Parade lights up night
Community1 Bank wins 2012 commercial trophy
11 1 ■ 1 1 1 • 111 •••• 1111 ■1111
1 1
111
1 1
1
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper l ibran
University of Oregon
Eugene, OK 97403
5(K
VOL. 131
N O. 48
8 Pages
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
New face at local
veterinary clinic
By Andrea Di Salvo
Pet and livestock own
ers in south Morrow County
will see a friendly new face
at the Temple’s veterinary
clinic in Lexington.
Stephan Gibson, DVM,
jo in ed Dick and Karen
Temple in their business
Nov. 19. The 27-year-old
obtained his Doctorate in
Veterinary Medicine from
Kansas State University in
Manhattan, KS in May of
this year; his position with
the Temples, he says, will
be his first “professional”
job.
Despite his youth and
recent graduation, Gibson
has no shortage of life ex
perience. He was bom in
Zimbabwe, Africa, while
his father was w orking
with the U.S. Agency for
International Development
(USAID) in Zambia. When
Gibson was two, the family
returned to the U.S., where
they lived in Illinois for the
next 12 years.
They then moved to the
Ukraine, where Gibson’s
Top: Community Bank employees designed this year’s winning commercial entry. Bottom: Doris
Brosnan presents the glittering star trophy for the best commercial float to Community Bank
employees. Pictured (L-R) are: Amy George, Doris Brosnan, Branch Manager Nikki Worden
and Jenelle Von Gunten. Not pictured is Nicole Skillings. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
New vet Stephan Gibson started with Dick Temple’s vet prac
tice in Lexington on Nov. 19. (L-R) Gibson and Karen and Dick
Temple with one of the veterinary clinic’s current patients.
-Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
father worked with plant
breeding to improve crops
while his mother taught
English in the universities.
His parents are currently in
Uganda, where his father
teaches plant breeding. Gib
son also has a twin brother,
and an older sister adopted
from India. ■
When he reached col
lege age, in 2004, Gibson
returned stateside to Kan
sas. He says he spent a year
before college w orking
on a calf ranch in Kan
sas, and then spent the
next three years complet
ing undergraduate stud
ies in veterinary medicine
at Kansas State. He then
went on to complete four
years of graduate work at
KSU, obtaining his DVM
in May. While in college
and graduate school, he
worked part time at various
-See NEW VET/PAGE FIVE
Pastors invited to submit
Christmas messages
Businesses, individuals also invited to sen d in
Christmas greetings
The Heppner Ga
zette-Times will publish a
Christmas edition on Dec.
19.
Area pastors are
invited to submit Christmas
messages to be published
in the Dec. 19 edition. The
deadline is Friday, Dec. 14,
at 5 p.m. Messages can be
dropped off at the Gazette
office, emailed to editor@
rapidserve.net, or faxed to
541-676-9211.
Any businesses or
individuals who would like
to have a Christmas greet
ing in the Dec. 19 Gazette
should call 676-9228 or
email megan@rapidserve.
net by Friday, Dec. 14, at
5 p.m.
NOAA issues monthly climate
summary for Heppner
According to data re
ceived by NOAA’s National
Weather Service in Pend
leton, OR, temperatures at
Heppner averaged warmer
than normal during the
month of November.
The average temper
ature was 43.2 degrees,
which was 1.9 degrees
above normal. High tem
peratures averaged 51.7
degrees, which was 0.9
degrees above normal. The
highest was 70 degrees on
the 1". Low temperatures
averaged 34.7 degrees,
which was three degrees
above normal. The lowest
I
was 23 degrees on the 26th.
There were 11 days
with the low temperature
below 32 degrees. There
were two days when the
high temperature stayed
below 32 degrees.
Precipitation totaled
1.39 inches during Novem
ber, which was 0.21 inches
below normal. Measurable
precipitation o f at least
.01 inch was received on
10 days with the heaviest,
0.31 inches, reported on
the 20®.
Precipitation this year
has reached 14.17 inches,
which is 1.49 inches above
normal. Since October, the
w ater year precipitation
at Heppner has been 2.80
inches, which is 0.06 inches
above normal.
The outlook for De
cember from NOAA’s Cli
mate Prediction C enter
calls for near normal tem
peratures and above normal
precipitation. Normal highs
for Heppner fall from 44
degrees at the start of De
cember to 41 degrees at the
end of December. Normal
lows fall from 28 degrees
to 25 degrees. The 30 year
normal precipitation is 1.32
inches.
\
Last T hursday saw
Main Street in Heppner
light up in a big way as the
community turned out for
the 16® annual Parade of
Lights, sponsored by Co
lumbia Basin Electric Co
op. Competition was stiff,
but a few sparkling floats
were eventually recognized
for their creativity and com
munity spirit.
The winners for the
2012 Parade of Lights were:
Best Commercial Float,
Comm unity Bank; Best
Community Float, Mus
tang Express Railroad; Best
Community Float, Santa’s
Little Helpers; Best School
Float, Class of 2014; Judg
es’ Choice, Bank of Eastern
Oregon.
All entries included
Bank o f Eastern Oregon,
“Skate your way to financial
happiness at Bank of East
ern Oregon”; Northwestern
M otel/Cornerstone G al
lery, “Oregon Trail Lights”;
Morrow County Fair and
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo,
Queen K rysten Powell;
Heppner Junior High (7®
and 8® grades) HHS Class
of 2015 and 2016; HHS
Class of 2014; HHS Class
o f 2013; “ Santa’s Little
Helpers”; “Mustang Ex
press Railroad,” Jim Kin
dle, Jay Keithley and Ryan
Jundt; Quilter’s Round Up/
Fine Baskets, “Gingerbread
Wonderland”; and Com
munity Bank, “Gingerbread
House.”
-More parade picture on
PAGE EIGHT
Heppner woman proves
it’s never too late for
adventure
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner woman Neva
DeMayo thought her days
o f adventure were over.
Then the 61-year-old re
ceived a letter that changed
her life.
Last year, DeMayo says
she submitted a resume to a
Lutheran women’s organi
zation, hoping for a chance
to represent the Lutheran
women o f Oregon at an
International Women’s Fo
rum in Warsaw, Poland.
When months passed with
no word, DeMayo assumed
they had chosen someone
else, and moved on with
her life. Instead, she was
shocked when, a year later,
they responded and pre
sented her the adventure of
a lifetime.
When she learned she
had to go alone, with no
husband and no friends,
she says she started to get
cold feet.
“’Do I really want to do
this?’ 1 thought. ‘Europe by
myself?’” she says. “I did
things by myself I never
dreamed I’d have to do.”
Cold feet or not, De
Mayo started using the new
Mango language learning
system from the Heppner
library, downloading Polish
lessons onto her computer.
She says she by no means
became fluent, but did learn
a few phrases. She left for
Poland on Sept. 18, leaving
husband David DeMayo to
bach it for the next three
weeks.
After the three-day Lu
theran women’s event in
Warsaw, DeMayo says she
was given VIP treatment
throughout the country for
three weeks, including one
day in the Czech Republic.
She didn't list the places
she went, saying her experi
ences were too many.
“You’d have to devote
Neva DeMayo spent three
weeks in Poland this fall, an
adventure of learning and
self-discovery for this quiet
Heppner woman, who says
she had thought her chances
for adventure were finished.
-Photo by A tide a Di Salvo
the entire newspaper to me
if you were to list every
where I went, the things I
saw, the people I met,” says
DeMayo.
Neva's visit included
Lutheran churches, schools,
-See POLAND TRIP/PAGE
SIX
GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
I2LAVE CHRISTMAS TREES
Montana Silver 20% off
thru December 24!
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-6221 (MCQG main office)
f