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.