Volunteers produce new’ Christmas
decorations
lllllllllllllllllllIHllllllllll
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran
Uni /. s.uy o f Oregon
Eugene ÓR 97403
T he efforts o f a
Lexington man have turned
into some new Christmas
decorations for the city of
Heppner.
Jerry
Baker
v o lu n te e red to make
Christm as decorations if
supplied the materials. The
H ep p n er C h am b er of
Commerce came up with the
wood, paint and lights and
B aker
cut
out
the
decorations. Others who
helped with a the project
include the Heppner High
School shop class which
drilled holes for lights, Del
and P h y llis Piper and
C ham ber M anager Terry
Baker who did the painting.
T h ere are eight
candy canes and eight
Christmas trees that will be
put up next y ear for
Heppner Chamber of Commerce Manager Tern Baker and
Christmas. The decorations
Heppner City Manager David DeMayo show new Christmas
were given to the city by the decorations.
Chamber.
Farm program funding benefits county
VOL. 126
NO. 1
10 Pages
Wednesday, January 3,2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
D og bite saves m an from fire
A dog's bark and bite
may have saved a Blake's
Ranch man from a fire early
New Year's Day.
Robert McEwen, a
paraplegic, who lives in a
cabin at Blake's Ranch, said
that he was woken around 3
a.m. on New Year's Day by
his dog's barking. He said he
told the dog. a four-year old
Chesapeake Bay retriever
named Callie, to be quiet, but
the dog persisted, eventually
biting him on the back.
McEwen then woke enough
to discover that his house
was on fire. The fire, which
had started in the fireplace,
had burned through the wall.
McEwen said that at that
point there was no smoke in
the house, so the smoke
alarm had not gone off.
After he realized that
the house was on fire, he
called the Morrow County
Sheriff's Office dispatch,
whom, he said, calmed him
down and told him exactly
what to do.
M c E w e n ’ s
neighbors responded, got
him into his wheelchair and
got him outside the cabin.
Volunteers then responded
to put the fire out with fire
extinguishers that McEwen
had
at
his
house.
Extinguishing the fire was
made more difficult because
McEwen says Blake's Ranch
does not have w ater
available for fire suppression
during the winter.
McEwen said that he
had earlier adopted Callie.
saving Callie from being put
down.
Potato & chili feed to be held
H eppner
High
School Class of 2009 is
sponsoring a potato and chili
feed on Tuesday, Jan. 9,
during the hom e game
against Mac High. The meal
includes a potato, chili,
cheese, sour cream and the
works, plus a dessert and
drink for $5.
The
sophom ore
class is raising money for a
w estern -th em e
Sadie
Hawkins dance in February.
BMCC winter term classes offered
Winter term classes
for
Blue
M ountain
Community College will
begin Monday. January 8, at
all locations. There is still
time to register for classes if
space is available. Interested
stu d en ts may do so by
logging
on
to
w w w .b lu ecc.ed u
and
checking the interactive
online schedule. Several
classes are offered in the
local area. Students are
urged to pre-register several
days prior to the class as
minimum enrollments must
be met to hold the sessions.
Call Anne Morter. BMCC
Coordinator, at 422-7040
for further information.
Beginning Spanish
for A dults will be held
Thursday evenings from 6-
7:30 p.m. at Heppner High
School beginning Thursday,
January 11. The class will
run for eight weeks.
Students will learn some
basic Spanish vocabulary
and become familiar w ith the
sounds and pronunciations
of the Spanish language.
The focus will be slightly
different from the class
offered last summer in that
it
will
focus
on
c o n v ersa tio n a l
and
situational basic phrases in
Spanish. Cost of the class is
$40. Petra Payne is the
instructor.
Calligraphy is a fun,
four-week class, scheduled
to begin Monday. January
22. Class time is 6-7:30 p.m.
at Heppner High School.
Rosemary Southworth will
instruct students on the
basics o f italic lettering
which is great for many
artistic endeavors. Cost of
the class is $30.
Several com puter
classes have also been slated.
Computer Basics is a four
week class on M onday
evenings beginning January
22 at lone High School. This
is a good option for
beginning users and senior
citizens. Powerpoint and
Working with Digital Photos
are on the agenda, also at
lone High School on
Thursday afternoons from 4-
6 p.m. The
D igital
Photo class is set to begin
January 11 and Powerpoint
is scheduled to start
February 8.
lone Church to host special service
lone C o m m u n ity
Church will host a special
service on January 7. the first
Sunday of 2007. in which the
seven seasons of the church
year will be experienced in
one hour.
Using clergy stoles
as visual aids, along with
their colors and symbols,
interim
p asto r
Dan
Armstrong will take people
through each of the seasons
(such as A dvent. Lent,
Pentecost and Easter) giving
a brief explanation of each.
Hymns and scriptures that fit
the season will be used.
"This is a great service for
families with children.. .and
any who have wondered
what these w ords and
seasons mean," said Pastor
Armstrong.
Guests are welcome
to attend. People will be
gathering for songs at 10:45
a.m.. with worship at 11 a.m.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
M O N D A Y S AT 5:00 P.M .
"The 2(X)2 Farm Bill
represents the single most
significant commitment to
reso u rces
tow ard
c o n se rv a tio n on private
lands in the N a tio n ’s
history," according to a
M orrow Soil and Water
C o n serv atio n
D istrict
newsletter. The legislation,
expiring in 2(X)7, responds to
a broad range of emerging
natural resource challenges
faced by farm ers and
ran ch ers, including soil
erosion, wetlands, wildlife
hab itat, and farm land
p ro tectio n .
Private
landowners benefit from the
v o luntary p rogram s in
technical assistance, cost-
share, land rental, and
incentive payments.
A ccording to the
newsletter, the following
program descriptions show
the b en efits to Morrow
County over the last year.
Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP).
CRP reduces soil erosion,
reduces sedimentation in
streams and lakes, improves
water quality, establishes
w ildlife
h abitat, and
enhances forest and wetland
resources. Highly erodible
c ro p lan d
or
other
environmentally sensitive
acreage is c o n v erted to
vegetative cover. Contracts
are m u lti-y e a r and cost
sharing is provided for
establishment. Benefit to
Morrow County: 118,000
acres; $5.3 million annual
payments.
Conservation
R eserve
E nhancem ent
Program (CREP); a subset
of CRP. uses state, federal,
and private partnerships that
provide incentive payments
for enrolling riparian acres
and installation of approved
p ractices.
B enefit to
M orrow C ounty: 1,500
acres; $ 1 6 0 .0 0 0 annual
payments. Bonus, incentives
and cost share $231.564.
CREP agreem en t wi t h
OWEB $187.569.
Envi ronment al
Quality Incentives Program
(EQ IP). A voluntary,
competitive, conservation
program , that provides
financial and technical
assistan ce for elig ib le
farmers and ranchers to
install
or im plem ent
structural and management
practices on ag. land. Benefit
to Morrow C ounty: 16
contracts on 14.728 acres,
obligating $468.631.
Grasslands Reserve
Program (GRP). A voluntary
program to protect grazing
lands from development and
provide biodiversity of plant
and animal populations and
environmental benefits for
varied contract periods.
Benefit to Morrow County:
eight contracts; $34.965.
Conservation
Security Program (CSP).
Rewards stewardship and
provides incentives for
addressing
additional
resource co n cern s on
working ag lands. Land
located in the Willow Creek
or U m atilla Basin were
eligible to participate. No
new contracts are being
accepted. Benefit to Morrow
County: $5 million.
W ildlife Habitat
Incentives
Program
(WHIP): Provides for up to
15 year agreements and cost
share payments to producers
to protect and restore
essential plant and animal
habitat. Benefit to Morrow
County: four agreements for
23.2 ’ acres;
$17.594
obligated.
Conservation district to
hold meeting and program
The Morrow County
Soil and Water Conservation
D istrict will hold their
regular board meeting on
Thursday, Jan. 11. at the
Heppner Elks Lodge starting
at 10 a.m. Agenda items
include approval o f the
D ecem ber m inutes and
financial statement, oath of
office for new ly-elected
director, Jim Doherty, and
re-elected directors, Judy
Barber and Brian Doherty,
election of officers for 2(X)7.
appointm ent
of
new
associate directors and other
business that may come
before the board.
An inform ational
program will begin at 1:30
p.m. in cooperation w ith the
Morrow County Livestock
Growers. The program will
include inform ation on
eth an o l production and
biofuels in the area: the
Heppner High School Vo-
Ag class will report on past
and planned activities for the
new class; representatives
from the Oregon Rangeland
Trust and Columbia Plateau
Pheasants F orever will
inform attendees on recent
activities; and Jordan Male)
will report on the Gilliam
County Specialty Wheat
project and infrared protein
sensing technology.
A fter
a
break
sponsored by Anapro, the
M orrow
SW CD
and
Livestock Growers w ill hold
their individual annual
meetings. Jeanne Daley will
report on the Mid Columbia
Bull Breeders Association.
The meetings are
open to the public and
everyone is invited to attend
In the Service
Army National Guard Pvt. Dan M. Long has
graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Knox, Ky.
During the nine-week training period, the trainee
received instruction in drill and ceremony, weapons, rifle
marksmanship and bayonet training, chemical warfare, field
training and tactical exercises, armed and unarmed combat,
military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid.
and Army history, traditions and core values.
He is the grandson of Fred Sherman and Mary
Marcos of lone. Ore.
Long is a 2(X)6 graduate of lone High School.
Booster Club plans meeting
The Heppner Booster Club w ill meet Wednesday,
January 10, at 7p.m. in the home economics room at the
high school.
lone Booster Club to meet
The lone Booster Club w ill meet on Monday. Jan.
8. at 7 p.m. in the lone Library.
A t the MCGC GREEN FEED STORE in H eppner
»
ji
P u rin a W ild B ird Food 10% O F F
A B ird Lovers Blend • B lack Oil Sunflow er Seed
^
Finches Fea st • H ealthy H e a rts
Prem ium P icn ic • Regional Recipe
M o rro w C o u n ty (¿rain (» ro w ers C roon Food & Sood
2 4 2 W . L in d e n W a y . H e p p n e r • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (M C G G mam office)