Welcome to the Oak Lodge History Detectives Website

The holidays are upon us and our local history pursuits will rightfully give way to family gatherings and holiday events. But for those that can squeeze it in OLHD will be meeting for the last time this year on Dec. 13th.

This gathering will be a less formal one - - a convivial evening of cheer and respite - - a time to reflect on the year's investigative accomplishments and talk about future ones, conjure up a couple field trips, and share in refreshments. The format will be more of an open forum, and for entertainment OLHD Chairman Mike Schmeer will be showing off some of the 1,800 images/files from our OLHD Digital Library.

Spouses and significant others are invited to join us at this gathering.

Please join us on December 13th. We look forward to seeing you, and to meeting your "better halves".

On December 9th, OLHD hosted a Beginner's Genealogy class, taught by OLHD Chairman Mike Schmeer, at the Oak Lodge Library.

For 2 1/2 hours thirteen detectives learned how to get started researching your family history, and reviewed 17 key genealogy websites. Plans are being made to offer this class again in 2013.

This month's OLHD meeting will be held at a different location than any previous meeting. The Oak Lodge Sanitary District has kindly allowed us to meet in their conference room for this meeting. We are very excited about this location as a possible meeting place for future meetings -- in addition to being a good size for our group and having a screen to project onto, this facility has internet capabilities. This opens up the option of including internet websites for educational purposes, and possibly for smaller community presentations that might be enhanced by internet access.

Some time will be set aside at this meeting for individuals to share information on the history related projects they've been working on. If you have something you would like to share please let us know so we can include it in the agenda.

In addition to our regular business agenda we will take an introductory walk through the Oregon State Archives website and learn how one can use it to do research on local history. If time permits we'll take a second look at the use of maps for local research - a presentation that was missed by several of you last month.

Please join us November 8th. We look forward to seeing you.

Fall has arrived and the summer activities have begun to slow down. It is again time to work local history into our busy schedules. This is a great opportunity to share with the others those history projects which you've been working on, and learn what others have been doing. If you have something you would like to share please let us know so we can include it in the agenda.

We'll also use our meeting time to schedule a couple field trips.

For the fun segment of our meeting OLHD Chairman, Mike Schmeer, will be putting on an informal presentation about "Using maps for historical research". Mike says "Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be properly prepared!"

Please join us on October 11th. We look forward to seeing you again.

Summer is winding down. The days are getting shorter, the kids are about to return to school, the outdoor activities will soon be slowing down, and the monsoon season will be here before we know it. It's time to resume our focus on local history.

This month's OLHD meeting will be an opportunity to review and refocus on projects in the works, discuss future projects, meet new members, and brainstorm ways of attracting additional members.

Should you have an interesting item or topic that you would like to share with the rest of the group please let us know, and we will add you to the agenda.

Please join us on September 13th. We look forward to seeing you again.

Our June OLHD meeting will again be held at the Oak Lodge Water District Offices, on our usual 2nd Thursday meeting night.

In addition to what little business we will have to discuss I will be presenting a summary of the "Murder At McNarys" which took place in the vicinity of Oatfield and McNary Rds. and rocked our community in 1879. I'll give you a detailed description of the murder itself and all that took place in the months following.

If any of you has some history to share please let us know in advance so we can add it to the agenda.

Please join us on June 14th. We look forward to seeing you.

This month's OLHD meeting will be held one week later than the usual 2nd Thursday. We will meet at the Oak Lodge Water District Offices which has a large screen and projector for viewing images.

In addition to our regular business we will discuss the latest projects and discoveries. This month's "fun facts" segment we'll feature some of the images recently donated by Gloria Laudien Stone, a grand daughter of Philip and Dora Oatfield.

Please join us on May 17th. We look forward to seeing you.

On April 12th we will be joined by Riverside School's fourth grade class of Mrs. Lightbourn to give us a short presentation about art work that they hope to have displayed along the Trolley Trail. These students have been working very hard on this project and are anxious to tell everyone about it.

For our "fun facts" segment last month Baldwin Van der Bijl gave us some interesting information about the history of Steele's Pansy Farm on Naef Rd. This month you'll hear OLHD Chairman Mike Schmeer speak a few minutes about the "Murder At McNarys", which caused a huge local stir in 1879. We are always looking for new material for our "fun facts" segment, so should any of you wish to present on a subject you've been working on please let me know prior to April 12th so I can jot it down on my agenda.

As usual we'll bring everyone up to speed on the various projects underway by members of the group, and our upcoming community presentation in May.

Please join us on April 12th. We look forward to seeing you.

There are a number of different activities underway, and in the planning stages, within the OLHD ranks.

Please join us on March 8th to find out what's been happening, learn about member activities and help us plan for future projects. We look forward to seeing you.

The Oak Lodge History Detectives is celebrating the one year anniversary of having incorporated as a 501(C)4 non-profit corporation. This month's gathering will again be held at the Bomber Wings of Freedom Museum on McLoughlin Blvd.

We'll be discussing research being done by various members, upcoming projects, and the new benefits of becoming a member.

Please come join us February 9th. We look forward to seeing you.

Another year has passed, the holidays are over, and we've started a new year. It's time to start easing back into the local history groove. This month's meeting has been scheduled a week later than our usual 2nd Thursdays, and will be held on Jan. 19th at the offices of the Oak Lodge Water District on River Road.

We'll be trying to pick up where we left off at our last meeting on Nov. 17th which featured a "Family Scrapbook" slide show covering 150 years of the Brownell family and the Brownell Holly Farm. In addition to a little O.L.H.D. business we'll be discussing current projects happening behind the scenes and plans for 2012.

Please come join us Jan. 19th. We look forward to seeing you.