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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2018)
THREE - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 15, 2018 ~ Letters to the Editor ~ The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be printed in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. 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. Barb’s Place at OHV park closes To the editor: Barb’s Place located at the Morrow County OHV Park has been closed and I would like to explain to all who supported the restaurant. On Monday, July 23 a fire was spotted on property that borders the Morrow County OHV park. The staff at the park jumped into action to determine the location and size of the fire in hopes of extinguishing it. After realizing that more help was needed to fight this fire, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) was called into action. Barb’s Place was con- tacted by ODF in John Day to assist by feeding the next group of firefighters to ar- rive Tuesday morning. We fed the county employees on the line Monday and the rest of the week and notified the Public Works director and park manager that we were feeding the firefighters. My contract with the county states that I am not allowed to take any subcontract of any kind without their permis- sion. These meals for the firefighters were not on a contract with ODF. As the fire grew, so did the number of firefighters. On Tuesday afternoon I was requested to feed up to 100 for dinner Still no word or complaints from the county and still not under contract with ODF. I was closed that day so there was no harm to park guests. These firefighters were protecting the park. I was told by ODF on Tuesday night a food truck for the firefighters was coming in on Wednesday to take over. They asked if I would do a Wednesday morning breakfast buffet for 100 and then I would be relieved. Still no comment from the county and still not under contract with the state. The buffet for break- fast was before we open, so again no harm to park guests. Later Wednesday I was asked again by ODF to help. They were up to 250 firefighters and no way to feed them as the food truck was not up to doing it. I had no help, so ODF stepped in with five people to help me so those on the line had a hot meal. I did what needed to be done. I repaid ODF for their people. Still no word from the county nor a con- tract with the state. During the course of the day we ran the restau- rant as normal and had a very large freight delivery. We successfully fed 292 firefighters on Wednes- day night, feeding them everything that we had. At 1 a.m. I finally got out of the building to rest until 4 a.m., when I had to go back to clean and get back to nor- mal. Still no word from the county nor under contract with ODF. Thursday things got crazy. I had a restaurant to get back in shape, dishes to do and a dishwasher to get running while running the restaurant as normal. The dishwasher repair required being given instructions over the phone which took a bit of doing as cell ser- vice is not the best. During a busy time and on the phone getting instructions, a young man came in and wanted a milk shake. I told him I was in the middle of a mess, gave the whole crew free sodas and asked if he would return later and I would give him a shake. All my girls were busy with a full restaurant. Apparently, that’s where I went wrong. The week progressed as normal. CFS night, sold out prime rib and a great senior Sunday. Still no word from county. Monday morning I got a call from USFS in Heppner asking me what I could do to feed the 40-60 firefighters that were going to remain since the fire was well controlled and crews were being released. I told them I would do a breakfast and dinner buffet before open and after close as to not interfere with park guests. As the day progressed and crews were leaving I was approached by ODF and USFS man- agement apologizing to me for not being allowed to use the restaurant for the re- mainder of their stay. They had come from a meeting with county personnel who told them not to use us for their current needs as they had received a complaint that I refused to serve a milkshake. They want their park guests to be the main priority. After contacting USFS in Heppner, I was advised they were asked to call me as a courtesy, but use vendors from Heppner. I then chose to tender the termination of my con- tract with Morrow County. Of course this was one week with no complaints from the county and no signed contract. The county counsel emailed me to re- mind me to contact the park management for the proper exit and accounting infor- mation. No one else from the county has responded. I did talk to the park manager and road depart- ment director who stated they have no idea how this happened, how the agencies knew details of something that happened and the coun- ty said they didn’t know anything about a complaint still intrigues me. When I was paid for my services, it was brought to my attention that taking a credit card could be con- strued as a contract. This was confirmed by my law- yer. It does no good to argue with anyone. It’s clear they want a restaurant here for park guests, but they want to run it at the vendor’s expense. I want to apologize for leaving but I won’t. I want to apologize for those who feel we did not meet their needs but I won’t. I did the moral and ethical thing: help those that were helping save the park that is enjoyed by many and owned by all of you in Morrow County. And I would do it again. Barbara Richmond-Harris Barb’s Place 4-H members participate in pre-fair presentations Morrow County 4-H members recently partici- pated in pre-fair demonstra- tions and presentations. The results are: Isabella Orr, Presenta- tions, 4-H Pledge Contest (Pre-Fair) County Only, Int, Blue, CH; Arianna Worden, Presentations, 4-H Pledge Contest (Pre-Fair) Coun- ty Only, Int, Blue, RCH; Daemon Worden, Presen- tations, 4-H Pledge Contest (Pre-Fair) County Only, Int, Red; Rylee Palmer, Presen- tations, 4-H Pledge Contest (Pre-Fair) County Only, Jr, Blue, CH; Liam Heideman, Presentations, 4-H Pledge Contest (Pre-Fair) County Only, Jr, Blue, CH; Isabella Orr, Presentations, Cele- brate Our World Inspired Presentation, Int, Blue, CH; Isabella Orr, Presentations, Impromptu Speaking, Int, Blue, CH; Isabella Orr, Presentations, Individual Demonstration, Int, Red; Cody Fletcher, Presenta- tions, Individual Demon- stration, Int, Blue, CH; Liam Heideman, Presenta- tions, Individual Demon- stration, Jr (county only), Red; Isabella Orr, Presenta- tions, Individual Illustrated Talk, Int, Blue, CH; Harley Anderson, Presentations, Individual Illustrated Talk, Int, Red; Moira Di Salvo, Food and Nutrition, Ju- nior Measuring Contest (county only), Blue, RCH; Ione area residents can expect the outage to begin Thursday, Aug. 16 at 10 p.m. and re-energization at 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 17. BPA personnel will be replacing damaged equip- ment that aids in the pro- tection of the CBEC distri- bution lines outside the sub- station. CBEC apologizes for the inconvenience, but states that every measure was taken to schedule the outage at the least disrup- tive time possible. The five-hour outage will affect only the CBEC members served by the Ione substation, which include THOMAS ORCHARDS Kimberly, Oregon U-PICK Nectarines Plums Bartlett Pears REDI PICKED Bartlett Pears Nectarines Peaches MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER 350 MAIN STREET 541-989-8221 LEXINGTON, OR 1-800-452-7396 Offers vary by model. Offers valid on select new 2016 – 2019 Polaris snowmobiles. On approved Polaris purchases. Minimum Payments required. Offer may not be combined with certain other offers, is subject to change and may be extended or terminated without further notice. All rebates are paid to the dealer. The Promotional Limited Warranty consists of the standard 12-month factory warranty plus an additional 12, or 24 months of additional promotional limited warranty coverage for a total of 24 or 36 months of warranty coverage. Any additional warranty coverage after the initial 12-month factory warranty is subject to a $50.00 deductible per visit. Valid at participating Polaris Snowmobile dealers only. Model & year exclusions apply. See your local dealer for details. Offers valid between 8/3/18 – 10/31/18. US: Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. Program minimum amount financed is $5,000 and 0% – 10% down payment required. Sales tax, registration fees, and dealer fees not included. Minimum Amounts Financed, Interest Charges, and penalties for accounts non-current, may apply. Financing promotions void where prohibited. Canada: This is a limited time offer which is valid for the purchase of selected qualifying models and is subject to credit approval from TD Auto Finance (TDAF) on qualified purchases financed during this program. Rates from other lenders may vary. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Minimum amount to finance is $5,000. Example: $7,500 financed at 3.99% over 36 months = 36 monthly payments of $221.40 with a cost of borrowing of $470.27 and a total obligation of $7,970.27. Freight, license, PPSA/RPDRM, insurance, registration, any retailer administration fees and other applicable fees and taxes are not included in the financed amount. Dealers are free to set individual prices, but must be enrolled with TDAF to participate. Does not apply to prior purchases. BRING CONTAINERS FOR U -PICK CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK FOR UPDATES 541-934-2870 6-27-1c RCH; Liam Heideman, Food and Nutrition, Quick and Easy Ground Beef - Junior (county only), Blue; Arianna Worden, Food and Nutrition, Quick and Easy Ground Beef - Junior (county only), Blue, CH; Isabella Orr, Performing Arts, Performing Arts, Int, Blue, CH. Pictured (L-R): Tom Phelan, Cory Cooley, the late Jeremy Miller, Joe Lindsay and Rick Pullen. -Contributed photo. Absolutely Nobody is scheduled to perform Sun- day, Aug. 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ione City Park. Joe Lindsay, a mem- ber of the group, says he and some friends formed the group while they were attending Blue Mountain Community College. He said they sang and enter- tained through school, singing familiar tunes and twisting up the lyrics. The four members, Joe Lindsay, the town of Ione, Ella Rd., Lower Rhea Creek, Brenner Canyon, Ione Gooseber- ry Rd., Dry Fork, Lower Willow Creek, North Lex- ington and the surrounding areas. The communities of Heppner and Lexington will not be affected by the outage. For additional infor- mation, contact CBEC at 541-676-9146. RINT! P E W SS C A R D SINE S U B TTERHEAD LE CHURES B RO FLYERS AND MORE! Open 7 days a week 8 am-6pm ONLY 350 Main Street, Lexington, Oregon Liam Heideman, Food and Nutrition, Junior Measur- ing Contest (county only), Blue, CH; Brionna Ser- rano, Food and Nutrition, Quick and Easy Ground Beef - Junior (county only), Blue; Jolene Serrano, Food and Nutrition, Quick and Easy Ground Beef - Ju- nior (county only), Blue, Absolutely Nobody to perform Ione area power outage scheduled Columbia Basin Elec- tric Cooperative has an- nounced the Bonneville Power Administration will have a planned power out- age at the Ione substation. 4-H members who participated in the pre-fair demonstra- tions are top row (L-R); Harley Anderson, Gage Heideman and Rylee Palmer. Bottom row (L-R): Casey Fletcher, Liam Heideman and Isabella Orr. -Contributed photo. The Heppner Gazette-Times 188 W. Willow Call Dave Today (541) 676-9228 Cory Cooley, Rick Pul- len and Tom Phelan, have agreed to regroup for this performance and promise a night of music, fun and laughter. Also scheduled to per- form are the Lindsay and Cooley families to top off the evening. Ione’s Music in the Park is facilitated by the Ione Library board and funded by the Morrow County Unified Recreation District. Food will be avail- able for purchase from Ta- cos Hometown. Everyone is invited to bring chairs and coolers and come out to enjoy the music. Ryan Neal named new Port of Morrow manager Ryan Neal was recently selected to fill the role soon to be vacated by his father, Gary Neal, as the new man- ager of the Port of Morrow. Ryan, the current general manager of warehousing for the port will take over this fall, probably sometime in October. Commissioner Rick Stokoe said the commission has given Neal a condition- al offer of employment, which is contingent on his passing a background check and going through contract negotiations. Stokoe indi- cated they decided Ryan was the best fit, although all of the applicants were highly qualified. Neal was one of four finalists for the position interviewed by the commis- sion. All four appeared at a public meeting last Monday and shared a little about themselves and their vision for the port. The other candidates were Dean Gardner of Se- lah, WA; Stephanie Sea- mans of Kennewick, WA and Peter Wilhelm of Wal- lula, WA. “I feel honored that the commission selected some- one that I know well,” said Gary Neal. “It’s a pretty ex- citing opportunity for him.” Sept. Chamber meeting scheduled The next lunch meet- ing of the Heppner Cham- ber of Commerce will be held Thursday, Sept. 6 at noon, in the Heppner City Hall conference room. This meeting will be for all enti- ties reports. Lunch will be provided by Tacos Hometown for $10. A choice of a small beef or chicken burrito, chips, salsa and dessert will be served. RSVP is required no later than Friday, Aug. 31 due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 3. The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities. A request for an interpreter for the hearing impaired or for other ac- commodations for persons with disabilities should be made at least 48 hours be- fore the meeting to Sheryll Bates at 541-676-5536.
