Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 22, 2023 -- SEVEN
Peterson’s legacy is preserved
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Randall talking with
museum guests. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
in the museum is document-
ed, measured, weighed and
logged in a computer. She
credited Clark with most of
that, as well as the exhibit
designs. “Cherrie really has
an eye for it.”
Other exhibits include
everything from a bunk-
house to the back room at
the Frog Pond Saloon to a
Gilliam & Bisbee display.
Clark said Les Paus-
tian made the Gilliam and
Bisbee sign, and he and
wife Jan helped arranged
that exhibit. At the Balsiger
family parlor display, Fish-
burn pointed out a vintage
dress and spinning wheel
donated by her family.
The exhibit honoring
the Morrow County Fair
and Rodeo Court recently
got an update, as well, and
Clark said Hal and Rita
Bergstrom helped with that,
taking the time to rearrange
all the family brands.
Clark mourns that the
museum is, for many, an
undiscovered gem.
“It’s amazing when you
ask people who have lived
here their whole lives who
have never been here,” she
said. “It’s sad.”
Despite space con-
straints, F.A.R.M. Foun-
dation members decided a
display to honor Peterson’s
Jewelers was worth the
room.
“One family having run
the same business for al-
most 94 years,” said Clark.
“It’s kind of unheard of in
this day and age.”
Clark started by taping
out the floor of the area to
get an idea of where things
would go. Peterson’s step-
son, Hal Bergstrom, made
shelves for the exhibit.
Once the museum received
the display cases and work
counter from the jewelry
store, Clark said there was a
lot of “pushing and shoving
and getting things to fit.”
“We’ve spent many,
many, many hours down
here putting things togeth-
er,” added Fishburn.
The museum volun-
teers put thought into every
inch of the display. The
display cases and work
desk are from the jewelry
store and hold the Peterson
family’s watch and jewel-
ry tools—those they have
room for.
One of the cases is the
one in which Peterson dis-
played piggy banks and
children’s jewelry, and
many of the items in the
display are from the store.
The other display case used
to hold wedding rings and
other bridal paraphernalia.
Now, it shows off part of
the extensive collection of
tools the family used over
the years.
Trying to get every de-
tail right, they even tried to
find the wrapped cinnamon
bears Peterson always had
in a bowl on his counter.
However, the closest they
could come is wrapped cin-
namon candies. Those sit
near the last printing of the
annual Peterson’s Jewelers
calendar. Just as they were
in his store, those calendars
are free for the taking until
they’re gone.
At the grand opening,
Randall Peterson pored
Randall Peterson pores over
the display of tools from his
family’s jewelry store. -Photo
by Andrea Di Salvo
Randall Peterson and former
Peterson employee Gail
Arbogast of Heppner discuss
the exhibit at the open house
last week. -Photo by Andrea
Di Salvo
A display in the Randall
Peterson exhibit.
Eric Imes shows Peterson a Peterson’s Jewelers matchbook
he found in the wall of his house.
-Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
over the display case and
greeted old friends who
stopped to chat, to ask about
the tools or to reminisce
over old times.
The morning included
several warm greetings,
as well as a few surprises.
Lexington man Eric Imes
stopped by to show Peter-
son a Peterson’s Jewelers
matchbook he had found in
the wall of his house while
remodeling.
Another surprise visitor
was Gayle Arbogast, who
worked for Randall Peter-
son for many years.
“I miss the interaction
with people in Randall’s
store,” said Arbogast.
She said the years she
worked there were full
of stories, not only from
people who went in to buy
jewelry, but also from peo-
ple who simply stopped by
to talk to Peterson. After
posing for a picture with her
former employer, she not-
ed that, even then, he was
dressed for the occasion.
“He never came to
work without a suit and
tie,” said Arbogast. “I’m
glad he had that work ethic
that he had.”
As for the man him-
self, Peterson seemed well
pleased with the exhib-
it, which even includes a
mannequin of him sitting
at the work desk. He said
his favorite part is the mi-
croscope.
“Great. Great,” said
Peterson of the display. “I
couldn’t improve on it. I
had no idea how they were
going to arrange every-
thing.”
“It’s fun to walk by and
look at those tools again.”
Lexington city council meeting
-Continued from PAGE ONE for disasters ranging from community, as well as pa-
County Public Transit/The
Loop fixed route bus stop.
The Holly Rebekah
Lodge on Main and C Street
is also hoping to pursue
cleanup and development
of its building; a Holly
Rebekah member told the
Gazette-Times they would
like to write a grant to make
the front of that building a
usable storefront space.
All of those develop-
ments are good, but they
are also leading the town
council to consider other
concerns, such as the need
for more and safer parking,
and the safety of pedestri-
ans and transit riders.
The town had applied
for a TGM grant in 2022
but, although the project
was well received, the town
did not receive a grant.
Lexington councilors are
hopeful that creating com-
munity engagement now
will put the town in a better
position for the next round
of funding.
Imes, the project man-
ager for the TGM project,
has been working closely
with individuals from the
Oregon Dept. of Land Con-
servation and Development
(DLCD) and Oregon Dept.
of Transportation (ODOT)
to develop the project draft.
Once the project team and
the state have finalized it,
the council will need to
approve it to move forward
with the project.
“Really, they’re going
to be doing the heavy lift-
ing,” said Imes of the state.
Ferguson will assist with
public notices and getting
information out, and the
town’s job is to facilitate
the discussion.
Ferguson also ques-
tioned how to let ODOT
know about the proposed
work to head off potential
conflicts. ODOT is current-
ly installing and replacing
ADA ramps throughout the
state, including in Lexing-
ton, and there is concern
about the ADA ramps go-
ing in prematurely and not
fitting in with the town’s
current plans.
The council also heard
from Ferguson regarding
findings from a Feb. 21
NHMP meeting hosted
in Lexington. The natural
hazard mitigation plan is
for all of South Morrow
County, so stakeholders
from the county and cities
are involved, as well as
other agencies. Ferguson
reported that the last meet-
ing concerned the natural
hazard analysis data col-
lected from the state.
At the meeting, the
participants looked at data
freezing fog to volcanic
eruptions. New to the list
this year was dam safety.
Each of the events was
scored and given a low, me-
dium or high threat level.
They will later be ranked.
In the 2016 NHMP,
drought ranked first as a
concern for Morrow Coun-
ty, followed by winter
storms and windstorms.
Flood and wildfire followed
respectively.
While this year’s list
hasn’t been ranked, wild-
fire, air quality (includ-
ing inversion and wildfire
smoke), and extreme tem-
peratures all received high
marks as concerns. Since
dam safety was new to the
list, there was not enough
data to score it.
Ferguson mentioned
that she appreciated the
involvement of Heppner
Fire Chief Steve Rhea at
the meeting, because he
brought a lot of information
with him.
“He brought binders of
documents and just years
of history of all of the ac-
tual events and recordings
and calls of things that
have happened in South
County, pretty much,” said
Ferguson. “And it was a
specific meeting for South
County, so it was great. It
was perfect timing for him
to join in and have all that
information.”
In other business, the
town council passed a res-
olution changing the timing
of the late fee on water
payments. In the past, a
late few of $25 has been
charged on all accounts one
day overdue. The new reso-
lution states hat the $25 late
fee will be charged once an
account is 30 days overdue.
The council also autho-
rized Lexington Assistant
Fire Chief to hold and sign
for a second fire department
credit card. Lexington Fire
Chief Charlie Sumner holds
the other credit card.
Lexington Mayor Juli
Kennedy reported that plans
for the May Day celebration
are “moving right along.”
Ferguson also men-
tioned that she would like to
take some May Day flyers
with her to an Eastern Or-
egon Stakeholder Meeting
March 21 in Condon. The
meeting included Travel
Oregon CEO Todd Da-
vidson and Lawrence PR,
Travel Oregon’s marketing
firm.
“I thought it would be a
great time to have May Day
flyers,” said Ferguson.
The council also dis-
cussed the need to distribute
more flyers throughout the
rade forms.
Lexington Mainte-
nance Director Keith Hess
told the council he got both
the Little Free Library and
the bike rack installed by
the park area behind town
hall. The library box al-
ready has some books in
it. He also said he was able
to locate the water valve at
the end of C St. and needs
to dig down and see if it has
asbestos.
In her town recorder
report, Ferguson said one
of Gov. Kotek’s priorities
is childcare, and Morrow
County Commission Chair
David Sykes and State Rep.
Greg Smith would like to
receive the community’s
childcare concerns. Fer-
guson said she replied to
Morrow County Planner
Tamra Mabbott’s email
request for addressing day
care priorities since she has
current experiences dealing
with that issue.
“I just basically high-
lighted the Fridays,” said
Ferguson. “When I first
started working here, the
day care wasn’t available
and open for all of Friday,
and they don’t even offer
Fridays. I’m sure that’s
affecting a lot of people in
this community.”
She also said she ob-
tained information about
Lexington Cemetery from
Myrna Sieler because she
had a few requests for cem-
etery information. Sieler
also told her they are work-
ing on an updated map to
indicate where people are
buried, but it has been a
difficult task due to lack of
proper recordkeeping in the
past. Ferguson asked for a
copy of the map when it is
completed because she has
had people visit town hall
asking for one.
Ferguson reported that
she had not seen the semi-
truck parked on Main Street
since she received a com-
plaint, so had not been
able to issue a letter to the
owner, but if she spotted
the truck creating a safety
hazard, she would imme-
diately issue the letter. The
issue was also raised of
the camper trailer that is
sometimes parked in front
of the old store on Main St.
and obstructs the view on
that corner.
Finally, Ferguson also
said she had attended Bingo
at Holly Rebekah Lodge.
She reported a good turn-
out, and told the council
that the proceeds from the
monthly event would go
toward rejuvenating the
lodge.
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