Thursday, May 16, 2019 • Vol. 134, No. 46 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon Observer The
75 years of service Oregon Rotary Club commemorates anniversary JUSTIN LOEWEN Observer correspondent
Photo by Justin Loewen
From left, Karen Casillas of the Red Cross presents Karen Kreul with a certificate honoring her 22nd gallon of donated blood at Oregon Area Fire/EMS District on May 8.
A gift by the gallon Red Cross recognizes resident for blood donations
JUSTIN LOEWEN Observer correspondent
A routine blood donation was a 22-gallon milestone for an Oregon resident Wednesday, May 8. Karen Kreul, who attended a Red Cross blood drive at the Oregon Area Fire/EMS District building, donated her 22nd gallon of blood at the event. In recognition of this achievement, the Red Cross surprised her with a certificate and a pin. “We don’t have too many donors
that get to 22 gallons,” Red Cross team leader Karen Casillas said. Kreul told the Observer she has a rare blood type, something she first discovered in 1973 when giving birth to her daughter. She said she needed a unit of B negative blood, the second rarest type in the world, but there wasn’t any available at the hospital. “My husband had just started a new job that summer and he called back to the place of employment and it turned out that his boss had my type of blood, B negative,” Kreul said. “So he came to the hospital. At that time
this was in ‘73 so they could do it that way.” After receiving a unit of blood, Kreul realized the importance of her blood type and started giving blood regularly around 1975, a commitment that lead to her attainment of 22 donated gallons. “It’s amazing to give that much and it’s wonderful that she’s healthy enough to be able to do that consistently,” blood drive organizer Sherry Hill said.
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Saturday, May 18, is more than the date of the inaugural Oregon Open Air Market. It’s also the manifestation of the bond between a crafty mother
If You Go What: Oregon Open Air Market When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18 Where: Netherwood Knoll Elementary School parking lot, 276 Soden Dr. Info: 205-7551
Making waves Oregon Community Pool celebrates 30 years Unified Newspaper Group
Inaugural Open Air Market this Saturday and her sales-savvy daughter. The market will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will repeat every third Saturday until Aug. 17. It will take place in the Netherwood Knoll Elementary School parking lot, 276 Soden Dr. Each month, event co-coordinator Rhonda Waldvogel said the market will select a nonprofit to sell food, with all the proceeds helping that
Turn to Market/Page 5
Turn to Rotary/Page 14
Oregon Community Pool
EMILIE HEIDEMANN
Oregon Open Air Market
First event set for May 18, to occur every third Saturday until Aug. 17
The May 4, 1944, issue of the Oregon Observer reported, “Word has been received from the Chicago headquarters of Rotary Club International that the newly organized Rotary Club of Oregon has been granted a charter by the Board of Directors of Rotary International.” As one of more than 33,000 Rotary clubs worldwide 75 years later, Oregon Rotary continues to carry out a mission of local and international service. It provides support for local youth with scholarships, travel abroad programs and
events like bike rodeos. The chapter also helps maintain the community through highway cleanups, park restorations and financial sponsorships. The Rotary has met every week since first gathering on May 22, 1944, at Village Hall, a tradition that continues at Headquarters Bar and Restaurant on Tuesday mornings. In an email to the Observer, club presi dent Leslie Bergstrom described the meetings as “very friendly and collegial,” and though the ages and occupations of Rotary members vary, they are “united in a strong mission to serve our community.” That service to Oregon officially began on June 12, 1944, with the club’s
Deb Bossingham recalls the cold conditions getting out of Oregon’s outdoor pool after swimming as a child. “There was a lot of wind (in spring),” Bossingham told the Observer. Three decades later, the Oregon Community Pool aquatics director is in charge of the pool that allows people to swim year-round regardless of Wisconsin’s fickle weather. In the time before the indoor pool opened its doors — Wednesday, May
17, 1989 — Bossingham recalled taking lessons in an L-shaped outdoor pool where the front desks and offices are located in the current pool building. She said she didn’t quite have the luxury of swimming in a temperature-controlled pool. She said the outdoor pool also had a high dive with a baby pool located near the shallow end — near where the pump room for the future Splash Pad is planned to be located. Fast forward 30 years, and Bossingham presides over a facility complete with hot tub, locker room amenities, hours to suit the likes of both morning larks and night owls and a focus on community, Bossingham said. “We aren’t really here for a profit, we are here
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