By Brenna Wiegand The Silverton Poetry Festival has grown in scope and popularity over the past two decades, a reflection of the growth of the art form throughout the region. “If they’re not in the scene, people don’t realize how much poetry is happening in the area,” Silverton poet and festival co-founder Steve Slemenda said. “The Willamette Valley is rich […]
Silverton has earned the prestigious Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community award from The League of American Bicyclists, a national organization based in Washington D.C. Silverton joins 464 communities across the United States that are recognized for transforming the American landscape by embracing bicycling as a way to build more vibrant, healthy, sustainable and connected communities. It is one of only ten […]
The Silverton boys and girls basketball team have hit the halfway point in the league season with identical 7-1 records. The girls squad is ranked second in Class 5A and shares the Mid-Willamette Conference league lead with Lebanon. The Foxes’ boys team is ranked fourth in the state and is alone in first place, one game ahead of South Albany […]
By Brenna Wiegand Though he had a bowling scholarship, Andrew Zwicker pursued software engineering which led him right back to bowling. What he’s done since has changed his life and is putting a new spin on the sport worldwide. Andrew’s parents Ryan and Tawnya Zwicker bought Silver Creek Lanes bowling alley in Silverton 12 years ago; Andrew has bowled since […]
By Melissa Wagoner “Our goal is to be the hub of all things senior and to be all things social,” Silverton Senior Center Executive Director Dodie Brockamp said. With nearly 1,000 visitors to the Center every year, she has a big job on her hands. “What I look at are the seven dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, […]
by Robert McGowan There are many spots in the Silverton-Mount Angel area that have colloquial names. All probably have some historical significance. Some represent a community or area like Drakes Crossing or Bethany. Others are more localized like Rocky Four Corners. Lone Pine is one of the localized ones and represents the intersection of Highway 213 and Mt. Angel-Scotts Mills […]
By James Day Classical music fans in Silverton will be getting a double treat of First Friday concerts next year. The series at the Silverton United Methodist Church is moving from once every two months to monthly starting in January. “Our intentions have been to enrich the cultural life of Silverton through offering a venue for mostly classical performances, making […]
By Melissa Wagoner Tamara Swanson likes to say she lives big – just in a small space.“It’s very elegant and it doesn’t seem small at all,” she said. Measuring just 690 square feet, Tamara and her husband Richard Orr created their petite space – an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Silverton – six years ago after their children left home. […]
By Melissa Wagoner After seven years, Mount Angel’s annual Hazelnut Festival was hanging in limbo due to the recent passing of its co-founder Maureen Ernst. “There was some talk about, ‘I don’t know if this is going to happen this year,’” Executive Director of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce Stacy Palmer said. “But Maureen’s family really wanted it to continue,” […]
By Nancy Jennings Chris Burnett wants you to find yourself in the heart of a horse. Her one-day event – “Day of the Wise Woman/Wisdom of the Horse” takes place on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Oregon Garden Resort. Lunch will be provided. Inside of the J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Pavilion, participants will have […]
Kory Pranger – Lauren Otton Kory John Pranger and Lauren Lee Otton were married on June 30, 2018 in Canby. Reverend Frank Prantl officiated. The groom is the son of Richard and Lynn Pranger of Gervais, Oregon. The bride is the daughter of Darrin and Sherry Otton of Nome, Alaska. Kory and Lauren live in Mt. Angel with their three […]
By Melissa Wagoner Verna Scharbach celebrated her 100th trip around the sun on Friday, June 22 surrounded by an estimated 75 family and friends. The gathering was held at Mission Benedict and was a complete surprise to an astonished and humbled Scharbach. “I was totally surprised,” she said. “I never dreamed of anything like that.” Scharbach’s life has been […]
By Melissa Wagoner As an archeologist for the State of Oregon, Nancy Nelson has spent a lot of time studying what past generations have left behind, the layer of discarded objects – bones, pottery, leather and metal – that tell the story of that era. What has recently become a growing concern to her is the story currently being created. […]
By Melissa Wagoner In high school Gabbi Smith was continually sick. On her blog (gabbintp.com) she describes sleeping with a bucket beside her bed as a precaution for the crippling nausea that plagued her. It took a while but she eventually discovered the culprit – Smith, like a growing number of Americans, is gluten intolerant. “It does that to a […]
On May 16, Silverton grew by a family of two: Kim Betker and her 11-year-old son received the keys to a new home built over the past year by Habitat for Humanity. Kim herself put 500 hours of labor into the home and knows every inch of it. Videographer Mike Turner met Kim in April and talked with her about […]
Many years ago, a young man was singing the Bee Gees hit, To Love Somebody to his classmates at the old Silverton High School. The crooner, not used to large audiences outside of the cat listening outside his shower, forgot a line from a song he had learned just a day before. The singer turned away from his 300-student audience, […]
By Melissa Wagoner There is more to treating seasonal allergies than simply popping a pill after the onslaught of symptoms has already begun, according to the three acupuncturists and experts in Eastern Asian medicine at White Oak Wellness in Silverton. “In Chinese medicine you have to look at the whole calendar year,” owner Sahaji Katie Rablin explained. “You have to […]
By Peggy Savage Local nurses on the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) bargaining team at Silverton Medical Center and administrators with Legacy Health have made significant progress towards reaching a new contract agreement for the hospital nurses during collaborative contract negotiation meetings last week, according to ONA Communications Director Kevin Mealy. “To ensure Silverton remains able to recruit and retain skilled […]
By Melissa Wagoner Househusband, stay-at-home dad, work-from-home father – all of these terms describe a trend in parenting showing up wherever young children are found. Fathers are strapping on baby carriers and diaper bags and getting down to the daily business of caring for their young children – many while continuing to embark on a career. “[W]ith child care being […]
By Melissa Wagoner In the early part of 2018 a 12-acre solar farm began sending enough energy into the Portland General Electric grid to power 350 homes. This farm, on the west end of Pine Street in Silverton, is a movement toward more sustainable energy for local residents – a change that Elyce Brown, founder of the group Sustainable Silverton, […]
By Paula Mabry and James Day The Silverton City Council has directed staff to proceed with plans for the demolition of the former Eugene Field School, which was built in 1923. The 6-0 council vote on April 2 will pave the way for a new police station and eventually a civic center. Former Mayor Stu Rasmussen asked the council to […]
By Melissa Wagoner “The beginning of all knowledge is the ability to think critically,” Donna Cohen, creator and facilitator of adult civics workshops said. “Evaluating whether information is accurate and complete enough to make a decision is the basis for all smart decisions. And, Democracies require people to make smart decisions.” Cohen, who has a master’s degree in both education […]
By Peggy Savage Back in 1974, John Lombardi and his wife Mavis pioneered the home waterproofing industry in the Pacific Northwest armed with a bucket, a brush, a chisel and a product called Xypex. “Our first job was a leaking basement in Seattle,” Lombardi said. “We went out and filled the cracks.” The couple named the business John’s Waterproofing Company, […]
By Brenna Wiegand Glockenspiel Restaurant has been named 2017 Business of the Year by the Mount Angel Chamber of Commerce. The restaurant is owned by Mary and Mike Grant, Henri and Ernie Dill, Mark and Molly Wieprecht and Tracy Buller and managed by Kelsi Weeks. When they opened the restaurant in 2007 they hoped to create a gathering place and […]
By Melissa Wagoner Stephen Miller is quick to make it known that he and Connie, his wife of over 51 years, come as a package – but really that’s obvious. They finish each other’s sentences, laugh at one another’s jokes and spend a lot of time together volunteering for various organizations. “I guess I won’t trade him in,” Connie said […]
