EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Good News Only
By Doris Brosnan
“…busy sidewalks
dressed in holiday style, in
the air there’s a feeling of
Christmas. Children laugh-
ing, people passing, meet-
ing smile after smile….”
Yes, the Christmas atmo-
sphere enhanced by the
new, colorful decorations
and the songs broadcasted
on Main Street is delight-
ful. And we can fill our
calendars with so many
holiday-related activities.
Call or watch the Ga-
zette for information, and
with internet access you
can send email to hep-
pnerchamber@gmail.com
or call 676-5536 to learn
what events will welcome
us this month. Tomorrow,
the Heppner Community
Church is holding a paint-
ing party; Saturday, the
11 th , the Artifactory Bazaar
at the Gilliam and Bisbee
Building, sponsored by
Heppner Daycare; Sunday,
the 12 th , from 5 to 7 p.m.,
the “Searching for Christ in
Christmas Wise Men Scav-
enger Hunt,” sponsored by
Home Hospice of Morrow
County; Monday, the 13 th ,
“Christmas Trivia Night”
at Flood Town Books; and
on Tuesday, the 14 th , the
“Merry Grinchmas Par-
ty” at Flood Town Books;
Wednesday, the 15 th , the
Wine and Design event at
Murray’s Drug; Thursday,
the 16 th , from 6 to 9 p.m. at
the fairgrounds the “Cele-
brate Heppner Christmas
Event” with the chance
to win wonderful gifts
with your reward cards,
and with Santa and Mrs.
Clause, all-ages coloring
contest, rewards card raffle,
Parent Teacher Club bake
sale; Saturday, the 18 th ,
the Nightlight Parade and
Snowball Drop at Thomson
Square, sponsored by the
Heppner Outreach Council,
and the City of Heppner
dedication ceremony for
Thomson Square where
Mexican Chocolate will
be served, courtesy of Ta-
cos Hometown; Christmas
Decorating Contest with
three categories (three win-
ners) sponsored by Ells-
worth Real Estate Fund
LLC, and all-ages coloring
contest with a chance to
win awesome art supplies,
sponsored by TREO and
Wilkinson Ranches.
Our local library also
has activities for all ages:
TumbleBookLibrary is an
online collection of e-books
for children. “They are a
great way to encourage
tech-savvy kids to enjoy
reading.” Use a computer,
tablet or mobile phone,
all you need is an internet
connection. There are no
downloads as the books
are streamed right to your
device at the click of a
button. Tumblebooks also
has a downloadable app for
android and iOS; choose
Oregon Trail Library Dis-
trict as your library and log
in with your library card
number. There are over 250
animated, talking picture
books, Spanish and French
books, read-along chapter
books, non-fiction books,
and exciting games and
puzzles. The library also
has a program for adult
crafters with limited space,
so registration is required.
Go to the website now
to reserve your spot. The
Heppner branch will have
make-and-take bags you
can assemble at home, but
you will still need to regis-
ter to pick up your bag as
supplies are limited.
Cara Osmin and Clau-
dia Hughes attended “A
very Mixed-up Christmas,”
the Sage Garden Preschool
performance because “we
needed to share the ex-
citement of three-to-five-
year-olds as we prepare
for Christmas,” reports
Claudia. The performance
of the 21 little stars on the
beautifully decorated stage
“did not disappoint.” Hot
chocolate and cookies fol-
lowed for everyone. “Good
job, Mrs. Chick and Mrs.
Brannon,” says Claudia.
David and April Sykes
visited their daughter Alli-
son Hayes and her family,
husband Matthew and sons
August and Sebastian, in
Cary, North Carolina, over
the Thanksgiving weekend.
In addition to enjoying a
traditional Thanksgiving
dinner prepared by Mat-
thew and Allison, they were
also treated by the boys to
a guided tour of the fami-
ly’s new neighborhood in
Cary, including a nearby
lake and playground. The
city has lots of trees, which
were all turning with the
autumn colors. Later they
went to Durham for a look
at Matt’s workplace, as he
is the new Japanese and
Asian-American-Studies
Librarian at Duke Universi-
ty. Everyone also went out
and enjoyed lunch and din-
ner at a couple of the local
restaurants before returning
home Monday.
Diana Ball and Becky
Cannon took a drive to
Condon last Saturday to
visit Virginia Durfey, a
long-time friend of their
mother, Betty Fulleton.
Virginia lives at Summit
Springs, where she recently
celebrated turning 102. Too
long had passed since the
women’s last visit, so they
had many years’ worth of
news to share with one
another, and they all hope
to chat again before long.
The respite offered
by these tidbits that just
brought smiles to our faces
is so inviting, so we thank
the contributors. Your plea-
surable moments can also
bring readers some pauses
for smiles, so please, send
your good-news tidbits be-
fore Monday afternoon to
dbrosnan123@gmail.com,
or call 541-223-1490.
Here’s hoping that
some good news comes to
everyone reading this.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Neighborhood Center giving
Christmas food boxes
By Hannah Finch
Providing food for
those who need it is on the
list of the many things that
the Neighborhood Center
does. Throughout the year,
the Neighborhood Center
distributes personalized
food boxes, and they al-
ways have some special
ones set up for the holiday
season. This December,
they will be giving out
Christmas food boxes that
include a Christmas ham
and other fixings to prepare
a Christmas dinner, along
with other pantry staples,
like canned goods, frozen
foods and dairy products.
“We’re doing more
food boxes now than we
ever have in the history
of this place,” says Lisa
Patton, the Neighborhood
Center’s coordinator.
Just last month, the
Neighborhood Center was
arranging Thanksgiving
food boxes. Each box was
personalized for the family
who would be receiving it.
For families of one to two,
the box included a good-
sized turkey breast, while
for families with three or
more, the box included a
10-12 pound turkey. The
families were then able to
choose Thanksgiving-type
food, like stuffing, gravy
and mashed potatoes, along
with additional pantry sta-
ples.
The Neighborhood
Center is considered the
main food pantry for south
Morrow County. “We have
10 freezers, a couple of re-
frigerators and shelves full
of boxed food,” Patton says.
The miniature grocery
store inside is client-choice,
where people can come in
and use a shopping cart to
hold the food that they get
to hand-pick themselves.
According to Patton, most
food pantries don’t allow
you to pick out the items
yourself, but Heppner’s
does. To quote her, Patton
says this “gives the power
back to the people.”
“We want people to be
comfortable coming in,”
Patton says. “Especially
now, with everything going
up in costs… The price of
food has risen so high late-
ly. More and more people
are going to pantries, and
it’s a much needed service.”
The Neighborhood
Center also delivers box-
es of food weekly to the
elderly that have been
pre-packaged by CAPE-
CO, or the Community
Action Program of East
Central Oregon, a non-prof-
it organization that provides
programs for individuals
in counties across eastern
Oregon, including Mor-
row. CAPECO provides
food that the Neighborhood
Center can then place in its
grocery store and distribute
to people who need it in
Morrow County.
In addition to those
food boxes, the Neighbor-
hood Center also assists
people in signing up for
the Fresh Produce Program,
provided by CAPECO.
Patton says, “We help peo-
ple get signed up by going
through the application
process and getting every-
thing submitted.” Along
with this, the Neighborhood
Center helps get additional
funding for people through
CAPECO and connects
them to other supportive
services.
If you would like to
help, you can purchase a
Holiday Meal Voucher at
the grocery store for some-
one who could use it, or you
can donate directly to the
Neighborhood Center.
“We could use food
donations for the holiday
boxes,” Patton says. Ex-
pired food or food without
a nutrition label (including
home-prepared food) is not
an acceptable donation. It
should also be noted that
any meat that has been
gained through hunting
must be processed and
USDA approved before it
can be donated.
When asking how
someone could qualify for
these food boxes, Patton
said that one’s income lev-
el would play an import-
ant part. “A lot of people
around here work in the
local area, but don’t get
paid above minimum wage.
Even though they have a
job, they still financially
qualify.” To find out if you
qualify, you can go into the
Neighborhood Center and
check with Patton.
“Nobody should have
to go hungry in south Mor-
row County, or not have
food in their cupboard, or
not have a Christmas,” Pat-
ton says. “That’s why we do
all of this.”
When it's time to sell
your house,
Call Sykes Real Estate
South Morrow County's
No.1 Real Estate Business.
Phone: (541) 676-9228
Cell: (541) 980-6674
Fax: (541) 676-9211
188 W. Willow
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
david@sykesrealestate.net
Morrow County Foster Children Gift Drive
C ome take a tag from our g iving t ree .
r eturn unwrapped gift by d eCember 16 th with tag attaChed .
y ou don ’ t have to purChase everything on the list .
g ive what you Can .
i f you take a tag , please buy the gift .
i f you Change your mind , bring the tag baCk and put it
on the tree .
124 N. MAIN STREET HEPPNER OR 541-676-9481
Does your business or organization have a holiday event planned?
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Contact Giselle at the Heppner Gazette-Times to have your advertisement included.
Deadline for the December 15th issue is Monday, December 13th at 5pm
Deadline for the December 22nd issue is Monday, December 20th at 5pm
541-676-9228 ● graphics@rapidserve.net ● heppner.net
188 W Willow St., Heppner, OR 97836