By Jim Kinghorn
As our hearts go out to the victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines, word comes that a floating island of debris three times the size of Great Britain has been spotted slowly making its way across the Pacific Ocean. The estimated 5 million tons of rubbish from the Japanese Tsunami in 2011 is expected to begin arriving on the coast of California sometime next year. The Man experienced an eerie feeling standing on the dock that washed up on the Oregon Coast last year…..imagine what it will be like to be among the twisted remains of peoples’ lives, hopes and dreams. It will be a powerful reminder that the heartbreak and devastation remain long after the news cycle has passed.
Dr. James Nealon and his family have returned to the land of the Duck from a couple years practicing in Nebraska. Dr. Nealon will be sharing space with Dr. Clinton Sanford across from Silverton Health and leaves The Man with only one question….what the heck is a “Razorback”???
If your American Flag is getting a little worse for the wear but you don’t know how to dispose it properly, you’re in luck. The good folks at the Silverton/Mollala Veterans of Foreign Wars Unit will do it for you. Drop off your worn flags to the Silverton Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, 426 S. Water St.
Marta Hazekamp is Jete’(ing) with joy over having 11 of her students at American Academy of Performing Arts audition and be selected into the Eugene Ballet Company’s 2013 Nutcracker Season. The diminutive danseuse range in age from 7 to 13 and will be performing at the Historic Elsinore Theater in Salem on Dec. 18 and 19. Break a jambe girls…
Speaking of great kids, Mark Twain Middle School and the After School Activities Program are partnering to sponsor the First Tech Challenge Competitive Robotics Team. Structural Engineer and coach Dana Smith aims to make learning about science and technology fun but The Man bets that it will also turn out some pretty talented future engineers…
The ever popular Silverton Shop Hop will start on Black Friday and run through Dec. 17. Grab your passport out of this edition of Our Town, get a stamp at each of the 28 participants and you may win a gift certificate from one of the shops. One lucky Shopper Hopper will win the grand prize of a gift certificate from all of the 28 businesses (a value of $700), so get out there and get hoppin’…
Before you stuff your face on Thanksgiving, waddle on over to the the Community Center at 9 a.m. for the 24th annual SACA benefit Jazzercize class. $3 or 3 food items get you in…and then you can go stuff your face…
Oh sure, you got yer football, yer basketball, yer Olympics and all the other forms of “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”…..but nothing makes The Man swell with pride for my country like reading the headline “USA Wins at World Beard Champs”…wait, I need a moment…..USA! USA! USA!…The 300 competitors representing 20 countries met this year in Germany for several grueling days of primping and combing and when the moustache wax settled, “Team Beard USA” came away with nine trophies including first place in Freestyle Moustache, Full Beard Natural, Full Beard Styled and English Moustache (take that you English pansies). So as it should be, we came out on top but The Man can’t help feeling sorry for the many contestants that after a whole year of dedication to trimming and training only to end up getting beat by a whisker…
If you watched the Oregon Duck basketball team play in Osan, South Korea on ESPN last week you might have noticed a rather tall chap in an Air Force uniform running the shot clock…It was Ben Ernst, son of Mount Angel’s Maureen Ernst.
See you on the street…
