TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 21, 2022
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
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.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
....................................................................................................................... Editor
Kirsten Espinola .........................................................................................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.
~ Letters to the Editor ~
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.
Vote for Drazan
To the Editor:
Christine Drazan is
about to accomplish some-
thing unheard of since
President Ronald Reagan.
Win the Oregon gover-
norship and restore liber-
ty, integrity and justice in
our government, business
and schools. Betsy John-
son, the multimillionaire
heiress third party candi-
date, will ultimately deter-
mine the fate of Oregon by
drawing votes from either
Drazan or ultra-progres-
sive Democrat Tina Kotek.
It would require a tech-
nological miracle to render
the vote by mail Demo-
crat machine (it’s not who
votes but who counts the
votes) in favor of Drazan.
Nevertheless, this just may
be Oregon’s time to crawl
out of the Covid enhanced
progressive
Democrat
swamp.
Kotek has already se-
cured the illegal immi-
grant, homeless, college
tuition free, Antifa, BLM,
the ‘woke,’ gay, lesbian,
transgender, queer, Gen x,
the progressive, etc. Dra-
zan will win the patriots,
the working class, those
that love God and country,
those that cherish the sanc-
tity of life, those that want
to see Oregon cleaned up,
especially Portland. A lib-
eral progressive, pro-abor-
tion vote for Johnson will
hurt Kotek. A conservative,
pro-gun vote for Johnson
will hurt Drazan.
If Betsy Johnson will
ultimately determine the
fate of Oregon and even
potentially win the Gover-
norship, then it is essential
that voters know what she
really stands for. If you
are a progressive liberal,
I strongly encourage you
to vote for Johnson not
Kotek. Johnson advocates
for late term abortions and
boasts of “having a stron-
ger pro-choice record than
Kotek. I was on planned
parenthood in Oregon be-
fore Tina was even an Ore-
gonian.” (Washington Free
Beacon, Josh Christenson,
8/24/22) When it comes to
crime Johnson is the defi-
nition of the liberal pro-
gressive. As State Senator
Johnson voted for a law
“that made nearly a third of
the prison population- in-
cluding convicted murder-
ers-eligible for release was
soon as they demonstrated
good behavior.” (op. cit.
Christenson)
If you are pro-gun, pro-
life, pro God and Country,
pro fiscal conservative,
then I exhort a vote for
Drazan not Johnson. John-
son and Kotek served to-
gether in the Oregon legis-
lature for most of the 21st
century. “Johnson sided
with Kotek on bills to de-
criminalize drugs, reduce
incarceration, and impose
one of the largest tax hikes
in Oregon history.” (op.
cit. Christenson). In 2017
“Johnson pushed through
a five billion infrastructure
bill…In 2019 “Johnson
voted for a two billion dol-
lar corporation tax, driving
up the cost of goods and
services for business own-
ers of all stripes.” (op. cit.
Christenson)
If the liberal progres-
sives will vote for Johnson
and the conservative patri-
otic Americans will choose
Drazan, and believers in
God will pray, we may
have a miracle in Novem-
ber.
(s) Stuart Dick
Irrigon
Good News Only by Doris Brosnan
Ask most anyone in Ione for an adjective
that describes John and Jana Vandenbrink, and
one would surely hear most often, “gracious” and
“generous.” One example of many reasons for this
is the corn field they plant for the community. The
corn is free for anyone to pick, no questions to an-
swer, no restrictions to meet, as the Vandenbrinks
depend on the moral compass of individuals who
come to the field. And Vandenbrinks’ generosity is
spread beyond the field by some individuals who
pick and distribute to individuals who cannot do so.
Karen Haguewood enjoyed a 10-day visit
in this area that started when she left her home in
Litchfield Park, AZ (home of the AZ Cardinals), on
September 8. Landing in Pasco, she was soon on the
road to LaGrande to visit a daughter and a month-
old great grandson. Then, off to Boise, where she
enjoyed her 14-month-old great granddaughter before
returning to LaGrande for visits with three more great
grandchildren and then turning her sites on friends
and family in the local area. Staying with Betty Gray,
she was able to visit her brother Wayne Hams and his
wife and Ione and Heppner friends. Last Sunday, the
whirlwind stay ended, after a stop in Hermiston to
see her sister, with her flight from Pasco back to AZ.
Bev Sherman was delighted to have her son Ron
come last Thursday from Portland for a week-long stay.
Life-long friends can’t be beat. Last week,
former Heppner residents Daryl and Anita Dick, now
from Welches, visited Archie and Diana Ball. This
past weekend, Bruce and Diane Moyer stopped over
again, as they traveled from the Oregon coast back
to their home in Montana. And on Monday, Ken and
Jan Evans, also HHS graduates, dropped in for a visit.
On September 10, Paul and Susan Hisler,
with their daughter, Annie Weygandt, and her daugh-
ters, Peyton and Reese, traveled to the coast to visit
Paul’s sister Francine Bristow and her husband, Tom,
and their daughter Katryna Flynn. Angie Shearer,
Paul’s sister Joan’s daughter, was also able to join
the mini-reunion. This was the first visit they all
had been able to enjoy for a year, an opportunity
that coincided with Hislers’ travel to watch grand-
daughter Reese’s volleyball game in Oregon City.
And that same weekend, after almost a year,
David and Charlotte Gray were able to visit
face-to-face with their son Kevin and his wife
over lunch in The Dalles. These visiting oppor-
tunities represent another positive step toward
“normalcy” after these years of long separations.
Last week, their work took Kimberly George
and husband, Mark, to the TriCities to co-host an
insurance educational forum and speak at a self-in-
surance conference. So, the couple used the trip
from Illinois as an opportunity to also visit friends
and family in Hermiston and to spend a refreshing
time in the mountains at Kit and Shirley’s cabin.
Betty Burns was relieved to be back home
on September 9, after a four-months’ stay in the Re-
gency Care Center in Hermiston. Husband Loyal has
now become Betty’s main nurse, and her area friends
visit often enough to keep her up on the local news.
Darlene Lovgren came back home on Friday,
the 16 th , and is now recovering from a knee-replace-
ment surgery in the TriCities on the 15 th . Her three
daughters – Leanne, Connie, and Rhonda – make
certain she is on track. Darlene had her other knee
replaced two years ago and afterwards experienced
no delays in airports’ security screenings, but may-
be two bionic knees will result in closer scrutiny.
Two weeks ago, Don and Jan Stroeber’s fam-
ily, ages two months to 84 years, gathered at McCall,
ID, for games, cycling, waterboards, kayaking, and
“just enjoying being together.” While gathered, they
held a surprise birthday party for Jan – Well, close to
a surprise: Three-year-old great granddaughter joined
Jan to help fold some towels, but she said they had to
hurry to get to Jan’s surprise birthday party because
it would be so fun! “We are truly blessed,” Jan says.
Last Thursday, 14 women gathered over lunch
at the Heppner Elks club to wish Diane Mullins and
Rita DeZoete “Happy Birthday.” The small group from
Ione and Heppner have met monthly for several years
to honor the month’s celebrant(s), or just for the cama-
raderie if no one is celebrating in a particular month.
Thanks to everyone who shared their smiles this
week, this column continues. Sharing is as easy as
sending your tidbit to dbrosnan123@gmail.com or
calling 541-223-1490. Please, share.
Here’s hoping that some good news comes to
everyone reading this.
Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner
Disciple is the one who
cares and shares
This week we look as discipleship caring and sharing all
resources with fellow beings. We are all tainted with selfishness.
We don’t find it easy to share our possessions, and we find it even
harder to share with someone not known to us. But we are all
beggars before God. We need His forgiveness, especially for our
refusal to share and care for the needy around the world.
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31),
two questions arise. Why is the rich man condemned? We have no
evidence that he acquired his wealth by foul means, as in the case
of last week’s crafty steward. We are not told that he is responsible
for the poverty and misery of Lazarus. We are not even told that
Lazarus begged from him and was refused. We are not told that
the rich man committed any crime or evil deed. All that we read in
this parable is that he feasted and dressed in fine clothing, as any
successful person has a right to do. Why, then did he go to hell?
Why the rich man went to hell may have a lot to do with
understanding sin. We consider that we sin through thoughts,
words, and deeds. We forget a fourth and very important way sin:
through our omissions. At the beginning part of our daily Mass,
we utter these words: “I have sinned through my own faults, in
my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what
I have failed to do.” Yet how readily we forget this last criterion,
the sin of omission. Today’s parable reminds us that this sin can
send a person to hell.
The poor man has the name “Lazarus.” The Bible doesn’t
even attribute a name to the rich man. Lazarus was lying at the
gate, and rich man simply didn’t care about him. Whatever happens
to him there outside the gate is none of his concern. He probably
said to himself, “I mind my own business; other people should
mind theirs,” ignoring the needs of someone in need. He had done
nothing wrong against Lazarus, but he failed to do a good deed.
He failed to reach out and share a little of his blessings with that
poor man who was with sores. We read that the dogs in the story
at least had concern, licking his sores and caring for him, much
more than a human being did for another human being. And so, the
rich man committed a sin of omission, and for that he went to hell.
When I was reflecting on this article, I was reminded that
of Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, “The biggest disease in the
world today is the feeling of being unwanted. And the greatest evil
in the world today is lack of love - the terrible indifference towards
one’s neighbor, which is so widespread.”
The second question: Why did Lazarus go to heaven?
We are never told that Lazarus ever performed a single good deed.
So, what qualified him for heaven? The clue lies in his name. This
is the only parable of Jesus in which the character has a name.
“Lazarus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Eliezer,” which
means “God is my help.” Lazarus is not just a poor person, but a
poor person who believed and trusted in God. He found himself
in paradise because of his faith and trust in God, not just because
he was materially poor.
According to this parable, the Gospel measurement for
heaven or hell depends on our attitude. Spiritual blindness, in-
difference, condemns people. We’ve heard this teaching of Jesus
before, in Matthew (25:37-38): “Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and
did not take care of you?” Jesus will answer: “Truly I tell you, just
as you did not do it for one of these, you did not do it for me. And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.” The rich man saw Lazarus hungry, thirsty, a stranger,
naked and sick – but he chose not to see him. He was spiritually
blind and, thus, he did not see. In not seeing, he did not act, and in
not acting, he omitted the compassion and sharing he should have
given Lazarus. The rich man is condemned for his sin of omission.
HEPPNER ELKS 358
"WHERE FRIENDS MEET"
541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST
HUNTER'S
NIGHT
Thursday,
September 29th
Dinner - 6:30 pm
Steak
Potatoes
Salad & Dessert
Lodge - 8:00 pm
Lots of Raffle Items
Members and Guests
Equipment Purchases • Operating Lines
Call Chris Sykes to sell
your home.
541-215-2274
Time to Plan for
Next Season!
See Amber for
Equipment Purchases
and
Operating Lines
of Credit.
AMBER SCHLAICH
270 N. Main Street / Heppner
(541) 676-9125
Ag/Commercial Loan Officer
SPECIALIZING IN AGRICULTURAL & COMMERCIAL LOANS
MEMBER FDIC