Showing country pride,
county wide
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran
University of Oregon
Eugene. ÓR 97403
Fairgrounds get sprucing up before big week
5(K
Miranda Taylor (front) and Emily Taylor (back) plant fresh flowers around the Morrow County
Fairgrounds as part of a 4-H project to brighten up the grounds before the fair next week. The
girls are members of the Boardman community 4-H club. -Photo by David Sykes
VOL. 131
N 0 .3 1
8 Pages
Wednesday, August 8,2 01 2
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Queen sightings
You have to be up early
to catch a glimpse of Mor
row County’s Fair and Ro
deo Queen Maggie Collins
as she travels down the
road to another parade and
rodeo.
It has been a busy sum
mer for Maggie as mile
after mile is put on her dad’s
pickup truck...Maggie has
put in more than 2,750
miles with more than 18
appearances both in and out
of the county.
She has traveled to
Redmond, OR for the Miss
Rodeo Oregon and Miss
NPRA coronations in Feb
ruary and March. She went
to Coulee City, WA for a
Rodeo Queen/Bible Camp
in June, and then to Chief
Joseph Days in July in Jo
seph, OR, with many stops
in between.
If you haven’t seen her
on the road or on the town,
you may have heard her
voice promoting Morrow
County Fair and Rodeo on
various radio stations. She
has been on Y 102.3 FM
The Dalles, 103.5 KWHT
in Pendleton and, just re
cently, Hermiston’s 1360
KOHU.
Maggie says she is hav
ing a great time promoting
our county and inviting
everyone she meets to come
to her county and meet the
wonderful people here.
“ She has im pressed
many people whom she has
met, and they are impressed
with her friendly, outgoing
personality, and genuine
Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Queen Maggie Collins (R)
and Miss Rodeo Oregon Shelby Ross. -Contributedphoto
compassion, says mom
Jeannie Collins. “Children
love to follow her and little
girls want to be a rodeo
queen, too.”
Maggie’s next appear
ance is Saturday at Fossil
for the parade and rodeo.
She is getting ready for the
Morrow County Fair and
Rodeo and wants to invite
everyone to come and enjoy
the festivities all week long.
Remember that the Friday
night during the rodeo is
Tough Enough to Wear
Pink Night. Maggie has a
lot o f surprises in store for
the audience, so everyone
is encouraged to come and
enjoy the performances.
M aggie is still sell
ing raffle tickets for two
halves of a hog donated by
Mike’s Mobile slaughter.
Tickets are $ 1 each or 6 for
$5. Call M aggie’s home
phone number at 541-676-
8037 and ask for Maggie or
Jeannie for tickets or ticket
information, call Jeannie’s
cell phone at 541 -922-7204,
or see Maggie or her mom
at the fair, as tickets will
be available there. Winners
will be drawn Saturday
and Sunday during the ro
deo performances; winners
need not be present.
One thing is for sure; if
you want to catch a glimpse
of Queen Maggie, you need
to come join Maggie and
celebrate this years’ Coun
try Pride, County Wide at
the Morrow County Fair
and Rodeo.
L e a r n m o re a b o u t
Queen Maggie in this week s
special fair edition.
NOAA issues monthly
climate summary
According to prelimi
nary data received by NO-
AA’s N ational W eather
Service in Pendleton OR.
temperatures at Heppner
averaged near normal dur
ing the month of July.
The average tempera
ture was 70 degrees, which
was 0.2 degrees above nor
mal. High tem peratures
averaged 85.3 degrees,
which was 0.4 degrees be
low normal. The highest
was 98 degrees on the 9th.
Low temperatures averaged
54.6 degrees, which was 0.7
degrees above normal. The
lowest was 42 degrees, on
July 4.
On seven days, the
temperature exceeded 90
degrees.
Precipitation totaled
1.04 inches during July,
r
W hooping Cough hits
M orrow County
Morrow County Health
Department has received
confirmation from the Or
egon State Public Health
Laboratory that two coun
ty residents have recently
tested positive for Pertussis,
also known as Whooping
Cough, the department re
ported this week.
“This news was expect
ed,” says Shelley Wight,
C om m unicable Disease
Coordinator for the Morrow
County Health Department.
“ We have been closely
monitoring the situation in
partnership with the Acute
and Communicable Disease
program o f the Oregon
Health Authority and our
local medical providers.
While most cases have oc
curred in western Oregon so
far, the number of cases in
northeast Oregon has been
slowly increasing over the
past few months.”
Pertussis is a respira
tory disease caused by bac
teria that live in the nose,
mouth and throat o f in
fected individuals. It often
causes serious problems in
babies, but is usually milder
in older children and adults.
While Pertussis can occur at
any age, infants and young
children are at the high
est risk of life-threatening
consequences. Almost half
of the 525 infants diagnosed
with Pertussis in Oregon
since 2000 have had to be
hospitalized.
The first symptoms—
runny nose, sneezing, mild
fever and cough—usually
appear five to 21 days af
ter a person is infected.
After one or two weeks,
the cough gets worse and
starts to occur in strong
“coughing fits.” In young
children, these coughing fits
are followed by a whooping
sound as they try to catch
their breath, and the strong
coughing may cause people
to vomit or turn blue from
a lack of air. It may be hard
for babies to eat, drink or
breathe. The disease can
last six weeks or longer.
There are things you
can do to help protect your
self and your family from
Pertussis:
-Get yourself and your
family vaccinated. See your
medical provider or call the
Morrow County Health De
partment to check on your
immunization status.
-All children should
have the complete DTaP
vaccination series.
-At age 11-12, children
need a booster shot in order
to extend their protection.
-All adults over age
19 who have not received
a booster shot should get
one. While an adult with
Pertussis may not become
very sick, they can infect a
vulnerable infant.
-It is especially impor
tant that pregnant women
be vaccinated after their
20th week.
-Use good health man
ners, as Pertussis is highly
contagious and spreads
easily by coughing and
sneezing:
-Cover your sneeze or
cough with a tissue or your
sleeve—not your hands,
-Touching a tissue or
sharing a drinking cup can
also spread the disease.
-If you are sick, stay
home and avoid being near
infants,
-If sick or caring for
someone sick, wash your
hands often to avoid spread
ing germs,
-See your medical pro
vider if you have a severe
cough or a cough lasting
more than two weeks. Your
doctor can diagnose the
disease based on symptoms
and laboratory tests.
“Pertussis is a danger
ous disease, especially for
infants and young children
who are not yet fully im
munized,” says Health Di
rector Sheree Smith. “Even
if you are fully immunized,
there is no guarantee you
won’t get the disease. It
is important that everyone
knows their current im
munization status and that
of their family members.
Unfortunately, the number
of cases in the state and in
northeast Oregon continues
to climb and there is no
way to predict when the
outbreak will be over.”
To stay informed about
the situation or to get more
information, see Pertussis
in Oregon at http://l.usa.
gov/PertussisQregon or the
Centers for Disease Control
at http://vvw w .cdc.gov/
features/pertussis/.
Retirement open house
planned
City bids farewell to DeMayo
A retirement open house is planned for outgoing Heppner City Manager Dave
DeMayo on Tuesday, Aug. 21 from 3-6 p.m. at Heppner City Hall. Everyone is invited
to stop by and wish him well. Refreshments will be served.
Special fair section in this
week’s paper
w hich was 0.71 inches
above normal. Measurable
precipitation o f at least
.01 inch was received on
six days with the heaviest,
0.50 inches, reported on
the 18th.
Precipitation this year
has reached 11.43 inches,
which is 2.44 inches above
normal. Since October, the
water-year precipitation at
Heppner has been 13.23
inches, which is 0.18 inches
above normal.
A special 28-page Fair and Rodeo section is included in this week’s Heppner
The outlook for Au Gazette-Times. The section contains articles, interviews, photos and other information
gust from NOAA’s Climate about the upcoming Morrow County Fair and Rodeo.
Prediction Center calls for
near-normal temperatures
and near- to below-normal
o n v e n t io n a l
precipitation. Normal highs
for Heppner during August
otor
il
are 85.5 degrees and normal
lows are 53.5 degrees. The
5W30, 10W40, SAE30,
30 year normal precipita
SAE40,10W30, 20W50,
tion is 0.39 inches.
5W20, #75050, 100,110,
The National Weather
120, 130,140,150
Service is an office of the
M o r r o w C o u n t y G r a in G r o w e r s
National Oceanic and At
Lexington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 7 3 9 6 For f»nn imulpnwm * 1 *lt rar w#b alt« at »ww.
mospheric Administration.
NAPA C
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