Santa and helpers deliver packages
Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Santa and his help
ers, H ep p n er V olunteer
Firem en and Jan Skaggs
and G lennave A rriaga o f
the Heppner Neighborhood
Center, spent Sunday, De
cem ber 21, getting ready
to d eliv er packages and
Christmas baskets and other
goodies to area families.
Right
Santa and Heppner
Volunteer Firefighters
gather around the tree
before heading out on
their deliveries
County deals with biggest
snow fall in recent years
VOL. 127
NO. 52 10 Pages
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Ranger District employees, volunteers
brave weather to split and deliver firewood
Santa” helps load firewood into a pickup for delivery
Braving the windy
and blustery four-degree
weather, over 18 community
members and 12 Heppner
Ranger District employees
delivered eight cords o f
firewood to families in the
Heppner and Lexington area
on Saturday. This is the third
year the Heppner Ranger
D istrict has spearheaded
the com m unity firew ood
project which is coordinated
through the local Neighbor
hood Center. Current Forest
Service employees, along
with retires and seasonal
employees, split the wood
several weeks ago which
was donated by Dodge Log-
ging. D onald M oody o f
LaGrande donated his time
and equipment to off-load
the wood.
continued page three
Town and Country
planned January 15
T he Tow n and
Country community event
will be held on Thursday,
January 15, at the Morrow
County Fairgrounds: The
event will begin at 6 p.m.
with a “no-host” beer/wine
bar operated by Murray’s.
“Puddin ’ on the R itz”
will be “putting together
a great dinner consisting
o f p rim e rib /p a rm e s a n
chicken, w ild rice, dilly
green beans, winter fruit and
cranberry romaine salads,
assorted rolls and blueberry
cheesecake for dessert.
Entertainment will
be provided by M ichelle
Stone and the H ep p n er
Elementary School Choir.
The cost will be $20 per
person.
Tickets will on sale
starting Friday, January 2,
and may be purchased at
Bank o f Eastern Oregon,
C ham ber o f C om m erce,
Heppner TV and Murray’s
Drug.
“Plan on coming and
su p p o rt o u r com m unity
award winners, enjoy great
company, a great dinner and
great entertainm ent,” said
Sheryll B ates, C ham ber
executive director.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
South Morrow
County has been dealing
with one o f the heaviest
snowfalls it has seen in sev
eral years, as city and county
road crews, as well as the
local Les Schwab, work .to
keep traffic moving.
The city o f Hep
pner reports that there have
been no “major” problems
in town and has been con
stantly plowing and sanding
to keep the streets pass
able.
Morrow County
Road Department Director
Burke O ’Brien issued the
following report Monday
addressing the county’s ef
fort on snow removal:
O ’Brien said he
hoped to have the majority
of the county roads opened
by the end o f the day Mon
day.
To handle snow
removal, the Morrow Coun
ty Road D epartm ent has
six, three-axle plow trucks
four o f which have Sand
ers. They also have one
single-axle plow truck with
a sander.
The OHV Park
has one single axle plow
truck with a sander which
the road department is using
this winter since the park
is closed. This gives the
county more plow trucks
and sanders. They also have
four road graders, all o f
which are operating in dif
ferent areas o f South Mor
row County.
The county earlier
purchased a snow blower
which is powered by the
OHV Park skid steer and
it is being utilized to help
with drift removal on sev
eral county roads. It is also
being utilized to keep the
Cutsforth Park lot clear for
snowmobilers this winter.
O ’Brien says the
county is plowing the major
connector roads first includ
ing Tower Road, Bomb
ing Range Road, Baseline
Road, Willow Creek Road,
Hardman Ridge Road, Rhea
Creek Road, Sunflower Flat
Road and several others.
Once these roads are open
they will begin working on
the secondary roads.
On w eekends and
holidays the list to maintain
is as follows: Tower Road,
C olum bia Avenue in the
continued page three
Les Schwab employee Matt Baker puts on a set of snow
tires Monday. The tire store has been working hard to
meet the demand.
Long court career comes to
an end for Sharon Biddle
Sharon Biddle
After spending 33 years
“ on the top floor o f the
courthouse” as she says,
Sharon Biddle has worked
with many people over the
years.
She started out working in
the district attorney’s office
and then in January 1983
moved to the Circuit Court.
The district attorney at that
time was Herman Winter
and then she also worked
with Dennis Doherty.
In the Circuit Court she
has been mainly responsible
for keeping the court docket
which means working close
ly w ith the attorneys and the
judges. When she started,
ju d g e s O lson and Wells
were the Circuit Court judg
es. “That has been the most
enjoyable part o f the job she
says,” working with the at
torneys and the judges. She
estimates she has worked
for 10 different judges over
the years.
Biddle’s last day on the job
is Dec. 31 and she and her
husband Sonny, who retired
earlier this year, plan on
eventually settling in Mon
tana where they have some
property.
“We have to stay and watch
our grandson play football
next year,” she says.
AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
Merry Christmas to all our friends
and customers!
^
We will be closed Wednessday at noon
Open again Friday for regular hours. Saturday 8 a m. * Noon
M orrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & S eed
2 42 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (MCGG main office)