This Month in History
October
The following material was compiled by Gerald Neath for the Oregon Area Historical Society from material published in the Oregon Observer.
100 years ago (1914)A notice was published by Oregon Fire Dept. Chief, P. H. Cusick and Dept. Foreman, E. G. Booth, notifying members of Engine Co. No. 1 that the following motion had been adopted at their last meeting: “Any member not present at a regular meeting shall be fined the sum of 10 cents, unless a good, reasonable excuse be submitted, and that any member absent for three consecutive meetings shall be dropped from the company’s lists.”

The First National Bank of Oregon opened for business and was looking forward to moving into their new building (currently occupied by Recreational Concepts/Hagstrom Insurance) The bank closed during the depression of the 1930’s.

Auto bandits stopped a local farmer: Four bandits driving an auto stopped Perry A. Outhouse, a local farmer living on the Oregon-Madison road. He and his family were returning home from a neighboring farm at about 1:30 a.m. Two of the bandits had guns and demanded that Mr. Outhouse hold up his hands which he did. According to Outhouse’s account: “He first met the machine [auto] coming from Oregon. It went past him at full speed, crowding him into the ditch. A few minutes later the robbers returned and stopped in front of his rig. Two men jumped out and grabbed the horses. As soon as the carriage was stopped all of the lights on the car were extinguished. Two other men drew revolvers and accused Mr. Outhouse of insulting their driver. He had not said a word up to this time. Then the robbers saw that the occupants of the rig, with the exception of Mr. Outhouse, were women and jumped back into the car and returned towards Madison.”

Local barber, C. H. Hamilton, gave notice in the newspaper that he had no intention of closing his business as rumored and that he would continue to be found doing business as usual at his location in the Netherwood Building.

Work on extending the water mains along Janesville and West St. (now Jefferson St.) was begun. J. N. Roherty had been awarded the contract for the project.

Local farmers, W. L. Ames and George Melville, returned from the annual session of the Farmers’ National Congress held in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Ames was again elected president of the Congress.

Chas. Schoen gave notice that he once again was in the blacksmith business in the village; having purchased an interest in J. F. Jensen’s shop. M. W. Lamont also gave notice that he had returned to his workshop and was ready to attend to any needs concerning carpentry work or saw filing.

50 years ago (1964)

The OHS cross-country runners made a successful debut, sweeping a quadrangular meet of Oregon, Monona Grove, LaFollette, and Middleton High Schools. Oregon’s first five runners and their order of finish were: George Williams (1st), Dave Fiscus (2nd), Jim Ellis (3rd), Larry Cox (11th), and Ron Kopke (25th).

Barb and Don Fritz, owners of the Kleen-Brite Cleaners, announced the prize winners at their Grand Opening and Open House. Winning $5.00 coupons worth of cleaning were Beth Kellogg, Mrs. Carol Severson, Mrs. LaVonne Scott, Mrs. Elmo Elwood, Mrs. Nora Heggestad, and Mrs. Stanley Palmer. The drawings were made by David and Ann Gasner and Mrs. Alma Manion.

The Oregon Panther Players presented 3 one-act plays. “The Boor” by Anton Tchekoff starred Sharon Searl and Jerry Richardson with a supporting cast of Jim Lynaugh, Paula Thomas, Larry Wegger, Tom DaWalt and Ted Pasell. “The Legend of Camille” by Charles George starred Laurel Black with a supporting cast of Sherene Navis, Kris Kellor, Donna Briggs, and Sue Mossman. “Cinderella Married” by Rachel Field had a cast of Ken Heller, Becki Jallings, and Linda Franzen with the assistance of Kathey Wiley, Todd Anderson, and Toni Rogers. The student directors were Cheryl Enicott, Pat Powers, and Sue Barnowski. Mrs. Ott was their coach and advisor. The productions were held in the high school gym.

Dale Culp, Rufus Thornton, Namen Dalsoren, and Sonny Neath returned home from a fishing trip near Mellen, with six muskies. They varied in length from 32 to 36 inches. The largest weighed 16 pounds.

Wisconsin Mold & Tool Co. (now known as WISCO, Inc.) broke ground for a 15,000 sq. ft. addition to its South Janesville, St. plant. Those present at the ground-breaking were Rev. Charles Hubanks of the Oregon Presbyterian Church; Elving J. Kjellstrom, president of the the firm; Don Lahti, vice-president, Allen Denson, CPA; William E. Johnosn, atty. for the company; Steve Madsen, Oregon village president; Al Gasner, president of the Oregon Chamber of Commerce; Jay Winter, Oregon Rotary president; Bill Mossman, Dane Co. manager of the W.P.&L.; O. E. Richards, president of the Bank of Oregon; Earl Wheeler, cashier of the bank; E. H. Petterlie, vice-president of Madison Bank and Trust Co; James Leonard, a member of the firm; and Donald Davenport, president of Building Systems, Inc., the general contractor.

Carroll and Florence Kellor, owners and operators of Kellor’s Store (at the corner of Hwy. MM and Hwy. B) announced that they will extend the Grand Opening of their Mom’s & Girls’ Shop; offering a 10% discount on all merchandise through November 5th.

25 years ago (1989)

Dr. Adam Balin started his family practice at Dean Medical Clinic in Oregon. Dr. Frank Dukerschein, having served the community for the past 39 years, announced he would limit his hours at the clinic to one day a week.

The OHS football team delighted a Homecoming crowd to a 48-0 non-conference win over the Portage Warriors. Portage only mustered up just 65 years of total offense. On the ground they finished with a minus one yard on 22 running attempts. Members of the OHS team mentioned for their performances were Scott Schmidt, Brad Gustrowsky, Scott Carlson, Rodney Glassmaker, Jason Belter, Rick Gnewuch, Sean Manix, Mike Statz, Jared Hook, Anthony Zoltowski, Mark Epping, Troy Spilde, Dan Colbert, Chris Wilde, Clay Brammer, and Jesse Schroeder. Head Coach, Bob Prahl noted that the team still had room to improve on their concentration; having incurred a 100 yards of penalties in the first half of the game.

On September 28th the Oregon Area Historical Society was given ownership of the Oregon Lumber Company building at 159 W. Lincoln Street. Ownership was transferred from Mr. Fred Chase to the Society, thanks to the generous gift of Florice Paulson.

The Dalai Lama visited Deer Park Center in the Town of Dunn to dedicate a new stupa, (Buddhist monument) erected on the temple grounds.

The OHS girl’s tennis doubles team of Angie Olson and Carri Staffon competed at the State Tennis Tournament. They defeated the team of Debbie Burchinal and Lucie Wirth of Sheboygan North, but lost to the doubles team from Racine Horlick. Coach Roger Pribbenow complemented the girls on a great season and noted that the Oregon team was the only Badger Conference team to have gotten a win at the tournament. The OHS Varsity Tennis Team were the Badger Conference Champions. Members of the team in addition to Olson and Staffon, were Tara Treichel, Ashley Diamon, Nikki Schiller, Tara Resse, Heather Anderson, Rhonda Thompson, and Kari Caldwell.

The school crossing guards for the 1989-90 school year were recognized: Marv Everet, Merle Richardson, Maggie Schnabel, Evelyn Jones, Millie Schewe, Robin Anderson, Ann Hoffman, and Ernest Tresch.

Oregon Day Care, Inc., located in the north wing of the First Presbyterian Church (172 North Main St.) opened for business. The director of the day care facility was Winnie Baker. Other employees were Marlys Nettesheim, Linda Grace, and Mary Reindahl.

The OHS Girl’s Cross Country Team brought home the first time ever The Badger Conference Title.

10 years ago (2004)

Stoughton Hospital relocated their physical therapy/sports medicine clinic from 742 Market Street to 106 North Main Street (present location of Pivital Point Acupuncture) Jodie Poe was serving as the coordinator for the Oregon facility.

Spencer Gullick and Diana Bentley were the 2004 Homecoming king and queen. “Viva Las Vegas” was the Homecoming theme.

Members of the OHS “Very Special Arts Band” joined with more than 100 other VSA band members from around the state for a performance with the UW Marching Band during the halftime of the October 2nd football game at Camp Randall.

The Town of Oregon Planning Commission and Town Board unanimously recommended approval of a conditional use permit for Payne and Dolan to establish a sand and gravel pit.

The OHS Boy’s Soccer Team repeat as the Badger (South) Conference Champs with their defeat of McFarland 2-0. Derek Breidenbach, Ryan Parks, Eivind Hesselburg, and Jared Kuehl led the team to their victory. They were coached by Mark Diercks.

Brooklyn elementary teacher, Mary Mullen, led a group of 4th graders and their families on a 16-mile bike ride on the Military Ridge State Park Trail, giving the participants a first hand experience of the historic transportation route across Wisconsin. Making the trip were Nate Fox and Cheyenne Bunge; Ellen and Tawnee Christians; Randy, Kris, Erin, and Jonah Engelberger; Kathy Brett, and Katiya Gombar; Angela and Amanda Haug; Cindy and Jamie Hefty; Renee Frank and Alexander Nasserjah; Eric and Dorsey Pierce; Wendi and D. J. Steinberg; Beck, Alex, and Austin Beranck; and Patty Stockdale.

The Oregon Area Fire/EMS Dept. captured first place in the women’s division of the Firefighter’s Water Fight competition at the Brooklyn EMS Labor Day Celebration Captain of the Oregon team was Kristie Mueller.

Luke Fuller, an OHS senior, earns first team all conference honors in cross country running for the fourth consecutive year.

The Village of Oregon Planning Commission recommended approval of Wilde’s Village of Foxboro Plan; a development to be located on the east side of Wolfe Street between Kwik Trip and the Foxboro Golf Club.

The Village Board makes a priority the acquisition of land owned by Nick Ladopoulos, for a Westside Park.

The Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored for a third year a community Halloween party hosted by A-Z Farm. Executive Director, Linda Pollock, said that the party drew between 1,000 to 1,200 people over the two day period.


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