Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2012)
EIGHT- Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 28,2012 TEACHER RETIRES -Continuedfrom PACE ONE In Corvallis, she worked for Oregon State University, first as an ad ministrative assistant in the School of Ocean Engineer ing and then as the office manager for the state 4-H office. She moved to Hep pner in 1982. At that time, she worked for Morrow County Title and Abstract, staying there until she start ed teaching at Heppner El ementary in 1985. She was also elected mayor three and a half years after mov ing to Heppner, a position in which she stayed until she married Frank Osmin in 1991. She and her son, Ryan Pence, moved outside of town to join Frank and his sons, Derek and J.J. Ryan later graduated from Heppner High School. Osmin said it was fun being mayor. “Sure there, were politics,” she said, “but 1 got to travel, and I got to meet people going through the same stuff we are.” O sm in’s tim e as m ayor overlapped with her teaching career, and she said her students loved having the mayor as their teacher. “We got to do all kinds of things,” she said. “They got to meet the gov ernor, tour the sewer plant, attend the ribbon cutting at the flood memorial park and go to all kinds of different city functions.” Osmin said she has always liked to quilt, and recently bought a long-arm quilting machine. She hopes to use it more in retirement to quilt projects both for herself and others. She also hopes to catch up on her reading, but said her favorite jobs aside from teaching have always been those in which she got to travel, and she hopes to take advantage o f her retirement to travel back to Alaska, around the state of Oregon, to Colorado, and to visit friends and family throughout the U.S. She added that she recently renewed her teach ing license, and says she hopes to substitute teach some. “Morrow County School District has been very good to m e,” she said. “ 1 have more than enjoyed working for them and teaching the kids over the years.” MS WALK IN HEPPNER -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE numbness of the right side “Everyone who has of her body and extreme MS, their stories are dif percent of MS patients who had no sym ptom s until fatigue. She was diagnosed ferent,” says Orwick, who she had a seizure. As the at 22 years old, 35 years said that some people only result o f the seizure, she ago. McDowell, who uses discovered that they had a brace on one leg, MS when they had woken was diagnosed with is also able to drive up paralyzed. She adds that MS, diabetes and and uses a cane to MS is easier to diagnose epilepsy (however assist her in walk nowadays than previously. the epilepsy diag ing. She has sched According to on nosis has since been uled infusions once line data from the Mayo changed). Damage shows up as lesions Barb Orwick a month, previously Clinic, there are several in Portland, but now types of MS in addition to in your brain and available in the Tri- the “relapsing-remitting” O rw ick says she has lesions both on the Cities. She recently retired. type. According to the clin inside and outside o f her McDowell usually attends ic’s online inform ation, brain. A former teacher, an MS support group once some MS patients have a she says that for the first six a month at Murray’s Drug “secondary-progressive” years or so after diagnosis, in Condon with another type of the disease where she was still backpacking, Heppner person with MS. relapses and partial recover teaching PE, running to McDowell and Orwick say ies occur, but the disability the gym with her students that around six people in the does not fade away between and taking stairs two at a Heppner-Lexington area cycles, instead progressive ly worsening. A third type, time. She says, though, have MS. They both say that affecting approxim ately that because her foot began 15 percent of MS feeling like it was asleep, one of the hardest patients, is “p ri she stopped running and things about living mary progressive,” taking stairs two at a time. in Eastern Oregon which progresses She has fatigue, at various is that they have slowly and steadily to drive long dis times has had double vision tances for doctors’ from its onset with and at one time temporarily no periods o f re lost vision in one eye. She appointments and M e r i I e e mission and symp is able to drive and uses a treatments. toms generally not M c D o w McDowell cane for walking. decreasing in in “It has just slowed ell and Orwick are me down,” says Orwick, among around 85 percent of tensity. With a fourth and who is still employed, al MS patients who have the relatively rare type of MS, though not as a teacher. She “relapsing-remitting” type the “progressive-relapsing” currently is participating in of MS, in which they have type, “people experience the second phase of a study symptoms ranging from both steadily worsening in which she takes oral mild to severe and then ex symptoms and attacks dur perience periods where the ing periods of remission.” medication. According to data, M cD ow ell, who symptoms are in remission. was a cheerlead er and They say that although MS the majority of funds raised played softball in high can run in families, neither are used for research, edu school, says that she was di of them has relatives with cation and support services for people with MS. agnosed after experiencing MS. Fair and rodeo queen hits the trail for Morrow County M orrow County Fair & Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Queen Maggie Col lins has been busy. Before her official crowning, Collins attended a few other events, repre senting Morrow County to the rest o f the state of Oregon. She attended a coronation for Miss North west Professional Rodeo Association in Bend, OR late in February, and then the Miss Rodeo Oregon Queen Clinic and corona tion in Sisters, OR the fol lowing weekend. She got to meet several other counties’ fair and rodeo queens and our own Miss Rodeo Or egon 2011, Mackenzie C arr, who was just crowned Miss Rodeo America 2012. This was especially exciting, as M aggie’s mother and chaperone, Jeanie Collins, was able to attend one of the events and meet the all the royalty, too. The Queen Clinic helped Maggie with her public speaking, poise, horsemanship and inter viewing skills. She met peo ple who attended from the 4 Driver: Zech Hintz of Hep pner in a 1998 Ford Mus tang. L e p r e c h a u n ’s Choice: Mike Bunch o f Heppner in a 1969 Pontiac Firebird. Best Convertible: Larry and Cindy Curry from Pendleton in a 1968 GTO. Best Street Rod: Allen Anderson from lone in a 1967 Chevelle SS. Partie i p a n t ’s Choice: John and Midge Geer of Fossil with a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. C o m m i t t e e ’s Choi ce: Bil l and Pat Mclnnes from Fossil in a 1951 Chevrolet. Best 1930s & New er Pickup: Barb Wallace of Umatilla in a 1950 F-l pickup. Be s t 1 9 1 0 s & 1920s Car: Jerry and Sherry Fisher o f Irrigon with a 1929 Model A Ford. Best 1930s & 1940s Car (Custom or Modified): Earl Houchin from Kenne wick with a 1946 Mercury Coupe. Oregon coast to the states of Idaho and Washington. She was especially welcomed when she showed her skills of playing the fiddle and singing at the Miss Rodeo Oregon coronation. “ She n a t u r a l l y draws people in, and that will make it a wonderful year o f representing our county, its people, industry, fair and rodeo,” says Sylvia Sandford. Maggie has a full spring and summer planned of softball and county-wide events. This year’s theme for the Morrow County Fair is “Country Pride.... County Wide!” The year 2012 boasts the 99* year for the Morrow County fair and 90 years for the rodeo held in Heppner every August. Farmer’s contribution may give boost to farmer’s markets A local farm er’s contribution may make farmer’s markets more ac cessible to those who use EBT cards. A m erica’s Farm ers Grow Communities is an organization that gives farmers the opportunity to win $2,500 for their favor ite local nonprofit organi zations. Leanne Lindsay was the winning farmer in Morrow County, and she chose to direct the dona tion to the Morrow County Commission on Children and Families. “This organization does so much for our com munity,” Lindsay said. “I am just happy to be able to give something back to them.” Kim Carnine, Di rector of the Morrow CCF, said that plans for the funds haven’t been finalized, one option is to use the $2,500 to establish an electronic funds transfer system at farmer’s markets through out the county. This would allow those who receive government assistance to Best 1950s & 1960s purchase food to use their Car (Custom or Modified): EBT cards. EBT cards are Bob Daschofsky from Walla Walla in a 1958 Chevrolet Yeoman Station Wagon. Best 1970s & New er Car (Custom or Modi fied): Dennis and Sharon Mock of Hermiston with a 1977 Corvette. Best Foreign Car or Pickup: Chris Roop of Pendleton with a 1959 Tri umph TR 3A. Best Paint: John and Midge Geer of Fossil with a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Best Engine: Bud Jones of The Dalles in a 1940 Ford pickup. Best Fat Fender: Phil Prather of Kennewick with a 1942 Ford. Best Muscle Car: Bob Hartwell from Walla Walla in a 1969 Chevrolet El Camino. Best of Show: John and Midge Geer of Fossill in a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Longest Distance Traveled: Charles Lamb of Keizer, OR. Cruz-In winners announced The 11th annual St. Paddy’s Cruz-In was sub ject to all kinds of weather but that didn't keep partici pants from bringing 47 cars from from Hermiston, The Dalles, Spray, Pendleton, Irrigon, Umatilla, Keizer, Stanfield. lone. Fossil, Ken newick, College Place, Wal la Walla, Spokane, Washou- gal, Richland. Sunnyside and Heppner. Several businesses downtown helped the com mittee w elcom e the car drivers to town by par ticipating in a Poker Walk, where registered car owners went into a business and selected a card for a poker hand. The highest hand received $30 cash and the second-best hand received $ 20 . The Poker Walk winners were Karen Shreve of Kennewick, WA and Bob Hartwell o f Walla Walla, WA. Some downtown mer chants donated discount coupons to get the visitors familiar with their busi nesses. The award w in ners of the 11* annual St. Paddy’s Cruz-In are as follows: Mustang Award: Zech Hintz o f Heppner High School in a 1998 Ford Mustang. Teenage Owner/ Queen Maggie meets Miss Rodeo Oregon 2011 and Miss Rodeo America 2012, Mackenzie Carr, at the Miss NPRA coronation in Bend, OR. -Contributedphoto Corrine Lindsay, Kim Carnina, Leanne Lindsay and Monsato representative Kevin Zander during the check presentation on Ma rch 13. ~Contributedphoto the new, electronic alterna tive to food stamps. “Right now, people in the area who use their EBT cards to purchase gro ceries are unable to use them at the farmer’s mar ket,” said Carnine. “ We would really like to see everyone have access to the healthy options that the market has to offer.” She added that the Morrow County CCF has barely started looking into setting up the electronic system for farmer’s markets throughout the county, and they don’t know whether it will be feasible or whether the markets will be inter ested. If not, or if not all the money is used on that project, she said the bal ance would probably be given to the Community Health Improvement Part nership (CHIP) of Morrow County. “ W e'll definitely spend it in the county,” she said. Lindsay was able to present the Morrow CCF with the $2,500 donation at a ceremony held on March 13 at the Port of Morrow. Button drawing winners announced The winners of the St. Patrick’s Celebration button drawings were Dusty Gutierrez of Hermiston and Doug Gunderson of Heppner. Each of the winners received $100. V / I
