Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 2, 2023 -- THREE
~ Letters to the Editor ~
Good News Only by Doris Brosnan
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Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net.
Good news for Fall Season enthusiasts: At least four
groups of Canadian Honkers have been spotted heading
south. Factoid: Google says that in flight, such a group is
called a skein, team or wedge. Another possible harbinger
of fall: the usual tennis players have noticed a hint of fall
in their morning play and, in fact, have delayed their play
from chillier 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
“Let the Good Times Grow” at the 110 th Morrow
County Fair, August 16 through the 20 th . Again this year,
entrance to the fair will be free, thanks to Lamb Weston
and Watt Construction. Much more information will soon
be in the Gazette-Times, so we can be watching for details
about the STEM trailer that will feature many free proj-
ects, ax throwing, mechanical bull-riding, wee-ones’ car-
nival, the entertainments and music, and so much more!
The new secretary for the Fair Board, Sue Gibbs,
has much on her plate as she works on the scheduling
and organizing of the fair activities, but she can find
time for Grandmother Privileges! Son Garrett and his
wife Amanda presented Sue and husband Jay their first
grandchild on Groundhog’s Day this year! Prairie City
is not too far away for visits, hugs and kisses. Hudson
Ryan’s parents work for the U.S. Forest Service (Garrett)
and as an elementary teacher (Amanda).
Last Wednesday, Luke Murray and family ended a
two-week visit in Heppner and headed back to Kansas
City, MO. The Murrays say they always enjoy these trips,
usually made in the summer, which works well with
Luke’s new position. Luke, son of John and Ann Murray,
was recruited to be the headmaster of the new Chesterton
Academy in KC. Katie, Luke’s wife, is a graphic designer.
Their three young daughters are Juliett, Alice and Felic-
ity. During this trip, they enjoyed the many Murray and
Lindsay gatherings, possibly the biggest being the joint
birthday celebration for Luke, Laurie and Sean, the three
August birthday babies.
More Good News in your life? Sharing with readers
of the Gazette is as easy as sending your tidbit to dbros-
nan123@gmail.com or calling 541-223-1490.
Hope good news comes to everyone reading this
column!
Utopia
To the liberal folks out
there…here’s something to
think about…seriously.
If you could push a but-
ton right now, and instantly
have what the Democratic
party envisions as a better
world, what would that
world look like? Maybe…
Everyone putting
what’s best for society over
the needs of the individual.
Climate control per-
fected.
Free health care and
every single person vacci-
nated.
Legal and guilt-free
abortions.
Free childcare.
Public schools with
sexual freedom, 364 gen-
ders, and no toxic mascu-
linity.
All history re-written
from a Liberal perspective.
No more unwanted pro-
nouns.
No more White Privi-
lege (only Black Privilege).
No rich capitalists. Ev-
ery person equal in wealth
(or poverty) with govern-
ment pay.
No more meat-eaters
and all animals protected.
No guns except the
ones in the hands of the
government.
No police. Only trained
counselors to defuse touchy
situations.
No Bible-thumping
Christians. No real truth…
to each his own.
No more ten com-
mandments or confining
morals. Just do what feels
right.
No borders. Only
global interests.
Even if you got ev-
erything on your wish list
tomorrow, you would still
have one big problem.
That’s the problem of
selfishness, greed and evil.
You can’t legislate, regu-
late, cancel it or demand
it goes away. It’s a heart
problem and it will still be
there wreaking havoc in
your new Utopia. There’s
only one who can deal
with the evil in the heart.
He’s the one you canceled
on your way to a perfect
world.
“For the wisdom of
this world is foolishness
with God. For it is written,
‘He catches the wise in
their own craftiness’; and
again, ‘The Lord knows
the thoughts of the wise,
that they are futile’” (1
Corinthians 3:19-20).
“For although they
knew God, they neither
glorified Him as God nor
gave thanks to Him, but
they became futile in their
thinking and darkened in
their foolish hearts” (Ro-
man’s 1:21).
Susie Crosby
Prineville, OR
Local man gives Willow
Creek Terrace a helping hand
Steve and Leann Lankford stand with the Willow Creek Ter-
race sign, which Steve recently regrouted and gave a fresh coat
of paint. The sign is one of many projects Lankford does during
his volunteer hours at the Terrace. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
By Andrea Di Salvo
One local man has qui-
etly been garnering some
attention through his works
of service at Willow Creek
Terrace.
Steve Lankford is the
husband of Leann Lank-
ford, the assisted living
facility’s administrator.
Leann herself has a repu-
tation for going above and
beyond but brushes it aside,
saying she’s getting paid for
the work she puts in.
Steve, on the other
hand, isn’t on the payroll.
However, he puts in mul-
tiple hours a week at the
facility. His work around
WCT has included mowing,
weeding, spraying, plumb-
ing and power washing,
as well as cleaning up the
empty part of the lot and do-
ing small appliance repairs.
“But I enjoy it,” says
Lankford. “It needed some
tender loving care.”
Willow Creek Terrace
can’t afford full-time main-
tenance, but the building
and grounds need the work.
While Covid-19 hit
most places hard, Leann
Lankford says the assisted
living facility underwent a
double-whammy when it
came to maintenance. The
facility suffered financially
from the inability to fill va-
cant rooms—three are still
vacant—and restrictions
and supply-chain issues
made it nearly impossible
to get anyone to the build-
ing to perform upkeep and
repairs.
Most recently, Steve
Lankford gave the Terrace’s
sign a re-do. It was more
than a fresh coat of paint.
The sign was starting to rot,
so Lankford says he dug
out the rot and rechiseled
the sign to restore its wel-
coming look. He also spent
some time last week giving
some of the curbs a fresh
coat of paint.
“Every day, there’s
something,” Lankford says.
“We just kind of treat it like
our house.”
Residents like Bev
Sherman appreciate that.
Sherman, who sat on the
front terrace last Wednes-
day watching Lankford
work and chatting with him,
says she now sees WCT as a
place she can spend the rest
of her life.
“I feel like it’s my
home,” says Sherman.
Leann Lankford says
her husband stands out by
the sheer amount of work
he does, but he’s far from
the only volunteer.
“I’m always surprised
by the people who will step
up and volunteer,” she says.
Volunteers keep Wil-
low Creek Terrace run-
ning, and the facility always
needs more—not only to do
manual labor, but also to
visit with the residents and
provide activities.
“They love company,”
says Leann.
Anyone interested in
volunteering time at the
Terrace can call 541-676-
0004 or stop by the com-
munity on the hill.
A View from the Hill
By Doris Brosnan
The Staff’s teamwork and the Administrator’s guid-
ance continue to pay dividends to the Residents at Willow
Creek Terrace. Daily, the Residents can view the facts of
their home surroundings, reaping the benefits of what a re-
cent surprise visit by a representative of the Department of
Health Services confirmed: Willow Creek Terrace is “the
cleanest facility in Oregon” witnessed by that inspector
and a sterling example of a home that affords proper care
for its residents. Such reports are a goal of Administrator
Leanne Lankford and her Staff.
Two recent additions to the staff welcomed by all
are Makayla Silvia and Heather Turnmire, and two other
potential caregivers are currently in training. The shortage
of staff members has continued to be a challenge that is
currently being alleviated by Pioneer Memorial Hospital
staff who are working shifts at the Terrace, greatly appre-
ciated on the Hill. Lankford encourages interested, caring
persons to inquire about the resident-care and kitchen
positions, for which the starting salary has increased, as
well as the new position of administrative assistant.
As visitors approach the Terrace, the newly painted
sign that greets them looks like new, thanks to Steve
Lankford’s refurbishing, and visitors are apt to see
several Residents going about what they have chosen
as their outside work/play/entertainment. They are not
really jobs when people opt to select them as enjoyable
activities. So, Bev Sherman and Virginia Peck are apt to
be watering and otherwise tending to the Terrace’s many
colorful planters. And Alex Camarillo can often be spotted
at the flower beds in the back, ensuring that weeds do
not challenge the favored plants. The Terrace vegetable
garden is, however, Jerry Green’s chosen interest, so he
checks daily for ripe produce that can end up in a menu.
Floss Watkins prefers her inside interest, enjoying the
creation of rhubarb delights as she shares her knowledge
and recipes with staff member Anna Grace Wenberg. The
two have made a plethora of pies, cobblers and cakes with
the rhubarb from the Terrace’s garden.
This month, Jerry Green and Bev Sherman are cel-
ebrating their birthdays—Bev’s tomorrow and Jerry’s
on Friday—much to the delight of their neighbors, who
appreciate these special days, enjoy the tasty birthday
lunch menus, and view these days as another reason to
celebrate living at the Terrace. Bringing more other spe-
cial days to the weekly schedule, Deb Green is winning
votes as “Activity Director Extraordinaire.” The Friday
afternoon social hours have been a big hit, as have the
routine activities such as craft-making, the game Right-
Left-Center, bingo, trivia, discussions and exercising.
Some Residents will be watching for information
on the Morrow County Fair and Rodeo, hoping for the
opportunities to take in a day or two of both. A day at the
fair or watching cowboys and cowgirls perform is viewed
as a nice, entertaining change of pace.
Heppner releases
drinking water report
The City of Heppner
has announced that it has
released its Consumer Con-
fidence Report: Annual
Drinking Water Quality
Report.
Reports were mailed
out to residents and post of-
fice box holders last week.
Copies of the report are also
available at Heppner City
Hall or on the city website
at cityofheppner.org.
Over the Tee Cup
The Willow Creek
Country Club ladies held a
scramble during their play
day Tuesday, July 25. The
winning team was Kris
Lindner and Sara Rucker.
In other events, the
combined team for one and
six score was a tie between
the team of Karen Thomp-
son and Eva Kilkenny and
the team of Jannie Allen
and Karen Smith-Griffith.
Ladies’ play days are
Tuesdays beginning at 8
a.m.
Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Mary’s Catholic Church Wasco
A Time to Transform Oneself
This Sunday, the Church celebrates the Feast of The
Transfiguration of the Lord, an invitation for all of us to
transform ourselves to the values expressed in the parables
we have been meditating upon. This coming Sunday’s
scripture reading invites us to reflect on the theme of
transfiguration, needing to get away and move from our
present state to another level of a spiritual state. The word
transfiguration literally would mean a complete change
of form or appearance into a more spiritual state that is
actually possible through reading and meditating upon
the Word of God.
In the Gospel of Matthew (17:1-9), Jesus prepares
himself well for this. As usual, He takes with Him only a
few of His close collaborators to Mount Tabor, where in
front of them He was transfigured, glorified, and appeared
before Peter, James, and John. In this manifestation, His
fullness of glory and divinity was exposed to His close
associates, and the presence of Moses and Elijah add the
understanding that Christ is the fulfilment of the Law and
the prophecies. It was revealed now that Christ was not
just merely a human being, but also the divine Son of
God. In the person of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World
or the Messiah, were two distinct yet inseparable natures,
Human and Divine, exposed to humanity.
What happened then at the Transfiguration and what is
its significance for us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ?
We need to pay attention to how the Transfiguration of the
Lord revealed to us what we ought to do as Christians,
how we ought to be living our lives and our faith from
now on. In the transfiguration scene, we hear a beautiful
declaration of Peter suggesting to the Lord Jesus, “Lord,
it is good that we are here. If you wish I will make three
tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah”
(v 5). He completely forgets Himself at this juncture and
begins to live for others. Daily meditation on the Word
of God should help us to have this experience of Mount
Tabor, moving from our humanness to rise up to the di-
vine nature that The Lord has instilled in each one of us.
This particular scripture passage of transfiguration
we usually reflect upon during the second week of lent.
But not only for the season of Lent, every moment, we
Catholics are called to re-examine our lives, how we have
lived them thus far, and to think how we are going to
proceed forward in life. Are we able to discern carefully
what we are going to do with our lives from now on? In
our real life, we have gone through and will continue to go
through a lot of trials and challenges of the Gospel values.
It is not easy to keep our faith and trust in God always
and every time if we don’t believe in what we read in the
Bible. God promised Abraham that he would be a father
of a great family of faith. Jesus promised His disciples a
glory that they will share with Him in heaven. These are
our hopes. Christians do not hope in this material world,
but we hope in God’s promises. We hope in God’s mercy
that we will be glorified with Him in heaven if we accept
suffering with Him. The words of Paul are very apt here:
what we endure in this life is incomparable to the reward
for us in the life to come.
The striking aspect of today’s Gospel passage is the
presence of Moses and Elijah. We know Moses as the
lawgiver and Elijah the well-known prophet in the Old
Testament. Jesus is presented as the fulfilment of the Law
and prophecy. As we celebrate the feast of Transfiguration,
we need to reflect on the words of the Heavenly Father:
“This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him” (v.6). Most probably these words are repeat-
ed in the present time by the Heavenly Father in several
ways and means, but do we pay attention to these words
of Christ? What must we need to do to be addressed as His
beloved Sons and Daughters? What are all the things we
need to rid from our lives to become His favorite children?
The Heavenly Father is waiting for our return. He wants
us to turn to a new leaf as children of God.
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For Thomas G Martin
A remembrance will be held
at 1:00 pm, August 19th at
the Willow Creek Country
Club, Heppner - No flowers
needed. If you would like
to make a donation to the
country club
it would be great.
Tommy loved this
golf course. Come for a
great visit.