Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2011)
Umatilla and Morrow county nonprofits receive more than $45,000 from PGE employees and retirees ^ Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 Portland General Electric em ployees and retirees are doing their part to support local nonprofits in Umatilla and Morrow counties. During the com pany’s annual Employee Giving Campaign, more than $45,000 was raised for 24 Umatilla and Morrow county organizations, in- HEPPNER eluding area schools, com munity groups and service organizations serving those in need. PGE em ployees set a new record, raising more than $1.65 million (including PGE’s 50 per cent match) for community organizations throughout O regon and southw est Washington in 2010. A to tal of 63 percent of all PGE employees made donations to 926 nonprofits, nearly doubling the em ployee giving national average of 35 percent. “ The E m ployee Giving Campaign is one of our key employee-led events each year and no matter what the state of the economy, PGE employees and retirees continually increase their generosity to those in need,” said Dave Robertson, vice president of public policy, PGE. United Way of Um atilla and Morrow Counties topped the list of recipients this year with donations totaling more than $ 15,000 to help fund local health and human service programs. Other local recipi ents include: Hermiston Agape House, Hermiston High School, Humane Soci ety of Eastern Oregon - Pet Rescue, lone Education Foundation, lone School D istrict, North Morrow Community Foundation, OSU Umatilla County Ex tension Service and Vange John Memorial Hospice. D u rin g the a n nual Em ployee G iving Campaign, PGE’s 2,700 employees and more than 1,000 retirees can designate any charitable nonprofit or accredited school to receive their pledges, and PGE matches their contributions by 50 percent. Since the company match program began in 1998, PGE and its employ ees and retirees have con tributed more than $13.7 million to their communi ties through the campaign. Heppner seniors begin fundraising for all night drug and alcohol free party imes VOL. 130 NO. 6 8 Pages Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Forest Service plans thinning project T he U m a tilla N ational Forest, H epp ner Ranger District is be ginning planning for a 70 acre commercial thinning project in Wheeler County about 52 miles from Hep pner, the district recently announced. Called the Radar Commercial Thinning Proj ect, the district plans to use a commercial timber sale to thin trees that are diseased and heavy mistletoed. No tree more than 21 inches in diameter will be removed. “A history of fire suppression has created dense, overstocked stand conditions that are favor able for insect and disease outbreaks and severe wild fire effects”, the district said. The thinning proj ect is located in the Buck- horn Creek watershed. MCPW taking on Cutsforth Park funding opportunity Morrow County Public Works Department (MCPW) is applying for a Local Government Grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This grant will aid in the funding of water, electrical and accessibility upgrades at Cutsforth Park. This project will allow for improvements to primitive campsites, and ADA accessibility. This project is expected to take approximately one year to complete if there is no unexpected inclement weather or unforeseen situations. Cutsforth Park is a favorite among the three county parks. MCPW strives to offer many upgraded sites with power, water, ADA accessibility, and sidewalks while accommodating as many campersas possible. Further development will help meet the public’s request for more accessibility and amenities at the park. Letters of support o f this project will help enhance M CPW ’s grant application. If you would be willing to support this grant please contact: Kirsti Cason, M orrow County Public Works Department, P.O. Box 428, Lexington, Oregon 97839. You may also send letters via e-mail to mcparks@co.morrow, or.us - Subject: 2011 LG Cutsforth. For more infor mation call 541-989-9500. Mark your calendars for annual St. Patrick’s celebration Heppner’s 29lh an nual “Wee Bit of Ireland” St. Patrick’s Celebration will be held March 17-20 and the H eppner C om munity is getting the town ready to celebrate. The weekend will include, just to name a few, family flags hung through out the tow n, H eppner Chamber’s Irish Amateur Boxing event, KUMA cof fee hour and CEILI, with lots o f singing, laughing and celebrating. You will find Leprechauns through out the city and will have a chance to stop by and Kiss the Blarney Stone. Check out the Cruz-In Cars and save your spot to watch the Great Green Parade. Don’t forget to take in the Sheep Dog Trials and sign up to participate in the Irish Bowling team competition. There will be plenty of Irish music and entertainment, local shops for shopping, food vendors and book, crafts and photography fairs. All of the entertain ment (Tiller’s Folly and Old Time Fiddlers, just name a few) is sponsored by the Morrow County Unified Recreation District and is free to the public. So go ahead, mark your calendar and plan on participating in some good old Irish activities. The new schedule is being finalized and will be out soon, visit www.heppnerchamber.com or call the Chamber Office at 541-676-5536 for ques tions or to get a copy of the schedule. WCVEDG to hold annual meeting , The Willow Creek Valley Economic Devel opment Group will hold their annual meeting on Thursday, February 17, at noon at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Kurt Christensen, president of Renewable Ag Energy based in Ontario, OR, will be the speaker. He will discuss the purchase and operation of the power Colt Wrestling Program holds first tournament Pictured are some of the senior boys that will be available to help with spring projects. -Photo by Sandy Matthews Saturday will be the kick-off for fundrais ing for the after graduation drug and alcohol free party. Seniors will be auctioned during half time of the boys and girls varsity basketball games on Saturday, Febru ary 12. This auction is a major fund raiser for the seniors. They hope to raise over $1,500 towards the party’s nearly $9,000 cost. The auction allows com munity members to bid on a day of work from two or more students. The students will be available on week ends to perform yard work, office work, painting, farm ing any reasonable task. The class will also be selling Mustang water. The water will be in cus tomized bottles and may be purchased by the bottle or case at different events in town. It will also be sold at Heppner Family Foods by the case. Mustang water will be available later in the spring with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the class of 2011 as the water has been paid for through local advertising and sup port. This will be the fourth all night party held for the graduating seniors. Seniors arrive in the early evening to find food, in flatable structures for rock climbing, jousting, laser- tag, video games, massages, a casino room, and tables stacked with prizes. Every student receives prizes that are valued over $ 150 each. Most prizes are items that the graduates will use in college, including micro- waves, mini fridges, laundry baskets and numerous other items. “It is not just the fun entertainment and prizes, but also the opportunity for the students to spend a last memorable time with their classmates in a safe environment. It is a perfect way to end high school,” said a spokesperson. Anyone interested in contributing (cash or prize) or to purchase water can contact Heppner High School may call (541) 676- 9138. “Please attend the basketball game on Sat urday and buy a senior or two to help with a spring project.” Road Bowling returns to St. Patrick’s weekend H ep p n er’s Irish Road Bowling event will draw the St Patrick’s Day weekend celebration to a close on Sunday, March 20 . P a r tic ip a n ts in this fourth-year event will gather on Sunday afternoon before the 1:30 p.m. activity commences. Participants must be eighteen years old or older. This Irish sport that dates back to the 1600’s was played in America by the Irish troops in West Virginia during the Civil War. In recent years, a resurgence of interest in the sport has developed in both Ireland and the United States. Hep- p n er’s event has gained popularity since it was first offered in 2006, and entries are limited. If you are inter ested in participating, entry forms are available at the Chamber Office and need to be filled out and dropped off with the entry fee ($5 per person - $20 team of four) so number of teams can be determined. Teams o f two to four members compete over a course of approximately one mile by tossing the iron- and- steel “bowls” that weigh 28-ounce and are slightly smaller in diameter than a tennis ball. The team that completes the course with the fewest tosses wins. The purse is then divided, with half going into the St. Patrick’s weekend fund and half being divided among the top three teams. Names of the winning team's mem bers will be added to the trophy that is on display in the City of Heppner office. The starting point of the course will be de termined and that informa tion will be available at the Information Booth on Main Street on Saturday, March 18. Spectators are welcome at the event but are cautioned to remain a safe distance from the ac tion because the bowls are heavy and have been<known to break bones in unfortu nate situations. D on’t forget to come by the chamber office and pick up an entry form. They will be available at the chamber office starting on Friday, February 11. plant at the South Morrow Deadline to file County Industrial Park. Renewable Ag En for special dis ergy is a company formed trict position set after several years of re search in the renewable for March 17 energy field. Christensen Mtarch 17 is the and his partner Lance Wells deadline to file for open were instrumental in the special district positions on formation of a new Farmers the upcoming ballot. May Cooperative, Agri Energy 17 is the date for the up Producers Association that coming election for board operates in both Malheur members to fill the posi County and in the Morrow tions and terms for special and Umatilla county areas districts in Morrow County. in Eastern Oregon. This Petitions can be picked cooperative was formed up at the Morrow County to produce Energy Crops Clerk's office or from the for the purpose of creating state website at www.sos. electric energy in the local state.or.us. areas surrounded by the grower member’s farms. This is the driving factor Boardman ci(y manager announced on Friday, February 4, the resignation of working toward the pur Boardman’s Chief of Police John Zeiler. Chief Zeiler’s last day will be March 3. chase and operation of the power plant at the north end G R EEN F E E D & S E E D IN H E P P N E R : of Heppner. A hosted luncheon TAN A M o n ta n a S ilv e r 2 0 % O F F L J S M I I V O K N will be prepared by Sweet R S M IT » IS Productions. Those plan ning to attend are asked to W inter Clothing, Heated m RSVP to Marcia Kemp at 541-676-2100. Buckets & Tank H eaters 1 Boardman police chief resigns 5% OFF Leo Waite and Justice Petzoldt. members of the Colt Wrestling Program, work on their moves during their first tournament on February 2. - Photo by Megan Futter M orrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & S eed 2 4 2 W. L in d e n W ay, H e p p n a r • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (M CGG main office) |
