Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2013)
County Korean War vets honored Bessie Wetzeil v,M. L"livmityofOres„ „ PaPerl-ibrs :ir\ Eugene, O R 97403 Morrow County Korean War veterans were recognized during a town hall meeting held by Senator Ron Wvden on Feb. 17 at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. Pictured (L-R) are: Sam Scott, David Zachary, Senator Wyden, Grace Baker, Gene Doherty, Ed Baker, Billy Adams, Jerry McElligott and John Jepsen. - Photo by David Svkes Mustang girls head to state VOL. 132 NO. 8 10 Pages Wednesday, February 20, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lone student earns 2012 fireman of year By Andrea Di Salvo One lone senior is out to prove that, no matter the obstacle, a passion can be come a dream fulfilled. Stewert Syverson, 18, recently earned 2012 Fire man of the Year from the lone Rural Fire Protection District. Despite his age, and a potentially debilitat ing disability, Syverson is no cadet...the lone High School senior is a full- fledged firefighter. When asked why he thought he received the award, Syverson said it was because “.. .1 have been going through all my train ings, attending all my meet ings and attending every single call I can go to.” lone District Fire Chief Virgil Morgan agreed, but summed it up in one word... dedication. “He is taking the Fire fighter I training at the academy, doing that since last September,” says Mor gan. “He’s been very good at doing that; he’s very dedicated to graduate from the academy. He’s just re ally dedicated. Every time we have a call he’s always there. He’s just a good one to have.” Firefighting doesn’t appear to have been a boy hood dream of Syverson’s. Rather, he says, one of his mother’s coworkers asked if he would like to become a firefighter, because the lone fire district needed cadets. That was about two years ago, when Syverson was a sophomore in high school. “I was pretty nervous about joining but, once I joined, I fell in love with it,” says Syverson. “Without the support of my fellow firefighters...! would not have received the award and wouldn’t still be a fire fighter today.” Firefighting wasn’t just love at first sight; it has turned out to be a long standing commitment. Not only does Syverson work as a firefighter with the lone fire department, he has also been taking Fire fighter I training through Oregon Trail Fire Train ing Association, an acad emy based in Pendleton. lone senior Stewert Syverson with his 2012 Fireman of the Year award from the lone Rural Fire Protection District. -Photo by Paula Emmel He has been spending his spare time in the physically and mentally demanding training, which, he says, requires online schooling every Tuesday night and a trip to either Hermiston or Pendleton once a month for hands-on training. The hands-on portion of the training ended just last month, but Syverson still has two online classes to go before graduating from the academy in April. Appar ently, the training has been going well. “I was talking to one of the instructors the other day and he said they're re ally impressed with him,” Morgan says. “I think he’s one of the top students in the class.” Add to that a full-time senior class load, football, and being manager for the Cardinal boys’ basketball team, and you might think Syverson has enough on his plate. “I really like spending time with my friends. I re ally did like football. My schedule is pretty hectic sometimes,” he admits. The final and most dif ficult hurdle, though, comes in the form ° f the condition cerebral palsy. According to the U.S. National Library of Medi cine, cerebral palsy is “a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, learning, hear ing, seeing, and thinking.” In Syverson’s case, the dis order affects the movement on one side of his body, something he is determined not to let slow him down. “It did (affect my train ing) in the beginning,” says Syverson. “I was very frus trated and blamed every thing on my disability. I just pushed myself through it and now I’m in the top 10 percent of the class, getting my gear on, and doing it with a disability that affects the whole right side of my body.” Morgan agrees that the disorder doesn’t seem to hold back the teenager. “He’s always been there and does everything we’ve asked of him,” says Mor- Trample TigerScots for final state spot In the Blue Mountain Conference basketball tour nament at the Pendleton Convention Center last weekend, the Lady Mus tangs from Heppner faced a potentially season-ending game against the Weston- McEwen TigerScots on Friday. The girls responded with an 8-0 run in the be ginning of the game to set the tone for the Mustangs. Heppner ended the first half with a 25-21 lead as the TigerScots attempted to work their way back into the contest. In the second half, the third quarter went to the TigerScots, who outscored the Mustangs 15-8 to take the lead 36-33. Into the fourth quarter, though, the Mustangs’ pressure-man defense stepped up, holding Weston to three points in the fourth quarter to regain the lead and take the win 47-39. The win clinched a state playoff game for the Mustangs and ended the TigerScots’ season. Coach Jeromy Wilson (center) huddles with the team to talk strategy during the Heppner game versus Weston-McEwen last Friday night in Pendleton. -Photo by Sandy Matthews Bennett led scoring with 21, A. Wilson had nine. Greenup and Lindsay each added six, and K. Wilson scored five points for the Mustangs. Saturday’s game pitted the Mustangs against the Union Bobcats for third place in the BMC league. Looking worn out from the previous day’s game, the Mustangs struggled offen sively in the first quarter of play, down 13-5. The seco n d q u a r ter showed the Mustangs fighting back, not losing ground but not gaining, for a halftime score of 23-15 to Union. In the third quarter, the Mustangs used all their remaining energy, playing solid defense to stop the Bobcats in their tracks. A run by the Mustangs, with some outside shooting by the guards and rebounding efforts inside, tied the game at 27 halfway through the third. Finally, in the fourth. Union’s offense took over, -See MUSTANGS TO STATE/ PAGE THREE Wrestlers win four district championships £px Mustangs to compete at state this weekend The Heppner wrestlers competed in Crane Satur day in the 12-team Special District 4 championship. Even though the Mustangs only took nine wrestlers to fill 14 weight classes, they finished third as a team, one point behind second place Imbler. Imbler had no champions and two state qualifiers. All nine Heppner wres tlers won matches at the tournament and all scored bonus points with pins. Every Mustang stood on the podium for their weight class and received a medal for placing in the top six. Ryan Sm ith (106 pounds) started the team off with a win in the very first match of the tourna ment, pinning his Wallowa opponent in the third round. Smith went on to claim third place by winning a tight 3-2 decision in the consolation championship over an opponent he had lost to three times over the regular season. Will L utcher (120 pounds) also placed third for the Mustangs, winning the consolation champion ship in a high-scoring 19-13 match. Jesse Boyd Placed sixth at 138 pounds. Six M ustang w res tlers, Jared Lemmon (126 pounds), Alex Smith (132 pounds), Treston Ma- ben (145 pounds), Earl Propheter (160 pounds), Tim Nelson (195 pounds) and John Propheter (285 pounds) qualified for the district championship bout in their weight classes. It -See IONE STUDENT FIRE- FIGHTER/PA GE TWO ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. f was Lemmon’s third trip to the district finals and Nel son’s second, while it was a first-time experience for the other four. The 126-pound cham pionship match pitted two returning district cham pions and state finalists, Jared Lemmon and Austin Roath from Crane. Lem mon bled from a facial cut and Roath from his nose as both wrestlers used a substantial amount of allot ted blood time throughout the match. The battle was tied at 7-7 after regulation and went into sudden vic tory overtime. Lemmon ultimately won his third district championship with a takedown. Smith won in a domi- -See WRESTLING CHAMPS/ PAGE FIVE
