TEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Fr. Condon play
presented in Ione,
comes to Heppner
Ione/Arlington team takes 4th in state
Basketball team is escorted out of town.
The Ione/Arlington Baker City last week. The
basketball team received team took fourth place in
an escort out of Ione on the tournament.
Ione boys have not
their way to the 1A State
Basketball Tournament in
gone to the state tournament
since 2014 and Arlington
had not participated since
2004.
The Ione/Arlington basketball
team took fourth place in
the state tournament held in
Baker City.
County Health says most with Coronavirus
have ‘mild symptoms’ without medical care
Madelyn Nichols plays the part of St. Therese.
Irelyn Kollman, Brian Kollman, Madelyn Nichols, Joe Lindsay
(as the Pope) and Dan Van Schoiack performed in the play in
Ione last week.
“The Little Way of St. Therese,” written by Father
Gerald Condon, was presented March 8 at the Ione Com-
munity School. It will be presented again March 12 at 7
p.m. at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Heppner. Admission
is free, donations accepted.
Father Condon has been writing and producing plays
for over 25 years. Many of the cast members participating
in this year’s production were in his original productions.
By David Sykes
Most people with Coro-
navirus will experience
mild symptoms and do not
need to seek medical care,
the Morrow County Health
Department said last week.
Giving a report to coun-
ty commissioners on the
virus, health officials Shel-
ley Wight and Sheree Smith
said health officials are
being inundated with phone
calls from concerned com-
munity members regarding
possible exposure to the
Coronavirus and said it is
important to minimize the
panic over the disease.
They asked employers
in the county to encourage
their employees who are
well to continue to work
and if they are well instead
of going to the health clinics
to call 211 with questions.
They said this will mini-
mize unnecessary burden
on healthcare providers.
They said if the Morrow
County Health Department
receives information about
exposure in their area, they
will call the employer and
work directly with them to
“assess your risk.”
If, however, an employ-
ee is experiencing symp-
toms of respiratory illness
(fever, cough, difficulty
breathing) encourage the
employee to stay home
and that the employer “be
flexible in accommodating
those reporting illnesses.”
They ask that those em-
ployees “who are sick and
plan to seek medical care
to please call before going
in for care so arrangements
can be made to prevent ex-
posing others to the virus.”
For urgent medical needs
however, they say do call
911.
Smith and Wight did
urge people to take precau-
tions to not spread the virus.
1. Cover your coughs
and sneezes with a tissue
and then throw the tissue
in the trash.
2. Wash your hands
often with soap and water
for 20 seconds. If soap and
water are not readily avail-
able, use an alcohol-based
hand sanitizer that contains
at least 60 percent alcohol.
3. Avoid close contact
with people who are sick.
4. Avoid touching your
eyes, nose and mouth with
unwashed hands.
5. Clean and disin-
fect surfaces that are often
touched.
6. If you are sick, please
stay home until recovered.
7. Take care of your
health overall. Staying cur-
rent on your vaccinations,
including flu vaccine, eat-
ing well and exercising
all help your body stay
resilient.
They recommend peo-
ple refer to the Morrow
County web site, www.
co.morrow.or.us or Face-
book page for up to date
information.
Father Condon made
Heppner his home
Father Condon (left) pictured with the cast of his 2017 play. File photo.
No Gifts Please
By Doris Brosnan
One event in Heppner’s
good fortune of 1990 trac-
es back to Ireland, where
Dubliner Gerald Condon
was ordained a priest in
Thurles in 1955. Soon after
arriving in the USA, Father
“Gerry” was welcomed by
the Baker Diocese, first as
a visiting priest who filled
in for priests who had to
be away from their par-
ishes for varying lengths
of time. After forty-five
years in several northeast-
ern Oregon communities,
he chose to come to Hep-
pner permanently. How
appropriate that he would
choose the self-proclaimed
“Irish Capital of Eastern
Oregon.” This decision
began his long, positive re-
lationship with generations
of Catholic parishioners
and non-Catholic area resi-
dents, young and old. The
following list speaks vol-
umes on Father Condon’s
impact on his parish and
on the community beyond
church doors:
During his twenty-three
years of serving Heppner’s
St. Patrick and Ione’s St.
William parishes, Father
performed 44 marriages,
135 baptisms, 75 first com-
munions, and 70 funerals.
He initiated an adult-study
program, was a facilitator
for church Renewal Week-
end retreats and shared his
insights with the readers of
the Gazette Times each year
at Christmas and Easter.
He helped get the annual
parish carnival started, a
public-welcome event for
young and old. He was a
hypnotherapist who used
this training and his train-
ing in counseling for any-
one in need. He wrote and
published a free pamphlet,
Way of Grace, in 1997 –
scriptures, meditations,
and home celebrations for
Priests celebrate Father Condon (center with plaque).
contemplation of the seven
sacraments.
After staging another
playwright’s religious dra-
ma in 1994, Father Con-
don began writing his own
plays. He and his cast of
actors staged St. Patrick,
Apostle of Ireland in 2002,
and he wrote and collabo-
rated on a total of sixteen
religious productions that
have served as preludes to
the St. Patrick’s Day cel-
ebrations in Heppner. The
productions were always
free to everyone and al-
ways well attended. Father
even took to a stage, when
he filled a role in the 2010
“Dinner at the Cemetery”
production, The Palace
Hotel.
In 1997, Father was the
honoree at the St. Patrick’s
weekend celebration and
again led the Big Green Pa-
rade with his cast members
in 2010. He was a mainstay
at the weekend’s Coffee
Hour each year, serving as
entertaining emcee, sharing
many jokes and laughs with
fellow emcees.
Father Condon re-
ceived the “Man of the
Year” award in 2007, proof
of his involvement in and
support of community ac-
tivities. And the Heppner
Chamber of Commerce
recognized him for his ser-
vice in 2013. That was the
year in which Father retired
from his assignment, and
the priests of the Northeast-
ern Deanery of the Baker
Diocese also honored him
for his service.
Retirement did not
mean much to this engaged
gentleman, however. He
continued to assist the
priests who followed in his
footsteps, co-celebrating
the mass until recently.
But retirement offered him
more time for pursuing
his quiet contemplation,
his writing, and his golf-
ing. Though he once told
someone, “I don’t partic-
ularly like the game, but
I am supposed to golf for
my health.” His play almost
every Monday through Fri-
day, even in temperatures as
low as 32 degrees, seemed
a contradiction. He was a
participant each year in the
Holy Names men’s tourna-
ment, on the winning team
at least twice, and he was on
the course for his common
eleven holes on the day be-
fore his most recent surgery.
When complimented on a
shot, he often replied, “Of-
ten done worse…. Seldom
done better.”
A great Irishman for
jokes, Father Condon re-
mained a serious servant
who felt challenged to
“open the Gospel in a way
that appeals to people…
seems to be getting more
challenging as time pass-
es.” Father Condon passed
away March 7. See death
notice on page 3.