Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Sunday at Foursquare Church for 12X12 study, at 7 p.m.

Medicare Assistance Program, through the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center is held the first Monday of each month from 1-3 p.m. Call 573-6024 to make an appointment.

Harney County Search and Rescue meets the first Monday of each month at Hines City Hall, 101 East Barnes, at 7 p.m.

Masonic Lodge meets the first and third Monday of each month at the Burns Masonic Lodge, 1210 West Taylor, at 7 p.m.

The Torch Club, a teen leadership and service group at the Boys & Girls Club, meets each Monday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

ImageMakers, a photography program is offered to members of the Boys & Girls each Monday from 4-5 p.m. All ages are encouraged to learn and practice black and white, color and digital photography skills as well as image editing.

PRIDE meets each Monday in the Courthouse basement meeting room, 450 North Buena Vista, at 7:30 a.m. to network for community betterment.

The Burns Lions Club meets each Monday at noon at the Burns Elks Lodge, 118 N. Broadway, for lunch. Those interested in serving the community are welcome.

Narcotics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Monday at 7 p.m. at Foursquare Church.

HDH Sports & Physical Therapy will offer a free athletic injury clinic at that facility, 559 West Washington, every Monday from 5-6 p.m. A physical therapist will assess and treat athletic injuries and provide education for athletes and parents on self management of injuries. For more information call 573-1543.

Medicare D assistance is available on the first Tuesday of each month, from 1-3 p.m., at the Harney County Senior Center. If you need help before that date, call 573-6024.

Harney Hospital Foundation meets the first Tuesday of each month in the Hospital Conference Room at 7 p.m.

Sylvia Rebekah Lodge meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at the I.O.O.F. Hall, 348 North Broadway at 6:30 p.m.

The Chamber Orchestra meets the first and third Tuesday of each month in the Burns High School band room, 1100 Oregon Avenue, from 7-8:30 p.m. with Ken Peckham directing.

Harney County Democratic Party meets the first Tuesday of each month at the Harney County Courthouse, 450 North Buena Vista, at 7 p.m.

Tai Chi  is held every Tuesday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Alcoholics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Tuesday at Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.

By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

Sen. Ron Wyden was in Burns on April 19 for his annual town hall meeting, which took place at the Harney County Library.

About 50 people showed up to ask the senator questions on land exchanges, health care, fuel prices, school lunch funding, fire districts, the war in Iraq and veterans’ issues.

Wyden outlined his top four goals at this time and stated that renewing the secure rural schools act, which will provide much-needed funding for schools as well as county roads, is his No. 1 priority. He noted that while he believes the act will be reauthorized by the Senate, he’s not sure that the House will concur. “If we don’t get that passed, we’re going to lose rural counties in this state,” he said.
His second priority is to introduce legislation that will thin out second growth timber in forests, sending the timber to mills and putting people back to work.

His third priority is to focus on infrastructure, emphasizing transportation and the repair of state roads.

Wyden’s fourth priority is health care. He has introduced the Healthy Americans Act, which he said will help hold down health care costs for the average Oregonian. “We’re spending enough on health care,” he said. “We’re not spending it in the right places.” The act focuses not only on making health care more affordable, but on preventative care.

Judge Steve Grasty asked how the state plans to take care of all the soldiers who are now returning from the  war in Iraq.

“This country has no idea what is coming at us in terms of veterans’ expenses,” Wyden replied. While the soldiers have performed valiantly, Wyden said that this country cannot continue to referee a civil war in Iraq. “I think this country believes, as I do, that we need to change our mission there,” he said.

One issue that cropped up again and again during the town hall was that of a land exchange that involves 10,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land for 1,000 acres of privately owned property on Steens Mountain. The predominant viewpoint was that the proposed trade is unfair and hasn’t gone through the proper channels. While Wyden said he couldn’t speak to the particulars of that deal, he said he would look into the issue. “I’ve understood loud and clear that people feel the process hasn’t been fair,” he said.

After the town hall in Burns, Wyden headed off to John Day for a town hall meeting in Grant County.

By Debbie Raney
Burns Times-Herald

Representing the veterans of the county, Joe Oltman and Clyde Kenyon attended the Harney County Court meeting on April 16, and requested that the Veteran’s Service Center be relocated outside of the Harney County Senior Center.

Oltman and Kenyon stated that a move would lessen the chances of “co-mingling of funds and resources.” Kenyon said, “We’d like it to be a self-sufficient entity.”

Discussion on how the Veteran’s Service Center is funded was held, with Judge Steve Grasty explaining that the wages for the Veteran’s Service Officer do not come from the veteran’s line item of the Harney County budget, as she is the Senior Center Director. The wages for the position of assistant, which was recently vacated by Darre Wilson, is funded through the Veteran’s Service Office budget.

Grasty said one of the main concerns with moving from the Senior Center to another building, would be overhead expenses. Money that would then have to be spent on building, administration and other expenses would not go directly to the veterans.

Oltman said that the veterans that they represented would be happy with an office that was open two, three or four days a week, depending on the available funds. This, he said is what most counties throughout the region are currently offering.

Kenyon and Oltman requested that they have the opportunity to review the amount of funding available to the Veteran’s Service Office. Grasty agreed to provide the information.

•••

Harney County Assessor/Tax Collector Ted Tiller told the members of the court that the need to purchase new computer software for assessment purposes, was looming on the horizon. The president of the company that has provided the software for many years, has indicated to Tiller that he will soon be retiring and he would not be available to maintain the software. Tiller said that there used to be nine counties in Oregon using the software from ASI, but there are only three left — Harney, Coos and Wasco. Tiller told the court that migrating to a different software will be a very lengthy project. “It could take two or three years to get it done. I’d like to have the old owner on board to help with the conversion.” Tiller also said he didn’t want to get into the situation where Harney County is the only remaining county using the old software.

He has researched a couple of options, and money has been being put into the budget in preparation for the eventual change. Currently, more than $170,000 has been set aside, but Tiller said he is estimating the final cost for a switch over to be between $250,000 and $270,000.

•••

Nellie Franklin, Harney County Treasurer told the court that because the U.S. Postal Service would no longer sort mail by department, all of the mail for the courthouse was being left, unsorted in the mail room. She, or other employees of the county, were sorting it when they had a chance. She suggested that each office or department at the courthouse be assigned a suite number. The Postal Service would then deliver to individual slots. Franklin also said this would help alleviate confusion they have seen in the past, mostly with checks being sent to one of the court systems. The court told Franklin to move ahead, and she will bring up the assignment of numbers at the next department head meeting.

She commented that one of the first places to get the new addresses would be on the county Web site.

•••

A  text amendment to the Harney County Zoning Ordinance was presented to the court by Brandon McMullen, planning director. The change would extend the time frame allowed for making land-use application decisions from 120 days to 150 days for land outside of an Urban Growth Boundary. The Planning Commission had already approved the change. A second hearing on the amendment will be held at the May 7 Harney County Court meeting.

•••

Title III proposals were reviewed, and a 45-day comment period was opened.
The proposals received included the FFA requesting $11,000 for the Forestry & Natural Resources Education Internship Program; Training and Employment Consortium requesting $38,760 for Oregon Youth Conservation Corps projects; Harney County Search and Rescue requesting $10,000; and the Landscape Scale Collaborative Effort on the Malheur National Forest for $250,000.

•••

Due to Rimrock Recycling disbanding, the county acquires the group’s assets. These assets include a fork lift, cardboard baler, several bins, and the building. Judge Grasty commended George Wynn and Dave Vickstrom for the work they put in to help Harney County meet the state’s recycling standards.

The Harney County Fair Board recently announced that country music recording artist Steve Holy will appear in Burns in early August.

“The people of Harney County have long been starved for big-name entertainment to come back to Harney County. The fair board would like to begin to go back to the days when it became tradition to have acts such as Sawyer Brown, Exile, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dan Seals, Mel McDaniel and Chris LeDoux appear on stage at the fairgrounds in the early 1990s,” said Don Slone, fair manager.

“In a Poll Barn question of people for the Burns Times-Herald, Sept. 5, 2007, the question was, ‘What would you most like to see happen at the fair?’ The answer was overwhelmingly ‘big name entertainment.’ ”

In keeping with that request, the fair board has been working to solidify Steve Holy as the first act, in hopefully a long list of acts in future years.

Holy’s hits include “Brand New Girlfriend” and “Good Morning Beautiful.” His style is a blend of ’50s rock, pop and traditional country.

According to the fair board, without the help of sponsors, the event will be impossible to produce; though it could possibly bring in more than $260,000 to the Burns/Hines area. “Your business may reap the rewards of some of that money,” said Slone.

Three levels of sponsorship are being offered by the fair board — gold, silver and bronze. The gold sponsor fee is $1,000, and includes six reserved seats, two meet and greet passes, business logo on 250 posters and ads, business introduced at the beginning of the concert and before the main act and a business banner on the fence near the stage.

The silver sponsor fee is $500 and includes three reserved seats, one meet and greet pass, business logo on 250 posters and ads, business introduced at the beginning of the concert, and a business banner on the front fence.

Bronze sponsorship cost is $300 and includes two reserved seats, one meet and greet pass, business logo on 250 posters and ads, and an introduction at the beginning of the concert.

The concert is scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Harney County Fairgrounds. Opening act for Holy will be Coyote Creek. For more information, call Slone at 573-6447.

The Crane Mustangs hosted their first track meet in several years, thanks to the completion of the new all-weather track. The Ranchers’ Invitational meet  on Friday, April 18, gave the Mustangs the opportunity to perform in front of their home fans.
Both the boys and girls won the meet, competing in fields of 11 teams. Final team scores were not available at press time.
Individually, the Mustangs boys picked up first place finishes from Chris Brower in the 100-meter, Levi Harris in both the high and intermediate hurdles, Dallen Davies in the long jump, Blake Steeves in the triple jump and the 4×100 relay team of Brower, Davies, Raymond Thompson and Levi Crisp.
The Mustang girls had first places from September O’Crowley in the 400-meter and the pole vault, Natalie Bentz in the high jump, and  the 4×100 relay team of Alex Borelli, Lindy Steeves, Emilee O’Toole and Caity DeBoer and 4×400 relay team of Bentz, O’Crowley, Steeves and Borelli.
Boys individual results:
100-meters
1 Chris Brower 11.64
2 Levi Crisp 11.73
6 Matt Stevens 12.2
8 Lance Moser 12.53
13 Colten Ketscher 13.28
200-meters
2 Dallen Davies 23.17
3 Chris Brower 24.32
11 Blake Steeves 27.30
13 Ty Harris 29.34
400-meters
3 Milton Merritt 56.53
8 Matt Stevens 1:00.01
800-meters
11 Lewis Whiting 2:40.28
1,500-meters
9 Gus Titus 4:59.08
14 Ty Harris 5:35.70
15 Kyle Borelli 5:42.77
16 Michael Rothgeb 6:05.32
3,000-meters
3 Garrett DeGraw 10:28.05
4 Gus Titus 11:11.74
5 Lewis Whiting 11:57.06
7 Daniel Rothgeb 13:23.79
110-hurdles
1 Levi Harris 17.15
2 TJ Potter 19.72
300-hurdles
1 Levi Harris 44.33
2 Jeran Conaway 46.59
4 TJ Potter 48.99
Shot put
3 Raymond Thompson 43’06
4 Carl Neumann 42’11.
15 Milton Merritt 35’02.50
18 Colton Ketscher 33’06.75
23 Willy Hurt 30’02.00
27 Jeff Warburton 28’06
4×100 relay
1 Chris Brower, Dallen Davies, Raymond Thompson, Levi Crisp 45.71
4×400 relay
2 Levi Crisp, Milton Merritt, Chris Brower, Dallen Davies 3:45.32
Discus
6 Raymond Thompson 111’07
20 Alan Robertson 73’02
23 Jeff Warburton 68’06
25 Colton Ketscher 64’10
27 Willy Hurt 60’02
Javelin
2 Raymond Thompson 154’00
6 Jeran Conaway 131’06
15 Alan Robertson 111’01
22 Garrett DeGraw 92’05
24 Colton Ketscher 90’05
Pole vault
2 Jeran Conaway 10’00.25
3 Kyle Borelli 10’00.00
6 TJ Potter 8’00.00
Long jump
1 Dallen Davies 18’08.50
3 Levi Crisp 17’02.25
4 Blake Steeves 16’11.00
15 Gus Titus 12’08.50
Triple jump
1 Blake Steeves 39′00.00
4 Lance Moser 36′00.00
8 Milton Merritt 33′11.00
10 Daniel Rothgeb 29′01.50
High jump
3 Jeran Conaway 5’10.00
4 Kyle Borelli 5’06.00
5 Alan Robertson 5’02.00
•••
Girls individual results:
100-meters
3 Emilee O’Toole 13.30
4 Caity DeBoer 13.35
5 Alex Borelli 13.64
200-meters
3 Lindy Steeves 27.47
4 Caity DeBoer 27.65
5 Natalie Bentz 29.30
11 Taylor Campbell 31.34
13 Brenda Otley 32.34
400-meters
1 September O’Crowley 1:01.31
7 Bethany Milburn 1:12.32
800-meters
4 Emilee O’Toole 2:51.98
1,500-meters
2 Delilas Korth 5:58.60
3,000-meters
2 Delilas Korth 12:56.66
100-hurdles
4 Savannah Duff 19.00
5 September O’Crowley 19.21
6 Brianna Brown 19.88
13 Anna Land 27.26
300-hurdles
3 Bethany Milburn 55.04
5 Brianna Brown 1:00.48
7 Anna Land 1:20.36
4×100 relay
1 Alex Borelli, Lindy Steeves, Emilee O’Toole, Caity DeBoer 52.72
4×400 relay
1 Natalie Bentz, September O’Crowley, Lindy Steeves, Alex Borelli 4:26.37
Shot put
6 Taylor Campbell 26’09.00
Discus
4 Rachael Pelroy 80’00
13 Taylor Campbell 66’03
17 Lily Valentine 63’10
19 Brenda Otley 52’11
21 Shannon Norris 50’01
Javelin
10 Lindy Steeves 75’07
14 Lily Valentine 65’05
16 Shannon Norris 53’01
17 Anna Land 49’09
18 Brenda Otley 49’05
High jump
1 Natalie Bentz 5’03.00
Pole vault
1 September O’Crowley 7’10
2 Natalie Bentz 7’06.00
Long jump
7 Emilee O’Toole 13’10.00
11 Savannah Duff 13’02.75
13 Brianna Brown 12’07
20 Bethany Milburn 11’01
Triple jump
9 Savannah Duff 25’01.75

William R. (Bill) Renwick died on April 15.

He was born on Nov. 4, 1918, at the family ranch at Follyfarm, the third of four boys born to William Renwick and Ada (Neal) Renwick. His grandparents John H. and Dorcas Neal were early Grant, Harney and Malheur County pioneers.

Renwick grew up on family ranches at Follyfarm, Juniper Ranch and the Keuny Ranch. During high school, and after graduation in 1936, he worked for Paul Stewart on the Mann Lake Ranch. He worked there until he was severely injured in a horse wreck in 1938. After recuperating, he worked for Herb Fawcett on the Harney County Road Department, building and improving Harney County roads in and through the south end of the county. It was during this time that he developed and built upon his long-time passion for fixing, maintaining and operating heavy machinery.

With the onset of the draft, Renwick joined the United States Army in 1940, hoping to become a pilot. He did not pass the pilot’s physical requirements, so opted to work in engineering, honoring his grandfather. He worked with the coast and Geodetic Survey while stationed in Southern California. He was then transferred to Oahu, Hawaii. Renwick was at Hickham Field, adjacent to Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. He survived the attack and was assigned to be in the newly formed 804th Combat Engineers, which took him to nearly all of the Pacific islands for the duration of World War II. The 804th constructed rudimentary, then more elaborate airstrips for Allied aircraft immediately after the islands were taken by preliminary invasion forces.

Renwick came home to attend the funeral of his grandfather, and met Ida M. Wilcox in Vale. He returned to duty for the duration of the war, and upon discharge, he and Ida were married on Nov. 6, 1945.

Renwick went back to work for Harney County Road Department until he was accepted to body and fender trade school in Portland, which he attended on the G.I. Bill. Upon completion of training, he went to work for McCulloch Garage, and he and Ida began to build a family, home and lives in Burns. He also worked on the graveyard shift at Edward Hines Lumber Company, pulling green chain and worked with Don Robins at the block plant in Burns. From these two sources, he was able to acquire the lumber and concrete block he used to build the house that the couple lived in for the duration of their lives.

Renwick worked at many jobs, many at the same time, including truck repair, mechanic for the BLM, heavy equipment operator for the BLM, and heavy equipment mechanic for Edward Hines.
He was very involved in activities, participating in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H and athletics. The Renwicks went to every out of town game of the Burns Hilanders where his kids were competing.
Renwick was a trainer for the American Red Cross, putting on first aid classes in Harney County.

He loved hunting and fishing — especially elk hunting. A guided elk hunt with his best friend Ray Bagshaw to the Wyoming wilderness in 1978 was a life highlight.

Renwick was extremely proud of his children, Bill and Lois, in their achievements in college, graduate school and their careers. He also enjoyed showing off his grandchildren Will and Casey.

After retiring, Renwick traveled extensively throughout the Southwest, Mexico, Oregon, and especially, Harney County. He and his wife enjoyed bike riding, and watching the birds in the meadows and floodplain of the Silvies River. They also enjoyed putting together family and area histories, and sharing them. Renwick attended many meetings and reunions of the 804th Engineer’s Battalion, and Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Association. He and his wife went to Hawaii numerous times for anniversaries of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Renwick is survived by his children, Bill of Burns, and Lois and husband Jerry of Myrtle Point; grandchildren, Will and Casey Renwick of Tualatin; sister-in-law, Margaret Renwick;  and nieces and nephews and their families, Shirley Wensenk, Judy Crisafi, Georgia Draper, Alan Renwick, Nancy Yantis, Janice Paradis, Margie Karl, Bobbie Maggard, Mary McLoughlin, John Atkins, Toni Lamb, Jon Stacey and Fred Stacey. He is also survived by many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida; brothers, Robert, George and Jim; parents, William and Ada Renwick; grandparents; an aunt and uncle as well as other relatives; and friends Ray and Lois Bagshaw.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Renwick’s memory may be made to the Harney County Senior Center, Harney County Home Health and Hospice, Harney County Historical Society, or a charity of one’s choice. A memorial service will be held for Renwick and his wife, Ida, on Saturday, May 24, at the Harney County Senior Center.

Alta Mae Hammond died on April 17, at the Farmington Square Assisted Living in Medford.
She was born on Nov. 26, 1915, to Hillery and Mattie (Weitman) Todd, in Dayton, Wash.
Hammond spent the first eight years of her life in Washington, and the rest of her years in Oregon. She lived in Bartlett, Butte Falls, Derby, Shady Cove, Sam’s Valley, Klamath Falls, Jacksonville and Medford.  She had been in Medford for the past 60 years.

She married Ted Hammond of MacDoel, Calif., on Oct. 17, 1936, in Reno, Nev. They were married for 65 years when he died in 2001.

After living in a tent for the first few years of their marriage, the couple built their first home in Klamath Falls. It was a lovely home, made of scrap two-by-fours, chicken wire, bottle caps and finished off with stucco. All of the materials were collected by them.

Hammond was well- known in the Rogue Valley for her lovely flowers, vegetable garden and beautiful yard. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, bowling, collecting rocks, playing her violin and remodeling. She did so much remodeling to their home, that her husband said he never knew where the front door was going to be when he came home from work.

She was a member of the Elk’s Emblem Club and played on their bowling team for many years.
Hammond was a bookkeeper for many years at her husband’s various car dealerships in Southern Oregon.  She was also a longtime volunteer for the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Hammond is survived by her older sister, Lolah Nelson of Waldport; sons, Larry Hammond and wife Shelba of Hines, and Dennis Hammond and wife Sandy of Gold Hill; grandchildren, Cheri, Deron, Scott, Sherri and Kay; and great-grandchildren, Taylor, Justin, Jordyn, Shaun and Jason. She is also survived by sister-in-laws, Alice and Ruth; brother-in-law, Art; many nieces, nephews and cousins; and long-time friend and prayer partner, Sherry O’Conner.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted; parents, Mattie and Hillery; brothers, Toddy and Don; and sister, Lelah.

Hammond was a member of the Bethel Church, 4245 Vista Point Drive, in Medford, where the service will be held and officiated by Pastor Tim Olson, on April 25 at 11 a.m. There will be a graveside service for the close family at the Trail Cemetery in Trail.

Contributions in Hammond’s memory may be made to the Children’s Ministry of the Medford Bethel Church.

Conger Morris Funeral Directors of Medford is in charge of arrangements.

Gary Glen Jones died on March 23, following a two-year battle with cancer.

He was born on Nov. 23, 1933, in The Dalles, to Glen A. and Frances G. Jones.

The family moved from The Dalles to Dayton, Wash., where Jones attended elementary school and junior high. During his freshman year of high school, Jones moved to Burns.

While attending Burns High School, Jones was a three-year football letterman, playing center and defensive tackle. He was also a varsity basketball player and a field specialist on the track team.
After graduating in 1952, Jones enrolled at Willamette University. He joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity, played football and joined the Air Force ROTC program. He also met his future wife, Justine Louise Lewis, while at Willamette.

He proposed to her on a camping trip to Steens Mountain, and they were married on Nov. 5, 1954. The couple moved to Eugene and Jones enrolled at the University of Oregon. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in June, 1956.

Jones completed basic training at Fort Lewis, during the summer of 1955, and reported for duty with the United States Army at Fort Sill, Okla., on July 23, 1956. He transferred to California that same year, serving while stationed at Ford Ord and Camp Roberts. He attained the rank of 1st lieutenant and received an honorable discharge on July 28, 1958. He continued to serve his country an an officer with the U.S. Army Reserves until July 1964.

Two children were born to Jones and his wife while living in California.

In 1958, Jones and his family moved to Salem, where he began working for the Marvin Lewis Oil Co. as a service station manager, delivery truck driver and transport truck driver. Jones’ third child was born while in Salem.

In 1960, Jones began working for the Oregon Highway Department as a right-of-way appraiser. Over the next four years, he worked full-time, while attending night school at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. He received his LLB from Northwestern in May 1964, and passed the Oregon State Bar Exam in the summer of 1964.

After passing the bar exam, Jones worked for Pacific Title, Co. and then accepted a position with the Salem law firm of Rhoten, Rhoten and Speerstra, as a probate and estate planning lawyer. He worked as a partner in the firm until 1982, when he opened his own law office. In 1998, Jones joined his son Rod and the two practiced together for the last 10 years of his life.

In the five decades of Jones’ legal career, he served on the Marion County Bar Association board of Directors; was president of the Marion County Bar Association; co-chair of the medical-legal committee; was the Bar Bulletin editor; the secretary for the Oregon State Bar Workers’ Compensation section; and was a Willamette Valley Estate Planning Council charter member, board member and president. He also served on many Oregon State Bar Association committees, and was a speaker at many estate planning and probate seminars. He always enjoyed mentoring young members of the bar.

Jones was a member of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, the Salem Downtown Rotary Club, the Order of DeMolay, the Salem Masonic Lodge, and served on the board of the Benedictine Nursing Center of Mt. Angel. He was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, serving various positions.

Jones is survived by his children, Ginger G. Simmons and husband David of Salem, Brad G. Jones and wife Stacey of Vancouver, Wash., and Rod M. Jones and wife Lori of Salem; grandchildren Mary and Marina Simmons, Corey and Jesse Jones, and Nic Stefanie and McKenna Olson; sisters-in-laws Gay Leisman and Hazel Jones; and many nieces, nephews and extended family.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Justine.