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
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242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)