Life at a "Swell's" pace

I decided to start a new series for my blog titled, "Views from my Neighborhood." I figured, what better way to share the places we go right here in our own city. No matter if we move from here or not, there will always be something to share in regards to the "views from my neighborhood."

Our walks take us all over the city here in Lebanon, Oregon, but one of our favorites is to the local library.

The "old" library used to be housed in the old hospital building located at 626 Second Street. The hospital has since moved to the north side of town, but the old hospital building still stands and is now the current location of the Lebanon Chapter for Boys and Girls Club of America. Straight ahead of The Bean in this above photo is the new library for the city. It finished construction and opened its doors to the public in 2009.

The original signage for the hospital still visible through the stone.

This 24 bed hospital was built here in 1936 where a former grade school sat. It was determined that there was a need for a larger hospital by Dr. Joel Booth-president of the hospital at that time.

During the 1940s, the population of Lebanon tripled and just 11 years after it was built the hospital was found to be overcrowded and was condemned as a fire hazard. In 1948 the Mennonite Church took over management of the facility while a fund drive was organized with the help of attorney Lawrence Morley as general chairman, Lebanon lumberman John Nyland, and Max Thecker, president of Cascade Plywood Corporation. Dr. Booth was still president of the hospital board, and again promoted construction of a new building. The new Lebanon General Hospital was dedicated on January 20, 1952. (source)

One of our many walks through town when we are out and about takes us to the new library building. We really enjoy the new building and there's still more construction going on around the grounds of the library. A community gazebo is in the works currently.

The Mr. and The Bean kicking a pine cone while walking toward the Lebanon Public Library.

Read more about the history of Lebanon, Oregon.

What happened this time last year?

Wow! What a great end to a week! Yesterday (Saturday) was the start of the Strawberry Festival here in the Willamette Valley, also home of the World's Strawberry Shortcake. There's a fair, a parade, and strawberries everywhere! It's a great, small town event and people that live here go nuts over it. It's great! This week, The Mr. and I got a lot of things done that we've been putting off. We put up The Bean's pool, planted some flowers and other plants in the garden and flowerbed, and even took some time to visit the Roaring River Fish Hatchery (pictures soon). We had a great week and we do hope yours was just as great. Here are the things that made my week awesome!

1. This Fortune Teller

Zoltar is always a hit for us. You put in 50 cents and he gives you a generic fortune. It's such a fun thing for us to do anytime we see him. Once, my brother put in money and the fortune read, "Zoltar sees you giving me more money in your future." Ha!

2. These Plants

The Mr. and I went on a hunt for some new plants for our ever-expanding flower beds. We were considering a few small trees, but we are still considering what is best.

3. This Ballot

Oregon has mail in ballots. They come to your home and you have the privacy of your own home to vote. We are Green Party in our home and we get to see who is running in the Nonpartisan Primary only.

4. This Find

The Bean always finds the buggiest bugs. He found this caterpillar while we were mowing on Friday and went on a mission to find out exactly what kind it was. It's a Cloudless Sulphur caterpillar.

5. This Library Book

A book we found at the local library here on the history of Lebanon, Oregon-"It used to be.... but now...." (An Oral History of Lebanon, Oregon). It had a lot of interesting facts about the area and one chapter is on the fire department/fire district here in the city. As we were looking through the pages we came across and interview with The Mr.'s uncle Dan Wilkerson, who has since passed. He gave some great information for the old fire station that used to be located in downtown Lebanon, Oregon. Finding this interview made The Mr. happy to know that he is still part of a fire fighting legacy handed down in his family over the years.

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