FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, September 22,2010
Letters to the Editor ~
~
I he Heppner Gazette limes Mill print all letters to the Kditor with the following criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of the sender along with a legible signature. We are
also requesting that you provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be printed in the newspaper. Letters
may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks”
at a cost of $10.
To our Indian friends, we do appreciate Let the OWGL board know that you
all your contributions to our culture
expect results, not just controversy
To the editor:
According to an article in the Heppner Gazette about the City Council, it seems
that Tamastslikt Cultural Institute of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton was
invited by our city government to place an Indian monument or remembrance on an
empty cement pad at Heritage Plaza Park in Heppner.
The article states that Susan Sheoships of Tamastslikt replied in an email that
they did “intend to take action on your kind offer, as Heppner area continues to be an
important cultural area to our tribes.”
When I was a little girl I loved the Indian culture and all it could teach us. My
maternal grandparents. Robert E. and Mary Wardwell Allstott followed his father, John
Allstott, to this area in the latter part of the 19th century'. They settled in the Rhea Creek
Valley and raised 11 children. My mother, Betty, was third oldest.
Each summer when the Indian food gatherers came to the Rhea Creek area
they were welcomed. All of us grandchildren (and there were a lot of us) spent sev
eral days watching for them. 1 have a few pictures showing my brother, Fred Painter,
and me with one of our Indian friends on the steps of the big square, two-story house
grandma and grandpa owned.
The fact that they and we had language difficulties didn’t seem to matter a bit.
Our grandfather, who claimed Indian blood, could understand and interpret a lot of it
and that proved to us that these people were friends.
A citizen’s letter to the City Council in last week’s article amazed me that a
friendship gesture by both Indians and white people could be construed as a “theme
and marketing agenda.” Is that what we have been doing with the long and deep Irish
culture and sheep influence? The letter writer says “let Pendleton have the blessings
and influences of the Indians.”
I take exception also to the statement in the letter to the council that the Native
American Culture was “very rare and had little influence on Heppner’s development.”
And he went on to say “we don’t need to promote those issues here in Heppner.”
If you know anything about gift giving among the natives and with others you
would understand that their gift giving is wondrous, loving and respectful and would
never, ever offer a gift and then ask for it back. That is apparently an issue that we do
need to promote in Heppner.
To our Indian friends and people, please accept the apology of many of us in
Heppner. We do appreciate all your contributions to our culture.
Aloha DeSpain
Heppner
To the editor:
As former Oregon Wheat Growers’ League Farm Program chairmen who
served on the OWGL’s board o f directors for most of the years Tammy Dennee served
as the executive director, we were surprised to hear that the executive committee of the
OWGL chose to terminate Tammy’s employment. We hope the executive committee
has a plan, but early indications are not good for us growers or our industry.
We know that those in the environmental lobby must have danced with glee
that one of the champions for the growers was benched. Their dreams of sending ag
riculture in Oregon into the abyss that is now the timber industry must seem closer.
The enforcement division at ODOT must now be working overtime to prepare to stop
many more trucks next grain harvest and a lot of folks in several US government agen
cies must be relieved that they won’t be sitting across from Tammy when one of “her
growers” has run afoul of some bureaucracy.
The issue that we wish to bring to wheat growers in Oregon is that your best
last hope of being able to collect a 2009 SURE payment may have been terminated
along with Tammy. A technical reporting error, related to the 2009 crop season, was
made by the FSA in some Oregon counties. That error, related to the 2009 crop season,
was made by the FSA in some Oregon counties. That error has resulted in none of the
counties in Oregon being declared “Disaster Counties” for 2009 and has placed SURE
payments to all Oregon growers in jeopardy. SURE payments of other state will be
made, but in Oregon the error may have cost farmers million of dollars in disaster as
sistance they would have otherwise qualified for. Oregon farmers received a total of
$28 million in 2008 SURE payments.
As we would all expect, Tammy was leading the charge to convince USDA
and Congressional leaders to see their way past the error and make sure “her growers”
got their payments, just like growers in other states. As we write this letter a team from
the OWGL, with Tammy leading the charge, should be packing their bags and heading
for Washington DC this week. At the top Tammy’s list would be those 2009 SURE
payments for her Oregon growers. Not only is Tammy not going to Washington DC
this week, we hear the trip was cancelled.
Executive committee do you have a plan? Who’s in charge? Who’s getting the
growers their SURE payments? Why aren’t you in Washington DC doing the League’s
work? How does the executive committee justify the harsh and disrespectful termina
tion o f someone who has served the OWGL for 17 years with so much energy and
accomplishment?
The board of directors will be holding a closed executive board meeting in
Boardman on September 30. We encourage you to contact your county presidents or
any other board member you know. Ask if they have a plan and if they can justify the
treatment Tammy has received? The executive committee is made up of: Darren Padget,
president; Craig Reeder, vice president; Tyson Raymond, secretary/treasurer; and Jeff
Newtson, past president. The Oregon Wheat phone number is (541) 276-7330. They
will be able to tell you who your current county president and other board members
are and how to contact them. We encourage you to let the OWGL board know that
you expect results, not just controversy. Tammy’s shoes are going to be very big to fill
and many of “her growers” are going to miss her. We hope the executive committee’s
reason for letting Tammy go is worth the cost for all of us growers.
If you don’t see your SURE payment, or are waiting for your grain truck to
get back to the harvest field next summer that $0.05 wheat tax paid on every bushel
of grain is going to be hard to put up with. The good news is that you will be able to
name the fellows responsible ^or your foul mood.
We, like most everyone else in the wheat industry, appreciate Tammy Dennee
for her years of dedicated service and for always fighting the good fight. It was always
an honor for us to have Tammy as the executive director during our time of service
to the wheat industry. We know Tammy will be a treasure wherever she chooses to
serve next.
Jerry Rietmann & Tim Holtz
A trade team of Japanese millers visited Starvation Farms last week. Chris Rauch and Steve lone
Japanese trade team tours Starvation Farms
Hill were on hand to show them their farming operation and answer any questions they had.
Their purpose in coming was to sec how Americans raise wheat. The group consisted of owners
of small to medium sized mills in Japan. In a few years, the Japanese government is looking to
get out of buying wheat for their millers' needs. The millers will deal directly with exporters
to buy their w heat. Larry l.utcher, an agronomist with the OSU Extension Agency, and Shan
non Rust, Morrow County Wheat president were also in attendance. The group was headed
to Walla Walla after leaving Morrow County. -ContributedPhoto
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Morrow County Historical Society annual meeting
brings Kam Wah Chung Story to Boardman
C h ris ty S w eet,
curator o f the Kam Wah
Chung State Heritage Site
in John Day, will bring Kam
Wah Chung Co. artifacts,
displays and stories to the
Morrow County Historical
Society annual meeting,
Sunday, October 3, from
1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. The meet
ing will be at the Boardman
Senior Center, 100 Tatone
Street in Boardman.
The meeting will
begin with the traditional
potluck lunch at 1:30 pm.
Bring a favorite dish, or just
come. The free program,
featuring Christina Sweet,
begins at 2:30 p.m.
A century ago, as
many as 30,000 Chinese la
bored in gold mines, helped
build railroads, contributed
to commerce, and played a
significant role in the devel
opment of Eastern Oregon.
The center for the Chinese
community in Eastern Or
egon was a stone building
in John Day constructed as
a trading post on The Dalles
Military Road in 1866. This
building, the only reminder
o f Chinese presence in
Eastern Oregon, contains
thousands of artifacts and
relics which illustrate the
many former uses of the
site - as a general store,
pharmacy, doctor’s office,
Chinese temple, opium den,
and home.
Sweet will bring
artifacts from the museum
plus give a lively portrayal
of the colorful lives of Doc
Hay and Lung On, the two
Chinese men who lived at
Kam Wah Chung. Doc Hay
practiced Chinese medicine
for the Chinese community
and early settlers through
out Eastern Oregon, includ
ing Morrow Count. He pre
scribed complex mixtures
o f herbs, animal extracts
and minerals for healing.
He diagnosed ailments by
feeling one’s pulse. Report
edly a gambler and ladies’
man, Lung On was an am
bitious man of commerce,
owning the first car dealer
ship in Eastern Oregon.
For more informa
tion contact Donna Eppen-
bach at 541-922-3197.
First Fridays - Friends of Jesus to begin Oct. 1
Offer requires Agreement and
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Blue Tide - Heppner TV
541-701-9660
162 N Main St
Heppner, OR 97836
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“ F irst F ridays -
Friends of Jesus” is a new
program being offered by
All Saints Episcopal Church
and Hope Lutheran Church
on the first Friday of each
month beginning October
1. The event will begin at 8
a.m. and conclude at noon.
A free lunch will
be served. Children age
four through sixth grade
are invited to join in on a
fun-filled morning of Bible
stories, crafts, music, and
activities.
The idea for this
program grew out o f a
brainstorming session to
find creative alternatives to
Sunday School while also
reaching out to the commu
nity by offering a children's
activity when school is not
in session. To register, call
the church office at 541-
676-9970.