Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2013)
Heppner celebrates Homecoming Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, O R 9 7 4 0 3 Heppner High School celebrated homecoming last week with a variety of activities, including theme days and special events, which culminated with the football game versus the Irrigon Knights and the Homecoming dance on Friday. Pictured is the 2013 Homecoming Court. Front (L-R): Cade Arbogast, Jaden Orr, Jackson Coiner, King J.C. Putman, Sierra Greenup, Treston Maben and Ross Cutsforth. Back (L-R): Kevin and Kenzie Hughes, Travis and Blake Greenup, Jim and Queen MeKayla Kindle, ClifTand Ryan Dougherty, and Todd and Maddie Lindsay. - Photo by Sandy Matthews VOL. 132 N O . 38 10 Pages Wednesday, September 25, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Gorman sworn in as new county assessor Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers (right) swearing in Mike Gorman as the new Morrow County Assessor on Sept. 4. Gorman replaced retiring assessor Greg Sweek. -Contributedphoto Second scenic bike ride hailed a success Twenty-five riders participated in the second annual Blue Mountain Century Scenic Bikeway ride last weekend. Back row: Lynn Roby, Bryan Scholz, Sandra Henning, Tom Mafera, Matt Browning, Alex Phillips, Paul Cuddy, Katrin Fink, Bill Miles, Chuck Hedges, Steve Watts, Barb Watts, Bonnie Hayslett, Will Brendecke, Craig Gutierrez, Deb Gutierrez, Jay Gibbs, Scott Kreider, Ric Hancock and Bill Mackenzie. Front Row: Evan Mackenzie, Gwen Strepek and Sharon Dunham. Not pictured are Jim and Colin McElligott. - Photo by David Sykes The second annual Blue Mountain Century Scenic Bikeway ride took place this past weekend, Sept. 21-22, and was a huge success according to Heppner Chamber o f C o m m erce E x e c u tiv e Director Sheryll Bates. Altogether, there were 25 riders who participated in this year’s event. The riders started in Ukiah on Saturday and rode to H eppner via Hwy. 395 north and Hwy 74 west, and rode from Heppner to Ukiah on Sunday via Forest Service Rd. 53. Breakfast was provided by A & M’s Kitchen on both Saturday and Sunday, lunch was provided by Heppner Family Foods, and a barbecue dinner was provided by Cornerstone Gallery, aka Alvin Liu, on Saturday. The riders were fortunate that the weather, although cool and breezy in the mornings, stayed dry. For some o f the riders, this was their second time riding the 111 -mile, difficult BMC Scenic Bikeway loop, but for many others, this was a first trip to Heppner and Ukiah and participation in the event. Visitors came from Pendleton, Prineville, La Grande, Newberg, Lake Oswego, Aurora, Salem, Terrebonne and Oregon City. Everyone said they are planning on being part of the third annual BMC Scenic Bikeway event again next year. “The visitors all commented on what great customer service they received from the Heppner businesses, how friendly the Heppner community was and how clean and neat Heppner is,” said Bates. L ocal p a rtic ip a n ts included Will Brendecke, M att B row ning, C raig Gutierrez, Deb Gutierrez, Jay Gibbs, Colin McElligott and Jim M cElligott. O f -See BIKEWAY SUCCESS/ PAGE TWO Local pharmacy tech garners state recognition Wicklund named Oregon Pharmacy Technician o f the Year By Andrea Di Salvo Excellence seems to be in the water at Murray’s Drug, as another member of the pharmacy team at has garnered state recognition for outstanding service. The honors this year go to Shannon Wicklund, 60, pharmacy technician at Murray’s Drug in Heppner. Wicklund has been named Pharmacy Technician of the Year by the Oregon State Pharmacist Association. She will be honored for her achievem ent at the a s s o c i a t i o n ’s a n n u a l c o n v e n tio n S atu rd ay , Oct. 19, at the Pendleton Convention Center. Wicklund says she was shocked when she got the call. “I was very honored,” says W icklund. “ It was quite a surprise for me. 1 had no idea that award even existed.” It wasn’t a surprise to employer Ann Murray, who nominated Wicklund for the award earlier this year. Murray said she had to com plete a detailed nomination, which asked a lot o f questions about why she thought Wicklund deserved the award, and a lot about com m unity service. Murray thought Wicklund deserved recognition on both counts. “Sometimes pharmacy is really stressful but we have to stay calm,” Murray says. “ Shannon does a great job as a pharmacy technician because she’s very’accurate and diligent in her work and always stays focused and calm.” Murray also mentioned that, among other things, Wicklund was instrumental in bringing Relay for Life to Heppner; the program was held in Heppner for the second time last month. Wickiund didn’t set out to become a pharmacy tech. She and h e r l at e husband, Tom, moved to Heppner in 1979 to help M urray’s Drug pharmacy technician Shannon Wicklund will be honored as the Oregon State Pharmacist Association’s Pharmacy Technician of the Year at the organization’s annual convention in Pendleton next month -Photo by Megan Futter her parents, Jack and Ruth Maben, operate Court Street M arket. The W icklunds took over the small grocery store next to the courthouse after the Mabens retired. Then, as Wi ckl und says, K inzua Mill shut down, Walmart went in, and a lot of things in Heppner changed. They were forced to shut down Court Street Market late in 2000. Ann Murray says that she saw a chance to gain a valuable employee, and asked Wicklund to work for them at Murray’s Drug. “I just thought she was really nice and good with people,” says Murray. Wicklund started at M urray’s in January o f 2001, she recalls, working first as a clerk for a couple of years before beginning to study for pharmacy tech certification. A ll pharmacy tech n ician s in O regon have to pass a national certification exam, which Wicklund says was a little nerve-wracking. “ T h a t was ve r y frightening for me, because it had been years since I had to do anything like that,” Wicklund says, adding that pharmacy techs like herself also have to do continuing education to maintain their certification. After completing her certification, W icklund was thrown into the fire, so to speak, during her first months behind the pharmacy counter. “ John and Ann (Murray) went on a trip to Italy, Jennifer (Palmer) was out with a baby, and that was my first year there, working with a visiting p h arm acist,” W icklund recalls. Despite her trial by fire, W icklund didn’t buckle under the pressure; a decade later, she seems happy in her place and is considered a valuable asset by the Murray’s Drug team. “She’s very caring of people, very empathetic. We have to be careful and accurate and calm and focused, and she’s all of those things,” says Murray. “(This award) is a big honor because there are a lot of pharmacy technicians in Oregon, more technicians than there are pharmacists, so for her to win is very cool and we're very proud of her. “ We’re very proud o f our entire pharm acy technician staff, and we r eal l y t hi nk Sh a n n o n deserves this honor.” “ I have very good employees to work for. I couldn't do it without them all,” says Wicklund. “A lot of support; we all just work together.” W inter is cominc !-^ . WE HAVE WIPER B L A P E Sf*?g W ILL IN ST A L L - Check your . h . . e . a d lig h ts C ^ ^ ^ * ■■ Morrow County Grain Growers ________Lsxinqton 9 894221 • 1 -800-452-739« for fxnn «qulpm w ii »l»lt * u i w t «tf x i www.iiitq.mt
