Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 6, 2022 -- SEVEN
Hughes wins first 2022 yard of the month A View from the Hill
By Kay Proctor
The first Yard of the
Month honors for 2022
goes to Patricia Hughes at
280 S. Court Street.
The charming house
has been home to Patricia
since the fall of 2000 and
she has continued to “add to
or take away from,” putting
her own personal touches to
the established landscaping
since then. A major project
was new fencing on all
four sides, done in stages,
with the goal to deter deer
visitors to the yard.
A necessary project
was the removal of two
large and shade providing
Elm trees in the front yard
that were, unfortunately,
past their time. Those were
quickly replaced with two
other shade trees.
A large side yard patio
is Patty’s favorite place
outdoors that her son-in-
law, Tom Gregg, added
a lower part to, making
the step down to the yard
easier. Future plans are to
replace some aged boards
in the decking. A stamped
concrete front walk was put
in place a few years ago by
Frank Jones.
A backyard kitchen
garden is full of herbs,
berries and vegetables in-
cluding Jerusalem artichoke
which has grown well for
her. Sprinkler systems on
a timer irrigate the gar-
den and the grass lawn
which includes bee friend-
ly white clover, all thick
and healthy. Pat does the
mowing and weeding, but
good naturedly shares that
all the trimmings and yard
debris are hauled off by
Mark Schlichting for him
to get rid of. Mark, nearby,
chuckles, and emphasizes
that Patricia does all the
work.
A gentle slope contin-
ues from the back garden,
Above: Patricia Hughes with Mark Schlichting (left) at her Yard of the Month home and her
cat, Munchkin. -Photos by Kay Proctor.
past the back covered pa-
tio, to the northeast side
yard where fruit trees and a
quince grow. Along the way
are seedless grapes, rasp-
berries and strawberries.
Other plantings include
foxglove, garden phlox,
iris, larkspur, forsythia,
bleeding hearts, honey-
suckle, roses, boxwood,
hydrangea, peonies, pop-
pies and hardy geranium.
Planters around the yard are
full of annuals including a
red geranium that Patty has
wintered over.
Patricia grew up in
eastern Oregon as part of
the Hughes Ranch of Little
Butter Creek. She retired
this past April from her
job at the Morrow County
Assessor/Tax Department
where she had worked since
1998 with part of her plans
being to work more on her
yard and garden.
Other plans for Patri-
cia’s retirement are more
time with the families of
daughter, Amber Peck
Gregg, and son, Chris Peck,
and her five grandchildren.
Her family also includes
mother, Gail Hughes,
whose previous Heppner
home received the Yard
of the Month recognition
in August 1999, and who
gave Patricia her hydrangea
and some peonies from that
yard.
Yard of the Month is
co-sponsored by the Hep-
pner Volunteers, MCGG/
Green Feed and Seed Store,
and the City of Heppner.
By Doris Brosnan
The Community of
Willow Creek Terrace
might view as ironic that
this sunny month of July
began with the “National
Stay Out of the Sun Day”
on the third. The change
in the weather is such a
welcomed opportunity to
get outside for some Vita-
min D. Sitting outside in
the evenings, enjoying the
many blooming plants, is
especially inviting.
And everyone was wel-
come to get comfortable
on the front lawn for their
small fireworks show on
the 4 th . Fried chicken is a
favorite menu item whether
eaten inside or on the patio,
so that specially marked
day on the calendar today
could be enjoyed anywhere.
Of course, advice on “Make
Your Own Sundae Day” on
the 8 th will be to stay out of
the sun for the ice cream
social everyone is invited
to. And everyone will be
invited to try a virgin pina
colada on that designated
special day, the 10 th .
While waiting to wel-
come a new resident, Alex
Camarillo, later this month,
residents will be enjoying
some morning discussions,
along with the morning
exercises. A mystery right
now is what might be ex-
pected chatter on the “Dif-
ferent Colored Eyes Day”
on the 12 th , but on the 17 th ,
the anniversary of the open-
ing day of Disneyland in
1955, memories might be
plentiful. Baseball might
take center stage on the 19 th ,
the day of the MLB All-Star
Game. And, appropriately,
the very next day, on the
20 th , the Hot Dog gets its
day of celebration on the
menu.
All the “Gorgeous
Grandmas” at the Terrace
will be honored on the 23 rd .
Discussing cousins will
surely be interesting on the
24 th , but it is also designated
“Tell Old Jokes Day,” so
laughter and groans could
dominate. “Parents Day” on
the 25 th will probably elicit
a wide variety of memories
and comments. Bugs Bunny
will turn 82 years old on the
27 th , another entertaining
topic to discuss.
What might lunch look
like on the 29 th , “Mad Hat-
ter’s Day,” as residents
remember the tea party
scene in Alice in Wonder-
land on the movie’s 71 st
anniversary? At least one
item on the menu on the
30 th is now known, for
that is “Cheesecake Day.”
It also happens to be “Fa-
ther-in-Laws Day,” another
enticing topic for morning
discussion.
Birthdays might be a
common topic around the
dining room on the 13 th be-
cause that will be Dick Tur-
rell’s 75 th birthday. Every-
one always looks forward
to birthday celebrations and
will wish Dick many more
to come, while they enjoy
the menu he has chosen
for his special lunch with
family and friends.
New employees Dako-
ta Bond and Nellie Blakley
have joined the community
on the hill in time to get in
on these and future celebra-
tions. And Administrator
Sammara says, “We are
always welcoming new
applicants. If you want to
make a difference and enjoy
serving your community,
there are a variety of tasks
and shifts available.” In-
formation is available on
the Terrace website and by
calling 541-676-0004. Res-
idents view new employees
as new “family” and look
forward to getting to know
all staff members better and
better.
Boardman, Irrigon
continue summer
concert series
Hughes yard and flowers earn her the Yard of the Month honors..
COUNTY ALLOCATES
FUNDS
-Continued from PAGE ONE
tion in the county, said he
agreed. “I don’t disagree,’
he told Russell, but said the
first thing is to get the res-
idents affected clean water
to drink. “I think shifting
these folks from the water
they have been drinking
to clean fresh water does
speak to the health care
portion of it. Certainly, we
have an emergency, and we
need to get them good clean
fresh water is paramount.”
Doherty said he also
agreed there needs to be
filtration systems put into
all the home’s wells to take
out the nitrates and get the
amount down to a safe lev-
el. “We need 1,500 homes
with 1,500 filters in them.
We have to bridge this
(present problem of con-
taminated water,” adding
that the $100,000 was just
contingency funds to get the
fresh water out to people
and hire a media company
to get the word out to peo-
ple about the problem, and
the county’s efforts so help
with it.
Gray also echoed the
current efforts are only
temporary fixes. “In the
short term yes, it is about
getting the resident’s water.
I don’t plan on doing that
forever,” said Gray who
has been at the distribution
stations personally handing
out water when there was
a shortage of volunteers.
“My next step is putting a
filter in everybody’s home.”
He said later he would be
meeting with health author-
ity people on exactly what
kind of nitrate filters should
be used.
Gray also pointed out
that by the county putting
up the $100,000 it would
“show the businesses (who
are stepping up with fund-
ing) we are willing to put
money into the pot to get
this fixed,” he emphasized.
Happy 80th Birthday
Al Osmin
Your family loves you!
Church
schedules
VBS
Heppner Christian
Church will host Vacation
Bible School July 11-14 for
children who are three years
of age through 6 th grade.
Everyone in the communi-
ty is invited to participate
from 9:30 to noon Monday
through Thursday. Friday,
July 15 will be a free fam-
ily pool day from 10 a.m.
to noon, with a free lunch
provided.
Children interested
in attending VBS should
pre-register at https://hep-
pner-christian-chruch.my-
cokesburyvbs.com.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Music in the Parks free
summer concert series will
continue this year at Board-
man and Irrigon Marina
Parks through August 1.
Brady Goss performs
on July 11 in Boardman.
Goss was described from an
early age as piano phenom.
Today he is recognized as
an electrifying entertainer.
Those who have witnessed
his live shows are awed by
his formidable keyboard
speed and soulful vocals,
loaded with passion that
keep fans of all ages want-
ing more.
Brass Fire heats the
summer evening up on
July 18 in Irrigon. Brass
Fire’s large ensemble in-
cludes saxophones, trum-
pets, trombone, piano, bass,
guitar and drums. The entire
band provide vocal ren-
derings. Be prepared for
music made popular by a
large variety of artists from
Chicago to Earth Wind and
Fire or Elvis to Santana.
Brass Fire spans a musical
range from the Big Band era
music through blues, soul
and on to the rock music of
the 70s and 80s.
On July 25, Eric Ode
comes to Boardman. Ode
(pronounced Oh-dee) is a
national award-winning
children’s singer/songwrit-
er, a widely published author
and poet and a thoroughly
engaging entertainer. His
upbeat, high-participation
programs are bubbling over
with fun, interactive music
and include stories, skits,
poetry, props and puppets.
Cruise Control ends the
concert season on August 1
in Irrigon. Cruise Control
is a 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s
cover band that plays Rock,
Pop and Country Rock
music. Together with their
unique blend of voices,
they play everything from
hard drivin’ rock and roll
to softer melodies.
The concerts are free
to the public and begin at
7 p.m. on Monday nights.
Visitors are encouraged to
bring chairs and blankets.
The series is funded by the
Morrow County Unified
Recreation District and
Portland General Electric
and sponsored by the North
Morrow Community Foun-
dation. In the event of in-
clement weather, Boardman
performances will be held
at the SAGE Center and
Irrigon performances will
be held at the Irrigon Senior
Center.