Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 21, 2023 -- SEVEN
McElligott 50 years coaching
Famous podcaster to speak at
Republican fundraiser
The 2023 Ione tennis team—McElligott’s 44 th tennis team during her 50-year coaching career.
Back L-R: Assistant Coach Susan Kendrick, Corey Rice, Victoria De la Torre, Martin Medina,
Kyle McGill, Liam Heideman, Holly VandenBrink, Kalvin Rietmann, Sophia Qualls, Sunem
Calvillo and Coach Maureen McElligott. Front L-R: Michael McElligott, Lizzy Doherty,
Zamira Dotson, Brionna Serrano, Leelynn Vandever, Jolene Serrano, Kelly Doherty and Gift
Cross. -Contributed photo
-Continued from PAGE ONE Activities Association a year. One year, she recalls, Bryan Dean Wright will
itively at Blue Mountain
Community College, has
coached tennis with McEl-
ligott throughout her 19
years in Ione.
“ S h e ’s s t i l l r e a l l y
good,” says McElligott.
At the same time,
McElligott says, the focus
is on fun, not competition.
“We let the kids put the
pressure on themselves and
stress having fun,” she says.
“If you lose, you lose. As
long as you are progressing
and having fun.”
“It must be working,”
she adds. “They keep com-
ing back.”
Not counted as part
of the fun is the weather,
which is unpredictable at
best during the February
to mid-May tennis sea-
son—and downright awful
at worst.
“You go a long ways to
get miserable sometimes,”
she says.
McElligott recalls
times spent waiting for the
bus in the pouring rain, and
even one spring when she
and Kendrick had to shovel
snow off the tennis court
after a March storm.
“It was so deep, we
couldn’t practice,” she says.
Things have changed
in tennis over the years, es-
pecially as Oregon School
(OSAA) occasionally re-
draws the district lines.
“We used to play teams
just in this area there were
around our own size,” she
says, adding that the 22
schools in Eastern Oregon
used to be divided into four
districts. Those districts
kept expanding. This year,
the tennis district included
all of Eastern Oregon.
The expanded districts
and the focus on fun hav-
en’t hurt the team’s record,
though. McElligott says
most players begin as fresh-
man and develop as players
over the years.
“Some of these kids
really progress nicely,” she
adds.
In all her years of
coaching tennis, McElli-
gott says she’s taken teams
to the state competition 34
times, with two individuals
placing fifth at the state
level.
The year of the first
district expansion, the boys’
team won first place in the
league.
“We’ve always ended
up pretty high, second or
third in districts,” she says.
She says the Ione ten-
nis team, which is usually
formed cooperatively with
Arlington and Heppner,
averages about 15 students
Heppner sent several ex-
change students to be part
of the team, which bumped
the number to 28.
“That was fun, too,”
she says.
This year’s Cardinal
team of 17 included 15
Ione students and two ho-
meschoolers. The girls
took second as a team in
the district competition,
along with other individual
achievements for both girls
and boys.
There have been years
along the way when McEl-
ligott has considered quit-
ting for good, but it hasn’t
happened yet. She says she
plans to continue coaching
through next year, at least.
“It’s been fun, for years,
or I would have dropped
it,” she says. “I can’t stay
on forever, but I can still
move.”
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541-676-9228
speak at the Republican
fundraiser Thursday in
Heppner. -Contributed photo
Heppner native Bryan
Dean Wright will be return-
ing to his roots this week
when he comes home to
speak at the Morrow Coun-
ty Republican fundraiser at
the Gilliam & Bisbee Event
Center Thursday.
Wright was raised in
the Heppner area and then
went on to serve abroad in
the CIA for several years.
He says he was originally a
Democrat but watched with
alarm as he saw his lifelong
party embrace what he
terms “un-American” and
“destructive” forces. He’s
now a staunch Republican,
helping to give life to the
America First movement
within the party.
Aside from having two
successful podcasts of his
own—first the President’s
Daily Brief and now The
Wright Report—he has also
written about his political
journey for multiple press
outlets. He has written ex-
tensively about national se-
curity issues and the econo-
my, specifically technology
and illegal immigration.
His work has appeared in
outlets ranging from the
Fox News website to the
LA Times. He has also ap-
peared on TV programs like
Tucker Carlson Tonight.
He now makes his
home in Arizona.
The Republican dinner
and auction is this Thurs-
day, June 22. Doors open at
5 p.m. with dinner at 5:30.
Wright will speak at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $25. Contact
mocoreps@gmail.com for
more information.
Heppner burn ban begins June 26
Heppner Fire Chief
Steve Rhea has advised a
burn ban will go into effect
Monday, June 26, for all
burning within the Heppner
city limits of. This ban in-
cludes all burn barrels. The
burn ban is in effect until
further notice.
City of Heppner resi-
dents can still request that
the fire department burn
natural vegetation and de-
bris piles, however. A sig-
nup sheet for fire depart-
ment assistance is available
at Heppner City Hall, or
residents can call Rhea at
541-980-4232 or Heppner
Assistant Fire Chief Eric
Chick at 541-701-4910.
Rhea would also like
to remind residents that
it is illegal to burn any
petroleum-based products
such as plastics, rubbers,
Styrofoam, etc.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Nursery Sale
50% off all Annuals
20% off all Perennials,
Trees & Shrubs
Sale through July 1st, 2023
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
Heppner - 242 W Linden Way - 541-676-9422