Doherty travels to Nashville on Greyhound HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 137 NO. 32 6 Pages Wednesday, August 8, 2018 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon By Jim Doherty I was beginning to feel grounded, the rocking of the rhythm of the rails finally ebbing from my cross-country train ride. I had not fully absorbed the principles, nor the practical application of the leader- ship training I had attended, so I was a bit surprised when an email arrived from NACo, (National Associ- ation of Counties) urging me, not only to attend the annual meeting but to assist the first time attendees as an ambassador. More important than the notion that I could be an Morrow County Fair coming next week 2018 SPECIAL FAIR EDITION Included in this weeks’ GAZETTE articles schedules and events, Fair & Rodeo news The Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo is scheduled for next week, Aug. 15-19, with exhibits opening to the public Aug. 15. See more details on special events and attractions in this week’s special fair insert in the G-T. Rodeo to be held during fair The Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo is sched- uled for Aug. 17 and 18. New and exciting things are expected, offering non-stop ex- citement and enter- tainment. Returning to the 2018 show will be Hashbrown the clown and Dan Burns in the Spur ‘Em barn. Showcased events will be the ranch rodeo scramble, last man standing bronc rid- ing, wild horse racing, Morrow County am- ateur tie down roping and open barrel racing, mutton busting and the hide race. Performances of the ranch rodeo will be August 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. and the Mor- row County Rodeo performance at 1:15 p.m. on August 19. The announcer will be Lindsey Wyllie, bull fighter is Ryan Manning, clown is Joey Hackett and the stock contractors are B Bar D Rodeos. Music will be provided on Friday and Saturday after the rodeo by Dan Burns 3D Productions in the The last man standing bronc Spur Em Barn. riding is one of the exciting events Rodeo entries close Friday Competitors interested in participating in the Ore- gon Trail Pro Rodeo must enter by Friday, Aug. 10. Call or text 541-571-6959 or email mocorodeo@hot- mail.com for additional information. scheduled for the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo coming up next weekend. County rolls out new building plans at Heppner public meeting New facilities to be built in Irrigon, but how big? By David Sykes Formal plans for new county facilities and office buildings in Irrigon were rolled out to the community at last week’s Chamber of Commerce meeting, and all three commissioners were on hand to explain the expansion and answer questions from the public. “We brought in Crow Engineering to look at our north Morrow County buildings,” Doherty said. “It’s to the point of embar- rassing the conditions they are working under,” he said of the county’s decision to improve county offices and facilities servicing the north end of the county. “We said they also wanted to keep the services in Irrigon. “They came back with a 24,000 square foot design which was much bigger than needed. “We’re not Multnomah County yet,” he said of the original large proposed size. At the Chamber meet- -See BUILDING PLANS- PAGE FOUR ambassador, having never attended, was the overarch- ing question, “Could I make a difference?” Could I de- liver a value to Oregon and more importantly, Morrow County on a national level? My friend and mentor Senator Hansell was in- volved with NACo for 32 years. He eventually pre- sided over the association. He certainly left his mark and delivered services to Oregon and our neighbor- ing county. He did so while delivering the message to all the northwest. As my fellow commissioners gra- ciously offered to cover my local responsibilities for the week, I was fast running out of excuses. I shifted my focus and began watching Timothy Ward’s Travel Tip channel. If I was going to make this maiden voyage to NACo, I was going to save as much money on this venture to Nashville as I could. That meant booking a seat and boarding a Greyhound bus. Along with saving hun- dreds of dollars I surmised no artist ever got discovered flying into Music City on a 747. Country songs are replete with the romantic notion of a busker, guitar on his back, strolling off the Greyhound bus and into our hearts. With a modicum of trepidation, I watched Mr. Ward’s first and most viewed clip, “How to Sur- vive a Cross-Country Grey- hound Trip.” This video had suggestions such as, sit as close as possible to the driver, don’t sleep, don’t venture into the restrooms on the bus or in the termi- nals. And for heaven’s sake, do not speak or make eye contact with these gypsies, tramps and thieves. Eager and undaunted, I was at the front of the line at 2 a.m., in Stanfield. With riders already on the bus from Portland I was still able to commandeer a survivable location, two seats back of the first of many callous conductors. These conductors, or driv- ers, if you will, left little imagination as to who was in charge. I learned quickly that they may, or may not, follow the rules regarding a requisite stop. They had little sympathy for those gripped by nicotine or com- missioners in dire need of walking some kinks out. If they did find a wide spot for a short break and allotted that it would be 15 minutes, it was best to be re-board- ed in 10. One young man chased us to the red light. Had it been green his lug- gage would have made it to the destination sans owner. Some 10 hours into the trip my angst was giving way to ennui and a wish that I had funded a flight. With Twin Falls, Idaho beginning to shimmer in the distance, the big die- sel engine commenced to knocking, then ceased to drone, 50 passengers and the driver gave out a col- lective groan. We rolled to a stop on the shoulder, no engine, no air, and no less than 100 degrees out there. I’ll spare you the colorful language. Shouts of murder and mayhem ensued over the next three hours as we waited for a mechanic. I’m no Ron Carlson but I was able to convince our driver, that given the amount of oil and water soaking into the sand, his dog was dead. He made a call, announced, “They are sending another bus out of Boise,” it would be there in an hour and a half. Riot is not too strong a word for what commenced. The travel guru had not prepared me for this. It was then that someone, who shall remain anony- mous, called a pizza shop and ordered a dozen pies. The shift in perspective as we sat in the sweltering shade consuming Canadian bacon, was just short of biblical. Any thoughts of catch- ing connecting buses was, out the window. As a conse- quence, I rolled into Nash- ville 61 hours later and a mere 15-minutes before my pre-convention ambassador training. An hour into the meeting I noticed that my fellow ambassadors were a little off-standish, that is until I realized, I was in the same clothes that I had put on 2,166.9 miles before. Those clothes are now in a dumpster outback of the Cracker Barrel in Nashville, TN. The convention started off with a bang. I was at the first-time attendee break- fast meeting wearing my ambassador badge. There were a record 570 first-time attendees and I had some -See DOHERTY/PAGE THREE Look Good For Fair & Rodeo ALL County Commissioner Jim Doherty speaks to the lunch crowd at the Heppner Chamber. Next to him are Commissioners Don Russell and Melissa Lindsay. have a county valuation at around $4 billion and it is approaching $5 billion. We can do better than this.” Doherty said they brought in the Crow engineering firm to do an evaluation of all the current north end facilities and come back with an upgrade plan. He Mens Wranglers On Sale $21.95 20% OFF 13MWZ Montana All other Men’s & Women’s Silversmiths Wrangler Apparel 15% OFF Jewelery TONY LAMA BOOTS 15% OFF Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)