Boardman Fire requests
county support for
ambulance licensing
County decides to seek outside
counsel
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VOL. 143
NO. 12 8 Pages
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
A family’s local legacy is preserved in
county heritage museum
Randall Peterson sits in a moment of silence during the grand opening of his exhibit at the
Morrow County Heritage Museum-Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
By Andrea Di Salvo
It’s not often you see
true living history, but any-
one who stopped by the
Morrow County Heritage
Museum in Heppner last
Friday morning would have
seen it in the form of Hep-
pner icon Randall Peterson.
Peterson was at the mu-
seum for the grand opening
of an exhibit honoring his
family’s business, which
was a Heppner mainstay for
nearly 100 years. Peterson’s
Jewelers was founded by
Peterson’s father in 1928.
Randall Peterson, who
was born in 1929, was
raised in the business. He
said it was always a family
operation, with his father
and mother working togeth-
er on the enterprise.
“There were no babysit-
ters back then, you know,”
said Peterson. “There were
always a few hours in the
evening at the store.”
Peterson took over the
family business in 1959,
eventually operating it
alongside his own wife,
terson donated many of his
tools and other items to the
Morrow County Heritage
Museum. The members of
the F.A.R.M. Foundation,
which operates the Heritage
Museum and nearby Ag
Museum, felt it was a piece
of history that needed to be
preserved.
Preserving local history
has always been the goal
of the Heritage Museum,
which began in 1961 with
only one room.
“There were nay-say-
ers who said, ‘Oh, you’ll
never have enough to fill it
up,’” said Cherrie Clark. “It
wasn’t long before we had
to add another room.”
The museum expanded
to its current size in the ear-
ly 1970s, and now includes
a media room dedicated to
the Heppner flood. These
days, having enough to fill
the museum isn’t the prob-
lem. Rather, with nowhere
Some of Randall Peterson’s tools on display. -Photo
Marlene. The couple had
no children to take over the
business when Randall Pe-
terson retired. In 2022, the
store beloved to generations
of Heppner residents closed
its doors for good.
The jewelry store is
gone but not forgotten. Pe-
else to expand, there isn’t
enough room to display
all the historic treasures it
could contain.
“For a town our size, it
really is an amazing muse-
um,” said Peggy Fishburn.
She added that everything
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
Wee Bit O’ Ireland games a whole lot of fun
The participants of Saturday’s bed races. The winners,
the Heppner Les Schwab team of Caden Hedman, Austin
Carter, Janelle Wagoner and Greyson Morelli, are pictured
front and center. -Contributed photo
O’ Planky Race winners the Lucky Bastards, made up of
Lane Bailey, Wacy Coil, Shane Lazinka and Brandon Seitz.
-Contributed photo
The Heppner Chamber
of Commerce reports that
the 2023 Wee Bit O’ Ireland
games were a big success,
with the most participation
to date.
The three-on-three bas-
ketball tournament saw a
large turnout. The elemen-
tary girls division was won
by “The Dirty Blondes,”
made up of Harper Coin-
er, Ella Mullins, Hagen
Smith and Hadlie Duncan.
In the elementary boys
division, the prize was tak-
en by “Blazers” Casyn
Adams, Sonny Matheny,
Lucas Matheny and Preston
Milligan. Team “Nothin’
but Net,” made up of Kord
Dickenson, Matt Wilson,
Ketch Fennern and Max
Lindsay, took the middle
school boys division. The
junior high boys division
was won by team “Ninja
Turtles”: Caylan Proud-
foot, Keaton Coiner, Tripp
Stewart and Logan Turner.
Taking the win in the high
school/adult division was
team “Shenanigans” with
players Patrick Collins, Lo-
gan Grieb, Weston Putman
and CJ Kindle.
Starting off the Satur-
day festivities was the Lep-
rechaun Run, which started
at the Heppner Library and
ended at the Main Street
providers in the county.
The board decided
more thought was needed
before repealing the ordi-
nance, which dates back to
1998, and asked Morrow
County Council Justin Nel-
son to look into whether the
ordinance was currently
valid, the possible legal
consequences of repealing
the ordinance and the pro-
cess involved to repeal the
ordinance. They resched-
uled the topic for March 15.
“I want the county
commissioners to have an
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Port positions contested
in May election
Port of Morrow Com-
missioners Marvin Padberg
of Ione and John Murray
of Heppner are both up for
reelection this spring, and
they’re not running unop-
posed.
March 16 was the last
day for candidates to file for
the May 16 Special Elec-
tion. The special election
includes positions for coun-
ty entities such as cemetery,
fire and recreation districts,
and most candidates will
be running unopposed.
The Port of Morrow is one
notable exception, with
both Padberg and Murray
filing for reelection against
at least one opponent each.
Padberg holds Com-
missioner Position 4. Also
filing for that position is
Kelly Doherty of Board-
man.
Murray holds Com-
missioner Position 5. He
faces not one but three
opponents—Wes Killion,
David Boor and Jonathan
Tallman, all of Boardman.
Russell Nichols of Heppner
had also previously filed for
Murray’s position but chose
to withdraw.
Heppner council considers
new security cameras
John Doherty sworn in as new
council member
Gary Clark (left) and Eric Imes (right) ask Randall Peter-
son about the tools on display in the exhibit.
-Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
by Andrea Di Salvo
By Andrea Di Salvo
The debate over am-
bulance licensing for the
Boardman fire department
has ramped up again, with
both parties in the con-
flict appearing before the
Morrow County Board of
Commissioners to argue
their cases last week.
At a board of com-
missioners meeting Feb.
22, Boardman Fire Res-
cue (BFRD) Chief Mike
Hughes had requested a
repeal of county ordinance
MC-C-4-98, which reg-
ulates ambulance service
Road Bowling 2023 champions, team Let ’er Bucknums,
with participants Donald Matthews, Jared Huddleston, Eli
Braun and Andrew Snyder. -Contributed photo
shamrock. Fifty children
participated and received a
Gold Coin.
The bed races were won
by the Heppner Les Schwab
team of Caden Hedman,
Austin Carter, Janelle Wag-
oner and Greyson Morelli.
The O’ Planky Race
was won by the Lucky Bas-
tards team, made up of Lane
Bailey, Wacy Coil, Shane
Lazinka and Brandon Seitz.
Sunday’s Road Bowl-
ing event was won by Team
Let ’er Bucknums, with
participants Donald Mat-
thews, Jared Huddleston,
Eli Braun and Andrew Sny-
der.
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner City Council
heard a report on possi-
ble security cameras for
Heppner and swore in a
new council member at its
regular meeting March 13.
At the beginning of
the meeting, Mayor Co-
rey Sweeney swore in
new council member John
Doherty. In a possible first
for the city, Doherty, who
could not be present in
person, was sworn in via
Zoom. Doherty replac-
es former councilor John
Bowles, who resigned in
January.
The Heppner City
Council has been discuss-
ing the need for more se-
curity cameras in three or
four locations around the
city, and Jackson Malec of
Verkada was present at last
week’s meeting to outline
the benefits of Verkada’s
system.
Verkada is a physi-
cal security manufacturer
founded about seven years
ago by Stanford and MIT
-Continued to PAGE TWO
Lexington council discusses
town growth and natural
disaster plans
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Lexington Town
Council reviewed a draft
grant proposal for a Trans-
portation and Growth Man-
agement (TGM) project
and heard an update on
the town’s Natural Hazard
Mitigation Plan (NHMP) at
its regular meeting March
14 at Lexington Town Hall.
Town recorder Veroni-
ca Ferguson and Lexington
Town Councilor Katie Imes
told the council they have
been working with state
agencies to create a TGM
project draft. The project
involves education and out-
reach on downtown safety
and multimodal transpor-
tation. Its purpose is to
help along discussion about
needed safety improve-
ments in downtown Lex-
ington, which includes the
stretch of Hwy. 74 roughly
from A Street to H Street.
“There is some tweak-
ing here, just with some
basic language,” said Imes.
“I know there’s a lot there,
because the state, their
statement of work has to
include so many things.”
Concerns about the
downtown area include
walkability, parking man-
agement and safety. Lex-
ington has few sidewalks,
and those that do exist are
often crumbling and in need
of replacement.
Also, the project recog-
nizes current and planned
development downtown,
such as the newly-opened
Broken Spoke restaurant
and a planned Morrow
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information