100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Nov. 30, 1924

Pass Highway All Year Road Is Plan Made

That the McKenzie pass highway, crossing the Central Oregon Cascades at a point one mile above sea level just north of the Three Sisters, may be kept open to traffic during the entire year, instead of being a summer road, became known today with the circulation of a petition by the Central Auto Service Company.

The petition requests the public service commission to grant a franchise to the stage company for the operation of passenger and freight carrying automobiles between Bend and Klamath Falls, but in this connection it is made known that the same company contemplates petitioning for a franchise for the McKenzie pass highway between Bend and Eugene.

According to the tentative plans, the stage company, in return for the franchise, will keep the pass road open during the winter months with a snow plow operated by a large tractor. It is explained that, should the road be kept open to automobile traffic, many automobiles will cross the summit highway daily and that the machines will be of material assistance in keeping the road open.

Gymnasium Chairs Are Now Installed

Sectional folding chairs recently purchased by the Bend school district have been placed in the school gymnasium. These substantial chairs, 240 in number, were purchased at a cost of approximately $1,000. They have been placed on the main floor of the gymnasium floor and will be used in seating audiences attending school exercises. The chairs are constructed in sections, each containing three seats.

Guards Bend’s Communication

While Bend sleeps, there is one person on duty in this city who makes certain by frequent tests that Central Oregon is not isolated from the outside world. This person is Mrs. Katherine Runyan, night operator for the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co., who tests the highways of speech between Bend and Portland on an average of once each hour.

Should the operator in trying out the lines find trouble, the trouble is immediately reported to a wire tester, who, with the aid of a delicate instrument, can tell within the distance of the space between two poles just where the trouble is. Since the completion of the new line between Bend and The Dalles, the night operator has had little occasion to summon a “trouble shooter.”

The hours of quiet in the Bend office are between 1:30 and 7 o’clock in the morning, the hours when the lines are least used, according to Mrs. Minnie Livingston, chief operator. During these hours, Mrs. Runyan is in charge of the central office, and because few calls come in, she is afforded ample opportunity of making the required tests, making certain that the toll operators will have a clear circuit for the work of the coming day.

Local Eleven Trounces Seaside, In Line for State Title

Trouncing the Lower Columbia conference champions, Seaside high, by an 18 to 0 score here in the Thanksgiving day game, the Bend high school football team proved beyond any further argument that the game played in this part of the state is the equal of that played on the other side of the Cascades, and won a place alongside of Corvallis high for the state championship. The local school is seeking a game with Corvallis to decide which will be entitled to first place in the state.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Nov. 30, 1949

Shevlin-Hixon Bids Farewell To Steam Engine

Marking complete electrification of the plant, a huge Corliss steam engine, of 800 horsepower, turned over a 28-ton drivewheel for the last time at The Shevlin-Hixon Company sawmill this morning, at 3 o’clock.

And as the big engine, whose sole function recently was to provide power for an edger, came to rest, old-time employees of The Shevlin-Hixon Company recalled an event of slightly more than 33 years ago- on March 23, 1916. On that date, the Shevlin plant started operations in Bend, with the Corliss engine that is now motionless providing power for the first unit of the big sawmill. The steam engine remained in operation through three decades, with time out for seasonal over-haul and on a few occasions for repair of a broken belt.

The direct-drive belt that circled the 28-ton wheel is 108 feet long and 46 inches wide. It is a three-ply belt of cowhide. J.P. Dion was builder of the plant and Harry Swanson was engineer in charge of installation of machinery. “The mill is belt driven,” stated an article in The Bulletin. The article added that an 800 horsepower Corliss engine, made in Michigan, had been installed. That is the engine that made its final revolution in the local plant this morning. The engine provided power only for the No. 1 unit of the sawmill.

Through the years, electrical equipment was gradually added, and now The Shevlin Hixon Company has its own complete power plant. As electrification of the plant gradually extended, the work of the engine decreased.

Bend Lava Bears Honored At Gridiron Banquet

More than 200 Bend high school students parents and grid fans turned out last night for a banquet in the Pilot Butte inn, to honor members of the 1949 Lava Bear football team and the coaches, Bud Robertson and Bill Overman.

The banquet, sponsored by the Athletic Booster club, featured Kip Taylor, Oregon State college football coach as principal speaker, and the showing of a film on the Oregon State Michigan State football game.

One of the highlights of the affair was the presentation to Tom Niebergall, Bruin team captain and center, of the local Lion’s club plaque for outstanding defensive play during the season. Neibergall, who played defensive fullback throughout most of the Bears’ games this year, was presented the award by Alva Goodrich, Lions club president.

Metal Section Of Arnold Flume Being Installed

The new metal section of the Arnold flume, near the headgates at Lava island, south of Bend, will be “hooked up” about the middle of December, at which time the flume will be ready to deliver domestic water to the district, R.P. Syverson, contractor, has announced. The flume betterment work is being done under the supervision of the bureau of reclamation.

Syverson’s crews started the job on Oct. 1. At present a crew of 17 men is on the project. The Bend contractor was awarded the betterment work on his low bid of $24,047, and allowed 75 days to finish the job.

The contract called for the construction of new headgates, of concrete, and the installation of 782 feet of Lennon type metal flume.

Pouring of concrete for the headgates was completed this week, with the concrete moved across the river from the west side by highline. This was necessitated by the rugged nature of the area in which the work is under way. The metal section now nearing completion hooks up with a longer section constructed.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Nov. 30, 1974

Happy herd hits Portland

The big yellow school bus rolled out of Bend at 7:30 in the morning a week ago Thursday, Dan Rastovich at the wheel. On board he had 31 sixth-graders and 4 adults, all singing “Happy Birthday” to Angela Kelly.

Kenwood teacher Jack Ensworth was taking his class on his annual trip to Portland and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). This was Ensworth’s 25th trip. The noise level never lowered much below a dull roar on the four-hour journey as they sang songs, played games and practiced what passes for leadership in the sixth grade shouting louder than the others.

The Central Oregon sunshine gradually turned into rain as the bus traveled north. Arriving in the city, the kids scrambled out of the bus and dashed through the water to the Portland State College cafeteria where they are lunch.

OMSI was next. The kids were no sooner inside than they were all over the place like a locust swarm, eagerly pulling the levers, pushing the buttons and twirling the knobs that make the exhibits work.

A submarine-type periscope that protruded through the roof and allowed a view of the area surrounding the building was a favorite, as were the live animal exhibits. A special showing was held in the planetarium for the Bend group at 2:30.

Ensworth then rounded his charges up and headed across the parking lot for the Western Forestry Center. The center contains a variety of visual and animated exhibits depicting the forest products industry in Northwest.

A hit with the kids was a lifelike 70-foot Douglas fir that filled one room of the building to its second-story roof. When a button was pushed the tree began talking and — using colored light panels built into one side — explained how a tree’s life support system functions.

By 4:30 the kids were being herded towards the waiting bus. Ahead was dinner and a swim before they would bed down in a school gymnasium. Ensworth hoped they would run out of steam by then.

Friday they would visit the zoo and take a tugboat ride. Then, home again to Bend.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Nov. 30, 1999

Community thankful for Family Kitchen

On Thanksgiving Day, volunteers with Family Kitchen in Bend will take a rest from feeding the poor.

After all, Family Kitchen provides meals every week throughout the year. Volunteers figured they could take a day off because other groups throughout Central Oregon offer Thanksgiving dinners, including Salvation Army.

The kitchen started 13 years ago, after Maggie and Ron Botts and a few friends from Trinity Episcopal Church became concerned about homeless and hungry people who had nothing to eat except during the holidays.

“There was a great need and a lot of hungry and homeless people,” said Maggie Botts. “The downtown area was different then, and more poor people seemed to live closer to town. We knew these people needed help all year. They weren’t always the same people, just folks down on their luck.”

A group of volunteers began offering potluck dinners once a week at Trinity. The first night, no one showed up for a spaghetti feed, so the volunteers ate the dinner. After a few phone calls to other churches, some well-placed fliers and notifying various nonprofit agencies, the next potluck attracted more than a dozen hungry people.

Carol Bryant, a veteran director of many Community Theater of the Cascades plays, remembers she started making huge pots of beef stew at her neighbor’s house because her stove wasn’t big enough. They would take the pots to church to join the growing volunteer pool.

“I’ve had an absolute ball as a volunteer,” said Bryant, who would often go to play rehearsals smelling like sloppy joes.

“I look forward to my time as a volunteer. It gives me such pleasure and I think the people who come feel gratitude.”

Ron Lattin has organized Family Kitchen for the past five years. A retired director of a non-profit agency, Lattin wanted to perform meaningful volunteer work. He estimates it costs between $20,000 to $35,000 a year to feed Bend’s hungry.

Trinity receives about a third of the kitchen’s funding from the Federal Emergency Food and Shelter program. The rest must be raised by area churches and donations from the public. Last year, the kitchen served more than 17,000 plates of food.

“There are a variety of reasons why people come to eat, but we don’t ask them,” Lattin said. “We have an open-door policy. We don’t ask questions and we don’t try to convert anyone. If they come to our door, they are hungry.”

Eight Bend-area churches take shifts cooking, including Trinity. The menus consist of simple food that can be made in large quantities. Lattin said the meals usually attract between 90 and 125 people, and as many as 170 at times. He said they have surprisingly few regulars. Many single-parent families come to eat.

The kitchen also provides food baskets at Christmas time, taking one more day off in the year.

Lattin said that the volunteers group is full right now, and people who cook and serve the dinners usually stay on for years.

“It’s a labor of love,” Lattin says.