FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 16, 2015
SCHOOL DISTRICT
~ Letters to the Editor ~
-Continued from PAGE ONE junior high head volleyball math teaching position, ant delivery systems, pre-
which also paid for Eastern
Promise college credits.
-learned from Dirk-
sen that all the district’s
teachers were hired before
classes started. He said
that many districts still had
vacancies after the school
year began.
-heard from Dirksen
that DLR, the architectural
firm hired by the district,
will make a presentation
at the Oct. 12 meeting at
Windy River Elementary
School in Boardman. DLR
presented conceptual build-
ing designs/possible school
configurations at earlier in-
formational meetings. One
of the proposals would be to
move all Heppner students
to the high school site.
-heard a report from the
HJSHS Technology Stu-
dents Association members
and advisor, Dave Fowler,
who attended the annual
TSA national convention in
Dallas, TX.
-approved the follow-
ing employment action:
resignations/non-renewals-
Stormy Botefuhr, IJSHS
coach, April Dawson, SBE
ed assistant, Minerva De-
Loera, IES ed assistant, Me-
lissa Lindsay, HJSHS head
girls’ basketball coach,
Donna Maben, HJSHS ed
assistant, Cristina Montes,
IJSHS ed assistant, Anna-
bel Sosa, SBE ed assistant;
employment/promotions/
transfers-Heather Adams,
SBE ed assistant, Jackie
Alleman, HES ed assistant,
Andrea Chairez, IJSHS ed
assistant, Leah Gadsden,
IJSHS junior high science
teacher, Celeste Johnson-
Maret, SBE one year tem-
porary first grade teaching
position, Gary Klinger,
MEC part-time assistant
custodian, Jessica Lentz,
transfer to HJSHS alterna-
tive ed assistant, Tamera
Lien, HES ed assistant,
Wendy McAllister, SBE ed
assistant, Byron Mitchell,
IJSHS assistant custodian,
Cara Osmin, one-year tem-
porary ACH third-grade
teaching position, Dulce
Pena, SBE ed assistant,
Martha Rhodes, IJSHS one
year temporary half-time
scription/non-prescription
medication, request for
family and medical leave,
FMLA (family and medical
leave)/OFLA (Oregon fam-
ily leave) eligibility notice
to employee and interscho-
lastic activities programs
structure and emphasis.
-approved the sale of
the old Lexington school
building.
-approved cooperative
sponsorship of the cross-
country program with the
Ione School District.
-approved the possibil-
ity of sale of a piece of dis-
trict property in Boardman,
underneath the Boardman
viaduct, by the railroad
tracks and zoned residen-
tial, which would be of no
possible use of the district.
-received the following
announcements: Oregon
School Boards Association
2015 fall regional meet-
ing, Blue Mountain Com-
munity College, Oct. 6;
OSBA 2015 annual conven-
tion, Portland, Nov. 12-15;
next board meeting, Windy
River Elementary, Oct. 12.
get-well card and a hat for
donations—to be used for
a “get-well trip,” they said.
They then hand-delivered
both the card, signed by
some 23 workers, and a
thick envelope of money
the Michels employees had
given.
“They wanted to em-
phasize that this was from
the people whom Louis
had befriended, and not the
company,” Betty Carlson
said.
“I think it shows a qual-
ity of employee that Mi-
chels hires on a regular ba-
sis,” added Louis Carlson.
And that wasn’t the end
of it. Michels’s Chief Safety
Coordinator Chuck Mackey
visited the Carlsons last
week to see if Louis Carlson
wanted a private tour of the
pipeline the company is
constructing. Carlson then
spent last Friday getting an
on-the-spot tour of the con-
struction, including gifts of
a cap and hard hat bearing
the Michels logo. At the end
of the day, the Carlsons said
they invited Mackey, their
new-found friend, to have
dinner with the family.
Looking back at the last
month, Carlson doesn’t see
any of it as mere luck.
“There are a lot of
what-ifs,” he said. “What
if the universal joint had
broken half an hour earlier,
when I was out of cell ser-
vice and inaccessible? What
if I hadn’t been near the
Michels pipeline? I have a
whole slug of ‘em.”
But, he says, the what-
ifs aren’t the end of the tale.
“Thanks be to God that
Michels safety coordinator
arrived when he did and Joe
Dear Editor,
and Donna Rietmann took
What is the world coming to in Heppner and surrounding
control,” he said. “All this area? Why would people steal my rocks? Because I guess they
wasn’t just coincidence. wanted them more than I did.
God had His hand keeping
P.S. No apples for the deer.
me.”
(s) Thomas Gonty, Heppner
TRACTOR FIRE
-Continued from PAGE ONE WA.
with locals Donna and Joe
Rietmann.
“They saw the burning
tractor but no sign of me,”
Carlson said. “When I re-
turned to the scene, I saw
the three by the tractor, by
the cab, looking in to see if
I’d burned.”
“Luckily at that time
my pickup appeared on the
horizon,” he added. “They
pointed at me as if to say,
‘He’s alive and well!’”
The Rietmanns load-
ed Carlson up and drove
to meet Betty Carlson on
Johnson Grade Road. She
then took him to the Pioneer
Memorial emergency room
in Heppner.
There, they said, Dr.
Dan Hambleton was afraid
Carlson might have lung
damage from smoke in-
halation, so Carlson was
air-lifted to Kadlec Medi-
cal Center in the Tri-Cities,
He spent the night in
the hospital for observation,
but after his ordeal, Carlson
walked away with no lung
damage and no broken
bones.
He did, however, have
first degree burns on both
his arms, as well as his
scalp, eyebrows and ears.
“All that healed pretty
quickly,” he said.
Not so quick to heal
were the third-degree burns
on his shoulder and elbow,
which he used to push open
the tractor door during his
escape.
However, with his
narrow escape in the past
and the healing underway,
Carlson found he wasn’t
finished with surprises. At
their weekly safety meet-
ing the following Monday,
the Michels crew that had
become acquainted with
Carlson passed around a
GRAND CHAMPION MARKET STEER
Rita McElligott
Buyer - GAR Aviation
GRAND CHAMPION MARKET LAMB
Riley Gorham
Buyer - Jared & Alison Ogden
The Morrow County Livestock Growers would like to thank the following
for their support of the 2015 Morrow County 4-H / FFA Auction!
BUYERS
4GD Land Company
6 Mile Farm
6 Mile Land & Cattle
Al and Donna Osmin
Andrew Rietmann
A-Plus Wheat
Mitch & Tag Ashbeck
Ashbeck Trucking
Bailey Heavy Equipment
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Banner Bank
Beef Northwest
Blown Away Ranch
Boardman Hardware
Bob & Bonnie Ball
Brian & Susie Thompson
Brian & Lori Sullivan Farms
Bruce Young Logging
Butter Creek Cattle Company
Campbell Livestock
Cannon Chiropractic
Carlton Farms
Cascade Specialties
Charlie & Marcia Anderson
Columbia Basin Helicopters
Columbia River Dairy
Community Bank
Community Counseling Solutions
Con Agra Foods
Corey Miller
Crown Paper
Daniel Haggard
Dave and Anita Pranger
Devin Oil
Dick Wilkinson
Double T Farms
Doyle Electric Inc
Dr. Robert and Patti Adair
Elmer's Irrigation
Eric & Brandi Orem
Gar Aviation
Gary and Marcia Kemp
Gordan’s Electric
Grieb Farms
Healy Ranch
Heppner Family Foods
Heppner Les Schwab
Hisler Ranch
Horseshoe Hereford Ranch
Intermountain Livestock
Jerry & Anna McElligott
Joe Orem
JS Cattle Company
Ken and Julie Nelson
Kent Anderson Farms
Krebs Livestock
Lakeview Heights
Les Schwab
Lexington Pump
Loren & Della Heideman
Marcie's Tax Service
Marcie's Nutrition Center
Mark & Pam Wunderlich
Mark & Shannon Miller
Mark and Jocelyn Jones
Maureen McElligott
MCGG
Mid Columbia Title
Mike's Mobile Slaughter
Montana Coat Company
A life that mattered
To the editor:
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, I had the privilege of attending
a most unique and memorable funeral service. It was
supposed to be held inside their home, but the funeral
directors from Kennewick were unable to get the casket
through the door. The open casket was placed in the lawn
near the trees and the creek. Lelia, her brother Ray and
his wife Debbie, Liz, Sharon and Dick Jones, myself, two
nice men from Hillcrest Memorial Center, and Jan Spears,
outside, with the mid-day traffic and the city lawnmower
roaring across the street.
Jan led the service; she is a minister and uses sign
language to reach out to people who communicate through
signing. She gave a beautiful message and read scripture
from the Gospel of John as Ray signed it. Jan also sang
three songs while signing for Lelia and her family. This
was a very special and touching memorial for someone
who had few friends in attendance.
Lelia is deaf. She reads lips, she can speak, but it is
difficult for most of us to understand. While out on her
electric wheelchair, she uses a pad and pencil to help
with communication. At home she uses a computer and
American Sign Language interpreters via her computer
and telephone. Her brother and sister-in-law are also deaf.
“Hereditary,” Lelia says with a shrug.
And Lester? Lester has been paralyzed from the waist
down for many years; I think from a motorcycle accident,
or something else, I’m not sure. What I do know is he had
many health issues to contend with—he was diabetic, he
had a colostomy and a catheter, he was fed through a tube
placed through his abdominal wall into his stomach, he
had multiple large bed sores.
Over the past year or so he was bedbound, relying on
Lelia and his caregivers. Dr. Nichols occasionally made
home visits. Not able to leave his bed or his room could
have been a horrible existence. For the most part Lester
was upbeat and positive.
Lester had a strong faith in God. He was a person.
He mattered. Especially to Lelia.
So why am I sharing this? A couple of days after
the service, Lelia brought me a thank you card, “(F)or
being there for us. And also thank you for coming to
Les’s funeral. It was a beautiful funeral service.” She’s
so right. It was.
(s) Molly Rhea, Heppner
What is the world
coming to?
Thank you to the 2015 Morrow County
4-H/FFA Livestock Auction Supporters
GRAND CHAMPION MARKET SWINE
Devan Case
Buyer - Elmer's Irrigation
The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following
criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name
of the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you
provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The
address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be
printed in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the
right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in
letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under
“Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Jessica Stelk, transfer to
HJSHS ed assistant, Mitch
Thompson, IJSHS ed assis-
tant; extra duty contracts-
Marie Cain, RJSHS high
school assistant volleyball
coach, Vanessa Gutierrez,
IJSHS junior high head
volleyball coach, Antonia
Nichols, HJSHS half-time
cross country coach, Russ
Nichols, HJSHS half-time
cross country coach, Robert
“Jody” Saunders, IJSHS
junior high assistant foot-
ball coach, George Shimer,
RJSHS junior high head
volleyball coach.
-adopted rescinded,
new or revised policies
on non-discrimination, to-
bacco-free environment,
truancy, student conduct
and discipline, suspension,
expulsion, prescription
medication and retention
of students.
-adopted new, revised
or rescinded administra-
tive rules on discrimina-
tion complaint procedures,
discipline for use, posses-
sion, distribution or sale of
tobacco products or inhal-
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Morgan Ranch
Morter Farms
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Murray's Drug
Ken Grieb
Northwest Farm Credit Services
Christy Correa
Northwest Farm Supply
Becky Kindle
NW Metal Fab
Laurie Barrows
O T Trucking LLC
Beef Northwest
Ogden Farming
Wes & Mary Killion
Peg Leg Farms
Mitch & Tag Ashbeck
Peter and Nancy McElligott
Carlton Farms
Ranch
Triangle Ranches
PGE
NW Farm Supply
Pioneer Livestock
Randy Sifford
Proudfoot Ranches
Scott & Ashley Jones
Rocky Bluff Ranch
Morrow County Grain Growers
Rodelo Farms
Price Cattle Company
Rogers Toyota of Hermiston
Zane Gibbs Trucking
Shelco Electric Inc
CHS
Silver Creek
Evans Livestock
Simplot
SK Fencing
Skye and Penny Krebs
Nancy Gorham
Snow McElligott
Jennifer Wilson & Rex Nielson
Starvation Farms
Kathy Rauch
Sweet Pea Design
Threemile Canyon Farms
Ken Bailey
Tim & Shannon Rust
Jim Kindle
Treve & Elizabeth Peterson
Joe Taylor
Tri County Seeding Company
Kyle Robinson
Twin Flags Distributing
Rod Taylor
Umatilla Electric Coop
Weedman Ranches
Wes & Mary Killion
Damon Brosnan
Western Ag
Tiffany Clement
Wilber Ellis
Austin Roberts
WindWave Communications
SUPERINTENDENTS:
RINGMEN:
PHOTOGRAPHERS:
CITY COUNCIL
-Continued from PAGE ONE na that would prohibit rec-
pner the school district is
considering moving all the
grades up to the high school
building on the hill to save
money. He wondered if the
sewer system could handle
the extra students at that
facility. Doherty said since
there would be no overall
increase in usage associated
with the move, it should not
be a problem.
The city took no action
on the sewer study, but
agreed to talk about it dur-
ing the annual goal setting
session in January.
In other action the
council voted to move for-
ward with a proposed Opt
Out ordinance for Marijua-
reational marijuana produc-
ers, processors, wholesalers
and retailers. The public
will be notified when the
public hearing will be held
on the finalized ordinance.
The council also heard
from fire chief Rusty Estes
who gave the following
summary of activity for
August: Eight rural wild
land fires, secured the he-
licopter landing zone four
times, three motor vehicle
accidents, one structure fire,
five lift assists, one dump-
ster fire at the high school,
one boat assist at Willow
Creek Lake, one search as-
sist with the Sheriff’s Dept.
and 37 chief calls.
THE L ANDING
RESTAURANT
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Sunday Morning
Breakfast Buffet
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Closed 11am-12pm for cleaning
Senior Sunday Dinner
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Old Fashioned Pot Roast
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Sunday 8am-5pm
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