St. Patrick’s Senior Center receives $861,000 in grants
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Bessie Wetzel 1 New spaper Library
Univ ersity o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
The St. P a trick ’s
Senior Center in Heppner
was awarded $861,509 in
grants and $290,000 in low
interest refinancing, it was
announced this week.
The announcement
was good news for the cen
ter, which has 19 senior
citizens apartm ents and a
dining and meeting area on
the ground floor. In the past
the center has wrestled with
increased expenses and not
wanting to raise rents too
high.
“ I ’m t hr i l l e d , ”
Sr. C enter d irecto r Judy
B u sch k e said T u esd ay .
“ We’ve been holding our
breath and now we are anx
ious to get started.”
The funding w ill al
low the center to upgrade the
living quarters with weath-
eriz atio n , new c ab in e ts,
appliances, w indow s and
other im provem ents. The
refinancing will reduce the
city's debt interest on loans
on the St. Center to about
2 percent for 20 years, said
Darlee Rex of Rex Develop
ment of Pendleton. Rex was
the consultant hired by the
city to apply for the grants
and financing.
“I'm really excited,”
she told the G azette on
Tuesday. Rex said the city
competed against 29 other
applications for funds and
St. Patrick’s Senior Center
that Heppner was one o f 15
that was funded. Rex said
the city's application was
380 pages.
Heppner mayor Les
Paustian said he was hap
py that the funding came
through, but the city has a
lot more work to do. “ We
have a lot o f leg work," he
said, adding that city man
ager Dave DeMayo would
be meeting with the grant
institutions next week to
work out final details.
Heppner resident awarded for mental health work
VOL. 126
NO. 43
8 Pages
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
lone School District earns ‘exceptional’ rating
The lone Com m u
nity School received an
“exceptional" rating from
the sta te o f O regon on
the annual school report
card. Superintendent Bryn
Browning told the school
board at their regular meet
ing October 15.
Browning presented
board members t-shirts with
“Exceptional” on the front.
The board planned
a goal-setting session on
October 19 to look at the
data from the 2006-07 as
sessments.
Also at the meeting
the board heard a presenta
tion concerning a memorial
garden the senior class is
creating behind the high
school. The board heard the
criteria for selection of the
first five people to be hon
ored. The seniors asked the
board for input regarding fu
ture criteria. Board member
Joe MeElligott voiced his
concerns with the upkeep of
the garden after this senior
class has graduated. Senior
class advisor Ryan Rudolf
told the board that upkeep
of the garden will become
the responsibility o f each
senior class.
T h e b o a rd a ls o
learned o f several grants
awarded to the school from
the lone Education Founda
tion:
-a $1,320 grant to
purchase a technology lit
eracy program entitled “K
to the 8,h Power,” a system
that provides lessons, lesson
plans, extension activities
and sim u latio n s for any
student registered in the
system. It also provides a
grade book, a student prog
ress monitoring system, as
sessments and tech support
for the administration and
teachers.
-a $1,575 grant to
pay for the SMART pro
gram, a reading program, for
the 2007-08 school year.
-a $622 grant for a
crop science field trip, deal
ing with hop and hazelnut
production, to Gresham that
occurred October 7-8.
-$700 tow ards the
cost o f the memorial gar
den. The project will give
the students a hands-on ex
perience with site prepara
tion, planting trees and rose
bushes, laying drip line, red
rock, edging and installing
plaques, stepping stones and
benches.
In other business,
the board:
-heard information
from the building commit
tee concerning the potential
facility im provem ent list
and bond action from the
work session. Discussion at
the work session included
the addition of a classroom
or multi-purpose room, new
Boors and ceiling in the
high school and mats under
the playground equipment.
Board member Anne Morter
stre sse d the im p o rtan ce
o f the district writing the
grant^ for the football field
bleachers and discussed pos
sible grants. The next steps
include m eeting with the
public for input, selecting an
architect or project manager,
research and creating a plan
o f action to place the bond
on the May ballot.
-heard the follow
ing enrollment report as of
O ctober 8- 156 students;
kindergarten through grade
five, 64 students; grades
six through eight, 40; and
grades nine-12, 52.
- le a r n e d fro m
Browning that she submit
ted the d istrict’s applica
tion for $49,843 in School
Improvement Funds from
the Oregon Department of
Education. The funds w ill be
used to pay for an elemen
tary teacher for kindergar
ten through third grade to
reduce class size.
Shannon B oor o f
Heppner was recently hon
ored, along with 17 other
Oregonians, for her work
with mental health. Boor
has worked for eight years
with Morrow Wheeler Be
havioral Health.
DHS: A d d ic tio n s
and Mental Health Div ision
put on the Mental Health
Awards for Excellence on
Friday, October 19, in Sa
lem. This year’s theme was
Building Community: Tak
ing Action.
B oor is an o ffice
manager at Morrow Wheeler
Behav ioral Health and was
nom inated for the aw ard
by Kimberly Lindsay, Ex
ecutive D irector o f M or
row W heeler B ehavioral
Helath.
Boor found out dur
ing the first week of October
that she would be receiv ing
the award. “ I am excited
about the award,” said Boor.
“ But I am more excited that
people I respect thought to
nominate me.”
“ Shannon's enthu
siasm, knowledge, under
standing, compassion, advo
cacy and energetic personal
ity have had a tremendous
im pact upon our clients,
staff and community part
ners. Shannon believes in
the ability o f all individuals
to be all that they can, and
in this manner is a strong
supporter o f the recovery
movement,” said Lindsay.
“Shannon is an inspiration to
many and I feel truly blessed
to have her be a member of
our staff at M WBH, a mem
ber o f our community, and
a member who takes action
daily.”
M orrow W h eeler
Behav ioral Health prov ides
outpatient care with a pri
mary focus on mental health
and substance abuse ser
vices.
Valby Lutheran welcomes new pastor
V a lb y L u th e r a n
Church recently welcomed
Katy Anderson as their anew
intern pastor. Anderson be
gan on Sunday, October 7.
Anderson is a stu
dent at Pacific Lutheran
Theological Sem inary in
Berkeley. She is enrolled in
a special program for people
wanting to be a pastor as a
second career. The program
helps train students for w ork
in rural areas. Anderson w ill
be at Valby until she finishes
the program next summer.
She will then be eligible to
be called as a pastor. She has
been in seminary for the past
-Continued on page two two years.
Anderson has lived
in LaG rande since 1986
Heppner Head Start takes field trip
Shannon Boor was recently awarded for her work with mental
health.
and w o rk s as
Valby Lu
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a custody and
theran Church is a
parenting time
congregation that
mediator for the
w as fo u n d ed in
c o u rt sy ste m .
1886 and serves
H er h u sb a n d ,
the area between
Bruce works as
lone, Condon and
a la w y e r and
H eppner. Valby
they have three
is a w hite frame
children. Their
church w ith red
o ld e st, A dam ,
roof that stands by
katy
Anderson
an d h is w i f e
itself in the middle
Connie jus’t gave
o f a wheat field.
the A ndersons their first Approximately 25-30 wor
grandchild. Malia is a physi shipers gather on Sundays
cal therapy grad student in for their 9 a.m. serv ice. The
Boston and Micah is a fresh church recently started a
man at Linfield College in Bible study on Friday morn
McMinnville.
ings at 7 a.m. at C ollier's
Anderson is avail Market in lone. Everyone
able in the area Saturday is welcome.
through Monday.
Don’t forget to turn in your ballots
The deadline to have ballots returned to the County Clerk’s Office is
Tuesday, November 6, at 8 p.m. Postmarks w ill not be accepted.
Heppner Head Start took a Held trip to the .Morrow County Agriculture Museum on Wednesday,
October 17. ClifT Creen gave the preschool class a tour of the farming equipment.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
1 0°/o O FF P A R T S A M D LA B O R
through February, 2008
We also have special financing:
six months no interest, no payments on $1,500 or more of
Case IH parts and service from Sept. 1, 2007 through Dec. 31, 2007
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 7 3 9 6
For farm equipment, ilslt our w*b site at
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