2022 Harvest Time Parade

2022 AOP Harvest Time Parade Results
Best entry by a business – Martin & Co.
Best use of festival theme – Oregon FFA
Best float – Nelson Farms/Wesley 1895
Best animal unit – Ogle County 4-H Horse Drill Team
Scout/Youth – Girl Scouts
4-H Group – Blackhawk Crossing 4-H Club
Color Guard – Oregon VFW Post #8739/Oregon American Legion Post #97
Sr. High Pompon – Oregon Cheerleaders
Queen – Ogle County Fair Queen
Antique tractor – Ogle County Farm Bureau
Jr. High Band Performance – Oregon 7th & 8th-grade band
Sr. High Color Guard – Amboy High School
Sr. High Drum Line – Lena Winslow High School
Sr. High Drum Major – Dakota High School
Sr. High Band Performance – Dakota High School
Best of Show – Nelson Farms/Wesley 1895

LOCATION: Downtown Oregon, IL

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BUSINESS ENTRY FEE: $50 for each unit

NOT-FOR-PROFIT entry no charge

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If you're interested in submitting an entry, please click here. 

For more information, contact  Destini Benesh

email: dbeneshl@gmail.com or call: 217-433-1729

Units of Honor
Ganymedes and Pegasus Special Riders

The Ganymedes have been ambassadors for the City of Oregon as they travel throughout the Midwest playing at historic towns, museums and festivals and have developed a reputation as one of the better vintage base ball clubs in the country. Their home games are played Sunday afternoons from May until August on the lawn of the Chana School Museum at Oregon Park East.

The club is made up of players from all occupations that have ties to the Oregon community. They range in age from twenties to sixties. Over 80% of the team graduated from Oregon High School and all have learned to master the bare-handed skills and quirky rule differences needed to play vintage ball.

During this year’s 2022 season, the club traveled to several unique away venues that included the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa, Estabrook Park & Beer Garden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mt. Assisi Convent in Lemont, Illinois and Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois.

The Ganymedes were also invited to the World Tournament of Historic Base Ball event at The Henry Ford Museum of American History Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan which is held in mid-August. This was the seventh time that the Oregon club has been invited to this prestigious 12-team tournament that features the best vintage base ball clubs from five states. This is an extremely competitive event that attracts thousands of spectators and is the highlight of the club’s season.

So, what is a Ganymede? The name Ganymede was first linked to the City of Oregon when the famous journalist Margaret Fuller visited Oregon in 1843. During the city’s 4th of July celebration, she observed an eagle drinking from a spring on the bank of the Rock River and authored the poem “Ganymede to His Eagle” which was published nationally. Ganymede Spring and the City of Oregon became a tourist attraction. According to Greek mythology, Ganymede was a youth that was carried off by an eagle to Mt. Olympus to become the cup bearer to the gods.

To learn more about the sport of vintage base ball, check out the Vintage Base Ball Association at vbba.org. For more information about the club, visit the Oregon Ganymedes Base Ball Club Facebook page.

The Oregon Ganymedes Vintage Base Ball Club will serve as the Unit of Honor at the 2022 Harvest Time Parade. This all-volunteer educational outreach program of Oregon's not-for-profit Chana School Museum has been playing 1858 to 1867 vintage rules base ball (it was two words then) games for the public since 2005. To date, the club has played over 240 games against forty-eight different vintage clubs from seven states. 

Vintage base ball teams play by the earliest rules of “America’s pastime” when players did not use gloves, teams wore wool uniforms and played a faster-paced gentleman’s game.

“We play baseball the way it was meant to be played,” said Ganymedes Captain, Mark Herman. “It was a game designed for exercise and plenty of exciting action for both the players and spectators…the rules of baseball have changed and evolved over the years from when it first started in the mid-1800’s”, Herman said.

Pegasus Special Riders, a nonprofit therapeutic riding center, located in Ogle County, has also been chosen as one of this year's  Unit of Honors at this year’s Harvest Time Parade—just in time for its 25th anniversary.

“We are very honored to be recognized by the Autumn on Parade festival,” said Donna Fellows, Pegasus’ board of director’s president. “We are looking forward to seeing everyone during the parade.”

Fellows helped re-establish Pegasus in 1996 by overseeing the therapeutic horseback riding program and the purchase and development of the land on Carthage Road, southeast of Oregon.

Pegasus provides therapeutic horseback riding to northern Illinois residents with physical, mental and emotional challenges.

But in March, a strong wind ripped through southern Ogle County and, in a matter of minutes, significantly damaged the main arena building. Five months later, the center still is reeling from the storm’s effects.

“We are still fighting with the insurance company and now we are waiting again,” said Fellows noting that it was likely the insurance settlement will not cover the entire price of rebuilding.

She was the first to learn of the March storm damage when she saw what the wind had done to the main building via remote cameras at the facility.

Fellows contacted property manager Dave Diveley, and when he arrived at the center, he saw the devastation.

“The south end of the building took the brunt of it,” he said. “All the horses were okay, but they were jumpy from the storm.”

Eleven horses were housed under the wooden haymow at the south end of the 62-foot-by-420-foot building when the storm hit. The horses and two cats that resided in the structure were not hurt.

The wind pushed the north end of the building in, twisting and bending the large garage door.

The “hoop” building was constructed in 2002. Its roof and sides consist of a large tarp called a “coverall” that stretches over the steel frame. Sections of the tarp were torn from the frame and deposited nearby, while some sections remained on the frame with tears.

“We’ve looked into everything from pole buildings, to metal buildings and our need for storage, but this [hoop] is the type of building we need,” she said.

Metal buildings are primarily used for storage and don’t have the ventilation or floor suitable for the riding area.

“We need a building that allows us to have a softer ground for our aging horses and some of our volunteers too,” she said. “At this point we really have to rely on donations.”

Pegasus Special Riders provides a variety of programming to benefit qualified individuals

April through October weather permitting.

On Aug. 28, another storm hit the facility ripping down the loafing shed

The large arched entryway, that was at the north end of the barn, was salvaged from the March storm and moved just a few yards away from the barn while contractors began dismantling the main structure Aug. 22.

The August storm changed all that, twisting the entryway and dumping it onto its side while stripping metal siding from the loafing shedand depositing it across the driveway while wrapping some pieces around several trees to the north.

The horses and cats were again rattled by the destruction, but unhurt, Fellows said.

“Two horses decided to go to another pasture because the fence was down, but they all get along so that was ok,” she said. “We were again so lucky that the animals were not hurt.”

Fellows said it is likely the insurance settlement will not cover the entire price of rebuilding from the first storm, let alone the second.

“We found out that we had a $250,000 ‘cap’ on our insurance so we could be responsible for the rest to just replace what we had,” she said noting that the barn cost $150,000 to construct in 2002.

“Now that has doubled in price,” she said. “And it was $45,000 just to disassemble the barn last week. It all adds up.”

Both storms were selective in their destruction, leaving a cornfield to the west and soybean field to north untouched.

“We’ve been here since 2002 so why pick on us now and then twice?,” she said.

Pegasus Special Riders is a nonprofit organization providing therapeutic horseback riding to northern Illinois residents with physical, mental and emotional challenges.

“We do not turn anyone away due to their inability to pay,” their website states.

“The Therapeutic Riding Program improves the quality of life of those we serve. Our primary clients are individuals with disabilities who benefit physically, emotionally and cognitively through animal-assisted activities, primarily through interaction with horses. We do not turn anyone away due to their inability to pay,” the organization’s website says.

Diveley is the organization’s only full-time employee. Dedicated volunteers step in to help with daily chores from horse care, horse handling during lessons and fundraising events.

“We’ve lost a whole year of lessons, but a lot of clients are sponsored through scholarships, so we really don’t have a revenue stream,” Fellows said. “We still have our horses and we have that to be grateful for, and we are so fortunate none of them were injured. But this is very daunting.”

Visit Pegasus www.PegasusSpecialRiders.org for information.