TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing, LLC and entered as periodical matter at the
Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage
paid at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-
9228. Fax (541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.
net. Web site: www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner
Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $30 in Morrow
County; $24 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $36 elsewhere;
$30 student subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $5.75 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub-
lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. 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.
Deaths
Lloyd G. McNary—Lloyd G. McNary, 92, of Ione
died Friday, December 16, 2016 at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner. He was born December 10, 1924
at Nohley, MT. Arrangements are pending at Sweeney
Mortuary of Heppner.
Dwyla J. Yocom—Dwyla J. Yocom, 62, of Lexing-
ton died Thursday, December 15, 2016 at Richland, WA.
She was born October 30, 1954 at Van Nuys, CA. Ar-
rangements are pending at Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner.
Catholic students
sponsor movie
showing next week
The first communion class from Saint Patrick’s
Catholic Church will be sponsoring a showing of the
movie “The Ten Commandments” on the big screen in
the church’s parish hall next week.
Tripp Stewart, Owen Guerra, Claire Lindsay and
Maya Payne would like to invite the whole community
to the movie showing on Tuesday, Dec. 27, starting at 10
a.m. and ending at 2 p. m.
The youth will be serving lunch and snacks for ev-
eryone. Anyone with questions should call Mary Ann
Elguezabal at 209-404-9072.
EXCHANGE STUDENTS
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Daniel Kelly (cont.)
Also enjoyed Halloween,
too, got to experience the
American way to do it. We
don’t really celebrate it in
Australia.”
Any last thoughts? “I
enjoy the sports a lot. It’s
gonna be hard to leave,
but I’m sure I’ll be back
again, and maybe some
people will come Down
Under. Thanks to Cathy
(Halvorsen) to bringing us
into the community.”
Christmas messages.. of light
Unwrap the Free Gift Fear Not
The angel who tells Mary she will bear the Son of God
also tells her, “Do not be afraid.” The angel who appears
of Christmas
to Joseph in a dream soon afterwards tells him, “Do not
“Who existing in the form of God, did not consider
equality with God as something to be used for His own
advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the
form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.” Philippi-
ans 2:6-7 is not a passage that you often hear read around
the Christmas tree before presents are torn asunder by
over-stimulated children. However, I want you to consider
for a moment just how “Christmas” this passage really is.
Those Bible verses are through and through about
Jesus. They testify that Jesus is Lord and God, and that
Jesus is equal with God. That alone is scandalous to state,
but just in case you weren’t offended by that, this passage
goes on to say that Jesus (being God) took on the form of
a human being and entered into a human body. In other
words, God had to wear diapers and be fed and wrapped
in blankets so He didn’t catch cold. How is that even
possible? Why would God allow such a thing?
The answer is the message of Christmas. You see,
God did not come to earth so that we could have a day
to open presents and share a meal with our friends and
family, as nice and pleasant as those things are. God came
to earth in order that the brokenness of our world might
be miraculously reversed through Him. He has reversed
the curse of sin.
If you were to read the following Bible verse (Philip-
pians 2:8) in this passage you would find that the purpose
of the birth of Jesus is closely linked to the purpose of the
death of Jesus. He came as a baby in order that He might
live the life we live with one huge exception—that being,
He lived a perfect life, never doing wrong, ever. No one
had done this and no one will ever do this except Him.
This is important because since Jesus never did
wrong, He never should have died. There is death and
hurt and failure because there is evil and wrong-doing.
Death is the curse of sin. We all end up dead, because
we are all sinners, with one exception, that being Jesus.
But here’s where it gets good; Jesus could have lived
forever as a man on earth, but instead He chose to die on
a cross. He allowed Himself to be subjected to torture
and death in order that the judgment of sin might be paid
in full. Jesus paid it all. Jesus paid our death penalty by
dying on a cross for us.
Since this is true, Jesus, by His death, extends an
invitation to all who believe this payment is real. In order
to activate the payment for you, you must understand you
have done wrong and that you truly need this payment.
Then you must receive it as a gift from Jesus. It is a free
Christmas gift.
However, remember, God is just and wrong-doing
must be paid for. If God did not demand judgment for
evil, He would not be good; instead, He would be a party
to evil. Either Jesus pays through the cross your death
penalty for sin or you pay in the awful place of judgment
the Bible calls hell. Never should that be so. All can and
should receive this free gift from Jesus.
This Christmas, meditate on this. Rest in the wonder
of this gift, and if you have never received it, unwrap the
greatest gift you could ever possess, eternal life and peace
in Jesus Christ our Lord. May the Lord Jesus call your
name and may you hear His voice this Christmas season.
Tripp Finch
Willow Creek Baptist Church
Tiarna Church (cont.)
giving because it was very
family oriented; there were
hugs all around. It was re-
ally nice to meet everyone,
a really nice place to be.
The food was really good.”
Any last thoughts? “I
like the sports in the school.
I really enjoyed that. It’s go-
ing to be hard to leave. It’s Heppner Church of the Nazarene—Candlelight service
with singing and a brief message at 6 p.m. Christmas
so amazing here.”
Eve, Dec. 24.
Heppner United Methodist Church—Christmas Eve
service at 9 p.m., Dec. 24. Christmas Day worship
with the Shared Ministry at All Saints Episcopal at
10 a.m., Dec. 25.
Shared Ministry—Lessons and carols, candlelight and
communion at Hope Lutheran, 7 p.m. on Christmas
Heppner United Methodist Church volunteers will
Eve, Dec. 24. Sunday morning worship with lesson
serve lunch on Wednesday, Dec. 28, at St. Patrick’s Senior
and carols at All Saints, 10 a.m. on Christmas Day,
Center. Lunch will include scrambled eggs, ham, bacon
Dec. 25.
and sausage; hash browns; roasted tomatoes; citrus salad;
Valby Lutheran Church—A service of carols and read-
biscuits and gravy; and spiced pears.
ings will be held at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.
Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is
Willow Creek Baptist Church—A special service
$3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change.
Christmas Day, Dec. 25, at 5 p.m.
Christmas celebrations
at area churches
Community lunch menu
Justice Court Report
Morrow County Justice of the Peace Ann Spicer has
released the following Justice Court report:
-Jeffrey L. Phillips, 52, of Umatilla, OR was found
guilty of Take/Possession of a Bull Elk During Closed
Season and was fined $435.
The North end and South end Transfer
Stations will be closed for the Holidays! Dec
24th & 25th and Dec 31st and Jan 1st
So the attendants
North
end time
Transfer,
can
spend
with their families
‘Taste of Heppner’
cookbooks at Murray’s
“Taste of Heppner & Surrounding Communities”
cookbooks are now on sale at Murray’s Drug Store. The
cost is $25. The cookbooks are published as a fundraiser
for the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church parish hall renova-
tion.
YOU CAN
be afraid.” The angel who first appears to the shepherds
in the field tells them, “Do not be afraid.”
When Jesus enters his ministry, he takes over the
work of the angels, and repeatedly tells his followers to
“fear not,” “do not be afraid,” and “take courage.”
And yet we fear so much. We fear the loss of those
we love or need, we fear the loss of our health or produc-
tivity, we fear the future of our communities, our nation,
our world. Some of us fear our very selves. How do we
reconcile this ubiquitous anxiety with the commands of
the angels and God to live fearlessly?
It is perfectly human to fear loss and suffering, but
in full and perfect faith, we must realize that nothing that
matters is ever truly lost. The material world will pass,
as will everyone and everything in it, but the eternal life
of God cannot be destroyed, nor can it end. Those we
love will die, as will we, but death is simply a transition,
not an end.
“They shall name him Emmanuel, which means
‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23b). This is the root of
our courage. And God is still with us, now in spirit as he
once was in the flesh. What then have we to fear?
Christmas begins with the necessity for Mary and
Joseph to live without fear, knowing that God was with
them. It is no different for those of us who once a year
celebrate the incarnation in time and place of the eternal
God. “Do not be afraid,” the angel told the shepherds and
every single person who came after them. “For see—I
am bringing you good news of great joy.” And courage
for life.
The Rev. Lea Mathieu
Valby Lutheran Church
To My Favorite Town
in the World: Heppner
For six Christmases (2002-2007) I was privileged
to be the pastor of the Heppner United Methodist
Church. I now live in Salem, and am celebrating my
70 th Christmas! I want you to know that I am still in the
land of the living, and that I love Christmas—and Hep-
pner—as much as I ever have.
When I was much younger, I took my son Steven on
a camping trip in the mountains. Our tent was something
of a pup-tent, with no door, so as we drifted off to sleep in
our sleeping bags, we were able to see a bright and clear
starry sky before us. Sometime after midnight I awoke to
the sound of a quietly tinkling bell out in the darkness. I
found that there was a large flock of sheep slowly moving
up the mountainside. The moon had come up, and there
was enough light to make out the shadowy white move-
ment as the flock seemed to flow through the night. Once
in a while I heard a dog bark, and was reminded that the
shepherd and his trustworthy companion were working,
keeping watch over their flock by night. Steven woke
up, and together we watched as the sheep disappeared
up the mountain.
With Christmas here, and the age-old stories being
shared again, new ideas have come to me about that first
Holy Night of long ago. I am reminded that when the
angel appeared, proclaiming that the Savior of the world
had just been born, the shepherds were terrified. But...
the sheep apparently were not. Such a heavenly commo-
tion, in my mind, should have scattered the sheep in all
directions. Their shepherds were giving off such alarming
emotions. The sky was lit up by a bright light. And the
sound was heard of a multitude suddenly singing. It might
have been a Holy Night, but at that moment it certainly
was not a quiet holy night.
We are given the impression by the story told in Luke
that the shepherds abandoned their sheep for a while to
go in search of the miracle in Bethlehem. Perhaps the
strangely quiet behavior of their flock, even with all the
commotion going on, assured the shepherds that God was
very present, and their sheep were in God’s care. Or, it
could be that with the brightness of that one star shining
over Bethlehem, they had enough light to safely move
their flock along with them, as Steven and I had observed
that night on our camping trip.
In whatever ways we picture the actions of the shep-
herds, there is still room for us to find how we might
react to the events of that first Christmas night. I have
come to believe that our world is much like an enormous
Internet, where every word spoken is saved. Our minds
are the computers that can receive. And it is possible for
us, if we can quiet the many voices of the world, to tune
ourselves to that one mysterious night, and hear again the
wonderful news that God speaks out: “Don’t be afraid! I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people... for unto you...a Savior is born!”
So, this is my prayer for you: that you will find the
time, and hear the angel, and seek out the Shepherd, who
leads us through the night into everlasting day.
A very blessed Christmas to all,
Rev. Keith Brudevold
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