Our Town – Silverton, Mt. Angel & Scotts Mills Columnists & Opinion Archives - Our Town

A Slice of the Pie: Proposed RV Park – Leaning into a fear of the unknown

March 2023 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

During the past several days I have been keeping tabs on an ongoing social media conversation about the proposed 22 space recreational vehicle park near Mark Twain Elementary School and it has really got me to thinking – what is ...

Letter to the Editor: Bills in legislature important for children

March 2023 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

The legislative session has begun in Salem. One vital issue that readers may not be aware of is the need to pay parents to provide in-home care to their minor disabled children. Paying parents to do this work (the State is ...

A Grin at the End: Weather and money – Terminology adds to general consternation

March 2023 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

It’s been said that only a meteorologist and an economist can tell you with absolute certainty today why they were wrong yesterday. In the case of the meteorologist, I am reminded of how bizarre things have gotten every time I look ...

A Grin at the End: Parklandia – Driving 1-5 or 1-205 can cause you to swear

October 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion, Travel | Comments Off

My wife and I were heading for the airport, on our way to pick up one of kids. Oh, did we get I-205ed. To the ultimate max. It took us an hour and a half to get from Clackamas to the airport, ...

Air shows: Action and awe are the real deal

September 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I am standing on a patch of grass watching a man named Brad Wursten defy gravity. He is in a tiny airplane called an MXS-R, which is hanging by its propellor a couple thousand feet in the air. ...

A Grin at the End: Home improvement pointers

August 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson It’s been my long-held opinion that there is no need for capital punishment as long as there are home improvement projects to be done. Instead of spending eternity on death row, the worst offenders should be sentenced to fixing ...

A Grin at the End: Keys to destruction – A choice between fears and facts

June 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson If I wanted to destroy a nation, I wouldn’t use an army, airstrikes or missiles. I would use lines. I would draw lines between people and constantly remind them how different they are from one another. I would remind ...

A Grin at the End: Do your homework – Responsible voting takes a little effort

April 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson For the 69 percent of Oregonians who cast ballots in the last general election, this will be a busy year. Not only are we going to choose a new president — God help us all with that bunch — ...

A Grin at the End: Music list – Sharing my play list in hopes you will create your own

March 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson Sometimes on a rainy afternoon — we have quite a few in Oregon — I like to listen to music. Not just any music. I like to listen to music with meaning. I’m not talking about religious music necessarily, although ...

A Grin at the End: Check list – In search of the perfect doc

February 2016 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I think I’m going to hire a doctor. Well, not really hire one, but get one to occasionally take a look at me. I’m feeling good but I just want to get a 100,000-mile check-up. First, a disclaimer. I’m not ...

A Grin at the End: The third law…

December 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson It used to be said that nothing will make you a bigger liar you than your dog or your kid. “Oh, my dog would never do something like that,” you’d say, just as your dog did that very thing ...

A Grin at the End: Best holiday ever… With an even better after-day tradition

November 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I like holidays — all of them. I like Christmas, New Year’s, the Fourth of July, Labor Day — even National Ice Cream Day (the third Sunday in July) and Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19). But my ...

A Grin at the End: Utterly unromantic…

October 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson This may be the least romantic column ever written. It may even be less romantic than the columns written by those political pundits jabbering about Donald Trump. In fact, it is so unromantic I bet only an accountant could ...

A Grin at the End: I wish I was smart enough…

September 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel as though I’m getting dumber every day. I just don’t understand what’s wrong with a lot of people. It’s as though they put their brains in a paper bag ...

A Grin at the End: Snails with ketchup – And other adventures in Spain

August 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion, Community | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I’m sitting at a table outside a bar in some little town whose name I cannot pronounce. The owner brings out a bucket filled with cooked snails. I pick one up, look it in its beady little eyes ...

A Grin at the End: What’s in a name

July 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I’ve always been amazed by the names some parents choose for their children. Some are practical. For example, my Mom always said she chose Carl because she wanted to a make sure I could spell it. I don’t know what that ...

A Grin at the End: Advice worth remembering

June 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I love this season. I don’t mean summer. I love graduation season. It’s when middle and high schools, colleges and universities unleash their work product on the world. “Let’s see what this bunch can do,” every teacher is thinking ...

A Grin at the End: Future’s not all as promised asromised

May 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I feel cheated. When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, the future was going to be awesome beyond words. I remember reading books about how we’d all work four days a week, and fly in our personal ...

A Grin at the End: Treasure trove of truthfulness

April 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I devised a plan to either: 1. End political weirdness as we know it or 2. Create the best reality TV show ever. Here’s why I envision doing - All state and federal politicians would be required to wear body cameras ...

A Grin at the End: Common sense investments

February 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson During the past year, I’ve undertaken a study in alternative economics. I call it “The Use of Voluntary Taxation as a Means of Funding Higher Education.” In short, I bought lottery tickets in hopes of getting money to pay ...

A Grin at the End: The curse of the Internet

February 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I used to think the Internet was destroying society. Now I am sure of it. As a matter of fact, that’s about the only thing I’m sure of these days. Here are eight reasons why I think the Internet causes more ...

A Grin at the End: It’s going to be a great year

January 2015 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

It’s a whole new year and I’m pumped. I know that this will be the best year ever! It’s not that I have a crystal ball or that I have a winning Power Ball ticket. It’s just that I know this year ...

A Grin at the End: How to sleep well at night

December 2014 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I have a lot of friends in the banking industry. Tons. Bunches. Bushels. Boatloads. Rafts. Anyway you say it, bankers are my friends. They must be, or they wouldn’t send letters to me all of the time. I should explain. In the ...

A Grin at the End: Painting as a punishment

November 2014 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson I don’t know about you but generally speaking, I’m against killing. I think there’s been way too much of it through the years. Students of history know this but I sometimes wonder why other folks haven’t figured that out. And ...

A Grin at the End: Truisms for the political season truism

October 2014 Posted in Columnists & Opinion | Comments Off

By Carl Sampson It’s political season. We have gubernatorial groupies to the right of us, senatorial sycophants to the left of us, mayoral wannabes in front of us and city council candidates behind us. Don’t expect me to endorse one or the ...

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