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Bikeway ride sees
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VOL. 133
NO. 33 10 Pages
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Nominations open next week
for Town & Country
The n ex t H ep p n er
Cham ber o f Com m erce
Town and Country Com
munity Awards will be held
on Thursday, Jan. 15,2015.
Nominations will be ac
cepted beginning Friday,
Oct. 5 and running through
Monday, Dec. 1, to give
community members more
time to submit nomination.
Everyone is encour
aged to nominate a fellow
com m unity member for
Woman of the Year, Man of
the Year, Lifetime Achieve
ment and Youth Award.
Nomination forms will be
available at the chamber
office, Bank o f Eastern
Oregon, Kuhn Law Office,
Community Bank and the
post office.
The completed nomi
nation forms need to be
completed and turned in the
chamber office or to Kuhn
Law Offices by Monday,
Dec. 1, to be considered for
2015 community awards
event.
More information on
the event will be available
soon.
Twenty-nine riders from two states gathered for the third annual Blue Mountain Century
Scenic Bikeway ride Sept. 20-21. Many promise to be back for more hometown hospitality.
-Contributed photo
-See fu ll story PAGE THREE
County celebrates tower rededication,
groundbreaking for new building
Heppner basketball court the
completion o f a dream
Officials m ark the groundbreaking for new Morrow County adm inistration building Monday. Left to Right: Ron
Polintan, LKV Architects; Leann Rea, Morrow County Commissioner; Tom M oran, Community Bank CEO; Rob
Naughton,
Interm ountain ESD; Ken Grieb, Morrow County Commissioner; Terry Tallman, Morrow County Judge;
Though empty on the morning of a school day, the new regula
Ryan
Swinburnson,
Morrow County Counsel; Karen Wolff, Morrow County Personnel Director; Keith Banes, WC
tion basketball court on Riverside in Heppner promises hours
of play for the city’s youth. The court was a long-time dream Construction; and Scott Rogers, Wenaha Group. A new adm inistration building will be built on the site right next to
for many, and finally became a reality thanks to contributions the existing courthouse. -Photo by David Sykes
County Clock tolled,” Kop leton prison, said the proj project,” he said of the res
by several individuals and organizations. -Contributedphoto By David Sykes
The regulation-sized
basketball court on River
side is a first for Heppner.
For many years the
town and Willow Creek
Park District had been ap
proached by students at
tempting to get a basketball
court that was open to the
public. This year it became
a reality. Many o f those
students have graduated,
but their determination and
prodding make the court an
asset to be shared by other
youth o f the community
who also love the sport.
The court began its path
to reality when it initially
was funded by a grant from
the Wildhorse Foundation.
The land for the court was
donated to the park district
by Morrow County. Sev
eral community members
and organizations assisted
during the construction,
including Turner Lindsay
Farms, Thompson Ranches,
Columbia Basin Electric
and the City of Heppner.
Dice Construction poured
the concrete and donated
time and equipment to help
finish the project.
The court is open from 7
a.m. to 10 p.m., but the park
district requests that anyone
using the court respect the
neighbors and refrain from
loud music. Heppner City
M anager Kim Cutsforth
also reminds those who en
joy the court that the hoops
are set at regulation height
and are not to be adjusted,
as adjusting them without
the correct tool damages the
mechanism.
“The park district en
courages everyone to enjoy
the court,” says Cutsforth.
“Even if you do not play
basketball, drive by at night
and look at the court with
the lights on. It looks like
a little jewelry box on the
edge of town.”
Under clear skies and
with a slight breeze, the
M orrow County C ourt
house clock tow er was
rededicated at its home atop
the courthouse in Heppner
Monday.
It had been over a year
since a crane had removed
the tower and clock from
the courthouse for reno
vation, and many people
involved with the difficult
and painstaking restoration
were on hand Monday to
speak about the project,
but none said it more elo
quently than Master Clock-
maker Gary Kopperud, who
oversaw the restoration of
the histori(?timepiece itself
and did not receive any
compensation.
“ In 1902 th is Seth
Thomas Clock left the fac
tory in C onnecticut for
Morrow County. Less than
a year later the flood came
through, and the Morrow
perud said. “Through good
times and bad it tolled. Dur
ing World War 1, it tolled.
During the Great Depres
sion it tolled. During Korea
and Vietnam it tolled.” He
finished with the famous
John Donne quote, “Ask
not for whom the bell tolls,
it tolls for thee.”
Also “on hand” were
the group of prisoners at
the Eastern Oregon Correc
tional Institute who spent
many hours working to
restore the clock. The pris
oners were not actually
there in person, but could
see the proceedings through
a camera hook-up, which
beamed the ceremony back
to the prison. The crowd
showed their appreciation
for the prisoners’ work with
a round of applause, which
they could hear and see.
Dwight Hawkins, who
is in charge of the inmate
work program at the Pend
ect was very successful
in that it gave the inmates
meaningful work and pur
pose in their lives.
“At first I thought it
would be a piece of cake,
but when I went to the attic
(where the clock was lo
cated above the courthouse)
I knew this would be a big
toration.
The clock works were
taken to the prison and re
stored, partly by purchasing
parts from around the coun
try and also by machining
some other original parts
-See BELL TOWER,
GROUNDBREAKING/PAGE
TEN
Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman (left) introduced Master
Clock Maker Gary Kopperud, who oversaw the restoration of
the historic clock works. - Photo by David Sykes
Health districts okays PMH cardiac monitoring system
Roth hired to fill clinic, home health directorship
Bv April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District, at their reg
ular meeting Monday night,
approved the purchase of a
new $91,979 cardiac moni
toring system for Pioneer
Memorial Hospital.
The district chose a
Fukuda Denshi, USA, Inc.,
system, which, according
to MCHD CEO Dan Grigg
and Director o f Nursing
Molly Rhea, fits the dis
trict's needs and was the
low bid. The district also re
ceived a quote of $1 15,166,
which included a $43,446
d isco u n t, from P hilips
Healthcare (Philips Elec
tronics North America Cor
poration) and a $110,200
quote from GE Medical
Systems (GE Healthcare).
The Fukuda system
includes four monitors.
Rhea says that the com
pany came to Heppner to
demonstrate the equipment
and she and staff were im
pressed by the Fukuda sys
tem.
“The docs and nurses
were pretty thrilled on how
easy it is to use,” said Rhea.
“It’s an exciting, revolu
tionary system and it’s a lot
cheaper than the big guys,”
she said.
When asked whether
the Fukuda system does
everything they need it to
do, Rhea replied a resound
ing, “Yes.” She said Fukuda
is a world-wide company
with a larger market share
every year and has tech sup
port out o f the Tri-Cities.
Fukuda has an office in
Redmond, WA.
“It seems like it fits into
our goal of providing qual-
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
FALL & HUNTING SEASON SPECIALS!
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see
pictures o f your trophy animals from this
hunting season. Stop hy to have your
picture taken, drop off photos, or email
them to editor@rapidserve.net.
P A Y B A C K
w
Payback b ra n d m in e ra l
s u p p le m e n t
SA VVE
VE A N A D D IT IO N A L
$ 40 / TON!
Ceorgia &
Danner Boots
10% ow
HURRY! - S A V IN G S G O O D T H R U O C T O B E R 31
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
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