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