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Run for your lives: It’s a Man-demic!

By Jim Kinghornthe Man About Town

Glenn Damewood has doubled the size of Mac’s Place’s creekside deck and also added a roof to make it enjoyable in any weather. It used to be you had to go out to the deck to avoid the smokers but with the new laws, now all of the smokers are out on the deck. Irony can be so ironic sometimes…

Ya know, being The Man and all, I pretty much know what’s going on, but even I have to admit there are some things I just I just don’t get … like, I don’t get how a group of skinny teenagers in a rubber dinghy can hijack a 700-foot cargo ship on the open seas. I know for some reason the ships don’t have weapons but come on now, it’s a RUBBER BOAT – grab some steak knives from the galley and play pop the balloon or get some hot oil from the engine room and give ’em a hot shower. If the 700-foot ship hijacked the little boat, then The Man would get it.

If your pets have seemed a little sad lately, it’s because they lost a friend when long-time local veterinarian Phil Andrews recently passed away. Dr. Phil practiced in Silverton for more than 30 years. The Man says that’s a lot of heartworms and hairballs.

The boys at Seven Brides are proud to report they have celebrated their first anniversary by brewing their first batch of beer in their new location on James Street. You can sample the fruits (or hops actually) of their labor at Mac’s, Mill Street Bar and The Home Place.

No, Sharon Hoffer is not adding a drive-up window to her Blackberries home décor shop in Mt. Angel. It is true though that someone recently tried to drive through the store – rather unsuccessfully I might add.

It’s not every day you get a message that starts with “Hello from sunny Afghanistan” that doesn’t want you help someone to get $30 million dollars out of the country, but this time it was from local plumber David Pyle, who reports he is enjoying his time in paradise but the days can be pretty long. He is hoping someone can send him a golf club and a couple of balls to help pass the time. Any takers?

Silverton resident Naseem Rahka has finished her first book and it is already receiving high praise. The Crying Tree is about family, the death penalty and the power of forgiveness. Naseem has been selected as one of only four “emerging voices” at North America’s largest book exposition. The novel is available in bookstores and online on July 7.

Congratulations are on order for the Silverton High School Speech Team which recently won its second consecutive state championship. Kudos also go to Coach Matt Ogle on being selected as Speech Educator of the Year. Team members took honors in several categories with Haley Karlson and Diana Cater moving on to national competition this summer in Alabama. Whenever The Man is asked to speak it has been frequently described as “slurred.”

Yee haw, it’s time for another installment of The Man’s business musical chairs. Cue the music … Matthew Middlestetter has moved Compex 2 Computers from Main Street to the former bookstore location at Oak and Second…. Panache Boutique, instead of moving in with Stomp Boutique as previously reported has decided to close …. Celia Stapleton has moved her Purl District from the Wolf Building to the spot on Water Street where Panache used to be ….. Willamette Management Group is moving its property management business from Stayton to the former Silver Falls Realty building across from the Wolf Building which is now empty except for the Stompin Grounds coffee shop ….. Kinsey Hanley opened Little Sweet Peas children’s consignment shop on North Water in the same building were a children’s clothing store used to be and City Thai Restaurant opened in the same location the Red Thai Room used to occupy (but children are welcome now) ….. Michelle Deck and her daughters Anita and Kristin are opening a handcrafted jewelry, art and clothing store called Mennita on First Street where Tootsies Shoes used to be and the former Fratello’s / Bella’s restaurant site has a couple of restaurateurs looking at taking over the space… stay tuned.

And another thing I don’t get is this whole Swine Flu thing. Now The Man admits having to call in sick with the “wine flu” a time or two but I figure that was self induced. Let’s see, the symptoms are fatigue, congestion and a scratchy throat – I don’t know about you but given the pollen count in this state, that just sounds like symptoms of spring to me. Besides, there are more than 306 million people in this country and only 2,600 cases of the We’re All Gonna Die Flu. Of course it sucks to be you if you are one of those cases but it hardly seems like enough to call it an epidemic, pandemic or any other kind of demic. Then, apparently because pigs all over the world became offended and we can’t have that, it was changed to the H1N1 Flu. The Man has a better idea, let’s just call it what it is – the Media Hype Flu. But then again, I have had a strong hankerin’ for bacon the last couple of weeks… Hmmmm…

Man About Town is a collection of hearsay, rumors and the occasional fact. If you’ve got a tip, call The Man.

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