Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 23, 2015
AG AWARD tural instruction remained
-Continued from PAGE ONE
ships within their com-
munities, how well they
marketed their programs,
and even the professional
growth of the teachers.
For those who might
be confused by how FFA
and Ag science fit together,
Dickenson said the two
programs are integrated—
every FFA member has to
be an Ag science student,
but not every student is
required to be in FFA.
“We’re still a tradition-
al (FFA) chapter,” she said.
The story of that Hep-
pner FFA chapter and the
Ag science program began
decades ago. In 1937, 29
members and one advisor
signed the original charter
for Heppner’s FFA chapter.
FFA Chapter 0033 was, as
the chapter number implies,
the 33 rd chapter established
in the state. Of the 30 in-
dividuals who signed the
charter, only one remains
alive today; Dick Wilkinson
still resides in Heppner.
While FFA and agricul-
an integral part of the com-
munity for many years, it
fizzled out after several
decades and was discontin-
ued. Then, around 2006, the
movement began to start up
the program again.
“That’s when I started
getting phone calls,” Dick-
enson said.
Many recognize Dick-
enson, 40, as the heart of
the current Heppner Ag
science program. She was
born in Henrietta Township,
OH and came to Oregon to
attend Oregon State Uni-
versity. She intended to
become a veterinarian, and
graduated with a Bachelor
of Science degree in animal
science with a minor in ag-
ricultural education.
She didn’t immediately
go to work in education.
Instead, she spent the next
two and a half years work-
ing for the Oregon Farm
Bureau in Salem. There, she
got to help with a program
called Summer Ag Institute.
The Summer Ag Insti-
tute (SAI) is a three-credit,
week-long, graduate-level
class through OSU that
educates K-12 teachers
with little or no background
in agriculture. SAI gives
teachers first-hand experi-
ence in agriculture, with the
goal of helping educators
use agriculture as a con-
text for teaching standard
subjects like science, math,
social studies and English.
“The experience of
helping with that—I started
thinking more about what
my Ag teacher told me,”
said Dickenson, referring
to an Ag teacher who pre-
dicted she would someday
teach Ag science herself.
She returned to school
at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity to obtain her master’s
degree. She then got a job
as an Ag science teacher
in Helix, where she gained
experience teaching agri-
culture and starting an FFA
chapter.
Her marriage to Hep-
pner native Tim Dickenson
took her to Portland, where
she taught math and science
while he worked to obtain
his chiropractic degree.
It was while they were
living there, in 2006, that
Dickenson received a call
from a friend, who told her
an Ag science position was
opening in her husband’s
hometown. She applied
for and got the job, and the
Heppner FFA and Ag Sci-
ence program was restarted
in fall of 2006.
Dickenson has been
involved in Heppner’s Ag
science program ever since.
She says she jumped in with
both feet, bringing an im-
pressive list of goals to the
first school board meeting
she attended.
“One of the school
board members said, ‘I
love this list, but you have
to remember, Rome wasn’t
built in a day,’” she recalls.
Over the years, though,
Dickenson said she feels a
sense of accomplishment
realizing that most of that
list has been checked off in
the nearly 10 years since the
program was reestablished.
“It feels like full circle
for the program, students,
community, parents, ad-
ministrators,” she said of
the award. “It’s an honor,
but starting from scratch
and having the community,
parents, students work to-
gether to build this—this
isn’t something that hap-
pens overnight.”
Heppner’s Ag science
program now boasts nearly
70 high school students,
and more than 100 students
if you count seventh and
eighth graders. And those
students are at the center of
why Dickenson said cares
for this program.
“Seeing kids find new
ways to learn, to see those
light bulbs go off and see
kids find their path in a
way they didn’t see before,”
she said when asked her
favorite part of teaching Ag
science. “And that success
doesn’t look the same for
every kid.”
- FIVE
In the end, though,
Dickenson shrugs off praise
and commends the whole
community for the success
of the program.
“It’s been amazing to
have such great community,
county and state support,”
Dickenson said. “Every
single thing, whether it’s
preparing for an Ag sale or
funding for a trip, it’s mind-
blowing how supported this
program has been.”
“That’s important,” she
added. “Administrators,
teachers, they come and go,
but still having that (com-
munity) support, it’s huge.”
“I really think this
award is for the whole com-
munity.”
Dickenson adds that
one way to support Hep-
pner’s Ag science program
is by becoming a member
of the advisory council,
which is currently seeking
new members. Anyone in-
terested should contact her
at Heppner High School for
more details.
The View from the Green
Second Morrow County Harvest Festival Over the Tee Cup
coming Oct. 3
Free event set to showcase region’s produce, handmade arts
and crafts, and other food products with family activities
BOARDMAN, Ore.—
The second annual Morrow
County Harvest Festival is
coming to the SAGE Center
Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event is presented
by the Boardman, Heppner
and Irrigon chambers of
commerce in conjunction
with the SAGE Center and
will be at 101 Olson Road
in Boardman.
SAGE Center man-
ager Kalie Davis said the
Morrow County Harvest
Festival gives each commu-
nity an opportunity to come
together and celebrate each
city’s talented residents.
“From local arts and
crafts to baked goods and
beverages, each vendor
provides something unique
to the harvest festival,”
Davis said.
Ordnance Brewing beer
and Sno Road Winery wine
tasting, local arts and crafts
vendors, a photo booth, fall-
themed obstacle course,
pumpkin painting station,
and horse and buggy rides
are all returning to the 2015
event. A miniature horse
petting zoo is also being
added to this year’s festival.
Heppner Chamber of
Commerce director Sheryll
Bates echoed Davis’ senti-
ments about the festival.
“I’m pleased to have
so many local residents
participating,” Bates said.
Event sponsors include
Threemile Canyon Farms,
Abengoa, Portland General
Electric, ConAgra Foods
Lamb Weston, and Cascade
Specialties.
“Thanks to our spon-
sors, all of the Morrow
County Harvest Festival
activities are free for fami-
lies to participate in,” Davis
said. “This is one of the
many ways that industries
located in Morrow County
give back to the commu-
nity.”
For more information
go to www.visitsage.com
or call the SAGE Center
at 541-481-7243, Irrigon
Chamber of Commerce at
541-922-3857, Boardman
Chamber of Commerce
at 541-481-3014, or the
Heppner Chamber of Com-
merce at 541-676-5536.
BMCC to offer tax preparation course
Are you interested in
becoming certified to pre-
pare taxes? If so, BMCC
is offering BA220 and
BA221, which will provide
the 80 hours of coursework
required to qualify for the
State of Oregon Licensed
Tax Preparer examination.
The courses will be
broadcast from BMCC’s
Baker Center and will
be available to students
through Zoom video-con-
ferencing technology.
That means students
may attend from any com-
puter, smart phone, tablet or
iPad that has Internet, audio
and video capability.
Both classes will be
recorded for viewing at
other times.
Upon successful com-
pletion of both courses,
students may take the exam
in December and start pre-
paring taxes in January.
To register, go to https://
web2.bluecc.edu/Schedule/
and search for BA220 and
BA221.
Seventeen ladies
braved the cold and windy
weather to participate in
the Willow Creek Country
Club ladies’ play day on
Tuesday, Sept. 15. Nancy
Propheter had low gross of
the field, while Pat Dough-
erty had low net. Lorrene
Montgomery and Judy Har-
ris tied for least putts of the
field.
For flight A, Corol
Mitchell had low gross and
Eva Kilkenny low net. Kar-
en Thompson and Virginia
Grant tied for least putts.
On flight B, low gross
went to Jan Paustian and
low net to Betty Burns.
For flight C, Karen
Haguewood had low gross,
Jackie Allstott low net and
Kris Lindner least putts.
Chip-ins were Nancy
Propheter #14, Eva Kilken-
ny #14 and Pat Dougherty,
#11.
In other events, Vir-
ginia Grant had the longest
putt, 14 feet, four inches, on
#4, while Karen Thompson
had the mystery hole.
Sept. 29 will be the last
play day of the season. The
ladies of WCCC also will
meet that day to elect of-
ficers and hand out awards.
All ladies are invited to one
last day of golfing fun for
the year.
Columbia-Blue seniors
at Indian Creek
Twenty-eight Willow
Creek senior men played
at the par-72 Indian Creek
Golf Course in Hood River
on Sept. 14. Results were
the following:
Columbia Division (Hand-
icap 15 and below)
Gross: 5. Duane Disque
- 86, 7. Barry Munkers - 88.
Blue Division (Handicap
16 to 22)
Gross: 1. Tom Shear -
84, 4. Jim Swanson - 91, 7.
(tie) Denis Lien and Mark
Schlichting - 95.
Senior Division (Handi-
cap 23 and above)
Gross: 4. Bill Morris
- 100.
Net: 5. Roger Ehrman-
traut - 75.
The final Columbia-
Blue tournament will be on
Oct. 13 at Big River Golf
Course, Umatilla, with tee
times at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
HEPPNER LES SCHWAB CONGRATULATES
THE MUSTANG CROSS COUNTRY PARTICIPANTS
IN THE CATHERINE CREEK SCAMPER
Sunday men’s play
The Heppner cross country program continues to make
progress with its young, first-year team.
In the middle school 1.5 mile race there were 96 girls. Running
for Heppner were Madelyn Nichols (fifth place) and Hannah
Palmer (29th place). The Heppner boys placed eighth as a team
out of 16 schools; schools ranged in size from 2A to 5A.
124 N. MAIN STREET
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results
Twenty-two partici-
pated in the Cross Coun-
try Tournament at Willow
Creek Country Club on
Sunday, Sept. 20. This was
the last event of the year for
Sunday men’s play. Results
are as follows:
Gross—1 st , Greg Grant,
73; 2 nd , Kevin Morgan, 76;
3 rd , Erin Mason, 79.
Net—1 st , Donald Ja-
mieson, 67; 2 nd , Jerry Gen-
try, 69; 3 rd , Larry Conklin,
74.
Special Events—KP
#1 Donald Jamieson, KP
#8/14 Charlie Ferguson, KP
#13 Erin Mason, LD #6/16
Greg Grant.
THE L ANDING
RESTAURANT
Prime rib
Every Saturday night
$23.95
(Reservations Required/Limited supply)
Sunday Morning
Breakfast Buffet
$8.95
Open 8am-11am
Closed 11am-12pm for cleaning
Senior Sunday Dinner
$6.95
Your choice of Meat Loaf or Baked Chicken
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OHV Park
Hours: mon-Sat 8am-8pm
Sunday 8am-5pm
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