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Submissions open for 10th annual art show

Submissions are open for the 10th annual Community Art Show at Oak St. Church and local artists are invited to share their talent, skill and creativity. The show is Saturday, May 4, 3 – 8 p.m. at 502 Oak St., Silverton. Art submissions are due April 24. To enter, artists can email [email protected] with a well-lit, in-focus photo of their […]

John Friedrick received the Distinguished Service Award for 2023 Submitted Photo

Distinguished Service: John Friedrick – pastor, champion, safety net

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 […]

A Keeton family photo from the 1990s with Joe Keeton (in hat) with his father and three of his daughters as children. Courtesy Autumn Keeton

Slipping through the cracks: Reflections on a life lost

By Melissa Wagoner When Jenna Keeton received a phone call from her mother alerting her that her father had died, she wasn’t surprised. “I had been preparing myself for his death for years,” Jenna admitted. “But I was expecting a heart attack or an overdose.” Instead, Jenna learned that her father, Joe Keeton – a man who had struggled with […]

First Citizen Awards to be presented Feb. 17

The annual “celebration of Silverton’s amazing volunteer spirit” will be held Saturday, Feb. 17 in The Oregon Garden’s J. Frank Schmidt Pavilion, 879 W. Main St., Silverton. The event showcases what’s special in the Silverton community and the impact volunteerism can have in a small town. Honorees for 2023 include: Laura Wanker – First Citizen John Friedrick – Distinguished Service […]

Letter to the Editor: Standing in solidarity

To the Editor: I would like to respond to views expressed in recent advertisements run by Gregg Harris in Our Town. I am not writing to start a debate with anyone nor to criticize how this paper does business. Rather, I am writing as a community member and local pastor.  Though there are perhaps many areas where Mr. Harris and […]

Giving a familiar face a story – The life and loss of Joe Keeton

By Melissa Wagoner In the five years since Joe Keeton moved to Silverton at the behest of a friend, his face became known to many throughout the town including Sarah White, the executive director and founder of Sheltering Silverton. “I met Joe in 2018 when we first opened up our Resource Center in the basement of the Community Center,” White said, […]

Opening night of the Silverton Arts Association's Teen Art Show. -- courtesy of Megan Smith

Teen Art Show – Silverton galleries team up to honor this year’s winners

By Melissa Wagoner This year the Silverton Arts Association’s annual “Teen Art Show” featured 105 pieces of art from students at Evergreen, Bethany, Community Roots, Silverton Middle School, Silverton High School and Sequoia Falls Academy. “It’s a long-standing tradition,” Silverton Arts Association Board (SAA) Member and gallery curator, Megan Smith, said of the show, which ran from May 5 to […]

Monday nights together – Oak Street’s in-person dinners return

By Melissa Wagoner There is just no telling who will be at Oak Street Church’s Monday Meals from one week to the next. “There are people who come because they need food. There are people who come because they’re lonely. And there are people who come because they want to meet people,” Pastor John Friedrick said. It’s not the reason they are […]

Food equity – Defining the problem a first step in finding the solution

By Melissa Wagoner Food is necessary for the survival of all humans but that doesn’t mean access to it is always equitable.  In fact, every month within Marion and Polk Counties more than 45,000 individuals – 15,000 of them children – rely on food assistance according to Marion Polk Food Share (MPFS), an organization of which Silverton Area Community Aid […]