Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2013)
New council members, mayor sworn into office Bessie W etzell N ew sp aper Library University of O regon E ugene, OR 9 7 4 0 3 HEPPNER 5(K New Heppner Mayor Joe Perry (right) swears in newly elected Heppner City Council members (L-R) John Bowles, Dale Bates, Corey Sweeney and Skip Matthews. Matthews, who has prior council experience, was later elected president of the council. -Photo by David Sykes VOL. 132 N 0. 3 8 Pages Wednesday, January 16, 2013 By David Sykes The H ep p n er C ity C ouncil M onday night kicked off the new year by welcoming in a group of four new council members, as well as a new mayor. Incoming Mayor Joe Perry was first administered the Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon oath of office by outgoing Mayor Les Paustian, and then Perry did the same for new council members John Bowles, Dale Bates, Corey Sweeney and Skip Matthews. The council later elected Matthews, who has prior council experience, as council president. In other business, the council approved a side walk ordinance covering businesses and the public’s use of sidewalks on Main Street for sales, events and advertising. The council Parishes bid farewell to Father Condon Beloved priest, playwright and friend to retire By Andrea Di Salvo Parishioners at St. Pat rick’s and St. W illiam’s Catholic churches are ex periencing a sense of loss this month as they bid fare well to long-time parish priest Father Gerry Condon. Condon, who has served the parishes since 1990, will conduct his final Mass before his retirement on Jan. 27. No one who has heard Condon’s soft Irish brogue will be surprised to learn that the 85-year-old priest was bom in Dublin, Ireland in 1927. He spent his youth in Dublin, and says he first felt interested in becoming a priest through volunteer work when he was a teen ager. “In my spare time, I used to help at a hostel for the homeless, and I began to meet priests who would visit there from all over the world,” Condon says. “Through that, I became interested in sharing the gospel o f the Lord with other people.” As a young man, he went to study at Mount Melleray Abbey, a teaching community o f Cistercian (Trappist) monks situated on the slopes of the Knock- Housing center. She said apartment manager Kathy Turner had resigned and so the Housing Authority was now looking for a new man ager. Buschke said Turner did a good job and worked well with people, but did not care for all the paper work involved in tfie job. She said Turner was now also able to begin drawing Social Security. Buschke also said the apartments currently had two vacancies. Hie council heard from Public Works Director Chad Doherty, who said the crew was replacing city water meters and had 43 more to go, was taking in picnic tables from Hager Park and weather treating them, and -See COUNCIL MEMBERS SWORN IN/PAGE FIVE Heppner holds Town & Country awards Father Gerry Condon in the sanctuary of St. Patrick's Cath olic Church in Heppner, one of the churches where he has pastored for the past 22 years. St. Patrick's and St. William’s Catholic Church in lone will say goodbye to their long-time priest on Jan. 27. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo mealdown Mountains in Co. W aterford. Ireland. Condon went from there to study theology at St. Pat rick’s College in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. He was ordained at the cathedral across the street from the college in 1955 at the age of 27. That might seem young for a priest, but he said it wasn't considered a young age for an ordained priest at the tim e...espe cially not in Ireland, which was an estimated 90 percent Catholic then. Then, his life took a dif ferent turn, from the green hills of Ireland to the often not-so-green, wide-open spaces o f Eastern Oregon. “I wrote to half a dozen different areas where I had been informed there was a need for priests,” says Con don. “The first response I got came from the bishop of -See FATHER CONDON RETIRES/PAGE TWO School district to implement stricter safety protocols By April Sykes Morrow County School D istrict Superintendent Dirk Dirksen told the school board Monday night that in light of the recent shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook El ementary, where more than 20 students and teachers were killed by an armed intruder, the district is in the process of establishing safety protocol and tighten ing up school security. He said that he had met with administrators and the district’s safety committee on Dec. 21 to discuss dif ferent scenarios and ways to improve school security, including locking all ex terior doors except for the front door, establishing a tighter check-in process, first held a public hearing on the new ordinance. Al though several main street businesspeople were in at tendance, very little public testim ony was taken on the new ordinance. The council voted unanimously to approve the sidewalk ordinance. In other action, the council voted to approve a liquor license change for Bucknum’s Tavern from John and Nancy Gochnauer to Sharon and Ryan Miller o f Heppner. The Millers are purchasing the busi ness under the name of 3s Company. The council heard a report from council mem ber Judy Buschke, who also heads up the Heppner Housing Authority, which runs the St. Patrick's Senior establishing better position ing of security cameras and making improvements in the ability for staff to view the cameras. He said that he has set up additional meetings with safety officers and plans scheduling discus sions with staff and law enforcement. A meeting with law enforcement has been scheduled for Jan. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at Boardman City Hall. In other business, Dirk sen said that boiler issues at Heppner Elementary School and Heppner High School have been resolved, but that a big problem remains at Windy River Elementary in Boardman. He said that the boiler at Windy River must be replaced. The good news, however, is that the boiler is still under warranty. He said that since it will take around a week to replace the WR boiler, the plan is to install it during spring break. The boiler m otor at Heppner Elementary was repaired. He reported that there are two boilers at Heppner High School; the newer one had a problem with the fuel pump, which has also been fixed. Dirksen also reported that Morrow County Pub lic Works expects to start work soon on the project to resolve Irrigon Elementary -See SCHOOL DISTRICT/ PAGE EIGHT The Heppner Cham ber o f Commerce Town and Country Community Awards event, sponsored by Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific Project and Portland General Electric, was held at the Morrow County Fair grounds on Thursday, Jan. 10. This year’s theme was “Our Community Volun teers, Our Country Gold.” The following awards were given out: Youth R ecognition, Maggie Collins; Business of the Year, TREO Ranches; Woman of the Year, Babette Wall; Man of the Year, Les Paustian; Citizen-Educa tor o f Ye^r, Terri Gentry; and Lifetime Achievement Award, Don and Jean Ben nett. M aggie C ollins was selected for the 2012 Youth R e c o g n i tion Award. Collins was chosen for her under- s ta n d in g o f the im portance of hard work Collins and c o m munity, and for her matu rity. Collins, a senior at Hep pner High School, is senior class president, a member of the National Honor So ciety, a participant in 4-H and FFA, was 2012 Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Queen, and is involved in a variety of sports, among other activi ties. In FFA, she is among the top 10 percent in the s ta te and has earned h e r s ta te degret. Her love of animals and interest in veterinary m e d ic in e has led to a sch o o l- to-work experience at Dr. Tem Phil and Kathy ple’s veteri nary clinic in Lexington. “This individual treats everyone fairly, with re spect and com passion,” said award presenter John Flaherty. “This student is also a take-charge person who both receives and gives directions well in inde pendent and cooperative settings.” TREO (Tours and Rec reation of Eastern Oregon) Ranches, owned by Phil and Kathy Carlson, was se lected as the 2012 Business of the Year. TREO began operations 25 years ago, offering guided chukar and pheasant hunting packages. The Carlsons, known as “Mr. and Mrs. Hospitality,” were recognized for their vision and hard work, as well as the hospitality that is said to be the key to their success. “This business started with a vision of something new," said one person at the Ç SM «x Carlson, TREO Ranches and hospitality came to be by bringing sportsmen to South M orrow County. Their guests come here from all over the nation and enjoy this beautiful area we often take for granted.” The 2012 Woman o f the Year is Babette Wall. “ .. .She has entrenched h erself in the fabric o f our community,” one per so n s ai d tongue-in- cheek of the seamstress, interior d e c o ra to r and Bank o f Eastern Oregon employee. “In fact, you could say she is ’cut out of the same cloth.’” Wall was chosen Wom an of the year because, said those who nominated her, she “brings back the real -See TOWN & COUNTRY AWARDS/PAGE FIVE A r ^ V $ /. event. “With a lot of hard work, this vision of tourism 9.99 w " / 1 GallonNOL75122 M o ïr o w CO u L « V ìg to V > 8 ^ 2 1 H-BOtfréS Q II OUT ¥
