Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2012)
EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 15, 2012 A View from the Hill By Doris Brosnan The year 2012 has begun at Willow Creek Terrace with more oppor tunities to appreciate the “lighter side of life,” which residents view as critical to keeping a good perspec tive. For instance. New Year’s Day featured a fes tive breakfast and a crab- feed luncheon, and January continued to amuse and surprise with observances devoted to bubble bath, peach Melba, Fig Newtons, blueberry pancakes, belly laughing, clothes-clashing and working at life back wards. Remaining totally serious is difficult on those occasions. Celebrating Al vina Padberg's 91sl birthday on January 15 contributed to the festive atmosphere. February continues to keep residents and visi tors tuned into the unusual and entertaining, the silly and the serious, starting with “Hula in the Coola” on the 1st. That is when staff members Lori and Kristy dem onstrated the hula dance to the residents and Mabel Heath gave the dance a try. Delicious Ha waiian kabobs were the dinner fare. Among the early- month standouts was Super Bowl Sunday, when the residents and staff were invited to take a chance in a wagering pool. Some residents en joyed watching the close game in the sitting room while also enjoy ing the noshes set out by kitchen staff. Mabel Heath was the lucky winner of the pool for the first and second quarters. Marge Burgess, who has been a winner of at least one Super-Bowl pool each year since moving into the Terrace, won the third- quarter pot. The fourth- quarter, big winner was staff member Sue Baker’s granddaughter Jasmine. Valentines Day was a day to party with some other young people, students of Heppner Preschool. The Terrace was decorated w ith the theme “Bee Mine.” The children gave handmade valentines to the residents and staff, enjoyed a valen tines exchange with them, and stayed for punch and cookies. Celebrating her 91s’ birthday on Valentines Day, Liz Buehler and her neighbors enjoyed her cho sen menu for lunch, and the day’s festivities ended with a candlelight dinner. Next week will be observed as International Friendship Week, so discus sions on the Hill will focus on friendships that residents have enjoyed throughout their lives. O f course, these will produce both amus ing and serious memories. On Friday, the trivia game based on the week’s dis cussions will surely be entertaining. Scattered among these special events at the Terrace will also be days in honor of homemade soup, the Boys Scouts, the human spirit, French fries. Tootsie Rolls, and the Grand Can yon. And two more birth days will be celebrated. Anna Mae Steagall will en joy her 85th birthday on the 23rd, and Helen Crawford will be observing her 92nd birthday on February 26. Thanks to the sug gestion by several Terrace residents, visitors on these .and other days will soon find a new, useful front door quality: an auto-open feature, so useful when arms are full or hands fight with the standard latch. Of course, the welcome mat is always out at Willow Creek Terrace, for visits, parties and meetings, and a huge welcome will greet the next new residents. Two apart ments are now available, so interested parties are en couraged to call 676-0004 about the accommodations or about scheduling an event at the Terrace. If the unseasonably warm weather continues, visitors and residents will soon be able to enjoy the outdoor amenities more of ten. and can the planting of the garden be far behind? If this writer could send some Arizona sunshine to the Hill to cut through the recent fog, she would, but not so much that it would prevent critical moisture yet needed for the future garden and the farmers’ fields. The view from the Terrace will soon be greener, just in time for another month of activities, including the St. Patrick’s Day weekend celebration. GRP signup ends Feb. 24 Continuous sign up for the 2012 Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) will close February 24, 2012. The objective of the GRP is to support grazing operations, maintain and improve plant and animal biodiversity, and protect grasslands that are under threat of conversion. F or fisc a l y ear 2012, NRCS Oregon will give high priority to appli cations, particularly ease ments, that enroll sage- brush-dominated grazing lands within and adjacent to sage-grouse core area habi tats. Applicants enrolled in the program retain the right to conduct common grazing practices while pro viding high quality habitat for sage-grouse. Core area habitat primarily occurs in Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Harney, Lake and Malheur counties. “ G RP is a tool that can help improve the long -term sustainability of ranches in areas critical to sage-grouse” said Ronald Alvarado, state conserva tionist for NRCS Oregon. In several western states, GRP is being strategically targeted to help protect working ranches within sage-grouse high abun dance population centers or ‘core areas.’ Ranchers who en roll in GRP voluntarily limit future developm ent and cropping uses of the land in exchange for program payments. Enrollment op tions include permanent conservation easem ents that provide a one-time pay ment, or rental agreements of 10, 15, or 20 year dura tion that provide an annual payment. GRP easem en t offers are based on the Geographic Area Rate Cap (GARC) of $300 per acre. Wranglers club to meet Wranglers Riding Club will be hosting a meeting on Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the upstairs conference room of the Gilliam Bisbee building at 120 S. Main Street, Heppner. All who are interested in participating in the Wranglers play days this year are welcome to attend to provide input. Spray Rodeo court holds tryouts Tryouts for the 2012 Spray Rodeo court will be held Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m. at the Spray Rodeo grounds. The rodeo will take place May 26 and 27. Contestants do not have to be local or Wheeler County residents. They must, however, be at least 15 years o f age, and must never have been married or had children. For further information, calf 541-468-2442. MCHD holiday closures Morrow County Health District has announced that Pioneer Memorial Clinic in Heppner and Irrigon Medical Clinic will be closed on Monday, Feb. 20, for the Presidents’ Day holiday. Laboratory and radiology departments at Pioneer Memorial Hospital will also be closed that day for non-emergency outpatient services. Marriage Licenses The Morrow County Clerk has issued the follow ing marriage licenses: February 10: -Mr. Travis Burton Winters, 31, of Heppner and Laura Hanes Browne, 25, of Heppner. or a lower offer made vol untarily by the landowner. Rental agreement rates are determined by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and generally range from $8-12 per acre in sage- grouse country. Administration of GRP is a coordinated effort between the FSA and the NRCS. L a n d o w n ers or operators interested in us ing GRP to help maintain working grazing lands for livestock and wildlife can apply at their local USDA Service Center. For a p p licatio n materials and more infor mation, visit the NRCS w ebsite at http://w w w . or.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ grp/index.html or the FSA website at http://www.fsa. usda.gov/FSA/webapp?ar ea=home&subject=copr&t opic=grp. Heppner FFA represents at districts Heppner FFA was w ell-represented at the Blue Mountain District FFA Leadership Contest held at Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) Febru ary 2. K aelyn Lindsay participated in the Creed CDE, and Zech Hintz wrote a speech about social me dia and agriculture for the Advanced Public Speaking CDE; Zech placed third. The Advanced Par liamentary Procedure team consisted o f Zech Hintz, chair; Micha Hintz, sec retary; Khayman Heard; Kellie Nelson; Stephanie Schuler and Joslynn Trox- ell. The Beginning Par- liamentary Procedure team had Makenzi Hughes as chair, Kayla Kindle as sec retary, Paige Grieb, Maddie Lindsay, Macy Gibbs and Tate Gentry. The beginning team placed second and will be competing at the Sec tionals Contest at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande on February 16. State FFA Degree presentations were also held that day at BMCC. Those presenting for their State FFA Degree (the high est degree the state can bestow to its members) included: Lilly Sandford, Micha Hintz, Shane Miles, Maggie Collins, Kellie Nel son, Stephanie Schuler and Makenzie Correa. H e p p n e r FFA would like to invite the public to the FFA Green- hand Initiation on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Heppner High School caf eteria. Refreshments will be provided and the kids will give a presentation about their trip to the national FFA convention. Boots around the world The Welly Toss com petition was added to the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration two years ago because the John and Ann Murray family took a trip to Ireland. Ann Murray is an integral part of the St. Pat rick’s Planning Committee and told the committee the story of her family attending a celebration in Ireland and asking about their favorite game. The answer was “the Welly Toss.” The commit tee decided to integrate the game into Heppner’s St. Patrick's Celebration. Last year, MCGG and their Wellington Boot vendors generously gave us their “sample” boots to use for the adult events. The boots for the children’s Welly Toss were donated by Linda VanWinkle. Wellington Boots were originated by the DOL to re-propose farm kid regulation From the Oregon Wheat Newsletter The Department of Labor said it will re-propose part of a draft regulation re lated to minors working on the farm, seeking additional comments and modifica tions to “ensure protection o f both children and rural values.” In a release, DOL said a reproposed portion o f the rule covering the “parental exemption” will be available for comment in the summer. The parental exemption allows children o f any age who are em ployed by their parent, or a person standing in the place of a parent, to perform any job on a farm owned by the parent or the person in place of the parent. The dep artm en t said its decision came partly because of feedback from the public and Members of Congress following the publication o f a proposed rule on child labor. The S ep te m b er proposal was intended to make farm work safer for children, but largely over- Top: Zech Hintz (L) shakes hands with Patrick Linnell. Blue Mountain FFA District President from Hcrniiston. Zcch placed third in the Advanced Public Speaking contest at the FFA dis trict Leadership Contest at BMCC Feb. 2. Bottom: The Begin ning Parliamentary Procedure front Heppner placed second at the Blue Mountain District FFA Leadership Contest held at BMCC February 2. (L-R) Makenzi Hughes, Kayla Kindle. Paige Grieb, Maddie Lindsay and Macy Gibbs. Not pictured is Tate Gentry. -Contributedphotos looked the fact that most modem farms are enterpris es encompassing extended familiesand long-time but unrelated farm workers. Farm groups believed it would have had sweeping impact on farm operations, rural economies and valu able educational opportu nities for children in rural communities participating in 4-H and FFA programs. DOL said the re- proposal “will seek com ments and inputs as to how the department can comply with statutory requirements to protect children, while re specting rural traditions.” Until the rule under consideration is final. DOL also said it will interpret the parental exemption as it has in recent years. In a statem en t, Secretary o f Agriculture Tom Vilsack applauded the Department for listening to farmers and ranchers and said the additional com menting period represents “a common-sense approach to strengthen our agricul tural economy while keep ing farm kids safe.” Duke o f Wellington and are similar to the 18th cen tury Hessian Boot. In early 1800, Wellington ordered the boot to be higher on the leg to protect the knee when riding a horse in battle. During World War 11, the boot was manufactured in rubber rather than leather to protect soldiers’ feet from water. The boots are worn to protect the foot in many hazardous occupations. The names for the boots include topboots, billy-boots, gum- mies, muckboots, sheep- boots. poopkickers, and just plain farm boots and rubber boots. They are particularly popular in Europe and Nor dic countries. M em bers o f the community are all cordially invited to participate in this year’s Welly Toss competi tion. The competition in cludes team and individual play for those over 12 years old and individual play for those two to 11. All compe titions are during the day on Saturday, March 17. Team competition begins at 10:30 a.m. and individual play at 1:30 p.m. Willow Street will be closed between Murray's Drug and Artisan Village for the event. There is no charge for individual adult play or for kids 11 and under. Team com petition, four people to a team, does re quire a $20 fee to provide money to buy prizes for the winners. School teams are exempt from the fee. There is no other funding for the event. Welly Toss rules and other event details will be published in the paper two weeks before St. Pat’s. Team’s need to complete forms naming the team and the players; forms should be turned in at City Hall by March 9. The forms are available at City Hall, and Sheryl Bates also will be visiting merchants with the forms and to answer any questions. Teams may re quest times for play. Know ing that it’s difficult for a business to have everyone gone at once, the team members may toss the boot anytime during the time allotted for team competi tion. The St. Pat’s com mittee would like to see lots of teams this year. Compe tition between businesses and agencies and student groups can be fierce, and it would be great fun to have Irish teams “tossing" for bragging rights and to have their name engraved on the Traveling Boot Trophy. Call Sheryl Bates at the Chamber of Commerce, 541-676-5536, or Shirlee Sweigart at 503-522-2865 with any questions. DA’s Report The Morrow Coun ty District Attorney’s office has released the following report: -John Joseph Egge, 51, of Irrigon pled guilty to one count o f harassment, a Class B misdemeanor. Sentence of 90 days incar ceration was suspended and the defendant sentenced to two years bench probation. Conditions o f probation include 20 hours commu- nity service, enrollment and successful completion of anger management evalua tion and any recommended treatment, enrollment and successful completion of alcohol evaluation and any recommended treatment, and no offensive physical, verbal or nonverbal contact with the victim. Fines, fees and assessm ents totaled $548. Community lunch menu Hope Lutheran, Valby Lutheran and All Saints Episcopal church members will be serving lunch on Wednesday, February 22 at St. Patrick's Senior Center. The meal will include chicken salad sandwich, tomato soup, carrot salad with pineapple and raisins, and cookies. Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change.
