By Stephen Floyd Neither people nor animals were harmed after a barn caught fire at a mink farm in Mount Angel on Oct. 21. The four-alarm fire was called in around 5:20 p.m. at Ruef Fur Ranch, and first responders came upon a tall column of smoke and a barn fully involved in flames. Though the farm’s population of minks […]
By Melissa Wagoner Mount Angel’s Oktoberfest may seem like just a rollicking good time – and it is – but it’s also a massive fundraiser for churches, schools and service groups throughout the region. Since its inception the festival has contributed over $3.5 million to local causes. That number doesn’t even take into account the money earned each year by […]
The 57th annual Oktoberfest in Mount Angel runs Sept. 15 – 18, and event organizers are promising a festival celebrating “The Joy of Being Together.” The festival welcomes back musical friends from Germany, Donaumusikanten. Band members travel from Bavaria. Donaumusikanten is known for traditional Bavarian folk music as well as modern rock songs. After two years away due to pandemic […]
By Brenna Wiegand Kimberly Shaw began painting individual greeting cards for friends as a labor of love and a satisfying counterpart to her work as an architectural draftswoman in Southern California. She’d been with the firm for 17 years when she quit her job and grew her card business into a national concern that supported her family for the next […]
By Melissa Wagoner Something new is brewing at the Benedictine Brewery in Mount Angel – it’s Italian food, courtesy of Chef Ty Burgé, owner of the Mercy Mobile Kitchen food cart. “There’s something for everybody,” Burgé said of the menu – a mixture of paninis, pastas and flatbreads that he designed with the brewery’s patrons in mind. “I figured this […]
By James Day The Silverton Runners Club is turning 40, and organizers are planning some new events to boost participation in the club, which works to support running programs in Silverton and Mount Angel. The club, which was organized in 1982 by Silverton resident Amy Castle, is taking over management of the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runs associated with the Mount […]
By Stephen Floyd Mount Angel is moving forward with several upgrades to city departments after allocating more than $800,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. The city spent months seeking public input and recommendations from staff and committees before the City Council gave final approval March 7. A total of $803,382 was divided between the Parks, Public Works, Library and Police […]
Mount Angel Interim City Manager Mark Daniel has agreed to remain in his position indefinitely as the city continues searching for a qualified applicant. During the Mount Angel City Council meeting Feb. 7, Councilor Pete Wall said the search for a new city manager had become exceptionally difficult because of numerous other cities also hiring for the position. “This is […]
Mount Angel celebrates the wonders of the wurst from Feb. 25-27 at the Festhalle when the Chamber of Commerce hosts Volksfest. This will be the 13th rendition of the event, said chamber board president Sarah Bauman. Organizers for the event, which originally was called Wurstfest, say they plan on making this festival a full COVID-19 recovery from months of social […]
By Stephen Floyd The Mt. Angel School District Board is seeking to fill a vacant seat after the recent passing of Board Member John Conklin. The board is scheduled to appoint a new member Feb. 14. Qualified residents have until Feb. 7 to apply. An appointee must be a registered voter, have lived within the district for at least one […]
By Melissa Wagoner “It’s a sports bar with great food,” Brandon Norbury, owner of the Mt. Angel Public House, said when asked to describe the eatery which, though it quietly opened its doors to patrons during Oktoberfest in September, finally held its official opening on Dec. 19. “And it was phenomenal,” Norbury said of the celebration, which included live music, […]
By Melissa Wagoner After more than a year of being apart, Silverton’s Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts – now simply known as “the Scouts” – were finally able to resume in-person meetings and group activities, and they were sure glad. “Over Zoom it was hard,” Scouts parent volunteer Rhett Randall said. He noted that during the shutdown the club, which […]
By Melissa Wagoner Despite a stormy night, the atmosphere is festive beneath the glowing blue and white striped tent over LC’s Outdoor Market – the newly opened food cart pod in downtown Mount Angel. “At this point we’re just creating the atmosphere,” Kirk Deignan who, along with his wife, Mary, owns From Russia with Love – a chain of five […]
By Melissa Wagoner Holiday bazaars are not just providing holiday spirit this year, they’re also bringing a little bit of “normal” to a year that has been anything but. “In a way it is a little more special this year,” Kim White – Vendor Coordinator for Santa Mouse, Silverton’s longest running holiday bazaar – confirmed. “It is giving us something to look […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Donna Hues learned that her short story, “Guard Cat,” was among the top 300 contenders for a spot in the popular book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat, she was more than a little surprised. “They get 1,000-plus stories,” Hues said of the fierce competition. She’s normally a historical fiction novelist. “I thought well, if […]
By James Day In those corny old black-and-white movies a bunch of kids (Mickey Rooney usually was involved) would at some point declare “Let’s put on a show!” Great energy would be expended and odds overcome as the spunky kids saved the day. In Mount Angel, it’s a bit different. It’s more like “Let’s put on a festival!” Because that’s […]
For the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Angel, November is the prayer month for remembering the deceased. Starting with All Souls Day, Nov. 2, through the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 28, the Sisters will include in their prayers a remembrance of the deceased: community members, loved ones, friends, alumni and oblates. They also welcome requests to pray for the deceased […]
By James Day Mount Angel is in recovery mode this week as the community reels from a devastating weekend fire that destroyed historic structures and four businesses. The fire, which was called in just before 1 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, wiped out a highly visible swath of commercial property along the railroad tracks that separate the Mt. Angel Highway and […]
I recently learned something rather astounding – if you ask for ghost stories, prepare for an onslaught. Houses, storefronts, restaurants, nursing homes – and apparently nearly every school in area – all come with a ghost story or two attached. And many of them took place in… bathrooms? Which prompts the question – why bathrooms? Because – and I don’t […]
By Melissa Wagoner Welcoming the new year looked a lot different for Kurt Berning and his fiancé Katie Doyle this year. Instead of party hats and streamers, the couple awoke early, donned their rain gear and headed out into the drizzle to plant over 500 white oak tree seedlings. “I felt like I could do something for this habitat and […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Brian Reif – a clinical nurse who works directly with COVID patients – was offered the COVID-19 vaccine as a member of the tier one medical community, he did not hesitate to roll up his sleeve, likening his participation to a patriotic duty. “What we have achieved to create and now deliver, a novel vaccine in […]
By Melissa Wagoner When seven-year-old John Kloft told his parents he had pain in his side in May of 2020 they assumed he had appendicitis. “We took him to his normal Physician’s Assistant, Brianna Brooks in Silverton,” John’s parents, Mike and Patty Kloft, wrote in a recent press release chronicling the family’s journey. “She sent us for more tests because […]
By Melissa Wagoner “Helping is easy. Being on the receiving end is difficult.” Sheila Zervas Nielsen, a teacher at Silverton High School and resident of Gates, knows what she is talking about. She, along with her husband Steve, also a Silver Falls School District employee, and their three sons, evacuated from their home on Sept. 7 escaping wildfires whipped up […]
By Melissa Wagoner In the midst of a global pandemic, with civil unrest in the streets, a new catastrophe has come knocking. On Sept. 7 unusually high summer winds joined forces with three decades of drought to ignite fires across Oregon. “We are currently facing a statewide fire emergency,” Gov. Kate Brown, said during a press conference on Sept. 9. […]
By Melissa Wagoner This year Mount Angel’s Fourth of July celebration was going to be different. Sarah Bauman, president of the Mt. Angel Chamber of Commerce, has known that since the pandemic began. “We pretty much wrote the parade off right away,” she said of the difficult decision the Chamber of Commerce board made in early spring. “But… what can […]
