1 1 1 a 1 1 1 1
• 1 1 1 1 •
111 1
• 111
11 1 1 1
11
Rising sun puts on light
show on Heppner Hill
1
Bessie W etzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, O R 97403
HEPPNER
■§(K
The rising sun put on a glorious display of color over Heppner Hill recently...a sight only en
joyed by true early birds like the one who captured this sunrise on film. Photo by Dick Paris
^ ^ *> 3
VOL. 131
N 0. 9 8 Pages
azettte
im es
#
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
2C
27
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Local man collects WWII
memorabilia
By Andrea Di Salvo
Local history buffs
will have a chance to peruse
a stunning collection o f
World War 11 memorabilia
this weekend.
The collection be
longs to Lexington resident
Charles “Chuck” Nelson.
The 61-year-old began col
lecting World War II ar
tifacts six years ago, but
says his fascination with
the period goes back much
further.
“ To u n d erstan d
my love o f history,” says
Nelson, “you have to un
derstand my history, where
I’ve been.”
A tru e M orrow
County native, Nelson was
one o f the first children
born at Pioneer M emo
rial Hospital when it first
opened. (Interestingly, his
daughter, Courtney, was
the last scheduled birth at
the hospital.) He was raised
on the Nelson family farm
near Lexington and gradu
ated from lone before going
on to attend Oregon State
U niversity in Corvallis,
OR. He later obtained a
four-year science degree in
agronomical crop science
from OSU.
N elson inherited
a love o f history from his
mother, Jean, who was one
of the founding members
of the Morrow County His
torical Society. His interest
in World War II began later,
when he served in Germany
Part of Chuck Nelion’s (inict) extensive WWII traveling dis
play. -Contributedphoto
at the end of the Vietnam
War. He was drafted while
in college, Nov. 2, 1972,
in the first lottery for Viet
nam.
“I was sitting in
the TV room in the dorm at
Oregon State,” said Nelson,
who recalls that his draft
num ber was 48. “A ny
body who went through that
might forget their wedding
date, but they won’t forget
their lottery number.”
Nelson entered the
U.S. Army. When the Army
saw his math scores, he
was assigned to fire di
rection control in the 5lh
Corps Artillery. His job
dealt with the technical,
computer-related aspects
of big artillery guns, such
as the amount o f powder
needed, firing direction and
angles, and accounting for
wind, temperature and the
rotation of the earth. Rather
than being sent to Southeast
Asia, though, Nelson ended
Piece of history comes
down
The McNab grain elevator west of lone was last week in the
process of being torn down. An exact date of the elevator’s
construction was not available; however, the Gazette-Times did
learn that on April 1, 1940, Morrow County Grain Growers
purchased the assets of Fanners Elevator Company, adding
Heppner, McNab and lone elevators. -Photo by Terry Harper
up in Darmstadt, Germany,
near Frankfurt. There, the
U.S. troops were housed in
World War II barracks.
In fact, everywhere
Nelson looked, he says, he
saw history. He saw the
Berlin Wall and the Eagle’s
Nest, stayed in a hotel that
once housed Hitler’s gener
als, and went to former con
centration camps all over
the country. He bought a
car and traveled throughout
Europe, drinking in the his
tory, especially the history
of the second world war.
“There are some
things in human history that
have changed the history
of the world,” Nelson says.
“This man (Hitler) was in
the right time to do this. It
wasn’t in a good way, but
the things he did are still
felt now.”
Nelson says Ger
many was ripe for Hitler’s
rise, with hyperinflation
at an all-time high after
World War I. He remem
bers, especially, seeing a
picture of a woman going
out to buy bread and cheese
with a wheelbarrow full of
money.
“Hitler promised
work and food. Everything
he promised, happened. He
just didn’t mention he’d
start a war to do it.”
It was while sta
tioned in Germany that he
met his wife, Lisa. Her fa
ther was an Army chaplain
from North Carolina, and
she was attending school
in Munich. After Nelson’s
deployment ended, they
were married and moved
back to Oregon. Nelson
has worked on the family
farm ever since, while Lisa
spent 16 years as a teacher
in Heppner.
Nelson’s collection
didn’t begin, though, until a
trip to visit his wife’s family
in North Carolina. It was
while browsing an antique
-See WWII ARTIFACTS/
PAGE THREE
Simulated hot air balloon
tour part of new visitor center
Port o f Morrow Commissioners talk to Heppner
Chamber o f Commerce
By David Sykes
All Port of Morrow
directors, as well as general
manager Gary Neal, attend
ed the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce meeting last
week and gave a report on
the current activities at the
Port, especially the new
visitor center.
The new in te r
active visitor center is in
construction and, when
completed next year, will
feature among other things
a 13,000-square-foot, two-
level exhibit space, gift
shop, 200-seat theater and
other displays that will
provide an inside look at
not only the Port of Morrow
facilities but the rest o f the
county. Called the SAGE
Center, the facility will also
show the economics of the
county in a broad range,
from farms and dairies to
the food-processing facili
ties and tourist opportuni
ties.
C o m m is s io n e r
Marvin Padberg from lone
talked about one o f his
favorite activities at the
center, the simulated hot
air balloon ride. The bal
loon tour was filmed by a
helicopter crew and will
show all of Morrow County,
including the south end.
“The simulated hot
air balloon ride will tour
the whole county,” Padberg
An oversized basket hanging beneath what seems to be a
hot air balloon is a portal for visitors to the SAGE Center to
visualize an aerial overview of the region’s key features and
industries.
told the Chamber. “This
(the SAGE Center) is not
your old dry museum; ev
erything is interactive.”
Padberg went on
to describe how the virtual
balloon ride would take 10
people at a time, rise high
into the air, and take partici
pants on a bird’s-eye view
tour of the county.
Padberg said the
tour would show, among
other things, how irrigation
has changed the north end,
a look at the OHV park,
dry land wheat farming and
other activities.
“ We are natural-
resource based and this
will educate people from
the west side on what we
do here,” added Gary Neal
when explaining the SAGE
center experience.
Neal said the cen-
ter would not only cater to
tourists off the freeway (it is
being built along Interstate
84 between the Port and
city of Boardman exits) but
would also accept field trips
and provide educational op
portunities for students.
A Portland design
company, the same one that
designed the Maritime Mu
seum in Astoria, is behind
the design of the center.
Seed money to con
struct the center came from
$2.7 million of state lottery
funds previously secured by
state Rep. Greg Smith.
In addition to serv
ing as an interactive visi
tor center, the facility will
serve as an event center for
fundraisers, wine-maker
dinners, and civic and so-
See VISITOR CENTER/
PAGE EIGHT
Health district to proceed with
Irrigon Medical Clinic plans
By April Sykes
G ail S argent o f
Sargent Architects, Herm-
iston, presented prelimi
nary plans for the proposed
remodeling of the Irrigon
Medical Clinic at the Mor
row County Health District
Board m eeting Monday
night in Boardman.
The board voted to
go forward with the plans,
which would increase the
size of the clinic from 1,694
square feet to 2,670 square
feet w ith an estim ated
building cost o f around
$194,800.
Board Chair Larry
Mills estimated that the
total project will come to
around $250,000 with ad
ditional costs for architect
fees and clinic furnishings.
The remodel would
add a fam ily-size exam
room at 110 square feet;
increase the size o f the
nurse’s station from 51 to
75 sq. fit.; increase the size
of the lab from 46 to 100 sq.
ft.; increase storage from
65 to 150 sq. ft.; increase
a provider office from 80
to 100 sq. ft.; add a flex
work station, which could
be used by various clinic
employees, at 80 sq. ft.;
add a private office for use
by the district’s EMT, who
is currently using a small
space at the Irrigon Fire
Hall, at 100 sq. ft.; increase
the size of the staff restroom
from 22 to 50 sq. ft.; add
a break room/conference
room/kitchen at 200 sq.
ft.; increase the janitorial
space from 10 to 36 sq.
ft.; increase the space for
electrical/computer server/
phone system from 14 to
20 sq. ft.
Sargent told the
board that they should be
ready to bid by the end of
April or May with construc
tion to begin in mid-June
and completion hopefully
by the end of October.
Mi l l s d i r e c t e d
MC H D CEO Mi chae l
Blauer and Chief Financial
Officer Nicole Mahoney to
come to the board’s next
regular meeting with fi
nancing options for the
remodel.
Also at the meet
ing, the board approved
spending in the neighbor
hood of $35,500 to replace
the fire protection sprinkler
system at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, as mandated by
the state fire marshal. The
board opted to go with Gen
eral Fire Equipment out of
Baker City. They had also
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE SEVEN
r ----------------------
PURINA HORSE FEED ON SALE
Equine Senior &
Strategy GX
$3 OFF/Bag
X
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed A. Seed