Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2008)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 2, 2008 - THREE First motorsports country club in pacific northwest Heppner students celebrate attracting members from across the US test scores with root beer Construction at the site o f the country’s newest m otorsports country club has revved up the number of inquiries into memberships and lot ownership opportu nities at Pacific Northwest Motorsports Park from rac ing enthusiasts across the Pacific Northwest and as far away as Pennsylvania and New York. The $100 mil lion plus, state-of-the-art, m otorsports country club centered around a six-plus mile m ulti-configuration road course and 1-plus mile kart track will boast one o f the largest road racing courses in the country when it opens in 2009. The first co u n try club in the Pacific North west to focus on road racing rather than golf or tennis, PNMP is part o f a new gen eration o f private country clubs cropping up all over the country that provide the am enities associated with their predecessors - e x clu siv e m em berships, fine dining and luxurious facilities - while offering like minded individuals an opportunity to bond over their love of great cars and speed. Car and Driver, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and The New York Times are among the major news sources that have reported on the phenomenal success of this new kind o f country club and the growing list of facilities across the country that includes the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Il linois; Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, Texas; and the Vir ginia International Raceway in Danville, Virginia. “Motorsports coun try clubs have become one' o f the fasted growing en tertainment destinations in the U nited States. Think country club with a driv ing course instead o f a golf course,” said Bill Gardner, a form er N A SC A R Cup Championship team owner and commercial real estate developer who is the man aging general partner for PNMP. “ Instead o f taking the afternoon off to play a round o f golf, you can head out to our club to exercise your driving abilities in your cars or motorcycles in an en vironment made for speed.” G ardner’s DiGard Racing team w on 43 N A SC A R CUP victories with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison as his drivers, including the 1983 NASCAR WINSTON CUP (now known as the N A SCA R SPRIN T CUP Series) Championship with Bobby Allison. “The main a ttrac tion is the multi-configura tion road course, where our members and their guests can compete on the same kind of track as professional drivers. The road course at Pacific Northwest Mo torsports Park will be built to the stringent standards required by professional national and international san c tio n in g b o d ies, and will be made available for their road-racing events.” co n tin u ed G ardner. The various unique track config urations o f the 6-plus mile road course will facilitate all types o f racing, including Formula cars, sports racers, production racers, vintage cars, stock cars, street cars and motorcycles. A variety o f mem bership opportunities are available, from individual Founder memberships of fering special benefits with no lifetime annual dues and the most track time to indi vidual Diamond member ships offering an average of 22 days o f track time each month. Corporate, Junior and Go-Kart memberships also are available. The sheer numbers o f inquiries from individuals, who live out side o f the Pacific Northwest region, have inspired the ad dition o f a National Founder m em bership category for those who live further than 600 miles from the club. PNMP is currently offering a pre-construction discount o f 20% off o f the initiation fees to the first 50 responders to join in each membership category. Bil lie Jean Morris, the director o f m ark etin g for PNM P e n c o u ra g e s p ro sp e c tiv e members to call or apply online to take advantage of this limited offer. Accord ing to Morris, there is no set limit to the number of memberships available in each category. H ow ever, as the m em b ersh ip ro s ter grows, the mix will be monitored very carefully to ensure memberships are not oversold. Pacific N orthw est Motorsports Park members will have daily access to the courses, with ex cep tions only on days when major sanctioned events are running. A portion o f the facilities also will be avail able to rent for corporate team -b u ild in g activ ities, clubs or individuals. With Boardman’s annual rainfall at only 7-9 inches per year and a m oderate clim ate, PNMP expects to have the facility open year-round. PNMP has approximately 150 quarter-acre lots sited around the road course for purchase and development as garages or luxury g a rage suites, 40 o f which are already under contract. C ar enthusiasts also can rent garages on a monthly basis and will be able to rent track owned and high- performance vehicles for a day, or portion o f a day, and attend advanced racing/driv- ing school classes. Once the road course and Phase 1 fa cilities are complete, PNMP will begin construction o f the approximately 145,000 square foot clubhouse with all o f the am enities fea tured at traditional country clubs, guest facilities and grandstands all designed with a Pacific Northwest theme. The site, course seg ments, and architectural and engineering plans are cur rently under design. Construction o f Pa cific Northwest Motorsports Park marks the first phase of Master-Planned Motorsports destination complex to be built on 5,000-plus acres in Boardman over the next 10 years that, when complete, will also include a 1/4-mile drag strip, a 5/8-mile asphalt oval, a 2 -plus m ile o ff road course, a 3/8-mile clay oval and ultimately a high- banked, super speedway de signed to potentially accom modate premier oval-racing sanctioned events, with an 80,000 + seat grandstand, luxury and garage suites, a fan zone infield area, and club seating. The Master-Planned com plex includes d ev el opm ent o f the C olum bia riverfront adjacent to the site, a car museum, marina complex, RV villages and campgrounds, golf course, a water and amusement park, a convention center, hotels, motels, retail centers and restaurants, and an industrial area. Pacific N orthw est Motorsports Park is located at 2 Marine Drive in Board- man, Oregon, about 2 hours east of Portland, and is easily accessible from the entire Pa cific Northwest on Interstate 84, by rail, water and air. For more information about the Pacific Northwest M otor sports Park or membership or garage suite lot purchase, contact Billie Jean Morris, D irector o f m arketing at 541.481.7000, bjmorris@ pnwmotorsportspark.com, www.pnwmotorsportspark. com. Daugherty receives lifetime achievement award One o f Eastern Or egon University’s dedicated leaders has been recognized for his nearly 30-year career in higher education. M ike D a u g h erty , dean o f students and former director o f residence life at EOU, is the recipient o f the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northwest Association o f College and U niversity Housing O ffi cers. The award recognizes D augherty’s contributions throughout his career as a student housing profes- sional, leader and mentor. Daugherty received the award at a recent con ference o f the NWACUHO held in Vancouver, Wash. Institutions from Alaska, H aw aii, O reg o n , W ash ington, Alberta and British Columbia are members o f the association. “Mike has dedicated from a comfortable retired his life to students and their life is evidence o f his corn- success,” Stephen Jenkins mitment to students and to wrote in a letter to th eir su cc e ss,” the NWACUHO, Lund w rote nominating ^er l et t er of D a u g h e r ty fo r nomination. D augh the award. “Mike erty rejoined the r e p r e s e n ts th e university family best parts o f what last August as in it means to be a terim vice presi housin g p ro fe s dent for student sional and educa Mike Daugherty affairs. During tor.” implementation Jenkins took over the position o f o f E O U ’s R epositioning director o f residence life Plan, Daugherty’s position w hen D augherty retired evolved into the current in 2006. Words o f support dean of students. “ I w as su rp rise d , also came from Dixie Lund, EOU president, and others deeply honored, and very who have worked closely humbled by being named as with D augherty over the a recipient o f the Lifetime Achievement Award by the years. “ The fact that he NW ACUHO,” Daugherty (Mike) was willing to return said. “Working with college to full-tim e em ploym ent students has enriched my life and I have been blessed with having outstanding mentors POWERLINE HAZARD Irrigation Pipes and colleagues throughout my professional life. I have many to thank and much to appreciate.” During his tenure at EOU, Daugherty served as interim dean o f student af fairs, oversaw the construc tion o f three new residence halls, and taught and men tored hundreds o f student leaders through the resi dence life program. Daugherty is also a 1974 Eastern graduate. He founded EO U ’s O utdoor Program while still a student and the program continues to thrive, providing classes, training and equipment to students to enjoy and ex plore the natural environ ment. GT News Deadline Mondays at 5 p.m. M.C.6.6. Morrow County[Gniiit Growers m LEXINGTON, OREGON 1 - 800 - 452-7396 • 989-8221 WASCO, OREGON float parties. The junior high and 9,h and 10lh grade high school students received a treat Thursday March 20th. Those who passed the TESA Language Arts test with a score of 231 for 8lh grade, or 236 for high school, raised their previous score by six points, or exceeded these tests were invited to a root beer float party. Mr. Browning held his root beer float in the cafeteria during the junior high lunch. Mrs. Collins held her root beer float parts in her room during the high school lunch. It was estimated that over 60 kids were invited to attend. “It was awesome," commented students. Many kids said that their friends who didn't quite make it were going to try harder next time and pass so that they could come to the next one. “This is a great way to reward kids for their well deserved, academic effort," said Mrs. Collins. “Kids respond well to extrinsic motivation," Mr. Browning stated. The next TESA testing round for language arts will be early May. -Photos by Autumn Morgan Upcoming performances announced by lone High Drama classes The lone High School drama classes are present ing two one-act plays on Wednesday, April 9th, at 6 p.m. on the stage in the lone Community School's cafetorium. The Speech and Debate Team w ill be serving dinner in the cafeteria prior to the performance at 5:30 p.m. “That's Acute Bunny,” starring Mikey Raible and Alex Carlson, will be performed at 6 p.m. This outrageous ly funny comedy also showcases the talents o f Teonna Vandever, Tiana Camarillo. Marly Pfingsten. Mayra Ver- duzco. Matt Hams, Katy Amspiger, Gunner .lessen, and Bora Moon (and one very funny costume). “Snowee White and the Seven Chicks," starring Tanner Rietmann and Tori Heagy, will be staged following the first play and a short intermission. This witty slapstick further highlights the comedic talents o f Luke Bradfield. Sarah Stillman, Mary Mae Gates, Alex Rietmann, Beth Morter, Ronney Wilson, Clay Morter, Camilo Acosta, and Patrick Lee (and several funny costumes). The drama classes invite everyone in the commu nity to come and eat some delicious food and. especially, to watch their we 11-rehearsed plays. Donations are will be welcomed at the door, to be used in future drama class endeavors. 1 - 800 - 824-7185 www.mcgg.net SUPPORTING YOUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDING: * PROPANE SALES AND SERVICE "By th in k in g a little a b o u t the p ro d u c ts you choose, you can p ro m o te recycling a n d m a k e a b ig difference f o r the en v iro n m e n t. * FARM EQUIPMENT SALES, PARTS AND SERVICE * ATV SALES, PARTS AND SERVICE * FERTILIZER AND FARM CHEMICAL SERVICE • FARM SUPPLIES AND LIVESTOCK EQUIPMENT ” * DIESEL AND GAS SALES Always h r Alert for Power Lines! Always remember Transfer Stations open Saturday and Sundays 9:00 - 4:00 p.m. from your consumer-owned power provider ( nlumhia Basin Electric Co-Op I \ »
