EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Burns selected as grand marshals for July 4th Ione parade
By Bobbi Gordon
Long time Ione res-
idents, Loyal and Betty
Burns, have been selected
to lead the 4 th of July cele-
bration parade as the 2021
grand marshals. The Burns
came to Ione in 1995 from
Lebanon, OR and have
served the Ione community
for more than 20 years.
Loyal, wanting to get
involved in the community,
joined Ione Community
Agri-Business Organiza-
tion (ICABO) and soon
became president. During
that time, he helped get the
Emert Addition developed.
Betty was employed by
Jack Gray Transport and
later went to work for Waste
Management in Arlington.
As an electrical con-
tractor, it didn’t take long
for Loyal to realize there
was a need for his services.
He has wired most of the
electrical at the Ione City
Park and each year is re-
sponsible for wiring and
setting up the sound sys-
tem for the Ione 4 th of July
celebration. Betty told the
Gazette, “He stays awake
until the fireworks and mu-
sic are over so he can go
disconnect everything to
keep everything safe.”
In the early years of
the 4 th celebration, it was
difficult to find food ven-
dors so Loyal, Betty and
their family ran a German
Sausage hot dog stand for
over 20 years. Running the
stand served two purposes,
it provided a food vendor,
and the proceeds went to the
Mike Mathews scholarship
fund. Also, during that time,
Loyal was the co-chair-
man of the event and Betty
the area, including Hermis-
ton, La Grande, Enterprise,
Elgin, Fossil, Arlington and
many more places. Betty
reported the event brought
in about 50 cars in 2019.
Proceeds from the car show
will go to Ione for park
maintenance this year.
Loyal and Betty have
two children; son, Loyal,
wife Debbie and grandson
L.R, Albany; daughter, Ma-
riah Shandy, husband, Mark
Above: Loyal and Betty Burns stand next to their restored 1981 Chevy C10 pickup at the
Maryhill car show.
Left: They stand between their 1953 Dodge sedan and 1960 Ford T-Bird at the 2019 Ione 4 th
of July Cruz-In. -Contributed photos.
willingly jumped right in
to help wherever she was
needed. Over the years they
have both been involved in
most aspects of the cele-
bration. Loyal even found
a dunk tank he fixed up and
of course he got in and got
dunked several times.
Betty is in charge of
organizing the Ione Cruz-
In car show, making this
her third year bringing in
classic cars from all around
and grandsons, Jacob and
Dylan, Arlington. Loyal is
a Vietnam veteran and they
are members of the Ione
American Legion, Ione
Education Foundation and
the Ione Booster Club. The
Burns celebrated 50 years
of marriage in March 2021.
Loyal reported, “The
highlight of 20 years of
serving the community has
been playing Santa Claus
for the Ione children.”
Rural housing bill passes
HB 2438 passed the
House floor this week. The
bill is a new property tax
exemption for rural Orego-
nians and its main objective
is to encourage labor migra-
tion to rural Oregon.
The bill gives counties
with a population of less
than 15,000 the option to
exempt property tax for up
to five newly constructed
single-family dwellings.
Given these homes are built
and occupied as primary
residences by individuals
with annual taxable income
of not more than $75,000
if filing separately or not
more than $150,000 if filing
jointly.
“Many rural commu-
nities have jobs available
but cannot attract new em-
ployees because of a lack
of affordable housing,”
Representative Greg Smith
(R-District 57) a chief spon-
sor of the bill said. “This
bill, along with other com-
munity development pro-
grams, creates a compre-
hensive solution and will
bring, not only employees,
but families to Oregon’s
most rural counties.”
S atu rd ay , J u ly 3, 2021
G o lf T o u rn am en t
W illow C reek C ountry C lub, H eppner
Mo v ie in th e P ark (T he P rincess B ride)
Ione C ity P ark
J u ly 3 rd , 9 am
J u ly 3 rd , S u n d o w n
S u n d ay , J u ly 4, 2021
F irem an 's B reak fas t
Ione F ire H all
7:00 -10:00 am
C reativ e C are P reS c h o o l 5k W alk /R u n
($10 R eg is tratio n )
Ione C ity P ark
7 am R eg is tratio n /W alk s tarts at 7:30 am
K en T u rn er Mem o rial
H o rs es h o e T o u rn am en t
H orseshoe P its
9:00 am
C h u rc h S erv ic e
Ione C ity P ark
10:00 am
C ru z -in C ar S h o w
Ione C ity P ark
10:00 am
V en d o rs & B o o th s
Ione C ity P ark
11:00 am
11:00 am
F is h P o n d , B ik e R affle
F ire H all/P ark
P arad e G ran d Mars h al: L o y al & B etty B u rn s
Main S treet
1:00 p m
D u c k R ac es
Main S treet
A fter P arad e
F ree S w im m in g
Ione S wimming P ool
1:00-5:00 p m
L u k e B as ile & J am ie N as ario
A mphitheater S tage
2:00-3:00 p m
C o ry P eters o n B an d
A mphitheater S tage
3:30-4:30 p m
T alen t S h o w
A mphitheatre S tage
4:00 p m R eg is tratio n /S h o w at 4:30 p m
A mphitheater S tage
6:30 p m
F eatu red E n tertain m en t
C o lo rb lin d (6:30 p m )
F irew o rk s D is p lay
Stompin’ Ground (8:30 p m )
V isible throughout Ione
Dusk
A ll event, times and locations are subject to change.
Ione’s 4 th O f J u ly C elebratio n Is S p o n s o red In P art B y Mo rro w C o u n ty U n ified R ecreatio n D istrict