Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 14 , 2022 -- THREE
~ Letters to the Editor ~
Good News Only by Doris Brosnan
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Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net.
Just one week from today, the daylight hours will
begin to increase! Granted, they will do so until June at
a rate of approximately two minutes and seven seconds
per day, but they will add up. Good News for several
people who were asked whether or not they look forward
to the change.
In the meantime, winter activities in Heppner and
Ione are looking more and more like those spirit-lifting
activities of long ago (pre-pandemic)—the holiday-light-
ing at the park, the school concerts, this week’s event at
the fairgrounds, the giving trees, the music on the streets,
the open-houses. Not everyone uses social media for
information but can watch the Gazette-Times for details
as these events near.
Sharon Lewis has been recovering at home after a
one-day stay for surgery in Portland two weeks ago. She
reports that she is truly feeling better and better.
When describing her adult son, Andrew, as a young
person, April Sykes finds “rambunctious” a fitting word,
which is why she is especially impressed with his latest
news. Andrew now lives in Pendleton, is active in his mom
and dad’s (Dave) business and has recently become an
acolyte in St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Andrew’s contri-
bution to the parish also includes his talents at the piano
and as a member of the choir.
Maggie and Joe Armato have been in San Francisco
to attend a large Armato gathering. Great opportunity for
staying in touch with both sides of their father’s family
and to meet more cousins!
Last Friday in Las Vegas, Stephen Thompson
“popped the question” and Charlie Dimke said, “Yes!”
As if by magic, the ring appeared from inside the top of
a cowboy boot. Apparently, Thompson had been able to
keep his plan a secret from Charlie, who must not have
wondered why so many members of his family and her
family (from Asotin, WA) had happened to gather at an
entrance to the NFR arena. Wishes for happiness go out
to the young couple.
To all the people who have been complaining about
the abundance of “scam calls” that irritate and consume
time, once in a while what appears to be is not: Kay
Proctor received what she was all but certain was a bogus
call from “a company in charge of a contest sponsored by
Oreo.” Since Kay had, a few months previous, actually
seen a notice and entered a contest that required an essay
explaining how the writer would help Oreo celebrate its
110 th anniversary, she decided to investigate a bit instead
of writing off the call as a scam. Long story short is that
Kay did investigate and discovered that she had won
the national contest with her essay! Consequently, she
received as her prize what she had explained she would
do to help Oreo celebrate – 110 gift baskets (actually,
backpacks) to be distributed among the many medical
personnel who have worked diligently with her son, Roy,
for several years. No wonder Kay won the contest. (Kay
has learned that many of the gift bags are being regifted
to young patients.)
Heppner’s Birthright organization is eager for its
first sponsored “Mom Connection” gathering tomorrow
from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at its facility at 128 West Willow
Street. The purpose of the informal social event is to give
young moms and expectant moms some “me” time, an
opportunity to share ideas, questions, thoughts, whatever
is on their minds.
Updated information: Madison Orem was previously
congratulated as a volleyball Big-Sky-League-First-Team
choice. Well, Calli Troutman was also chosen for that
volleyball honor by the league coaches. Congratulations,
Calli! The Ione-Arlington team ended their season with
a 19-6 overall record, which took them into a round of
the 1A state playoffs.
Let’s talk
about gender
Editor:
A survey from Or-
egon Health was recently
given to Morrow County
students, 6 th , 8 th , and 11 th
grade. One of the questions
was: what is your gender
identity?
01) Two Spirit Amer-
ican Indian/Alaska Native
02) Girl/Woman
03) Boy/ Man
04) Demi girl / Demi
boy
05) Nonbinary
06) Gender Fluid
07) Agender/No gender
Parents were given
written notice from their
children that they could
have their children opt
out. Students did have the
choice to refrain from an-
swering questions, and no
names were required on the
questionnaire.
The state of Oregon
is very concerned about
gender identity and is ag-
gressively offering “gender
affirming care,” defined
as “social, psychological,
behavioral or medical (in-
cluding hormonal treatment
or surgery) interventions
designed to support and
affirm an individual’s iden-
tity.” In Oregon, gender
affirming hormones (GAH)
are given on “informed
Consent” basis for those 15
and older, per Oregon Law.
The Oregon Health Plan
covers hormone therapy
and some surgical services
for transgender and gen-
der-nonbinary. In Oregon,
minors 15 years and older
are able to consent to med-
ical and dental services
without parental consent.
A minor 14 years of age or
older may obtain, without
parental knowledge or con-
sent, outpatient diagnosis
or treatment of a mental
or emotional disorder or a
chemical dependency (ORS
109.640).
What does this
mean? It means you better
pay attention to what your
children are being taught
and what gender identity
means. Demi girl or boy
means that person iden-
tifies with both their sex
and a gender, i.e. divided
identity/ split personality.
Nonbinary means neither
male nor female. Gender
fluidity refers to change
over time in a person’s gen-
der expression or identity,
or both. That change might
be in expression, but not
identity, or in identity but
not expression, or both ex-
pression and identity might
change together.
If you as adults are
confused, imagine what our
youth are going through.
Here is the truth, the
whole truth and nothing
but the truth. There are
only two genders, male or
female. Biology, science
and our creator affirm this
truth. “God created them,
male and female” (Genesis
5:2). These woke doctors,
psychiatrists, health pro-
fessionals, etc. are using
hormone therapies, gender
affirming care, and surger-
ies to turn females into mas-
culine (but still) females
and males into feminine
(but still) males. The result
has been heartbreaking.
“82% of transgender in-
dividuals have considered
killing themselves and 40%
have attempted suicide”
(2020 Official Factsheet
Now, save.org). The Flor-
ida Board of Osteopathic
Medicine has banned pu-
berty blockers, cross sex
hormones and transgender
surgeries in minors. The
surgeon General of Florida
warned “the state must
do more to protect chil-
dren from politics-based
medicine” (Tyler O’Neil,
Gospel of Transgender-
ism, 12/8/22, daily signal.
com). The International
Review of Psychiatry study
found “80% of those seek-
ing chemical care will lose
their desire to identify with
the opposite sex” (O’Neil
op. cit.). In Sweden they no
longer “prescribe hormone
treatments to minors under
16” (O’Neil op. cit.). The
same in Great Britain and
Finland.
Get involved and
protect your children from
those that would offer “gen-
der affirming care” before
it is too late. These ques-
tionnaires our youth are
being subject to can be
the curiosity that killed (or
mutilated) the cat.
Stuart Dick
Irrigon, OR
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Elks
Memorial
Service
"To our absent
members"
Saturday
December
17th at 4pm.
Please join us Saturday, December
17th at 4p.m. as we remember our
absent members by reading their
names aloud during the service.
A Spaghetti Dinner will follow.
Family Members of our absent
members are invited to attend.
Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner
Immanuel: “God Is With Us”
Universally, the church is waiting for the coming of
the real Savior Jesus. We have seen Jesus’s marvelous
display of empathy and compassion for suffering human-
ity. Among these suffering generations he takes flesh and
becomes one, and becomes Emmanuel for them, which
means God is with us as our savior and redeemer. In ev-
ery Eucharistic celebration, we will encounter the same
empathetic Christ. Let us not be afraid to show Him the
various handicaps, disabilities and wounds that we suf-
fer. May the Babe of Bethlehem heal us from all these
disabilities and raise us to the status of children of God.
The first reading of this fourth week of Advent is
from the Prophet Isaiah (7:10-14), describing the reign in
Judah of King Ahaz, during which war broke out between
Judah and Israel. Pekah, the king of Israel, entered into
an alliance with the King of Syria (Rezin), and the two
went to besiege Jerusalem. When King Ahaz learned of
the coalition against him, his heart sank along with his
people. He was an evil king and could not reasonably
expect God’s intervention, but God had not given up on
Judah. God sent Isaiah to Ahaz to give him a message of
comfort, a promise of Judah’s triumph. Isaiah told Ahaz
to ask for a sign to authenticate the promise from God. He
refused. So, Isaiah gave a sign from God, “and shall call
His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). The word “Immanuel”
means “God with us.”
The Gospel reading is from St. Matthew (1:18-24),
describing the birth of Jesus. Before we come to this par-
ticular section of our reading, however, Mathew describes
the genealogy of Jesus Christ to explain that Jesus is
from the clan of David, bringing before us the forty-two
generations from Abraham to Joseph, the foster father of
Jesus—from Abraham to David, 14 generations; from
David to Babylon exile, 14 generations; from Babylon
exile to Jesus Christ, 14 generations.
The Gospel presents the person of Joseph for us to
imitate and appreciate as we get ready for the great feast
of Christmas. The Bible presents him as a righteous, just
man. Joseph loved Mary very much, so he did not want
her to be stoned to death. (The Jewish law dictated that if
a woman is engaged to one man and found sleeping with
another, both she and the other man should be taken out
of the town and stoned to death.) (Due. 22:22). Instead,
he plans to take all the blame upon himself and to escape
to somewhere else. The angel of God appears to him to
reveal the divine plan, which was very difficult for him
to understand and accept. He is a model for us to imitate.
In modern society, if we carefully scrutinize, we notice
that we are trying to belittle others and trying to be great
in front of others. Joseph, though, had an opportunity to
belittle Mary and get rid of her, but he became a beau-
tiful example of righteousness and justice to others. He
becomes the protector for that young virgin, as well as
for the child in her womb conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit. In the present-day society, in which the sac-
rament of marriage undergoes a great threat, Joseph and
Mary are great examples for the modern young couples
to imitate. Joseph overcomes the problems of his married
life and leaves these few aspects for us to imitate to make
our families like that of Nazareth:
1) Don’t try to belittle anyone through our words or
deeds. 2) Ignore opportunities to belittle and humiliate
someone in public. 3) Like Joseph, always listen to God’s
word and give importance to it. 4) Like Joseph, fully trust
God’s words, and adjust our lives accordingly. 5) Imitating
Joseph, keep silent on some occasions and try to do the
responsibilities entrusted to us with maximum capacity.
6) Through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, God is
entrusting to our care the spouse and children we need
to take care of and protect from all sorts of dangers, as
Joseph did, in spite of undergoing great troubles for them.
be to report activities and
When we try to live our family lives in this way, our
give a financial review for families will become like the family of Nazareth, and God
the year.
will be always there. That is the Emmanuel experience
To join via Zoom or for all of us.
conference call, contact the
SWCD beforehand at 541-
676-5452. Meetings of the
Morrow SWCD are open to
the public.
SWCD to hold
annual meeting
The Morrow SWCD
(Soil and Water Conserva-
tion District) will hold its
annual meeting for fiscal
year 2021-2022 on Tues-
day, Jan. 3, beginning at
6:30 p.m. at the Ag Service
Center in Heppner. The
purpose of the meeting will
Elks Free Throw Shooting Contest
Sunday, December 18th
TOM & JERRY PARTY
With Live Music Friday Dec.16th
Tom & Jerry Drinks at 5 p.m.
Steak Dinner at 6 p.m.
Music by Frank
Carlson 7 p.m.
Members &
their Guest
HEPPNER ELKS 358
“WHERE FRIENDS MEET”
541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST
1:00 p.m. - FREE
A free throw shooting contest for girls and
boys ages eight through 13 will be held at the
Heppner Elementary School gym on Sunday,
Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Girls and boys must be
within that age group as of Apr. 1, 2023 and
live in the Heppner, Lexington and Ione area.
The contest is sponsored by the Heppner
Elks and is free for participants. Girls and
boys will compete separately in three age
groups: 8 to 9 years old, 10 to 11 years old
and 12 to13 years old. Each competitor will
shoot 10 free throws, then rest and shoot 15
more, for a total of 25. Winners from each
age group will advance to
the district Hoop Shoot in Heppner on Jan. 8.
For additional information, contact
Corey Sweeney at 541-256-0355.
HEPPNER ELKS 358
"WHERE FRIENDS MEET"
541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST
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