Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2007)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - THREE Umatilla National Forest holds Fire and Fuels Career Camp -Continued from page one Service. Wednesday night brought a campfire discus sion with representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wild life Service, Central Oregon Fire Management Serv ices, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Oregon Department o f F orestry, and form er U m atilla National Forest Supervisor Jeff Blackwood talking about their careers and career options with fed eral and state agencies. On Thursday, camp involved learning about fire suppression techniques such as the use o f pumps, water, and engines. Students filled out an ev aluation every day so that adjustments can be made for next year’s camp. The U m atilla N a tional Forest, w orking in partnership with the Mor row County School District, sent representatives to talk to students that would be high school seniors during the time of the camp about the aspects that would be in volved. Interested students were required to fill out an application and applicants were later interviewed be fore the students were se lected. The Forest Service chose seniors for this camp because a person must be 18 years of age to work with the Forest Service. The students each had different reasons for wanting to be involved with the camp. “ My uncle and aunt work for the Forest Ser vice and 1 heard this would be a good place to start. It’s fun and efficient,” said Kurt Hill o f Irrigon High School. Hill said he had four years o f experience with a pro pane torch but had never worked w ith a drip torch. “1 had some experience (with fire) and this was a great opportunity,” said Joe Rupe of Riverside High School. “1 have worked for four years w ith Boardman Fire Depart ment but this is my first time working with a drip torch. It was a fun experience.” Some students were not sure what the experi ence w ould be like, but were pleasantly surprised. “This is a really fun experi ence. 1 thought it would be a lot o f talking and walking but it turned out to be a lot more. 1 learned there were more jobs in the industry than 1 thought,” said Kylie Doherty o f Heppner High School. “Different people came to my school to talk about different jobs. This was the job description 1 liked the most,” said Rene Montes of Riverside High School. “ I will definitely pursue a job with the Forest Service.” Montes said his only experience with fire before the camp was help ing his dad burn piles o f tumbleweed. One and a half years w ith the Heppner Volunteer Fire D epartm ent is what motivated Eric Skaggs o f Heppner High School to ap ply for the camp. “ 1 always wanted a job with anything to do with fire. 1 love the work,” said Skaggs. Approximately 80% o f perm anent em ployees w ith the F o rest S ervice com e from the seasonal work force. The Forest Ser Students attending the lim atilla National Forest Fire and Fuels Orientation Camp performed many tasks during their wecklung camp. Among those was a prescribed burn in w hich non-commercial thinning w as piled up and burned. Kristen Marshall of the Heppner Ranger District was the camp coordinator. -Photos by Autumn Morgan vice hopes that having camp now may stimulate interest in the jobs. The Forest Ser vice hopes that interested students would apply for the seasonal work force next year with Umatilla National Forest. “Working as a sea sonal employee gets their foot in the door for more perm anent jobs down the line,” said Tom Mafera, dis trict ranger o f the Heppner Ranger District. The Forest Serv ice hires 40-50 seasonal employees each year for fire suppression alone. “ It (the camp) sounded interesting. 1 like it, I didn't expect much but it has been very fun. Everything is very new,” said Amy Grider o f River side High School. “1 might be interested in a part time job." K risten M arshall, camp coordinator and per manent district employee, works as an engine captain/ module leader. “This was a different and interesting ex perience," said Marshall. At the end o f the cam p, each stu d en t was presented with a certificate o f appreciation and recog nition o f their completion o f the U m atilla National Forest Fire and Fuels Career Orientation Camp. Preschoolers visit Assisted Living Center, trick-or-treat Z w. j ... .W4 . W - The 4 year old preschool class from the Heppner Day Care dressed up in their Halloween costumes and vis ited the Willow Creek Terrace Assisted Liv ing Center on Tuesday, October 30. The residents at the Center provided pumpkins from their garden for the students to paint. After painting, the preschoolers joined the residents for some Halloween snacks. The preschoolers later entertained the residents with some songs they have been practicing at the Day Care. On Monday, October 29, the 3 year old preschool class went trick-or-treating around town. f Electric Co-Op Annual Meeting Thursday , November 1st Left Photo: Harley Anderson shows off her artistic ability to Sylvia McDaniel. Center Photo: F.mily Smith and Michael .lacka get some encouraging words from Juanita M artin as they paint their pumpkins at the Willow Creek Terrace Assisted Living Center. Top Right Photo: Jace Coe (left) and Jackson Lehman (far right) impress Nina Harshman and Kd Dick with their artwork. Middle Right Photo: George Jeffries admires 4 year old Joseph Sherman's pumpkin artwork. Bottom Right Photo: Three year old students from Heppner Day Care stopped by the Heppner Gazette-Times to trick-or- treat on Monday, October 29. > The Annual Dinner meeting o f Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative, Inc. is planned for Thursday, Nov. 1st at the St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Heppner. Registration starts at 4:30 p.m. with dinner served at 5:15 p.m. The annual meeting and election of Directors w ill follow the dinner. Mul tiple door prizes will be awarded and results of the annual 4th grade Electrical Safety Poster contest and the Annual Photographic contest will be an nounced, w ith w inning entries on display. New this year will be a special section of door prizes devoted just for youth when accompanied to the meeting by their parents. MP3 Players, iTune Cards, and other prizes for students will be given out. All members are welcome to come and learn about their Electric Co-Op. Zostavax (Shingles) Vaccine available Wed. 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