July 4 Reality Check

Opinion by Historical Society Secretary Clyde List.

I've just finished re-reading George Orwell's 1984 and there are a number of things in 1984 that are just like what we see all around us in 2007. For example:

1. The "news" is not. (What passes for news may really be a paid commercial, warns Peter Ames Carlin in today's "Oregonian").

2. Musicians take the world stage merely to beller nonsense at the top of their lungs. (In 1984 the "words of these songs were composed without any human intervention whatever....")

3. Terror is on every side. (in 1984 it's always "Goldstein" we hate. Today it's the no less illusive Osama ben Laden.)

4. Radio talk jocks and their loyal fans prove daily that "...stupidity is as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain." (Hermann Goering once commented that the trick is to keep everybody mad so that they'll believe anything you tell them.)

If Orwell were alive today what would he say to the People of Sherwood? In Orwell's Old Town (London), there are no antique stores because it is illegal to own anything that might remind people of "...an age quite different from the present." In Orwell's Old Town, anything of antique value is quickly melted down. Even old people's memories are "...nothing but a rubbish heap of details."

Thank God, the Sherwood Historical Society is on hand to scream bloody murder any time we see the past being bulldozed to the ground. The most memorable advice Orwell gives: Save your memories. Don't wait for the Historical Society to say they're worth saving. Nothing you remember about your life is too trivial.

History Camp at Parrett Mountain Farm

This year's History Camp featured a full scale replica of a covered wagon at Parrett Mountain Farm. It was put on display by the Yamhill County Museum. Some pretty convincing covered wagon folk from Yamhill and Columbia County also showed up. Of course, Sherwood's own mountain man, Blue Bonnett and forlorn castaway Lilly Morgan were on hand to make sure the kids didn't get trampled by the oxen.

Class of 1947 Visits Morback House

The Senior Class of 1947 came to Old Sherwood Town yesterday (Saturday) to share a few memories and shed a few tears over how wonderful it felt for their generation to come out of World War II alive. Their school house carried the title "Sherwood Union High School" then. Today the building is Sherwood Middle School. The alums expressed their appreciation for what the Sherwood Historical Society has done to preserve Rebekah Hall and Morback House for future generations.

Hello Fourth Graders!

This was the scene at the Sherwood Heritage Center today as umpteen million Clyde Hopkins Elementary School 4th Graders descended upon us. (Note Smock and Morback Houses in background)
The basic idea was to relive, for a few minutes, the appalling hardships we ancestors (seen here) faced when electricity and internal combustion weren't part of daily life. All three elementary schools came to the Heritage Center to see how we were getting along.

Here Archer Glen students are being welcomed by Lilly Morgan,

A.K.A. June Reynolds, whose amazing organizational skills make it possible for the Sherwood Historical Society to take part in such an elaborate project. Here she seems to be playing the role of Sacajawea to Middleton School's Fourth Graders. Bread and butter making, washing clothes, and wood working were demonstrated.

Then and Now on Highway 99-West

Sherwood historian Clyde's dad (2nd from left) and uncles during a rare day of rest. Photo taken around 1950, looking South. Highway 99 West was a two-lane road then all the way to California. 99 was the most important North-South corridor in Oregon. (Actually there were two highways-- 99 West and 99 East. They split in twain in North Portland and came back together again at Junction City, Oregon. 99 East covers the East side of the Willamette River.) Clyde discusses the spiritual significance of Highway 99 on his website. The photo below shows the same spot today.

What puzzles the historian most is why 99W doesn't plow straight through Old Sherwood Town. It would have been the shortest, least costly way to go. Probably, the credit goes to Mayor Morback and a mistaken belief that the economic significance of the railroad would always be greater than the highway's. It was a mistake, but only for the business community. We kind of like the way things turned out!

What a GreatTime to be Poor!

The Sherwood Oregon Robin Hood Festival, Oregon's longest running small-town festival, is happening again this year. The free-to-the-public event is held every third weekend in July. Friar Tuck represented the Sherwood Historical Society before the Court of Maid Marian Wednesday evening. "The important thing is to listen for the music Robin Hood plays on his bugle horn." Tuck explained, "Robin Hood was a not-so-great swordsman. It's his musical talent that saves him."

-Tuck's History of the Event.
-Get Involved! Contact the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival Now!

Another Day Another Conference!

Past President June Reynolds (far left) poses with Michael, Ashley, Wick and Janet at the Oregon Community School Conference in Portland. "We presented an hour and a half workshop on how to combine new and old photographs as a historical learning service project." says June.

Alto's Gasoline Engines Show

Historians June and Clyde divide their time between analyzing a Sherwood artifact (in this case, a property abstract that goes all the way back to President Grant's administration) and playing another old time song. The information being presented in this photograph roused great interest from the banjo picker. It contained quite a few details about a land fraud case that his grandparents got involved in the year they came to Sherwood, in 1892. "I knew they had to send back to Michigan for more money." he said, "But this tells me a lot more. I'd never got close to this information if it hadn't been for the Sherwood Historical Society."

No matter how hard our historian/musicians played, the antique gasoline powered bubble machine stole the show again this year.

Down the Upstair Case at Morback House

Upstairs at Morback House, apron history expert Bobbe Schafer lectures the Sherwood High School Family and Consumer Science Class (that's what they call Home Ec now). Members of the Rebekahs and the Historical Society were well represented in the audience. Schafer's topic was the history of aprons down through the ages. During the same week, an overflow crowd from Lavender Teahouse clamored up and down the staircase, while, on the main floor, an old Sherwood family (the Obersts) recorded its history.

You might say it was a pretty busy week at Morback House.

Smock House Porch Number Two

Smock House gets her front porch. It's amazing how many local Sherwood contractors have donated time and labor to bring this house back to life. We can't complain about the support we've gotten from City Hall either. It's like a barn-raising in the old 19th Century tradition! And this is just the beginning. Just wait till you see the plan President Joan has for landscaping the yard. We're going to have a water well and out-house and everything!

Back yard ramp will comply with our federal government's Americans with Disabilities Act.