Beer, FDR in Oregon and much more

Editor’s note: Each year, I offer four Oregon-ized trivia columns for readers, many of whom either live here or still have a heart for the place they once did. This is the second such column for 2026.

Q. How many beer-brewing operations are there in Oregon?
A. As of July 2015, Oregon was home to 234 brewing facilities operated by 194 brewing companies.^.

Q. What’s Ticketmaster’s price range for the Oregon-Michigan football game Nov. 14, 2026, at Autzen Stadium?
A. As of May 2, $209 to $795 per seat.

Q. Thus far in 2026, how does Eugene’s rainfall compare with an average year?
A. Historically, the January-through-April time span averages 19.73 of precipitation. This year it’s 13.67, only 69 percent of an average year, according to the RainDrop app.

Q. Is there a name for that giant dip in the Coburg Hills east of Interstate 5 near the Lane-Linn County line?
A. Yes, it’s officially Hayworth Saddle. “Hayworth” was recommended by Register-Guard readers in 2007 after I wrote a column saying we should find a name for the pronounced, but unlabeled, geographic feature between Buck Mountain and Mount Tom. After I asked for nominations, the name that garnered the most votes was “Hayworth Ridge” in honor of a Harrisburg family that has farmed at the base of the ridge for more than 135 years. After I made a presentation in Portland, the Oregon Geographic Name Board agreed to the name, though it believed it was more accurately a “saddle,” not a “ridge.” The U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the name “Hayworth Saddle” in September 2008. It honors five generations of the Hayworth family, specifically John B. Hayworth, who began farming beneath the saddle in 1875.

Q. What two academic units at the University of Oregon draw the most students?
A. The College of Arts and Sciences (51.1 percent of enrollment) and the Lundquist College of Business (19.7 percent).

Q. And at Oregon State?
A. The College of Engineering (37 percent) and Liberal Arts (16 percent).

Q. Did President Franklin Roosevelt ever visit Oregon?
A. Yes, on at least four occasions. In 1932, to campaign; in 1934, to visit the Bonneville Dam construction site; in 1937, to dedicate Bonneville and Timberline Lodge, both which were heavily funded by government money; and in 1942, to see the Kaiser Shipyards in Portland during World War II. On the 1934 trip, he didn’t stop in Astoria but he did sail past it. Don Malarkey, whom I wrote about in Easy Company Soldier and Saving My Enemy, told me in an interview that the president had a boat ferry him out a clam chowder dinner from Astoria’s Liberty Café, where Don worked. It may have been the first on-water Door Dash. Ever. At Timberline, Roosevelt said: “I am very keen about travel, not only personally — you know that — but also about travel for as many Americans as can possibly afford it, because those Americans will be getting to know their own country better; and the more they see of it, the more they will realize the privileges which God and nature have given to the American people."