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-
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gency Management.
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.