The year opened with icy weather in January, much like it’s ending this month with arctic temperatures in early December and more chill this week.
Beyond that, it was an eventful year in Sweet Home. Here is a summary of the more significant events we remember from 2009.
January
The District 55 School Board approved extending Sweet Home Charter School and began negotiating a new contract. The previous three-year contract expired at the end of June.
Kevin McLaughlin, longtime executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Sweet Home, resigned.
Foster Dam Road reopened after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed repairs to one of four gates in Foster Dam.
After discovering damage to the dam’s gates during summer 2008, the Corps lowered Foster Lake for inspection and emergency repairs. At the end of 2008, the Corps closed the dam to traffic while permanent repairs were under way to one gate. The road is closed again this winter while the Corps repairs the three remaining gates.
Craig Fentiman was elected to serve a third term as mayor. Fentiman has been on the council since 1988 and had previously served three two-year terms as mayor.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined Dan Desler, Western Renewable Resources, Western States Land Reliance Trust and Western Trucking for operating solid waste disposal sites without permits. The fine, a combined $192,000 for the companies and Desler, was based on storage of fiber at two properties, 2210 Tamarack St. and 28389 Hwy. 20.
Bruce Riley was named undersheriff at Linn County Sheriff’s Office, succeeding Will McAnulty. Jeff Cone replaced Riley as captain of the patrol division.
February
The Oregon Jamboree reported a $305,000 profit for its 2008 event. The Jamboree is owned and produced by the Sweet Home Economic Development Group. Proceeds from the three-day country music and camping festival, held the first weekend of August annually, are used for local economic development projects.
Sunshine Industries, which provides work opportunities, education and other services to developmentally disabled persons,
started a capital campaign to build new facilities.
Josh Riggs signed a letter of intent to play football at Western Oregon University.
Shelley Nancy Heney of Sweet Home died in a head-on collision east of Albany on Highway 20.
The School Board ratified a contract providing a 2.8-percet salary increase for teachers.
The city of Sweet Home began a feasibility study about forming an urban renewal district.
Sweet Home cheerleaders won the second-place trophy at state.
The boys swim team won the state 4A title.
Storage Depot Mini Storage opened at 4199 Main St.
The city of Sweet Home began a series of local celebrations and events celebrating Oregon’s 150th birthday.
The Liquor Store moved into the former Grove’s Drug building.
Tom Wilson became the new priest at St. Francis Episcopal Church.
March
The Huskies won the state 4A championship in wrestling.
Greg Mahler was named Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District Firefighter of the Year.
The Sweet Home Community Foundation provided $20,000 in grants to community organizations.
A late snow fell early in the month before the weather turned sunnier and warmer.
Tom Hyer was named Sweet Home’s First Citizen at the annual Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet. Other award winners were Cascade Timber Consulting, Business of the Year; Kim Palmer, BPW Woman of the Year; and Ron Moore, Junior First Citizen. Distinguished Service Award winners were Kenneth R. White, Howard Drago and Elmer Riemer. VIP Award winners were Don Ross, Norajean Lemar, Michelle Swett, Tim and Bonnie Healy, Scott McKee Jr., Jane Strom and Bob and Rose Rice.
Sweet Home Police Department hired Gina Riley to serve as evidence custodian and community services specialist, a new position at the department.
The School Board rearranged administration, with Dave Goetz moving to Sweet Home Junior High from Sweet Home High School as vice principal. Derek Barnhurst moved from Sweet Home Junior High to Oak Heights as principal, and Keith Winslow moved from Oak Heights to Sweet Home High School as assistant principal.
A public information meeting held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revealed support for and opposition to a proposed marina for Foster Lake. The Edgewater Marina was approved later in the year and is now in operation.
The city of Sweet Home held an open house for its new Public Works yard, located on 24th Avenue. The site was formerly owned by Wimer Logging and then Weyerhaeuser. Weyerhaeuser sold the property to the city, which moved its Public Works operations from Ninth Avenue.
Sweet Home Emergency Ministries Director Peggy Blair resigned.
April
The 82nd Cavalry, 41st Brigade, Alpha Troop of Lebanon was deployed to Iraq. Approximately 130 soldiers from the Mid-Valley, including Sweet Home, were deployed. They remain in Iraq.
Dave O’Brien won the Sweet Home Big Loser Contest, losing 48.75 pounds in 12 weeks. Kristin Forum finished second, losing 27.5 pounds. Joaquin Diaz finished third, losing 30.5 pounds.
Two women were burned severely when another person poured gasoline on a backyard fire, and it suddenly flared up. Lynn Damewood and Courtney Lake were both hospitalized with burns covering more than 40 percent of their bodies. Later in the summer, both returned home and were recovering. Community members and Figaro’s put together several fund-raising efforts on behalf of Damewood and Lake.
Nicole Schrock was named the 2009 Sweet Home Rodeo Queen.
Dan Desler and Western Renewable Resources filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in Linn County Circuit Court seeking a judgment that piles of fiber stored at two sites in the Sweet Home area, off Tamarack
Street and off Highway 20 west of Sweet Home, were actually inventory rather than solid waste as described by the DEQ in fines levied in January.
The Sweet Home and Lebanon Boys and Girls Clubs announced their intent to merge.
The annual Boys and Girls Club auction netted $95,000.
May
The School District 55 Budget Committee cut teacher positions at Holley, Foster, Hawthorne, Sweet Home Junior High and Sweet Home High School from its 2009-10 budget, a total of 11.45 full-time equivalent positions. Most teachers who were laid off were able to take different positions in the district. Some positions were restored with federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Zane Wise signed to play football at Willamette University.
Eric Munts won the top forestry award at the state forestry competition. Munts finished first in Log Scaling, and his points earned him the designation Technical Forester, the highest award an individual can achieve. Chris Palmer placed first in power bucking, and a team including Palmer, David Horner, Cody Loewin, Dallas Loewin and Aaron Looney placed first in Hose Lay Team.
Blake Roberts was named Mr. Husky.
Lana Hecocta was arrested for stabbing Alleah Mohammed, 25, and Cyrus Hankins, 29. She was convicted and sentenced later in the year.
Tina Gibbs, 27, was arrested for arson in connection with a fire that destroyed an empty house on Harding St. owned by Brad Newport. She was convicted and sentenced later in the year.
Doug Peargin was named Coach of the Year by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association.
Dan Desler, managing trustee of Western States Land Reliance Trust, was arrested on nine counts of air pollution for allegedly demolishing buildings at 2210 Tamarack St. that contained asbestos without following proper procedures and permitting. The court case remains open.
The Culpepper and Merriwether Circus made a stop in Sweet Home.
Twelve candidates filed for five School Board seats. Winners included incumbents Chanz Keeney, Jason Redick and Dale Keene. Incumbent Diane Gerson was defeated by Billie Weber. Jenny Daniels won the open Liberty position against Steven Hiett. Other candidates included Brandell Braatz, Melany Glossa, Travis Luttmer, Larry Angland and David Kem.
The Huskies won the state 4A track and field meet in boys track. The girls finished fourth.
June
Billy Rinehart graduated from Sweet Home High School after never missing a day of school.
Zane Wise and Paige Niemi were named Booster Club Boy and Girl of the Year in athletics.
The Sweet Home Police Department announced the revival of the Peer Court program, which had been cut in 2008 by Linn County. The new program is operated by the Sweet Home Police Department. Youths have been training and are expected to begin court in 2010.
Shannon Thayer received the Elks Distinguished Citizen Award.
Billy Snow was named the 2008 Oregon Athletic Coaches Association’s 4A Track and Field Coach of the Year.
A freak rainstorm caused minor flooding around Sweet Home.
The high school Class of 2009 graduated 130.
The city painted parking stalls along Main and Long streets. Parking was unmarked for decades.
Pastor Dick Hill retired from Hillside Fellowship after 16 years. Matt Coleman succeeded him.
Griffith Blanchard was arrested after his apartment burned for interfering with a firefighter, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was later charged with arson.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved plans for Edgewater Marina.
July
The Chamber of Commerce changed the name “Sportsman’s Holiday” to “Frontier Sportsman’s Holiday.”
Rob Callagan placed first during the Sportsman’s mile race held during Frontier Sportsman’s Holiday.
Makenzie Marchbanks signed as softball pitcher with Corban College after two years pitching for Walla Wall Community College.
Timberline Logging won the loggers relay at the annual Logger Olympics.
Amanda Russell was named Frontier Sportsman’s Holiday Queen. The court also included princesses Leah Dauley, Catrina Stengrim and Savana McCalister.
A Bend woman, Ethel Ann Hopkins, 63, died in a head-on crash about 25 miles east of Sweet Home. The crash involved a semi truck carrying a carnival ride to the Benton County Fair. The crash sparked a 1.5-acre forest fire. Truck driver Billy Wayne Floyd was charged with manslaughter and third-degree assault.
Fred Anthony succeeded Henry Rufo as priest at St. Helen’s Catholic Church.
Dale Robinson became the new pastor at the Church of Christ at 18th and Long, succeeding Alan Handman.
August
Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes and Montgomery Gentry headlined the Jamboree, which had a record estimate of 39,000 fans attending over the three days of the country music and camping festival.
The Sweet Home Planning Commission continued reviewing the city’s sign ordinance at the request of the Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort.
The Nandina Street Neighborhood Watch group held Sweet Home’s first National Night Out event, which Gina Riley, community services specialist with Sweet Home Police Department, plans to make an annual citywide event.
Sharon King went to work as Sweet Home Emergency Ministries’ new director.
The Sweet Potato Queens held a “Bras Across the Bridge” anti-cancer fund-raising event.
Area volunteers, led by Mike Melcher and Ron Moore, began demolishing and rebuilding a home for Dirrell Harper, whose home had been damaged in the freak storm in June.
The Cedar Shack opened. It had been closed since the building was burned in a 2004 arson.
Former City Councilor Bob McIntire died.
A champion Huskies wrestler, Eugene Luke, was killed in a single-vehicle crash near Junction City.
The city’s new water treatment plant went online. The new plant is located off 47th Avenue. The old plant, built in the 1930s, is located off Ninth Avenue.
The Jamboree announced that Keith Urban had been signed for the 2010 Jamboree, which will be held July 30 through Aug. 1.
Linn County Circuit Court Judge John A. McCormick reversed a decision by Sweet Home Municipal Court Judge Larry Blake upholding an impound by city police. Resident Wayne Hadland filed to have the decision overturned on March 31. The ruling reflects a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruling, Miranda v. The City of Cornelius, that impounding vehicles parked legally and safely is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Sweet Home, like cities around the state, had previously impounded vehicles driven by persons who were charged with driving drunk, without a license, with a suspended license or without insurance.
September
A forest fire near Canal Creek, about 21 miles northeast of Sweet Home, burned nearly 300 acres.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed Foster Dam Road for seven months to repair the three remaining damaged gates in Foster Dam.
Margaret Morse of Newberg, and formerly of Sweet Home, celebrated her 100th birthday.
The Lebanon and Sweet Home Boys and Girls Clubs officially merged.
Former Sweet Home Municipal Court Judge Larry Houchin was sentenced to 30 days in jail for official misconduct,
harassment and sexual abuse. He was judge in Sweet Home from 1998 to 2006, when the City Council chose not to renew his contract.
Sweet Home’s Raquetball Court, located at Northside Park, reopened with a new floor and paint.
Districtwide, Sweet Home school enrollment was up 36 students to 2,376 at the beginning of the school year.
Sweet Home Emergency Ministries moved in the old Hometown Drug building in the 1000 block of Main Street.
The Kiwanis and city Parks Board began an effort to purchase new skateboard equipment for the skate park. They are selling calendars to raise money. The city matched a $5,000 donation from the Kiwanis, and the groups have another $1,000 anonymously donated. The cost is estimated at $15,000 to $17,000.
The FBI reported that crime rates in Sweet Home had dropped from 2007 to 2008.
The Hope Center was closed after the city required an occupancy permit in connection with the replacement of sprinkler pipes. The city issued a temporary occupancy permit, and the Hope Center reopened earlier this month. The Hope Center borrowed about $25,000 to pay for the sprinkler pipe replacement, and it is accepting donations to assist in paying off the loan.
Fun Forest, owned by Jim Cota, Robbie Melcher and Scott Melcher, was named Linn County Tree Famer of the Year by the Linn County Chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. The forest later won the regional and state titles.
October
Sweet Home Funeral Chapel began demolition to rebuild part of its building. The DEQ stopped the demolition because the work started without an asbestos survey. Because the owners immediately stopped work and obtained the necessary survey, the DEQ opted to simply issue a warning letter and construction is now under way.
Linn County Sheriff’s Office began leading classes in disaster preparedness. The classes will continue into the new year.
Devon Salladay, 29, of Crawfordsville was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm after explosives were discovered by Sweet Home Sanitation in a dumpster. The investigation led to Salladay, who was not charged immediately in connection with the explosives.
Marketek, a Portland firm, started a marketing analysis of Sweet Home’s business sector. Early results for the study, released in November, showed that Sweet Home residents would like to shop in Sweet Home; but when they can’t they go to Lebanon or Eugene.
Ian Search, as part of his Young Marines program, revived Red Ribbon Week in Sweet Home. Red Ribbon Week is a drug awareness and prevention campaign. Sweet Home had not had a Red Ribbon Week campaign in several years.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began removing asbestos-laden debris from 2210 Tamarack St., owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust, where buildings had been demolished without being abated.
School District 55 bus driver Terrie Miller was honored for her expert driving in avoiding a crash with a bus load of athletes and coaches on Highway 26, en route to a cross country meet.
Volunteers finished construction of Dirrell Harper’s new house and welcomed him home.
Debbie Pugh, Holley School librarian, was named Oregon Library Media Paraprofessional of the Year by the Oregon Association of School Libraries.
School District 55 opened new tennis courts. Its old courts, which were in poor condition, had been demolished at the request of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group in exchange for money to help build new courts.
November
The H1N1 influenza struck Sweet Home, causing 20 percent absence rates at many Sweet Home schools and 40 percent at one point at Foster School.
Western States Land Reliance Trust received a two-year extension on a permit to build 432 residential lots. Managing Trustee Dan Desler asked for the extension because of economic conditions.
The Sweet Home Police Department selected a new logo designed by Abe Burns.
The Oregon Schools Athletic Association moved Sweet Home from the Val-Co league to the Sky-Em league. The move takes effect next year.
Andrew Winslow was named Linn County Junior First Citizen.
Crawfordsville, Holley and Sweet Home Charter schools received the top mark, “outstanding,” on state school report cards for 2008-09.
Weyerhaeuser, working with Sweet Home Sanitation and Lane Forest Products began removing fiber piles from 2210 Tamarack St. and 28389 Hwy. 20. The properties are owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust. The cardboard fibers stored there were deemed solid waste by the DEQ, which fined the companies and Dan Desler, the managing trustee and managing partner respectively in January.
December
Single digit lows hit earlier in the month, freezing ponds, pipes and Foster Lake at Calkins Park.
The Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort hosted Warm and Cozy, a tour of local business that culminated in drawings for prizes and cash at the lighting of Weddle Bridge.
Margaret Grable, a resident at Twin Oaks, celebrated her 100th birthday.