top  Oregon, Illinois  -  Have You Discovered Us ?
Issue Six
August 5, 2010
In This Issue
Important Dates
Renewable Energy Fair
White Pines Forest and Inn
Forward Oregon
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Important Dates

Farmer's Market
Saturdays  - June -Sept.

8:30 - 12:00 noon on the Oregon Coliseum Lawn


Rock River Sweep
Sat. - August 21st
Rescheduled due to high water on the Rock River.


9th Annual Renewable Energy & Lifestyle Fair
August 7th & 8th
Ogle County Fairgrounds

Brown Bag Concert
Fri - August 20th
11:30 - 1:00pm
Coliseum Lawn
Chip Messner's One Man Country Band

3rd Annual Art On The Hill
Aug. 29th  -  2pm - 5pm
Pinehill Inn - 400 Mix St.
Art of all mediums, Live Auction, Food, to support the Rock River Center

Oregon Rotary's
Mark Twain Event

Sat. - Sept. 11th
5:30 - 9:30pm
On the deck of Maxson's Riverside Restaurant
Food, Dixieland Music and Paddlewheel Boat Rides

Autumn On Parade Festival
Saturday and Sunday
October 2nd - 3rd

Fall Wine Festival
Oct. 2nd - 5 - 9pm
Pinehill Inn
Sponsored by Oregon Chamber of Commerce

Oregon Candlelight Walk
Sat. - Nov. 27th
Conover Square and Downtown Oregon
Tree Lighting, Carriage Rides and Santa Claus


Quick Links...

Chamber of Commerce

Oregon Park District

The Fields Project

Autumn On Parade

Oregon According To Wikipedia

Oregon Library

Oregon School District #220

Conover Square Shopping Mall

Rock River Center

Watch Us On Video

Oregon Tourism Commercial

WGN Cruisin' Illinois
Find Directions To Our Community

Click Here For Driving Directions

Photo Courtesy of Ken and Ellen Prather
Lorado Taft
Come and Visit !!
 

Nestled in the scenic Rock River Valley, surrounded by three state parks and a state forest, with unlimited recreation and wildlife viewing opportunities, Oregon is a great place to put on your map.  We look forward to seeing you and getting to know you in the coming months!


This photo was taken during the recent Oregon Trail Days Festival.  This was the first year for this event which was established to create an awareness of Oregon's native heritage and serve as an event to raise funds to repair and restore the statue of Blackhawk which is located in Lowden State Park.
  Renewable Energy Fair
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Lorado Taft9th Annual Illinois Renewable Energy and Lifestyle Fair   
     August 7th & 8th

See what the 4,500 annual visitors to the Fair have discovered!!!   Held at the Ogle County Fairgrounds in Oregon, IL., the Fair is the place for anyone interested in the environment as well as varying ideas and methods to improve energy efficiency. Experience virtually non-stop seminars and lectures, and when you have heard enough, stop by one or more of the 90 vendors, where you can speak directly to the professionals.

This year's Keynote speakers are:
Howard Latin, Professor of Law and Justice John J. Francis Scholar, Topic:  India's response to global warming
William Miller Ph.D., Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Topic:  DOE's Research on Efficient Houses,
Dave Rollo, Co-Founder of Bloomingpeak - Topic:  Bloomington's plans for dealing with peak oil.

IREA supports sustainable energy development in Illinois and is the organizer for this annual event. 

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White Pines Forest State Park and Inn

Lorado TaftWhite Pines Forest State Park is located in what was once a part of the Sauk war chief Black Hawk's territory and encompasses an area once known as White Pines Woods. Located in "Rock River country," along an old Indian trail, was White Pines Woods covering 500 acres  in a canyon of dolomite rock carved by Pine Creek.  At the time, within White Pines Woods, the tallest trees stood 90 feet in height. The area was noted by Elia Peattie, a poet and member of the Eagle's Nest Art Colony (located at present-day Lowden State Park), who expressed the need for preservation of the White Pines Woods in one of her poems.

In 1933, with the Great Depression in full swing, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sought to relieve the work needs of unemployed Americans. The National Park Service sought to work with state governments in an effort to meet those ends. Many of the projects the CCC was involved with were construction projects. The project at White Pines was originally meant to be the construction of a lodge building. From 1933 to 1939, two hundred men, many of them World War I veterans, worked on the State Park construction project.

After the lodge was completed, it was decided to build a restaurant and breezeway onto the lodge building. Logs for most of the project were shipped via railroad from as far away as Oregon and Washington state, unloaded in Stratford, Illinois and dragged to the construction site by teams of horses. The CCC project also completed sixteen one-room log cabins and three four-bedroom cabins. The work crews also built picnic shelters, trail shelters, and foot bridges. Only the logs for the cabins came from another source. They were purchased from a salvage company that had purchased utility poles from a defunct utility company at the price of 30 cents a piece.

White Pines State Park is a 385-acre  state park located in the heart of the Rock River Valley in Ogle County. The park represents the southernmost remaining stand of virgin white pine forest in the state. The state park, like all Illinois state parks, is operated and maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). White Pines Forest State Park provides habitat for a variety of plant and animal life and has two freshwater streams within its boundaries.


Lorado TaftEscape. Relax. Enjoy.

 White Pines Inn, located within White Pines Forest State Park, is less than two hours from Chicago, but a world apart.

Here, you can enjoy the historic lodge restaurant, pioneer guest cabins, a delightful country gift shop, an entertaining dinner theater, and even become "husband and wife" with their outstanding wedding facilities and services. This family-run resort is surrounded by the beauty and splendor of White Pines Forest State Park . . . with its moss-covered hiking trails, bubbling streams, rugged limestone outcroppings, and ever-present wildlife. The "Pines," as it is affectionately called, is a place of simple pleasures - a place to catch lightning bugs, a place to watch a fawn play innocently in the forest, a place to catch the wondrous scent of the lush pine forest.

Simply, White Pines Forest State Park, and White Pines Inn, have been hosting simple and relaxing pleasure for almost 80 years.


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THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHECK US OUT !!


This email is presented to you by Forward Oregon, which is a volunteer organization in Oregon, Illinois dedicated to promoting the benefits of living, working, playing in and visiting our great community.


Please share this newsletter with your friends.

If you live in or around Oregon, Illinois, click on the "Share this information with a friend" link at the bottom to forward this email on to someone, local or out-of-town, who might enjoy finding out about our community.  We appreciate your help!  If you have never visited our wonderful community, we invite you to make the trip and find out what we have to offer.  We look forward to meeting you!

One of our favorite facebook pages is Discover Oregon.  If you are looking for additional information about upcoming events in the Oregon area, as well as info about recent activities, you may want to check out this link.   Find us on Facebook    Please note that this page is not affiliated with Forward Oregon.

The Forward Oregon Team




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