4th of July Events ....................... PAGE 14 Sunflowers for Ukraine ............. PAGE 13
June 28, 2022
Serving Lincoln City Since 1927
Back in the family
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Heritage Hill Acres, LLC reopens horse boarding facility HILARY DORSEY Editor
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hile Heritage Hill Acres, LLC, previously known as Green Acres, has a new name, its new ownership ties it back to a family business of five generations. A grand opening will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 3. There will be free food, face painting, pony rides, a bouncy house, prizes and more. The horse boarding facility consists of 63 acres, a 40 stall barn, indoor arena, outdoor arena, big pastures and access to trails. The facility is located at 2915 South Hill Road in Otis. Owners Kerry Ann Sweitz-Fendt and Seth Fendt took over the lease three months ago and recently closed on it. “My great-great grandparents purchased it in 1939, which was Howard and Beulah McMillen. It was 90 acres back then of just property.” The couple made it a dairy farm and sold the milk to Tillamook Creamery. They ran the dairy farm with their children until Sweitz-
Fendt’s grandfather took over the operation in the 1960s after serving in the United States Marine Corps. Laura Sweitz, mother of SweitzFendt, said it was the first dairy farm in Otis. “In 1964, Arnold was running it when he met my mother-in-law, Mary Lou Sweitz,” Sweitz said. “He married her with five boys and a daughter.” The couple continued to run the dairy farm and lived in the original farmhouse Howard McMillen built. In 1970, Arnold McMillen and Mary Lou McMillen Sweitz bought the property from Arnold’s parents Howard and Buella McMillen. Arnold McMillen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978. The family decided to start selling off some of the land by 1982 but got a portion of it back in 1988, which is still in the family. “The portion of the land that they didn’t get back was passed to three different owners from 1982 to 2022,” Sweitz-Fendt said. “During that time, the second owners stripped
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
See HERITAGE HILLS, Page A2 Kerry Ann Sweitz-Fendt and Seth Fendt with their son Lane.
Governor candidate Betsy Johnson talks independent campaign focus HILARY DORSEY Editor
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Volunteers clean up Taft Pioneer Cemetery HILARY DORSEY Editor
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ids came from the Church of Latter-Day Saints from Lincoln City, Monmouth, Independence, Dallas, West Salem and Willamina to clean up the Taft Pioneer Cemetery on Saturday, June 18. There were 100 volunteers. Former Taft Cemetery Association President Sheryl Smith helped with the event. She thanks the local Safeway’s manager for providing doughnuts for the event on short notice. Smith said the kids worked 2.5 hours cleaning headstones, cutting brush down, and other maintenance. The group was grateful for no rain. “It just blew my mind,” Smith said of the event.
The Taft Cemetery Association had received a phone call from the Church of Latter-Day Saints, asking if the kids could come clean up the cemetery, Smith added. About 100 kids came. The kids were ages 13-18. They worked hard, asking what they could do next. Alison Shuldberg, of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, directed the students. Shuldberg said most of the cities had 5-12 kids from each location. The church has a committee with youth who come up with ideas of where to volunteer and chose the Taft Pioneer Cemetery. The Taft Pioneer Cemetery’s theme is a “View to Die For,” with its watch tower providing beauty to all who visit. Send comments to: newsguardeditor@countrymedia.net
ormer Oregon State Rep. Betsy Johnson is running for governor of Oregon as an independent in the November election. Her campaign is focused on improving public schools, affordable housing for workers and make Oregon appealing to job creators. Johnson served in the Oregon House and Senate for more than 20 years, retiring as chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee to run for governor. She has a reputation as an advocate for her constituents. Johnson has also served on the boards of numerous local, regional and national organizations, including the Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Oregon Public Broadcasting Foundation and the High Desert Museum. She also ran a commercial helicopter company for 20 years. She is currently on the Board of Visitors of Northwest School of Law and serves as president of the Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, named after her late father. Johnson said she decided to run for governor because she has had a front row seat to the deterioration of the state she loves. There are issues of homelessness, crime, lawlessness in Portland, the education system lowering standards for students, lack of affordable housing, and more. “I believe we cannot continue in this way,” Johnson said. “And nothing is more disruptive to the status quo than having a nonaffiliated governor.” Johnson is running as an independent. She left the Republican party because she felt they became too extreme. As a Democrat, she felt the party went too far to the left, especially with issues such as defunding the police. She said she is running as an Oregonian. One of the main things Johnson plans to do as governor is support law enforcement and make them accountable. “They have to be responsible and professional, but we need to augment the amount of sworn officers that we have,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to get a hold of the lawlessness that has plagued Oregon.” Johnson said she has maintained that Oregon cannot succeed if Portland fails. She said something must be done to get people off the streets and into affordable homes. “Lincoln City is probably not atypical of what we’re seeing all up and down the coast where people that work in the hospitality industry especially are being forced to go farther and farther away from their job and commuting longer and longer distances,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to get more housing in the pipeline.” Johnson believes there needs to be more accountability in Oregon’s schools. Oregon is graduating students who do not need to demonstrate competency in core subjects, Johnson added. When kids are not meeting the state’s standards, Oregon lowers those standards, she added. She plans to take the issue on and demand performance out of schools. If elected, the Johnson administration would value jobs
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and job creators. She wants Oregon to be a welcoming place for job creators and retain the established jobs as well. For Johnson, the important part is getting Oregon’s maverick spirit back and for people to be proud to be part of Oregon. Johnson wants people to imagine a governor who would be willing to reject the paralytic partisan politics that have caused the state not to move forward on finding solutions to some of the big problems. She’s willing not to sign budgets or sign legislation unless there is bipartisan support. “It’s all too often, in my experience, we start at no,” Johnson said. “I want us to be a welcoming place for jobs and job creators. I want us to get our economy back in play. I want us to be responsive to the needs of the businesses that are here.” While she was in the Legislature, Johnson was a budget writer. “I know a lot about the state’s budget and would be very enthusiastic to comb through those budgets and make sure every taxpayer dime that’s being spent is yielding results that are accountable and audible,” Johnson said. There is currently a petition to put Johnson on the ballot in November. Her campaign needs around 25,000 signatures by mid-August. She believes she will receive more than that, as the response has been overwhelming. People can download petitions for her campaign website. For more information on Johnson’s campaign, visit https://www.runbetsyrun.com/ Send comments to: newsguardeditor@countrymedia.net
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