EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 20, 2022
LEXINGTON
GRANT
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Other work completed
the past month was repair-
ing all broken water lines
and sprinklers and setting
the automatic timers at the
town hall and at Friendship
Park. Hess said he would
like to install the same type
of system at the FEMA
park.
In the water department
he performed required wa-
ter tests for total coliform,
disinfection byproducts
and lead, and according to
analysis, he said all of the
results are well within safe
and acceptable levels.
Hess said the town used
a total of 2,731,929 gallons
of water in the month of
June, which he says is about
average for this time of
year according to the last
five years records. He has
also been studying up on
materials to get licensed for
public pesticides applicator
as well as Small Water Sys-
tem Operator.
Second Bingo event
coming up in Lex
The Bingo commit-
tee in Lexington has an-
nounced they will be host-
ing a second Bingo event at
the Lexington Fire Hall on
July 28 at 6 p.m. A dinner of
nachos will be available for
purchase. This is a family
event so everyone is invited
to attend.
Earnings from the
event will go toward play-
ground equipment for a
future playground and park
in Lexington.
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188 W Willow Street
Heppner, OR
editor@rapidserve.net
Owner/Broker David Sykes
541-980-6674
188 W. Willow
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Gillettes win July yard of the month
By Kay Proctor
July’s Yard of the
Month goes to Dean Gil-
lette and Penny Wolff-Gil-
lette at 235 W. Willow.
Dean is originally from
Damascus and Penny from
Oak Grove. Both grew up
in large families with very
large vegetable gardens, so
got their garden training
early. Dean became fa-
miliar with Heppner from
hunting in the area for years
and when they decided to
move in 2020, they de-
cided this was the place.
Penny is retired from heavy
equipment operating. Dean
works a couple days a week
at Heppner Market Fresh
Foods and also is a retired
commercial plumber.
Their hillside home sits
against a dead end street
snug against a rocky hill-
side with basalt terraces on
both sides of the property.
That’s fine with Penny as
she collects rocks wherever
she travels to use through-
out the yard, especially
heart shaped rocks.
They have accom-
plished many projects in
just two years, such as
extending their lawn, ex-
tensive terrace work, clear-
ing, burning, raking and
leveling by hand an area
for a greenhouse and cold
frame. The two also added
a large vegetable garden
with shade cloth, created
a wildflower garden and
planted multiple trees in-
cluding a Japanese maple
and quaking aspen. Exist-
ing trees and shrubs were
trimmed back. Driplines
Dean and Penny Gillette with a cactus full of yellow blooms which came from the garden of
Penny’s father. -Photos by Kay Proctor.
and soaker hoses are used
to keep everything healthy
and growing and there are
future plans to install un-
derground sprinklers.
To enrich the rocky
soil, amendments were
added such as mushroom,
steer and chicken composts.
Dean mows and keeps the
weeds down at their place
and around the neighbor-
hood.
Penny takes care of
the many flower beds. She
brought starts and plants
from their previous home
including a miniature cat-
tail that is over 30 years old
and kept in a container of
water. She especially enjoys
unique plants such as her
hybrid Lily of the Valley
that is tall and does not run
rampant. Iris, delphinium,
hens and chicks are just
some of the blends of pe-
rennials and annuals she has
planted. Mason bee house
has attracted occupants.
Dean and Penny’s fa-
vorite place is their qui-
et backyard which they
can enjoy at night because
of the solar and electri-
cal lighting they put in.
They love living in Hep-
pner, walk everywhere and
hardly use their car. Their
home is shared with Roys-
ten, a three legged dog.
Their family includes sev-
en grandchildren and, for
now, one “and a half” great
grandchildren who don’t
live in the area…yet.
Yard of the Month is
co-sponsored by the Hep-
pner Volunteers, MCGG/
Green Feed & Seed Store,
and the city of Heppner.
david@sykesrealestate.net
Do you have property to sell?
Now is the time!
I have buyers looking for homes,
land and building lots in the
Heppner, Lexington and Ione area.
This is a good time to sell!
Call, text or email me.
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