Chamber to host Community Awards event on Feb. 8 HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 137 NO. 5 6 Pages Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Heppner Chamber’s annual Town and Country Community Awards event will be held Thursday, Feb. 8 starting at 6 p.m. There will be a no host bar oper- ated by Bucknum’s, with dinner to start at 6:30 p.m. and the awards program to follow. Alvin Liu with Gateway Café will be cater- ing the dinner and will be serving prime rib with au jus, creamy garlic mashed potatoes, green beans in garlic sauce, garden fresh salad and a dinner roll with butter, dessert and a bever- age. Gold sponsors are In- venergy, LLC dba Willow Creek Energy and Bronze sponsors are Communi- ty Counseling Solutions, Northwest Farm Credit Ser- vices and Portland General Electric. Tickets are $25 per person until the week of the event when they will increase to $30 per person. Tickets are available at Bank of Eastern Oregon, chamber office, City of Heppner, Community Bank and Murray’s. Checks may be made out to the Heppner Chamber of Commerce. This year we will rec- ognize and celebrate the Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Business of the Year, Youth, Citizen-Educa- tor of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award. Contact the Heppner Chamber of Commerce at 541-676-5536 for more information or to reserve tickets. Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon St. Patrick’s Remembrance Walk/Run to be held Mar. 17 Community members turned out in force to participate in the Remembrance Walk/Run in 2017. -File Photo A Decade of Memo- ries will be the theme for this year’s Remembrance Walk/5K Run on Mar. 17. Friends Helping Friends are again hosting the event that will begin at 9:30 a.m., with a social hour and registra- tion taking place at 8:30 a.m. at Heppner United Methodist Church. The fee to participate in the walk or run will still be $5 per person, with children free. In the past decade, nearly $50,000 has been donated to the commu- nity through this event, including Pioneer Memo- rial Home Health and Hos- pice, Willow Creek Terrace, Pioneer Memorial Hospital, Heppner Day Care, Hep- pner St. Patrick’s Commit- tee, Heppner Elks Club La- dies, Morrow County Fire and Ambulance and South EMTs, Asher Schonbachler benefit and the Heppner United Methodist Church. Friends Helping Friends will donate the proceeds from this year’s event to St. Patrick’s apart- ments and senior center for much needed repairs and improvements, which include a new roof, HVAC and fire suppression in the historical building. The senior center includes 19 apartments along with the meal site location where meals are served each Wednesday as well as flu- shot clinics, blood drives, Bingo, bazaars, receptions, meetings, parties and many other community events. A committee member reported some of the spon- sors who have donated money and door prizes this year include Community Bank, Community Coun- seling Solutions, Columbia Ione FFA members to represent local district at state competition Basin Electric, MCGG, Wildhorse Resort and Ca- sino and Windwave Com- munications. Participants who pre- register will be included in the door prize drawings for a Wildhorse Resort and Casino package, multiple gas cards, a Willow Creek Waterpark pass, Arbonne cosmetics, a Hamley’s Steakhouse gift certificate and many more items. Ione teacher arrested Ione Community Char- ter School music teacher, Bryan Bates, 24, of Ione was arrest- ed by Mor- row County S h e r i f f ’s Office and accused of sexual abuse of a student on Jan. 24. According to the state- ment from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred on school Pictured (L-R): Morgan Orem, Emily Taylor, Larysa Burright and Eva Martin. The Ione FFA chapter competed at the district FFA convention Jan. 25 in Hermiston and sev- eral members placed high enough to represent the district at the state level. Morgan Orem and Sonia Medina will represent the district at the sectional job interview career devel- opment event; Morgan, Jake Heideman and Grace Ogden will advance their portfolios to state and Morgan will represent the district at the state coop- erative quiz. Ione FFA members that placed at the district meet are: First place, beginning job interview- Eva Martin; first place, advanced job interview- Morgan Orem; second place, advanced job interview- Sonia Me- dina; first place, beginning portfolio- Grace Ogden; fourth place, beginning portfolio- Eva Martin; fifth place, beginning portfo- lio- Larysa Burright; first place, advanced portfo- lio- Morgan Orem; second place, advanced portfo- lio- Jake Heideman; fifth place, advanced portfolio- Emily Taylor; third place, secretary’s book- Emily Rose Taylor; third place, treasurer’s book- Sarah Knop; two state degree candidates- Emily Tay- lor and Austin Morter; di- versified crop production proficiency- Emily Taylor; diversified ag production proficiency- Austin Morter. Ione judges who as- sisted with scoring resumes and cover letters as well as formal interviews and ap- plications were Mr. Brent Martin, Dr. and Mrs. Bill & Nancy Jepsen, Senator Bill Hansell, Mrs. Alison Ogden, Mr. Bob Rosselle and Mrs. Jill Martin. The FFA district con- sists of Pendleton, Hermis- ton, Stanfield, Pilot Rock, Athena, Milton-Freewater, Dufur, Heppner, Irrigon, Boardman and Ione. Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group would like to invite interested parties to their annual hosted luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 15 from 12-1 p.m. in the senior cen- ter dining room. Gary Neal, Port of Morrow, will be the speaker and will share information on economic development in south Mor- row County. The lunch, served by Alvin Liu of Gateway Café, is free and will consist of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken, BBQ beans, potato salad, dessert and a beverage. RSVP is required and must be received no later than ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. property and involved a 16-year-old female student. Bates was lodged in the Umatilla County Jail with bail set at $25,000. MCSO reported that they arrested Bates on one count of official miscon- duct, two counts of harass- ment and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse. The investigation is con- tinuing at this time. According to Ione Su- perintendent Jon Peterson, Bates was placed on admin- istrative leave. Morrow County Planning Commission seeking volunteer Morrow County is looking for a volunteer to represent Heppner on the Morrow County Plan- ning Commission. Plan- ning commissioners serve four-year terms, with this appointment filling a term ending Dec. 31, 2019. The planning commis- sion generally meets once a month, alternating meeting locations between Heppner and Boardman. Duties of the planning commission include approving land use actions, maintaining Tuesday, Feb. 13. Contact the chamber at the county’s subdivision 541-676-5536 to RSVP or and zoning ordinances and for additional information. working with the Morrow South county economic development information to be shared Donations and registra- tions may be sent to FHF, c/o Kathi Dickenson, P.O. Box 566, Heppner, OR 97836 or by contacting Su- san Hisler at 541-676-5878. Flyers and registration forms are also available at Murray’s Drugs or Dicken- son Chiropractic. County Board of Commis- sioners to manage the coun- ty’s land use comprehensive plan. For more information, visit the county website at www.co.morrow.or.us/pc or call Carla McLane at 541- 922-4624. Parties residing in Mor- row County who are inter- ested in taking a more active part in land use planning in the county are encouraged to submit a letter of inter- est to the Morrow County Planning Department, P.O. Box 40, Irrigon, OR 97844 by the close of business Friday, Feb. 9. 20 % OFF Montana Silversmith Jewelry Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)