FOUR • Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 14,2007
Principals honored for school excellence
-continued from page one
teachers and students, but
in clu d ed a th ree-w eek
C h ristm a s holiday from
December 20 to January 14,
students ending June 11 and
teachers ending June 13.
Burrow s said that
w hile O p tion C was
somewhat radical, it would
help the district in two ways.
Students who traditionally
leave for the C h ristm as
holiday in M exico would
have more time to return and
would not miss school and
fall behind. Secondly, the
d istric t w ould not be
penalized financially for
those students who do not
return from the holiday
within the traditional one or
two-week time period.
Burrows added that
a pre-Labor Day start would
not give the district enough
tim e to sch ed u le sta ff
w orkshops and train in g
sessions. He had requested
a post-Labor Day start last
year also, but the board
voted otherwise. "The vast
m ajo rity o f sch o o ls are
starting post-Labor Day,”
said Burrows.
In other business, the
board;
-ad o p ted
policy
affirm ing parental rights,
required by the No Child
Left Behind Act.
-ap p ro v ed
a
cooperative sponsorship for
tennis betw een H eppner
High School and lone High
School.
-heard a report from
Wade Sm ith and Julie
A shbeck,
e x ecu tiv e
secretary and personnel
director, concerning the
onerous number o f forms
(estimated at 70-80) they are
required to submit to qualify
the district for state and
federal funding. Smith said
that
“ a c c o u n ta b ility
increases w hile funding
decreases,” and added that if
the d istric t “d id n 't go
through the h o o p s” it
w o u ld n 't get its federal
funding." The district is
scheduled for an on-site
audit next year.
-a c c e p te d
the
fo llo w in g re s ig n a tio n s/
retirements: Robin Mulder,
Sam Boardman Elementary
School special ed assistant,
lrrig o n
Ju n io r
High
v o lle y b a ll co ach ; Jake
McElligott, IJH head girls’
basketball coach; G erald
S m ith, R iv ersid e H igh
School assistant custodian;
E laine M iller, H eppner
E lem en tary
School
se c re ta ry ; D ean Peck,
Riverside High School social
studies teacher.
- a p p r o v e d
em p lo y m en t for D avid
Chavez, lrrigon High School
a ssistan t
c u sto d ian ,
replacing Norma Smith; Jose
D eL oera, SBE a ssistan t
custodian, replacing Juan
Ayala; Larry Berry, RHS
a ssista n t
c u sto d ia n ,
replacing Gerald Smith.
-ap p ro v ed
the
fo llo w in g
tra n s fe rs/
p ro m o tio n s:
L loyd
Bowman, from Windy River
E lem en tary
a ssistan t
c u sto d ian to IHS head
custodian, replacing Grace
Sandlin; Norma Smith, from
IHS assistant custodian to
WRE assistant custodian,
replacing Lloyd Bowman.
-ap p ro v ed
the
fo llo w in g ex tra duty
contracts: Eric Lougee, IHS
head tennis coach; Abel
Burnett, IHS assistant track
coach; Susan H isler,
Heppner Junior High head
track coach; Larry Palmer,
HJH assistant track coach.
-a p p ro v e d
the
fo llo w in g
2 006-07
probationary teachers (HES
and HHS listed only): HES-
Melissa Coiner, special ed,
th re e -y e a r p ro b a tio n a ry
te a c h e r for 200 7 -0 8 ;
M ichelle
Stone*
kindergarten/first grade, two
year probationary teacher for
2007-08; HHS- Petra Payne,
Spanish, contract teacher for
2007-08; Josh Browning,
language arts, c o n tra c t;
M arianne Sm ith (H E S /
H H S), P E /a ri, c o n tra ct;
A Wee Bit O’History
By Claudia Hughes
Top O ’ the morning will soon be heard as Heppner
turns green for the 25lh time! After so many years of thinking
green, there’s still a checklist going off in my head, but
I’ve been doing a pretty good job of hiding under a
shamrock, and know that all is in very capable hands! New
events and people have been added. The concert, Tarish
has been moved to Friday evening. O ’Farley’s social hour
and the O ’Shanty races are returning with the new O ’Kiddie
tricycle races. W hat’s tradition is here to stay!
Seems like yesterday when Jim Farley organized
that small KUMA Coffee Hour, March 1982, in his Ford
dealership showroom and invited Irish families to share
their stories and songs of the old country. Soon the Sheep
Dog Trials were added, and each year would find Farley
cornering people with a "bit of the bribery” to bring in
sheep, provide this and that, and give donations for
advertising. People remember Charles Hutchinson (Hutch)
of Hutch’s Printing and his wife Linda (the first chairmen
of the event) helping and all businesses pitched in.
What started as the KUMA Hour continued to
grow with a lamb barbeque, lamb cook-off, St. Patrick’s
ham dinner, a parade, and Irish Singers. Fundraisers such
as the auction and casino came and went over the years.
Farley’s party soon became more than a short-term
event. It became evident to David Sykes, who served as
chairman for 4 years after Hutch, that it was pretty difficult
to run a printing business, newspaper, and handle all the
Irish calls coming in. Somehow, shortly after the Hughes
family was honored, David encouraged this leprechaun to
stick her nose into the mix, joining Diana Ball who worked
at the Gazette. Sykes continued to be a valuable asset to
the committee, and for many years chaired the coffee hour.
Eventually, Cara Osmin, then mayor, came on board as co
chair when Sykes talked her into taking over the coffee
hour. Jim Farley continued to keep us lined out and we
checked out any ideas with him to make sure they passed
muster!
Father Condon started writing plays. The Cruz-In,
Motocross, vendor’s square, stew feed, races, and family
flags were added. The celebration became known as A Wee
Bit O ’Ireland in Heppner and grew to four days, most
recently adding Road Bowling on Sunday afternoon.
Leprechauns began to appear and traveled to a Portland
T.V. station and other events to promote Heppner. Heppner
grew the biggest shamrock in the world.
For a while, the St. Pat’s Committee stood on it’s
own with many committee members of Irish heritage
coming from outside the City limits with no specific
location. Then, as Heppner’s celebration grew, it became
evident that more than a committee and treasurer were
needed to manage the event; thus the funds were handled
through the City of Heppner. Being co-chair and then
Chamber manager meant an abundance of St. Pat’s calls
were coming to the office, so the Heppner chamber included
the Irish event in their goals, and, with the City, has taken
on the responsibility of keeping the Wee Bit O 'lreland
celebration ongoing.
The secret is, were it not for the entire community,
your Chamber, your City, and all of you faithful hard
working individuals, committees, and organizations in
Morrow County, Farley's Party would have died out long
ago and gone the way of shriveled up toad stools. You
make the difference, you make it happen! Luck of the Irish
to one and all! There's no better spot for the wearing O '
the green than Heppner, Oregon!
“May the road rise up to meet you, the wind be
to C o llie r ’s M arket for
always at your back, the rain fall gently on your fields, the
processing the cans through printing the program s is sun shine warm upon your face, and until we meet again,
reasonable the club may also may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
their store.
The
fram ed print programs for volleyball
motivational posters the club and football.
The club voted to
purchased have arrived and
gift items. This is a very
provide
$ 100 for the LaRue
will be hung in the high
extensive selection of items
family to help with expenses
school hallway.
M orrow C ounty all done by th ese tw o
lone C om m u n ity for K evin to atten d the Creative Arts and Crafts will creative people.
Agri-Business Organization Geography Bee competition. be at the Les Schw ab
Sandra Haynes will
The next meeting of
is planning their annual fall
have
her
p ain tin g and
showroom on Friday, March
m eeting for W ednesday, the Cardinal Booster Club 16, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. draw ings o f anim als and
M arch 14, at the Legion will be Monday, April 2, at 7 and on Saturday, March 17, western art on display also.
H all. T hey have asked p.m. at the school library.
from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Mary Ella will be taking care
Cardinal Booster Club for a
for the St. Pat’s celebration. o f her display w hile she
report on the past y e a r’s
A m ong
those attends the Russell show in
activities. Ramos agreed to
members putting on the sale Montana.
represent the club at the
New this year is Ed
and show will be Mary Ella
dinner meeting.
Patton
with
his frontier art
Jo h n so n w ith her hand
The club discussed
M orrow C ounty cro ch et co tto n rugs and items of knives and jewelry.
upgrading the quality of the Clerk Bobbi Childers has sister Beverly McCloud with
Roquel Herrera will
b ask etb all
p ro g ram s. released the following report her wool crochet rugs and have aprons and homemade
Browning will contact the of marriage licenses issued: pot h o ld ers. T his is tamales.
ESD about p rin tin g a
-March 6 - Keith E. something we all have heard
Come and see the
colored program cover with Ames, 46, Heppner, and our grandmothers talk about variety of things the local
the su p p o rtin g b u sin ess C ruz M. L opes, 26, or did. What a nice gift or artists make and take home
m em b ers’ nam es on the Heppner.
a special gift or some new
special rug for yourself.
back. The school will print
- F e r n a n d o
Betty Christmas and home decoration.
the lone team information M adrigal, 22, Boardman, Lorene M ontgom ery will
inside the cover and provide and Faviola M acias, 21, have a country collection of Correction
In the Wednesday,
an insert with visiting team lrrigon.
b la n k ets
and
hom e
M
arch
7, ed itio n o f the
information. If the cost of
decorative items and many
Heppner Gazette-Times, in
the
“G ran d
M arshal
announced for St. Patrick’s
Festivities" story, a daughter
Nor youR rypk c\( “kish” mcA(, 6ur ir lv\s 6ccn
Alisa Halvorsen (deceased)
was inadvertently listed as
pRcpARcd 6y mAny An kish hAnd!
Jimmy Farley’s daughter.
She should have been listed
as the daughter of Trisha
Saturday, March 17th • 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Huddleston.
David M elville, math/PE,
second year; Joe Lindsay
(HHS/HES), music, second
year; Beth Dickenson, vo-
ag, seco n d y ear; Troy
M organ, advanced math,
second year; Sam Thurston,
special ed, second year.
-ap p ro v ed
the
fo llo w in g
2006-07
a d m in istra to rs through
2007-2010: John Sebastian,
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School principal, contract;
D irk
D irkson,
RHS
principal, contract; Thad
K illingbeck, Day Stone,
HHS principal, contract.
-ap p ro v ed
the
fo llo w in g
2006-07
a d m in istra to rs through
2007-08: Jack Thompson,
HES principal/counselor,
third year; Phyllis Danielson,
lrrigon Elementary principal/
counselor, third year; Chris
D avis,
IHS assistan t
principal, third year; Mark
Jo n es, RHS a ssistan t
principal, third year; Matt
C om be, a lte rn a tiv e ed
director, third year; Tom
Crane, IHS principal, second
year.
-ap p ro v ed
the
following contract teachers
(HES and HHS listed only):
HES-Jannie Allen, Karen
Clough, Pam Dowdy, Mary
Ann Elguezabal, Sue Gibbs,
Mary Haguewood, Sherry
M atteson, Sharon Morris,
Molly Rill, Karen Smith-
Griffith; HHS-Jean Collins,
Mark Dowdy, John Flaherty,
Dave Fowler, Terri Gentry,
G reg G ran t,
D arlene
M arquardt, Jason Palmer,
Petra Payne, Dieter Waite.
-le a rn e d
from
Burrows that the state on
line testing program “has
c ra sh e d ” b ecau se o f a
breakdown in negotiations
betw een
the
O regon
Department rif Education
and the testing vendor. “This
is really bad new s,” said
Burrows, who added that
students will now have to
take
state
m andated
assessments with paper and
pencils. The board voted to
send a letter of disapproval
to Susan C astillo , state
superintendent o f public
instruction.
-heard concern from
Burrows about the monies
estimated to be earmarked
for state education by the
Oregon legislature. Burrows
said the estimated $6 billion
(sta te w id e )
was
“disheartening”, especially
considering the $360,000
that is expected to be lost by
Morrow County in federal
title program monies. “We’re
just barely breaking even,"
lamented Burrows. "We’re
going the wrong way."
-h eard co n cern s
from board member Ken
Matlack over after-school
use of district buildings. He
said that the district should
e n co u rag e rath er than
d isco u rag e use o f its
buildings to help kids stay
out of trouble through after
school programs and called
for a change in policy, which,
he says, currently requires
school staff on site for these
events and requires purchase
of an insurance policy. Smith
said the policy was written
with loopholes purposely to
allow such use. "We will take
a stab at rewriting policy in
a more flexible way,” added
Burrows.
-approved w riting
letters of congratulations to
n u m ero u s stu d en ts and
team s for academ ic and
athletic successes.
-voted to change the
joint Community Education
C om m ittee m eeting to 6
p.m ., p rio r to the next
regular board meeting on
Monday, April 9, at 7 p.m.
at lrrigon High School.
-heard the following
announcements: deadline to
file for May elections in
March 15; end of the third
nine weeks is M arch 22;
spring break is March 26-30;
the next board meeting will
be held at lrrig o n H igh
School at 7 p.m. on April 9;
O SBA sp rin g reg io n al
m eeting w ill be held at
BMCC at 6 p.m. on April 19.
Cardinal Booster Club meets and discusses weight room project
The
C ard in al
Booster Club met Monday,
M arch 5, at the school
library. 10 members were
present. The club discussed
the weight room project.
The school board has
discussed the plan and asked
for fu rth er in fo rm atio n
before giving their final
ap p ro v al. K eith M orter
ex p re ssed co n cern the
bleachers would be in the
way of getting equipment to
the site to dot the work.
Superintendent Browning
w ill check to see if the
bleachers can be moved for
construction if needed and
then put back in place. Lynn
Dee
R am os,
pro ject
coordinator, will contact a
professional to draw up the
plan the club has approved.
Once the drawing has been
completed, Ramos will set
up a m eeting to estim ate
p ro je c ted co sts. T hat
committee will consist of
R am os, V ince A llem an,
Loyal Bums, Joe Vandever,
K eith
M orter,
L isa
Rietmann. A rlynda Gates
and Joe McElligott.
Betty Gray reported
that from February of 2005
through February of 2007
the group recycling cans has
g en erated $ 3 ,7 5 3 .6 0 in
income for the booster club.
C ans are d o n ated from
community members and
sorted by G ray, L aurel
Cannon and Wayne Hams.
Gray expressed appreciation
Arts and crafts to be seen at
Les Schwab
Marriage
Licenses
- TIT H A M DIMMER ~
St. Patrick’s Church Parish Hall • 525 Gale Street
Cost: Adults $7 / 12 & Under $4
Menu: H avm . Irish PotAto CASScrolc, Irish F U 5 S a I a J*.
Corn, HowcwAhc Rolls. H ovmcvma O c Pic. Coffee or Juice
A n d enjoy (hr musicA( enccRCAinmenr 6y rh e Lindsoy PxmKy!
v
t
CU STO M
BANNERS
Heppner
Gazette-Times
676-9228
t