50¢
VOL. 145
NO.25 8 Pages
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Neighborhood Center’s act of giving
hearkens back to WWI ‘Donut Lassies’
By Andrea Di Salvo
On a recent Friday,
the Neighborhood Center
of South Morrow County
handed out free doughnuts
in honor of National Donut
Day. National Donut Day
is celebrated on the first
Friday of June each year.
While Donut Day may
sound like a fluff holiday
celebrating one of Ameri-
ca’s sweet treats, though,
it turns out that it is much
more than that.
The holiday was es-
tablished in 1938 by the
Salvation Army to hon-
or the “Donut Lassies”
who served soldiers during
World War I and to raise
funds during the Great De-
pression. Many doughnut
shops and bakeries still
honor the day by giving out
free doughnuts.
“In 1917, a group of
women from the Salvation
Army, the Donut Lassies,
traveled to the front lines
of World War I to bring
The Heppner Gazette-Times will be closed Wednes-
day, Thursday and Friday this week, June 18-20. Regular
hours will resume Monday, June 23. We apologize for
any inconvenience.
Hisler selected for
OACA All-Star
Series
Heppner athlete named Player
of the Game
Salvation Army “Donut Lassies” serve soldiers on the front lines in World War I. -Contributed
photo
responders, civic leaders,
elected officials, and other
local heroes and sharing
the story of Donut Day’s
humble beginnings.”
The Donut Lassies were
a group of women from the
Salvation Army who served
American soldiers during
World War I, particularly
on the front lines in France
starting in 1917.
These women, known
for their dedication and
bravery, provided moral
support and comfort to
troops by cooking and serv-
ing fresh doughnuts, coffee
and other baked goods in
the trenches.
The doughnut became
a practical and symbolic
treat: it was simple to make
with limited supplies, could
be cooked using soldiers’
helmets when necessary,
and brought a taste of home
to weary soldiers.
Waylon and Sophie Sykes stop by the Neighborhood Center
Two Salvation Army
for doughnuts on Donut Day. -Contributed photo
volunteers, Ensign Marga-
soldiers hope with the sweet
taste of home,” says local
Salvation Army represen-
tative Kelly Nolan. “Today,
the Salvation Army cele-
brates by recognizing first
ret Sheldon and Adjutant
Helen Purviance, are cred-
ited with frying the first
doughnuts in war zones.
The efforts of the Donut
Lassies helped establish the
doughnut as an American
icon and laid the foundation
for National Donut Day.
Neighborhood Center
Coordinator Nikki Clark
said her own mental wheels
started spinning when No-
lan told her about the hol-
iday.
“I immediately thought
to myself, we live in such
a great community full
of people who serve each
other in so many ways
every day, that everyone
needs a doughnut,” says
Clark. “Everybody in this
beautiful community of
South Morrow County is
performing active service
for each other every day.
We have a community full
from the unofficial results
to upset the election apple
cart, so to speak.
For Morrow County
Health District, Ann Spicer
secured Position 1 with
62.7 percent of the vote.
Russ Nichols won Position
2 with 56.57 percent, and
Janet Greenup took Posi-
tion 3 with 65.31 percent.
Jason Hanna secured the
final open position, Position
4, with 56.37 percent of the
vote in that three-way race.
The contested races for
the Port of Morrow Com-
mission also stayed largely
the same.
Incumbent Rick Stokoe
walked away with 47.16
percent of the vote for Po-
sition 1—still enough to
secure a win in the three-
way race with J. Fletcher
Hobbs and Heather Bishop.
With no incumbent, Danny
Kerns defeated Raymond
Seastone in the race for
Position 2 with 65.7 percent
of the vote. Incumbent Joel
Peterson held on to Position
3 with 58.95 percent of the
vote.
For a full breakdown
of election results, visit
https://www.co.morrow.
or.us/clerk/ and click on the
elections tab.
Hallee Hisler capped
off her high school basket-
ball career in spectacular
fashion last weekend, earn-
ing a spot on the OACA
East Team for the Oregon
Athletic Coaches Associ-
ation Basketball All-Star
Series.
Players are selected for
the All-Star Series based on
their performance during
the regular season, in-
cluding All-League and
All-State honors. Coaches
nominate players from their Hallee Hisler with her Player
respective leagues, and of the Game award. -Contrib-
selections are made by a uted photo
committee of coaches.
-See HISLER EAST TEAM,
Representing Heppner
PAGE SEVEN
It’s official: Morrow
County voters pass
school district bond
After three weeks of
waiting, Morrow County
School District is finally
celebrating the passage of
the district’s General Ob-
ligation bond, which was
passed by voters on the May
20 ballot.
The wait was tense as
voters and school district
staff alike waited for the
certification of the eletion
results.
In the end, the bond
-See DONUT DAY, PAGE passed with a narrow 50.12
TWO percent of the vote—a mar-
gin of only six votes coun-
ty-wide.
“After an anxious
waiting period and a close
vote, we are very pleased
that voters supported the
bond and the projects it will
fund,” MCSD Board Chair
Richard Cole said, “Thank
you to all the voters who
committed to improving
facilities for student success
in our community.”
Cole and MCSD Su-
perintendent Matt Combe
said that passing the bond
was more than a year-long
effort and they appreciate
the work of the Community
Bond Advisory Commit-
tee (CBAC), school board
members, district admin-
istrators, members of the
district facility and busi-
ness departments, teach-
Election results now Dhan Lama
certified
ministry to visit
Lexington
Off-year elections don’t
garner a lot of attention—
usually. That wasn’t the
case for the May 20 spe-
cial election in Morrow
County, which saw the
passage of a school district
bond hang by a razor-thin
margin, as well as the over-
haul—or sometimes failed
overhaul—of some special
district boards.
With so much at stake,
no one was anxious to cele-
brate too soon. Entities like
the Morrow County School
District, with a $204.4 mil-
lion bond at stake, waited
anxiously for the election
results to be certified.
As of this week, those
results are finally official.
Here’s the breakdown:
With hotly-contested
races, Morrow County’s
voter turnout of 39.66 per-
cent far surpassed the state
average of 23.82 percent.
That still meant that only
2,874 ballots were counted
out of the 7,247 active reg-
istered voters in the county.
Of those voters, a slen-
der majority of 50.12 per-
cent voted in the MCSD
bond, 1,245 to 1,239—a
difference of only six votes.
As for the rest, there
weren’t enough changes
Gazette-Times
closed this week
ers, school staffs, Wenaha
Group and InterMountain
ESD Communications for
all their work.
The district represen-
tatives say they also ap-
preciate all the community
organizations, chambers of
commerce and other local
entities who hosted bond
presentations.
“It has truly been a
huge team effort across our
district to evaluate facilities,
develop projects and inform
our community about the
need for this bond. We
appreciate everyone who
worked on it,” Combe said.
The bond will fund
these projects:
Irrigon Jr/Sr High
School—replace school to
provide modern educational
environment for students.
Riverside Jr/Sr High
School—remodel and build
addition for more class-
room space and gym to
support future enrollment.
Heppner Jr/Sr High
School and Heppner Ele-
mentary—remodel junior/
senior high to become a
K-12 campus with thought-
ful grade level separation,
resulting in operational
savings and safer location
-See SCHOOL BOND
PASSES, PAGE EIGHT
Nepali Pastor Dhan Lama
with wife Bimala Thapa and
his three daughters, Upashan,
Christina and Marilyn. -Con-
tributed photo
Dhan Lama Ministries
from Nepal will be com-
ing to Eastern Oregon and
Eastern Washington the last
week of June. The Nepali
pastor will be at the Lex-
ington Community Church
this Saturday, June 21, be-
ginning at 6 p.m. There will
be a potluck and worship
service to follow.
Lama is known as the
“Apostle Paul of Nepal.”
-See DHAN LAMA, PAGE
SIX
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information