SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 6, 2013
PRESERVING HEPPNER
HISTORY
back then had a watch, up in the belfry with the
'{od Wilson displays how a piece of preserved tin will be
refitted onto the clock tower once repairs are made. -Photos
by Mallorie Jones
-Continuedfrom PAGE ONE Gary Kopperud Drafting
Wood Products in Clinton,
WA. The clock faces went
to H erm iston G lass in
I lermiston. OR; one. broken
during the removal of the
tower, w ill be replaced, and
two will be re-stenciled.
“We sought out people
who do the unordinary
hings,” says Wilson.
O ne o f th e m o st
inordinary facets o f the
renovation will be the
clockworks, which have
gone to Eastern Oregon
C o rre c tio n a l In s titu te
(EOCI) in Pendleton. OR.
I here. Master Clockmaker
G a ry K o p p e r u d o f
Pendleton will donate his
time overseeing trained
inmates in refurbishing the
clockworks as part of their
rehabilitation program.
Kopperud. now 67. was
apprenticed to his father,
a m aster and teach in g
watchmaker, at the age of
10.
“ It was a trade that
goes back three generations
back o f me in our family,”
says Kopperud. He says
he started clockm aking
because it was expected, but
it grew on him.
“I ended up enjoying it,
so, after 50 years of doing
it 1 still do it,” he says.
Now, although he owns
& Design in Pendleton,
he also has an active clock
shop with year-round work.
He says he began teaching
the clockmaking trade to
EOCI inm ates in 1096,
and has licensed about 30
students so far.
“ 1 have excellent
candidates. They study,
they w ork very hard,
they're interested in their
work. They have to have
very exemplary behavior to
be in the program and stay
in the program. It’s a win-
win for everybody,” says
Kopperud, adding that it
also helps pass on skills that
might otherwise be lost.
“There’s not very many of
us left. If we don't pass it
on, it would disappear. The
last clockmaking school (in
America) closed two years
ago.”
If M orrow C ounty
th in k s it has h an d ed
Kopperud either the largest
or the oldest clock he's ever
handled, though, the county
is mistaken.
“This is one of newest
tower clocks I've worked
with,” says Kopperud. a
member of the International
Tower Clock Society. He
says he usually works
with clocks dating back to
1879-1885. “Not everyone
and the tower clocks were
usually in the center of the
community.
“At the time your clock
was installed in Heppner
there were only about eight
tower clocks installed in the
state of Oregon. Not very
many. You get back east and
there might be a town that
has 20 of them depending
on the types of buildings
there were.”
K opperud says one
of the challenges of the
Heppner clock is that it
has several parts missing.
He says he has overcome
that obstacle by obtaining
a clock of the same model
from an associate.
“ We’re going to use
that plus what we have
in H eppner, so w e ’re
going to have a complete
clock to restore,” he says.
"With EOCI we have a
complete paint shop. We
have p in s trip e rs w ho
will put back the original
pinstriping on the clock
from when it was new.
We have a machine shop
to machine all the parts
and. of course, we have
a clockmaking shop. The
next step will be that we’ll
come back out to Heppner
and do all the installation in
the building.”
Kopperud says as many
as 50 people at EOCI will
be involved in restoring the
clockworks.
One o f th e th in g s
that has both Wilson and
Kopperud excited is the
projected plans for the
clockworks them selves.
Currently, the county plans
for the clockworks to be on
display in the courthouse
foyer. A pulley system will
run up through several
floors to operate the clock
and ring the bell, Wilson
says.
“Very seldom people
get to see a tower clock
because th ey ’re usually
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pigeons and the bats,” says
Kopperud.
W ilso n sa y s th e y
hope to have the tower,
complete with clock and
bell, returned to its home
atop the Morrow County
Courthouse this winter,
though the timing depends
on the pieces coming back
together in time. South
Morrow residents who have
missed seeing the tower
overlooking the town, or
hearing the familiar chime
on the hour, will certainly
be happy to have their piece
of history back in place.
“The clock has overseen
every thing in Heppner since
1902. It’s run through two
world wars and a century
of time. Keeping that going
is an interesting piece of
history'. I think it’s going to
add to the character of the
courthouse. If we can make
this all come together, this
will be one more reason for
people to stop and enjoy,
and something for people to
remember,” says Kopperud.
“Its something that’s been
part of the courthouse...
that’s a piece of time that’s
just gone by, and a lot of
those things have been
given up on and thrown
away and packed away in
a barn somewhere. When
that clock was made it was
the best of an era. To bring
that back 100 years later is
something 1 enjoy.”
Wilson, in his quiet
way, agrees.
“ I t’s an interesting
project. I have not ever and
will not ever do anything
like this (again).
“It’s pretty unique.”
Names from the past...
The Morrow County Courthouse clock tower was
removed July 23, 2013 for cleaning and repair. Names
and dates inscribed inside the Morrow County clock tower
were copied by Robert Harrison in August 2013 and are:
“ Repaired and Cleaned” written on the clock face.
8-1955, Aldrich ABWest shop, lone, OR
8-1974, Everett Keithley
On Walls and ceiling:
No date. Miles F. Potter
6-14-1903, Red Hicks
10-
17-1903. Dick Wells-Alien Wells
11-
27-1903, BisheeV. Klum
5-
14-1904, R.D.
8-
14-1906, Thamton-Heppner, Oregon
10-22-1906. Bert P. Bleakman
1908, B. Salter
6-
11-1908. J.T. Jenkins
6-14-1908. Peter Nash
1-24-1909, Oreurtt Cox-New Flag-Pole Clerk
1909, Carsol Hole-G.M. Hallen- L. Depo-Shoryly
1-22-1910 Rob Hicks & Hazel Hale & Peck Hamton
1911. Dalorn Cox
1-28-1911, Delwin Cox -Dalorn Cox - D. Cox - George
M. Peck
1-
9-1912. Orian Wright
3-
1913 -9 -1 9 2 1 - 3-1923, Lucille McDuffee
10-14-1916 -2-9-1918 - 6-23-1919, Jack Howard
10-15-1916, Suley Patten
2-
9-1918, Finlay Polber
9-
29-1921, Melba Chidsey (age 1 3 )- Mary Lane
4-
22-1923 - 4-27-1933, Dutch Alrich
1925. Bob Perlick - F.L. Haywood (Jeweler)
3-
13-1926, Narsen B. Nelson
3-13-1926, Ethel E. Moore 3:40 p.m. Class o f 1927
1930. MikeH.
3-5-1930, Gay Anderson
3-
25-1930, Earl Thomson
1-21-1931, Marian Howard
1933, John Bill
5-
28-1937, Earle Bryant
1937 - 1957. Buddy (Bud) Batty
9-1-1940, Colleen Miller
9-
29-1940, Betty Lovgren
4-
19-1942, Erielegm Me Tearim
1964. Rosie Denten
1-23-1973, Everett Keithley
1-23-1973 - 8-4-2013, Robert Harrison
10-
16-1982, Dan James
5-
24-1986. Ken Naims
1986. K.C. Hicks
3-
11-1986, D.NN B.
9-
1-1986, Ed Struthers
4-
30-1987, Donna Bergstrpm - Maintenance Person
1-24-1992, Jerry Peck and Ray French
1992, Chris Mayen, Bend, OR
1992, Tim Hedman
10-
10-2012, Tony Clement
Cardinal football ends season
on upswing
Cardinal players get ready for a play in the team's final game for the 2013 season. Pictured
are (L-R): lone senior Dalton Hughes (behind Echo # 33), freshman Cord Flynn and senior
Luke Jobes discuss the play with senior Bailey Haguewood. Cardinal senior Zane King, who
played well all season at center on defense and offense, is at center placing the ball for the
hike; freshman Donald McElligott and senior Joel Stillman are in the second line as running
hacks. Photo by Paula Emmel
Cardinal football ended Echo.
of #25 with a 3-6 overall
its season with another win
The 76-28 victory gave record and 2-3 league
last Friday, this time against the lone team a 1A ranking record.
NRCS announces local EQIP
application cutoff
L ocal farm ers and
ran ch e rs in te re ste d in
financial and technical
assistance for conservation
measures on their working
lands have until Dec. 20 to
apply for Environmental
Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP) for the federal fiscal
year 2014.
“EQIP is a voluntary
conservation program to
help farmers and ranchers
improve and enhance the
condition o f water, soil,
wildlife habitat, and other
natural resources on private
working lands,” says Kacee
Lathrop.
The U SD A -N atural
Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) accepts
applications for EQIP year-
round. Funding decisions,
however, are made at cutoff
points during the year, with
the current ranking period
closing on Dec. 20 for
the follow ing counties:
Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam.
Grant and Wheeler.
There are set priority
areas, so interested parties
should contact the office
to see if they are located
within the areas in which
NRCS will be working.
Conservation priorities in
Morrow County include
p ra c tic e s that ad d ress
rangeland health, such as
grazing management, stock
water developments, cross
fencing, herbaceous weed
control of annual grasses
and broadleafs, rangeland
se e d in g , and w ild life
habitat improvements. On
private forest lands, funding
is for practices that target
forest health and wildfire
prevention, such as thinning
and slash treatment.
I n te r e s te d p a rtie s
should contact the Heppner
U S D A -N R C S s e rv ic e
center located at 430 Linden
Way.
For more information
about EQIP, including
local ranking information,
enrollment requirements
and program paym ents,
visit the Oregon NRCS web
site at http://www.or.nrcs.
usda.gov.
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