By James Day The Silver Falls Family YMCA has embarked upon a major fundraising campaign to pay for and construct a new building in which to operate its programs. Amid challenges to insuring an aging building, the YMCA left its long-time home in the Silverton Community Center in March. The building is currently being leased by the city from the […]
By Melissa Wagoner Learning to read is one of the most important skills a child can master, according to Mark Twain Elementary School principal Katie Beckett. “It’s the gateway to equity,” she said. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, especially for those students who spent their kindergarten year learning online during the COVID pandemic. For those students, lower than […]
By Bruce Kingwell Silverton First Baptist church is welcoming its new lead pastor, JD Winters. The congregation has gathered at its current location on Westfield Street, between Safeway and Robert Frost Elementary School, for more than 70 years. While in that time much has changed, a congregation of seven decades learns to recognize joyful change when it comes. Such was […]
Frequent Addresses Mt. Angel Public Library, 290 E Charles St. Silver Creek Fellowship, 822 NE Industrial Way, Silverton. Silver Falls Library, 410 S Water St. Silverton Arts Association, 303 Coolidge St. Silverton Community Center/Council Chambers, 421 S Water St. Weekly Events Monday Low Impact Aerobics, 9:30 a.m., Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 303 N Church St., Silverton. Silverton Senior Center members free. Non-members […]
By Brenna Wiegand A group of local men who came together for a Bible Study are finding ways to reach out to their community. They call themselves the Noble Men of Oregon. They meet weekly at Noble Inn, owned by study leader Gregg Harris and his wife Bonnie. Built by June Drake in 1904, the historic home is now a […]
Frequent Addresses Mt. Angel Public Library, 290 E Charles St. Silver Creek Fellowship, 822 NE Industrial Way, Silverton. Silver Falls Library, 410 S Water St. Silverton Arts Association, 303 Coolidge St. Silverton Community Center/Council Chambers, 421 S Water St. Weekly Events Monday Low Impact Aerobics, 9:30 a.m., Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 303 N Church St., Silverton. Silverton Senior Center members free. Non-members […]
By Stephen Floyd For many Silvertonians, The Home Place Restaurant represents a rite of passage. It’s where they got to have their first big birthday party, where numerous teenagers got their first jobs, where generations of athletes gathered for pre- and post-game celebrations. Co-owner Debbie Bennett said the establishment is old enough now that customers bring their own families, talking […]
By Melissa Wagoner It’s been 40 years, nearly to the day, since Laura Wanker became a part of the Silverton community, initially working as an educator and volunteer tutor, mentor and educational advocate for students at Silverton High School before joining the Silverton Area Community Aid’s (SACA) board. “Laura Wanker’s impact on the Silverton community is broad and substantial,” former superintendent […]
By James Day Sometimes your ability to make a difference in your community can be as simple as how often you say ”yes.” That’s been the case in recent years with Oak Street Church and its pastor John Friedrick. Yes to continuing its Monday meal tradition. Yes to using the church building for a warming shelter. Yes to hosting listening […]
By James Day From its arrival in Silverton in 2002 Willamette Valley Bank has lived by the motto that to serve the community you must be involved in the community. “Twenty-two years ago a group of business owners opened Willamette because they believed the community would be better served by a locally headquartered bank, managed by people who understood the […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Alan Mickelson joined forces with Lawrence Stone, Greg Hart, Gregg Sheesley and Ron Nelson to put on the very first Silverton Sidewalk Shindig in 2012, he never could have predicted that 12 years later the event would still be going strong or that the organization would be the recipient of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce’s Service […]
By Melissa Wagoner Kim Merklin has taken her students on a lot of field trips during the 14 years she has taught at Bethany Charter School, but few have been as impactful as those she and her class of 30 seventh and eighth grade students have taken to the Marion Polk Food Share. “I was astonished the first time I […]
By Melissa Wagoner Growing up, Craig Bazzi’s grandparents – immigrants from Northern Italy – spoke mostly Italian, as did their neighbors. “But it wasn’t spoken in our home,” Bazzi recalled. And so, the language wasn’t something he ever learned. Then, as an adult, he took a trip to Italy with his wife, to reconnect with distant relatives and to see […]
By James Day The Silverton Senior Center was heavily damaged during the recent ice storm and is currently closed until repairs can be made. Board President Jenny Ohren told Our Town that when officials returned to the Center on Jan. 18, after being closed during the ice event, “broken pipes in the attic” led to the collapse of a ceiling because […]
Frequent Addresses Mt. Angel Public Library, 290 E Charles St. Silver Creek Fellowship, 822 NE Industrial Way, Silverton. Silver Falls Library, 410 S Water St. Silverton Arts Association, 303 Coolidge St. Silverton Community Center/Council Chambers, 421 S Water St. Weekly Events Monday Low Impact Aerobics, 9:30 a.m., Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 303 N Church St., Silverton. Silverton Senior Center members free. Non-members […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Victoria Martusheff – a shift supervisor at Silverton Starbucks on North First Street – came across an advertisement for the Silent Book Club, “a global community of readers and introverts, with more than 500 chapters in 50 countries,” she just had to share it with fellow supervisor, Sofia Perez. “I’m a very big reader,” Perez, who […]
Somehow it seems that Dodie Brockamp, outgoing executive director of the Silverton Senior Center, will be busier in her “retirement” than she was during her 12 years at the center. A celebration of the Senior Center career of Brockamp is set for noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Senior Center, 115 Westfield St. A light luncheon […]
By James Day The lease on the Silverton Community Center likely will transfer to the Silver Falls YMCA when the Silverton City Council moves its meetings to the new Civic Center building next spring. The Oregon Military Department owns the Community Center building on South Water Street, with the city’s lease set to expire March 31, 2024. The council discussed […]
Frequent Addresses Mt. Angel Public Library, 290 E Charles St. Silver Creek Fellowship, 822 NE Industrial Way, Silverton. Silver Falls Library, 410 S Water St. Silverton Arts Association, 303 Coolidge St. Silverton Community Center/Council Chambers, 421 S Water St. Weekly Events Monday Silverton Senior Center, 115 Westfield St. Seniors 50 and older. Daily, weekly, monthly events. 503-873-3093, silvertonseniorcenter.org Low Impact Aerobics, […]
By Melissa Wagoner In late September one Silverton father got a call he hoped he would never get. His 16-year-old daughter had just overdosed on fentanyl and was being rushed to the hospital. “I didn’t expect it to be her,” the father – who has asked to remain nameless – said. His daughter, who has since recovered, had been sold the dangerous […]
By Stephen Floyd The impending sale of Queen of Angels Monastery in Mount Angel will mean larger spaces for local Catholic ministries, although details of the transitions must still be hammered out. Catholic Community Services (CCS) is expected to finalize its purchase of the monastery this month and plans to move its transitional housing program, St. Joseph’s Shelter, into the […]
St. Joseph Shelter and Mission Benedict are in need of donations of nonperishable food items for the Christmas Dinner Box Program. Any of the items listed below can be brought to Mission Benedict, 925 S Main St., Mt. Angel, by Dec. 15 to be included in the boxes. • Grocery gift cards • Canned green beans • Canned corn • […]
By James Day Main Street Bistro is spearheading a fundraising effort to assist the Silverton High band with its expenses for an upcoming tour in March in preparation for the League Band Festival. A silent auction begins on Friday, Dec. 1, in conjunction with festivities surrounding the tree lighting ceremony in Town Square Park. Auction sheets will be available for […]
Karen Garst had one goal when she came up with the idea for Santa Cares in 2018 – to make sure everyone has a gift to give on Christmas. “[A]fter working with Sheltering Silverton and SACA I knew there were many in need,” Garst said. Inspired, Garst developed the Santa Cares event during which community members can donate gently used items – toys, children’s books, sports […]
By James Day Sheltering Silverton has hit a milestone in its serving of the homeless in town with the opening of its new warming shelter and cabins outside the parking lot of the city shops complex on McClaine Street. “It’s not the end, but it’s a new chapter,” said board president Mary Jane Schaffer, one of the speakers at an […]
