By Stephen Floyd Silverton native Don Pettit has become the oldest astronaut to join a long-term space mission after returning to the International Space Station (ISS) Sept. 11 for a six-month scientific assignment. Pettit, 69, has spent the last two-and-a-half years training for the mission, which will be his first since 2012 and fourth space flight overall. He is expected […]
By James Day The Silverton City Council met for the first time in the new City Hall on July 15. It also marked the first day that official business was conducted in the $19.5 million building, although some minor odds and ends of the construction/move-in process still must be taken care of. The council met for three hours, including an […]
By James Day On a warm Friday night a crowd of more than 100 people gathered to participate in a ceremony noting the new Silverton City Hall. The $19.5 million project replaces the City Hall about a half mile down Water Street. The old building is no longer big enough to accommodate city staff and it is seismically unsafe. A […]
By James Day A proposal by Silverton Mural Society to place a mural celebrating Silverton’s cultural roots on the new Civic Center is closer to fruition. The Silverton City Council reviewed the latest proposal at its Nov. 20 work session, and although a vote was not taken, there was a strong consensus to move forward with the plan. New City […]
By James Day Cory Misley has been hired as Silverton’s city manager and will start work Oct. 16. Misley replaces Ron Chandler, who retired to Utah in May. Misley’s hiring and contract were approved Oct. 2, on a unanimous vote of the Silverton City Council. As the top administrator for the city Misley will supervise all departments and report to the […]
By Melissa Wagoner The Fischer Flouring Mill was once one of the most eye-catching pieces of architecture in Silverton. Located along Silver Creek – where Silver Falls Library and Old Mill Park are situated today – the mill utilized state of the art turbine-powered electricity to process various grains for farmers in the Silverton area for over 30 years before […]
The post-COVID return of public celebrations includes a ramping up of the traditional July 3 fireworks at the 80-acre Oregon Garden. While the fireworks were back last year, there was still room for improvement, according to Delen Kitchen, the Garden’s Director of Operations. “What we noted was that we needed more food vendors, and more entertainment to keep our guests […]
By James Day The oohing and aahing echoed throughout the cavernous warehouse building. “We’re so excited,” Silverton Area Community Aid board member Laura Wanker, who along with fellow board member Kathleen McCann, was giving Our Town a tour of the old Ratchet Brewery building in North Second Street on March 1. SACA, which provides food aid and other community services […]
By James Day Mother Nature has thrown a wrench into the city of Silverton’s ongoing project to replace its intake structure and water pumps on Silver Creek. Recent heavy rains leading to increased creek flows have damaged the portable dam that was erected to protect the work site. City officials briefed the City Council on the issue at their Nov. […]
By Melissa Wagoner There is no symbol in Silverton’s history more iconic than that of the “Old Oak Tree,” a meeting place initially for the Native tribes of the Molalla and Santiam area and eventually for the white homesteaders who settled here. “The old oak, as everybody called it, was a stately giant, and the early settlers of Silverton looked […]
By James Day Silverton’s favorite collie/shepherd mix, Bobbie the Wonder Dog, who traveled on his own more than 2,500 miles to rejoin his family in the 1920s, has been on the move again. And cloned. Silverton residents and his fans from out of town who were used to reading Bobbie’s story on the Water Street mural and then finding the […]
By Brenna Wiegand Silverton Mural Society is getting a big shot in the arm through efforts led by local businessman Lance Kamstra. He would be quick to tell you it wasn’t him but God who orchestrated it all; he’s just remaining faithful. Every year the mural society has struggled for the funds needed to maintain the town’s 29 murals, let […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Chris Davie joined the Silverton Mural Society in 2020 the organization was in desperate need of help. Longtime leader, Vince Till, had recently passed away and support had begun to wane. “The key thing for the mural society is, we always need money,” Davie, who is now the board treasurer, said. “It costs $10,000 to $12,000 […]
By Brenna Wiegand Silverton Mural Society is in desperate need of volunteers to help maintain its collection of historical, hand-painted murals that have become part of the charm of Silverton and a legitimate tourist attraction. Silverton Mural Society finds itself without a president, vice president or treasurer and ten-year volunteer Norm English is the acting secretary. “We cannot continue to […]
By Melissa Wagoner Vince Till has one of the most recognizable faces in Silverton. Portrayed with his beloved dog FeBee on a mural in the parking lot of 203 East Main St., his signature overalls and his ability to tell a story make him a beloved part of the landscape. Till began cultivating the stories he tells and caring for […]
Work has begun on the final mural recreating artist Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms. Silverton Mural Society Vice President Vince Till said three of the murals – Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear – are complete and on display on the Seven Brides building on First Street. Muralist Tonya Smithburg starts work on Freedom of Worship this […]
By Brenna Wiegand On Jan. 27, Silverton’s original Four Freedoms mural was reduced to matchsticks. But as the sign on the chain-link fence announced, the mural will make a grand second appearance. The mural’s former home on the old Masonic Lodge on Main Street was demolished and it cost too much – upwards of $90,000 without guarantee of success – […]
The Silverton Mural Society installed its latest mural on April 25. It was created by Silverton artist Tonya Smithburg and commemorates the Harvey Mikkelson Steam Engine Festival – a precursor to the Great Oregon Steam-up in Brooks – that was held in Bethany from 1954 to 1966. The mural was installed in four sections on the west facade of the Silverton […]
Silverton’s getting a new mural with a distinctly familiar face. In his later years, Keith Dwayne Kaser didn’t say much to many people passing by on the Silverton sidewalks he owned, but those who had the time were treated to firsthand tales of Silverton’s history.
He’s the man in the blue “Farmer Brown” overalls seen about Silverton inspecting one of 19 public murals or working in the downtown flowerbeds. Vince Till is nothing if not passionate about the Silverton Mural Society he’s led since 1995.
