Oregon History Timeline for June 2020
Compiled by Jerry Neath of the Oregon Area Historical Society
100 years ago (June 1920)
The 24th Annual Old Folks Reunion was held at the Presbyterian Church. Table superintendents for the event were Mrs. H. A. Stone, Mrs. Frank Anderson, Mrs. Dan Benson, Mrs. William. Kelly, and Mrs. Andrew Cline. The committee for arrangements were Mesdames W. L. Ames, C. A. Hanan, Frank Dreher, Pat Berry, Elmer Noyce, and Bennett Johnson. All persons 70 years and over were guests at the event.
A Schleswig Reunion Festival was held on the ”beautiful lawn” of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nelson located at their farm southwest of the Village of Oregon. It was a celebration of the Danish-Americans, marking the restoration of Schleswig to its mother country, Denmark. The event started at eleven o’clock with a short program and picnic dinner followed by an address by the Rev. Bing of Racine who talked about the historical event.
The First World War monument was dedicated on June 10th. J. S. Cusick, was selected as President of the Day (MC), introducing the various distinguished speakers and and guests. He was also asked to give the welcoming address to the veterans. This after the committee was notified at the last minute that the Governor would be unable to attend. About 150 area citizens participated in a pageant organized by Ms Darren and the Choral Union. The Dedication Address was given by Senator Irvine Lenroot. The afternoon was a holiday, with all the business places closing. A free supper and dance was held that evening.
A. J. Parsons has moved his household goods into the T. H. Grady building next to the store.
The movie playing at the Oregon Opera House, staring Charlie Chaplin, Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Chester Conklin, and Mack Swain was “Tillie’s Punctured Romance”.
George Thomson’s shop advertised that he offered the following products: Velvet Ice Cream, Pan Dandy Bread, and Butter Kist Popcorn.
The Opera House offered a special attraction, “The Common Cause”. . . described as “The War Story with a laugh, a thrill and a throb; the human side of the great struggle, fighting side by side with our allies.” The film featured an all star cast.
The Cowdrey and Buche Clothing Store reminded their customers that straw hat time would be here soon. You could select from various styles: Panama, Sennett, and Truciollo Braids, with Trooper, Yacht, and Optimo shapes. Nothing was priced over $5.00.
M. C. Hobbs has bought the John Crotty house on North Second Street. Mr. Crotty and family have moved into the Mrs. Katherine Christensen house on South Third Street.
50 years ago (June 1970)
A new German Honor Society Chapter was established at Oregon High School. Members of the group included Robert Navis, Robert Aylesworth, Kevin Kennan, Karen Rygh, Steve Tachon, Kerry Henriksen, Steve Lundey, Steven Hubert, Kathy Bruha, Carol May, Vicki Radtke, Sue Wilson, Merrilee Billigs, and Sue Wischhdoff. The faculty member was Mary Ann Opelt.
There were 160 seniors graduating from OHS this year. Sue Vogts was the valedictorian and Kevin Kennan, the salutatorian. It was one of the largest classes to graduate from OHS.
Mr. and Mrs. Orin Otteson have sold their interest in The Waterfall Restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Wester of East Troy. Mr. and Mrs. Brown will continue to run the restaurant in partnership with the Westers as they had done with the Ottesons.
Russ Bentley was named OHS track captain and Phil Wackman as most valuable player. The squad this year set four school records and eight new track records. The four school records were made by Hans Plummer (880 yard run); Phil Wackman (120 yard high hurdles); Russ Bentley (180 year low hurdles); and Hans Plummer (2 mile run).
An early count from the census records showed that Dane County in 1970 had a population of 285,879 compared to a count of 222,095 in 1960.
Dr. Frank Dukerschein returned to the Oregon Clinic to resume his practice with Dr. L. S. Kellogg. He had been practicing in New Berlin,Wis., during the past year.
Wisconsin Power & Light held an open house for their new servicing and district operating building (now occupied by Ziggy’s Restaurant). Urban Johnson was the WP&L District Manager and William Deckert the operating superintendent.
The Fire Dept. was called to the Lyman Anderson farm where a poultry house had caught fire. No poultry was lost, but severe damage was sustained to to the structure.
Boy Scouts, Tom Oelmann and Greg Shermo took on the project of restoring the old pump house at the water tower as part of their requirement to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout.
The Jaycees and Jaycettes held a joint installation. The new officers of the Jaycees were Chuck Crary, president; Ed Quamme, secretary; Ken Brookbank, internal vice-president; Bill McKernan, external vice-president; Steve Schmidt, treasurer; Mel Anderson, state director, John Wendt and Dave Cook, directors. The Jaycettes elected Gloria Crary, state director, Sally Quamme, president; Sally Mueller, secretary; Ellie Schmidt, vice-president; Doris Wendt, publicity chairperson; Nona Brookbank, treasurer; and Carol Peterson, program chairperson.
The Cle-Del Hereford Farm in Oregon, operated by Cletus and Adella Brown, was the site of the annual state Hereford Breeder’s Association picnic. They hosted about 310 members and local guests. Cletus was this year’s association president.
A new Boy Scout troop (Troop #168) was chartered, sponsored by St. John’s Lutheran Church. The Oregon Troop #50 has been growing rapidly, creating a need for another troop to accommodate more members.
The Oregon School Board held a special meeting for the purpose of selling the Oakside School. It was sold to Richard Lee Reese of Madison for $16,000.
25 years ago (June 1995)
The 187 graduating seniors was one of the largest classes in OHS history. Sarah Halverson was valedictorian and Tony Byers the salutatorian. Awarding the diplomas were school board members Dr. Charles Teeter, Mrs. Kathleen Marves,, Mr. Charles Uphoff, and Mr. David Williams.
The Village Board was hesitant about a change order expenditure for the new library, but finally approved $10,000.00.
The 6th Annual Oregon Community Band Festival was held in the Triangle Park. Ten local small-town bands performed individual concerts and then came together for a joint concert of 350 musicians playing Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”. Participating bands were from Oregon, Lake Mills, Madison Area Youth Band, Hartford, Sun Prairie, New Horizons, Dual County, Lakes Area, Sugar River, and Stoughton.
St. John’s Lutheran Church celebrated its centennial with a special outdoor program and communion service. Pastor Andrew Saby, who served the church form 1944 to 1949 participated in the church’s celebration.
The OHS baseball team ended their season with a loss to Janesville Parker 17 -2.
Groundbreaking Ceremonies were held at Holy Mother of Consolation for a building and renovation project that will add a new entrance to the church, offices, classrooms, and provide for expanded seating capacity. Also all areas of the church will be handicapped accessible. The project was called “A Church for the 21st Century”.
The Rotary bike tour draws over 150 cyclists. Participating were Marcia Miquelon, Executive Director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, Alice Seeiger, President of the Oregon Rotary, and Aran Kay, Chair of the Oregon Trail Historic Bicycle Ride.
Ground breaking for the new McDonald’s was held. Taking part in the event were Village President, Mark Mortensen; owner, Wayne Harris; construction manager, Mike McLyman with McKee Associates; Bill McKee of McKee Associates, and Dean Disch, superintendent of McKee Associates.
10 years ago (June 2010)
Seventeen members of the Oregon School District staff retire, representing more than 325 year’s of experience. The teachers retiring were Judy Brashi, Therese Larson, Cathy Langer, Lynette Hubert, and Linda Nelson; secretaries Sandy Zimmerman, Carol Johanning, and Susan Wuliff; food service, Diane Wilking and Kathleen Winter; custodians Ricard Schell and LeRoy Schumaker; and education assistant, Marilyn Macaluso. Part of the seventeen include about a third of the high school social studies department i.e., Daniel Hanson, Susan Knowles, and Ricard Gustafson. One of the seventeen wished tsccp remain anonymous.
Thirteen students received their high school diplomas though the Oregon Alternative School and Integrated Studies . The alternative high school program had opened in the fall of 2008 in the Oregon Community Sports Arena. This was the first group of students to earn diplomas with their peers.
Two hundred eighty-five graduate from Oregon High School. The class flower was the Tiger Lily and the motto was “It does not do well to dwell on dreams and and forget to live.”( Albus Dumbordore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone).
The Village of Oregon Board denies Walgreens a license to sell beer and wine.
Father William Connell, pastor of Holy Mother fo Consolation Catholic Church, celebrated 35 years in the priesthood. A pancake breakfast was hosted by the Knights of Columbus to celebrate the event.
The Oregon Panthers baseball team finished their season 18-8 overall, including a 9-3 record in the Badger South Conference, which earned them the conference crown.
New basketball coaches were hired. Jon Nedelcoff was hired to take over the boys’ varsity basketball coach and Les Luchning was hired to coach the Lady Panthers.
The Village of Oregon Planning Commission approved the plans for the building of a new church on the west side of the village by the First Presbyterian Church.