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
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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.