Oregon History Timeline for June 2017
100 yrs. ago (1917)
C. O. Hansen requested that customers having empty ice cream cans return them to his store as soon as possible. An increased demand for canisters of ice cream were expected during the 4th of July holiday.
J. J. Lindsay and J. S. Cusick were appointed by the County Council of Defense to serve as farm labor agents for Oregon and vicinity. Any male wising to secure farm work for the season, or for a shorter period, would be encouraged to file his name with the local agent. Farmers desiring help would then be able to contact the best available help by telephoning the labor agent in his or her township, When local help was not available, word will be passed on to the state or another county.
A wrestling match at the Opera Hose pitched Fred Zwickey of Albany against A. Tronnes of Brooklyn. Tronnes won the match by downing Zwickey in 18 minutes and then going on to down him a second time in 3 minutes. General admission to the event was 35 cents . A ringside seat was 50 cents The winner took 60% of the gate receipts and the loser the balance. Both men had posted forfeits with the Bank of Oregon to guarantee their appearances. The referee was Chas. Henrich.
World War One Liberty Bonds were advertised by the Bank of Oregon as “the safest investment on the face of the globe; backed by the world’s richest country”. They paid three and one-half per cent interest.
The Portland Hotel asked readers: “Why swelter over the kitchen stove on Sunday?” Through out the summer months they were serving chicken dinners at 35 cents a plate.
Carl Nelson, Chas. Stryhn and Wm. Houtby had purchased new five-passenger Overland cars.
Wischhoff & Hughes were selling the new “Flip Flop Toasters” that would toast both sides of the bread without handling.
The Village Board approved the request of A. G. Criddle for a pharmacist’s permit to sell alcohol for medicinal, mechanical and scientific purposes.
Sofus Olson took over the active management of the opera house which he had recently purchased.
The road sign greeting people and their vehicles to the Village of Oregon reminded drivers that the speed limit was 15 miles per hour.
The school year for OHS ended with the commencement at the Oregon Opera House. Addresses were given by the salutatory, Jessie Taylor and the valedictorian, Morris Jackson. An alumni reception attended by nearly 160 persons was held the following evening.
The grade school classes ended their year with outings: The lower grades and their teachers held a picnic on the Methodist Church lawn. The 7th graders spent a day at the cottage of Dr. Hanan on Lake Kegonsa with Mrs. C. N. Shileton acting as their chaperon. The 8th. grade class spent spend a day at First Lake [i.e.,Lake Mendota] with their teacher, Miss Buckley.
50 yrs. ago (1967)
Ninety-nine seniors graduated from OHS. Janet Bruha was the valedictorian and Laureen Lynaugh the salutatorian.
Two members of the OHS boy’s track team won the right to compete at the state competition. Mike O’Neill had placed second in the open 440, at the Madison Conference Meet, setting a new school record at 51 seconds, and Steve Loftus came in second at the meet, running the mile in 4:39.9.
HMC 6th graders were honored on their last year as students of the HMC Parochial School. Next year they will be attending the Oregon Junior High School. Members of the class were Stephen Mountford, Dale Cross, Teresa Wethal, Pam Mauer, Sue Below, Tom Dunn, Kathye Caine, Patty Shea, Linda McCallum, Ruth Ann Smith, and Jim Meier.
Students of the HMC Grade School entertained those attending the Home-Parent Association Meeting with singing, games, and square dancing organized by Sister’s Cecile, Marie Kathleen, and Joris. Later that evening Frank Baxter was elected president of the association for the coming year and Mrs. Wes Wethal secretary-treasurer.
George and Zella Wales, owners and operators for the past 17 years of Oregon Home Bakery. sold their business to Roy Bechtold of Stoughton and Merlyn Hanneman of Madison.
Members of the Oregon Junior High track team who were point-winners at the McFarland Invitational were Jim Outhouse, Lou Smith, Bill Knickmeyer, Ron Rogers, Jim Johnson, Gary Bakker, Keith Lippert, Bill Bossingham; and Tom Oelmann.
A group of Oregon boosters appeared on WKOW-TV’s “Dairyland Jubilee” to publicize the coming Summer Fest celebration. The program was hosted by “Big” John Schermerhorn.
Forrest (“Steve”) Madsen was honored at the Summer Fest for his 30 years of service to the Village. A unique electric clock designed by the local jeweler, Earl Reeve, was presented to him by emcee, John Schermerhorn.
The Arthur Sholts Memorial Wildlife Area was established in memory of Arthur Sholts by his family in 1956.-1957. The project of preparing the land and the planting of trees and shrubs, etc. was undertaken by the Sholts and Anderson families along with the continued help of the Oregon Boy Scout Troop #50 . The troop had made this their permanent over the past ten years.
The Oregon Boy Scout Troop #50 celebrated their 25th Anniversary. Roy Johnson had spearheaded the movement to get the local troop organized. Their charter was received in June of 1942. Earl M. Wheeler, the first scoutmaster, was recognized for his continuous service to the troop over the past 25 years. The sixteen charter scout members were Neil Rasmussen, Earl Newton, Rollins Hubbard, Harold Olson, Rodney Nedlose, Gerald Johnson, Raymond Small, Robert Spink, Halvor Bjornson, Ronald Erfurth, Douglas Peterson, Dale Alme, David Hansen, Bill Sweeney, Christopher Schneider and Timothy Collins.
25 yrs. ago (l992)
There were 142 graduating from Oregon High School; the smallest class in several years. The valedictorian was Amy Gilbertson and the salutatorian, Renee Spenser.
The Odyssey of the Mind team was awarded first place in their division of 57 state and country champions at the world competition held in Boulder Colorado. Members of the team were Cadie Langer, Zak Paster, Chad Rittenhouse, Joe Barry, DeeDee Paster, Tony Callahan, and Eli Paster. Their coach was Penny Paster.
The Village Board voted to construct sidewalks down both sides of Oak Street. They also held a public hearing, attended by over 60 citizens, concerning the Villages’ policies and current resolutions concerning the replacement and/or construction of new curb gutter, and sidewalk within the village.
Oregon youth (6th thru 8th graders) that were honored by the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, Norman Bassett Foundation and Lynda and Harry Bradley Foundation and the Wis. Dept. of Education for their scores on the ACT and SAT college admission scores were Brent Warner, Jessica Wilkening, Emily Scott, Joshua Potykus, Ian Honeyman, Elana Wilson, and Vincent Okada.
The OHS Girl’s 1600 meter relay team came in second at the state track meet. Members of the team were Kim Bland, Michelle Northrop, Emily Barth, and Meghan Werth. Michelle Northup also captured her second state title in the 100 meter high hurdles.
On Wednesday June 17th about noon, a tornado struck the Oregon and Fitchburg area causing more than $25 million in damages. There were no deaths but about 35 people were recorded injured. Lasting only eight minutes, it cut a 14 mile swath though the area with wind gusts of over 175 miles per hour. Hardest hit were the homes in the Madsen Circle sub-division and the Oregon State Farm.
The Oregon School District welcomed seven new teachers to their staff: Cathy Langer, Mary Gooze, Jodie Krekowski, Douglas Hagen, teaching 6th grade classes; Mark Lee and Colleen Christenson, first grade classes; and Mary Mulllen, 4th grade.
Al Gasner was chairperson for Oregon’s annual Summer Fest activities. Gary Champagne and Dick Lindberg took care of parade arrangements.
10 yrs. ago (2007)
Valentine’s Restaurant located at 1150 Park Street, closes. It had been opened since October 2005.
Ground breaking ceremonies were held for the new Brooklyn Elementary School outdoor shelter/classroom. Participating the groundbreaking were school principal, Anita Koehler; the builders, Ed and Dan Hefty of Hefty Construction and the designer, Jeff Groenier of Groenier Concepts in Architecture. in addition to donations of time and labor, the Bruning Foundation donated $6,000 and the school’s students raised more than $3,500.
OHS junior, Megan Beers, placed second in the 800 meter run at the WIAA State Track & Field Meet in LaCrosse.
The following teachers on the Oregon School District retired this year: Anne Staton (18 yrs.), Maryanne Olson (28 yrs.), Cathy Kooistra (11 yrs.) Sue Ellen Waefler (31 yrs.) Evelyn Lund (34.5 yrs); Marcy Larson (28 yrs), Judy Miller (31 yrs.); Shirley Reese (12 yrs.); Linda Perone (17 yrs.) Cathy Albers (28 yrs) Diane Hartwig (10 yrs.s); Linda Daly (33 yrs); and Shelia Olsen (21 yrs. plus 15 as a substitute teacher.
The schools in the Oregon School District collected 100 to 120 boxes of donated school supplies for Louisiana schools that were still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.. Tri-County Appliance provided a truck to take the supplies to Verona where they were loaded on the trucks of Hay Transport for delivery to Louisiana.
Rev. Howard Hintzman, pastor of People’s United Methodist Church for the past 13 years, announced that he would be leaving Oregon to serve a church in Stevens Point.
Rev. Scott Ziegler, pastor at the Hillcrest Bible Church for nearly two decades, will be leaving Oregon to serve the Des Plaines Bible Church In Des Plaines, Illinois.
Sgt. Dennis Geske retired from the Oregon Police Force after nearly 30 years of service.
Oscar Larson, a mail carrier in the village since March 3, 1973, retired from the Postal Service.
The Garcia Bros. Circus of Dallas, Texas, pitched a 50 foot tall tent near Braun Road and North Main Street. They had performances during three days of the Summer Fest, although they had no connection to the local celebration. The performances were held at the Oregon location because the circus was unable to obtain a permit to secure a site in Madison.