June 7, 1951
The Sweet Home fire department will sponsor a carnival next week on M Street about two blocks east of the railroad tracks. A percentage of the proceeds will go to the fire department to make improvements on its club room facilities. A special attraction from the Active Club is a dunk tank (new and improved, electronically controlled).
Lebanon’s Strawberry Festival opens this week with a parade Friday morning, followed by the cutting and serving of the world’s largest strawberry shortcake (5,518 lbs) at Main and Grant streets.Street programs of music, dancing, acrobatics, comedy and a ball game at Riverside ball park will conclude the day. Saturday’s activities include a children’s parade, stock car racing, variety programs and square dance demonstration. Berry and industrial exhibits will be on display at the Moty and Van Dyke building, and a flower show will be held at City Hall. Deloris Welch was selected as queen alongside her court, Donna Casebolt of Sweet Home, Nancy Moehnke of Brownsville, and Eva Lou Sparks and Beverly Canoy of Lebanon.
June 3, 1976
The Youth Center in Sweet Home set new summer hours, offering ping pong, pool, table games, cable television and a stereo. Two hundred record albums are also available to listen to, including folk, rock, jazz, bluegrass and classical music. An open jam session is scheduled for Saturday. The center is being renamed The Lifehouse Youth Center, providing recreation, counseling and special events – pool, ping pong and chess tournaments; trips to the coast, fishing and hikes; and a four-day camping trip.
A new ambulance in Sweet Home provides 380 cubic feet in the patient compartment – considerably larger than the city’s current ambulance. It can haul four people comfortably and still have room for two or three EMTs. It’s designed to use all equipment now used in emergency care and has comforts of air conditioning. Dual gas tanks give the ambulance a 140 mile radius.
The use of gasoline to start a campfire ignited the first fire of the season in the Sweet Home Ranger District. The fire, in Trout Creek Campground, was suppressed by ground forces on the scene, with minimal damage done.
Registration is now available for Quartzville Day Camp, the city’s parks and recreation department’s summer outdoor recreation and education program on Quartzville Creek, near the headwaters of Green Peter Reservoir. The camp will include craft projects, overnight camp-outs, nature study, fishing, swimming, hiking, gold panning, rock hounding, singing and special trips.
June 6, 2001
Angel McRae, 10, collected more than $315 in pennies from her peers at Hawthorne Elementary for local families impacted by catastrophic home fires. She said that God told her to do it. Walmart added an extra $200 to the pot.
A new four million gallon water plant (with an ability to expand to 10 million) for Sweet Home is in the planning stages. The cost is expected to be between $2 million and $3 million. The city must first get its ducks in a row with the Army Corps of Engineers to approve renewal of land lease. In 1960, when Foster Dam was constructed, a pipe was included for drawing drinking water. A new plant at Foster Dam has been planned by the city since construction of the dam.
Community activist and volunteer Keith Gabriel died this week from complications caused by cancer. He was active in an innumerable number of areas, from the U.S. Army to Sweet Home Fire Department, local clubs and organizations, and many activities supporting youth and the community at large.