March 13, 1974
Willamette Industries Inc. recently purchased Bauman Sawmill, Lebanon Sawmill, Bauman Lumber Company, Indianola Lumber, Lebanon Machine Shop and WJH Trucking. The company will now have the capacity to process approximately 135 million board feet per year. Bauman Lumber Company, heavy in the production of wood chips, has been the principal supplier of Willamette’s Western Kraft Paper Mill.
Sweet Home’s High-Q Team winning for the tenth consecutive time set a state record as Hood River faced defeat 300-200. Coach George Wenzel said it will take another school at least two years to dislodge their record. The team has not been defeated since 1971.
Postal employees celebrated the local office’s centennial anniversary this week. A facade of the old post office was erected for the occasion. A special cancellation was purchased to honor the centennial with the East Linn Chamber of Commerce selling first day cancellation commemorative envelopes for stamp collectors at 25 cents. Having gone from 55 families 100 years ago to more than 4,000 today, the post office now employs three clerks, six city carriers, two rural carriers, four substitute carriers and clerks, a postmaster and an assistant postmaster.
March 17, 1999
A small fire closed the junior high for a day. The fire was reported at 5:59 a.m. Fire crews saw no visible flames, but smoke was seen in the north wing of the school. The cause of the fire appeared to be from a radiant heat source, possibly a duct heater. Over a period of time, the heat source created a pyrophoric carbon on an isolated portion of the wood roof, which lowers the ignition temperature of wood to the point that it can autoignite at low temperatures.
The Kiwanis Club kicked off the “Silver for a Skate Park” effort this week to raise funds for a skate park in Sweet Home. The club, in conjunction with the City of Sweet Home, hopes to build the park for the city’s park system. They will need to raise $52,000 in three years to be successful.
Residents of the Calapooia Watershed agreed to form a watershed council for the area. Approximately 80 people attended a meeting to discuss the pros and cons of forming a watershed council for the Calapooia River. Meeting moderator Don Hopkins said residents of the Upper Calapooia need to concentrate on protecting their property from erosion. Since the flood of February 1996, Calapooia residents have had to deal with serious erosion damage. Watershed councils can provide a local voice on statewide water issues and even receive government funding.