Page 4 :le ra - May 23, 2012
-- .CON 00IJNITV PINION
f
They hover as a cloud From
Our
of witnesses above this Files
Nation.
- Henry Ward.
t
Looking back on more than 80 years of
covOrage in east Linn County,..
May 24, 1962
Graduation for the Sweet
Home High School seniors will be
held on June 1 in the SHHS audi-
torium. This graduating class con-
sists of 150 seniors.
Elmo N. Stevenson, presi-
dent of Southern Oregon College
at Ashland, will deliver the com-
mencement address.
Stevenson is also a Red Cross
executive member, and serves on
the executive board of the Crater
Lake Boy Scout Council as well
as the board of directors of the Na-
tional Council. Stevenson also is a
Lions International counselor.
May 27, 1987
A joint groundbreaking cer-
emony for the new Linn County
Jail and Albany Police Station is
scheduled for June 1.
The ceremony will signal the
start of contstruction on the 100-
bed jail facility which has been 10
years in the planning; and the new
City of Albany police station.
"Linn County Shuttle" is 'now
giving Sweet Home residents an op-
portunity to get a ride from Sweet
Home to Lebanon or Albany.
The rides are free to the elder-
ly and disabled. On the first day,
12 people rode the shuttle, and the
number is steadily rising.
Work on the new Hoy's True
Value addition got under way last
week according to owners John
and Greg Mahler.
The 8,000-square-foot addi-
tion will nearly double the store's
capacity• It will allow the owners
the space and opportunity to pro-
vide a full-line home center.
LKTTLRS TO THE EDITOR
Think of fallen on
Memorial Day
Editor:
As we approach Memorial
Day 2012, on Monday, May 28, we
pause to remember the more than
1 million men and women who
have given their lives to preserve
our nation and our way of life from
the time of the Revolutionary War
to the current wars in the Middle
East.
While I join my fellow veter-
ans and citizens in honoring these
brave military personnel, this Me-
morial Day, I will be thinking of
the 3,758 Oregonians who.lost
their lives during World War II.
Just nine days following this
Memorial Day and on the 68th an-
niversary of the D-Day landings in
Europe, we will conduct a ground-
breaking ceremony for Oregon's
own World War II Memorial.
The Oregon World War II Me-
morial will be built on the grounds
of the Oregon State Capitol in Sa-
lem near the intersection of Court
and Cottage streets,
The public ceremony on June
6 will begin at 1:30 p.m.
If you would like to learn more
about the long overdue Memorial
or make a donation, please go to
www.facebook.com/oregonww-
2memorial.
In addition to rememberitg
our honored dead, Memorial Dry
can also be an educational opporu-
nity for our youth. There are maly
ceremonies scheduled throughout
Oregon.
I encourage those who can to
take some young people to these
ceremonies so that they can under-
stand the real price of freedom.
My heart is also with those
families who suffered the loss of
their loved ones during their war-
time service. May these ceremo-
nies help them as they continue to
griev e for these most honored Or-
egonians.
Jim Wills
Director, Oreg(n
Department of Veterans' Affai's
T0 r
A locally owned newspaper founded Sept. 27, 1929
Scott and Miriam Swanson, Co-Publishers
www.sweethomenews.com
Office: 1313 MainSt., Sweet Home, Oregon
Mailing address: The New Era, Box 39,
Sweet Home, OR, 97386
Phone: (541) 367-2135 • Fax: (541) 367-2137
WHO WE ARE
Scott Swanson, Editor/Co-Publisher scott@sweethomenews.corn
Sean C. Morgan, Staff Writer sean@sweethomenews.com
Miriam Swanson, Advertising Manager, Co-Publisher miriam@sweethomenews.com
Christy Keeney, Classified Ads classifieds@sweethomenews.com
Firiel Severns, Advertising Sales firiel@sweethomenews.com
The New Era (USPS 379-100)is published each Wednesday.
Periodical postage paid at the Sweet Home. Ore. 97386 Post Office.
Postmaster: Please send address changes to
The New Era, Box 39; Sweet Home, Oregon 97386
SUBSCRIPTIONS
In Linn County: $32 Elsewhere: $40 Snowbird: $38
NEWS QUESTIONS/TIPS
Call (541) 367.2135 or e-mail newssweethomenews.com
Blessed to live in
great small town
Editor:
I feel so blessed to live in
Sweet Home, Oregon. Where
else can you live where:
• If you need prayer go to a
drive through coffee shop; thank
you, Angle.
• If you need an item and
can't find it, Lester's will call
around for you.
• You can find one of the
best and friendly hardware stores
in town; that would be Hoy's.
• You can not only find what
you need, but get it at a discount
and someone to install it for you,
and for a very reasonable price,
Thank you, Scott at South River
saw.
• Three people are dedicated
to find you the product you need.
Thank you, Foster Mall.
• You can find every type
of restaurant willing and ready to
serve you, The Point has wonder-
ful food and great service. Mexi-
can food, pizza, Italian food, Ko-
rean, Chinese - not to mention
every type of fast food that you
could want.
• You can find a video store
that also features a local artist gift
shop and friendly service. Look,
they have moved to Main Street.
Wow, the place looks great.
Tlanks, Kathy and Doug.
• We have at least two great
competitive grocery stores and
a wonderful health food store
where Brandi will go out of her
way to get you the product you
need.
• We have gas stations, ga-
lore; have you noticed the won-
derful guy, Steve at the Union
station, whose sweetest smile
will make your day?
• We have two very nice
high- quality second-hand stores.
I thank you, Nancy, for all the
hard work you do on behalf of
our town.
• You can love the home
town attitude at the feed store
and the nursery is a blessing to all
who love plants. Great job.
• You can just drive through
downtown and see all the won-
derful work done by volunteers
adorning the main street with
flowers.
Yes, even the city manager
gets his hand in the dirt. Good job
and I thank you so much.
• You" can find a church of
every denomination and Dan Dee
Sales will give you direction to
any one of them, along with sell-
ing you all type of sports equip-
ment, guns, knives, and yes, even
shoes.
Great place to shop.
• You can find enough bars
and taverns that you should never
lack for entertainment of one type
of another.
• There are so many peo-
ple and businesses that make up
our small community, it seems a
shame that you should ever have
to leave town to find what you
need.
WRITE A LETTER
We encourage readers to express their opinions in letters to the editor
on matters of public interest. Letters should be typed and may be submitted
by mail, e-mail, fax or in person at The New Era office. E-mailed letters may
be sent to news@sweethomenews.com.
Please include a telephone number in case we need to contact you.
Also, we require that you include your name and city of residence or your
letter will not be published.
There is no length restriction, but letters may be edited for length and
all letters will be edited for libelous content. We discourage letters that attack
or complain about private citizens or businesses on a personal level. Also,
letters containing cornrnents on topics deemed by the editorial staff to have
been exhausted in previous letters will be edited accordingly.
It would be impossible to
mention them all.
So please shop locally before
going out of town, chances are
you will find what you need or
they will tell you where you can
find it.
Last, but not least, a great
little newspaper that still believes
in the freedom of the press and
encourages all of you to write a
letter expressing your opinion.
Thank you, New Era.
Jeani West
Sweet Home
Management out
of touch at park
Editor:
We had a beautiful Mother's
Day Sunday, perfect for a walk in
Cascadia State Park.
I heard the noise as soon as I
stepped outside, and then smelled
the fumes.
Two park employees were
running wood through a chipper.
I asked why on earth they were
doing such a thing on a Sunday
morning - Mother's Day.
They told me the park man-
ager told them to do the job on
this day.
It is beyond me why, in 2000,
we got the park folks to run their
chainsaws, blowers and mowers
during the week and not on the
weekend, when more folks are
apt to visit our park.
Here we are again, 12 years
later, dealing with the same is-
sue.
On this Mother's Day morn-
ing the people running the chip-
per were very clear that they were
going to do the job they were as-
signed, regardless of any feeling
the public may have - sort of a
"you don't like what we're doing,
too bad. What we do trumps any-
thing the public might think."
Is it wrong to think our park
is to enjoy? The camas field i
starting to bloom; at least that
hasn't been cut down.
Wildflower Buttitta
Cascadia
