Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2013)
Page 10 - Special Edition • Morrow County Fair and Rodeo • Heppner Gazette-Times, Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Stroebers honored at Centennial fair Two long-tim e Heppner residents, Don and Jan Stroeber, were honored this year from their continued commitments to the M orrow County Fair and Rodeo. Don was selected 2013 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Grand Marshal, while his w ife. Jan—“Mrs. 4-11" and avid fair supporter received the honor o f having the 2013 fair premium book dedicated to her. It's no accident that this couple should be the people honored this way in this year. Soft-spoken Jan Stroeber can alw ay s be c o u n ted on to help out w ith the fair, generally behind the scenes and definitely without taking any credit. The advice she gives, “Ask not what the fair can to for you, but ask what you can do for your fair.” paraphrasing John Kennedy's statement, just about sums up her hard work and dedication to 4-H and the fair. Ja n s ta r te d w o r k in g with 4-H kids around 1974, supervising a group o f kids b e fo re h e r ow n c h ild r e n b e c a m e 4 -H m e m b e r s . Daughters Shelley (now Hill, College Place), Cindy (King, P a y e tte , ID ) and C h ris ty ( C o r r e a , H e p p n e r ) so o n became very involved in 4-H cooking, sew ing, pigs, and English and W estern horse clubs, and participated in a lot o f cook-off contests. Jan says her very First ex p e rien c e w ith the rodeo was in 1965 when she helped Betty Fulleton make serapes when Betty's daughter. Ruby Fulleton. was on the court. Jan and her husband really got into the swing o f things after their daughters got involved in horse show s, and she cre d its her husband for his patience during those years. “He was very tolerant." chuckles Jan. “ We had three girls and five or six horses and he put up with all o f it. And o f course, you don’t just have your own family, but a lot of their friends.” In fact, "wrangler” might have served as Don's middle nam e. O ver the years, Jan s a y s D on w r a n g le d ju st about e v e ry th in g - h o rses, snow m obiles, four-w heelers and most importantly, kids. "I was a wrangler, not a rider,” he jokes. I le remembers hauling his three daughters, their horses and their assorted friends to junior rodeos, high school rodeos, horse shows and 4-H events all over the place over the years. When he and Jan bought th e ir c u rre n t place out on F airview Way in H eppner, a c ro s s from th e M o rro w County Fairgrounds, they did it so he could build a corral out back for their girls to ride. Shelley was a princess on the rodeo court, and Cindy and Christy were pennant bearers. “We lived so close to the fairg ro u n d s, the kids w ere always running up to the house fo r a c o o k in g u ten sil or a pair o f b o o ts,” Jan laughs. "I rem em ber one time Scott Doherty somehow got dunked, so not only were his clothes w et, but so w ere his boots, so he ran up to the house to borrow a pair of Don's boots.” “O f course, now I have grandkids in the fair, so I go down there to help out.” Don adds. Christy’s children have been very active in 4-H and FFA. I f “ w r a n g l e r ” is D o n 's m id d le n am e, then “ tra ilb la z e r ” m ight be his first name. Literally. Stroeber is responsible for m apping so m any sn o w m o b ile and four-wheeler trails in Morrow County, the term trailblazer is right on the mark. “Gene Orwick and I got maps drawn up for the Four- C o rn e rs Snow m obile C lub and the sta te ad o p te d it,” said Stroeber. D raw ing up the m aps took them over a year and a half to complete. S tro e b e r also helped form the original Morrow County Search and Rescue team in the area, shortly after Heppner's Doc M cM urdo disappeared. Don and others spent a week looking for him. but, sadly he was later discovered deceased. S tro e b e r w as a ls o on the o rig in a l a c c e ss tra v e l committee, representing four- wheelers and snowmobilers. mapping trails in the late ‘80s when Roger Williams was the I leppner Ranger. "It has been a lot o f fun,” said Stroeber o f his trailblazing days. He used to do a lot of sn o w m o b ilin g and ad m its he gets a little bored now, but still enjoys going up into the m ountains to check out wild turkeys and other game, hunting, four-wheeling, and groom ing state snowm obile trails. Don, Burke O 'B rien and Roger M ortim ore w ere the first to map out the new OHV Park trail, which has become popular of late. Stroeber, 74, originally from Elgin, came to Heppner in May o f 1960. His dad was the head electrician at Pine Lumber Company and Kinzua and helped wire the Morrow C o u n ty F a irg ro u n d s. Don would have follow ed along in his dad’s footsteps, but, he laughs, “ I didn't like getting shocked.” Instead when he first came to the area, he farmed for a w hile at Turner Ranch and then went to work for Eldon Padberg's m achine shop in Lexington. He then became the service technician for Morrow C ou n t y Grain G ro w e rs, working there as a mechanic for 30 years before he retired. In his spare time now, he often runs a baler for the Thompson Ranch. “I’ve seen quite a change in agriculture, especially in m a c h in e ry ,” said S tro e b e r. "I love to w o r k on t h e new stuff. I think technology is great. I'd rather work on something modem.” He says lie first becam e i nvol ve d wi t h the M orrow' C o u n t y Fa i r and Rodeo helping out Don and .Ian w ith the grounds. “The only reason they let me do it is because 1 had access to farm machinery.” he jokes. Over the years he worked on ju n io r rodeos, then high school rodeos and then ended up as Morrow County Rodeo vice chair and chairman. Don says he continues to work at the fairgrounds to pay back for all the years that they had their "own private bam and arena at the fairgrounds.” He has also served on the I leppner Planning Commission for the past several years. Jan, 67, born in Prairie City and raised in Spray has "always ridden horses.” She and Don married on Nov. 12, 1966 at his parents' home. She says that her mother and father still enjoy the fair and come to watch the grandkids. Her mom, at 85, is still an active fair exhibitor, entering a Civil War quilt, among other quilting projects and paintings. An expert seamstress, w ho is always completing a project to enter in the fair, Jan says that she has probably been sew ing since she was eight or nine years old. She started helping out at the fair with Jane Rawlins. “ T h ere w ere so ma n y wonderful people involved at that time,” said Jan. mentioning Lcnna Smith, now of Bend, and M erlyn Robinson, Heppner. Jan remembers the late Theta Low e, who helped her out with 4-H sewing. She recalls fheta’s basement, where Theta S troeber had three sew mg machines set up, and rem embers that you never w ent out and bought buttons, because Theta would have them. Jan does wool appliques, braids rugs out o f old wool blankets that she has dyed and now, reluctantly, is learning how to knit. Besides sewing projects, Jan generally enters around 10-15 item s in the fair, including canning and baking items. She also enjoys gardening and decorating. Jan, who ex p re s s e s a genuine love o f the fair, e nc o u r a g e s more people involved, and is always seeking more sponsors. “I have worked with a lot o f wonderful people over the years. It was a great family time. I really loved helping the kids. I think 4-H and FFA offer so many learning tools. It is something that they carry with them.” Not only is Jan active in the fair, but she has also been a hair stylist since 1964, originally working in downtown I leppner for Jean D obbs and Rene Ledbetter, and then opening her own shop. Country Shears, at her home in Heppner. Jan says that working at her shop has been ideal, not only when she raised her own kids, but then with her grandchildren, whom she also watched when they were small. “ O u r g r e a t e s t jo y is tim e w ith our children and grandchildren,” Jan says.
