What was going on when I was born?

There are, in the lives of communities, occasions of hope and moments of despair, periods of confidence and times of uncertainty. For this village of 9,700 people, the cold fall weather has brought days of doubt. Last month, after weeks of rumors, one of the largest employers here, Owens-Illinois Inc., announced it would close its glass-bottle manufacturing plant here early next year. ''It's like writing an obituary column,'' said Alan S. Bader, the Assessor for the surrounding town of Sweden and the president of the local Chamber of Commerce. ''It's exasperating because we're not in control of our destiny.''

The A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company, the corn miller and soybean processor, took another step away from its traditional businesses today when it announced that it was thinking of selling its soybean operations. Analysts said that Staley's decision to retain Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to analyze a sale or other alternative for the soybean operations - which bring in one-third of the company's revenues - was part of a restructuring aimed at bigger growth and larger returns on equity. ''The soybean business has been a long-term restraint on returns on Staley's capital,'' Alan S. Greditor, an analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., said. As Mr. Greditor sees it, Staley is seeking to concentrate on higher-return businesses, including high-fructose corn syrup and food services.

Baby Fae took a serious turn for the worse today, her doctors said, as they battled to save her from rejecting the baboon heart she received 18 days ago. The infant was put back on a respirator at Loma Linda Medical Center as her new heart and her own kidneys began to fail, apparently a consequence of the rejection episode that began last Friday. Baby Fae remained ''active and alert when not sleeping,'' her vital signs were unchanged and her heart rhythm was normal, according to a bulletin issued at the medical center, in Loma Linda, near Los Angeles. Full-Scale Measures Taken A team headed by Dr. Leonard L. Bailey undertook full-scale measures to keep the baby alive. They added a new drug called lymphocyte immune globulin to her regimen. They also increased the dosage of the steroids that she has received since the transplant operation Oct. 26.

A man described by American officials as one of the most-wanted drug traffickers in the United States will be extradited by Spain and sent to New York within the next several days, Spanish and American authorities said today. The man, Gaetano Badalamenti, who was arrested in Madrid in April, told Spain's highest court last week that he would not appeal the extradition order, ending months of legal maneuverings. The Government of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez notified the American Embassy here Monday that the reputed Sicilian Mafia leader could be extradited. Linked to Pizza Parlors Working quickly under tight security for fear that rival Sicilian factions may try to assassinate Mr. Badalamenti, the Spanish and American police and Interpol are arranging his transfer to the United States.

JESSICA ALICE RICHTER is 4 years old and about to have her first encounter with the competitive world. She will soon begin meeting unfamilar people who will measure her intelligence, verbal ability and social and physical development. Jessica's parents, Carol and Louis Richter, will be subjected to a similar but more subtle set of tests in their interviews with the admissions staffs of several Manhattan private schools. Months will pass before the Richter family finds out if Jessica is accepted or rejected for kindergarten. ''I'm horrified that she has to go through all these tests,'' said Mrs. Richter, a fashion writer. ''I don't think children this age are equipped to deal with all the pressure - there is as much pressure to get them into kindergarten as there will be to get them into law school 20 years down the line.'' She added that, ''We've tried not to be nervous, but children pick up your vibes.''

Samuel I. Newhouse Jr., who controls a publishing group that includes the Conde Nast magazines and Random House books, said yesterday that his company intends to acquire 17 percent of The New Yorker Magazine Inc. for about $180 a share, or a total of about $25.5 million. Peter F. Fleischmann, chairman of The New Yorker, said in a news release that he welcomed Mr. Newhouse as an investor. Mr. Fleischmann and his family own about 32 percent of the company's 816,000 shares. He could not be reached for further comment.

AMANA, Iowa HERE in the Amana Colony in the heartland of Iowa farmers are working late to bring in the corn, often laboring well into the hours of darkness these last chill weeks before Thanksgiving. The shorn fields are silvery in the low November sunlight, and white-faced Hereford cattle, like elements in an English landscape, ruminate on the harvest gleanings. In the kitchens of Amana homes, as in country kitchens all over America, there is a premonitory bustle as thoughts turn to the coming feast, the turkeys and hams, the winter vegetables, the relishes and pickles and jellies and pies. Amana cooks insist, when asked, that on Thanksgiving they eat ''the same thing as everybody else in America.'' Superficially that may be so. But Amana's unconventional religious background and the colony's German origins, still noticeable in the accents of the people, combine to give a distinctive flair to the traditional American festivities. Turkey, whether domestic or wild, is roasted with an unusual rich meat stuffing, made by combining minced beef with giblets and sage. Locally smoked Amana hams are wrapped in

The oil industry has begun two studies to consider ways to counter a perceived economic and national security threat from new refineries in the Middle East, built to export petroleum products. The contemplated measures, disclosed in interviews today during the annual convention of the American Petroleum Institute, include import fees, quotas, tariffs, free trade zones, political pressure and changes in the American refinery industry. The studies, started in the last two weeks by the A.P.I. and the National Petroleum Council, follow large increases in American imports of heating oil and gasoline over the last three years and the announced intention by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to regain its shrinking market share by stepping up exports of refined products. The council's study was requested by Energy Secretary Donald P. Hodel.

The obituary yesterday of a Queens civic leader and co-founder of a wholesale stamp supply company misidentified her in some editions. She was Trude Weishaupt.

When two Iranian judges pummeled a Swedish colleague two months ago at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, they apparently were expressing a dissatisfaction that many participants in the process share. Perhaps inevitably, nobody is very happy with the pace of the claims tribunal, which has the chore of mopping up after one of the most frustrating episodes in American history. The tribunal's task really began five years ago today, when at 4 A.M., Eastern standard time, Iran announced that it would withdraw all its money from United States banks. After predawn meetings with Administration officials, President Carter froze all Iranian assets in American banks, including their branches abroad. Over the next 14 months these assets furnished most of the chips in the bargaining to release the Americans being held hostage in Teheran. After the hostages were released and the assets unfrozen, $1 billion remained in a special account from which the tribunal could make awards.

A picture caption on Monday with a dispatch from Luxembourg about Grand Duke Jean's visit to the United States misidentified his wife.

The Western Union Corporation, facing its second consecutive yearly loss, said yesterday that it might eliminate its quarterly dividend of 35 cents a common share. T. Roland Berner, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that payment of the dividend in view of the losses would be imprudent. The telecommunications company, based in Upper Saddle River, N.J., said the planning committee of its board voted to recommend that the directors eliminate the payout Nov. 27 at their regular meeting. Dividends on preferred shares would not be affected.