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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2021)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 22, 2021 The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow ~ Letters to the Editor ~ Heppner The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be printed in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10. Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net. GAZETTE-TIMES U.S.P.S. 240-420 Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE: http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax (541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site: www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student subscriptions. David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch. For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi- cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required). For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space for the obituary. For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10. Obituaries Ronald Henry Currin Ronald Henry Currin and joy. was born in Heppner, OR After a lengthy battle on August 21, 1960, to Ron- with metastatic bladder ald Currin and Judy Lazin- cancer Ron passed away at ka Currin. Affectionately, his Clements home with his he was known to family wife by his side. and friends as Ronnie or He was pre- RC. He was raised on ceded in death the family cattle ranch by his brother, on Buttercreek with his Mike Currin in brothers, Tony, Mike 1990. Ron is sur- and Steve and sister, Ronald Henry vived by wife, Jennifer. Rayanne; son, Currin Ron graduated from Riley and daugh- Heppner High School in ter, Rayna. In addition, he is 1978, then attended Blue survived by his father, Ron Mountain Community Col- Sr.; mother, Judy; brothers, lege and Montana State Tony (wife Kelli) and Steve University, on rodeo schol- (wife Lisanne); sister, Jen- arships, where he was a nifer Gutridge (husband three-time College National Shane); sister-in-law, Judy Finals Rodeo qualifier. At Pederson (husband Curtis) Montana State, he discov- and nine nieces and neph- ered his love of the cattle ews. industry. After returning A celebration of life home from Montana State will be held in Pendleton at University, Ron pursued the Convention Center on the family’s passion of ro- December 31 at 1:15 p.m. deo. He traveled for several Memorial contributions can years, over thousands of be made to the Ron Currin miles, with his brothers and Memorial C/O Bank of friends making a lifetime of Eastern Oregon, PO Box memories and friendships. 39, Heppner, OR 97836 or He was an accomplished to Hospice of San Joaquin all-around cowboy, com- (www.hospicesj.org) in petitive in both calf roping Ron’s memory. and steer wrestling. Ron was most proud to capture the prestigious Pendleton Round-Up All-Around Champion in 1993 and the steer wrestling title in 1995. After Ron’s rodeo ca- reer, he switched gears and began pursuing his passion of trading cattle. He started in the business at the bottom and worked his way up to become a first-class cattle trader. Ellington Peek and Western Video Markets were instrumental in start- ing his career and allowed him to broaden his cattle Jeff Bailey trading network. In 2005, he found his ultimate posi- The Oregon Bankers tion as director of procure- Association (OBA) induct- ment with John Wilson and ed Jeff Bailey, president and Beef Northwest. He loved CEO of Bank of Eastern what he did and valued the Oregon in Heppner, into people he worked with in the Oregon Bankers Hall the cattle industry. of Fame during the Oregon Ron married Rayanne Bank Leadership Sympo- Engel in 2005 and they sium held in December. divided their residency be- Induction into the Ore- tween Clements, CA and gon Bankers Hall of Fame Pendleton, OR. In 2007 is the highest honor be- they welcomed twins, son stowed peer-to-peer within Riley and daughter Rayna, the Oregon banking com- which have been their pride munity. It recognizes the People received Him not To the editor: Jesus “came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11). How could Jesus’s own people received him not? Every prophet, every scribe, every priest in the holy land was seeking, waiting, hoping and praying for their ex- pectant king. The Torah, the prophets, the psalm- ists, the historical scribes had carefully and copious- ly recorded the prophecy of their coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Over one quarter of written scripture documented this joyous event. Nevertheless, these venerated Jewish priests, prophets and scribes all misinterpreted and misun- derstood scripture and the Jews “received him not.” How could this happen? “He is despised and rejected of men: A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflict- ed. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniq- uities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 3,4,5) The Jewish scribes, priests and prophets threw out or misinterpreted any scripture that did not fit their tradition of their com- ing King. Jesus their King could not be born in a barn, could not come from lowly Bethlehem, could not have come out of heathen Egypt as scripture prophesied so they developed their own tradition and cherry picked scripture to fit their doctrine. They missed the central truth of the Word of God: that Jesus would come to earth twice, first to redeem mankind by sac- rificing his life for the sin of all men and second to return at the end of the age as King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. Nothing has changed. Mankind has not changed, nor has God, nor has the truth of scripture. The scrip- tural truth of the return of Jesus Christ will happen precisely as prophesied. Could it be that “His own will receive him not.” Have the traditions of the church and man misinterpreted scripture to fit their tradi- tion and church doctrines? Jesus warned before he returned “then shall be great tribulation, such was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24: 21) Jesus comes at the end of this great tribulation (Matt. 24:29,30) “to gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:31) Jesus exhorted his followers, “those that endure to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13) As we celebrate Christ- mas let’s worship Jesus Christ, not as a baby, not on the cross, but as He is: our triumphant King returning to earth to claim His king- dom and end all wicked- ness, all lies and deception, every mandate of tyranny, and set mankind at liberty. Stuart Dick, Irrigon DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Good News Only By Doris Brosnan Surely the answer is, “No one,” to the question of, “Who isn’t happy to realize that yesterday was the winter solstice, so the daylight hours are now increasing?” (The average increase, a resource reports, is two minutes and seven seconds daily.) Hooray. Good news for many are the returns of college students for a lengthy win- ter break that will have them home for the holidays. Fortunate, too, are the par- ents whose families who live elsewhere are able to squeeze enough time out of demanding schedules to come for Christmas. The power of prayers of friends and our commu- nity of churches deserves some credit for Ayden Mel- ba Grace Miller’s being able to celebrate her first Christmas this week, say her family. Ayden was born in Portland on July 22, a “preemie” at seven months, and didn’t get released from the hospital to come home with parents, Jimmy and Marcy Walton, until late October, after several pre- carious months. Grand- parents Mark and Shannie Miller and Paul and Susy Walton, as well as many friends, have been a great help to the new parents, and the Millers now serve as babysitters, since Marcy and Jimmy have had to re- turn to their jobs. Shannie reports with a smile that this wee nine-plus-pound wonder has quickly made obvious “why we have our children when we are much younger and have loads of energy.” Important to the prom- ise of a better future world are kindness and caring in- stilled into the young: Hep- pner Day Care’s pre-school class walked to teacher Kellie Gray’s house last Wednesday to deliver a card and sing to her, since she is recovering at home from surgery and will miss their Christmas program. Also, Sage Pre-School stu- dents made crafts to deliver to Willow Creek Terrace. And the Heppner High School Choir serenaded at the Elementary School and Bailey inducted into OBA Hall of Fame outstanding contributions inductees have made to the Oregon banking industry, to the OBA, and to the communities in which they live and work. Bailey was born and raised in Enterprise and graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a degree in agriculture busi- ness. His professional ca- reer started as a grain buy- er in Portland. He would eventually return to eastern Oregon where he became a commercial loan officer in Gilliam County with the Bank of Eastern Oregon. This was the beginning of what has been 25 years of service to the bank. From 2003 to 2009 Bailey served as chief credit officer. In 2008 he was named presi- dent and a year later, CEO. Beyond his service and leadership within the bank, Bailey is known for his service to his community and to the banking industry. Bailey is a past chair of the OBA and recently started a two-year term as the chair of the Community Banks of Oregon, a sister entity of the OBA that serves as a unique voice dedicated to banks headquartered in Oregon. In eastern Oregon, Bai- ley is engaged in the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group, the Heppner Chamber of Com- merce and many other civic and nonprofit groups. During Bailey’s induc- tion into the Oregon Bank- ers Hall of Fame, OBA President and CEO Linda Navarro shared comments she received from his col- leagues about his contribu- tions and service. Gabrielle Homer, a member of the bank’s board of directors said, “I have always appreciated Jeff’s open door - both as a cus- tomer of many years and when joining the board last year. He has always been responsive and helpful. He is a friendly, patient voice of reason. He is incredibly knowledgeable, and he is dedicated and loyal.” George Koffler, former CEO of the bank and cur- rent board member said, “Jeff has a strong moral compass that serves him well. He leads by example and is always willing to represent our industry in any capacity.” Becky Kindle, exec- utive vice president and chief operating officer said, “Jeff is a great leader. He is kind and considerate when working with employees and is always approachable. He truly cares about his employees and customers and wants to do what he can to help everyone succeed.” Adding, “He is involved not only locally within the com- munity but also has been an integral participant in OBA over the years as an advo- cate not only for our bank but for the banking industry as a whole. He is very de- serving of this award, and we are so proud of him and his accomplishments.” Mark Lemmon, exec- utive vice president and chief financial officer said, “Jeff is dedicated to his family, is a man of strong faith and loves his country and community. His default in decision making is ‘do the right thing’ whether or not it aligns with his own personal benefit. He has a holistic view of situations and is committed to making the greater good succeed.” Since its creation in 1987, the Oregon Bankers Hall of Fame has inducted 81 individuals who have made outstanding contribu- tions to the Oregon banking community and the com- munities they serve. Hometown Tacos. The cho- risters are led this year by new music teacher, Brooke Baker. The FFA group ad- opted three families for Christmas; by using money from their greens workshop profits, they are able to give them gifts, decorations and the Heppner Family Foods holiday meal package for each family. JoAnna Lamb reports good news as her thank yous go out to many, “I had the greatest help ever with putting on last Thurs- day’s event. Alicia Doherty helped me not freak out when I really wanted to over how to do this type of event. She has been so much help. Seren Hansen and Melanie Wilson assisted in planning the building layout and display. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints set up and tore down decorations. The Parent-Teacher Club helped with behind-the- scenes planning. The amaz- ing Amazon AWS Elves came from ‘Up North’ to help with our event. They were so friendly, very hard working, and incredibly helpful. My husband, Scott, Russell Ellsworth and Mel- anie Wilson jumped right in and got those gifts out to everyone quickly and efficiently. Lastly, I thank everyone who participated. We can put on an amaz- ing display, but if no one comes, it is all for nothing. I am glad we got to bring back to the community some part of what used to be.” The HHS Class of ‘65 gifted Kenny and Jan Evans an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas for the National Rodeo Finals, to show ap- preciation for their years of hard work on the All-60’s- Classes gatherings. Return- ing a week ago, the Evanses report a fantastic trip that included the last two days of the rodeo competition, an introduction to Uber transportation – which was great and provided some interesting conversations – and visits with a variety of individuals while waiting here and there, including the small-world encounter with a gentleman who at first said he was from Or- egon, from John Day, but then heard that Evanses are from Irrigon, so cor- rected that to “Long Creek, since you will know where that is,” and even further into the conversation said that he had worked for the Morrow County Road De- partment. (No, they can’t remember his name.) Both Jan and Kenny say they are humbled by the great gift classmates bestowed upon them. A seventy-eight-year- old woman offers as evi- dence that she is still able to adapt to a changing world the fact that at a party, “In my day, we were apt to serve a ‘cheese-and-meat tray’ with some fruit and crackers or breads,” but no longer. Now, instead, “I un- derstand that what I will put together is a ‘Charcuterie board,’ which consists of (wait for it…) cheese, meats, fruits and breads.” Good news for this column will be reports of happy moments shared with family and friends over these next several days and then shared with our readers by sending good- news tidbits before Monday afternoon to dbrosnan123@ gmail.com or call 541-676- 5382 or 541-223-1490. A Christmas greeting to everyone. And here’s hoping that some good news comes to everyone reading this.
