Stu Rasmussen’s main goal as he seeks a second consecutive mayoral term as is to “Keep Silverton Silverton.”

Rather than work at remaking the community (especially the downtown area) “to conform to some pie-in-the-sky ideal of what a modern city should look like … indistinguishable in its cookie-cutter blandness,” he is adamant that the only major change he’d consider is a return to all two-way streets downtown.

He is referring to downtown’s one-way couplet, adopted in the early 1970s as a temporary measure to facilitate traffic flow while Main Street Bridge was closed for reconstruction. Rasmussen said when city government discovered what it would cost to undo the one-way grid it decided to maintain the status quo, ignoring citizen protests.

Rasmussen says the current configuration is unfriendly to visitors and downtown merchants; is dangerous and increases traffic because motorists end up circling the streets to find their destination.

“All of a sudden you’re paying a lot of attention to your driving and no attention whatsoever to what’s outside your car, other than the one next to it; so stores, theater, retail district; you don’t care – don’t even see it – all you’re worried about is ‘I’m racing the guy next to me,’” he said.

Nearly 40 years later, opinions are mixed when it comes to reversing the downtown grid.

“While some small-business owners may think two-way streets would improve their exposure to customers, just the opposite is true,” said Kyle Palmer, also running for mayor of Silverton.

“Studies show that two-way traffic would be focused on Water Street, reducing vehicle exposure to First Street businesses. As Water Street traffic increases, I believe many travelers would attempt to circumvent the downtown area altogether in an attempt to avoid congestion.”

Palmer says such a change increases the danger to pedestrians, who would have to watch for traffic going in both directions. And then there’s the parking issue.

“Downtown parking spots will likely be reduced as the turning radius for two-way traffic will eliminate spaces nearest to intersections, which are allowable now because left-lane turning is done across a lane of traffic rather than directly around a corner as it would be for oncoming two way traffic,” he said.

“And truck loading will be more complicated in two-way traffic. A truck stopped in the road will occupy the sole lane of directional traffic; currently, traffic is able to move around the truck by using the adjacent lane.”

In addition to the other costs involved, Palmer said the city would have to assume responsibility for maintaining First Street, now done by Oregon Department of Transportation.

“It would be a bad decision for the city to be burdened with these costs during the current economic climate,” he said.

Judy Schmidt, also running for mayor, says it’s been too long to return to the days of two-way streets – and the fond memories they engendered.

“In high school, Water Street was ‘The Gut,’” she said. “You cruised from A & W, where the Community Center is now, to Dairy Peak Drive-In (now Subway); I worked at Dairy Peak.”

Boys from Mount Angel would cruise, too. One night Bill Schmidt drove up; the rest is history. But those days are gone, said Schmidt.

“We’ve already got so much infrastructure in place,” she said. “I don’t think it’s where we need to put our time and energy. There are other things we can do for visitors and downtown, such as our current signage plan.”

Doing away with the one-way system would involve the Oregon Department of Transportation; Silver Falls School District; anyone with a downtown business, and the city. City Manager Bryan Cosgrove said the matter surfaces every time the transportation system plan comes up for revision. The last time, about three years ago, the city council voted it down 6-1.

“We could be looking at diagonal parking; a different plan for handling emergencies and many other things we can’t foresee,” Cosgrove said. “You can’t just look at the pros and not the cons; you really have to look at a thing like this globally.”

Reneé Bianchi and Celia Stapleton, owners of Stone Buddha and The Purl District, think the one-way streets are unnecessary and impede the flow of traffic.

“One-way streets are silly to me,” Stapleton said. “I think we should be like every other small town.”
Silverton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stacy Palmer does not think the change is a good fit for Silverton.

Speaking as a citizen, and not for the chamber board, she said she thinks Silverton’s short, one-way blocks, narrow streets and frequent stop signs create a friendlier situation for those walking about town. “It’s a slower pace, but it also gives you time to stop and get your bearings.”

“There have been about three transportation studies in the past dozen years, which show we’d have to lose parking spaces at each intersection for the turning lane and that traffic would be backed up waiting for both sides to turn,” she said.

“I’m afraid there would become one route for tourists with the other favored by locals wanting to avoid them. This could create a bypass of half the downtown businesses, which could potentially hurt them.”

The estimated amount of parking spaces lost is 30-35, a finding Rasmussen calls “bogus.”

“We had more downtown parking spaces in 1970 before converting to one-way than we did afterwards,” he said.

Gary Wolfard, who has watched the cars go by while cutting hair in Silverton for 52 years, says it’s too late to go back now.

“I think it would cause a lot of problems, especially with the delivery trucks coming in and out,” he said.
Jeff Nizlek of Silver Grille and Wines is situated on Main Street, which goes both ways – like his opinion.

However, he tends to defer to his father, Martin Nizlek, a civil engineer who designed Portland’s downtown core, among others, and has worked with several small towns.

“He has said this area would function a lot better if the streets were converted to two-way,” Nizlek said.

“But I see the trucks trying to make the corner right behind me and wonder if they’d all have to be re-routed through. Would they all have to take Timber Trail? I can’t see that happening.”

Imagine a thriving downtown with charming lamp posts, gorgeous flowers and planters, clear signage, enticing storefronts and pedestrian and vehicle traffic friendly.

Now imagine that happening soon with some new businesses sprinkled in.

Needless to say, Silverton’s downtown is already historic, pretty charming, has some beautiful hanging flower baskets and is blessed with some quaint, charming storefronts. But is it’s not always easy for pedestrians to maneuver, the signs are not quaint and frequently out-of-towners try to turn the wrong way down a one-way street.

Silverton Community Development Director Steve Kay said a group of people are developing strategies for revitalizing the downtown through its “Downtown Signage Master Plan and Streetscape Enhancement Project.’

“The group is involved in two projects for improving the downtown – an aggressive grant program where loans and grants may be made available to businesses wanting to upgrade their structures, including some monies for professional services and sign/streetscape enhancement.”

Kay said the group did an in-depth analysis and inventory of the signs.

“They felt there is just too much there for people to see,” Kay said. “It is why we see people running stops signs, get confused about where to go because of so many visual choices and why the downtown is not that user-friendly for pedestrians.”

The study was paid for out of Urban Renewal District dollars collected for such purposes and is only in the initial stage of viability. It still has to be completed, reviewed by other city departments, the planning commission and the urban renewal agency, which is the Silverton City Council.

But a unifying theme, attractive signs directing people to the historic downtown and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and crosswalks would be the order of the day.

For example, at the corner of C and North Water streets, one of the three busiest intersections in town, there are no signs directing tourists and other drivers to downtown. Likewise, McClaine and C street intersection is also bereft of clear, attractive signage to the downtown and other significant locations.

Silverton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stacy Palmer feels now is the perfect timing for revitalization.

“We have three new businesses coming to town,” she said.

The Game X-Change, 107 S. First St., opened on Aug. 8. The owners, Shannon and Debbie Orr of Stayton, buy, sell and trade electronic games with some movies available.

Palmer said the other new business opening this fall is The Gathering Spot, 106 N. Second St.

Anna Kuzmin, owner of the Gathering Spot, will offer breakfast, lunch and bakery items. “Don’t expect a coffeehouse with coffee and scones for breakfast. Our focus will be full breakfasts and lunches, although we will have a full espresso bar.”

The Wine Walk and Café will feature area wines, perhaps on a rotating basis, a tasting café and will work collaboratively with other shops for special events and promotions.

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 his community is by becoming mayor.

His only hurdle is he has to wait five years before he can even vote.

That hasn’t prevented the incoming eighth-grade student at Scotts Mills Elementary School from contemplating what he would do if he were mayor.

Celio, 13, took third-place in the Oregon Mayors’ Association contest called “If I were Mayor…” He received a $25 gift certificate to Border’s Bookstore from the city of Scotts Mills for winning first place in the city’s contest and $25 from the Oregon Mayors’ Association for taking third. He had hoped to win first place in the state contest because the prize was a laptop computer.

Scotts Mills Mayor Ron Bielenberg said Celio should feel honored to take third place in the state competition.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to attend the conference where mayors voted on the best essays so I didn’t get to lobby for Chris,” Bielenberg said. “He took third place on his own and on the merit of his essay.

Celio said the essay was an assignment for his seventh-grade class.

In the essay, he wrote, “If I were mayor, I would do everything a mayor has to do but I would add even more to the community.”

His ideas include opening a gas station in Scotts Mills so people wouldn’t have to drive to Silverton or Mount Angel to buy gas; improving schools so “we can help more kids reach their potential which would make the future even brighter” and asking volunteers to clean the city’s parks.

Sitting at a picnic bench with Bielenberg, Celio said if he were mayor he would like to make the city “green and conserve energy to help the planet. I would want businesses to be eco-friendly like having solar panels and stuff.”

The son of Esther and Carlos, Celio said he was “pretty surprised” he took third place.

“My mom was really shocked,” he said.

This fall, Celio plans to run for student council president and play soccer for the Silver Falls Soccer Club.
Bielenberg said the contest is a great way for students to learn what their local government does and to think of ways they can be involved.

After chatting with Bilenberg, Celio said the hardest task for a mayor would be making decisions.

For example, Celio said, what if the city council and mayor had to decide between bringing in a business that posed a threat to the environment versus bringing jobs to the community? What would he decide?

“I think that would be hard decision but I would go with protecting the environment because that would be the best choice,” he said.

His interest in politics derives from wanting to help his community.

“I think government’s role should be to help people,” he said. “I think we have to be more focused on our government and what the city is doing to help people and make it better for them.”

Bielenberg said he is impressed with Celio’s interest in government and how it works.

“He understands that if people want to make their government better than they have to get involved,” Bielenberg said. “It does no good to complain about the government if you are not willing to become involved.”

Someday, Celio said, he plans to “try to be mayor.” Until then, he hopes other’s will implement his ideas.

“I know some people may not approve of the things I might do,” reads the last sentence of his essay, “but that is what I would do if I were mayor… try to make a better place for all.”

When searching for a reason to return to the West Coast, Jason Hanson never thought he would land where he did.

A 1991 graduate of Silverton High School, Hanson left his family’s farm in Monitor to receive his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College in New York and master’s degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He spent 18 years on the East Coast working various jobs with his last at a political research firm.

His father, Clark, had dabbled in amateur winemaking for more than 40 years but when he started hand-digging a wine cellar, his family members began to question if the hobby was something more serious.

“In my search for a reason to come back to the Pacific Northwest, I hadn’t really thought about starting a business or farming for that matter,” Jason said. “But when I saw how far my father had come with this hobby and how much effort he was putting into it, the idea practically leapt off the page.”

Clark and Jason Hanson started Hanson Vineyards in Monitor almost five years ago with Jason becoming the fourth-generation for farm the land owned by his family since 1905.

“Over the years, we have grown clover, hops, berries, grass seed, walnuts and wheat,” he said. They currently have 8 acres total in Pinot noir, Pinot gris and Riesling grapes and plan to add more acres this fall.

Since he was 6 years old, Jason has worked for his family and local farmers – picking berries, training vines and hauling pipe.

“Back then, my folks raised walnuts so every fall was filled with crawling around in the mud, picking them up,” Jason, 37, said.

Now his autumns are busy working in the vineyard and winery. This year, he said, the grapes won’t be ready to harvest until late October. “We didn’t even have sun until July so that put everything behind,” he said.

What he enjoys about growing grapes and making wine with his father is that every day is different and brings new challenges.

Clark said he began making wine in 1968 because he saw the berries going to waste.

“Making wine is fun to do because it’s an ever-changing process,” Clark said. “It’s a mixture of both science and art and if you try to embrace just one side of the equation, you are going to miss something.”

“We have a hands-on philosophy at Hanson Vineyards,” Jason said. “I think the wineries in the East Willamette Valley are more hands-on with their winemaking and vineyards because we are smaller.”

He also said wines made at East Willamette Valley wineries are gaining recognition and are winning awards at competitions. The Hanson 2007 Pinot noir won a gold medal at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in New York and Outstanding Oregon Pinot noir from the Oregon Wine Awards.

“We’ll never be a big winery, nor do we want to be,” Jason said. “We hope that the wines we make… very artisanal, old-world style in small quantities… will remind people of the family farm.  We’ve been here along the banks of Butte Creek for four generations and we believe that our wines reflect that.”

Dust billows and chaff flies behind the roaring machine that full-time, second-generation farmer Ryan Eder is using to harvest a local wheat field. “I am just helping out a neighbor,” said Eder, who raises other crops as well as wheat.

Soon the combine is full and Eder heads over to the waiting semi-truck to deposit the golden grain into a trailer. Oregon farmers raised about 965,000 acres of wheat this year.

In recent years, with low international wheat prices, farmers in the USA started to change to more profitable crops. But that may soon change.

Russia, which is a large producer of wheat worldwide, is experiencing its hottest summer in the past 130 years and wildfires are now sweeping into farmlands. The harsh weather has destroyed one-fifth of this year’s wheat crop in Russia, which is currently the world’s third major exporter of the grain.

Combined with the low harvest of wheat in Canada this summer, wheat may be a choice of many Oregon farmers this upcoming year.

“The price of wheat is up, but I guess it is still a soft market as of yet,” Wilco crop consultant Tim Aman said.

“In Oregon it is about $5.80 a bushel, although back east it has hit $7- $8 a bushel.  The grass-seed farmers planted wheat as a replacement when the grass seed market hit bottom due to the economy, because not as many builders, golf courses and nurseries were needing seed.”

Wheat normally needs between 110 and 130 days between planting and harvest, depending upon climate, seed type and soil conditions; and parts of Oregon are ideal for wheat production. According to the Wheat Council, about 70 percent of the wheat planted in the United States is winter wheat, which is fall planted.

Of the remaining wheat acreage, 24 percent is planted to spring wheat and 6 percent to durum. Although five major classes of wheat are grown in the United States, the two major wheats are hardred spring and hardred winter, which are both bread wheats.

“Wheat was an easy conversion for the grass-seed guys as they already had the equipment for planting, the combines and tractors for seeding and harvesting, so it worked out right,” Eder said. “Nice to see more acres of wheat being planted, it’s good for the farmers. This is the first big year, although the farmers back east are getting a higher price for it. If the Russian farmers do not get timely rains, they will either not plant or they chance to lose their crop.”

Wheat is used mainly as a human food, due to it’s nutritional content, is easily stored and transported and easily processed into various types of food.

“Wheat being planted is good for farmers, it makes harvest better and a little bit more exciting with the price of the product going up,” Eder said.

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, a program originated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and overseen by its Risk Management Agency.

“It was part of the Farm Bill in the 1930s, a safety net organized after the Depression and the Dust Bowl,” said Harris. “It was initially for (the country’s) main crops – wheat, corn and soybeans. Over the years the program has evolved and now is part of Congress’s Farm Bill every four years.”

Crop insurance premiums are subsidized by the Federal Government and sold by 16 companies in the United States. “The premiums are all set,” Harris said, “and it comes down to how the companies service the policies. In Oregon any licensed P&C (property and casualty) agency can sell it, but not many do because selling crop insurance takes a certain amount of expertise.”

Four years ago Harris began selling six different companies’ crop insurance as a representative of the Northwest Farm Credit Services agency in Salem. Every year he goes to classes to update his knowledge. He must work with and understand an 800-page handbook.

“It’s important that claims are handled correctly,” he said. “Random claims are reviewed by RMA, and if a claim is inappropriately paid, the grower will have to repay that indemnity. Sometimes they can’t do it.”

Throughout western and southern Oregon, Harris personally calls on and works with farmers who grow many crops: grains, including wheat, oats and barley, nursery plants, sweet and silage corn, wine grapes, onions, processing beans, cherries, blueberries, apples, pears, other stone fruits and cranberries.

“What I like about the crop insurance program is that it stands on the farmer’s own crop production record, not the county’s average. If a farmer is just starting out, it’s based on a county’s average production for the insured crop,” he said.

“Right now I’m working with a lot of wheat farmers’ insurance,” Harris said. “Their deadline is Sept. 30 for the summer 2011 crop.” He noted many western Oregon grass seed farmers have turned to growing wheat in view of the low demand for grass seed during the current recession. However, “Wheat is the most risk prone because of possible rain damage, that and cherries.”

Harris has a wide background in farming himself. A native of Cottage Grove, he participated in FFA in high school, and he and his father managed a 60-head cow and calf business. He graduated from Oregon State University with dual degrees in agricultural engineering and animal science, and while in college interned at a hay and cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon as well as at a Eugene-area purebred Angus cattle business.

Before he branched out, Harris specialized in nursery crop insurance. He knows the nursery business well, having worked alongside his wife, Pati, in her Garden Thyme nursery for 10 years.

He emphasized that a crop insurance agent must be knowledgeable. “Typically, in the past growers signed up for ‘catastrophic’ insurance at $300 a year,” Harris said. “They were usually disappointed with any weather-related claims, and I want them to know there is a higher level of insurance that they can purchase.
When a claim does occur, they’re not as disappointed in the results.”

Change is in the wind, so to speak, in the current economic climate. Billion-dollar cuts to the 2008 Farm Bill will inevitably affect farmers, Harris said. “The cuts have not impacted the farmers yet,” he said, “but they could change how crop insurance is delivered to the farmer. The insurance companies may reconsider their involvement.”

Nevertheless, he finds crop insurance challenging. “My education is tied to agriculture; I love agriculture and being part of it. If I can help farmers manage their risk, I feel I am contributing to the success of agriculture in the Willamette Valley.”

“I consider this my dream job,” he said.

By Winnie Bolton

Summer is ending. Fall is approaching and so, as a past teacher, my thoughts usually turn to school starting.

When first arriving in Mount Angel 22 years ago, I volunteered at St. Mary’s Elementary School to assist second graders learning to read and write, which is the love of my life.

However, in the past 10 years I’ve been promoted to do likewise at the Mount Angel Seminarian College’s freshman speech class. I volunteer in critiquing the students for content, voice expression, etc. I also work with the English as Second Language students, teaching them grammar and sentence structure.

God couldn’t have given me a nicer gift because some day these men will be carrying the message of Christ’s love for all his people, wherever they go.

In the elementary grades, children come with different personalities, strengths and opinions of their abilities. It’s no different with older students who come from different cultures and speak various languages. It’s pure joy teaching these men and urging them on with wholesome humor, disciple and patience in good English.

Finally deciding what I’d write for this month’s column, I thought of so many things to say but ended up with a question.

Be honest, Winifred, what really turns you on in life?

And a simple answer came – helping others.

I’m sort of helpless that way because I’m one of those people who needs people – like the popular song goes.

I guess it’s an addiction of mine but heck, it’s better than being a gambler, a drinker or a shopper spending money I don’t have and running up bills. So I won’t complain.

Remembering the second graders I listened to with their endless talking, which could be put to paper and then read aloud, was its own reward.

So much pride in their accomplishment unlocking their bubbling minds to delightful flows of creative energy meant a larger exciting world was being opened to them on a journey of self-confidence.

It’s no different volunteering at the seminary. They are eager to use the God-given talents for which these precious young men were called. The world today stands in great need of spiritual progress, good conduct and moral behavior.

The end of knowledge is love. The end of education is character.

I’ve just about had it with this whole hooked-in, wired-up Internet and cell phone thing.

To me, it’s more like a hung-up and stressed-out thing.

I’m going back to the good old days. By that, I mean the days when I only received messages from people I wanted to hear from, not from some godforsaken electronic device.

Take my cell phone, please.

A while back, my old cell phone died. After a short celebratory period, it occurred to me that I might be able to jettison my cell phone forever. Imagine being able to go places and do things without an electronic leash.
Like the typical cell phone calls I get at work.

“Hey, Dad, are you busy?”

“No, son, I’m just sitting here drumming my fingers and staring out the window.”

“Uh, would you be able to pick up my new contacts at the store?”

“Why would I want to do that?” I ask.

“Well, I don’t have enough money to. …”

“Never mind, I get it.”

Without a cell phone I could just tell the folks at the office not to allow any calls through from people who seem like they might be related to me. My wife would get an exemption, but everyone else would be cut off.

My boss, however, reminded that I need a cell phone. It would allow instantaneous communications in case of an emergency. Whatever. I suppose if it’s an emergency I ought to have one of those things.

So I got a new cell phone. It’s one of those with all sorts of buttons. Then I decided to really get with it and buy one of those Bluetooth gadgets to stick in my ear. This way, in case of an emergency, my boss or my kids could pester me while I’m driving the car, too.

So I set up the phone and the Bluetooth gadget and was I ever feeling hooked-in and wired-up.
Until I found out that my cell phone now could ask me stupid questions, too.

“Who would you like to call?” It asked me the other morning as I was pulling out of the driveway.

“No one,” I replied.

“Your wife?”

“No.”

“Your son?”

“No!”

“Your other son?”

“No!”

“You boss?”

“Negative!”

“President Obama?”

“Noooo!!!”

It kept up with the 20 questions game until I grabbed the Bluetooth thingy and threw it into the backseat, where it remains.

I’ve made a pledge. I now do everything by paper. If someone wants to contact me, they can mail me a letter. If I want to find out the news, I buy a paper.

And do you know what? I find that I’m better informed and have more time to myself. I do the things I want to do when I want to do them, not what some gadget thinks I should be doing. I can read a book, go for a walk or do what I do best — cure all of the ills of the universe.

Hey, it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

[Show as slideshow]

The Lions Club served breakfast to packed crowds bright and early on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the Homer Classic Run explored the countryside at a healthy pace on Saturday while the Hometown Parade offered color, candy and a few surprises. On Sunday, the Davenport Races skidded down Main Street. Arts and crafts, kids activities, and the Cartoon Contest were highlights in Coolidge-McClaine Park all three days, while visitors to historic GeerCrest Farm were treated to Homer stories.

Photographs by Steve Beckner, Tavis Bettoli-Lotten, Jim Kinghorn, and Kristine Thomas