25 years ago this week — 1999

PENDLETON — A bill that would encourage schools to provide a “character” curriculum to teach students honesty, obedience, respect and self-control is on its way to Gov. John Kitzhaber’s desk.

Unlike character curriculums already in place in many school districts, House Bill 2670 directs the Department of Education for grants that are available by partnering with secular character education providers, but stops short of requiring schools to sign on to the concept.

Language in the bill calls for the inclusion of qualities such as forgiveness, sensitivity, discretion, patience, sincerity, punctuality, honesty and boldness in any curriculum developed for elementary students.

Some school districts with their own character programs in place will likely balk at using a program conducted by outsiders.

“I think this bill will have little effect on the district, since we have our own character curriculum,” said Pat Sullivan, chair of the Pendleton School Board. “We have the “bees” character program at Lincoln School, for instance, that the kids have really responded to, and everywhere you look in the district you’ll see character education posters. Principals, teachers and everyone aspire to teaching good character.”

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It’s the kind of story that tugs at the heartstrings. Terry Lee Miller won’t have a future unless he receives a new heart. But until a suitable organ donor comes along, he can do little more than wait.

Fortunately, the 51-year-old truck driver who grew up in Pendleton is at the top of the list to be the first-ever recipient of a heart transplant at Providence Portland Medical Center.

“We’re all excited about it,” Miller said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed in Portland. “It’s quite exciting because I know all my doctors and nurses. I have a fleet of doctors that — oh, there’s no words to describe what they’ve done for me.”

Miller is alive today because of daily medication. Without it, he said he probably wouldn’t survive more than a week.

“They can keep me alive, but I can’t do much,” he said. “There’s not much of my heart that’s still functioning. I can only walk about half a block — with someone following me with a wheelchair — then I have to turn around and go back. I can’t even lift 10 pounds.”

Miller suffers from an oversized heart, a condition that claimed his father at the age of 53. Miller’s own health declined rapidly after he first began having breathing problems 18 months ago. Prior to that, his health was never a concern.

“I hadn’t missed a day of work in 20 years,” he said.

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PENDLETON — Capturing the attention of thousands of teens is not an easy task, but while spinning a brightly colored ball, evangelist Mike Silva made it seem as effortless as a day at the beach.

All Silva had to do at Creation ‘99, held last week at the Gorge Amphitheater, was yell out “Get it?” And the crowd would roar back, “Got it!”

Silva, 42, was the featured speaker at Creation. Formerly the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Pendleton, Silva said he is excited any time he’s before an audience. But he “never dreamt in a million years” that his ministry would be so dynamic.

Making his second trek to Creation, Jerrod Propeck, 16, of Milton-Freewater said Silva was his favorite speaker.

“What he says stays in my mind. I remember Silva because of his messages,” Propeck said.

Working under the umbrella of the international evangelism team of Luis Palau, Silva will take his first international tour to Latvia this fall. There is talk of future trips to Nigeria and India.

“Where people are hungry for the gospel, those are the places I want to go,” Silva said.

50 years ago this week — 1974

U.S. Sen. Wayne Morse was quite a man. And there are thousands of Oregonians mourning his passing today. A husky longshoreman, a retired school teacher and an Eastern Oregon farmer, may all shed a tear today.

I became acquainted with the senator 25 years ago. It happened in a Willamette valley High School where he was making a speech. He was a Republican, and he was, among other things, lashing out at his party’s campaign for cutting the federal budget in places like veterans benefits. He was pleading the case for the ex-serviceman that day and he was doing it in typical Morse fashion.

The several hundred students from surrounding towns were tuned in to his speech. The teachers couldn’t get that kind of attention.

He always said his best audiences were high school students. Also, he said he could sense the attitudes of his audiences like a circus performer and when they started coming with him he would turn it on like a fire horse.

He was challenged by Douglas McKay at the insistence of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. McKay was the popular former Oregon governor and Eisenhower’s Secretary of the Interior.

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It has been a 10 year struggle for Beverly Walker, director of the day care center here. But today she is sitting on top of her world, secure in the knowledge that the center will be funded each year.

Once she has to close it down because federal funds don’t come through. It took a direct appeal to Oregon congressmen to obtain emergency funds that year, in 1969. The center was reopened after six weeks.

“We got our funding at that time from the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO),” Mrs. Walker said in a recent interview, “We had to apply every year. In 1969 the funds were appropriated, but they didn’t come through.”

The situation changed in 1971 when the state set up the 4-C (Community Coordinated Child Care) council, to administer state and federal funds for organized day care.

Last year the legislature created a state advisory council for day care, and directed each of the 14 administrative districts in the state to elect a representative to the council, plus an alternate.

Mrs. Walter was elected to represent Dist. 12 – Umatilla, Morrow, Grant, Wheeler and Gilliam counties. Her alternate is Lois Wilson, Pendleton 4-C director.

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Blue Mountain Community College directors Wednesday night changed their minds – two or three times – about whether they oppose a proposed mobile home park near the college.

BMCC representatives had opposed the park, proposed by Dan Satterwhite, before the city planning commission because there was a danger it would become an eyesore.

Since then, however, BMCC board members have discussed the matter with Satterwhite, and Wednesday night the directors voted to withdraw the college’s objection … with reservations.

If tenants abided by rules and regulations suggested by Satterwhite, said board chairman Joe Green, “it would be a pretty nice place.”

Green said it was possible the city would oppose the development no matter what stand the college took, but other directors thought the board’s action would be taken into account.

Following more discussion, Green asked whether anyone wanted to make a motion to change the college’s opposition, or to reform it.

After a 30-second silence, discussion resumes, this time about what effect the mobile home park would have on the college.

A few minutes later no motion had been made yet, so Green called a five-minute break.

100 years ago this week — 1924

The funeral of the late Mrs. Sarah A. Jones will be held on Thursday afternoon at 4 o’clock from the Presbyterian church.

Mrs. Jones was 77 years old, having been born in Missouri in 1847. She crossed the plains with her parents in 1852 and settled at Cottage Grove. In 1871 she came to Umatilla County and has resided in Pendleton most of the time since 1876.

Mrs. Jones was the wife of the late James H. Jones, who died in 1913. Mr. Jones was one of Oregon’s early pioneers, also, having crossed the plains by ox team in 1853. He was a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Jones was a charter member of the Ladies Pioneer Club of this city. She was also a member of the county and state pioneer associations.

Mrs. Jones is survived by one son and two daughters, Mr. W. P. Jones of Gresham, Mrs. J. R. Porter, of Riverside, and Mrs. M. W. Pederson, of Long Beach, California. Her grandchildren are Mrs. Clara Porter Smith and Mr. Frank Porter, of Pendleton, Mr. Ralph E. Porter, of Bellingham, Washington, Frederick, James and John Stillwell, of Portland, and one great grandson, Master Joseph C. Smith. Mrs. Jones brother and sister, Mrs. George Ganger and Mr. Lewis Sears, live here.

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Relatives of James Laurence Whitman, formerly of Pendleton have received notice that he has been awarded the degree of doctor of philosophy from the graduate college of the State University of Iowa. Whitman majored in Analytical Chemistry.

Before going to Iowa for his doctor’s work, Whitman attended the University of Oregon, where, in 1914, he was awarded his bachelor of arts degree and in 1915 his master of science. He served as instructor in chemistry at the university during the summer sessions of 1914, 1915, 1921 and 1922. In the fall of 1922 he became a graduate assistant in chemistry at the University of Iowa and during 1923-1924 held a fellowship in the same department.

Whitman was born near Pendleton, attended schools here and for seven years taught chemistry in the Pendleton high school and the University of Washington. He is a brother of H. P. Whitman, of Pendleton, and of Dale Whitman, of Milton. He holds membership in the American Chemical Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi Gamma Alpha, graduate scientific fraternity, and Alpha Chi Sigma, professional chemical society. In his younger days Whitman was employed by the East Oregonian.

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More special trains for the Pendleton Round-Up will be run this year than ever before, if plans that are now in a formative stage are realized, according to a statement made at the headquarters of the association today. Not all of the trains are absolutely assured, but there are excellent prospects that they will be run.

In addition to the special that is always conducted by the Oregon Journal, plans are going forward for another Portland train which probably will carry the patrol and band of Al Kader temple of the Shrine. Another train that may come from the Coos Bay distgrict and Willamette valley points is being planned. The co-operation of the Southern Pacific has been asked through John M. Scott, passenger traffic manager. It is also possible that a special from Seattle, Tacoma and the Grays Harbor district, may be run.

Orders received for tickets are ahead of orders received last year at this time, and inquiries are greater by 15 per cent. This morning there were 32 letters of inquiry to answer at the office of the association.

Wallace Smith, an eastern freelance writer who gets away with humor in big publications, is now touring Oregon and visiting points of special interest. He has been invited to attend this Round-Up this fall and will be here about the middle of August to meet with the board of directors.