The village officials are giving their attention just now to the improvement of Main Street. The old method of repairing streets—putting a few loads of gravel here and there—has been discontinued. The present plan is to macadamize the street. Crushed stone to a depth of 8 inches is being hauled onto the street and packed by use jof a large road roller. The material is being hauled from Ole Egner’s gravel pit about a mile west of town50 years ago (1960)
Winston Hughart began his duties on June 1st. as clerk and treasurer for the Village of Oregon, taking over from Glen Campbell who had been filling the position since the retirement of Donald McGill. Glen will continue to serve as Superintendent of Public Works.The Oregon Explorer Scouts were conducting a membership drive. Those interested in joining were asked to contact one of the following officers: Paul Spink, president, Dave Hubbard, vice-president, Bob Mandeville, secretary or Phil Shenefelt treasurer.
Fire destroyed a barn and three other buildings on the John Eugster, Jr. farm located on what is now Hwy. 138 (formerly Hwy. 106). Don Bunnell, the Oregon Fire Chief reported that although Eugster had just finished filling the barn the day before with about 10,000 bales of hay however, the probable cause was the spontaneous combustion of hay which had been placed there some time ago.
John Brown, manager of the Transport Oil Station, was advertising gas at 30.9 cents per gallon for regular and 33.9 cents for high octane Ethyl.
25 years ago (1985)
Dan Kissling represented Oregon in three different events at the WIAA State Track Meet for the first time in school history; the long jump and the 200 meter and 100 meter dashes.
The Oregon Water Tower has been fixed, cleaned and painted. It was a two year project. The Water Tower Committee announced that the first official showing of the preserved water tower and pump house will take place during the Summerfest weekend. Members of the committee were Lena Rowe, Glen Campbell, Ray Silbaugh, Alice Seeliger, Syl Farris, Denny Johnson and Earl Wheeler.
Manly Draper and Larry Mahr have been working on a new Village sign ordinance and so far have revised and edited many drafts.
The Oregon High School and Junior High teams went to the world finals of the Olympics of the Mind at the University of Maryland. Members of the junior high team were Ian Blasch, Kyle Blasch, Andy Brown, Chris Phsitry, Andrew Seaborg, and Bob Zorko. The high school team members were Erik Blasch, Erik Kay, Ken Martinson, and David Wanless. Greg Scott was also a member but didn’t attend the finals.
The Bank of Oregon announced that it had become a part of the Valley Bancorporation headquartered in Appleton. The bank’s name will be changed to the Valley Bank of Oregon.
10 years ago (2000)
Joan Gefke, who led the application effort to establish a downtown historic district, reported that notification from the U. S. Department of Interior is expected soon, placing our downtown historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Oregon Board of Education approved the sale of 6.85 million in school building bonds for the construction of the new elementary school to be built at the northwest corner of South Burr Oak Ave. and South Perry Parkway.
Georgia Johnson has been hired by the Village and starts her duties as Village Clerk and deputy treasurer.
Rebecca Beetham won the title of Oregon Ambassador for 2000. She received a gold medal as well as a plaque and a $500 scholarship funded by the Oregon Chamber of Commerce and business sponsors.
Allison Schnelle finished her career at Oregon High School as one of the best girls’ track and field athletes in the school’s history. She qualified for the state meet in 12 of 16 chances; going the state meet in at lest two events every year.