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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2025)
50¢ VOL. 145 NO.7 8 Pages Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Matheny places second at state hoop shoot New coordinator takes helm at Neighborhood Center Nikki Clark By Andrea Di Salvo Visitors to the Neigh- borhood Center in Heppner will now be greeted with a new, but maybe familiar, smiling face. Nikki Clark has taken over as Neighbor- hood Center Coordinator as of last month. The mother of four has a long, if intermittent, his- tory with Heppner. She was born here to parents Matt and Charlene Clark. She attended school in Heppner and spent the first several years of her life on her family ranch, the Horse- shoe Hereford Ranch near Ruggs. She was seven when she moved away with her mother but says she re- turned to visit her father and Clark relatives during vacations. “There’s a lot of us in different age groups that are around still,” she says. From there, life took her to various places, though “mostly Texas,” she says. They lived in Arlington, TX from the time she was in sixth grade until her junior year of high school. They then moved to Oshkosh, WI, where she graduated from high school. After high school, she and her daughter, Tatum, moved to Texas. She was then married and had three more children, daughters Serenity, Aubriana and So- phie Rose Rodriguez. In 2011, Clark and Sophie Rose went to a wedding in Oregon. It was shortly after that visit that her family decided to move to Heppner. “We sold everything and came out here. It was the best thing we ever did,” Clark says. The family made a home here for several years. In 2015, Clark took a job as the secretary for the Episcopal Church and later a position with Morrow County Healthy Families, a job she held until 2017. In that role, she visited new or expecting mothers in their homes, connecting them with much-needed resources. It was a job that, in many ways, prepared her for work at the Neighbor- hood Center. “I know there is a need in this community. This is a place where you can come, your friend can come, and no one will judge you. Someone will help,” says Clark. “We all just scoop up each other and help, and it’s beautiful, and that’s what it’s like to work here.” It wasn’t an immediate connection, though. Clark and her family left the area in 2018, but it seemed Hep- pner wasn’t done with her. Six years later, she would be back. She came to Heppner to visit over the holidays. Aside from her Clark family connections, the location is somewhat central to Wash- ington State University in Pullman and Oregon State University in Corvallis, where three of her daugh- ters have attended. She planned to leave town on Jan. 11. “But Heppner asked me to stay,” she says. Actually, it was Hep- pner woman Barb Orwick who saw Clark at their church coffee hour and asked what she was doing for work. Clark told her she was open to possibilities. “I might have an op- portunity for you,” Orwick had said. Of course, that oppor- tunity was the coordinator position at the Neighbor- hood Center. Rather than leaving Jan. 11 as planned, Clark began in her new role Jan 14. The acting coordinator role had been held by Kelly Fritz until Nikki became the new coordinator. “Kelly has done a phe- nomenal job keeping this place together,” Clark says. With Clark in the role of full-time coordinator, the Neighborhood Center has returned to its regular hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. “So we can serve more people, we can help more people,” says Clark. “Help- ing the community any way we can.” Clark says she is excit- ed to serve the community and wants to let people know about all the resourc- es the center has. “My cup overflows,” says Clark. “Being with and without over my lifetime, I’ve given and received,” she says, adding that she is grateful to be where she is now. “We have the resources here. We are here and we can help,” she says. For instance, most peo- ple are familiar with the Neighborhood Center’s thrift store and food pan- try. The food pantry will provide one food box per month for those who need them. However, the center also offers emergency assis- tance including fuel, shelter and clothing. A weekly Wednesday bag sale lets shopper fill a grocery bag with clothes for only $15 while also helping to fund the Neighborhood Center’s food pantry and other assis- tance programs. Clark says she is thrilled both to be at the Neighborhood Center and back in the arms of the Heppner community. “It’s really been a big God thing for me,” she says. “It’s almost like coming full circle. I’m so happy to be here.” Citizens honored at Town & Country awards It was a star-studded evening last Thursday in Heppner, when several community members were honored at the annual Town and Country Awards. Woman of the Year was Trish Maben, Man of the Year was Jerry Conklin, Business of the Year was Gar Aviation, Citizen-Ed- ucator of the Year was Ken Grieb, the Youth award was presented to Katie Spivey and the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Sheridan Tarnasky. Also part of the festiv- ities was the coronation of 2025 Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Ro- deo Queen KC Anderson. The crown was presented by Sue Gibbs, Judy Healy and past queen Macy Gibbs Goodwin. KC is Morrow County’s first fair and rodeo queen in 10 years. “It was a fantastic night and a full house of commu- nity support to honor these fine citizens,” Heppner Chamber of Commerce Di- rector Madison Rosenbalm said in a Facebook post. “Emcee Ken Grieb kept the night rolling, event after his own award!” Around 200 commu- nity members attended the banquet to honor this year’s award recipients. Alvin Liu and his crew prepared a tri- tip dinner, while the Broken Spoke serviced the no-host bar. Dinner service and cleanup was provided by the Heppner High School senior class. Sandy Matthews pre- pared a slideshow for the event, while Dale Bates (L-R) Citizen-Educator of the Year Ken Grieb , Youth Award recipient Katie Spivey, Man of the Year Jerry Conklin, Woman of the Year Trish Maben, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Sheridan Tarnasky, Business of the Year Award Gar Aviation owners John and Kelly Boyer. -Photo by Brooke Christy Photography provided sound and live- streamed the event to Face- book. And, of course, Joe Lindsay’s song about the award winners was a big hit as always. Woman of the Year was presented to Trish Maben by Amanda Roy and Anne Hamann. Maben, a nurse at Pioneer Memorial Clinic, was honored for more than 40 years as a nurse in the Heppner community. “Trish has spent 46 years as a nurse caring for the residents of Mor- row County and wears her ‘heart on her ears,’ as she would say,” Roy wrote in her nomination letter. “She brings health and health- care education to another level and is an asset to this community. “Our community is healthier because of her knowledge and willingness to teach and help others.” Former PMC provider Jeanne Berretta wrote that she had worked with Ma- ben since 1988 and that the nurse is “literally a godsend to providers.” “I have found her to be compassionate, competent, steadfast and dependable,” wrote Berretta. “She is often the first one at work and the very last one to leave, making sure that all the phone calls have been made, the paperwork com- pleted and patient questions answered.” “The residents of South Morrow County have great- ly benefited from Trish’s clear instructions and re- liable follow-through for decades,” said former Mor- row County Health Dis- trict nurse and home health and hospice director Molly Rhea. “It is time to show her how much we appreci- ate her.” Man of the Year Jer- ry Conklin received his award from Molly Rhea. Conklin, home health and hospice chaplain for Mor- -Continued to PAGE SIX Scout Matheny of Heppner placed second in the girls’ eight- to nine-year-old age group in the state hoop shoot competition through the Or- egon State Elks Association. -Contributed photo Scout Matheny of Hep- pner represented the Hep- pner Elks Lodge and the East District at the Oregon State Elks Hoop Shoot competition on Feb. 8 in Silverton, OR. Competing in the girls’ eight- to nine- year-old age group, she placed second in the state. Scout shot 12 of 25, tying with another partic- ipant and forcing a shoot- off. Both girls made three of five shots, leading to another round of five. In the intense competition, Scout outscored her oppo- nent to claim second place. “I was pretty nervous, but it was a lot of fun!” Scout said. “Also, I got to talk to the other girls and make friends.” She expressed pride in rep- resenting her area and participating in the event. Her mother, Chelsea Matheny, shared her ex- citement in a Facebook post: “We are so proud of this girl. She was cool and calm in a very intense shoot-off for second place.” Scout is the daugh- ter of Stefan and Chelsea Matheny of Heppner. Library district shares dreams for Heppner library Possible expansion could include new facility at Heppner City Park By Andrea Di Salvo Oregon Trail Library District is looking to ex- pand in Heppner, and Hep- pner City Park may be one spot that’s in the running for a new building. If that does happen— and that’s a big if—it’s still a long way off. OTLD Director Kathy Street and board member Bill Kuhn were at Monday’s city council meeting to put out feelers regarding such a move. “We’re just launch- ing ourselves,” Kuhn said. “The library district is in its very initial conception of what we want to do.” Street and Kuhn told the Heppner City Council that OTLD is putting to- gether a facilities master plan. They plan on spending the next two to four months gathering ideas from the communities the district serves. “This is all very con- ceptual. We have no money for this yet,” Kuhn added. They already know, though, that a much-needed expansion of the Heppner library is high on the list. The library district has existed for 28 years. The Heppner library is the old- est of the district’s three library buildings. “It’s been quite a while. It’s older than a lot of coun- cil members and the mayor, probably,” said Kuhn. “And it’s got some problems.” The building was do- nated to the county by Amanda Duvall. The li- brary shares the building with the Morrow County Heritage Museum. The county owns the building, but the City of Heppner owns the lot. The library’s current footprint is about 1,150 square feet. Street told the city council that they need at least 3,500 square feet, but ideally between 4,500 and 5,000. “If we get for story time six or seven children and there are adults that come with them, that is really crowded,” said Street of the existing building. Along with more space, Street said they are looking to create a space that is “in- clusive and comfortable for everybody that comes to the library.” “We want it to be invit- ing,” she added. OTLD has consulted with Hacker Architects, a Portland-based firm spe- cializing in library design, regarding the possible ex- pansion of the existing library building. The firm is currently working on the Hermiston Public Library. The architects have -Continued to PAGE SIX CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
