By Jim Kinghorn
Don’t miss The Silverton Wine & Jazz Festival’s main event, this Saturday, May 19. This year features a new format, new venue in Town Square Park and all the same great music and wines from throughout the region. You can also get your grape groove on at the final series event on June 9 at Howard Hinsdale Wine Cellars with piano man extraordinaire, Tom Grant.
Bids are still being accepted for the original Wine Festival poster art by Silverton’s own immensely talented, Barbara Bassett. Stop by Howard’s Wine Bar and you just might be able to have “Smokin’ Jazz” hanging in your own wine cellar….(right Denny?)
Just in time for summer, Natasha Roland is opening Spoonful frozen yogurt in Silverton. She is aiming to have her Oak Street shop open by June 1 so you can get your “gurt” on….
Didya hear about the Pennsylvania girl who won a national penmanship award? This impressive accomplishment is even more amazing when you find out that 7 year old Annie Clark was born with no hands. It has been suggested that the average human uses about 20 percent of their potential brain power…. How much are you using?
The kegs are empty and the hop heads are gone but you’ll have to excuse the gang at The Oregon Garden if they are still a little drunk with success over this year’s Brewfest. This year‘s attendance was almost double that of previous years and left The Man channeling Roy Scheider in Jaws – “You‘re gonna need a bigger…tent”…. which coincidentally is already planned for next year. Good job, Garden Gals!
The Man’s quote of the month: “April showers bring May….pollen” –The (sniff, sniff) Man
Looks like the Palace Theatre may be out of commission for a while. Contractor to the stars, Dennis Downey says although the fire damage was contained to the lobby area, mitigating the smoke damage will require a thorough cleaning of the entire building.
Kudos to the Silverton City Council for committing the funds to keep the city pool open until 2013. The problem remains though, and when the funding is gone the future of the pool will be in jeopardy. Contact City Manager Bob Willoughby if you would like to be on a committee to secure long term funding.
The Silverton Pet Parade will roll through downtown for the 80th time on May 19…..It must be exciting for Ken Hector to know that our furry friends have been lining up in front of his house since he was a teenager…
The Man attended the recent Roth’s “Oregon is Home” luncheon and after the third or fourth $10,000 check of the afternoon was presented to Special Olympics, Family Building Blocks and other worthy organizations it occurred to me that it’s names like Roth, Withnell, Frank, Miller and many others’ philanthropic efforts that make this country great. The recent trend for some in our culture seems to be to demonize the “fat cats” who have worked their tails off to build a business and achieve a level of success. A few may deserve the “evil” label but let’s not lose sight of the thousands of individuals and businesses that quietly and voluntarily give back to make their communities better…..And the next time you see Mr. O, congratulate him on Roth’s 50 years as an independent grocer – truly a remarkable feat…
See you on the street….
