Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2013)
Fallen heroes honored at Heppner cemetery Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 HEPPNER American Legion Auxiliary member Evelyn Sweek distributes flags at the Heppner Masonic Cemetery last Thursday. Sweek was one of several volunteers out getting the cemetery ready for the Memorial Day holiday. -Photo by David Sykes After 70 years, veteran gets high school diploma VOL. 132 NO. 23 10 Pages Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lone principal to retire By Andrea Di Salvo Jerry A rcher, K-12 principal at lone Commu nity School, will retire— again—at the end of this school year. This is his second at tempt at retirement; Ar cher, who retired from the Pendleton School District in 2009, came to the lone School District three years ago after deciding he wasn’t quite ready to hang up his hat. Officially, he says his last day of work is “a good question”; Archer says he will have exceeded the number of days in his con tract by the time he finishes, but adds, “You do what you have to do.” Realistically, he says, his last day of work will be June 25 or 26. Archer started life in Klamath Falls, OR, but says his family moved a lot while he was growing up. He attended school in 10 different Oregon school districts before graduating from Cascade High School, a school that served seven rural communities outside o f Salem, OR. He then attended Oregon College of Education (now West ern Oregon University) in Monmouth, OR. He gradu ated with his Bachelor of Science degree in elemen tary education in 1975. He next went to work in the Klamath Falls School District in Klamath Falls, OR, teaching there for nine years, until 1984. While there, he also attended lived in lone, projects have the University of Oregon, been stacking up. Since where he obtained his Mas both of their children live ter of Education degree in in the Boise, ID area, Ar curriculum and instruc cher says they will face the tion in 1980. In 1983, he decision of whether to stay finished his certification in Pendleton or move closer work for a K-12 principal to their kids. Antiquing standard adm inistrative has also been a long-time certificate, which is hobby, and he says necessary to work in it time to refinish school administra some o f that old tion in Oregon. furniture. F ro m 1 9 8 4 - “ And, o f 1988, Archer worked co u rse, a little for the Riddle School golf, a little fish District in Riddle, ing, things like OK in an administra Jerry Archer that we’ll find time tive capacity. Then, for as w ell,” he in 1988, he moved adds. to Pendleton. Over the next As for his retirement, 21 years, he spent time at Archer admits to mixed Sherwood, Hawthorne and feelings. Mckay schools as principal. “I’m excited about and After 21 years in Pendleton, ready to give retirement he was ready to ret ire... he a second chance but I’m thought. going to totally miss the “ I decided I missed staff and students and com kids too much and wasn’t munity here,” says Archer. actually ready to retire,” he “The kids are what brought says. “This (lone) opportu me in, so they’re probably nity came up. I interviewed what I’m going to miss the for it and was fortunate most. enough to get it, and have “This com m unity is had a great three years here. the most supportive com It’s one of the highlights of munity I’ve ever worked my career.” in,” he adds. “I have been Now Archer feels it’s totally impressed with the time to give retirement a dedication of the staff; it’s second chance. He says been a great staff to work home improvement projects with. Our board and super- are high on his retirement intendant are both the most list...he and his wife, Lin visionary leadership team da, still own their home in I’ve had the opportunity to Pendleton. After three years work with, and that’s made of low maintenance as they it really fun for me.” County deputies involved in car chase, foot pursuit On the morning of May 15, Marcario Salas Montoya called the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center with something interesting to say...Montoya had just seen his vehicle, which had been stolen, on Highway 730 near Irrigon. Montoya had followed the vehicle, and reported he had last seen it going north on Power Pole Rd. Mor row County Sheriff Ken Matlack located the vehicle on Power Pole Rd. With emergency lights flashing, Matlack instructed the sus pect to stop. That’s when the suspect took off. Dep uty Colleen Neubert and Deputy John Bowles were though; he drove approxi each nearby and moved to mately 120 feet through the intercept. farmer’s field and The su sp ect, then drove through later identified as a large metal gate 20-year-old Zach- belonging to the ery Lawrence Bar- same farmer. tz, drove through a B o w les w as farmer’s field, de now b eh in d the stroying approxi Zachery subject, with Neu mately 20 feet of L a w r e n c e bert directly behind wood fencing. Bar- Bartz him. The stolen ve tz then drove over hicle was leaking a six-inch diameter, fluid and the steel seven-foot tall steel pipe pipe was throwing a trail of used as a fence post. The sparks under the vehicle. vehicle received substan Bartz continued north tial damage, according to bound on West 4th Road, police reports, and the steel d riv in g reck lessly and pipe was lodged under the car. Bartz w asn’t done, -See CAR CHASE/PAGE SIX By David Sykes It took a while but Cal vin Cox, 87, finally got his Heppner High School diploma last week. It was the middle of World War II and Cox was 17 when he left Heppner High, prior to graduation, to join the Army Air Corps. He subsequently spent 26 years on active duty, and never did receive his diploma. But last Tuesday, Heppner High Principal Matt Combe took care of that when, at an assembly in front of the whole school, he presented Cox, now from Box Elder, SD, with his high school diploma. On receiving the docu ment, Cox urged students to get their diplomas and to study hard, especially math and science. “The world is chang ing and you need to keep up,” he told the assembled student body. As part of his military career, Cox was at one point stationed at Roswell, NM, the city made famous by a UFO incident in 1947.- Cox said he helped guard the building on the military base where the material from the crash was kept. Later he met and mar ried his wife, Constance, in Canada; Constance was from England and in the Royal Air Force. He also at one point flew on the B-29 bomber the Enola Gay (although not on the actual Japanese mis sion), which later dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. Cox was a flying photogra pher in the Air Corps. A large group of Cox’s relatives were on hand last Tuesday when he received his diploma. Blockbuster author takes aim at fiction By Andrea Di Salvo Heppner native Scott McEwen is at it again. McEwen, who gained a measure of fame as the coauthor o f “A m erican Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History,” is back to writing, churning out what already promises to be another sensation. This time, though, he’s us ing what he knows to delve into the world of fiction. Scott McEwen’s name is familiar to many in the H eppner area because 51-year-old McEwen was born and raised here. He was a local Eagle Scout and grew up hiking and fishing in the area, as well as hunt ing with his 300 Winchester. He graduated from Heppner High School in 1979 and then went on to attend Or egon State University and McGeorge School of Law at University of the Pacific, obtaining his law degree in 1987. He now lives in San Diego, CA and does corpo rate defense and litigation all over the U.S. He still has local ties; his brother, Bob- bie McEwen, is a familiar face around town. McEwen’s latest proj ect is the novel “Sniper Elite: One Way Trip.” Ac cording the jacket descrip tion, “In direct defiance o f the president’s orders, Navy M aster C hief Gil Shannon, one of America’s most lethal SEAL snipers, launches a bold mission comprised of SEAL Team Six and Delta Force fighters to free a captured female -See MCEW EN A JJTHORS SNIPER NOVEL/PAGE FOUR Mustangs mop up Heppner Lilly Sandford, Kenzi Hughes and Maci Gibbs do some lot cleanup behind St. Patrick's Senior Center during Heppner High School’s Mustang Mop-Up day, May 22. -Photo by Me gan Futter r~i C rain \ gauge $9 1.99 " ■ 'N L r Æ ^ T a a ju - O w J 1 The w orld's best rain gaugi 1 M ade in the U SA Q uality since 1 8 7 5 ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Calvin Cox receives his high school diploma from Heppner High School principal Matt Combe. - Photo by DavidSvkes on sa'« I M o rro w C o u n ty G ra in G ro w e rs V W ™ Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 r * f a r m » q u l p i iw m . net o u r W tt) ttt* > t m m e e t net J
