50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 30 10 Pages
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Young entrepreneurs bank on pigeons’
ability to come home
‘Pigeons Come Home’ will offer bird flights for special events
Mack and Keller Sweeney showing off their racing pigeon.
- Photo by Cam Sweeney
By Chris Sykes
Heppner brothers Mack
and Keller Sweeney have
embarked on an exciting
venture with some new-
found feathered friends—
racing pigeons.
Mack, nine, and Keller,
10, recently acquired some
homing pigeons from a
family friend. As their fasci-
nation with the pigeons has
grown, they have decided to
take it beyond a hobby and
turn the birds into a family
business.
“My uncle was telling
us about how popular hom-
ing pigeons are down south,
then a family friend gave us
some pigeons for fun,” said
Keller.
They have a couple of
different varieties, includ-
ing racing homers and king
pigeons. They have 13 pi-
geons but have only named
seven—creative names of
their favorites include Oreo,
Yankee, Shlike, Reo, Yeller,
Spots and Spots Jr.
Mack and Keller keep
their pigeons in a four-foot
by 10-foot pen. They say
the birds sometimes like to
stand on one leg. They’re
not cuddly pets; Mack says
they don’t really like to be
petted.
The boys feed the birds
hardened corn with some
grit for digestion.
The boys’ pigeons are
three to four months old
right now, but racing pi-
geons have an average lifes-
pan of nine to 15 years, with
some living more than 20
years. In comparison, most
feral pigeons live only three
to five years.
Mack says it takes two
months to train the birds.
“They spend the first 3
weeks in the cage at home
to get oriented, then we
move the cage farther and
farther away,” adds Keller.
The first time they let
them out of their pen, Mack
and Keller say they were
a little nervous that the
pigeons wouldn’t come
back, but the birds did three
circles and came right back.
Training is done by
getting them acquainted
with their home base, then
moving farther away and
getting their internal com-
pass,” says Mack. “It’s like
having your own air show.”
The farthest Mack and
Keller have taken their birds
is 12 miles away, and they
did come back. Mack and
Keller say their father, Cam
Sweeney, let the birds out
in Heppner and they raced
them back to their home
on Upper Rhea Creek. The
pigeons beat them home.
The top speed of a rac-
ing pigeon is over 60 miles
an hour, but that will de-
pend on the bird’s base line
speed and wind direction.
Homing pigeons have been
released more than 1,000
miles away and have found
their way home.
Because of this skill,
Keller Sweeney realeasing his homing pigeons for a test
flight. - Photo by Angie Hanson
letting them fly home. First,
the trainer takes them one
mile away. After waiting a
week, they go two miles,
then five miles, and so on.
“They come right out,
do five or 10 loops in the air
Class of 1970. Front L-R: Cindy Harsin Heesackee, Rob Abrams, Gary Munkers, Molly Becket
Rill, Judy Gentry Towner, Kathy Melby Timms, Sandy Matthews Greiner and Bill Greenup.
Middle row L-R: Hal Bergstrom, Pat Kilkenny and Lee Huson. Back L-R: John McCabe, Pat
Sweeney, Trisha Keithley Sweeney, Linda Echman Hays and Bill Schlichting. -Contributed photo
1973), worked tirelessly to
make this reunion a reality.
The reunion kicked
off Friday, July 14, with a
meet and greet at the Elks.
The following day, the ex-
citement continued with a
morning of golf. The main
event took place at the Elks
on Saturday evening, fea-
turing a program, dinner
and dancing.
One of the highlights of
the evening was provided
by Tami Meador Sneddon.
She shared a home mov-
ie filmed by her mother,
Inez Meador, who was a
seventh- and eighth-grade
science teacher. The film
showcased the youthful
faces of the class of 1973
conducting an egg drop in
Meador’s class. Sneddon
By Andrea Di Salvo
The stress of an eth-
ics probe is over for three
Morrow County public fig-
ures recently investigated
for alleged violations. The
Oregon Government Ethics
Commission (OGEC) voted
July 14 to dismiss allega-
tions against Windwave
co-owner Gary Neal and
Morrow County Commis-
sioner Jeff Wenholz and
came to an impasse regard-
ing Boardman Fire Chief
Michael Hughes.
Gary Neal
Gary Neal, formerly of
Boardman, was the Port of
Morrow general manager
from 1989 until December
of 2018. He also served on
the Columbia River Enter-
prise Zone (CREZ) board.
The alleged ethics violation
came from his additional
role as one of the owners of
Windwave Technologies, a
fiber-optic service provider
in Morrow County.
A complaint lodged
with the ethics commission
Sept. 13 of last year alleged
that Neal may have violated
Oregon Government Ethics
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Irrigon takes tentative
step toward land sale
to irrigation district
A West Extension Irrigation District Canal in North Morrow
County. -Contributed photo
humans have used pigeons
for communication from the
time of the ancient Romans
all the way up to World War
II. Until the introduction of
telephones, homing pigeons
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
HHS alumni attend multi-year reunion
Last week, 88 Heppner
High School alumni from
the classes of 1970-1973
attended a reunion that had
been several years in the
making.
The idea for the reunion
began in 2021, as HHS
alumni considered having
one large 50-plus class re-
union. Plans were derailed
due to Covid-19, however,
and planning for the re-
union didn’t get underway
until the fall of 2022.
The planning commit-
tee, consisting of Molly Rill
(class of 1970), Ron Sher-
man and David Gunder-
son (class of 1971), Patty
Matheny and Gary Watkins
(class of 1972), and Tricia
Gunderson, Barb Watkins
and Kelly Hale (class of
Ethics cases
dropped against
some Morrow
County officials
also brought along a book
of poems written for her
mother by students during
that era, encouraging ev-
eryone to find their own and
take it home as a memento.
The reunion was made
even more special by the
presence of honored guests,
including teachers Dale
Conklin and wife Linda,
Dean Naffziger and wife
Teresa, and Steve Brown-
field and wife Luanne.
Their attendance added a
touch of nostalgia and grat-
itude for the educators who
had played a significant role
in shaping the lives of the
alumni.
The evening was filled
with laughter and heartfelt
speeches, with Gary Wat-
kins serving as the master
of ceremonies. Pat Sweeney
delivered a humorous and
entertaining speech about
growing up in the 60s and
70s—“with humor that only
a Sweeney can provide.”
The decorations were
beautiful, thanks to the
efforts of Whitney Hague-
wood and her team. Hague-
wood also prepared a
well-received dessert for
the evening.
The main course, con-
sisting of tri-tip and chick-
en, was expertly cooked
by Mark Huddleston and
Jay Coil, while the rest of
the meal was meticulously
prepared by Kim Cutsforth
and her dedicated crew,
including Missy Lindsay,
Shelley Rietmann and San-
dy Matthews.
The warm welcome
was extended by Sandy
Matthews and Judy Barber,
By Andrea Di Salvo
The West Extension
Irrigation District (WEID)
may purchase land owned
by the City of Irrigon for a
new antenna tower, as long
as some land-use hurdles
are overcome.
At its July 18 meeting,
the Irrigon City Council
directed city staff to contin-
ue discussions with WEID
regarding the possible pur-
chase of city-owned land
behind the WEID office. Ir-
rigon City Manager Aaron
Palmquist told the council
that the parcel was pur-
chased for $10,450 several
years ago to obtain sewer
easements. There is a sewer
main that runs along the
southern portion of the lot,
but the land is otherwise un-
developable as a single lot.
However, WEID needs
more land to build a 55-
foot antenna to connect all
the wireless systems that
control gates and other
automated canal functions.
The land would also contain
a 30- by 15-foot secure
storage facility.
A letter from the irriga-
tion district said the tower,
which would probably be
placed in the middle of
the city’s current parcel, is
“critical” for operations.
“We have automated
gates that run all along
the canal,” WEID District
Manager Bev Bridgewater
told the council.
When asked if the tow-
er would interfere with
residents’ cell phones or
internet, Palmquist replied
that it would not. The tow-
er’s signal would be low
voltage and would have its
own frequency.
Palmquist was not, he
said, asking for a final de-
cision on whether to sell
the land to the irrigation
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Ione cameras scheduled
for installation
The City of Ione has
announced that LTT Part-
ners should be installing
the new Verkada camera
surveillance system next
week. Installation of the
surveillance system had
been delayed while the city
awaited SIM cards for the
-Continued to PAGE NINE new cameras.
Ione City Hall also re-
ports that it has received
several inquiries regarding
the formation of a neigh-
borhood watch. Anyone
interested in undertaking
the organization, please
contact Ione City Hall to be
put in contact with interest-
ed parties.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information