Our Town – Silverton, Mt. Angel & Scotts Mills

Trial by ice: Neighbors, services unite in the face of shared adversity

March 2021 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9792" align="alignright" width="300"] An old oak near St. Edward's Church in Silverton by the February ice storm. Photo courtesy Steve Canning.[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner When residents of the mid-Willamette Valley awoke to a world covered in a beautiful blown glass tapestry ...

Making Silverton better: Encouraging diverse voices is one step

February 2021 Posted in Community | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner It was a happy accident when John Pattison stumbled upon the town of Silverton on Christmas Eve 2009. But it wasn’t an accident he stayed. “My wife Kate and I both grew up in smaller towns,” Pattison explained. ...

Land stewardship: Mount Angel native plants white oaks on farm

February 2021 Posted in Community, People | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9780" align="alignright" width="225"] Kurt Berning and Katie Doyle planting white oak seedlings on Bernging’s family farm in Mount Angel. Photo by Melissa Wagoner[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner Welcoming the new year looked a lot different for Kurt Berning and his fiancé Katie ...

Vaccinated: Health professionals discuss their decisions and experiences

February 2021 Posted in Community, Your Health | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner When Brian Reif – a clinical nurse who works directly with COVID patients – was offered the COVID-19 vaccine as a member of the tier one medical community, he did not hesitate to roll up his sleeve, likening ...

Silver Creek Fellowship packs 5,000 relief kits

October 2020 Posted in Community | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9741" align="alignright" width="300"] Silver Creek Fellowship. Photo by Melissa Wagoner[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner When the wildfires swept through Oregon on Labor Day, Kaiser Permanente immediately leapt into action, contacting the Red Cross and asking how the organization could help. But it ...

Silverton Lions and Silverton Elks run Gates field kitchen as part of wildfire relief effort

October 2020 Posted in Community | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9737" align="alignright" width="300"] Lions Club Breakfast. Photo by Ward Frederick.[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner When Ward Frederick decided to open a field kitchen in Gates in the days following the Beachie Creek fire, he knew he could fund the venture for right ...

Banding together: Reflecting on community in wildfires’ wake

October 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9733" align="alignright" width="300"] Mount Angel’s Magnolia Grill crew delivering food to frontline workers. Submitted Photo[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner “Helping is easy. Being on the receiving end is difficult.” Sheila Zervas Nielsen, a teacher at Silverton High School and resident of Gates, knows ...

Virus victim: Silverton Arts Association reaches out to community for help

July 2020 Posted in Arts, Culture & History, Community | Comments Off

By Steve Ritchie The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 110,000 American lives, ravaged the US economy and plunged budgets of governmental entities into the deep red, all in just over three months. It turns out that nonprofit organizations are not immune to ...

Empty skies: Mount Angel July 4th fireworks canceled

July 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner This year Mount Angel’s Fourth of July celebration was going to be different. Sarah Bauman, president of the Mt. Angel Chamber of Commerce, has known that since the pandemic began. “We pretty much wrote the parade off right ...

The decade ahead: Silverton officials discuss projects for city’s future

July 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner In February, Public Works Director Petra Schuetz, Community Development Director Jason Gottgetreu and Mayor Kyle Palmer were discussong the decade ahead for Silverton for an Our Town story. What none knew then, of course, was that in a ...

Peaceful protest: Silvertonians inspired to take action against racism

June 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner “I come to report — the kids are not alright,” Keith Amano gravely stated at the George Floyd Memorial Protest in Silverton on Friday, June 5. As the Activities Director for the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Amano has spent years ...

Spring into action: Silver Falls district snaps into gear to address needs

April 2020 Posted in Community, School | Comments Off

By Brenna Wiegand Help often comes from unexpected places, and there is plenty of evidence that this pandemic has brought the community together in novel ways. Last week, Silver Falls School District Superintendent Paul Peterson was part of a virtual meeting with ...

Feeding the workers: An idea turns into an inspiring movement

April 2020 Posted in Community | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner Sometimes all it takes is a single, great idea to start a movement – and on Friday, March 27 Andy Diacetis had a truly great idea. “I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw a post from Shake Shack ...

Adapting to closures: School superintendents discuss service strategies

April 2020 Posted in Community, News, School | Comments Off

By Brenna Wiegand Since Oregon closed its schools in mid-March due to the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus, local superintendents have been on a wild ride, chasing after ways to maintain their responsibility to the students. Buildings may be closed, ...

Policy change: Cities change access rules because of virus

April 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

By James Day Silverton and Mount Angel both have changed their policies on public access to municipal buildings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and the governor’s social-distancing orders. City Hall offices in Silverton and Mount Angel were closed to the ...

Surge protection: Legacy, Santiam hospitals prepare

April 2020 Posted in Community, News, Your Health | Comments Off

By Steve Ritchie As the number of COVID-19 cases quickly grows in Oregon and throughout the country, government leaders and public health authorities have focused their attention on the readiness of hospitals to deal with an influx of coronavirus patients. With 43 ...

Shockwaves: Silverton’s community aid suppliers plan for hard weeks

April 2020 Posted in Community, News | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner This time may very well be the calm before the storm for many community aid organizations, including both Sheltering Silverton and Silverton Area Community Aid (SACA), as more and more people lose their jobs or are laid off ...

Transformative experiences: Sr. Tisot on Fr. Bernard Youth Center

November 2019 Posted in Community | Comments Off

By Mary Owen Sister Jeanine Tisot has been a Sister of Mercy for about 40 years, having entered her community in 1980. “We are an apostolic, vs. monastic, community dedicated to the poor, sick and uneducated,” said Tisot, who was raised in ...

Dandelion dreams: New shop fulfills mother’s long-held wish

November 2019 Posted in Community, People | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9547" align="alignleft" width="238"] Sarah Sampson with husband, Derek, and daughters, Ginger and Piper. Courtesy of Annie Smith photography[/caption] By Nancy Jennings Sarah Sampson, owner of The Wild Dandelion in Silverton, welcomes customers with a sassy “Open” sign on her door saying: ...

Year-end bounty: Sourcing holiday meals at Silverton Winter Market

November 2019 Posted in Community, Food & Drink | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner Holiday meal planning can be a great time to experiment with locally sourced foods, according to Sarah Brown, owner of Diggin’ Roots Farm in Silverton. “Eating local around the holidays is a unique opportunity to raise awareness with family ...

Fix high school sound system

November 2019 Posted in Columnists & Opinion, Community | Comments Off

Fix high school sound system A year ago we attended our grandson’s graduation from Silverton High School. He was one of the valedictorian speakers, and of course, we were looking forward to hearing his speech. We knew we’d be seated in ...

November Briefs

November 2019 Posted in Community, News, Other, People | Comments Off

Jazzercise Thanksgiving benefit celebrates 30th year Silverton Jazzercise will hold its 30th Thanksgiving morning benefit class for Silverton Area Community Aid on Thursday, Nov. 28, at 9 a.m. at the Silverton Community Center, 421 S. Water St., Silverton. Admission is $5 ...

The perfect match: Historical piano meets historical house

November 2019 Posted in Community, People | Comments Off

[caption id="attachment_9512" align="alignright" width="300"] Tasha Huebner playing the piano from the 1890s that she moved into her home, also built in 1890. Melissa Wagoner[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner Historical objects really speak to Tasha Huebner. So, when she came across a listing for ...

Violence in America: Discussion centers on guns, but problem runs deeper

November 2019 Posted in Community, Your Health | Comments Off

By Melissa Wagoner In a small town in Pennsylvania in 2005, Trish Ambrose’s 18-year-old neighbor, and good friend to her son, fatally shot his parents at point-blank range. “I was interrupted while dressing that morning by a phone call from [the killer’s ...

We can make a difference

November 2019 Posted in Community | Comments Off

We are asking for your ideas at this upcoming Community Forum on how you already reduce plastics, recycle materials, purchase less toxic products, store foods, save on water, reduce individual use of fossil fuels, and more. Please attend this forum ...

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