May 11, 1950
The city superintendent of grade schools proposed establishing a junior high school as a solution to the area’s classroom shortage. He said the passage of HB193’s “Children’s Bill” would help but not solve the problem of Sweet Home’s swelling school population by supplying an additional $30 per child. The grade school overflow is being held in a class at Sweet Home Church of Christ, and next year will need four more classes in the Methodist Community Church.
Entrance to Kirk’s Auto Service at 18th and Main was blocked when a trailer slat broke, releasing a binder chain and dumping the trailer’s load of six bunks of lumber onto the station entrance.
May 8, 1975
In its second year participating in the state forest products championship, high school students won three of the 11 events and placed second in three others to win the coveted chrome-plated ax trophy and climbing belt. The event was held at the high school’s new Forest Produts building and attracted 254 entries. Sweet Home won the state title with 78 points. Wayne Martinez won the tool identification event, Jim Tomlinson won the tree climb in a record time 8.9 seconds, and Derek McCorkhill took first in timber cruising.
Sweet Home’s first solar-powered home nears completion on Ames Creek Road. Charles Bliege, 31, a chief engineer at White’s Electronics, is building a home with a multiple source heating system using solar collectors on the roof, heating coils in the fireplace and a conventional oil fired furnace. If successful, it may become a federally supported demonstration project for the rest of the country.
May 10, 2000
The Rio is getting new ownership exactly 50 years after Sweet Home’s second theater (both originally owned/operated by George Gessler) opened. Doug Stumbaugh sold The Rio to Greg and Bonnie VanHandel. Stumbaugh owned the theater for 13 years, but is ready for retirement. He renovated the facility, replacing seats and wall coverings, adding a stereo sound system, and remodeling the interior and exterior. The VanHandel’s plan to refurbish the marquee’s neon tubing to a 1950 level of authenticity.