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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2023)
TEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 3, 2023 May Day Grand Marshal -Continued from PAGE ONE throughout Lexington and he continued to work for Heppner. Baker says the businesses would give a little money to the Legion, and Legion members would put up the flag poles, as well as put up and take down the flags for all the American holidays. It was a job he often letters, “right up behind there, we had six big guns.” In March of 1954, he married Shirley Baker, who would be his wife for 21 years. He received his Army discharge in De- cember of that year, and the couple moved back to Ed Baker posing with one of his cows. -Contributed photo the Heppner area in 1955. Baker went to work for Jim Webb, and the couple set- tled down on Webb’s ranch on Rhea Creek. It was there that their two children were born, Patrick in 1957 and Maggie in 1959. He became a member of the Elks BPOE #358 right after moving back to Heppner. It was also during the 1950s that Baker joined the American Legion. His 60-odd years in the Legion would eventually include 40 years as the commander of the Heppner American Legion Post 87, right up to the time the Heppner Post closed and merged with Ione Legion Post 95. One of his loves was putting up flags on national holidays. The American Legion members would place flags at the cemeter- ies, as well as at businesses did by himself, and grand- son Heith Baker recalls his dedication in putting up the flags every morning and taking them down ev- ery evening, even leaving during Thanksgiving dinner once to make sure the flags weren’t left out unlighted in the dark. In 1960, the Baker fam- ily moved into Lexington, living in a small home be- hind the Lexington School. Baker went to work for the county part time, helping to build roads, including one to the then-new Heppner High School. In 1964, he went to work for Lexington Oil Company, driving petro- leum trucks four days a week and fixing tires Fri- days and Saturdays. In 1969, Lexington Oil Com- pany merged with Morrow County Grain Growers, and MCGG. He put work into the “new” MCGG building. “Then I’d get back in my truck and haul a bunch of gas and diesel,” he says. Despite his busy work schedule, Baker also had an active volunteer life. Aside from the Elks and the American Legion, he volunteered with the Lex- ington Fire Department for several years, becoming fire chief in 1963. He even flew with another firefighter to St. Louis to drive two brand new fire trucks back for the Lexington station. He was an Emergency Medical Technician from 1972 to 1985, and a Lex- ington Fire Department member of the Search and Rescue team. A knee re- placement finally forced him to leave behind those activities. He was also the mayor of Lexington in the late ‘70s. In 1984, he married widow Grace Steers, a mar- riage that lasted until her death in 2020. He spent 26 years at MCGG, retiring in 1992— or so he says. He may have stopped working for the Grain Growers, but he sure didn’t stop working. In- stead, he went to work for Mid Columbia Bus Com- pany as a driver, mechanic, trainer and manager. He ended up running Mid Co- lumbia’s Boardman office for six years, coordinating 11 routes, before leaving in 2001. His next adventure was working for the senior cen- ter’s transport, which is now The Loop. He and two volunteers did the driving, and he also helped build The Loop’s bus barn in Heppner. Because he had been trained to drive a mo- Baker has spent a lot of his life on the road, even driving wheat semis until a few years ago. -Contributed photo tor coach while at Mid Columbia, he also drove charter trips all over Ore- gon and Washington on the weekends. Even after leaving public transport, he hardly slowed down. Baker con- tinued to drive semis full of wheat until four or five years ago. He became a member, and then an offi- cer, of a motorcycle club in Hermiston in 1972. His adventures on his motor- cycle included hitting a deer with his motorcycle in downtown Condon. He also remains active in the Elks, the American Legion. “He has carried our flag proudly for many years, and we thank him for that and his service to our country,” says Kennedy. “Thank you, Ed Baker for all that you have done and continue to do. We are blessed to be able to call you our 2023 Flags and Flowers May Day Celebration Grand Marshal.” You can greet Baker at the Lexington May Day Celebration this Saturday, and give him a friendly wave during the May Day Parade, beginning at 11 a.m. Health district raises CEO spending authorization -Continued from PAGE ONE time, she said, the timeline outlay, especially since the medication software to help henhouse? Not that Emily would do it, but we didn’t … the board didn’t do it in the past.” The board voted unan- imously to pass the resolu- tion as written. The board also heard an update from Roberts regarding a planned ambu- lance hall in Irrigon. The district had previously been looking at a piece of proper- ty in Irrigon that it thought it could secure to build a new ambulance hall. The health district has around $340,000 already set aside for the new hall. However, Irrigon Fire Department is also interested in a new building. “We thought it would be better if we could col- laborate with them, and so we’re looking at the exist- ing property that Irrigon fire district already owns, because they have quite a big lot that goes behind their existing building,” said Roberts. She said they are in preliminary discussions with Irrigon fire regarding what it could look like for MCHD and IFD to have a joint facility. She said Irri- gon city planning seemed supportive and did not see any roadblocks. At the same will probably be a few years out due to planning and construction. “So it’s not going to be as quick as I know we had all hoped for a new ambu- lance hall, but I do think it’s really important that we stay co-located with Irrigon fire,” Roberts said, “be- cause we have a very good relationship with them and it really helps our crews to work better together when they are co-located.” Also on the subject of Irrigon, the board approved the purchase of a Turn Key Canon Aplio A550 refur- bished ultrasound unit for Irrigon Medical Clinic. The unit had the lowest up-front cost of all bids at $48,750, though the annual service contract was slightly higher at $8,400. The MCHD board also awarded a contract to replace flooring at Pio- neer Memorial Hospital to Floor & Home Tri Cities. The company bid $21,400 to replace the carpet and $35,500 for vinyl floor- ing for a total contract of $56,900. Mahoney said the floor- ing was more than they originally budgeted for last spring, but she felt there was room to work within the budget with capital flooring is a high priority. “The flooring has got some infection control is- sues where it’s cracking, and it really does need replaced,” said Mahoney. “I think it’s better al- ways to get closer to home when you’re doing things like that in case you need repairs or something isn’t going right,” added board vice chair Diane Kilkenny. The board approved an AED (automated external defibrillator) request from the Town of Lexington. The town had requested two AED units, one to be kept in a fire engine and one for the outside of town hall, but Roberts suggested they provide a third for the Lexington gas station. “I’m thinking that’s someone who’s not familiar with the area is most likely to go there if they’re hav- ing a medical emergency,” Roberts said. Palmquist moved to approve all three AEDs with the stipulation that the one for the gas station be in a box. The total cost for the three AEDs will be around $4,500. The board also ap- proved a request from Wil- low Creek Terrace assisted living facility for $1,925 to purchase an electronic Mother’s Day Specials May 5 - 13 20% off Montana Silversmith Jewelry 10% off All Hanging Baskets & Planters 10% off Weeks Roses Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed Heppner - 242 W Linden Way - 541-676-9422 reduce medication errors and improve tracking of medication inventory. “I think that this would be a really good use of our community benefit dollars,” said Roberts. During her report, Roberts reported that the districts turnover rate was at five percent for April, which is better than the average across the industry. The vacancy rate is seven percent, or 12 positions, with two of those newly created positions. Roberts pointed out the days cash on hand is improving, and the days in AR is 56 compared to the district’s goal of 60. “Our staff have worked really, really hard the last couple of months to get that number where it is,” said Roberts. “We’re very proud of them.” ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: Junta de Comisionados del Condado de Morrow Aviso de Audiencias Públicas Para actualizar el plan del área de servicio de ambulancia del condado La Junta de Comisionados del Condado de Morrow llevará a cabo una serie de Audien- cias Públicas para consultar y buscar el con- sejo de cada persona, ciudad o distrito rural de protección contra incendios dentro del condado que brinda o desea brindar servicios de ambulancia y han notificado al condado su deseo de ser consultado antes de la adopción de la actualización del Plan del Área de Ser- vicio de Ambulancia y los límites de las áreas de servicio de ambulancia que se establecerán en virtud del plan. Además, el Condado es- cuchará testimonios de ciudadanos públicos interesados. Se aceptarán comentarios orales y escri- tos. Los comentarios escritos deben recibirse antes del miércoles, 10 de mayo del 2023 y pueden enviarse los por correo electrónico a rvanderwall@co.morrow.or.us o por correo postal a Morrow County, P.O. Box 788, Hep- pner, OR 97836. La Junta considerará los comentarios reci- bidos para redactar y adoptar un nuevo Plan del Área de Servicio de Ambulancia y la des- ignación de los límites de cualquier área de servicio de ambulancia en una reunión futura. El condado actualmente opera bajo el Plan de Área de Servicio de Ambulancia de 1998 y la Ordenanza MC-C-4-98. Los detalles de la audiencia pública son los siguientes: 1. 3:00 p.m., miércoles, 3 de mayo - Sala de conferencias superior del edificio Bar- tholomew, 110 N. Court St., Heppner 2. 6:00 p.m., miércoles, 3 de mayo - Sala de conferencias superior del edificio Bar- tholomew, 110 N. Court St., Heppner 3. 3:00 p.m., miércoles, 10 de mayo - Habitación frente al río, Port of Morrow Riverfront Center, 2 East Marine Drive, Boardman 4. 6:00 p.m.. miércoles, 10 de mayo - Sala de justicia, Morrow County Government Center, 215 N.E. Main Avenue, Irrigon Los comentarios orales de una persona, ci- udad o distrito rural de protección contra incendios dentro del Condado que brinda o desea brindar servicios de ambulancia se limitarán a 10 minutos, y los comentarios del público se limitarán a tres minutos. Consultas directas: Roberta Vanderwall, Administrador interino rvanderwall@co.morrow.or.us 541-676-5613 Cinco de Mayo May 5 at 6:00 pm Taco Bar Dinner with all the fixings! HEPPNER ELKS 358 "WHERE FRIENDS MEET" MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. 541-676-9181 142 N MAIN ST ELECT DAVID J. BOOR PORT COMMISSION Pos. 5 “Together we can move this county forward”
