Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2012)
Morrow County’s biggest winners announced More than a ton o f weight lost county-wide 97403 Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 The Biggest Win ner competition is over, and Morrow- County has won by a ton. For the past 12 HEPPNER unes VOL. 131 N O. 14 8 Pages Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Irrigon principal to retire By Andrea Di Salvo M orrow County will say farewell to long time principal John Sebas tian at the end of this school year. The 63-year-old will retire at the end of June af ter 18 years as principal of A.C. Houghton Elementary School in Irrigon. S e b a s ti a n h a s worked in education for 41 years. Born and raised in Yakima, WA, he gradu ated from Eisenhower High School in Yakima. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, as well as a teaching cer tificate, from the University of Washington in 1971. He graduated from Central Washington University in Ellensburg in 1973 with a master’s degree in school administration. He took his first teaching position in Ya kima in the fall of 1971. He taught for four years before moving to an administrative position; he has worked in school administration ever since. Sebastian moved to Jefferson County, OR after Yakima. Though he moved back and forth between Oregon and Washington th ro u g h o u t his career, working in various admin istrative positions, he says he spent about two-thirds of his career in Oregon. “I found the great est success in the good old state o f O regon, which seemed to have the greatest orientation toward school improvement, which I’m all about,” said Sebastian. “The climate for school im provement. and understand ing the moves and direc- tions necessary to making can substitute teach around that kind of improvement, their retirement home in seemed always to work best Sequim, WA. Sebastian says the m oney in Oregon. When 1 figured that out... will go to put gas well. I’ve been in in the motor home my present position and cabin cruiser, and to visit the cou in this state for 18 ple’s three grown years.” daughters who live Aside from his work at A.C. John elsewhere. He also plans to continue Houghton, Sebas Sebastian his pattern of civic tian has been ex involvement by do tensively involved in civic and cultural activi ing professional grant writ ties in Irrigon. He ran the ing and getting involved Morrow County Ski Club in service clubs such as for 18 years, creating op Kiwanis and Rotary. portunities for kids and Though Sebastian families to learn how to ski. has big plans for retirement He originated the Columbia beyond Morrow County, River Duck Race, raised he says he will miss the funds for the creation of area and the people with the greenway through Irri whom he had the privilege gon, and was continuously to work. part of the city watermelon “I had the oppor tunity to hire 95 percent festival. “ I t ’s been fun. o f the people currently When you get involved, working in this school,” he there’s a lot of opportunity said. “They’ve turned out to make improvements,” he to be a fantastic group. The said, adding that he saw it school has been tremen as part and parcel of being dously successful. It has an a member of the overall exceptional school report community. “I saw myself card. One guy can’t do that; as having a responsibility it takes a powerful group of people.” beyond the schools.” Sebastian said he Sebastian added and his wife. Rose, also love that within the last couple outdoor activities. Their fa of weeks, A.C. Houghton vorites include motor-home was nominated as an Or camping and boating in egon Blue Ribbon school, their cabin cruiser. Those a nomination given to only are both a part of their plans 18 schools out of 700. “Not only has this for retirement. Rose, a Title I teacher in Boardman, will been a great time in the also retire this year after 17 community, but it has been a great education experi years with the district. They don’t intend ence,” said Sebastian. “This to spend all their time laz is the best place I’ve ever ing around, though. The had an opportunity to work couple plans on maintain and the best staff along with ing their teaching certifi it. I’m proud of our group cates in Washington so they here.” Heppner, lone plan Easter egg hunts The cities of Hepp ner and lone will both offer Easter egg hunts for area children this Saturday. The Heppner Elks will host Heppner's annual Easter egg hunt on Satur day. April 7, at 10 a.m. Preschoolers and kindergarteners will hunt at HeppnerCity Park. First and second graders will hunt at the Lower Field by Heppner Elementary School; third and fourth grade will be at Hager Park. The Easter Bunny will be at the city park for pictures at 9:45 a.m.; adults are encouraged to bring cameras. lone’s annual Eas ter egg hunt will be held Saturday, April 7, at 10 a.m. in the lone City Park. Children up to the fourth grade are invited. The event is spon sored by the Bank of East ern Oregon, The Office Pub & Grill, Wheatland Insur ance, Dobyns Pest Control, lone Market & Deli and many community members who have made donations to keep this annual event going. Anyone wishing to make donations may drop them off at the Bank of Eastern Oregon in lone. -See pages FOUR and FIVE fo r Easter messages; Easter schedules PAGE THREE. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. weeks. Morrow County residents had an oppor tunity to participate in a weight-loss com petition and healthy lifestyle pro gram. As of April 2, partici pants in Boardman. Hep pner, Irrigon and lone lost over one ton (2,000 pounds) o f body weight. At final w eigh- ins in Heppner, lone and Boardman Monday night, participants took one final turn on the scale to de termine who had lost the greatest percentage of body weight in their individual communities. First-place w inners received $500, second place was awarded $300 and third place took home $100. Cash prizes throughout the county to taled $2,700. Heppner winners were Dennis Lien, winner o f first place with 19.6 percent body weight lost; Sarah Good, second place with 15.4 percent; and Vir ginia Voigt, third place with 14.5 percent. Though they were the only ones who took home cash prizes, they weren’t they only Hepp ner winners... 16 people in the Heppner competition lost more than 10 percent of their body weight, and Heppner lost a total of 840 pounds during the 12-week competition. W inners in lone were Scott Carter, first place with 18 percent o f body weight; Stacy Shelton, sec ond place with 16 percent; and Sharon Camarillo, third place with 14 percent. Boardman winners were Bill Hancock, with first place for 17.23 percent o f body weight; Barbara Hemnes, second place for 14.25 percent weight loss; and Lisa Pringle with third place and 8.64 percent. Bill Hancock o f Boardman donated his first- prize winnings of $500 to the Riverside High School wrestling team to assist with the cost of attending summer camp. “ Supporting the wrestling team is important to me,” Hancock said. The results from the Irrigon final weigh-in and announcement of first-, second- and third-place winners will be available next week, as the program concluded in Irrigon on April 3 and results were not available at press time. The Morrow Coun- Top: Heppner winners (L-R) Sarah Uood, Dennis Lien and Virginia Voigt. Middle: lone winners (L-K) Stacy Shelton, Scott Carter and Sharon Camarillo. Bottom: Boardman first-place winner Bill Hancock presents his pri/.e money to the Riverside wrestling team. Not pictured are Boardman winners Barbara Hemnes and I isa Pringle. -Contributedphotos ty Community Health Im provem ent P artn ersh ip (MCCHIP), a partnership of community members and human service organiza tions, initiated the Biggest Winner program to increase awareness and educate the com m unity about local health issues. A significant portion of the county popu lation is affected by or at risk for developing chronic disease, which was deter mined by examining data and information collected in the county-wide health needs assessment. Because health behaviors that con tribute to the development of many chronic diseases include obesity, inactivity and tobacco use. the intent of the program was to en courage healthy lifestyle changes in those areas. “Our whole family made changes to our life, cooking, eating and exercis ing, said one participant. "I thought it was a great program,” added another. "I came away with lots of good hints and ideas and a better feeling about myself.” The program was made possible by commu nity members and business es throughout the county, including contributions made to the program, local restaurants that supported healthier eating choices, individuals who promoted physical activities, instruc tors who provided fitness classes, and the Morrow County Health District and Columbia River Commu nity Health Services for do nating lab services. Anyone who wants to improve their own health or is interested in the w ellness o f M or row County can visit the website, http://ohsu.edu/ MCCHIP. NOAA issues monthly climate summary for Heppner According to pre liminary data from NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, temperatures in Heppner averaged slightly colder than normal during the month of March. The average tem perature was 43.5 degrees, which was 0.7 degrees be low normal. High tempera tures averaged 54.1 degrees, which was 0.8 degrees be low normal. The highest was 69 degrees on the 9,h. Low temperatures averaged 32.9 degrees, which was 0.6 degrees below normal. The lowest was 22 degrees, on the 7th. There were 10 days with the low temperature below 32 degrees. Precipitation to taled 1.75 inches during March, which was 0.23 inches above normal. Mea surable precipitation of at least .01 inch was received on 12 days with the heavi est, 0.40 inches, reported on the 22nd. Precipitation this year has reached 3.73 inch es, which is 0.38 inches be low normal. Since October, the water year precipitation at Heppner has been 5.53 inches, which is 2.64 inches below normal. Snowfall totaled 2.5 inches with at least one inch of snow reported on two days. The heaviest snowfall was 1.5 inches reported on the 22nd. The greatest depth of snow on the ground was one inch on the first. The outlook for April from NOAA’s Cli mate Prediction C enter calls for below norm al tem peratures and above normal precipitation. Nor mal highs for Heppner rise from 59 degrees at the start of April to 64 degrees at the end of April. Normal lows rise from 36 degrees to 40 degrees. The 30-year normal precipitation is 1.51 inches. NAPA PROFESSIONAL HAND TOOL SETS 50 % Off Qualifying professional tool sets, through the month of April, while supplies last M o rro w County city G U rain G ro w ers Lexington 989-0221 • 1-800-452 -7396 rm ru m «Mlpmaal Unit Mr a rt uw il wwa men om
