4
SANOV ( O r * ) POST Thuf*
Jonuory 7 I U 2
(I*
I)
The year began
w ith skiers praying fo r snow,
progressed into a record hot spell
and ended w ith a blizzard,
but that’s how it was in
1981
by DAN DILLON
1«H1 began with a drought that
caused the area's economy to
slump as winter recreationists
stayed away from Mt Hoods
winter playland in drove
It ended with a five-day fall of
snow that, ironically, again shut
down mountain ski resorts tem
porarily as Highway 26 was closed
to motorists trying the reach the
lifts
The slumping economy played a
major role throughout the year as
rising loan rates slowed housing
starts and reduced the number of
working loggers and lumber mills
In its last report for the year,
Western Wood Products Associa
tion reported that 33 percent of the
state's mills were closed and that
26 percent had curtailed activity
But, while the economy cut into
purse strings, some old nemeses
returned to the surface, some new
challenges tested the community
and the area goes into a new year
under a blanket of snow that hints,
while we look back, that new sur
prises are on the horizon for 1962
cuit Court decision lim iting the
amount of assessments it may col
lect on the Heritage Square park
ing lot
Judge Winston L Bradshaw ru l
ed that property owners involved
in the construction of the local im
provement district could be assess
ed only $66,19« of the $105,000 the
city spent to build the parking lot
By year's end the appeal was
finally ready for presentation to
the Oregon Court of Appeals A
decision is expected sometime dur
ing the coming year
Hildebrand North America mov
ed into Sandy Industrial Park,
transferring its production of
lumber dry kilns, wood waste
burners and microprocessor pro
cess control systems The firm
hired nearly KM) area employees
The company went out of
business in August Creditors met
in October to plan a course of ac
tion after the firm filed bankruptcy
papers in September
JANUARY
A three-week dry spell drained
the Mt Hood ski slopes of their
snow and their skiers
“ The ski area has lost any oppor
tu n ity to have an excellent
season," the manager of the
Clackamas County Bank branch in
Wenrime said
Richard Busby, Independent
Bank of Sandy president, was
elected president of the Sandy
Area Cham tier of Commerce
Sandy Postmaster John Metsger
•tepped down after 25 years of ser
vice
Darrell Dempster, co chairman
of the Sandy Mountain Festival,
was named winner of Sandy's an
nual Community Service Award
MARCH
Sandy experienced its first bank
robbery March 24 Wayne Wood
mancy, 22, of Sandy, was arrested
in Portland and charged with the
robbery of the Sandy branch of the
Benj Franklin Savings and Loan
hours later, following anonymous
tip« to Sandy police
Sandy’s Dorothy Shrum was
chosen volunteer of the year by the
Oregon Com m unity Education
Association th«* city's first ever
recipient of the award
Sandy voters nixed the idea of a
new kindergarten in the Sandy
Elementary District, but approved
the d istrict’s A ballot proposal and
elected Dennis Traxler to serve on
the board
In the high school district, voters
denied all money measures and re
elected Paul Tucker to his seat on
the school Itoard
FEBRUARY
Sandy officials moved ahead to
appeal a Clackamas County Cir
APRIL
A team of specialists from the
state Department of Education
leu Mat« btosen gtrt a kMb awl the Waft**
gave the Sandy E le m e n ta ry
District a clean bill of health in its
standardization test
The city kicked off a crime
prevention program aimed at
educating local residents about
b L rg la r proofing th e ir homes
through a series neighborhood
meetings The police department
w ill conduct a sim ilar program as
the new year moves ahead, hoping
for a larger response from area
homeowners
Trimble Construction Co of San
dy was named as one of 10 par
ticipants in the 1981 Solar Parade
of Homes, a showcasing of solar
co nstruction techniques in a
Hillsboro subdivision that could
garner national attention
MAY
Four developers’ plan to build a
heliport on Salmon River Road,
near Highway 26, met with stout
opposition Opponents cited its pro
xim ity to the Welches School,
lloodland Women’s Club and the
highway as reasons for stopping
the project Efforts are underway
to have the site dedicated as a
park
Mt Hood Hospice organized to
provide care and attention to per
sons with terminal illnesses and
th e ir fa m ilie s The program
generated interest when actress
Ann Sothern appeared in Portland
in its behalf during the fall in a
series of benefits
Voters OK'd Sandy Union High
School's budget proposal, but
again nixed the Sandy Elementary
D istrict's attempt at a B ballot pro
posal for Ihe second time
The B proposal was resubmitted
in June and again vetoed by voters,
spelling doom for the district's in-
terscholastic athletic program.
Talented and Gifted program and
its support for Sandy Community
School
JUNE
Tiny Bull Run School District
Tbe Mandv Mountain k t t l l i i l asfaltti ri ra » aa
■\ year ago ski area operators were praying for snow. This year, (he snow got so had that, for a lim e, ski lifts were in
accessible to motorists
came under fire when its school
boarc
tempted to terminate the
contacts of three school teachers
Overwhelming community sup
port, amid charges of state viola
tions during the termination pro
cess. led to the reinstatement of
two of the three educators
Treva Tom pkins of Sandy,
separated from her son for 19
years after he was taken from the
fam ily's front porch, was reunited
w ith her son, a re s ta u ra n t
manager in Wixxlburn
Sandy Country Market opened as
an outlet for locai growers and
craftspeople to sell their wares in
Nelson Pioneer Memorial Park
Developer Carl Bright unveiled
his plans for incorporation of
Welches as a city The proposal
split the mountain area until it was
tabled The plan, however, is not
officially dead
JULY
The Sandy Mountain Festival a t
tracted record crowds, again, with
its two-day festival of arts and
crafts in Meimg Park Ix x a l resi
dent George Bruns, who served for
many years as a musician for Walt
Disney Studios, was named grand
marshal of the parade
Sandy Fire District dedicated its
new expanded fire hall The
$460,464 project now allows the
d istrict to provide space for
firefighters to sleep at the pro
gram -a move which has met with
great success, according to Sandy
Fire Marshal Jim Gallagher, as
response tim es have g re a tly
decreased
Otis and Erma Rich of Boring
were named king and queen of th«1
annual Sandy Pioneer Association
picnic
Reedway M a n u fa ctu rin g , a
sawmill on Orient Drive, was near
ly destroyed by a late night fire
Eighty-three firefighters from six
fire districts battled the flames for
more than two hours Loss was
«estimated at $lU(>,tMM)
AUGUST
Arnold Becker, postmaster at
Cannon Beach, was na '.av J to head
Sandy's post office
Five days of temperatures over
100 degrees hit the area As a
result, the woods were closed to
loggers and campers Sandy's
water system withstood the test,
however
Welches School, with its history
of construction problems, faced
another F a u lty w orkm anship
caused to building to settle uneven
ly and quickly, causing the floors
to buckle, as cracks appeared.
SEPTEMBER
Chuck Jones, p ro p rie tor of
Ferguson’s Power Equipment,
was named Sandy’s retailer of the
year The nomination followed a
letter to the editor in The Post
which cited his honesty in standing
behind what he sells
Six lloodland F ire D is tric t
firefighters were stricken when
they fought a brush fire under Bon
n e ville Power A d m in istra tio n
power lines near Uolo Pass Road
The BPA said the reaction, suf
fered by the firefighters, should
not have tx>en caused by the brush-
retarding chemicals they said they
used However, reaction from the
state Department of Forestry and
lloodland Fire District disagreed
OCTOBER
E le m e n ta ry School
celebrated its 5oth birthday with a
co m m u n ity-w id e p a rty which
featured past teachers and ad
ministrators
The Wy'east Day Lodge was
dedicated at Tim berline The
44.000 square foot fa c ility was
designed to take some of the
pressure of daily use off the
historic Timberline lxxfge
Mt
Hood T im e s h a re was
ordered to stop selling vacation
plans at the Green Tee Motel in
Welches by the state Real Estate
Division after charges of ques
Sandy
tionable sales practices and lack f
a s. - e license
NOV EMBER
A tragic traffic accident stunned
the community when a vehicle car
rying three Sandy High School
students collided with a Tri Met
bus on Orient Drive as the students
were on their way to the school s
state football playoff game in
Gresham
Dead was senior Carey Larson
Senior Chris Jones was seriously
injured and hospitalized for nearly
two months He is now recovering
at home Senior Dean Fischer suf
fered a broken arm in the crash
That same evening. Clackamas
County sheriff's deputy Jimmy
Shoop was killed when his patrol
car was struck as he was r«»spon
ding to a second accident on Orient
Drive The driver of the car which
struck Shoop s cruiser. Gay May of
Boring, was later indicted for
second-degree manslaughter in the
accident
High winds, estimated at more
than 70 mph, swept through the
Sandy area uprooting trees and
leaving homes in some places
without power for up to four days
DECEMBER
After years of controversy, the
Alder Creek Water Company woes
appeared to be near an end as
users of the system prepared to
choose a new management method
to correct the system’s deficien
cies after it had lx*en placed in
receivership more than one year
earlier
The city of Yeoju, Korea, made
overtures to the city of Sandy seek
ing to become its sister city in a
cultural exchange program
Snowstorms hit the area, dump
ing more than a foot of snow in the
Sandy area and much, much more
farther up the mountain Power
outages were spotty and heavy
snows made correcting them d if
ficult