Memory Lane 041125

A look back at Yamhill County news

10 years ago

n Karin Nichols, who leads the kitchen staff at Sue Buel Elementary in McMinnville, has been named Oregon Nutrition Manager of the Year.

She was honored by the Oregon School Nutrition Association for demonstrating “dedication and ingenuity to improve her school meal program.” She’s now in the running for national honors.

Nichols joined the district in 1998. She managed the kitchen at Memorial until Sue Buel opened in 2008.

She and another Sue Buel food service worker, Marilyn Larsen, were honored by the district earlier this year for saving a student from choking.

25 Years Ago

n Llamas to pet, stories to hear, beads to string. Feliciana Canatol had almost too many activities to choose from Saturday at the Safe Kids Fair, held at Juliette’s House in McMinnville. She was one of about 1,000 people who participated in the annual fair, which marked the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The event helped introduce Yamhill County residents to Juliette’s House, a child abuse assessment center. Families could see the interview and check-up rooms in a non-stressful environment, learn about safety topics, such as stranger danger and handwashing, and have children fingerprinted and photographed for identification.

n After receiving complaints about tables, chairs, sandwich boards and planters encroaching into the sidewalk right of way in downtown, the city is reminding downtown business owners that a path 48 inches wide must be maintained under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires cities to maintain 48 inches of clearance so people can navigate sidewalks in wheelchairs. Mike Bisset, the city’s community development director, said the requirement isn’t new. He said it’s been on the books for several years. But he said encroachment has become a growing problem.

n New money is moving into the fund to cover installation of lifesaving rumble strips on Highway 18, which could get underway in the next couple of weeks. On Friday, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde added $10,000 to the amount collected by highway advocates to fund the state rumble strip project. Engineers said the project may begin soon. “We’re going to try to get going at the end of this month,” said Don Jordan, district maintenance manager of the Oregon Department of Transportation. The tribal contribution, announced by the tribal council Friday, augments a $10,000 contribution from the Yamhill County Public Works Department. The county is also expected to contribute equipment and personnel. Contribution is also being sought from Polk County as well.

50 Years Ago

n If you see 100 college students rolling an empty beer keg down 99W in McMinnville Saturday, don’t think anything about it — it happens every year. On Friday, at 9 a.m. some 25 members of Delta Tau Delta fraternity will begin rolling the keg from Oregon State University in Corvallis in order to raise money for the Kidney Foundation of Oregon. They will roll all day Friday and plan to reach Salem between 5 and 6 p.m. On Saturday they will continue to Tigard with the route taking them through McMinnville about mid-day. Sunday they will leave Tigard and arrive in the Portland core area about noon.

This is the third annual keg roll. Last year, they were successful in raising nearly $1,400 for KAO to help provide retreatment for kidney failure victims and keep them alive on artificial kidney machines.