Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2011)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 16,2011 Saint Patrick’s Parish ham dinner tradition going strong N early 30 y ears ago, on Saint Patrick’s Day, Jimmy Farley, Jim Healy, and Harry O ’Donnell began offering up a ham dinner to the members of St Patrick’s Church. The parishioners enjoyed these m eals for several years. During this time it was decided to invite the rest community to join the parishioners. The meal becam e a stew feed and was organized by Eleanor Gonty. The stew feed grew until it became apparent that there was a need for a larger meal for more people. Thus, a ham dinner created by three local men became the annual St. Patrick’s Ham Dinner. T his y e a r ’s ham dinner will be held at St. P atrick’s Catholic Parish hall on Saturday, March 19, from 4-7 p.m. The cost is $9 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12, and free for chil dren four and under. S in c e th e e a rly 1980s it over four hundred people to line up an n u ally and enjoy the meal at the ch u rch ’s parish hall. Trish Sweeney was the first chairperson to organize this event. She was followed after several years by Gwen Healy and G arnett H ud dleston, Marge Kenny and Evelyn Sweek, M aryAnn Elguezabal, and Roberta Lutcher. These women have directed the many members o f the Altar Society during their preparations for their largest fund-raising event. This y e a r’s event com es full circle when it will be headed by Trish Sweeney again. She will be over seeing the many comm it tees that will be cleaning, shopping, cooking, setting up, serving and eventually cleaning up. By the time that last person puts down his fork and pushes back from the table it is likely that every C atholic lady in Heppner will have had a hand in some aspect o f his meal. The ham dinner is well known for the quality of food that is served. It is also famous for the large assortm ent o f homemade pies available to the din ners. During the meal you will find young parishioners pushing cart after carts full of every kind of fresh baked pie imaginable. The suc- cess o f this event depends on a large co m m itm en t from nearly every member o f the parish. There have been years when it has been difficult to rally everyone together and start them all on the long preparation for this meal. Luckily there is al ways someone there to re mind them that many, many fam ilies and visitors are counting on them for sus tenance on this long day of celebrating. Where else can over four hundred people sit down with their friends and families and enjoy Hepp ner’s hospitality. This meal is not only a fundraiser, but it is an important part o f Heppner’s Saint Patrick Day Celebration. Free Sky warn Weather Spotter training in Heppner Volunteers are be ing sought to participate in the latest weather spot ter training on April 7 in Heppner. Weather spotters train ed by the N ational Oceanic and Atmospheric A dm inistration (N O A A ) National Weather Service (NWS) are key volunteers who assist the meteorolo gists by providing up-to- d a te in fo rm a tio n about storm activity. T he S k y w arn Weather Spotter training is free and will be held in the Morrow County Emergency Operations Center, located at 320 South Willow View in H eppner beginning at 7 p.m. and co-sponsored by Morrow County Emer- ¡ÉTireslumH¡¡v/:i;i PASSENGER CAR TIRES LIG H T TR U C K & SUV TIRES > / ALL SEASON RELIABILITY The durable. M & S rated, Open Country A/T otters aggre ssive wet and snow A quality all se aso n tire with a 70 000 traction tor pickups, vans and SU V s mile warranty It's modern tread pattern This versatile all terrain tire provides quality handling tor increased delivers rugged good looks without vehicle safety. P205/75SR 15 com prom ising handling or ride comfort G R EA T B U Y ! (V f EXCELLENT VALUE! 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Even though the Doppler weather radar is scanning the skies and the NOAA W eather Radio is b ro a d c a stin g fo re c a sts, w atches, and w arn in g s, forecasters depend upon getting good information from tra in e d S k y w arn weather spotters. “ Skyw arn volun teers are not storm chasers, although m any Skyw arn members, both local and na tionwide, may chase storms on their own tim e,” said Dennis Hull, NWS Warning Coordination M eteorolo gist at the forecast office in Pendleton. “The National Weather does not encourage storm chasing because it is very dangerous.” Hull added, “The safety of all Skywarn spot ters is a high priority. Sky- wam members are volun teers trained in w eather spotting and reporting those findings in a timely manner using the phone, amateur radio, or internet.” Skywarn spotters attend a two-hour training session where they learn how to observe cloud for mations and other weather in this area. The Weather S ervice tea c h e s how to determ ine w hich storm s are potentially severe. Spot ters use a special toll free number, amateur radio fre quency, or the internet ad dress to let the forecasters at the N ational W eather Service office in Pendleton know what is happening in their area. M eteorologists use this data as they issue severe weather warnings or statements to the residents o f Morrow County. In the winter, spot ters report heavy snow, icing, high winds, and bliz zards. Skywarn also works to ensure National Weather Service forecasts, watches, and warnings are broadcast and received in a tim ely manner. I n te r e s te d r e s i dents who w ould like to learn more about the local weather or those who may have an interest helping your neighbors obtain good weather warnings, are in vited to attend the Sky Warn Weather Spotter training. V olunteers are asked to bring inform ation about their latitude, longitude, and elevation so their loca tions can be easily mapped. Those attending w ill be eligible for door prizes. More information about the training is avail able by contacting Morrow County Emergency M an agement at 541-676-5161 or the N ational W eather Service at 541-969-7136. You can also email Hull at dennis.hull@noaa.gov. Ad ditional information is also available at the National Weather Service website at http://w w w .w eather.gov/ pendleton. N O A A W e a th e r Radio broadcasts to Mor row County from transmit ters at Sillusi B utte and Wilkenson Hill on a fre quency o f 162.425 MHz and near Boardman on AM 1610 KHz. A dditional infor mation about Skywarn can be found at http://w w w . skywam.org. Teen club night planned for Saturday A teen club night will be held at Sweet Pro d u c tio n s on S a tu rd a y , M arch 19, from 8-11:30 p.m. Admission is $2. There will be dancing, music, and specialty drinks.
