Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Genealogical Society is asking for historic photos again, this time to put together a 2013 calendar.
The society previously received more than 2,000 photos and used some 1,500 in a coffee table history book about Sweet Home last year.
“We’re looking for old – really old pictures – to put in a calendar,” said Sue Haley, chairwoman of the calendar committee. The society last created a calendar in 2010.
“People bought the calendar because it had pictures they hadn’t seen or couldn’t get any other way,” said Corky Lowen, a volunteer on the project.
The society has a lot of photos from the 1970s and 1980s, Lowen said, and it would really like to find earlier photos for the calendar.
The society has a few photos of older cars and trucks, Haley said, and the calendar will include a section on them.
Right now, Lowen and Haley are poring through old photos from The New Era and getting them into some semblence of order, Lowen said.
Ideally, the calendar will feature a number of themes, including the construction of the dams, parades, logging, community organizations, veterans, recreation and the lakes and Christmas, among others, Haley said.
Haley said the organization would also like to include a theme for the Scouts since the Girl Scouts celebrated their 100th anniversary with a national level event here this year.
Lowen said the society would like to continue producing a calendar annually.
Funds from the calendar and book are used to cover Genealogical Society Library expenses, Lowen said. The last calendar sold more than 200 copies at $10 each.
She is hoping the calendar will be complete and for sale by November at the latest, Lowen said.
Last year’s book continues to sell well, Lowen said. The Genealogical Society recently received 100 more books, bringing the total to 400 in print.
“Since the book came out, we’ve had some families come in and ask, ‘Are you going to do another book?’” Lowen said. They want to include their historic families in a new book.
For information, to provide photos, which can be scanned and given back immediately, or to order a book or calendar, contact the Genealogical Society Library at (541) 367-5034 or visit the library, located at the intersection of 13th and Kalmia, across from the Sweet Home Public Library.