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
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