(Sept. 15, 1965) McMinnville’s airport was one of the busiest places in the state Sunday when more than 5,000 people turned out for the Home Built and Antique Fly-In. Proceeds from the all-day event will be used for airport improvement, according to a spokesman for the Yamhill chapter of the Oregon Pilots Association.

(Sept. 23, 1955) Three Amity women find their buckets fill quickly as they move in after shakers have dislodged the fruit. Earning extra money Thursday at the Luther A. White farm were Bernice Athey, left, Lydia Simerly and Mrs. Ernie O’Dell.

(Sept. 26, 1955) New addition to McMinnville street department line of equipment is this badly-needed street flusher, delivery of which was made late last week. Members of the city administration gathered to take a look at the 1500 gallon pumper which was purchased at cost of $6,614.25. Kneeling, left to right, City Attorney Eugene Marsh, Councilman F.O. Garrigus, Mayor Loyd Crow, Councilman Harold Taylor, Street Commissioner Ray Kidd, Councilman Walter Wagner. Standing at rear, City Recorder William A. Zosel and Councilman Delton Russell.

(Sept. 24, 1980) Richard Hawes, driver for the Council on Aging, helps some of his regular customers into the council’s van after a visit to the Pioneer Pantry. Van carries a maximum of 11 people.

(Sept. 15, 1980) A new pediatric room at McMinnvilIe Community Hospital has been dedicated to the memory of three McMinnville children who died in a 1976 school bus accident in Lafayette — Lori M. Barr, Christina M. Espinosa and Annette L. Smith. Gene Allison, left, superintendent of the Yamhill County Education Service District, hands a dedication plaque to hospital Administrator Gary Worrell. Allison chaired a committee to handle a community fundraiser to help the families of students who were in the Sept. 8, 1976, crash in which a locomotive rammed a McMinnviIle school bus. Behind them are Allison’s ESD administrative assistant, Thelma Taskinen, and committee members Steve Macy and Jeb Bladine. The committee dispersed $2,705 to the families of accident victims for a wide variety of household needs. Much of the fund was raised through a Lafayette drive coordinated by Tom Torrence.

(Sept. 23, 1970) Work is progressing on the city of McMinnville’s paving project for 19th Street (off of Baker Street). Property on either side of street is owned by G.A. Nelson of McMinnville. He plans to sell lots in the area as soon as it is platted.

(Sept. 24, 1975) Groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday at the Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., plant in Northeast McMinnville launched construction on a $1.7 million facility designed to supply prepared scrap for the big steel production plant. Board Chairman and President Robert H. Klinger said the new facility, which will recycle up to 7,000 tons of raw material monthly, should be in operation in late 1975. Located on a 24-acre site purchased by Cascade from McMinnville Industrial Promotions this year, the new facility will convert thousands of wrecked vehicles, appliances and other products into valuable steel scrap. The huge recycling machine is part of an $8 million expansion program designed to make Cascade one of the most efficient mini-steel mills in the world, Klinger said.

(Sept. 23, 1970) McMinnville Men’s Garden Club representatives, Steve Thomas, left, and Elmer Carlson, right look on as Mayor Norm Scott presents them notice of declaring Sept. 20-26 as Men’s Garden Club Week in the city. Club has a display at U.S. National Bank as it is sponsoring a pumpkin contest.

(Sept. 23, 1970) J. Haslett Bell, Portland landscape architect and planner, looks at map of city of McMinnville recently during visit with city officials and others interested in planning. At left is Joe Dancer, city manager, and Clarence Caughran, chairman of the Mayor’s Citizens Advisory Committee on Planning. Bell developed a master plan for the city over 20 years ago.

(Sept. 20, 1960) Readying turkey for a dinner last week between county turkey growers and the McMinnville retail committee were Louie Gross, county extension agent, (left), and A.C. Camp, president of county turkey growers. The 1960 turkey show, slated for November, was discussed by the groups.

Vintage N-R/Memory Lane: Sept. 26, 2025

A look back at Yamhill County news

10 years ago

-- On a warm Saturday afternoon in 1867, several dozen Yamhill County gentlemen visited an oat field west of McMinnville. They decided it would be a good place to try their hand at the newly developed game of “base ball.”

In a re-enactment staged Saturday on the same field, conveniently situated next to the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center, a dozen locals adopted the McMinnville Gristmillers moniker and declared themselves the home team while facing the Vancouver Continentals.

The event was put on in coordination with a regional conference of the American Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museum organization, said Dave “Stretch” Rucker, Gristmillers’ pitcher.

In the opinion of this esteemed publication, Rucker proved one of the finest hurlers in the county, if not the entire state. “This was my first actual game, though I knew about it in the academic sense before,” Rucker said. “And I love this.” Will this sport really catch on locally? Color this publication skeptical, but perhaps the day will come.

-- Visit McMinnville, the city’s new tourism promotion agency, has hired Jeff Knapp to serve as its first executive director. Knapp previously worked at Sokol Blosser Winery as its director of consumer relations since 2008. Visit McMinnville was created in July after the city decided to begin funneling its lodging tax dollars into a dedicated marketing organization.

-- Eighteen teams raised nearly $5,000 for Special Olympics during the first fundraising plane pull. The McMinnville Crossfit team proved to be the quickest, taking just 17.235 seconds to drag the 36,000-point NASA Gulfstream II Shuttle Simulator 50 feet across the tarmac at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

Pam Ramsey of the McMinnville Police, who organized the event, said the first plane pull won’t be the last. “It was such a blast to watch and be part of,” she said.

25 Years Ago

-- Ehren McGhehey can’t wait to make a fool of himself. “Someone’s going to do it, so it might as well be me,” he said. “Besides, if I can make someone laugh …”
McGhehey, a 1995 graduate of McMinnville High School, always has coaxed laughter from his family members and friends. This fall, he’ll have an even bigger audience when he starts appearing on a new MTV show, “Jackass.” The professional is one of seven actors in three cities who’ll do stunts that are about halfway between “Candid Camera” and incarceration.

He met the “Jackass” producers through a mutual friend who creates snowboarding videos. They were intrigued by what they’d heard about McGhehey, who describes himself — without exaggeration — as someone who’ll try anything.

“Things just happen and I go with them. It’s what I do with what happens — that’s my life,” he said. “If this takes me somewhere, the movies or TV, then that’s the way God planned it. But if not, if I’m scrubbing floors, then that’s what I’ll do.”

50 Years Ago

-- At the end of summer, fashion-conscious newspapers and magazines fairly burst with the latest dictates of haute couture. Unlike years past, however, when names like Gucci, Dior and Cassini excited tremors in the hearts of coeds, collegiates have created their own brand of fashion, as observed by N-R staff last week while visiting Linfield. Throwing off the cloak of New York and Paris dictum, Linfield collegiates now dress down in funky, camp apparel — in short; clothes that express themselves. The “Wear ever” tag is replaced by “Worn forever.”

Seen on campus were blue jeans in various stages of fade and bag; a colorfully striped gauze shirt paired with a khaki green knapsack; and lots of bare-legged looks popular among girls and guys.