50¢
VOL. 145 NO.10 8 Pages
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Don and Colleen Greenup family honored
as St. Pat’s Grand marshals
The Don and Colleen
Greenup family was chosen
as the 2025 St. Patrick’s Day
Grand Marshals. This year
isn’t the first time Colleen’s
relatives have been honored
in the Great Green Parade;
Colleen’s past family mem-
bers honored during Saint
Patrick’s were Ilene and
Bob Kilkenny, and Ilene’s
children Butch Laughlin
and Sheridan Tarnasky.
The family’s Irish
roots run deep, beginning
with Colleen’s maternal
great-grandmother, who
was born in 1828 in County
Tipperary, Ireland. Col-
leen’s great-grandfather
was born in 1830 in County
Kilkenny.
Her grandfather, Mi-
chael Summers, came to
America in 1856. Her
grandmother, Mary Ellen
McCormick, made the long,
arduous trip the same year.
Michael and Mary Ellen
later met in Iowa and were
married in 1858.
Michael and Mary El-
len had five children: Mary
Ellen, Kate, Delia, Emmett
and Michael.
Years later they moved
west with three of their
children. Michael died en-
route at Fort Wingate, NM,
in 1880. Mary Ellen kept
on, settling in Matney Flat,
Gilliam County.
One of the Summers
children, Kate, met her
husband, William Russell,
while both worked on the
railroad. William Russell
was born in 1849 in Belfast,
Don Greenup
Colleen Greenup
Greg and Janet Greenup with family members Amy and Brian
Kollman, Rylee Kollman, Kelsie Fennern and Ketch Fennern.
They were celebrating Rylee’s graduation from boot camp in
San Antonio, TX. -Contributed photo
Ireland. Kate and William
were married in 1883 in
Boise, ID. Kate and Wil-
liam had four children:
Eddie, Sudie, Margaret and
Lottie.
Lottie and Ed were
well known in Gilliam and
Morrow counties for the
fine voices, with Irish and
Scottish songs beings their
favorites. Lottie Russell
was Colleen’s mother.
John Sheridan Kilken-
ny came to America in 1890
at the age of 20, along with
James Carty and William
Hughes, both from Ireland.
John purchased 20,000
acres from George Currin
on Hinton Creek. John had
a herd of cattle and about
10,000 head of breeding
ewes.
Lottie married John
Sheridan Kilkenny after
his first wife, Rose Ann
Curran, was killed in a
tragic accident in Pendle-
ton. John and Rose had six
children: Rose, John, Bill,
Sara, Maryanne and Mae.
The oldest 16 and young-
est five when Rose Ann
died. Lottie and John had
four children: Ilene, Robert
Russell, Colleen and Robert
Joseph. Colleen was born
Oct. 13, 1925.
Donald Greenup was
born in Hamilton, MT on
Aug. 2, 1924. He moved
with his parents and broth-
ers to Washington before
coming south to Oregon
in the spring of 1940. He
went to work on the Kilken-
ny ranch in 1942 and the
rest, as they say, is family
history.
Colleen was Queen
of the Heppner rodeo in
1945. The couple married
in September of that same
year. Don and Colleen be-
gan their life together on the
Kilkenny ranch on Hinton
Creek.
Don and Colleen had
six children: Tag (Mitch
Ashbeck), Sue Ellen (Paul
Walton), Bill (Cindy Ek-
strom), Greg (Janet Gen-
try), Mary Ann (Ted Da-
vis) and Bridgett (Mike
Whelan).
Colleen’s daughters,
Tag, SueEllen and Bridgett,
also went on to be Heppner/
Morrow County royalty in
their own turn.
Some members of the
board said they never ap-
proved the pay increases
and ended up rescinding
Smith’s raise in a 3-2 vote at
the board’s Sept. 20 meet-
ing last year.
In January, the OLD-
CC, a branch of the U.S.
Dept. of Defense, sent a
letter to Port of Morrow
Executive Director Lisa
Mittelsdorf asking for doc-
umentation for Smith’s
monthly salary from a fed-
eral grant.
Specifically, the OLD-
CC wanted documentation
that the CDA separately
accounted for Smith’s time
working as a legislator, de-
tailed internal time-keeping
controls for Smith, why cer-
tain salary increases were
not approved by the CDA
board, and documentation
“validating current salaries”
in the grant award budget.
The Port’s answers
didn’t satisfy the govern-
ment. Specifically, OLDCC
Deputy Director for Com-
pliance Michael Wilson
wrote in a Feb. 21 letter that
the “CDA’s 2024 budget
justification submission did
not accurately represent the
CDA board’s involvement
in the salary increases.”
In fact, public state-
ments at an Oct. 22, 2024,
board meeting indicated
that the CDA board was not
aware of the salary increas-
es prior to the grant award
submission. The Port’s re-
sponse also did not show
adequate documentation
and internal controls for
timekeeping, Wilson wrote.
The bottom line was
Greg Smith
that the OLDCC asked that
the Port “voluntarily termi-
nate” the award in question,
or the government would
terminate it for them.
The Port’s Response
The OLDCC’s decision
last month caused under-
standable consternation
on both the Port and CDA
boards.
In a Feb. 24 POM meet-
ing, Port Commissioner
John Murray read a state-
ment apologizing to con-
stituents, CDA partners
and Port employees for
allowing the situation to
persist, blaming poor com-
munication and leadership
decisions.
Zachary Brown (left) and Landon McMahon (right) made
Heppner history by taking state championships in their re-
spective weight brackets. -Contributed photos
By Tylynn Cimmiyotti
Last week marks the
end of one of Heppner High
School’s most success-
ful wrestling seasons—a
season that was nothing
short of historic, filled with
numerous firsts and unfor-
gettable achievements that
have set a new standard for
excellence and success as a
Mustang athlete.
It’s inspiring to see the
growth our wrestling pro-
gram has seen since its in-
ception, which has not only
gained strength in numbers,
but has also become a cor-
nerstone of HHS legacy,
proving that it is here to stay
and will continue to thrive
for years to come.
Five Heppner wrestlers
represented HHS at the
state tournament in Port-
land at the OSAA/OnPoint
State Championships this
past week, a group that
demonstrated determina-
tion and experience and
marked several notable
achievements.
Among them were
three seniors who brought
their seasoned skills to the
competition, as well as
two trailblazing Mustang
athletes—the first female
wrestlers in school history
to qualify for state.
Three members of the
team had already made a
splash at districts, claiming
first-place titles and paving
the way for a strong perfor-
mance at state.
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Holden selected as St. Pat’s
button design winner
-Continued to PAGE THREE
The Port, the CDA and Smith’s response
By Andrea Di Salvo
Accusations are flying
as the Columbia Develop-
ment Authority faces the
loss of key grant funding
due to alleged misconduct
by CDA Executive Director
Greg Smith.
Smith, a Republican
State Representative from
Heppner, representing
House District 57 since
2001, has faced scrutiny
over financial and ethical
issues tied to his legislative
role and private business
dealings in recent years.
Most recently, Feb. 4,
2025, federal officials sus-
pended funding to the Co-
lumbia Development Au-
thority (CDA), which Smith
led as executive director for
20 years, due to concerns
over his pay claims. This
comes as tensions within
the CDA are already high,
with internal lawsuits un-
derway and members tak-
ing sides.
The Port of Morrow
has served as the fiscal
agent for the CDA since
2015, handling grants and
federal awards used in the
development of CDA prop-
erty. The CDA property was
previously part of the Uma-
tilla Army Depot and was
transferred under the Base
Realignment and Closure
Act of 1990.
The current controver-
sy stems back to pay raise
given to Smith as part of
an Office of Local Defense
Community Cooperation
(OLDCC) grant request
submitted by the Port on
behalf of the Columbia De-
velopment Authority board.
Mustang wrestling ends
successful season with
state wins
At the same time, the
Port’s priority is to avoid
jeopardizing its ability
to receive future federal
grants.
“In my opinion, the
Port of Morrow is in the
position that it must end
functioning as the fiscal
agent for the CDA and re-
linquish the OLDCC grant,
for the selfish reason of
maintaining our ability to
qualify for future federal
grants,” said Murray.
At the same time, Mur-
ray noted that the transfer
of Army lands to the CDA
is important for the local
economy.
“If the grant is relin-
quished by the Port of
Morrow, does that mean
the OLDCC funds are no
longer available?” he asked.
At the same meeting,
Mittelsdorf told the Port
commissioners that the
letter had offered a 10-day
window to voluntarily ter-
Congratulations to the 2025 Wee Bit O’ Ireland Button Con-
test winner, Kylie Holden! Buttons will be for sale for $3 at
Heppner City Hall and Heppner Chamber of Commerce until
the celebration on March 15. Buttons can also be purchased
at the information booth on Saturday, March 15. Each button
purchase gets earns an entry into the drawing to win $100.
The drawing will take place Saturday afternoon, March 15.
-Contributed photo
Heppner softball field gets
new backstop after 25 years
After 25 years, the Heppner softball field is getting a
much-needed new backstop. Grants from WCVEDG and
MCURD, as well as funds from the Heppner Booster Club,
paid for the new nylon mesh screen and supporting structure.
-Contributed photo
In Heppner, the soft- much-needed replacement
ball field’s outdated back- in 2024. The original chain-
stop—dating back to the link structure, bent and
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT late 1990s—finally got a
-Continued to PAGE TWO
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information
John Murray reads a state-
ment regarding the OLDCC
letter at the Port’s Feb. 24
meeting. -Contributed photo