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Georgia
Local soldier becomes pen pal with students from
W hat is the b i g g e s !
Editor's Note: The
following article appeared
in The Summerville News on
December 26, 2006.
Summerville Middle
S chool te a c h e r D onna
Fletcher wanted to get the
students in her language arts
class excited about writing
letters.
“ W hich is hard,
because [this is the age] of
em ails and all th a t,” she
smiled, “but then I came up
with the idea of having them
hlMllillllllllllillllllllllI
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNER
ètte
imes
VOL. 126
NO. 6
10 Pages
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner hospital may be able to
accommodate long-term care program
Pioneer M em orial
Hospital in Heppner may be
one of two hospitals in the
state allowed to designate a
number of its beds for long
term care p u rp o ses if a
pro p o sed
O regon
Administrative Rule change
is
g ra fte d . ...hospital
Administrator Victor Vander
D oes e x p lain ed . The
amendment is an effort to
increase access to long-term
care services in rural areas of
the state that don't have a
licensed nursing care facility
within a 30-mile radius of
their area's Critical Access
Hospital.
A ccording to a
D epartm ent o f Hum an
Services. Seniors and People
with Disabilities Statement
of Need and Fiscal Impact.
Morrow and Harney County
hospitals currently meet the
criteria. Pioneer Memorial
had operated a nursing home
for many years until heavy
losses forced its closure in
November 2003.
The proposal would
amend the Medicaid Nursing
Facilities Rule regarding
M edicaid pay m en ts to
qualified hospitals. “When
we had the nursing home, the
M edicaid reim bursem ent
rates were so much lower
than our operating costs that
it created a deficit that was
impossible to overcom e."
V ander Does ex p lain ed .
“This change would be a
win-win situation. It would
allow us to fill a large need
for residents in the local area
w hile
re c eiv in g
a
reimbursement rate that's in
line with our costs,” Vander
D oes said. The ch an g e
would have no fiscal impact
on the state, as, “the effect
of the rule is simply to allow
M edicaid nursing facility
paym ents to be m ade to
c ertain C ritic a l A ccess
H ospjtals ra th e r than to
nu rsin g fa c ilitie s ,” the
S tatem en t o f N eed and
Fiscal Impact says. If the
change is granted. Pioneer
M em orial w ill begin
renovations to add up to 10
beds on the hospital's main
Boor to accommodate the
long-term program.
V ander Does was
part of a group who began
seeking a resolution to rural
O regon 's long-term care
needs two years ago. Last
year Vander Does and other
m em bers o f the group
testified before a House
subcommittee regarding the
issu e. A p u b lic h earing
regarding the proposal will
be held in Salem on February
22. Written comments can be
su b m itte d until Friday,
February 23,2007. by e-mail
t
o
Christina. Hartniiin@state.or.as,
faxed to (503) 947-4245, or
mailed to Rule Coordinator,
DHS. Seniors and People
with Disabilities Division,
500 Summer Street NE, E-
10, Salem. OR 97301-1074.
Vander Does said he
expects to know whether the
proposal has been granted by
the end of March or first part
of April.
Local teacher asked to teach class at
O regon W riting Festival
On Saturday, April
21, Janie Allen, a teacher at
Heppner Elementary School,
has been asked to teach a
writing lesson at the Oregon
Writing Festival at Portland
State University. She will be
teaching the class entitled
“Follow the Path” to fourth
and fifth graders.
Allen plans to tell
about H eppner being
Oregon's Irish Capital and
will give each student a map
of Ireland, a rock with a
sham rock on it, and the
words “follow the path.” The
students will then write an
adventure story about a trip
to Ireland, finding the rock,
and what the "path” offers.
A bout
60 0 -7 0 0
young writers from Oregon
and Southwest Washington
will be there for classes, and
to share their writings. Well-
known authors of children's
literature will be serving as
keynote speakers.
Allen has served as
a chaperone for several years
w ith M orrow C ounty
students and is very excited
about the opportunity to
teach a class this year.
W restling com es to H eppner H igh
Janie Allen
write to a soldier, and they
loved that.”
M ore than six ty
students wrote to the brother
o f a friend of F letch er’s,
c u rre n tly
serv in g
in
A fghanistan, SFC David
McCurry.
Months passed and
Fletcher assumed that the
soldier received the letters;
however, without hearing
from him she had no real way
of knowing.
And then, one day
sev eral m onths later,
Fletcher received a package
from Afghanistan.
"It was the letters we
w rote, plus responses to
each student, plus a DVD
and flag that had flown in
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
helicopter you have ever
worked on? Do you have to
carry a w eapon on you?
Have you ever fought in the
war? Thank you and all the
other soldiers over there.
Remember you will always
be appreciated.
Your friend,
Brannon Martin
Dear Brannon.
It is hot over here
already. Winter lasted about
a month or two and then it
started to get really hot
again. The biggest helicopter
1 have worked on is a CH-
47D C hinook Helicopter.
This helicopter is 18 Vi feet
tall, 51 feet long, with a 21
foot w heel base and the
blades from front to rear
SFC David McCurry"s helicopter
Afghanistan,” she said. “ I
was so excited.”
F letch er said that
each student had asked SFC
McCurry several questions
in their letters and that he had
taken the time to answer
each student personally.
“I was amazed he did
that,” she smiled. "It was
wonderful. He was a real
hero to these kids, in more
ways than one.”
Some of the letters
SMS students sent abroad
are included below, along
w ith SFC M c C u rry ’s
responses.
Letters
Dear Ms. Fletcher.
I appreciated all the
cards and letters from your
class. I have enjoyed reading
them all. It is always nice to
hear from the home front. I
appreciate your prayers and
concerns. By the time you
get these back I should be on
my way home or close to
leaving Afghanistan.
I am a read in ess
NCO on the Active Duty
side, which means I plan and
train units to succeed in war.
I plan supplies, equipment,
so ld ie rs and tra in in g
necessary to meet wartime
goals. I am also a Platoon
Sergeant who is directly in
charge of 43 soldiers and
their areas of responsibilities.
I stay very busy to say the
least.
I have my daughter
Tresslyn who is three and my
son Gibson who is five. My
wife. Tiffany and I have been
married for nine years going
on ten here in a couple of
months. I have been in the
Army for fourteen years
now.
If you have a desire
to play with multimillion-
d o lla r eq u ip m en t and
support your country it is a
great career.
I have enclosed a
DVD of some clips you can
show if you would like. I
have not seen them all yet so
you may want to preview
them first. I have also
A t tine M C G G G R E E N
See page 10 for more photos
enclosed some photos on
DVD for the class. There are
also some stickers for the
class. I appreciate everyone
sending me letters they are a
pleasant rem inder o f the
home front. We have seen
the m ost com bat as an
aviation rotation with our
Task Force Storm. Delta
Com pany 113,h A viation,
which is our unit, has had
every aircraft take fire, two
helicopters destroyed, five
lives lost and about a dozen
injured. It has been a long
year but the Taliban and
Alquida presence has been
dramatically reduced since
our units have smoked them
out of hiding. Now we can
see kids the same age as the
kids in your class play and
smile because they are not
worried about being hurt. It
is nice to know what we have
accomplished is appreciated.
Thanks again to you and all
your students who took the
time to send letters.
SFC David McCurry
Dear Mr. McCurry,
My name is Jarius
Trae Hines and 1 am 11 years
old. and a very good sports
player. 1 am in the sixth grade
and I am 4ft. 6.
When I get older I
am going to be a Marine or
in the Air Force. If you know
Lamar Howard he is a police
at the Tennessee base, and he
is my uncle. What kind of
gun do you use to shoot
with? Have you ever gotten
injured? Have you ever been
captured?
Sincerely.
Trae Hines
Dear Mr. Hines,
Just to let you know
I carry a pistol in my leg
h o lste r
every
day,
everywhere I go. Sometimes
I carry a M4 or M 16 machine
gun w hen I need m ore
protection. I shoot best with
my pistol though. You said
you were going to go into
the Marines or the Air Force.
I would go into the Air Force
since they fly everyw here so
you do not have to walk as
much. Plus, they always have
a nice place to eat and sleep.
The M arines are way
tougher though. I have never
been captured in my career.
I have alm ost been shot
tw ice in my c aree r in
training. I have been shot at
when I was in Bosnia, but
they never hit me. I have
stepped on two land mines
in my career and lucky for
me they did not go off.
Thank you for sending me a
letter.
SFC David McCurry
Dear Mr. McCurry.
Hi, my nam e is
Brannon Martin. I'm in 6lh
grade at Summerville Middle
School (SMS). I am 11 years
old. How is it over there?
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overlap spanning 99 feet
long. I have worked on every
type of helicopter that the
Army has and the CH-47D
is the biggest. It also is the
fastest helicopter the Army
has. It is even faster than the
Apache Gunship. If you have
a pickup trick it has around
300 horsepower where as
our helicopters have 10.000
horsepower and can lift a
combined weight of 50.000
pounds. That is a lot of
weight. I carry a pistol with
me at all times, but 1 have
not had to shoot any bad
guys. T hank you for
remembering me and all my
soldiers.
SFC David McCurry
Dear Mr. McCurry.
Hi, my nam e is
Amanda (as you can tell) and
la m 12 years old. I am in
the 6 lh grade and in the
Summerville Middle School.
I think having war is wrong
but it's a fight for our
country to make peace with
others. Now I have only a
few questions for you!
Is it hard being in the
Army?
Do you have to carry
a weapon with you all the
time?
Are you ev er a
lookout at night?
Why did you go to
fight for the w ar? W ho
inspired you?
Yours truly,
Amanda Gonzalez
P.S. When I SI) the
Pledge. I think of all them
men and women sacrificing
their lives for us and I am so
glad to live in a country
w here
peace
m eans
everything.
Dear Amanda.
Sometimes it is hard
to be in the Army. It can be
hard to be in any job when
things are going bad. but I
love what I do. We save lives
everyday and we capture the
bad g u y s. I do carry a
weapon with me at all times.
I carry a pistol with me and
sometimes I carry a machine
continued page 2
N e w I te m s !
G e o r g ia
V ' B o o t s ...
C h e c k I t O u t!
Morrow County
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)