Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2008)
H eppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, Septem ber 10, 2008 - THREE Language camp held in lone for foreign exchange students Cultures collided in a good way this sum m er in lone when 21 exchange students came to town to get a jump start on learning the language and the cul ture before embarking on a year-long adventure. Cathy Halvorsen, local coordinator for ASSE, the sponsoring organization, found homes for the young adults from China, South Korea, Thai land and France. And that was only half o f her job. H alvorsen co o rd i nated a four-week Language Cam p for these w orldly visitors. The language camp involved three days per week o f classroom activities plus a weekly excursion. While Cathy noted that the camp was a lot o f work, she noted that it was “a really positive experience” for all involved. Becky Wagenblast and Karen Holland were the teachers for the classroom portion o f the camp. L a n g u a g e c am p s have become increasingly popular with exchange or ganizations and exchange students. Last year, 300 kids participated in the World Heritage Language Camps last year and that number leapt to 900 this year. World Heritage is the parent com pany o f ASSE. The camps are popu lar for a couple reasons. One is the jump start they give the participants as they ready to start their academic year in a U.S. high school. Frequently they arrive with very limited English-speaking skills. An other is that students get a month-long initiation into life in the U.S. Possibly the biggest m otivator for the partici pants, though, is that lan guage camp enrollees are guaranteed a placement in the U.S. Several o f the stu dents in the lone camp left home not knowing where they would end up spending their year and in fact, several will start the school year in lone waiting for a final placement. “We are waiting for phone calls daily,” noted Cathy. French, Chinese, South Korean and Thai students with their “lone Cardinal USA" t-shirts. -Con tributed Photo Cathy received word two days prior to arrival that she would be receiving 21 students rather than the 15 originally in her plan. Apparently Halvorsen can be quite persuasive as she pulled o ff the impossible and found homes for the final six students in a nick of time. “I did some arm twist ing,” she admitted. A short term stay with a family can be such a good fit that it turns into a long-term stay. That is the case for three students at the lone camp who will be attending lone High School starting September 2. One o f those is Gip, a sweet young lady who finds herself half way around the world from her home in Bangkok, Thailand. G ip’s hosts are Earl and Rhonda Garrett, a couple o f “empty nesters” who haven’t had to deal with a teenager in the house for a few years. “This was something we never intended to do,” said Rhonda. When the des perate call came in with six more kids needing homes, Rhonda called her husband Earl and gave him the final say. Earl told her that “they can’t very well send them back” so they said yes. The relationship has been positive all the way around. Rhonda says that Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Court tryouts will be held Sunday, October 12, at 1 p.m. at the Morrow County Fair Grounds. Applications can be obtained at the fair office or by calling 676-9474. The application deadline is Friday, September 26, at 11 a.m. Application must be sent by the deadline to: MC Fair, P.O. Box 464, Heppner, OR 97836. For more information call the MC Fair Office at 676-9474. Estate mJ IS YOUR HOME UNDERINSURED? W hen you buy a home and have a bank mortgage, the bank will require you to have homeowners insurance, at a minimum, for the amount of the mortgage. This makes sense for the BANK. It protects the bank’s collateral. However, since you own the WHOLE house (not just the mortgaged amount), your insurance should cover your ENTIRE risk - not just the bank's. With insurance, you are betting something will happen and the insurance company is betting it won’t. You hope the insurance company is right. With the rise in home prices, it is important for all homeown ers to know the current value of their home’s replacement cost. If you have owned your home for several years and have not adjusted the insurance cover age, changes are your home is underinsured. Your insurance should cover at least 80% of your home value. The other 20% is usually considered the value of the land. Property listings are available at www.sykesrealestate.net 188 W. Willow • P.O. Box 337 • Heppner, OR 97836 (541) 676-9228 • Cell (541) 980-6674 Fax (541)676-9211 E-mail: david@sykesrealestate.net in Mexico. Les and Kim Thomp son hosted two girls, Nan- tan a from T h ailan d and Minjun from China. “ Fig uring out the language was the most fun part” said Kim. She noted Minjun was very interested in the Olympics and was quite upset when she thought she would have to miss the opening cer emonies to take an excur sion to the Umatilla County Fair. Thankfully there was a misunderstanding on the days so no one had to choose bucking broncs over home country pageantry. Kim said that with no common language be tween the two visitors and the family, they frequently resorted to pantomime. At one time, she found herself acting out the balance beam to find out if her student was interested in gymnastics at the Olympics. Joe and Linda Hal vorsen hosted one o f the youngest girls in the group at age 15 and she was quite homesick and quiet for the first few days. “She would hardly say anything at first but has really opened up,” said Linda. Hyung really liked seeing com petitors from her native Korea com pete at the Olympics and kept track o f Korea in the medal count. Possibly lost Boardman interchange area management plan moves forward Morrow County OTPR Court tryouts to be held REALTO R Gip has been “very sweet and helpful” and she also noted that the Thai kids are both co m p assio n ate and innocent. “They are ju st good kids,” she said. Gip has cooked for the Garretts, introducing them to hot and spicy Thai food. She has also discovered the game o f UNO, which Rhonda reports is a hit with the whole group o f Thai kids. From a city o f eight million wall-to-wall people to lone, Gip has made a smooth transition. “ I love lone. Everyone is friendly and very kind. I don’t want to go to a big city,” she said. Juliette arrived from Annecy, France, a city o f 100,000 and was surprised at lone. “There is nobody here,” she said. She did not think her spoken English had improved by leaps and bounds during her stay here “but I understand it better.” During her stay in lone, she was treated to a visit to San Francisco with the Heagy family and a trip to the Oregon Coast with her host family, the Camarillos. “It was cold but beautiful,” she said of the Oregon coast. Juliette had an am bitious year o f language learning ahead. Her first host family will have her for five months in M ississippi before she moves on to finish her year in translation, she referred to the Olympic Stadium not as the “Bird’s Nest” but the “Bird House." Alan and Nancy An derson opened their home to two boys, Tony from China and Florian from France. The A ndersons w ere a n other pair who had not dealt with teenagers for a while but when Cathy Halvorsen “came to our house beg ging” they could not say no. “They filled up our house and kept us o rg a nized,” said Nancy. “ It was definitely a big sw itch .” She celebrated the end o f language camp mainly be cause she would not have to pack lunches anymore, a chore she had gladly given up several years ago. Flo rian, a slightly built boy from France, was anxious to participate in Cardinal Football camp. Despite the sore muscles, “he loved it and never complained.” Formal excursions took the stu d en ts to the Pendleton Underground and other sights in Pendleton, the Farm City Pro Rodeo and Umatilla County Fair, the PGE Coal Fire Plant and a famous Duane Neiffer-led field trip to the John Day Fossil beds. Informally, the students experienced Ameri can football at the Cardinal football camp, wheat har vest, horseback riding, shop ping trips, helping their host families with animals at the Morrow County Fair, kill ing rattlesnakes and other experiences unique to life in the country. A fte r four w eeks o f book learning and soak ing up the culture, 14 o f the 21 students departed to their more permanent host families last week, spread ing out all over the country to Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota, Mississippi, Wyoming and Wisconsin. The closest placement was a French boy going to Board- man. “It's sad to see them leave" said Cathy. “ It’s only been a month but it is amaz ing how attached you get.” The Boardman City Council has scheduled a workshop to review funding alternatives for the Board- man Interchange Area Man agement Plan (IAMP). Last fall, after hear ings on the IAMP, Mayor Ed Glenn appointed a commit tee to work with state offi cials to re-write the proposed plan. The goal of the plan is to develop an IAMP for the interchange at Interstate 84 and Main Street that estab lishes corrective measures which would ensure safe and efficient traffic move ment o f the interchange area over a 20-year period. Also, with an IAMP in place, the city will establish greater eligibility for state funding of future street projects. Boardman Commu nity D evelopm ent D irec tor, B arry B ey eler gave an overview o f the IAMP 6th Annual lone Education foundation Fund Raising Dinner AUCTION and RAFFLE ITEMS Saturday, September 27th Social hour at 6 p.m . / Dinner at 7 p.m . at the lo n e A m erican Legion Hall Menu: Prime Rib, Crab, Shrimp, Salad, Baked Potato, Bread, Dessert. TWo drinks included with meal (choose from beer, wine and soft drinks). Ticket Prices: Adults - $25.00 ChUdren 7 - 12 - $10.00 6 and under - free Tickets available at Bank of Eastern Oregon, lone Come enjoy a fun evening and help support the lone School. The lone Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation Ad sponsored by W heatland Insurance, lone draft during Tuesday’s city council meeting. The plan is incomplete until the funding alternatives are outlined. T he w o rk sh o p is sch ed u led for Saturday, September 20, at 8 a.m. in the B oardm an C ity Hall Council Chambers. This is a workshop session, and there may be limited opportunity for public input. In other city news, the Mayor appointed a com mittee to prepare an evalu ation procedure for the city manager’s annual review at the next council meeting. The next regularly sched uled meeting o f the Board- man City Council is Tues day, September 16, at 7 p.m. at Boardman City Hall. Willow Creek Terrace plans ice cream social Throughout the year, many volunteers contribute time and energy to the Wil low C reek Terrace. As a “Thank You” to these indi viduals, the residents will host an ice cream social on Sunday, September 21, at 3 p.m. The Terrace Board and residents have agreed th a t c o n tin u in g to say “Thank you” to these kind- hearted persons is an im portant way o f expressing g ra titu d e . But they also agree that sharing ice cream treats and conversation is another w ay to impress upon them just how' grateful the Terrace Community is for their kindnesses. “And this is another great reason to have a party.” one member reports. The T errace w ill serve ice cream and top pings, drinks, and brownies. All volunteers are invited to attend the sweet-treats event. Boyce joins Farmers Ins. Agency Jim Boyce has joined Farmers Insurance Agency in Heppner. Boyce began his in surance career in 1979 as a claims adjuster with North Pacific Insurance Company. After serving 20 years in that capacity in offices through out the Northwest, Boyce changed course and began working in sales for Bisnett Insurance in Pendleton. In the fall o f 2000 he relocated to Hood River and managed the office there until the fall o f 2007. Boyce grew up in lone and Heppner where his father owned an insurance agency. He is a 1976 gradu ate o f Heppner High School and a 1979 graduate o f Lane Community College's Insur ance Claims Program. Community Youth Group begins Sept. 18 The Communi t y Youth Group will officially get underway for the school year on T hursday night, Septem ber 18, at Willow Creek Baptist Church at 8 p.m. All area teens are wel come to attend. In addition, there is a new Sunday School class for teens at the church entitled “In the Dust o f the Rabbi.” It uses a popular video series by Bible scholar Ray Vander Laan. That class meets from 9:30 -10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Willow Creek Bap tist is located at 560 North Minor Street, just off Water Street. For more information call Pastor Keith Price at 676-5552. Brock and Lanegan graduate from basic training Army National Guard Spec. Jennifer B. Brock and Army Pvt. Stacy L. Lanegan have graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldiers stud ied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid. foot marches, and field training exercises. Brock is the daughter o f Penny Jumey o f Board- man. She graduated in 1987 from Riverside High School and received a bachelor’s degree in 2007 from Portland State University. Lanegan is the daughter of Kathy Seimer o f Herm- iston.
