic c o m p u ter
functions including internet
navigation. Excel for Ag
Producers is a tw o-w eek
course beginning Oct. 17 at
the Morrow County School
District Office in Lexington.
Done on the BMCC laptop
lab, the first class will focus
on working in Excel and the
second class will delve into
m an ip u latin g and using
existing spreadsheets. Great
Customer Service I and II
w ill be o ffered at the
Extension Office on Oct. 24
and Nov. 14. Carol Frink of
the
Sm all
B u sin ess
Development Center is the
presenter of these helpful
and in fo rm atio n packed
sem inars. Frink will also
offer a session of Business
Start Up on Nov. 14. This
workshop is designed to help
prospective business owners
get off on the right foot.
Calligraphy is a fun, four-
week class beginning Oct. 9
at Heppner High School.
G e ttin g a G ran t is an
in fo rm ativ e
d a y -lo n g
w orkshop that w ill help
grant seekers locate possible
grants, successfully apply for
the grant and then do the
necessary follow up. Susan
Plass, the BMCC Director of
Grants will instruct the class
on Oct. 23.
For
m ore
information on any of the
above classes, contact Anne
M orter,
BM CC
Coordinator, at 422-7040 or
amorter@bluecc.edu.
Students wishing to
take one or m ore c red it
classes may register online at
www.bluecc.edu or contact
Anne Morter for an advising
appointment in the Heppner
area.
ANDERSON SEED
Position 5 Umatilla & Morrow Counties
Endorsed by all the Circuit Judges in Umatilla and Morrow Counties
pwo roe er elect C hristopher r brauer circuit court judge committee f
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EXPERIENCED
PROFESSIONAL
TOUCH
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