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Crop insurance: George Harris specializes in offering farmers security

September 2010 Posted in Business, People | No Comments »

By Kathy Cook Hunter For those people jokingly called “out standing in their fields” – the crop-growing farmers of Oregon – George Harris is an important fellow to know and do business with. A Silverton resident, Harris specializes in selling crop insurance, ...

Making a better place: Scotts Mills student takes third in Oregon mayors’ contest

September 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Chris Celio wants to be the voice for people “who are too shy to say anything. I want to help make things better for other people or at least try to.” He believes one way to help people in ...

Silverton Flywheels: Car club races toward half-century mark

July 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Steve Ritchie It was 1961 and Silverton Police Chief Vic Grossnickle had a problem. Inspired by the drag racing at the Aurora airport, some of the local kids were getting carried away – "hot-rodding around" – according to one of them, ...

Food and faith: Concert benefits Christian-based agriculture project in Kenya

July 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Silverton resident Tim Aman – who in September will visit Kipkaren, Kenya, for the third time to share his knowledge of farming – has noticed that when a Kenyan asks a friend or neighbor for something – ...

Terri Vasché: Celebration focuses on 30-year career making vision better

July 2010 Posted in Business, People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Growing up in Oregon City, Terri Vasché never realized there were things girls weren't supposed to do so she went ahead and did them. She was the first girl at Oregon City High School to be excused from taking ...

Abundant energy: Goal is to listen and exceed seniors’ needs

July 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Meg Fraser has her “skates on” and nothing is going to stop her. The new program coordinator of the Silverton Area Seniors Center, Fraser is beyond giddy about the position. “I feel truly honored to be chosen for this job,” ...

Working where needed: Sister Julia McGanty faithfully serves

July 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Sister Julia McGanty was astonished by her prioress’ request; so much so that she said she needed time to think about it. Become a hairdresser? she thought. Work outside the monastery? At that time, McGanty  was working at the ...

Driven: Wrestler Izaak Tobin excels

July 2010 Posted in People, School, Sports | No Comments »

By Cambria Roth Izaak Tobin is not your average incoming sophomore in high school. Six days of the week, he drives an hour and a half to practice in Hillsboro and on days off, he runs. His work ethic is taking him ...

Taking chances: Snyder finds rewards in risks – in retail and on the road

July 2010 Posted in Business, People | No Comments »

By Kathy Cook Hunter You might say Donna Snyder likes to paint the town red. Snyder, owner and manager of The Red Bench, an antiques and collectibles mecca in downtown Silverton, didn’t waste any time adding a large touch of red ...

Striving for excellence: Silverton High valedictorians and salutatorians reflect on high school and the future

June 2010 Posted in People, School | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Some of them are perfectionists. The majority are procrastinators. Some are quiet and some eager to speak. The areas they plan to major in college vary from film studies to Biblical studies and engineering to premed. Some struggle with the ...

Goal met: JFK seniors celebrate

June 2010 Posted in People, School | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Technically, they are both valedictorians, John F. Kennedy High School seniors Marissa Donohue and Alex Morrissey said. Officially, Donohue is the valedictorian and Morrissey is the salutatorian for the JFK Class of 2010. “On the day they looked at the ...

Roasting Roessler: Pre-retirement account of skis, skunks, ‘n’ trunks

June 2010 Posted in People, School | No Comments »

By Dixon Bledsoe After 35 years as an educator, Craig Roessler is about done with “finals” in his “senior” year. Retirement is close at hand. The personable and highly-respected educator has, according to most who know him, made the dean’s list ...

Dawn Olson: Working for the environment

June 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kathy Cook Hunter Dawn Olson is driven to community service and environmental protection. “Volunteering your time is finding out where your heart belongs,” she said. Olson, 51, moved to Silverton in 1985 with her husband, Barry, who grew up in the ...

In the blink of an eye: Heidi Schindler faces toughest challenge …

June 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Brenna Wiegand Heidi Schindler was having the time of her life – a stolen weekend snowboarding in amazing weather at Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint, Idaho, one of the Northwest’s premier ski spots. Friday and Saturday morning had been incredible. ...

Benefit planned for Heidi Schindler

May 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

Despite everything Heidi Schindler has endured, she remains positive with an “I can do it” attitude. Schindler is paralyzed from the waist down after she crashed on her snowboard in January. The “heidistrong 2010”  benefit is will raise funds for her ...

Teaching tolerance: Holocaust survivors share stories of discrimination

May 2010 Posted in Arts, Culture & History, People | No Comments »

By Linda Whitmore He suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, yet Les Aigner says he is "one of the luckiest men alive." His wife, Eva, was terrorized by the Nazis as a small child and says the fact she survived is “a ...

Joe Cartwright: Finding a new way to serve in Wisconsin

May 2010 Posted in People, School | No Comments »

By Vince Teresi What makes a great teacher? Mount Angel’s Joe Cartwright is searching for the answer. A graduate of John F. Kennedy High School and Stanford University, Cartwright is serving as a member of the national Teach For America corps. He is ...

Project Hope: The Stevens work to build bridges between people of faith and people of goodwill

May 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Brenna Wiegand Jerry Stevens says he was born into the life of faith. “When my parents came to faith in Christ their lives changed dramatically,” he said. His father, Robert Stevens, a history professor at the University of Arizona, became a ...

Always our children: Couple works to teach understanding

April 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Mount Angel residents Steve and Florence Balog know some people won’t understand their mission. And that’s OK. Their work is geared to address the questions and concerns of parents and family members of lesbian women and gay men, and ...

Always giving: Westbrooks lend hand whenever needed

April 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Steve Ritchie In 1994 Dean and Molly Westbrook moved their family of six from a large, comfortable home in the upscale Eastmoreland neighborhood of Portland to a tiny, 1,000-square-foot, rustic house outside of Mount Angel. Like many of the events in ...

Warm welcome: Council, citizens await new Mount Angel administrator

March 2010 Posted in News, People | No Comments »

By Kristine Thomas Susan Muir’s resume had all the attributes the Mount Angel City Council was looking for in a city administrator, said City Councilor Kelly Grassman. The council voted unanimously to hire Muir at its March 1 meeting. The newly appointed city ...

Josh Jones: On a spiritual path close to home

March 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Steve Ritchie A few years ago, Josh Jones was your typical Kennedy High School student – a guy who loved hanging out with friends, running cross-country, playing video games and trying to meet girls. Today, he is past the midway point ...

Jubilees: Four Sisters celebrate anniveraries at Queen of Angels

March 2010 Posted in Arts, Culture & History, People | No Comments »

Four Benedictine Sisters recently celebrated Jubilees at Queen of Angels Monastery. Sr. Corinne Clay and Sr. Agatha Meissner marked 70 years as Benedictines, Sr. Mechtilde Fennimore celebrated her 60th jubilee, and Sr. Rocino Moreno Soto celebrated 25 years as a ...

The Crying Tree: Silverton author earns regional recognition for first novel

March 2010 Posted in Arts, Culture & History, People | No Comments »

By Maggie Mertens Naseem Rakha is a journalist, mother, editorialist, poet and now, due to the success of her debut novel, The Crying Tree, she can add award-winning novelist to that list. The story of a mother’s emotional journey to forgive her ...

Carving out a niche: Knifemaker’s designs win international acclaim

March 2010 Posted in People | No Comments »

By Jan Jackson At work, Glenn Klecker is an award-winning knife and tool designer whose work is known world wide. At home, however, Klecker is the dad that carves wooden toy knives that make his 6-year-old son, Nathan, the envy of ...