Peterson mans the store for
over 59 years
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 137
NO. 50 8 Pages
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Knowles third in National Finals
Rodeo average, 10 th in world
Blake Knowles of Heppner competes in steer wrestling at the National Finals Rodeo.
Blake Knowles, Hep-
pner, is currently sitting
third in the average for
steer wrestling at the Wran-
gler National Finals Ro-
deo (NFR) in Las Vegas.
At press time he was sit-
ting 10 th in the steer wres-
tling world standings with
earnings of $119,515.41.
Knowles, the son of Butch
and Mary Knowles, previ-
ously qualified and compet-
ed in the NFR in 2009, 2011
and 2015, making 2018 his
fourth qualifying year.
Rodeo runs in the fam-
ily, with Blake following in
his dad’s footsteps. Butch, a
rodeo broadcaster, was the
saddle bronc riding champi-
on in the 1987 NFR. Fellow
steer wrestler and Blake’s
cousin from Mount Vernon,
OR, Trevor Knowles, is
Blake’s traveling compan-
ion and has qualified for the
NFR 12 times.
Blake was born in 1982
and graduated from Hep-
pner High School. He lives
with his wife Whitney and
daughter Lydia on the fam-
ily ranch in Heppner. He
competes in the steer wres-
tling events astride his 10
year old mare, Fab. Since
joining the Professional Ro-
deo Cowboys Association
(PRCA) in 2002, his report-
ed earnings are $693,145.
To qualify for the 2018
NFR, he won the Farm City
Pro Rodeo in Hermiston;
the Saddle Club Rodeo in
Oakdale, CA; the La Fiesta
Blake Knowles
De Los Vaqueros in Tucson,
AZ; the Wild Rogue Pro
Rodeo in Central Point,
OR; the Crooked River
Roundup in Prineville, OR;
the Kansas Biggest Rodeo
in Phillipsburg, KS and was
co-champion at the Fiesta
Days Rodeo in Spanish
Fork, UT.
His NFR total score
of 24.90 has him currently
sitting in third place in the
average after five rounds in
the steer wrestling event.
He placed second in round
one with 3.80 and tied for
third/fourth in round four
with 3.80. His time in round
two was 4.40, 4.80 in round
three and 8.10 in the fifth
round.
The Wrangler National
Finals Rodeo is the sea-
son-ending championship
event for the Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Associa-
tion and is widely acknowl-
edged to be the world’s
premier rodeo. Held annu-
ally since 1959 – and since
1985, every December at
the Thomas & Mack Center
G-T Trophy Corner
Clare Osmin, daughter of Der-
ek Osmin (pictured), Hermis-
ton, took this forked horn in
October on the Osmin Ranch
on Balm Fork. Clare is the
granddaughter of Frank and
Cara Osmin, Heppner. -Con-
tributed photo
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
in Las Vegas – the Wrangler
NFR is Pro Rodeo’s richest
and most prestigious rodeo,
and it showcases the very
best cowboys, barrel racers
and livestock in the world.
At the conclusion of the
Wrangler NFR, the sport’s
world champions are deter-
mined based on total season
earnings – what they win
during the Wrangler NFR
added to what they won
during the regular season,
before the Wrangler NFR.
The Wrangler NFR
consists of 10 rounds – one
round on each of 10 consec-
utive days; each contestant
competes once each day.
Cowboys and barrel racers
earn money by placing first
through sixth in any round,
and pick up more money by
placing first through eighth
in the average (cumula-
tive times or points earned
during the 10 rounds). At
the end of each Wrangler
NFR, there are two cham-
pions in each event (four
for team roping): the aver-
age winner, who won the
Wrangler NFR by having
the best cumulative time or
score for that event over the
10 rounds, and the world
champion, who finished the
year with the most money
(including what he or she
earned at the Wrangler
NFR). For each event, the
average winner and world
champion may be the same
person or different people.
The Heppner Ga-
zette-Times wants to see
pictures of your trophy
animals from this hunting
season. Stop by to have
your picture taken, drop
off photos, mail them to
PO Box 337
in Heppner,
email them
to editor@
rapidserve.
net or text
cell phone
photos to 541-980-6674.
Randall Peterson helping out a new client, little Delilah, whose
family recently purchased her very first necklace at Peterson’s
A tiny, but satisfied customer.
Jewelers.
Peterson’s Jewelry,
Heppner’s long-standing
treasure trove, was estab-
lished in 1928 by John
Oscar, “J.O.” Peterson. And
the man who has been be-
hind the store for more than
59 years is J.O.’s son and
the community’s beloved
jeweler, Randall Peterson.
Randall started work-
ing at the store cleaning up
as a young boy. He said that
during World War II, the
store was selling what they
called $1 watches, which
actually cost $5 to $10.
The watches were so inex-
pensive that they were used
until they stopped working.
But after WWII, the quality
of watches improved and he
began repairing watches for
his father when he was 12
years old. He laughs that
while his friends were out
playing, he was in the store
fixing watches.
J.O. first established
the store down the street on
Main Street in Heppner near
where the Bank of Eastern
Oregon is now. Initially
the store was established
in conjunction with other
businesses, an insurance
office, a barbershop and lat-
er, restaurants. In the 1930s
Randall remembers that
the store stayed open until
9 p.m. on Saturday nights.
Peterson’s Jewelry moved
to its current location in
1941 and in 1971, the store
was doubled in size.
During the Korean War,
in the 1950s, Randall was
drafted into the service, not
to Korea, but to Augsberg,
Germany, where he was
stationed during reconstruc-
tion in Europe. While in the
service, he traveled not only
to Germany, but to Switzer-
land, France, Sweden and
Denmark. After two years
in the service he returned
to Heppner and went back
to work at the store.
In 1959, Randall’s fa-
ther was in poor health and
Randall, an only child, took
over operation of the store.
His father passed away
the next year, in 1960. His
mother, Bertha, also helped
out at the store.
John Oscar, born in
1892 of Swedish ancestry,
was originally from Ana-
conda, MN. At that time, he
worked for the railroad. He
then went to watchmaking
school in Pennsylvania and
got a job at Pomeroy, WA,
where he met Randall’s
mother, Bertha Lewis Pe-
terson, who was born in
Pomeroy. She passed away
in 1970.
That year Marlene
Bergstrom started work-
ing at the store. They had
known each other in high
school and both graduated
from HHS. Randall lettered
all four years in football at
HHS. He attributes starting
at center on the football
team as a freshman to Tad
Miller of Heppner. “Tad
was center, he enlisted in
the Navy and I got to take
his place,” said Randall,
who then became tackle for
the last three years of his
high school football career.
He also played “a little bas-
ketball and a little baseball”
in high school, graduating
in 1947. In addition to high
school sports, he loved wa-
ter skiing.
In December of 1971,
he and Marlene married
and she became a vital part
of the store’s operation.
“She liked people and she
knew what people liked,”
said Randall. “She was just
a people person.” They
were married for 43 years
before she died in 2014.
“She worked right up until
she passed,” said Randall.
Randall and Marlene
lived in Randall’s child-
hood home on Gale St. in
Heppner where he had lived
since he was six years old.
Randall, an accomplished
carpenter, remodeled and
added on to the house over
the next 25 years. “Marlene
always decided what she
wanted,” he said, with a
new kitchen at the top of
the list and then insulation,
new sheet rock, plumbing
and electrical. “It’s com-
fortable,” says Randall,
modestly. He admits to
not being much of a cook,
instead relying on the “can
opener, microwave and
oven.”
While work is the top
priority of Randall’s life,
he is active in the Odd
Fellows, of which he has
been a member since he
was 21 years old, the Elks
Club, which he joined at
around 25, and the Amer-
ican Cancer Society. He
has to pass an annual test
to belong to the ACS and
has attended the American
Cancer Society conclave
numerous times, traveling
to Washington, D.C., Mon-
treal and New Orleans,
among others.
Randall says that a cou-
ple things have contributed
to his long-standing success
as a jeweler, those being
treating his clientele well
and being discrete. He says
that many customers find
themselves returning to
Peterson’s Jewelers after
being mistreated at other
out-of-town jewelry stores.
“It makes a difference if you
work with your custom-
er,” he said. He still gives
customers Heppner High
School sports schedules at
the store.
Randall says that work
is his favorite thing to do
and, at 89, he has no plans
to retire, enjoying both the
people and the merchandise
he works with.
Randall with Delilah. Delilah is the daughter of Julie Wat-
kins, granddaughter of Barb and Gary Watkins and the
great-granddaughter of Cal and Bev Sherman and Floss and
the late R.G. Watkins, all of Heppner.
Morrow County
MORROW COUNTY GRAI
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Lexington
541-989-8221
350 MAIN STRE
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