THE SPOKESMAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021 P3
FLASHBACK
Excursions; freight teams; 2020 ‘predictions’
100 years ago
June 16, 1921 — Homeseek-
ers To Come In July Is An-
nounced
J.W. Shingler, secretary of the
Redmond Commercial club,
was in Bend Tuesday, attending
a meeting of club secretaries
and real estate men, called for
the purpose of arranging the
itinerary for the homeseekers’
excursion coming from the
middle west and due in Central
Oregon about July 26.
The first stop in Oregon will
be made in Ontario and then in
other towns of Eastern Oregon.
Leaving the main line at The
Dalles and coming by train to
Madras, the excursionists will
be met by autos and escorted to
Prineville where lunch will be
served. Autos from Redmond
and Bend will meet the party
there and show as much of the
farming sections of Deschutes
county as possible during the
afternoon.
The night will be spent in
Bend and next morning the
party will go on to Portland,
making the entire trip by auto.
From that city, the excursion
will be continued down the
Willamette valley to Medford
and then to Crater lake. An ef-
fort is being made to have the
party return to Bend to take the
train, but so far nothing defi-
nite has been arranged for.
This is the first of a number
of similar excursions schedule
and will number between one
hundred and one hundred and
fifty farmers. It is not expected
that any real estate transfers
will be made during the pres-
ent tour, but it is more to show
these prospective settlers the
opportunities Oregon offers
and they will go back home and
tell their neighbors.
75 years ago
June 20, 1946 — Pioneer of
1910 Back in Redmond
W.H. Hobbs of Springfield,
who lived in Redmond from
1910 until 1930, was here this
week visiting his many friends
and noting the growth of the
town. Hobbs now has a grocery
store on the McKenzie highway
at Springfield.
Hobbs had the first bakery in
Redmond, ran a general mer-
chandise store and owned the
laundry, which he sold to Mr.
and Mrs. C. H. Sawyler. He re-
called Tuesday that when he
wanted flour for his bread in the
small bakery he opened he had
to go to Prineville or Madras for
wheat. During the first winter
of 1910, when there was no rail-
road to Redmond, supplies were
shipped to Shaniko and hauled
on to Redmond by freight
teams. It took three months
that winter to bring the supplies
from Shaniko to Redmond, as
the road was blocked by snow.
“I used to get 15 cents for a
pound loaf of bread, 50 cents
for a three-layer cake and 40
cents for a pie,” Hobbs said.
50 years ago
June 16, 1971 — Chief dis-
closes plans for police reserve
unit
Citing the rapid increase in
the work load on a static police
Spokesman file photo
Police Chief Speed Durgan told Rotarians in 1971 of the increasing
need of and plans for a Redmond police reserve unit, a group of at least
six volunteer men interested in police work who could be trained to as-
sist the regular force of officers.
locked 62 windows and doors
Imagine Redmond in the
and issued 1800 written or ver-
year 2020. Houses will have bal warnings.
Details of the department’s
porches again. People might plan
and requirements are un-
der study.
walk to their workplaces,
only blocks away. Or, they
25 years ago
could walk downstairs to
June 19, 1996 — Visionaries
work. Parents might bike
ponder the city in 2020
Imagine Redmond in the
to work and their children
year 2020. Houses will have
porches again. People might
pedal to school along
walk to their workplaces, only
paths meandering beside
blocks away. Or, they could
walk downstairs to work.
irrigation canals.
— The Spokesman, June 19, 1996
force as the motivation. Police
Chief Speed Durgan told Ro-
tarians Thursday of the city’s
plans to form a volunteer police
reserve unit to assist local offi-
cers in handling the work load
in times of unusual activity or
emergency.
Quoting statistics, Durgan
said that in 1969 his depart-
ment handled 375 traffic situ-
ations and 127 others ranging
from intoxication arrests to
burglary investigations. In 1970
the numbers grew to 425 traf-
fic investigations and 170 other,
plus a load of 115 juvenile sit-
uations. Already in 1971, with
the year not half gone, the de-
partment has tabbed 270 traf-
fic, 89 miscellaneous and 64 ju-
venile situations in which they
have been involved.
The recently passed bud-
get had itemized funds to en-
able the department to pay for
uniforms and training of a re-
serve force of six men. Training
would be done by members of
the regular force, and uniforms
would be the same as the reg-
ular officers wear. The volun-
teers would be trained princi-
pally in the handling of crowds
during such events as parades,
fairs, athletic activities, and also
would be available for emer-
gencies to assure two men in
each patrol car when needed,
and to work as vacation re-
placements when sufficiently
trained.
So far this year, Durgan
said, Redmond police have an-
swered 4,500 telephone calls,
investigated 26 accidents,
Parents might bike to work
and their children pedal to
school along paths meandering
beside irrigation canals.
In the center of town, where
the fairgrounds used to be,
would be a park plaza. City
hall, the post office and a major
retailer would share it with a
large park.
These visions are just a few
that dreamers came up with
Tuesday in a Community Vi-
sion workshop at Eagle Crest
Resort.
The workshop was part of
an 8-month effort by the Vi-
sion 2020 Committee to update
Redmond’s Comprehensive
Plan. The 25-member commit-
tee has met for three months
and will continue to do so until
July 1997.
Tuesday’s workshop added
thoughts from more than 50
“stakeholders” and interested
citizens around Redmond.
Some themes, such as in-
corporating variety into de-
velopment, were consistent.
Automobile landscaping —
neighborhoods dominated by
on-street parking and garages
lining the street — should be
a thing of the past, many said.
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Returning to an older theme of
front porches and back alleys
met with support.
The idea of mixed use, where
some businesses are allowed
in residential areas, also found
favor. Bend is experimenting
with the mixed-use concept in
its Old Mill riverfront develop-
ment.
The vision of an east-side by-
pass, built and operating, was a
given to workshop participants.
But the group also floated some
new ideas, such as creating a
system development program
to help pay for new schools.
An issue drawing consider-
able interest is what to do with
the fairgrounds site if and when
the fair moves near the airport.
Despite the fair associa-
tion’s need to partially fund the
move by selling the property,
workshop participants spoke
strongly in favor of looking at
the “best” long-term use of the
choice real estate.
“This is a once-in-three-life-
times opportunity to do some-
thing with 30 acres in the mid-
dle of the city,” said Max Mills,
a member of the Vision 2020
Committee. “The decision
shouldn’t be driven by dollar
value.”
Next the committee will take
the ideas generated at the work-
shop, “get into the nitty-gritty,”
and do reality checks, accord-
ing to planner Leslee Bangs.
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