2012: The year in
review
Illlllllllllllllll......I l'l'" ll
Bessie W etzell N ew sp aper Library
University of O regon
Eu gene, O R 9 7 4 0 3
HEPPNER
5<K
2012 didn't herald the end of the world as many feared, but it was far from uneventful here
in Morrow County. Above: A view from the Morrow County Courthouse in Heppner during
the hailstorm that swept through South Morrow County on July 17, 2012. Vehicles around the
area received broken w indows and dents during the storm; roof damage was also reported in
some places, as well as some minor crop issues. All in all, though, the county emerged largely
unscathed from a storm that hammered the area with hailstones that some witnesses saiil
were as large as ping-pong balls. See page FOUR for more photos from 2012.
VOL. 132
N 0 .1
6 Pages
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Advocate for disabled
seeks to help Heppner
By Andrea Di Salvo
An area disability ad
vocate is trying to break
ground in offering services
and options to persons with
disabilities in South Mor
row County.
Darrin Umbarger, CEO
and founder of Clearview
Mediation and Disability
Resource in Pendleton, is
working to gain support to
expand his work to an office
in Heppner, which would
also serve Lexington, lone
and outlying areas.
“I want to be able to
spend time over there help
ing whoever needs it. Right
now it’s a community not
being served,” he said.
Umbarger, 47, has first
hand know ledge o f the
struggles faced by those
living with disabilities. He
has lived with M ultiple
Sclerosis more than half his
life, since the age of 23.
A Pendleton native,
Umbarger met his future
wife, Carol, in the ninth
grade. The childhood sweet
hearts were married in 1986
and their son. Jeremy, was
bom in 1987. After working
in the lumber mill in Pilot
Rock, Umbarger started his
own carpet and upholstery
cleaning business. Things
looked good for the new
family. Then, one night in
1988, every thing changed.
“I went to bed one night
in perfect health and woke
up the next morning and
couldn't walk, talk, do any
thing. It happened over-
Darrin Umharger(left),founder and CEO ofClearview MDRC
in Pendleton, with son Jeremy at a Heppner Chamber of Com
merce meeting. The pair was at the meeting to speak about
treatment of disabled persons. '-Photo by David Sykes
night. Surprise!”
Umbarger, who now
spends about 99 percent of
his time in a wheelchair,
said that, at first,-his dis
ability embarrassed him. He
ran the Pendleton Smoke
Shop and then UB Fishin’,
a business that manufac
tured and sold fishing tackle
throughout North America.
The whole time, he said he
kept to himself, engaging
the public as little as pos
sible. After a while, though,
he saw a need he thought he
could help meet. That was
when he started Clearview
MDRC.
“There are so many
needs...the communities
are rural, it’s not like the
ADA (Americans with Dis
abilities Act) is big in this
area. There are so many
places that are hard to get
into. There are so many
things they could do cheap
ly to make places more
accessible. We’re trying
to break down barriers;
it just helps everybody,”
Umbarger said.
He started Clearview,
a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to
address the needs he saw
in his own life and for oth
ers living with disabilities.
Clearview offers a vari
ety of services, including
job development, working
to make buildings more
accessible, peer-to-peer
counseling, etiquette and
sensitivity training, and a
medical loan closet, from
which they loan supplies
such as wheelchairs and
canes at no cost to those
who need them.
“With the medical loan
closet we have a lot o f
different types of medical
equipment that we loan out,
because some people only
need it for a short time,” he
said, giving the example
that som etim es electric
wheelchairs break down or
run out of power during a
prolonged electrical outage,
making a push wheelchair
necessary for a short time.
He said he would now
like to expand the work he
does in Pendleton to include
Heppner and the rest o f
South Morrow.
“People over there need
reco g n itio n ,” said U m
barger.
Umbarger said the ma
jority of the work they do in
Pendleton deals with help
ing people with disabilities
Manager of the Heppner mini-mart Dawn Brosnan presents find employment, mostly
One gigantic
stocking
Derek Howard, 12, with the big Christmas stocking he won
from Devin Oil. Derek is the son of DeRina and Matt Howard
of Heppner. -Photo by April Sykes
-See DISABILITYADVO-
CATE/PAGE SIX
Planning warm-water
therapy at water park
This article was provid
ed by the Community Health
Improvement Partnership
o f Morrow County.
If you want to increase
your winter activity level
but find yourself with lim
ited options due to age,
injury or disease, you may
be interested in the Com
munity Health Improve
ment Partnership (CHIP)
of Morrow County’s latest
endeavor.
“To encourage individ
uals to increase daily physi
cal activity, our communi
ties need safe routes to walk
and bike, as well as parks,
playgrounds and commu
nity centers where people
can find activities that are
exciting and challenging
enough to keep them en
gaged,” says a spokesper
son for the group.
To th is end, a new
workgroup is currently be
ing formed in Heppner in
partnership with the Willow
Creek Park District to rees
tablish operation of Willow
Creek Water Park warm
water therapy pool.
The project is part of
CHIP’S efforts to promote
healthy lifestyles and dis-
ease/illness prevention,
physical activity and the
development of fitness in
frastructure. CHIP work
groups continue to meet
throughout the county to
identify obstacles and im
plement solutions, such
as providing warm-water
therapy.
Aquatic physical ther
apy uses buoyancy and
resistance of water to cre
ate a unique exercise en
vironm ent. Warm w ater
pools make exercise easier
and less painful for people
recovering from injuries
or suffering from chronic
conditions. Aquatic physi
cal therapy also uses hydro
static pressure to decrease
swelling and improve joint
position. The warmth of
the water relaxes muscles
and improves blood flow to
injured areas. People with
muscle spasms, back pain,
arthritis, multiple sclerosis
and fibromyalgia typically
find aquatic therapy espe
cially beneficial.
Repair o f the hydro
therapy pool is already
underway but the work
ing group is tasked with
identifying means to cover
the operational expenses
for heat, maintenance and
personnel.
“As someone with MS, I
experience stiffness in my legs,
and the therapy pool gives me
the ability to move more freely
and actually strengthen my
m uscles,” says workgroup
representative Merilee Mc
Dowell. “I want this for many
others, which is the reason I'm
asking for your help.”
Anyone who w ould
be interested in using, or
who supports an individual
who would be interested in
using, the pool year-round
is asked to volunteer and
help make this worthwhile
project happen. Contact
McDowell at 541-571-5853
for details.
Fair and rodeo
queen celebrates
Christmas
Krvsten Powell (left), 2013 Morrow County Fair and Oregon
Trail Pro Rodeo Queen, visits with Santa Claus and Ivy Sand-
ford during the festivities at the Celebrate HcppncrChristmas
dinner on Dec. 20. -Contributedphoto
Chamber annual
luncheon this week
This week's meeting
of the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce will be the
chamber's annual luncheon,
held on Thursday. Jan. 3,
at noon in the St. Patrick's
Senior Center dining room,
C ham ber m em bers will
vote on proposed by-law
revisions at the meeting.
Cost of lunch is $10;
Stable of Youth will cater.
Lunch attendees are asked
to RSVP no later than noon
the Wednesday before.
Stop by for all your farm &
auto cold weather needs
Wiper blades - Diesel Additives
M o r r o w C o u n t y G r a in G r o w e r s