Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 4 , 2023 -- THREE
Morrow County
Republicans to meet
Jan. 12
The Morrow County
Republicans will meet at 6
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at
the Bartholomew Building
in Heppner. Precinct Com-
mittee Persons (PCPs) and
anyone interested in the
county Republican Party
are encouraged to come and
join the discussions.
This meeting will es-
tablish goals and set the
calendar of meetings and
events for 2023. PCP posi-
tions are open in Heppner,
Lexington, Boardman and
Irrigon. Individuals inter-
ested in one of these po-
sitions are encouraged to
attend this meeting.
The Republican Par-
ty is open to individuals
interested in conservative
ideals and values. The Re-
publican Party platform can
be found at https://oregon.
gop/. For more information
on the Morrow County
Republican Party, contact
mocoreps@gmail.com.
It won’t surprise any-
one in Morrow County to
learn that December was
just a little cooler than
normal this year, accord-
ing to preliminary data
received by NOAA’s Na-
tional Weather Service in
Pendleton.
According to Heppner
weather data, the aver-
age temperature was 30.9
degrees, which was 3.9
degrees cooler than the
normal average tempera-
ture for December. High
temperatures averaged 39
degrees, with the high of 58
degrees being recorded on
the 27 th . Low temperatures
averaged 22.8 degrees, with
the low of 0 degrees being
recorded on the 22 nd .
There were 25 days
when the low temperature
was below 32 degrees and
one day with a low tem-
perature below 0 degrees.
Heppner also reported sev-
en days when the high tem-
perature was less than 32
degrees.
Precipitation at Hep-
pner was slightly below
normal during December,
however, totaling 0.97 inch-
es, or 0.29 inches below
normal. Precipitation of at
least .01 inch was reported
on four days. The heaviest
amount of precipitation was
0.23 inches, which was re-
ported on the 12 th . Snowfall
for the month totaled one
inch. The heaviest snowfall
was one inch, reported on
Dec. 5. The highest snow
depth was one inch, occur-
ring on Dec. 8.
No surprise, weather
data shows December
colder than normal
Smith announces
legislative committee
assignments
Rep. Greg Smith
Oregon State Represen-
tative Greg Smith (R-Hep-
pner) has announced his
committee assignments for
the upcoming 82 nd Legisla-
tive Session. Rep. Smith has
been assigned to the House
Committee on Revenue,
Joint Committee on Tax Ex-
penditures, Joint Commit-
tee on Ways & Means (Co-
Vice Chair), Joint Ways &
Means Sub-Committee on
Capital Construction, Joint
Ways & Means Sub-Com-
mittee on General Govern-
ment (Co-Chair) and Joint
Committee on Legislative
Administration.
“It is an honor to be the
sole Republican that holds
a gavel” said Smith.
The 82 nd Oregon Leg-
islative Assembly will be
sworn in on Monday, Jan.
9. The 2023 legislative ses-
sion will begin on Tuesday,
Jan. 17. After the swearing
in, Rep. Smith will be the
longest-serving member in
the entire body, serving 12
terms in office.
To contact Smith, visit
his Facebook page or email
rep.gregsmith@oregonleg-
islature.gov.
Heppner Chamber
to hold annual
luncheon
The Heppner Chamber of Commerce will hold its
annual luncheon Thursday, Jan. 26, from noon to 1 p.m.
at the Gilliam & Bisbee Event Center in Heppner.
A lunch of turkey or ham sliders with minestrone
soup will be provided by Heppner Market Fresh. Cost
will be $12 per person.
Attendees are asked to RSVP to heppnerchamber@
gmail.com no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24.
Nominations are also open for two board of director
positions. The last day to submit a nomination will be
Friday, Jan. 20.
Marriage Licenses
The Morrow County
Clerk report issuing the
following marriage licenses
for the month of December:
Dec. 1—Clayton Lee
Moon, 67, of Irrigon and
Linda Jean Joy, 71, of Ir-
rigon.
Dec. 9—John Francis
Flynn, 63, of Heppner and
Polly Maureen Peltier, 55,
of Echo.
Dec. 12—Robert Jay
Fetter, 41, of Heppner and
Deborah Jolene Wilson, 47,
of Heppner.
Dec. 16—Whitney
Rose Smith, 31, of Irrigon
and Antonio James Ervin,
45, of Irrigon.
Good News Only by Doris Brosnan
Alyse Wentz traveled during a window of opportu-
nity on the Gorge freeway before Christmas for almost
a week’s visit in Heppner, where she joined her mom,
Sandra, and brother, Brodie, for the holiday. Alyse is a
student in the Dental Hygienist program at Linn Benton,
so had a long winter break between terms, but she also
works at TJ Maxx, with just a six-day break from that
obligation. Her return trip to Corvallis was more chal-
lenging because she first went to Prineville, where she
picked up the Brosnan Boys, who had been visiting their
parents, Damon and Carie, and then had to chain up for
part of the trip through the mountains.
On Dec. 28, family and friends gathered for lunch at
the OMG Restaurant in Hermiston to celebrate Mark and
Kristi (Edmundson) Smalley’s 37 th wedding anniversary.
The group included Cal and Midge Harris, Dennis and
Ann Doherty, Jeff Edmundson, and Roger Otis from
Hermiston. Kristi’s parents, John and Pat Edmundson,
were also at the gathering, which recognized their 66 th
wedding anniversary on Dec. 29.
On Dec. 28, Ashley Lindsay was so pleased with the
birthday card from her children as she turned 41, she said
she was thinking of hanging it up on the wall. On Dec. 30,
Marty Brannon celebrated his 55 th birthday, noting that
he shares that birth date with at least three other people
in town. On Dec. 29, to celebrate Sandra Jones Blake’s
and Marlene Gray’s 80 th birthdays (on the 23 rd and 29 th ),
they were joined for lunch and conversation at Bucknum’s
by classmates Sharon Harrison, Judy Stevens and Doris
Brosnan, all of whom made certain that Blake and Gray
acknowledged being “older” than they (by months) at 79.
On Friday, Dec. 30, Dexter and Corinne Miles cele-
brated their 60 th anniversary. A small family gathering was
attended by their three surviving children and spouses, as
well as 10 out of 20 grandchildren. Sadly missing were
daughters Carla and Michele, both deceased. Children
Craig Miles and Andrea Di Salvo came from just a hop
away in the Lexington area, but oldest son Darrell Miles
traveled with his family from Eltopia, WA. They remi-
nisced far into the evening about their early days farming
in Montana and Oregon. Their dogs and cats also worked
to insert themselves for pets at every opportunity.
On Dec. 31, Father Joseph Thankachan was con-
gratulated by his St. Patrick’s congregation on the 20 th
anniversary of his ordination. He shared that “I hope I
can be a spark in someone’s life.”
The last day of the year holds special meaning for
these anniversary couples: Alan and Nancy Anderson
celebrated 17 years together, and Buzz and Jeanette Logan
celebrated their 49 th year together.
The holiday season again held some heartwarming
stories that tended to temporarily ease the impact of the
common daily news. The Good News is that, unlike sea-
sons limited in time and attached to particular activities,
there is no limited season on kindness, caring and cour-
tesy. Instead, maybe we can declare all of 2023 “Open
Season” for these and other actions mindful of our fellow
humans’ well-being.
Start the 2023 with a smile to share with the readers
by sending your tidbit to dbrosnan123@gmail.com or by
calling 541-223-1490.
Here’s hoping that some good news comes to every-
one reading this!
Boardman, Irrigon
losing urban status
-Continued from PAGE ONE
It’s a change that has
many throughout the coun-
ty confused, especially in
light of the recent building
boom in the Boardman area
and the chronic housing
shortage in South Morrow.
Boardman City Man-
ager Karen Pettigrew told
the Boardman City Council
Dec. 6 that the numbers
were “really discourag-
ing… when all of us who
live here know that is not
the case” (See “Boardman
finances, projects on track,”
PAGE ONE).
At the same time, the
minimum population re-
quired for an area to be con-
sidered urban has doubled.
Under the Census Bureau’s
old criteria, an urban cluster
was defined as having at
least 2,500 people. That
definition had been in place
since 1910. After the 2020
census, the bureau doubled
that to a population of 5,000
people or a minimum hous-
ing unit threshold of 2,000.
While the bureau ad-
justs its definitions every
decade after a census, this
is the largest change to
urban definitions in several
decades.
According to infor-
mation on the Census Bu-
reau’s website, the criteria
changed because of com-
plaints that the threshold
was too low. The bureau
originally proposed mini-
mum qualification thresh-
olds of 4,000 housing units
or 10,000 people but pulled
back from that number due
to public comment.
“Lowering the thresh-
old to 2,000 housing units
or 5,000 persons represents
a compromise between
those concerned about loss
of data and those who have
expressed concerns that our
urban area threshold was
too low and out of align-
ment with thresholds used
by other agencies,” stated
the site.
In addition to the
change, the Census Bu-
reau said it will also no
longer distinguish between
urbanized areas of 50,000
or more people and urban
clusters of less than 50,000.
The federal govern-
ment as a whole has no
standard definitions for ur-
ban versus rural, but many
agencies use the definitions
set down by the Census
Bureau.
The bureau says the
changes are made for statis-
tical reasons and that it has
no control over how other
government agencies use
the information to distrib-
ute funding. For leaders at
the local level, though, this
change brings up concerns
about funds now available
for housing, health care, ed-
ucation and transportation.
Meanwhile, PSU is
not budging on its num-
bers, meaning that, for now,
Boardman may have to be
satisfied with a more rural
point of view.
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Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner
How do we manifest
the Lord?
This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany
of Christ, a feast originated in the Eastern Church in AD
361, the oldest feast after Easter and Pentecost, which be-
gan with the commemoration of Christ’s birth. The word
“epiphany” simply meant the manifestation of Christ to
the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
Who exactly were these “wise men from the East”?
Some think they were a group of priests from Persia,
others believe they were astrologers from Babylon. How
many were there? Scripture does not give any actual
number, perhaps because the emphasis is upon what
they did: “We have come to worship Him” (Mt 2:2,11).
We know from scripture that they presented three types
of gifts (Mt 2:11), but this does not necessarily imply
the quantity of givers! What is important is that “Jesus,”
“Immanuel” (which means “God with us”), is worthy of
worship, truly God.
The Prophet Isaiah (60:1-6) describes faith as light as
he shows Jerusalem bathed in a bright light that attracted
people from all nations. As these people reached Jerusa-
lem, they, too, were bathed in light as Yahweh accepted
the gifts they had brought. A similar thing took place in us
when we approached Christ to be saved by Him. We were
covered in the darkness of sin, but as we came closer to
Christ and accepted Him in faith, light was made within
our hearts. That is why Paul writes to the Ephesians, “You
were darkness once, but now you are light in the world”
(Ephesians 5:8). And Paul also exhorts us to, “Be like
children of light… in complete goodness, and right living,
and truth” (Ephesians 5:9). Peter says about God’s Word:
“It is like a lamp for lighting our way through the dark,
until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your
minds” (2 Peter 1:19).
So, faith in Christ helps us to walk through the dark-
ness of this world until He, like the morning star, will
come at our death to introduce us into the day of eternity.
For a Christian, death is like dawn, the beginning of a
bright day which will never end.
Matthew (2:1-12), the evangelist, also describes the
visit of the Magi from the East. The wise men were the
first gentiles to publicly recognize the divinity of Jesus,
by their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold
symbolizes the Kingship of Christ. Frankincense symbol-
izes the Godhead of Christ. Myrrh is a prophecy of the
death and burial of the earthly body of Christ.
Matthew tells us that “the sight of the star filled the
Magi with great delight” (Matthew 2:11). If the mere sight
of the star filled them with joy, how much more joyful
they would be when they found in the manger the Child
Jesus, whom they believed to be the Savior! This is what
happens to us when we really accept Christ as our Savior.
We experience a sense of deep joy, the joy of the spirit,
which fills our hearts. What happens to that first joy? Has
it increased as we came to know Christ better and love
Him more, or has it vanished from our hearts?
If we do not feel the same joy at the thought of being
Christians, it might be because we allowed darkness to
cover our hearts again. When the Spirit is cast away from
a soul by sin, light and joy depart. Faith in Christ must
continue growing within us. That is why Paul tells the
Ephesians: “May God give you the power through His
Spirit, for your hidden self (faith within you) to grow
strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through
faith” (Ephesians 3:16-17). Faith in Christ kept on grow-
ing in the wise men, in the apostles, in Mary because they
abandoned themselves to God’s love plans for them.
The best way to make faith in Christ grow is to share
it. The wise men must have made it their aim to make
Christ known to as many people as they came in touch
with. Similarly, the shepherds proclaimed loudly what
they had been told (Luke 2:17). This must be the case
with us also. We ought to be a star, a sign, leading people
to Christ. We ought to become manifestations of Christ
to our world by our genuine Christian life. We ought to
lead people to Christ, not only as individuals, but also as
a community of believers.
4-Corners Snowmobile Club
Annual Holiday Playday
The 4-Corners Snowmobile Club
will hold the Annual Holiday Play-
day on Saturday, January 7, 2023,
at Kelly Prairie. There will be a
bonfire and hot dogs, chili and hot
chocolate will be provided. There
will be a Poker Run for everyone to enjoy. For
information about the club or this event, please
contact Mike Gorman, 541-980-3396 or Cliff
Dougherty, 541-561-7118