Co-gen plant may reopen
Last Monday, Cas
cade Renewable Energy
entered into a 100-day op
tion to purchase the empty
Kinzua power plant site
outside of Heppner. Kinzua
closed its doors in 1998 and
has been empty since.
During these 100
days, Cascade Renewable
Energy is looking into fuel
availability and prices, fi
nancing, and if this is the
right market for the prop
erty.
Eugene,
If reopened, the
power plant would be using
wood waste for fuel, which
Cascade Renewable Energy
is currently in the process of
checking into availability.
The company plans
to purchase the 25 acres
where the power plant is
located along with 20 adja
cent acres.
According to Gary
Neal of the Port of Mor
row, if all pieces fall into
place and the purchase goes
through, the power plant
could be open anywhere be
tween 120 days and a year.
“(Cascade Renewable En-
If reopened, the power plant located outside of Heppner could
employ 15-20 people. -Photo by David Sykes
ergy) is considering a fairly
substantial expansion,” state
Neal. "I'm not sure if they
would expand and then start
operations or start opera-
tions and then expand at a
later date.”
lfreopened, the plant
could prov ide jobs for 15 to
20 employees.
No stopping the Wranglers
Editor s Note: The follow
ing story was written by
Merlyn Robinson and was
published in the July 1995
edition o f the Columbia
Basin magazine.
VOL. 128
NO. 12
8 Pages
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Boardman recognizes
outstanding citizens
The Boardman City
Council recently congratu
lated the Riverside High
School wrestling team for
their accomplishments dur
ing the 2008-09 seas.on.
Brigham Hansen
and Carlos Garcia were
presented with certificates
of accomplishment. Hansen
was the OSAA 2009 3A
tournament champion in the
171 lb weight class. Carlos
Garcia received 3rd place in
the OSAA 2009 3A tourna
ment at the 140 lb weight
class.
Mayor Phillips in
troduced Evelyn Garcia, a
junior at RHS, as an Oregon
Ambassador of Music that
will be touring Europe this
summer.
B oardm an C ity
Council is proud of the ac
complishments ofthese stu
dents. Also recognized were
officers from the Boardman
Police Department: Nat
Hughes, Shane Brandon,
Chris Tiboni, and Chief
Zeiler for their outstanding
performance of duty.
A resolution was ap
proved to be joint sponsors
with the Port of Morrow
and Morrow County in ap
plying for the renewal of
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone. Intergovernmental
Golf team starts swinging
Agreements for the new for
mation and operation of the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone were approved.
Mayor Phillips an
nounced the “If I were the
Mayor for a Day” contest
for elementary through high
school students in Board-
man. The contest runs from
March 23-May 29, 2009.
This contest is sponsored by
the Oregon Mayor’s Associ
ation. For more information
call Boardman City Hall.
In other news, May
or Phillips proclaimed the
month of April as National
Sexual Assault Awareness
Month in conjunction with
the Domestic Violence Ser
vices of Morrow’ and Uma
tilla County.
Historians claim that
horses were domesticated as
riding and draft animals as
early as 2150 BC.
Though today we ro
manticize the Old West, we
no longer rely on four-foot
ed horsepower. However,
horses have become a major
industry and sport. Horses of
all sizes and breeds are the
common interest of modem
equine owners. And varied
horse interests are the glue
that has held together the
continuous activities of the
Wranglers Riding Club for
nearly 50 years.
Horse owners, in
cluding ranchers and Hep-
pner-area business people,
met to form this club in
1946. Bylaws were pat
terned after the rules of the
Pendleton Mustanger Rid
ing Club. Cal Sumner, now
deceased, was elected as
the first president. Charter
members recall that Cal
was a fearless leader when
he participated in a suicide
race, charging down the
steep, rocky hill overlooking
the Hughes ranch on Butter
Creek.
“ Playdays” were
held at local ranches where
arenas had been built. Most
horses were transported in
trucks, as there were few
horse trailers in those days,
but many riders tested their
endurance by riding their
mounts from Heppner to
those outlying ranches.
Public meeting set for discussions
of fuels reduction strategies
The Heppner Rang
er District of the Umatilla
National Forest will host a
public meeting on March
31 at 6 p.m. at the Heppner
Ranger District Office, to
discuss an upcoming as
sessment for identifying
fuels reduction and forest
stand density projects in the
Potamus Watershed Area
southeast of Heppner.
“We feel it's impor
tant to discuss and coordi
nate wildfire risk reduction
strategies across land own
erships,” said Tom Mafera,
Heppner District Ranger.
“So, prior to developing any
project proposals, we want
to visit with those interested
about specific interests and
project ideas.”
In 2001, the Morrow
County Community Wild
fire Protection Plan (CWPP)
identified the Penland Lake
The 2009 golf season was kicked off in Heppner last week with Wildland-Urban Interface
a tournament held at the Willow Creek Country Club. Team
member Lindsay Cutsforth makes the putt with ease. Photo by
Sandy Matthews
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
( WUI) area as a priority for
fuels reduction projects to
lessen the impact of wildfire
on lives, property, and the
landscape.
Presentations will
include: Role of fire in the
ecosystem; Fire regime and
tree species adaptation; his
tory of fire and insect dis
turbance in the Potamus
Watershed area; Current
fuel conditions and expected
fire behavior; Wildfire risks;
Private land fire protection;
and Morrow County Com
munity Wildfire Protection
Plan
For more informa
tion about the public meet
ing or Fuels Reduction as
sessment, contact Brian
Spradlin (Fuels Specialist)
at the Heppner Ranger Dis
trict (541) 676-2127.
Potluck noon feasts
preceded some wild and
woolly events, including
Dougherty’s Dilly Duster in
Sandhollow, the Balm Fork
Brawl at the Ralph Beamer
ranch, the Rhea Creek Riot
at Floyd Jones’ and the
Butter Creek Ambush at
Martins’, now part of the
Hughes ranch.
Pole bending and
barrel racing were followed
by rugged games. The “hide
race” required a racer to stay
aboard a cowhide, attached
to a rope pulled by a partner
on the back of a galloping
horse. Sometimes a scoop
shovel was towed for a wild,
bouncing ride over rocky
ground.
Speed, hedging and
strategic blocking were in
volved in the “musical rope
races,” as a winner muscled
his way to victory by hold
ing on to the last dangling
rope suspended from a line
above riders' heads.
"Wannabe” rodeo
stars often tested their grit
on ranch livestock, or an
uncooperative bronc. Dan
Brosnan recalls that he met
his match as a ranch young
ster when he was tossed and
trampled by a Greenup bull.
Ropers remember trying to
wrestle hefty ranch calves to
the ground.
On one occasion,
wild goats at the Jones ranch
were captured for an arena
event that required roping
those goats and wrestling
them into large wool sacks.
It was a dubious victory
for the team that roped the
herd's old billy goat, a rather
smelly individual!
Even skilled riders
sometimes “bite the dust,”
but Wranglers Club par
ticipation has given many
young cowhands their first
education about rodeo their
first education about rodeo
events. A number of young
members have gone on to
become high school, college
and professional rodeo con
testants. Among them are
names such as Currin, Healy
Steagall and Mahoney -and
the tradition eontinues.
Other, less strenuous
horse interests have also
continued through the years.
In the early 1950s the Wran
glers began supervising an
annual horse show, held
during the fair. Show-horse
quality of that era didn't al
ways measure up to today's
stringent standards. But
horse show superintendent
Fred Mankin, now deceased,
showed his well-bred Ten
nessee Walking horses w ith
pride, while Merle Becket, a
former club president, rode a
well-trained American Sad-
dlebred mare. Classes for
all ages and breeds became
popular as Western riders
competed for the “champion
performance horse” title.
Floyd Jones retired that first
revolving trophy after win
ning it for three years w ith
the same horse.
Monthly club meet
ings were once held in a
former Civilian Conserva
tion Corps building on the
fairgrounds, where the dor
mitory now stands. Lively
music, costume parties and
entertainment, aided by an
old upright piano, rocked
that old wooden building.
When members first moved
that piano in, the floor gave
w ay, requiring a repair job.
In 1949, as a fund
raiser, the club began stag
ing cowboy breakfasts,
which were held Sunday
mornings during the annual
Heppner Rodeo. This Cow
boy Breakfast has become
a traditional event. An avid
horse fan. Dimple Munk-
ers, also deceased, was the
chairperson of the breakfast
for many years.
It was these fund
raisers that held the club to
purchase a small parcel of
land below Heppner from
Harvey Harshman about
1956. The hilly property
required a great deal of
excavation to create a level
arena and a permanent club
facility. The donation of
equipment and labor by Don
Evans made this possible.
Members built fences with
poles cut and hauled from
the mountains.
The clubhouse, a
former bandstand build
ing next to the fairgrounds
racetrack, was moved and
remodeled under the lead
ership of John Newman, an
electrician.
Charter members
Howard Bry ant and Cornet
Green say that the buck
ing chutes also came from
the fairgrounds. These two
handymen did repairs and
maintenance on club prop
erty for many years.
For a time, inter
club playdays with other
horse clubs were held. Horse
racing led to competition
in relay and baton races,
both at Heppner and at the
Pendleton Roundup. This
crowd-pleasing event pro
vided many thrills and spills,
as recalled by former jockey
Joe Yocom and other rac
ing enthusiasts, including
-Continued on Page THREE
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