By Don Murtha
Food drives, programs for school children, donations for St. Joseph’s Shelter, a Halloween costume party, reading programs for local schools, a Back to School supplies drive , a community Health and Wellness fair, – the list of community support projects grows long at Mount Angel Towers.
For all of this and more, the community awards committee chose Mount Angel Towers as the Mount Angel Chamber of Commerce 2012 Business of the Year.
“We are very proud to be chosen. We are proud of our position in the community,” said Rosie Thompson, manager of Mount Angel Towers.
Mount Angel Towers is a family-owned business. Irene Fenton, who maintains an apartment there, is the owner. She lives in California and comes to Mount Angel occasionally. Her daughters, Stephanie Fenton and Carla Fenton-Witts, also make trips to town. They share duties as managing partners. Lynn Wigley of San Francisco is the executive assistant.
“She checks in almost daily,” Thompson said. “She really wants to know about the residents and their ideas and what they desire.”
They will all be here for the Community Awards Banquet Feb. 25 at the Mount Angel Festhalle, Thompson said.
The Towers employs 72, 35 of them from the Mount Angel area. Thompson said the Towers takes pride in that fact. Most of the rest of the staff are from Silverton, Woodburn and Scotts Mills, with a few from other places.
“We are also proud of the longevity of our staff,” Thompson said, “most have been here 15 to 20 years. We have very little turnover.”
Thompson said residents and staff of the Towers are involved almost year-round in the community.
“Beginning this past Christmas, instead of exchanging gifts, the staff has adopted a local family for the season,” Thompson said.
The residents and staff hold an Easter Egg Hunt and at St. Mary’s School they hold a Halloween Trick or Treat party. At Christmas, school children get treats from Santa Claus given by the Towers and volunteers from the Towers assist in the Mount Angel schools reading program.
For 20 years, former Mount Angel mayor Margaret Hoffer has enjoyed working with residents and giving tours to prospective residents.
“I would show them throughout the building even into the basement where they have storage,” she said. “They were delighted to know they had spaces for their things that they had at home.
“The Towers always has fine food, wonderful people – both the staff and the residents – and all kinds of activities,” Hoffer said.
Donna Liechty, a resident of Mount Angel Towers for several years, said she is “very proud of it. I think it is the only place to live,” she said. “We are very community oriented here.”
