THREE - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 15, 2018
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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!
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SINE
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B TTERHEAD
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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.