Heppner women take
second at state meet
Nichols, Hisler take state
championships
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 22 10 Pages
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Ione American Legion restores memorial plaque
Restored WWII memorial plaque. - Photo by Brian Reitmann
By Chris Sykes
The names on the
plaque are local service
members killed in action
during WWII:
Tench B. Aldric was
born in 1924. He was a
Private First Class with the
138 th Glider Infantry, 11 th
Airborne Division. A U.S.
Army paratrooper, he was
killed in action by enemy
gunfire on the island of
Luzon in the Philippines on
February 10, 1945. He was
awarded the Purple Heart
Medal. He was 21 years old.
Herbert R. Davidson
was born in 1918. He was
an Army staff sergeant. He
was killed in action in 1943;
while flying on a mission
over Blachhamer, Germa-
ny, the bomber next to his
was hit and exploded. That
explosion tore the wing off
the bomber he was in. He
was 25 years old.
Alfred C. Emert was
born in 1919. A first lieu-
tenant, he was a bombardier
on a B-24. He was killed
in action when his bomber
was shot down by a German
fighter plane over France
on July 4, 1944. He was 25
years old.
Clarence T. Harris was
born in 1919. He was killed
in action on Okinawa in the
spring of 1945. He was 26
years old.
Bobbie E. Morgan was
born in 1918. A techni-
cal sergeant with the 46 th
squadron, 34 th Air Survey
Group, he was killed in
action in Palermo, Sicily on
August 17, 1943. He was 24
years old.
Paul V. Reitmann was
born in 1923 and enlisted
as a private in the Army Au-
gust 20, 1943. He was killed
in action on “D” day at the
landing on Normandy in
1944. He was 20 years old.
The Heppner girls track team taking a selfie while celbrating
their 2nd place win at state. ~ Contributed photo
The Heppner women
traveled to the OSAA 2A
Track and Field Champi-
onships at Hayward Field in
Eugene last week and came
home with a second-place
trophy to prove they made
their mark at the state level.
The women were second
Brian Reitmann standing out of 27 2A teams, only
along side the restored WWII
three team points behind
- Photo by Chris Sykes
first-place Bandon.
The American Legion
While not fielding as
Post 95 in Ione has restored
a flagpole and memori-
al plaque to honor fallen
World War II veterans.
Joe Milder first ap-
proached post command-
er Brian Reitmann about
large a team, the Heppner
men still placed eighth in a
field of 33 2A teams.
Individually, two Hep-
pner athletes took state
championships.
Senior Trevor Nichols
placed first in the 3000-me-
ter with a 9:03.58a personal
record—11 seconds faster
than his previous PR. Nich-
ols also placed second in the
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
Commissioners approve
grant for fiber, power at
Lexington Airport
-Continued to PAGE SIX
CCS writer, artist pair up to publish
children’s book
Angel Kisses illustrator Mat-
thew Thornton (left) and
Leilani Faber (right) display
a photo of the children’s book,
which came out in March.
-Contributed photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
Tw o C o m m u n i t y
Counseling Solutions staff
are branching out and shar-
ing their talents with a
larger audience through
a children’s book, Angel
Kisses.
Angel Kisses is a 20-
page children’s illustrated
poetry book about angels
interacting with humans
even though we may not
see them or feel them. Au-
thor Leilani Faber and il-
lustrator Matthew Thornton
both work at CCS in dif-
ferent capacities, which is
what brought them together
to collaborate on the book.
Faber, 60, was born
in Las Vegas and raised
all over Nevada and Cal-
ifornia. Her family ended
up in Cassville MO when
she was 15. She spent 40
years there before making
her way to southeast Wash-
ington.
Along the way, she
earned bachelor’s degrees
in professional writing and
psychology, as well as a
master’s in criminal psy-
chology. She has worked
for CCS in counseling and
therapy for 11 years. She
currently works as clinical
supervisor over Assertive
Community Treatment
(ACT) in Umatilla County.
ACT works with adult cli-
ents who have serious and
persistent mental illness,
like schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder or Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
“Our whole goal is to
keep them in their home, in
their community, with the
lowest treatment possible,”
she explains. “It’s a whole
team of people. I love ACT
and I love that team.”
While her life has taken
a lot of different directions,
Angel Kisses was born early
on. Faber wrote it for a class
assignment in 1982, while
she was working toward
her bachelor’s degree in
professional writing. The
class was taught by Sandy
Asher, who is a children’s
author herself.
Faber says she remem-
bers that writing the book
came easily. The main
character is a red-haired,
freckle-faced girl. The book
takes her through difficul-
ties, and how angels inter-
ceded in the situations and
how they help her through.
Part of Faber’s inspiration
came from seeing the way
certain freckle-faced red-
heads got bullied more than
other children.
“Red haired children,
freckle faced children,
get bullied so much,” said
Faber. “In a way its cele-
brating (them) and trying to
do away with that negative
connotation.”
The theme of the book
is a reference to the idea that
freckles are Angel Kisses.
“I don’t know why I
used that, but kids seem to
like it,” she says.
After that class, she
tucked the manuscript
away, and it was several
decades until it saw the light
of day again.
“It was just a typed
manuscript that followed
me around in several
moves,” she says.
The cover of Angel Kisses. -Contributed
In fact, it followed her
around for about four de-
cades. She says she forgot
all about the manuscript
until her sister rediscovered
it in 2018.
“She called and read it
to me, and I started crying,”
says Faber. “I had forgotten
all about it. It was like find-
ing lost gems that you didn’t
even know you had lost.”
She decided to try to
publish it. The problem
was, she had a manuscript
but no illustrations.
“I could not get anyone
to help me with illustrating
until I noticed that Matthew
Thornton was always doing
creative things,” she says.
“I asked him if he would be
interested, and he said yes.”
Thornton, 27, was born
and raised in Hermiston,
graduating from Hermiston
High School. He said he
worked mostly in manu-
al labor, everything from
working for Ace Hardware
to lumber, before finding a
home at Community Coun-
seling Solutions.
“When I found this
job, I think I found my
niche,” he says. He current-
ly works as a receptionist
at the Hermiston Mental
Health Office but says he
just got the call that he’s
been approved to move up
to Peer Support Specialist.
“It’s one of the things
that always came naturally
to me,” Thornton says of his
artistic skills. “I was the kid
who was always drawing on
papers all through school.
People would come to me
and ask me to draw them
stuff. That’s kind of what
Leilani did.”
“I felt really honored,”
he adds. “To be a published
illustrator is very cool in
my opinion. I jumped at
the opportunity when she
offered it to me.”
Faber says Thornton
was willing to work free of
charge, but she wouldn’t
let him.
“He didn’t realize how
difficult it was going to be,”
she says. “He re-did and
changed things for me mul-
tiple times until we worked
something out.”
For Thornton, working
on the book was a first for
him. He knew he had to de-
part from his usual style to
illustrate a children’s book.
“I definitely worked
outside my comfort zone
for it. I did a lot to look
into other children’s illus-
trators,” he says. “I wanted
it to capture an image that I
had in my head from chil-
dren’s books when I was
growing up that were very
colorful and playful and
caught your attention.”
The Lexington airport will get an upgrade in power and
fiber lines thanks to a new grant program from the state.
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Airport at Lexington could
be getting a little higher
tech this year due to an
Emerging Opportunity Pro-
gram grant from the state.
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
sealed the deal when it
approved a grant agree-
ment with Oregon Business
Development Department
on May 17. The $296,000
grant will be used to install
fiber and power infrastruc-
ture to enable investment
and growth at the county
airport.
“It’s a brand-new grant
for economic development
and starting new projects in
commerce,” Sandi Pointer,
Morrow County Public
-Continued to PAGE SIX Works Management Assis-
tant, told the commissioners
at the meeting.
Specifically, phases one
and two will extend three-
phase power near the ex-
isting electrical building to
future hangar units and then
to the infield area for future
agricultural buildings, as
well as installing a water
line for future hangars.
Phase one is estimated at
$103,000, while phase two
will cost around $77,000.
“If we want to have any
kind of growth or any kind
of new hangars built or en-
tertain the UAS activity to
come in, they like to have
fiber, and this might make
it a little more appealing,”
Pointer said. “I feel this is
a good project and I feel we
can get it done in the time
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information