Local businesses to host open
house activities
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136 NO. 48 8 Pages
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Roice Fulleton celebrates
100 th birthday
Roice Fulleton recently
celebrated his 100th birth-
day at Willow Creek Ter-
race with his family who
enjoyed reminiscing about
his life.
Roice was born on Dec.
3, 1917 to Edith (Roberts)
and Frank Fulleton of Mc-
Grew, NE. Roice attended
primary grades and high
school in McGrew, but as
with all farm families of
the time, spent many hours
caring for animals and cul-
tivating crops – of course
without any mechaniza-
tion. The Fulleton family
farm raised sugar beets,
corn, cattle and hogs until
the impact of the dust bowl
prompted their relocation
to Oregon.
In 1936, at the age of
18 years, he enlisted in
the U.S. Navy and served
at several different naval
air stations. Very notable
to Roice, was time spent
on the U.S.S. Overton de-
stroyer on neutrality patrol
near Panama and later on
the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.
Roice related that while
stationed at Long Beach,
CA, he and his shipmate,
Woody Predmore, would go
ashore together on times of
leave. In 1939, Woody had
invited his mother and sister
to visit from Nebraska and
was to meet his family on
his leave day. It was then
that Roice was introduced
to Woody’s sister, Betty.
The young navy men and
visitors all attended the
World’s Fair together in
San Francisco to celebrate
the opening of the Bay
and Golden Gate
Bridges. After
a long-distance
courtship, Roice
and Betty married
in Chadron, NE
in 1941.
After the
attack on Pearl
Harbor and the
U.S. entry into
World War II,
Roice re-enlisted
in the Navy in
1942 as an air-
craft mechanic
and supervisor. Roice Fulleton celebrated his 100 th birth-
He was assigned day with his daughters Becky (Dave)
t o t h e P a s c o Cannon, Diane (Archie) Ball, grand-
Air Station for daughter Andrea Fletcher and great
grandsons Casey and Cody Fletcher. –
a year and then Contributed photo
was Seattle-based
serving at Attu,
but the Battle of Attu ranks
Alaska from 1943-45. Dur- as the second deadliest bat-
ing this time, Roice pre- tle in the Pacific Theatre (in
pared and installed guns proportion to the number of
and bombing mechanisms troops engaged) falling just
on bombers and also re- behind Iwo Jima.
paired the damaged bomb-
While Roice was in
ers upon their return. It was Pasco and Alaska, Betty
during this time, the U.S. continued to live and work
Navy bombers based on the at the Pasco Air Base where
Aleutian Islands bombed she was secretary to the
the infamous Paramushiro base commander and then
Island, a Japanese naval employed by Boeing in
air base. The Americans Seattle, during the war.
achieved nearly complete After Roice was honor-
surprise and escaped with ably discharged, he and
small losses. However, later Betty moved to Vale, OR
raids became heavily op- near Roice’s parents (the
posed and the effort was too first sugar beet growers in
costly for the U.S. to con- Oregon). Roice became a
tinue. Roice recalls many partner in an auto repair
details of his time spent on business and Chevrolet car
the Aleutian Islands during dealership. While living in
the war and has many, many Vale, a daughter, Diana,
stories of his over-seven was born in 1946 with Ruby
years of military service following in 1950.
prior to and during World
In 1952, Roice and Bet-
War II. It is not well-known ty purchased Hodge Chev-
Parade of Lights to be held on Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. -File photo
On Thursday, Dec. 7
local businesses in Hep-
pner will host a variety of
activities to welcome the
holiday season. From 10
a.m. until 2 p.m., Bank of
Eastern Oregon, Blondee’s
Salon, the City of Heppner,
Cornerstone Gallery and
Heppner Auto Parts will be
serving cookies, cider and
other refreshments.
Community Bank will
serve refreshments from 9
and will serve hot chocolate
and candy canes from 6-7
p.m. when Santa and Mrs.
Claus will be available for
pictures, with your own
camera.
Murray’s will hold
hourly door prizes and Mur-
ray’s Christmas Wish List
from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with
a mini wine tasting from 5-7
p.m. Peterson’s Jewelers
will stay open until 7 p.m.
County and The Landing
operators part ways
Morrow County unable to reach contract terms with operators of The Landing Restaurant at
the Off Highway Vehicle Park.
By David Sykes
Morrow County is un-
able to reach a contract
extension agreement with
the operators of the popu-
lar Landing Restaurant at
the Off Highway Vehicle,
(OHV) park in the moun-
tains south of Heppner, so
the two are parting ways.
The restaurant operates un-
der a franchise agreement
with the county which owns
the park and the restaurant
building.
The Landing opera-
tors Barb and John Har-
ris have been running the
restaurant under a year to
year contract, however dis-
agreements about hours of
operation and other issues
were unable to be resolved
-See ROICE/PAGE THREE with the county, so the Har-
rises will no longer be the
operators.
“To all our valued and
loved customers of The
Landing Lodge, we are
saddened to have to tell
Free Duffley concerts planned
in Heppner and Condon
Christopher Duffley
will be performing in Hep-
pner and Condon next
week. The Heppner concert
will be held at the Hep-
pner Junior/Senior High
School gym on Dec. 10 at
6:30 p.m. and at the Con-
don High School gym on
Dec. 13, also at 6:30 p.m.
A concession operated by
HHS FBLA will offer light
dinner options and snacks
during the concert in Hep-
pner. Community Counsel-
ing Solutions is sponsoring
both concerts, which are
free to the public.
By all accounts, Chris-
topher Duffley didn’t have
a fighting chance. Born in
May of 2001, Duffley’s
biological parents tested
positive for Oxycontin
and cocaine, contribut-
ing to a premature birth.
Weighing in at less than
two pounds, Christopher
was born permanently blind
(detached retinas), along
with a myriad of other
health problems, requiring
a seven-month hospital
stay. Initially placed in fos-
ter care, Christopher’s aunt
and uncle soon took him
in as their own, eventually
adopting him at the age
of two. As if his existing
a.m. until 3 p.m. and Break-
ing Grounds will serve
cookies and hot cider from
5-7 p.m. Sweet Productions
will serve cookies and cider
all day.
The Parade of Lights
will begin at 5:30 p.m., with
a toy drive and spaghetti
meal immediately follow-
ing at the Heppner Elks
Lodge. Market Fresh Foods
will have free coffee all day
you we will not be given
an extended contract with
Morrow County to operate
the restaurant,” they said in
a recent Facebook posting.
The Harrises went on to
say the dispute involved a
disagreement over hours of
operation, menu and giving
priority to park guests to eat
at the restaurant. “While
we are saddened by the
outcome, we are firm in
our belief that the county’s
demands did not fit logisti-
cally or financially within
our business plan,” they
added. In an apparent ef-
fort to put pressure on the
county, they also provided
the names and emails of
county officials to contact
on their Facebook page.
The county commis-
sion discussed the con-
tract and its problems with
the Harrises at its Nov. 29
meeting, however they did
not go into the details of
the disagreements and the
Harrises were not present at
the meeting. “The current
users were doing things out-
side the contract,” Interim
County Administrator Kim
Cutsforth told the commis-
sioners. “The operators said
if they have to do anything
different they didn’t want
to renew (the contract),”
she added. The commission
disagreed with The Land-
ing’s postings which placed
the blame for the disagree-
ment solely on the county.
“They made it sound like
we threw them out, which
is not true,” said Cutsforth.
She said the county wanted
Barbara Harris to give them
a proposal and attempt to
work out the differences.
Cutsforth said the county
regretted the negative com-
ments that went out on
Facebook, and even pointed
out that John Harris had
been a great help doing
-See LANDING/PAGE FOUR
Heppner temperatures above
normal in November
Christopher Duffley will perform in Heppner and Condon.
-Contributed photo.
health problems weren’t
enough, Christopher didn’t
speak in full sentences until
the first grade and was later
diagnosed with autism.
Despite the challenges,
Duffley’s adopted parents
(who are devout Chris-
tians), didn’t lose hope
or waiver in their faith.
And as the years passed,
they would discover that
Christopher displayed a
tremendous gift in music.
Particularly fond of Chris-
tian praise and worship
songs, Christopher is now
in high demand to perform
at churches, sporting events
and other venues.
According to his par-
ents, Duffley’s story is an
amazing testament that no
matter how challenging
one’s situation may appear,
there will always be silver
linings in the midst of the
obstacles and pain. In fact,
Christopher’s parents have
used his story to advocate
on behalf of pro-life groups
to show that what soci-
ety would often consider
damaged or unwanted, is
actually something to be
considered very special.
From Manchester, New
Hampshire to Heppner and
Condon, Christopher has
a story to tell to each and
every one of us.
According to prelimi-
nary data received by NO-
AA’s National Weather Ser-
vice in Pendleton, tempera-
tures at Heppner averaged
warmer than normal during
the month of November.
The average tempera-
ture was 43.7 degrees which
was 2.4 degrees above nor-
mal. High temperatures av-
eraged 54.2 degrees, which
was 3.4 degrees above nor-
mal. The highest was 71
degrees on the 23 rd . Low
temperatures averaged 33.1
degrees, which was 1.4
degrees above normal. The
lowest was 19 degrees, on
the 7 th .
There were 11 days
with the low temperature
below 32 degrees.
Precipitation totaled
1.63 inches during Novem-
ber, which was 0.03 inches
above normal. Measurable
precipitation, at least .01
inch, was received on 16
days with the heaviest, 0.32
inches reported on the 16 th .
Precipitation this year
has reached 12.42 inches,
which is 0.26 inches below
normal. Since October, the
water year precipitation
at Heppner has been 2.87
inches, which is 0.13 inches
20% OFF
above normal.
The highest wind gust
was 39 mph which occurred
on the 26 th .
The outlook for De-
cember from NOAA’s Cli-
mate Prediction Center
calls for above normal tem-
peratures and below normal
precipitation. Normal highs
for Heppner fall from 44
degrees at the start of De-
cember to 41 degrees at the
end of December. Normal
lows fall from 28 degrees
to 25 degrees. The 30 year
normal precipitation is 1.32
inches.
CHRISTMAS
TREES IN
STOCK!
Montana Silversmith Jewelry
now thru Christmas
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)