July 13, 1972
A Sweet Home airline stewardess has been grounded at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, but she doesn’t mind.
In fact, it’s an honor. Pat Beers was one of two out of 1,500 Western Airlines stewardesses selected to represent the company at the convention, serving soft drinks to candidates and delegates in a convention lounge.
Sweet Home’s city zoning ordinance was attacked by City Attorney Earl McFarlan while a request from ARCO to be able to reopen their service station at 4th and Main was being discussed.
Under the city’s zoning ordinance, service stations are not allowed in the C-1 zone, which covers the entire downtown area.
Existing stations are allowed, but since the ARCO station has been closed, the city notified ARCO they will not be allowed to reopen. McFarlan said the city is “over-zoned,” which has stopped more progress than anything else.
The fire department responded to six calls this week. They were called to wash down gas from a minor car accident, wash down gas overflowing from a pickup at Jack’s IGA Store, respond to a fire in an old abandoned car caused by boys playing with matches and fireworks, respond twice to burning of logs and bark at the old Oregon Plywood mill likely caused by vandals, and respond to an honest-mistake false alarm about smoke coming from a permitted burn.
July 9, 1997
Sweet Home High School displays the pictures of every class since 1935 throughout its halls. Until recently, the display for the classes of 1967 to 1978 were missing, but current students helped locate and prepare them. At one time, the annual company used to provide the pictures for the group photo. When the company stopped doing it, the classes never picked up on it until 1979 when graduates all chipped in a couple bucks to have it done.
A Volkswagon that was reported stolen in April was discovered under about 20 feet of water in the South Santiam River near the Pleasant Valley boat ramp and Sweet Home wastewater treatment plant. Jared White reported the car stolen on April 26, and a recreational diver found it on July 2. The fire department and Kirby’s Towing helped recover the vehicle. The police have suspects and are continuing an investigation.
Santiam Forest Products, a division of Fullmer Lumber Company, has leased the Custom Services remanufacturing plant, which was a division of Willamette Industries set to be on the chopping block. Fullmer was one of Custom Services’ bigger customers and was considering buying a different drying operation when they heard of the plans for its closure.
A gathering of the McQueary clan in Scotland in 1991 led led Sweet Home’s Hobert McQueary into a six-year, 132-interview series to capture a hint of Linn County’s history on videotape. The 81-year-old has compiled hundreds of hours of valuable and colorful information that he edits into 10-minute segments and sells to benefit the Linn County Historical Museum Trust.