Page 4 - July 11,2012
From
Our
Files
Looking back on more than 80 years of
coverage in east Linn County...
July 12, 1962
Supt. George Kontos report-
ed to the District 55 school board
Tuesday night that the new ju-
nior high school, on the corner of
22nd Avenue and Mountain View
Road, is 95 percent completed.
He said that major portions
of the contract yet to be com-
pleted include installation of gym
floor, completion of landscaping,
and blacktopping of the grounds
entrance and the parking lot.
Firemen were called to an
unoccupied house at 13th Avenue
and 'Q' Street, owned by Archie
Vibbert, last Thursday to quell
a fire which is believed to have
been started by boys playing with-
matches,
Loss was estimated at $150.
July 15, 1987
Temperatures in the high
80's, a 90-minute parade, and a
record-setting amount of people
at the rodeo, combined to make
the 1987 Sportsman's Holiday/
Calapooia Roundup celebration
memorable.
"The parade was tremen-
dous, rivaling those in much larg-
er towns," said SH/CR President
Larry Dodge. "Two records were
set at the Rodeo, and although we
don't have all the tickets counted,
we firmly believe a new atten-
dance record was set."
Gina McCreary, of Sweet
Home, will be among the candi-
dates competing for the title of
Miss Teen Oregon to be held in
Salem, July 31- Aug. 2.
The winner will receive a
$1,000 scholarship to the college
or university of her choice as well
as a host of merchandise awards.
I
Only one of our staff here at Even in Southern California,
The New Era is currently a gradu- where I once lived for longer than I
ate of Sweet Home High School, care to remember, the local schools
but some of us who aren't have had were focal points for the communi-
kids graduate from the hallowed ties that seemed to blend into each
halls of Husky-dora. other, with only street signs indi-
So even though we maybe caring you'd left one municipality
don't have the historical DNA that and entered another.
many of you have, we welcome the People still cared if their foot-
alumni returning this weekend for ballteam was winning games. They
the All-Year Reunion celebrating might even show up for the games,
the 100th anniversary of the build- which is saying something in So-
ing of Sweet Home Union High Cal, where the pro football teams
School. have all left because they couldn't
I've worked in newspaper compete with other entertainment
journalism for a long time and the options, and the stands at the Rose
papers I've worked for have cov- Bowl start emptying at halftime if
ered many high schools. I've cov- the Bruins aren't winning - for the
ered quite a few myself, same reason.
Every school is unique and hasHere in Sweet Home, it's a dif-
its own special ambiance, particu- ferent ballgame.
lady to those who spent their four There's a high level of inter-
years of high school in it.est here in our school and that's
I've noticed, over the years, significant. It's one of the things
that you can't really divorce a high that makes your old home town a
school from its community, special place.
Notes From
The Newsroom
I
Scott
Swanson
Publisher
The people who built your
high school cared, back in 1912.
They cared again in the 1940s
and 1950s, when they built a new
school and then added on to it.
They cared again in 2001 when
they passed an $18 million bond to
greatly improve the school facility.
That level, of commitment
goes well beyond the schools.
My family has lived here for
seven years. I've lived in a wide been improvement, even in the
variety of communities, from small short time I've lived here.
towns the size of Sweet Home to Some of you may remem-
that huge metropolis down south, bet the glory days, when logs and
I've never lived in a place quite money rolled into Sweet Home,
like this town. the dams were being built, the high
When the chips are down for a school was packed with large num-
neighbor or friend, folks here will hers of talented, smart students and
step upin a big way. That shouldn't there was a strong efitrepreneurial
come as a surprise to those of you spirit.
who are coming back after spend- A lot of that is still here. We're
ing time elsewhere, but it's some- still a town that will make things
thing that sets Sweet Home apart, happen, even if we have to make
Times have been tough over them happen with our own hands.
the last 20-some years in your old We're still a town that takes care of
home town, but the resilience and those who need it.
general common grace is still here. We're still a town of people
When you roll into our down- with stiff upper lips and strOng
town you may notice that there's backbones. And we're still a town
new paint on some of the build- that appreciates good wrestling
ings, there are flowers growing in - which we have.
the median along Main Street and, Thanks for coming back and
on the whole, things are looking up think about what you might be able
in downtown Sweet Home. to do to help the Alumni Founda-
Sure, there's still plenty of tion make Sweet Home even abet-
room for improvement, but there's ter place to live and raise our kids.
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/C0-Publisher scott@sweethornenews.com
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 news@sweethomenews.com
LETTERS TO TIlE LDITOR
~l*8~Ane";ance class discrimination strikes me as the
most damaging to the ideal that all
to country Americans are created equal and owe
equal allegiance to their country."
Editor: - Colin Powell
"I am angry that so many of the Mitt Romney got four defer-
sons of the powerful and well-placed ments (equaling five years) to escape
... managed to wangle slots in reserve serving in Vietnam.
and National Guard units. Of the Mitt said, "It was not my de-
many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw sire to go off and serve in Vietnam."
WRITE A LETTER
We encourage readers to express their opinions in letters to the editor
bn 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
ietter will not be published.
........ There is no length restrictionl 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 comments on topics deemed by the editorial staff to have
been exhausted in previous letters will be edited accordingly.
Even though he supported the war.
He went to France, evangelizing
for the Mormon church, and attend-
ing classes at Stanford while 58,000
Americans died in Vietnam.
Not one of Romney's five sons
has served in the military either, de-
spite Mitt's hawkish arguing for es-
calating U.S. military involvement
in the Middle East (i.e. remaining in
Afghanistan until the U.S. can claim
victory there. Iran.)
He has promised to boost mili-
tary spending and tO increase the size
of the Navy. When he was asked
to justify this hypocrisy, Romney de-
fended his five sons' decision not to
enlist in the military, saying they're
showing their support for the country
by "helping me get elected."
Happy Fourth of July, courtesy
of the brave men who fought in the
American War of Independence
1775-1783).
Diane Daiute
Sweet Home
