Buy Local in Oregon
Thursday, December 28, 2017 • Vol. 133, No. 26 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1
Gerlach Wholesale Flooring
112 Janesville Street, Oregon, WI 53575 Phone: 835-8276 • Fax: 835-8277 Mon., Fri. & Sat. appointment only Tues. & Thurs. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wed. 12 p.m.-6 p.m.,
Starting a new chapter
Stories of the year 2017
OHS grad, teacher team up for new children’s book SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
File photo by Scott De Laruelle
Oregon High School principal Jim Pliner talks about ongoing renovations in July. The new space at OHS was officially unveiled at an open house Nov. 30.
Building for the future Stories of the year 1. (tie) OHS construction 1. (tie) Plans for library 3. New food pantry opens 4. Downtown renovations 5. Uproar in Brooklyn 6. Former clerk sentenced 7. ‘Tin Man’ repainted 8. (tie) Magnificent 7 saved 8. (tie) Ice arena license 8. (tie) Soccer teams at state to the iconic water tower that’s been unused for decades. Other stories were not as positive. Brooklyn residents got frustrated with their village’s attempts to save money, both in the threat to exit the fire and EMS district and the suggestion it might shut down its police department. A former village court clerk was sentenced to jail and restitution after stealing thousands of dollars from taxpayers – particularly taking advantage of poor residents’ payments. Residents’ reactions played a big part in removing seven historic buildings from a map that would have allowed the village to help demolish or move them. The Oregon Ice Arena finally got a permanent liquor license and the ability to use its space for bigger events. And two soccer teams made the state tournament.
1. (tie) OHS construction comes to an end It was a busy and historic year for Oregon High School, which was officially unveiled in its new, remodeled form with an open house Nov. 30. Expansion and renovation of the school was the main target of the Oregon School District’s successful $54.6 million capital projects referendum in 2014, and more than a year-anda-half of construction on the facility wrapped up last month. In January, the new two-story academic wing opened, housing 15 classrooms interspersed with collaborative spaces. New areas include a variety of furniture, getting away from the traditional “desks in a classroom” look, and larger areas for multiple classrooms to work together on projects. With the new section open, classrooms moved in, leaving much of the “old” building available for renovation, a process that took much of the rest of the year. These remodeled areas incorporated a similar feel to the new ones, with more use of windows, and open spaces. The “new” design includes a new secure main entrance featuring an art gallery, new cafeteria and commons, expanded phy ed wing and weight rooms, new locker and fitness rooms and a large new main gymnasium that in June hosted graduation ceremonies. The Library Media Center was restored, and the school’s science,
Turn to SOY/Page 9
Britt Peckham only came up with the idea while trying to relax during college exams. But what it eventually turned into — including a reunion with her Oregon High School art teacher — was a children’s book that hit the internet marketplace earlier this month. “The Hues Blues News” is the first book project for Peckham, a 2013 OHS graduate, who wrote the story, with illustrations by long-time OHS art teacher Michael Derrick. She said the story is about two second-grade kids in a town called Blueberry who are from two different groups. “They are both waiting
for their moms outside after school and decide to talk to each other and end up getting along, and in the e n d i t ’s a happy ending,” Peckham told the Peckham Observer last week. While it’s the first “real” book for Peckham, she’s written books before — in fact, she penned her first while in first grade. “I think I still have a copy of it in a binder at my parents’ house,” she said. M o s t l y, w h e n s h e writes, it’s poems or raps or music, but during her freshman year of college at UW-Eau Claire, the idea for “Hues Blues” came to her during finals. “I’ve always found creative writing is an outlet,
Turn to Book/Page 2
Developing for decades Leases have transformed family’s Merri-Hill farm into houses BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
The first time the Lease family put a road into their 150-acre farm to begin building houses was in the late 1960s. Jim Lease, 52, was still a child then. H e ’s b e e n l e a d i n g efforts to continue the slow, methodical development of the Merri-Hill subdivision on the northeast side of the Village of Oregon for about 30 years. With the approval of 12 more lots in September, his company, Lease Construction and Realty, is continuing its expansion toward t h e F i t c h bu rg b o r d e r, where the family’s land
ends. The longest-operating real estate and home construction business in Oregon, it’s responsible for most of the approximately 100 single-family homes and duplexes in the subdivision. The company remains family-run, with Jim managing the day-to-day operations and his brother, Joe, helping in property development. Lease works with carpenter Greg Bartell in building the homes. The property that made up the farm was owned by Jim’s mom, Mary Jo Lease. She continues to provide land from the remaining acres she owns for about a dozen homes to be built every few years. The family’s interest in developing its farm – which it called Merri-Hill for decades – goes back to Jim’s father, D. James Lease, who bought property from his father-in-law,
Turn to Lease/Page 3
ANY DRAIN - ANY TIME Start the New Year with a New JOB! Now hiring-Paid Training Residential • Commercial • Industrial • Municipal
Inspection Service, Septic Pumping, Pipe & Tank Locating, Jet-Vac Service, Sewer Cleaning
Serving Dane & Rock Counties Since 1948! Terra Herale Owner
608-256-5189
adno=554025-01
Oregon is getting bigger and presumably better. Our top four stories in 2017 as voted on by UNG staff all had something to do with new buildings in key spots for the community. That starts with the completion of massive $46 million undertaking to expand and modernize the high school and plans to build a new library, two stories that effectively tied for the top spot in our poll of UNG staffers. Those two towered above the rest in a year that was full of lofty aspirations and additions to the Oregon landscape. The new configurations and extra space at the OHS building have already allowed many classrooms to operate differently, and it sets the district up for modern learning styles using electronic devices, personalized learning plans, combining science, technology and arts and out-of-classroom and collaborative gatherings. The library has yet to be built, but it, too, is expected to set the community up for future needs involving technology other modern changes in how people access information. The community also got a new food pantry out of a community fundraising effort, moving out of an unheated garage that was never meant for such a purpose and delivers a comfortable experience for its patrons and volunteers. And work continued on updating the downtown – tearing down older buildings for a new apartment complex, refurbishing old Main Street buildings, trying to fill a new downtown building and bringing new life
adno=550596-01
Oregon Observer The