SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 31, 2023
CCS staff to publish children’s book
-Continued from PAGE ONE
For Thornton, that
meant a nostalgic ‘90s look.
He said his goal was a style
that was very simple but
that still showed the effort
that went into it. He says
the most difficult part was
trying to capture the image
Faber had in her head.
“Leilani had been
thinking about this for a
really long time and had an
image built up in her head,”
he says. “It was a lot of back
and forth. Eventually we
worked it down to where
we did.”
Faber mentions that
most of the illustrations in
the book only show the little
girl from the back. Her face
is finally shown in the last
picture. That was one place
the two of them struggled.
“I said ‘Think Peanuts.
Think Peppermint Patty.’
He said, ‘Yes, I can do that.’
That’s when it all came to-
gether,” Faber recalls.
Thornton says he likes
the finished product though,
of course, he looks back
and sees how he could have
done better.
“But that’s only be-
cause I now have the expe-
rience of the book behind
me,” he admits. “For a first
attempt, it worked out well.
But I definitely have some
things I could do in the fu-
ture to make it better.”
And Thornton says he
does want to illustrate more
books in the future.
“I had a lot of fun with
it,” he says. “She had a
special connection with the
book for a lot of years, and
to help bring that to life was
an awesome experience.”
“Matthew’s wonder-
ful,” adds Faber. “People
have bought the book ad
brought it in for his auto-
graph, and he turns all red.”
Angel Kisses isn’t the
only book Faber has writ-
American Legion restores memorial
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Row of flags - Photo by Brian Reitmann
One of the inside pages of Angel Kisses. -Contributed photo
The last page of Angel Kisses shows the red-haired, freck-
le-faced girl with angels kissing her cheeks. -Contributed
ten. She says she wrote a
short story for that same
class, which also got pub-
lished. She has also pub-
lished Vision of Hope: Re-
building a Life Destroyed
by Drugs and Alcohol, now
in a second edition. She is
currently working on a cof-
fee table book called Color-
ful Colloquials, which she
hopes to have out this fall.
“I just think it would
be a fun little conversation
piece,” she says.
She is also working on
a screenplay for the autobi-
ographical Vision of Hope,
as well as un unnamed
psychological thriller.
Angel Kisses just came
out in March, and she’s
doing all she can to pro-
mote the book, including
an interview on This Week
in America with Ric Brat-
ton las Thursday. Angel
Kisses is available at major
book retailers, including
Amazon, Barnes & Noble
and even The Next Chapter
Bookstore in Hermiston.
“I’m really hoping An-
gel Kisses takes off,” she
says. “There’ a much wider
audience than my previous
books.
“It’s a children’s book.
It applies to anybody.”
The permanent flag pole at
High View Cemetery - Photo
by Brian Reitmann
cleaning and restoring the
plaque beneath the flagpole.
It took around four hours
to scrub, clean and remove
rust from the plaque. Re-
cently, post members have
also built a new ramp, over-
hang, gutter and steps, and
have put up lights for the
building.
Rietmann served in the
U.S. Army from 1981-1988
and joined the American
Legion a few years after
he left the Army. Every
Memorial Day, Rietmann
and other American Legion
members, along with com-
munity members, raise flags
at multiple cemeteries in
the area, including Morgan,
High View, Petteys, Wells
Spring and Ellis cemeteries.
The Legion was con-
tacted in 2011 by Mrs. Ruby
Ann Rohde, who wanted to
fly her late husband’s casket
flag up at the Ione High
View Cemetery on Memo-
rial Day. The Rohde family
offered a large donation
to jump-start the project.
This year marked the 13 th
consecutive year the large
flags were displayed at the
cemetery on Memorial Day
weekend. The program con-
tinues to honor the Rohde
family legacy as well as the
memory of Bob Baker.
American Legion Hall Post 95 Ione, Oregon - Photo by Chris
Sykes
American Legion and community membembers put up flags
for Memorial Day. - Photo by Brian Reitmann
Restored American Legion Logo - Photo by Brian Reitmann