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Oregon Republican Reporter, Ogle County News and oglecountynews.com are a division of Shaw Media. Ogle County Newspapers also prints the Mt. Morris Times, Forreston Journal and Polo’s Tri-County Press.

The OREGON REPUBLICAN REPORTER (USPS No. 411-420) is published weekly by B.F. Shaw Printing Co., Shaw Media. Periodical postage paid at Oregon, Illinois, 61061. POSTMASTER Send address changes to OGLE REPUBLICAN REPORTER, P.O. Box 8, Oregon, IL 61061. Phone 815-732-6166, ext. 5306.

By ALEXA ZOELLNER azoellner@shawmedia.com

A solar company’s application for a zoning variance to build a solar garden in Oregon was unanimously denied by city council members on Tuesday.

USS Ducks Solar – a subsidiary of Midwest-based US Solar – sought to construct, own and operate a 28.2-acre, 4.8-megawatt community solar garden at 1061 W. Oregon Trail Road. Dan Leupkes, who supports the project, owns the property, which currently is zoned R-1 agricultural exemption.

The property is located along the west edge of Park West, owned by the Oregon Park District, and south of the Center Hills Subdivision.

“One of the things I look at for the city [when making decisions], I have to look at the city in 20 years,” Oregon Mayor Ken Williams said. “Yeah, there’s challenges in housing in the next two to three years, but what’s going to happen when the demographics change? We’re going to see more people coming out west, and Oregon is going to be a good attractant for that.”

When that happens, the city will need areas to build more housing, he said. That will bring in families with school-aged children, which will boost the schools, Williams said.

Commissioners Tim Krug and Melanie Cozzi both expressed support for solar and other forms of clean energy, but said they didn’t feel the West Oregon Trail Road location was best for the city.

“Oregon already has reduced R-1 housing, and I think that takes priority with us being able to expand,” Cozzi said.

US Solar Project Developer Ryan Magnoni said he would “love to put this thing 5 miles outside of town and still have it produce as much power,” but said that wasn’t possible. The grid outside of Oregon city limits wouldn’t support the energy produced, he said.

The cost to get that much power to the grid would be more than the project and would bankrupt the company, Magnoni said.

The variance application was “phase 2” of the process, Magnoni said. Several more steps would follow before the solar garden would be able to be constructed, including approval by state officials, he said.

Following the council members’ vote to deny the variance, Williams told Magnoni and Leupkes that there are some people on an adjacent property potentially open to an annexation. That property, which is further from residential areas, might be more appropriate, he said.

Rotar y Club Foundation offer ing scholarships

The Oregon Rotary Club Foundation is offering its annual College Scholarship opportunity.

Application résumés can be accepted via email to the Scholarship Chairperson, Hollie Guist Jr. at hguistjr@gmail.com or mailed to the Guist Agency at P.O. Box 296, Oregon, IL 61061 from now until Sept. 15.

Please keep in mind that the financial need or status of candidate will not be a factor. Make sure to include an email address and phone number somewhere on your application

Applicants must be residents of the Oregon Community Unit School District and have completed at least one year at a college or university or one semester at a trade school, and submit a résumé application including name and contact information of student, name of school, major area of study, class standing (sophomore, junior, senior) cumulative grade-point average, extracurricular activities while in college, and other information the student feels relevant.

Photo provided Oregon Fire Chief Mike Knoup spoke at the Oregon Rotary Club regular meeting at the Blackhawk Steak Pit on Aug. 17. He discussed the many services provided by the Oregon Fire District along with the many improvements in recent years. Pictured, left to right, are Chris Madden, Rotary President Elect, Chief Knoup, and Kathy Groenhagen, Rotary treasurer.

OREGON LIBRARY

Board of Trustee Vacancy

The Oregon Public Library District is currently seeking applicants to fill a board vacancy. Interested persons should submit a resume and letter of interest to board@oregonpubliclibrary. com.

For more information about serving on our board of trustees, please visit our website at www.oregonpubliclibrary.com.

OHS Graduate, Pulitzer Prize Winner Eli Murray – Sept. 6 at 4 p.m.

2012 graduate of Oregon High School, Eli Murray and teammates Corey G. Johnson and Rebecca Woolington received the Pulitzer Prize for their investigative journalism series, “Poisoned.”

The Tampa Bay Times exposé tells the compelling story of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant.

In a TV news piece, Murray “credited several of his teachers at OHS as early influences in his career, saying Cheryl Bunton, the art teacher, taught him how to convey messages visually and his math teacher, Danyel Larsen, taught him to break down formulas into their logical components.”

Eli will be at the library to discuss his journey to the Pulitzer.

Book Clubs

Teen Book Club Association meets on Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. to discuss The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee.

The 2WBC Book Club meets Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 12:30 p.m. to discuss The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah.

Cocktails & Crimes meets Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. (grab a book to find out where).

The Afternoon Book Club meets Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. to discuss Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

Books on Tap meets on Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott.

“It’s finally here,” said Roger Cain smiling broadly as the sleek stainless-steel touring car was backed into its new location west of the Depot by railroad workers. “We’ve been working on this for three years and now here it is.”

Cain is one of a handful of Oregon Depot Museum Board members who started working on getting the dome car moved to the Oregon Depot three years ago.

“We met with Mike in Sycamore three years ago and started talking about this,” said Cain.

The idea to move the signature Vista Dome of Burlington’s famed Twin Cities Zephyr was spawned when former Oregon resident Peter Medins, now of Woodstock, met Abernethy on a rail tour run by Abernethy. When they started talking about Abernethy’s ongoing restoration work on the sleek rail car Medins suggested the move to Oregon.

Medins remembered taking a trip from Oregon to Minneapolis on the Twin Cities Zephyr as a child and suggested Abernethy move the Silver View closer to St. Charles so restoration work could be monitored and performed more easily.

Abernethy has owned the Silver View for 20 years after purchasing it at an auction from a railway company in New York. He remembered watching the Zephyr – with the Silver View in tow – in the early 1950s when visiting his aunt and uncle near Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin.

“When we would go down to visit them, they would say ‘Oh, let’s take Mike over to see the Zephyr.’ And whenever I saw the Silver View on the back end that was a big deal for me,” Abernethy said.

The car was housed in Iowa and St. Louis before being stored outside in Charles City, Iowa. He decided to explore moving the car to Oregon after the Silver View was damaged by vandals.

“They threw some rocks and broke some of the windows,” he said.

The Oregon Depot Museum Board was offered a $5,000 matching donation from Medins for costs associated with moving the Silver View. The Oregon Depot Board matched his donation with funds given by local donors.

Earlier this year, officials from the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) agreed to replace and upgrade the “house” track – the track that once served the freighthouse – just west of the Oregon Depot for the Silver View to sit on.

That track, located north of the active BNSF freight line, will be the Silver View’s new home during its next two restoration phases.

Phase 1 of the restoration process will include getting the Silver View back to its original condition, with a few added extras. Phase 2 will include getting the Silver View ready for rail travel.

Cain said having the car in Oregon should help speed up the restoration process.

“We will roll out the whole plan on Oct. 8,” Cain said. “We will have focused priorities. Fundraising is going to be critical. The work will be done by tradespeople.”

For instance, seats from the car are being re-upholstered by an Oregon resident.

“The whole purpose is to give a person the experience of what it was like to ride in a dome car on the Zephyr,” Abernethy said, noting that the car, once restored, could be a stationary venue for fundraising events. “It can seat 24. I see it as a collaborative effort and it also gets Oregon and the Depot more in the public eye.”

Cain said work on the exterior of the Silver View will begin soon.

Abernethy will be speaking about the Silver View this Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Oregon Depot. The program starts at 10 a.m. and is open to the public.

Abernethy is president and tour operator of Zephyr Route, a small privately owned business he launched to fund the restoration of the Silver View. His website is www.zephyrroute.com.

Oregon Depot

The Oregon Depot Museum has been restored by local volunteers and houses a museum that reflects the history of train travel to and from the town of 3,800, located 40 miles west of DeKalb. For more information about the Oregon Depot visit http://oregonil. com/oregon-depot-museum/.

Silver View Facts

The following information was provided by the Oregon Depot.

Silver View was built by the Budd Co. and delivered to the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe on Nov. 29, 1947. It immediately became one of the signature Vista Dome cars for the Burlington’s famed Twin Cities Zephyrs. The Twin Cities Zephyrs operated between Chicago and its namesake cities. It was marketed as “where natures smiles for 300 miles.”

Silver View and its sister car, Silver Vista, both operated as daytime parlor cars with one drawing room.

Their domes were configured with the customary 24 seats. The “main floor” of the cars had 26 parlor seats in the tail/observation end.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media ABOVE: Oregon Depot Museum Board member RG Hough V of Mt. Morris talks to a railroad employee after the Silver View vintage rail car arrived at the Oregon Depot on Sunday afternoon. BELOW LEFT: Otto Dick, right, talks with Tom Champley, Jeff Hallock and Michal Burnett inside the Oregon Depot as they watch a live feed of the tracks after the Silver View rail car arrived Sunday afternoon. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Silver View was transported to the Oregon Depot as the “caboose” of seven empty cars. Here, the train passes through the crossing at Flagg Center.

By ALEXA ZOELLNER azoellner@shawmedia.com

It took a little misdirection to get John Lindhorst to attend this year’s Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce’s awards dinner.

“It’s called lying to me,” Lindhorst said, smiling even as he playfully chided Lori Peterson and Chamber Executive Director Liz Vos during the Aug. 18 event held at River’s Edge Experience.

“We lied to him, yes,” Peterson and Vos admitted with chuckles. The two had conspired to convince Lindhorst that Peterson was to receive an award.

But, when it came time to name the 2022 Citizen of the Year, Vos called Peterson up not to accept the award, but to announce the winner: John Lindhorst.

“Well-played,” he told them after accepting the award.

It was a very unexpected honor, said Lindhorst, who owns Ukulele Stat i o n A m e r i c a a n d O r e g o n M u s ic Garage, both in Oregon.

“I will tell you, it’s fun to be recognized for something that you don’t think about,” he said. “My mother’s from Italy, and she always said, ‘Do what you love, and do it with passion,’ and my father, being from Germany, said, ‘Follow your guts.’ So between those two, I’m somewhere in the middle, I think.

“This is quite an honor,” Lindhorst continued. “Thank you very much.”

Lindhorst has dedicated countless hours volunteering with local fundraisers, as well as donating financially, Peterson said. He also promotes Oregon as president of Oregon Together.

“The investment he has made in Ukulele Station America and Oregon Music Garage is a testament to his dedication, ability and success,” she said. “For these reasons, and many more, the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce would like to recognize [Lindhorst] and thank for his many years of contributions.”

Lindhorst has brought much joy to the greater Oregon community and

Alexa Zoellner/Shaw Media Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce 2022 Citizen of the Year John Lindhorst, right, poses with Chamber Executive Director Liz Vos, left, and Lori Peterson, who presented Lindhorst with the award at the Chamber’s annual awards dinner.

Alexa Zoellner/Shaw Media Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce 2022 Volunteer of the Year Sue Heng, right, poses with Chamber Executive Director Liz Vos, left, and Chamber Board of Directors President Donna Mann. Heng was selected for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

See OREGON AWARDS, Page 7

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