FOUNTAIN UPDATE
Oregon Republican Reporter / oglecountynews.com • Friday, September 25, 2020
OREGON BEAT
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Work begins on Iron Mike’s new spot BY JEFF HELFRICH jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com Work on the Iron Mike fountain reinstallation in downtown Oregon began this week. Martin construction was on the site near the Ogle County Courthouse on Monday excavating in the new spot inside the sidewalk. Project Manager Mike Bowers said the fountain itself likely won’t be installed until the spring. Bowers said the brick work likely won’t be done until next year. Iron Mike
will be stored by the street department over the winter. “The good thing about this is the water-sewer trench going through the freeze/thaw cycle will settle the backfill even more therefore reducing the chance of settling after the bricks are installed,” Bowers said in an email. “We will install roadrock wedges at the edges of all the sidewalks so there won’t be any drop-offs.” COVID-19 delayed work after the statue was removed over last winter to be cleaned before it can be moved further
away from the road. Concerns came when car accidents almost hit the fountain, installed in 1901. The decades-old fountain will be placed with old paving bricks. Iron Mike has three drinking levels, one for dogs, one for horses and one for people. The landscaping around it will be done by the city and county once it’s reinstalled. The fountain was cleaned, sandblasted and repainted by ED Etnyre. It currently resides in the street department garage.
LOCAL NEWS
Trick or treating will be during daylight City council goes ahead and OKs Halloween for Oct. 31, from 4-6 p.m. BY JEFF HELFRICH jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com Trick or treating will be going forward in Oregon during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oregon City Council held a discussion on Halloween plans Tuesday and decided it will take place on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 4-6 p.m. The state and Ogle County Health Department have not yet provided guidelines and may not ahead of the holiday.
The thought process behind the time frame was to cut down the hours of potential exposure and keep it during daylight hours to make social distancing easier. “At this point without any direction from the state, we need to make a local decision on what we want to do for Halloween,” City Administrator Darin DeHaan said. “Parents are asking. Also we’d put as good of guidelines we can out. We don’t want anyone sick or with symptoms putting out candy. We suggest not handing out open things like fruit so people can wash their hands before opening it.” The city felt it was time to make a local decision without state guidance. There is a possibility the Governor could shut it down, DeHaan said. “Anyone that is not comfortable, we suggest don’t turn your lights on,”
DeHaan said. “But we felt comfortable doing it.” Commissioner Terry Schuster said he did not want any family to feel obligated to answer the door if they’re not comfortable exposing themselves to others. He asked if people will be required to wear masks. Public Health Commissioner Kurt Wilson said the expectation is that people on the street will wear masks and social distance. He’d also like to see people handing out candy at their doors wearing masks. “And if you want to put a bowl of candy out and say, ‘Go for it,’ what a wonderful way to do it,” Mayor Ken Williams said. “It will be subject to the state or county health department if they come out with something. No one has to get involved if they don’t want to.”
SPECIAL EVENTS Mobile food pantry coming to town Lifeline Food & Self-Help Project, in partnership with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, is hosting two Mobile Food Pantries. The Mobile Food Pantry will be in Oregon on Monday, Sept. 28 and again on Monday, Oct. 19. The truck will be parked in St. Mary’s parking lot at 300 N. 3rd St. The Oregon Lifeline Food & Self-Help Project is just one of over 800 food pantries in 13 counties that partners with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to provide food for those in need. These two mobile food pantries are open to anyone in Ogle County who is in need of nutritious food.
Oregon Lions will have a drive-through pork chop sandwich sale from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 3 in the parking lot at SuperValu, 204 N. Fourth St., Oregon. Pictured,left to right, are Lions Duane Moser, Mike Hoff, Grant Afflerbaugh, Hilary Lombardo and Joe Kryszak.
