The sun is out, the days are warm and it is the time of year when friends and neighbors look for opportunities to be together and share some fun.
August features two of Silverton’s favorite festivals, one a celebration of community and one a tapestry of the arts, both in Coolidge McClaine Park.
This year’s Homer Davenport Community Festival runs Aug. 3-5 with all the key ingredients: music – featuring Ben Rue, crafts, food – including early morning pancakes hot off the griddle, and drink.
Plus there are the fan favorites that spill out into the streets like Saturday’s Hometown Parade at 10 a.m. and the Flywheels Car Show and Sunday’s 9 a.m. Fun Run and mid-day Davenport Races.
As a community event the festival salutes Homer Davenport. He’s a hometown boy who made good in the Big Apple as a famed political cartoonist for Hearst Newspapers.
For those who’d like to brush up on their Homer history there are presentations at 1:30 and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Silver Falls Public Library on the man and his times. Just across the street the Silverton Community Center will display this year’s entrants in the International Cartoon Contest.
There’s so much going on it takes a guide to provide all the information. A listing appears in August’s Our Town Datebook and the official programs also will be available in park beginning Friday at 11 a.m.
Then on Aug. 18 and 19 the trees sprout poetry and the grounds sprout tents filled with art as the juried Silverton Fine Arts Festival takes over the park. There’s art for the eyes, the ears and you may even get your hands involved in the park pavilion where you can relax and indulge in your own creative expression. The Silverton Fine Arts Festival program features all the participating artists so you can preview their work and a map to guide you to their park locations. It will be available at businesses around the community beginning Aug. 1 and at the park during the two-day festival. Both programs are produced by Our Town and Mt. Angel Publishing, Inc. for the festivals.
