Jan. 31, 1974
Dr. JJ McCarthy, a chiropractor in Sweet Home, put his ice skating blades to the iced pond at Lester Shingle mill for a spin. He said the last time there was enough ice in the city was in 1949 when Wiley Creek froze over and he could skate a quarter mile up the creek. McCarthy is a former professional speed skater who won the Diamond Trophy at Lake Saranac in New York in 1931. In 1933 he was North American Speedskating Champion. When the 1932 Winter Olympics happened at Saranac, McCarthy was too young to participate.
A program that serves hot meals for the elderly began this week at the high school cafeteria. Nineteen older adults showed up for the lunch in the first of the Elderly Nutrition Program. The school board agreed to provide the space for the program, operated by Mrs. Jessie Keller.
Sweet Home Neighbors Food Co-op Inc. shut down its services. It was reported that members of the co-op factionalized over management problems and were unable to negotiate a contract with the Co-op by the Benton-Linn Service Agency (CSA), but the store manager said the primary reason for disbanding was lack of citizen participation. Other services that shared the building are now looking for a new location; they are: Legal Aid, Dept. of Vocational Rehab, Childrens Service Division, Linn County Mental Health Clinic and from the Welfare Dept. a food stamp counselor and caseworker.
Feb. 3, 1999
The Kiwanis club is planning a fundraising campaign to build a skate park in Sweet Home. This comes after the City replaced playground equipment at Sankey and Northside parks. The Kiwanis took part in raising funds to improve parks, and one member’s nephew said it was “just pathetic” the city had no place for skateboarding. The City’s maintenance superintendent, Dale Ivan, expects the project to cost some $50,000 in addition to potential site acquisition.
High school literature English teacher Dave Martin will leave in a few weeks as a contestant on the “Jeopardy” game show. Depending on how well he does, he may tape up to five shows. Martin said he watches the show regularly and saw they would be looking for contestants in the Portland area. He registered with some 300 others, returned with about 60 others for a test, then joined the top 15 for mock games. He later got a call to fly to Los Angeles for taping.
This week Maria Andrade, a junior in high school, is set to rematch the opponent who defeated her by decision in her first boxing match. The match coming up will be her first on her home turf. Andrade, Sweet Home’s only female boxer, said she gave the sport a try after watching a friend box and the coach invited her to participate. She said her dad watches boxing all the time, but she hated it because people get hurt. Yet she kept going back to the ring.