Oregon History Timeline for June 2019

100 years ago (1919)

The school year ended with the commencement exercises at the Opera House. The program included musical selections by the Bach Orchestra of Madison and an address by the Rev. Henry Goodwell also of Madison. The presentation of diplomas was made by Principal Cady. There was only one boy in the class. The class consisted of Nyna Criddle, Marguerite Ozburn, Ethel Murphy, Dorothy Manson, Dorathea Schuler, Lillian Hanan, Catherine MacWilliams, Joyce Pasley, Frances Tipple, Bernice Cady and Stanley Chandler.

The Alumni reception and banquet took place at the Woodman’s Hall the night before the commencement. Wm. Grady, Jr., President of the Alumni Association, presided over the event. About 150 graduates and friends of the school attended. Several musical selections were played throughout the program by Hatch’s Harp Orchestra; while other musical selections were performed by Catherine and Burr MacWilliams, Eva Sholts, and Marie and Don McGill. A reading was given by Lillian Hanan. Following the banquet and reception the attendees formed a line and marched to the Opera House where the Grand March took place, followed by dancing until the early hours of the morning. About 50 couples participated in the social event.


Post Office – Oregon, WI

Soren Thompson, Sofus Nelson, Arthur Paulson, Nell McGill, and Peter Paulson

Arthur Paulson is taking a vacation from his mail route and Soren Thompson is taking his place.


The Freshman Class held a picnic at the Hanan cottages at Lake Waubesa.

The Danish Brotherhood recently elected the following officers for the coming year: P. Larson president; Kroyr Christensen-vice president; S. B. Therkelsen, secretary; M. C. Karmgard, treasurer; William Peterson, Paul Nelson, and Walter Rasmussen, trustees. Others elected or appointed to positions were Hans Jorgensen, Ferd Christensen and G. Oleson.

Roe Automobile Co. (located in the Christensen Building, north of the Hitching Park) featured Michelin tires and tubes for sale. The business was run by Budd L. Sholts.

Fincher Bros. was offering a new price, ($750 F.O.B., Dearborn, Michigan) for the Fordson Farm Tractor.   It was noted in the ad that they were being manufactured by Henry Ford & Son.

A barn dance was held at the home of Henry Larson in the Town of Dunn, Tuesday the 10th of June.

Dane Co. rural school commencement day was held in Madison. During the forenoon a field meet was held at Vilas Park and basket lunches were brought by pupils, teachers and parents. In the afternoon the commencement exercises were held in a local high school auditorium. Superintendents Sylvanus Ames and T. S. Thompson presented the diplomas. Carter Alexander of Madison gave the address.

A special school meeting was held to vote on the proposition of securing a loan of

$4,000 from the State Trust Fund to purchase the Ira Johnson property lying between the school house and Main Street. One hundred thirty votes were cast, 83 in favor of the proposition and 51 against. The ladies votes and the men’s votes were deposited in separate ballot boxes to comply with the law.   The ladies cast 31 for and 10 against. The men cast 52 for and 41 against. The result was that the school district will take over take over the property immediately and the land will be used as a play ground until such time as the property will be needed for a building.

Most of the Oregon businesses gave notice in the newspaper that they will close at twelve noon on Thursday, June 12 and remain closed for the rest of the day for the Homecoming in Madison.


Mr. and Mrs. D. I. Criddle went to Lake Waubesa for the summer and are occupying one of the Hanan cottages. One of “Murphy’s’’ first catches was a 10-pound pickerel.


50 years ago   (1969)


Wisconsin Mold & Tool Co. (n/k/a WISCO Industries, Inc.) marks its 20th year of operation with the announcement that it will be enlarging its manufacturing facilities with the construction of a new steel building addition. Elving Kjellstrom, owner of the company, anticipates hiring about 20 more employees.


The Rev. Fred Loutsenhizer, pastor of the Presbyterian Churches in Highland and Pulaski, Wis. will be moving to Oregon on August 1st to assume duties as the pastor of the local Presbyterian Church.

It was estimated that about 4,000 people attended the opening races at the new Capital Speedway.

Members of the OHS track team set new school records. The mile relay team of Russ Bentley, Richard Larson, Dave Decker, and Phil Wackman, broke the 1965 record with a time of 4:33.4.

Jeff Dary set a new high jump record with a distance of 5’11-1/4. and Dave Griffith scored a record in the shot put with a distance of 51’8”.


The Oregon Library Board honored Mrs. Mona Paulson for having served on the Board for the past 50 years. The book “‘Wisconsin in their Homes” was placed in in the library in her honor.


A water main broke under the junior high gym floor, flooding the boiler room, the coaches’ room, and the boys’ locker rooms.


Don Kneifl announced that he would be opening in July a new barber shop in part of the Switchgear Building on the corner of Janesville and Spring Streets across from Lappley Implement Co. (now Badger Auto. Body). For the past eight years he had been associated with the Cletus Brown Barber Shop.


Bud Frye was chosen by his teammates as Oregon’s Most Valuable Golfer for the 1969 season.

Dr. Frank Dukershein and his family moved to New Berlin, Wis., where Dr. Dukershein will become associated with a larger medical clinic and have more opportunities to spend time with his family. He was born and raised in New Berlin.


Class officers: Rich Heller, president; Ginger Lemke, vice-president; Connie Lindholm, treasurer; and Ann Christensen, secretary

The largest graduating class in the history of Oregon High School, 133 students, received their diplomas June 5th.


Oregon Heating and Air Conditioning held an “Open House” at their new facility located at 742 Market Street. Employees of the firm at that time were Gene Scholl, Marlene Ferguson, Arleigh Staley, Carol Crapp, Wilfred Berman, Norman Champion, Jim Culles, Ray Emling, Bob Gallagher, Dave Cook, Earl Gransee, Ron Scholl, Paul Bowers, and Bill Ace.


An Optimist Club is organized.   The local club, the 64th in Wisconsin, organizes with 35 charter members. The first president was LaVerne Stordock. Other club officers were Bill Murphy, vice-president; Ray Emling, secretary-treasurer; and directors Dick Ibach, B. F. Killian; Russ Sackell, and Donald Snow.


The Oregon Rotary Club celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a banquet at St. John’s Lutheran Church fellowship hall. Dr. W. E Olgilvie, a charter member and the first president of the local Rotary, opened the program by lighting the first candle on a birthday cake.   Norman Rasmussen served as toastmaster of the event.

A School District referendum passed 504 to 317, approving a 1.6 million dollar bond issue for the building of a new elementary school.

 

25 years ago (1994)

One hundred and sixty -five seniors graduated from Oregon High School on June 5th. Paul Rebman was the valedictorian and Brienne Barrows the salutation.

Mrs. Terri Vettter was the recipient of the State Award for Outstanding Special Educator in Wisconsin. She worked with special education students at the Prairie View Elementary School.

The 5th and 6th grade math team took first place at the annual Mega Math Meet held at the U.W. in Madison. Members of the team were Shannon Barrows, Shannon Rich, Justin Gray, Bryan Korth, Zach Manley, Stuart Dennis, Justin Fletchall and Eric Lynde. Their team coaches were Mr. Gunnard Swanson and Mrs. Kathy Langer.

New OHS coaches were named: Brad Minter will become the girl’s basketball coach, the new OHS wrestling coach will be Erick Jensen; and the girl’s volleyball coach will be Stan Eddy. The varsity coach for soccer will be James Stelling.

OHS Seniors, Amy Cain and Heather James, had the opportunity to compete at the State Forensic Meet held at the U.W.Madison. Amy received a silver metal and Heather a bronze metal in the category of prose reading.

The OHS girls 4 x 200 relay team completed their season with a 5th place showing at the state competition. Members of the team were Jenny Nelson, Meghan Werth, Kim Ross, and Emily Barth.

Oregon starts a farmer’s market downtown in the Triangle Park parking lot. The first market day was June 28th,

A new pastor, Rev. James Korthals, takes over at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Dale Secher’s Carandale Farms celebrates 25 years of producing and picking fruits, especially strawberries.

At the International Speedway Matt Kenseth comes from the back position to win the 50-lap late model feature event.

 

10 years ago (2009)

The Oregon Village Board authorized purchase agreements for the last two of six houses on Florida Ave. scheduled for removal from the Badfish Creek flood plain due to the flooding of August of 2007. It was estimated that more than one million dollars in federal, state, county, and village funds were used to acquire the six Oregon properties.

The Horse First Farm holds a “Grand Opening”. The business co-owners are Lori Wegner, Gretchen Arndt, and Carlos Osorio. Their focus is on developing natural relationships with horses through diet and care.

Grace Joyce, a fourth grader at Brooklyn Elementary School, was recognized as the winner of the weekly “Where in Wisconsin is Jessica Doyle”; a quiz sponsored by the Wisconsin Dept. of Tourism. Her answer was “Racine”. For the right answer she got several items and passes to Wisconsin state parks and historical sites. (Note: Jessica Doyle was the governor’s wife at this time.)

The Optimist Club of Oregon/Brooklyn held their Youth Appreciation Banquet. The students honored were Aaron Nelson, Brett Subach, Kayla Crowley, Amanda Bales, Annie Hiefner Jacob Butterfield, Caitlin Walker, and John Thompson. State Rep., Brett Davis, was the main speaker.

The Oregon Village Board awards a contract to S&L Underground and Trucking, Inc. for improvements to Brook Street. The S&L bid twas the lowest bid of the six received at $339,582.

Sr. Mary Frost, S.D.S., celebrated her retirement from Holy Mother Consolation Parish. She served as Pastoral Minister at HMC since July 2004.

The following OHS senior orchestra members were in the spotlight: Jackie Kursel (cello), Sarah Najdowski (viola), Emily Temte (violin), and Josselyn Quintanilla (cello)


Rev. Clara Thompson is retiring after serving as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church for the past 30 years.


The Village Board awarded a contract to Mandt Sandfill Trust for Phase 2 of the downtown redevelopment project. It was also decided to have Alliant Energy bury the utility lines located in front of Waterman Park, the Village Hall and the fire station.

The Oregon Summer Fest opened with the third-annual flag retirement ceremony conducted by Boy Scout Troops 168 and 50 followed by another flag retirement by Co. K of the  Second Wisconsin Infantry (Civil War historic reenactment group). The ceremony was held at Veteran’s Monument in downtown Oregon and ended with a march from the monument to the Summer Fest Grounds where Chamber of Commerce President Brett Davis made the opening remarks and Village President Steve Staton threw the first pitch of the Summer Fest softball tournament.   Major General Al Wilkening served as Master of Ceremonies.