Our Town North: April 15, 2022

Page 1

Civics 101

Helping Hands

Habitat for Humanity project in Silverton receives $1 million funding – Page 6

Silverton pastor returns from mission aiding Ukrainian refugees – Page 4

Vol. 19 No. 9

COMMUNITY NEWS Serving Mt. Angel, Silverton and Scotts Mills

April 2022

Tasting room opens on a working farm – Page 12

Our Town P.O. Box 927 Mt. Angel, Or 97362

POSTAL CUSTOMER ECRWSS

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 854

Sports & Recreation

The hunt is on for new Fox coaches – Page 17


Joe & Dana Giegerich Joe Giegerich

Broker

503-931-7824

Dana Giegerich

Broker

503-871-8546

email: JoeGiegerich01@gmail.com

More new listings COMING SOON! Call us today if you’re thinking of buying or selling selling..

ACREAGE NEW!

and Under Contract

$615,000

$ 585,000

Investment opp., building & land, 9 treatment rooms, large lobby, 19 parking stalls, 690 N. Main St. Mt. Angel. MLS#783656

Abiqua Heights one level custom home, large 0.260 acre lot, 3 bed, 2 ba. View of commons & pond. 280 Tillicum Dr. Silverton. MLS#790171

SOLD! $ 1,100,000

$799,000

Kingston-Lyons Dr., Stayton. Investors. 64.41 acres, 2 measure 49 homesite, approval for two 5-acres also buildable. Remaining 54.41 acres buildable.

67.20 acre prime farm ground. Excellent soils, prime location. Aviation Way Silverton, Lot 1300. MLS#787321

MLS#788228

Under Contract

$795,000

52 acre timbered parcel near Silver Falls State Park. Investment & income potential. Gorgeous views! Silver Falls Dr. MLS#780792

$365,000

2 acres buildable homesite, views! Approved for standard septic. 7685 Dovich Ln SE, Turner. MLS#778883

$695,000

3.85 acres. Prestige Estate property, path of progress potential. 835 Grouse St. NE, Silverton. MLS#770597

$350,000

2.33 acres, Coast range & valley views! 5744 Crooked Finger Rd NE Scotts Mills. MLS#775366

$465,000

27.50 acres, 30-year-old timber. Excellent investment. Crooked Finger Rd. Scotts Mills. MLS#785744

$285,000

3.080 acres, private building site in city limits, maybe dividable. SW exposure. Standard Ave., Brownsville. MLS#777782

SOLD! $229,000

Views on 18.190 acres, secluding & beautiful. Washburn Heights Lot #18, Brownsville MLS#777861

216 E. Main St., Silverton • Office: 503-874-1540 www.TheBellaCasaGroup.com LICENSED IN OREGON AND SERVING YOU FROM OFFICES IN SILVERTON, NEWBERG AND McMINNVILLE

2 • April 2022

ourtownlive.com

$399,000

2 acres buildable homesite. Panoramic Valley Views! 7633 Dovich Ln SE, Salem. MLS#77880

Buy. Sell. Be Happy. Our Town Life


Contents

12

Helpng Hands

Pastor returns from Ukraine aid mission in Poland.......................... 4

Why Go to Salem for Framing?

Mt. Angel Sausage Co. donates for Detroit construction volunteers........ 5 Civics 101

Habitat receives $1M boost.......... 6 Challengers enter county commissioners race..................... 8 Clarkson enters DA race................ 8 All-access playground approved... 9

Small Town Service. Small Town Prices.

Business

Paradis Vineyards opens on-site tasting room.............................. 12 Passages............................. 14 Sports & Recreation

Update

Elks lawsuit settled.........................10 Principal hired for Robert Frost......10 Something Fun

Robot team headed to international conference........... 11

Track coaches reflect on a combined 50 years of experience................16 Three coaching jobs open........... 17 A Slice of the Pie............ 18 Marketplace..................... 19 On the Cover & Above

Paradis Vineyards east of Silverton has unveiled its new on-site tasting room, while goats and emus continue to roam the land. BUILDING: TIM PARADIS. ANIMALS: MELISSA WAGONER.

105 S. First St., Silverton

503-873-6771

Open Tuesdays - Saturdays 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

SILVERTON AREA SENIORS, INC.

FREE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST

Every First Saturday of the month including Saturday, May 7 from 8 - 11 a.m. 115 Westfield St. Silverton Senior Center Featuring Chef Jim Krieg Not Just Pancakes – A Different Menu Every Month Generously Sponsored by Profitable Planning Proceeds to Benefit the Silverton Senior Center • Donations Gladly Accepted

A Great Way to Honor & Celebrate Mother’s Day... Bring Mom to breakfast!

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION CELEBRATION in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week

Party for ALL Volunteers: ReVamp Thrift, Meals on Wheels & Silverton Senior Center Friday, April 22 from 12 - 2 p.m. Pizza & Carrot Cake + More Appreciation Gifts • Door Prizes • Games & Fun Please RSVP 503-873-3093 by April 20, 2022

115 Westfield St. Silverton Senior Center Please call 503-873-3093 to Sign up if Interested in (ordering) a T-shirt Name & Size

Anyone interested in being a TABLE HOSTESS for a Spring Tea in May? Any LOCAL AUTHORS out there? Check Out SHELF INDULGENCE on Fridays at 11 a.m. Paula Mabry Editor & Publisher

Stephen Floyd Digital Editor & Reporter

Jim Kinghorn Advertising Director

Melissa Wagoner Reporter

Our Town

P.O. Box 927 Mount Angel, OR 97362 401 Oak St. Silverton, OR 97381 503-845-9499 ourtown.life@mtangelpub.com ourtownlive.com

Our Town Life

DeeDe Williams Office Manager

Sara Morgan Datebook Editor

Tavis Bettoli-Lotten

Designer & Copy Editor

Janet Patterson

Distribution

Our Town mailed free to residents and businesses in the 97362, 97375, 97381 zip codes. Subscriptions for outside this area are $48 annually.

www.silvertonseniorcenter.org

James Day

Sports Editor & Reporter

Steve Beckner Custom Design

The deadline for placing an ad in the May 1 issue is April 20 Thank you for spending time with Our Town. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

2

$

off 00

any regular priced meal breakfast or lunch dine-in or take-out

Exp. 5/15/22

1397 S. Water St., Silverton

503-873-6089

OPEN: 8am - 7pm • Tuesday through Sunday

ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 3


Helping Hands

Relief effort By James Day Silverton pastor Kurt Barnes is back from a week-long Ukrainian relief effort in Poland. He returned tired, inspired and eager to continue to help. Poland has become ground zero for refugees from the conflict in Ukraine, and Barnes, a 39-year-old Silverton native, spent March 14-21 in Poland working with churches and relief agencies to tackle what has been an almost immeasurable task: absorbing and assisting more than 2 million refugees. “Everyone is being welcomed and churches are a big part of that,” Barnes said. “It’s truly heart-warming and beautiful. It’s neighbor loving neighbor as we are supposed to do as Christians.” Barnes’ Silver Creek Fellowship congregation has chipped in as well, with $30,000 flowing to relief efforts from local church members. Barnes came away from the experience with a huge respect for the Polish people

Silverton pastor returns from Ukraine mission

and their churches. They have proven to be resilient, organized and passionate about the relief effort, he said.

of the Chelm Baptist church, which is just 16 miles from the Ukrainian border. Church leaders, led by Pastor Henryk Skrzypkowski, anticipated the challenge and went to work before the Russian invasion, upgrading their kitchen to commercial requirements and finding ways to accommodate 175 beds inside church walls. The church already has worked with more than 3,500 refugees. Many, often 200 or so, spend the night, with hundreds of others stopping for meals, showers, clothes and medical help on their way to placement in Polish homes or other facilities.

“And they are so acquainted with suffering,” said Barnes, noting occupations by the Nazis and the Soviet Union. “And now, they can’t watch their neighbors suffer.” Inflation is up, cupboards are more bare because there is no importing of Russian goods, and gas is the equivalent of $12 or $13 per gallon. Add to that 2 million-plus refugees needing assistance. “That’s a recipe for an awful lot of division and yet I saw no sign of that,” Barnes said. “There are welcoming signs. People are flying Polish and Ukrainian flags.” And relief organizers are showing an innovative spirit, particular with their use of small vans. The vehicles are crammed to the gills with relief supplies in Warsaw and then sent to border areas and sometimes farther. Coming back the vans are full of refugees. And the vans just

Kurt Barnes, pastor of the Silver Creek Fellowship, discusses his recent Ukraine relief trip to Poland in an interview in the office of his Silverton church. JAMES DAY

keep going, sometimes while under fire. Barnes also was impressed with the work CCB #204128

Interior / Exterior House Painting Sheet Rock Repair & Texturing

925-292-0999

www.JayTracyPainting.com

Barnes never quite got used to the 9-hour time difference between Oregon and Poland and the scheduling nightmares that produced for what has become a global relief effort. And for a conflict that only began Feb. 24, the effort has been remarkably wellorganized, Barnes noted. You can’t put all 2.5 million refugees in Warsaw. So you turn the nation’s capital and largest city into a massive staging area: figure out the Interested in using your skills 1-3 days per week to work hands on providing Routine Foot Care Services to our seniors in need? Located in Silverton and Woodburn, SILVER ANGELS FOOT CARE is seeking a RN business owner to join our team – which serves a client base of 200. Tour the foot clinic at Silverton Senior Center to see if you’d be a suitable candidate to join our fun team. Training classes on Routine Foot Care available in Washington and we offer on site mentoring and precepting. Call Angela for more information at 503-201-6461.

O.G. Tree Service • Tree Pruning • Brush Removal • Tree Removal • Clean-Up • Tree Trimming

Cendi Sandoval CCB#228026 971-239-2295 4 • April 2022

ourtownlive.com

cendifrias1985@gmail.com Our Town Life


Free sausage lunch surprise for volunteer crew at Detroit Community Center construction site Volunteers working to finish the Detroit Lake Community Center were recently treated to a free lunch by local businesses as the project nears completion. Construction on the new community center started a year ago after the original building was destroyed during wildfires in 2020. The Santiam Rebuild Coalition has been collecting donations of labor and resources for the project through the Detroit Lake Foundation. The foundation said a grand re-opening will be announced soon.

Relief agencies in Poland are using small vans to ferry supplies toward the Ukrainian border. The vans return with more refugees. KURT BARNES

immediate needs of the refugees and then find places throughout the country to place them. All public transportation is free for Ukrainians. “People are sleeping in train stations

because they don’t want to get too far away from where they are going to go next,” Barnes said. “This is not going to be a short-term relief effort. This is a long haul thing. And certainly Poland is taking on more than its share of the load at the moment.”

On March 25, DeSantis Landscapes, of Salem, trucked in sausages donated by Mt. Angel Sausage Co. and grilled them on-site for workers. Rich Duncan Construction Inc, of Salem, who is leading the project, said on Facebook they were very grateful for the kindness of the businesses. “Thank you for your kind hearts and supporting the community,” they said.

DESANTIS LANDSCAPES

“We appreciate you all!” DeSantis Landscapes was already planning to arrive with workers, and PVC donated by Horizon Distributors, to help rebuild the irrigation system. The free lunch was a total surprise for the volunteers, as well as the fact that Mt. Angel Sausage Co. decided not to charge for the meat when DeSantis arrived to pick it up. – Stephen Floyd

You Need, For Anything You Need To Do.

Everything You Need, For Anything You Need To Do.

a’s full line of hardworking equipment has a proven reputation high-quality engineering, versatility, power and reliability. Kubota’s full line of hardworking equipment has a proven reputation for high-quality engineering, versatility, power and reliability.

L Series

Grand L Series RTV-X Series

SSV Series L Series

Grand L Series

SSV Series

33599 HWY 99E • TANGENT, OR 97389 • 541-926-1811• WWW.LINNBENTONTRACTOR.COM KubotaUSA.com

© Kubota Tractor Corporation, 2018

Our Town Life

ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 5


Civics 101

Building momentum

Silverton Habitat project gets a federal boost

By James Day

the home its members will be responsible for the mortgage and upkeep.

Efforts to put together an ambitious 18-home Habitat for Humanity project in Silverton are receiving a $1 million windfall from the federal government.

One home in the subdivision is nearing completion and might be occupied as soon as July, Anderson said. The homes, six single-family residences and 12 townhouses, will be constructed on a 1.9acre parcel off of Pine Street across from the entrance to Silverton High School.

The funds, part of a $1.5 trillion spending package signed by President Joe Biden last month, were secured by Oregon’s two U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity is scheduled to receive the funds later this spring. “We’re in this housing crisis together,” said Kari Johnsen, executive director of the North Willamette Habitat chapter. “The congressionally directed funding we are receiving, thanks to Sen. Merkley and Sen. Wyden, will support the capital growth of our subdivision in Silverton. This is a win not only for North Willamette Habitat for Humanity but also for Silverton and the surrounding communities.” The new funding represents approximately 30% of the overall budget for the project,

North Willamette Habitat hopes to begin construction on a second house in May or June, Anderson said, “and we are hoping to ramp up to 5 homes per year through the project, and wrap up late 2025/early 2026.” This is the almost-completed first home in what eventually will be an 18-home Habitat for Humanity development off of Pine Street in Silverton. JAMES DAY

said Danielle Anderson, North Willamette chapter marketing and communications manager. Anderson said that the funds “will go toward subdivision infrastructure, allowing us to spend the remainder of our budget on hard costs for building.”

The project will be built under the usual Habitat for Humanity protocols. The home will be constructed largely with volunteers, with the family that will occupy the house also responsible for volunteering. Once the family occupies

Habitat projects – of as many as 20 homes – are common in the Portland metro area but much more rare elsewhere in the state, chapter officials said. “This is our largest project to date,” Johnsen said. “This is a milestone for our affiliate and we have worked very hard to get here. Our biggest challenge

Ready to Buy or Sell? Call Donna Today

Donna Paradis Broker 503-851-0998 cell Licensed in Oregon

CBL #00013137

119 N. Water St. • Silverton DonnaParadisRealtor.com

971-216-1093

TinasLandscape.com

LCB#9732 CBL#00013137 Licensed/Insured/Bonded

Irrigation Drip System Sprinkers Repairs Backflow Winterizing

6 • April 2022

ourtownlive.com

Specializing In

Clean-Ups • Plantings Natural Pruning Shape Trimming Bark Dust and more!

Hardscapes Pavers Retaining Walls Walkways Driveways Patios

Our Town Life


Online Habitat Auction North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity is hosting an online auction Saturday, May 21 to help pay for the Peters’ Garden development in Silverton. The event will be streamed live via YouTube, with the pre-showing airing at 5:30 p.m. and the main program at 6 p.m. To register to bid at the auction go to https://www.nwvhabitat. org/events/2022-buildingmomentum-online-auction. Email events@nwvhabitat.org for more information on donating an item. is going to be keeping building costs affordable. With the cost to purchase the land, fluctuations in the cost of building materials and trade labor, we are targeting all of our fundraising efforts to this project. “A lack of skilled labor increases the labor costs. We’ve had a shortage for some time now. We need volunteers to help offset skilled labor costs.” The project is called Peters’ Garden. The naming honors Dr. Virgil Peters, one of the chapter’s original board members; his son, Dr. Tim Peters, who is currently a member of the chapter’s construction

safety committee; and the late Jennie Peters, Virgil’s wife, whose favorite hymn was “In the Garden.” Access to the subdivision will be via Schemmel Lane, with first-responders granted emergency entry via Pine. There will be a private road inside the development that also will be usable by walkers and cyclists. Chapter construction manager Ben Wilt said that the new homes will feature sustainability infrastructure to help the battle against climate change. “All of our new construction is solar and electric vehicle ready,” Wilt said. “We work with Earth Advantage to provide third-party verification for our home’s performance, as well as training and collaboration throughout the design and build process. We’re exploring options for Zero energy ready certification on our development, which would allow homes to be net zero energy usage with the addition of solar panels. “Climate change is here, and it will continue to impact those with the least amount of resources most dramatically. With 40% of CO2 emissions coming from the building sector, we feel it imperative to look at how our buildings are affecting our community’s future livability.”

NEW & COMING SOON! $1,350,000 Stunning Custom Built New Construction!

Estimated build completion July 2022 ~ 3bd/3ba~ 2679 SF ~ 1.72 AC ~ Beautiful Single Story with over 250 SF in primary room ~ Covered back patio spans the entire length of home ~ Hubbard Nick Ayhan 503-314-1651 MLS#789382

$870,000 Coming Soon! Beautiful Abiqua Heights

Home! 4bd/3.5 ba ~ 2639 SF~ Backyard overlooking commons area~ Silverton Nick Ayhan 503-314-1651 MLS#790523

$499,900 New Listing! Private with Country Views! 4bd/2ba ~ 1560 SF ~ Single Level~ Wood Stove~ Spacious Rooms ~Silverton~ Robin Kuhn 503-930-1896 MLS#789964

$379,900 New Listing with Creek Frontage! Cute

Fixer-upper on Large Lot! 3bd/2ba~ 1144 SF ~ .61 AC ~ Silverton Kerry Hall 503-562-9102 MLS#788782

RESIDENTIAL $835,000 Under Contract!! Custom Built 2 story

home with Views and Privacy! 4bd/3ba ~ 3311 SF ~ Office ~ Vaulted Ceilings ~RV parking ~ Butlers Station and Pantry ~ Large Patio~2 AC ~Molalla Etta Hess 503-507-5786 MLS#786683

$812,000 Must See Wonderful Custom Home!

5bd/2.5ba~ 3038 SF ~ Breathtaking Back Yard~ Wrap around ~ Porch to enjoy the Sunset Views on the Commons~ Hickory Cabinets in Kitchen~ Silverton

Cynthia Johnson & Rosie Wilgus 503-551-0145/503-409-8779 MLS#788446

$765,900 Under Contract! Must See Sweet Seclusion and Privacy! 5bd/3ba~3280 SF~Large Stone Fireplace in Main Room ~ Large Kichen with Floor to Ceiling Cabinets ~ Two out buildings~16.90 AC ~ Silverton ~ Kerry Hall 503-562-9102 MLS#782249 $285,000 Under Contract!

Single Story in quiet 55+Community!~2bd/1ba~893 SF~ Covered Patio~Wood Floors~Woodburn Nick Ayhan 503-314-1651 MLS#788551

LAND & LOTS

$325,000 Room to Roam! 270.34 Special Rec. Acres ~ Scio Donna Paradis 503-851-0998 MLS#773364 All info current at time of publication. Prices and availability subject to change. Local Owners / Brokers Licensed in Oregon. Office lic. #201207657

119 N. WATER ST., SILVERTON, OR

503-873-8600

elite.harcourtsna.com Our Town Life

ourtownlive.com

@harcourtselite April 2022 • 7


Civics 101

Public defender challenges Marion County District Attorney Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson is being challenged by a public defender for her role as top prosecutor. Spencer Todd, of Salem, filed for the May 17 primary to unseat Clarkson, also of Salem, who was first elected DA in 2018 while running unopposed. Because only two candidates filed for the nonpartisan office, they will automatically move on to the Nov. 8 general election.

Two Democrats challenge incumbent county commissioners By Stephen Floyd Two political newcomers are running for Marion County Commissioner as Democratic challengers to the Republican incumbents. Andrew Dennis (D-Salem) and Mark Wigg (D-Salem) will square off against incumbent commissioners Kevin Cameron (R-Detroit) and Colm Willis (R-Stayton). Each candidate was the sole individual to file for their party’s nomination for each position, so they will automatically proceed from the May 17 primary to the Nov. 8 general election.

Todd has served as a court-appointed lawyer since graduating from Willamette University College of Law in 2013, first in Polk County and then in Marion County starting in 2015. Beforehand he worked as a clerk with the Marion County Circuit Court and with private defenders.

Dennis does not have a background in public office, but currently works for the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department as a program analyst, helping to develop, implement and support public assistance programs. He also holds degrees in public policy, economics and sociology from Portland State University and Oregon State University, and before working for the state was a licensed Realtor.

Clarkson worked as a deputy district attorney for Marion County for 20 years before becoming DA. She has since served on the Public Safety Coordinating Council, Children & Families Commission, SB 111 Steering Committee, and Criminal Justice Advisory Council.

Cameron is seeking a third term after being appointed in 2014 following the resignation of then-Commissioner Patti Milne. Prior to his appointment, Cameron spent nine years as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, eventually becoming Republican House Leader until he resigned unexpectedly in 2014.

– Stephen Floyd

Cameron has since served as county board chair and vice-chair, and his committee assignments include

the Association of Oregon Counties, Association of Oregon and California Counties, National Association of Counties, Marion County Public Safety Coordinating Council, Willamette Health Council, Oregon State Fair Council, and Hood-Willamette National Forest Resource Advisory Committee. In private life, Cameron is founder and CEO of Cafe Today Restaurants and catering, which has two locations in the Portland area. Wigg is a former employee of the Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Transportation and the U.S. Forest Service. He has degrees in forestry and systems science from University of Montana, Oregon State University, Washington State University and Portland State University. Willis is finishing his first term as commissioner since being elected in 2018, where he now serves on the Marion County Emergency Management Board, Marion County Housing Initiative, Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance, Willamette Health Alliance and Solid Waste Management Advisory Council, among other committee assignments. Prior to being elected, Willis was a staffer in the U.S. Senate Joint Economics Committee, and a private attorney representing small businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofits. Licensed Bonded Insured

Residential • Homes Business • Offices One-Time or Recurring After Party or Event Cleaning

NEW! Environmental Disinfecting Services Mon-Fri 8am-5pm 503-991-2370 MaryMaidsCleaning.com

Holly Augustus (GRI, MRP, PSA)

Now Accepting New Patients AL BORROMEO, DDS 214 Jersey Street • Silverton 503-566-7000 8 • April 2022

503-689-4910

haugustus1@gmail.com Serving my hometown of Mt. Angel and surrounding areas. Broker licensed in Oregon

ourtownlive.com

Our Town Life


... Whitney & Mike know more

All-abilities park plan moves forward

than just real estate!

They met on a blind date many years ago and will be celebrating their 20th anniversary this summer! If you’re looking for someone to be there long after selling or purchasing your house, give them a call!

By James Day A Silverton Rotary proposal to build an “all-abilities” playground in Old Mill Park near the Silverton Community Pool has won the approval of the City Council.

Whitney & Mike Ulven

Councilors at their April 4 meeting approved the site after hearing a report from Rotary that featured renderings and charts on the concepts that they hope the park will include. The playground will feature multiple wheelchair-accessible amenities, strengthbuilding components and musical elements. It aims to foster use by as broad a group of users as possible. The $380,000 project will be paid for by city parks system development charges, community and Rotary fundraising and urban renewal funds. The urban renewal piece will be reviewed at a future meeting. Two other city projects experienced funding snags at the session. • First, councilors looked at bids for a water line and pump project that will connect Silver Creek with the water treatment plant. The city already has a $1.2 million U.S.

whitney@silvertonrealty.com mike@silvertonrealty.com

303 Oak St. Silverton • www.SilvertonRealty.com • cell: 503-705-6118 Whitney & Mike Ulven, Brokers Licensed in the State of Oregon.

Have a home to rent? Call us!

Economic Development Administration grant in hand, but the bids came in so high, more than 100% percent over budget, that the city will seek to acquire an extension of the grant while it seeks other ways to get the price for the project closer to its original $2.3 million budget. • Construction bids also came in too high for the $40,000 overlook project that will replace a retaining wall and add amenities along the path between the library and Silver Creek. Councilors elected to refer the project back to the Public Works Department to see if it could be accomplished in-house.

Have a home to rent? Call us! We specialize in Residential Properties. Vivian Caldwell

503-873-7069 Property Manager yourhomepm@gmail.com

www.yourhomepm.com

YOU ARE INVITED TO

SATURDAY APRIL 16, 11:00 AM Thousands of Eggs! 5th Grade and Under Special Needs Zone (for all ages) Free Hot Dog Lunch Served After

AT SILVER CREEK FELLOWSHIP SUNDAY, APRIL 17 // 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 AM BOXED BREAKFAST // 7:30  8:00 AM SCF KIDS AT 9:30 AND 11:00 AM

MORE DETAILS AT

SCF.TV

822 Industry Way, Silverton 503.873.7353

SCF.TV/EASTER Our Town Life

822 Industry Way, Silverton

ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 9


Update

SFSD hires new principal The Silver Falls School District has hired an administrator from the Salem-Keizer School District to become the new principal for Robert Frost School. Sarah Grimmer, current co-principal at Scott Elementary School, in Salem, was hired by the Silver Falls School Board April 11, filling a vacancy left after Principal Mandy Pack accepted a job with a different district. Grimmer was chosen after a vetting process that included multiple interviews with district leadership and town hall sessions with community and staff. “It became clearer and clearer through each stage of our process that Sarah Grimmer has both the deep experience as an elementary instructional leader, as well as the operational skills to lead the Robert Frost K-5 community,” said Superintendent Scott Drue. Grimmer has held her current position since 2021, after serving as principal of Morningside Elementary School, in Salem, since 2017. Grimmer spent 14 years as a teacher and instructional mentor, with a background in elementary-level education and teaching English as a second language. She will start at Robert Frost July 1 after interimPrincipal Holly Shotts, formerly a 4th/5th grade instructor, concludes her temporary role in the position. – Stephen Floyd

Tripped up

Elks settle personal injury lawsuit

By Stephen Floyd

perform a flag ceremony. The suit said both parties were negligent in placing the flag stand in an area where guests could trip over it, and that the Elks were ultimately responsible for the safety of guests in their building.

A $975,000 personal injury lawsuit against the Silverton Elks has been dismissed after the parties settled out of court two weeks before trial.

The Elks and VFW both denied wrongdoing. Each defendant also accused the other of being directly responsible for placement of the flag stand.

The suit was filed Dec. 31, 2019, by Salem resident Patty Wolford, 88, for an incident in 2018 when she fell and suffered serious injuries during an event at the Elks Lodge.

VFW filings added Wolford was responsible for her fall by failing to keep a proper lookout for obstructions. The VFW and Wolford settled out of court last year for an undisclosed sum. Claims against VFW were dismissed Nov. 8, 2021.

A trial was scheduled for April 26, but the court was notified that Wolford and the defendants had settled for an undisclosed sum. The suit was dismissed April 8. Wolford had been seeking $225,000 in medical costs and $750,000 in punitive damages for an incident on Nov. 11, 2018, during a veterans appreciation dinner hosted at the lodge. Wolford attended the event with her husband, a military veteran and member of the Elks chapter in Keizer.

The Elks continued contesting Wolford’s claims and, on Jan. 6, requested the lawsuit be dismissed on the grounds Wolford had failed to provide direct evidence supporting her claims, including a deposition in which Wolford did not specifically recall tripping on a flag stand. They also re-asserted the VFW had been directly responsible for placement of the flag stand that night.

According to the suit, Wolford allegedly tripped over a flag stand on her way to join the line for dinner and struck the hardwood floor. She suffered a skull fracture, broken leg and broken arm, and has since endured memory problems and required the use of a walker.

However, Judge Sean Armstrong said there remained enough evidence for a jury to draw reasonable conclusions about the Elks’ liability and the matter continued to trial. The case had proceeded as far as pre-trial motions and the drafting of jury instructions when Wolford and the Elks settled.

Her lawsuit named the Elks as defendants as well as the Molalla VFW, who had been invited to the dinner to

46 years experience in quality and know how!

$

ms!

$

F F O andard

5

10

Under Contract Valid thru May 15, 2022

e St g n a h C l i O

$649,000

3 bed, 2 bath, park-like setting minutes from Silverton. Beautiful unique home recently completely updated. Large insulated shop, new storage shed and so much more.

Dinae Fitzke 503-949-5309 MLS#785793

F F OSyntheticange h C l i O

FEATURED LISTI $649,000

413 Oak St., Silverton. 4 bed, 2 bath (+ office), 1,792 SF, two-story. Updated kitchen, brand new roof, new paint inside & out, large basement. Fully fenced & landscaped yard.

Tammie Anderson 503-602-9999 MLS#789982

Tammie Anderson 5% off Parts AND

LINDA Linda WEBB Webb

DiNae Fitzke

Broker Broker 5% off Labor for our GRI, AHWD, Honored Citizens aged SRS, MRP55 and over for the month of March. 503-602-9999 503-949-5309

Broker Broker

503-508-7387 503-508-7387

971-273-8

Buy. Sell. Be Happy. 216 E. Main St., Silverton Office: 503-874-1540 www.TheBellaCasaGroup.com

Stop in or call today for a quote! 503-873-4998 205 S. First St. Silverton 10 • April 2022

Under Contract

ourtownlive.com

LICENSED IN OREGON AND SERVING YOU FROM OFFICES IN SILVERTON, NEWBERG AND McMINNVILLE

www.TheBellaCasaGroup Our Town Life


Something Fun

Robot champs

Youngsters headed to international event

By James Day

show their driving ability as well as an autonomous test in which the robot is entirely programmed and moves about the field without a driver.

Four young robot creators from Silverton will be heading to Texas next month to participate in an international event.

The local group, which is coached by Gary Morris and Scott Blake, has been working on a design that calls for the robot to pitch balls into a high corral in order to receive the maximum amount of points.

Derek Schaefer, 11, of Butte Creek Elementary School; Aiden Adams, 10, of Robert Frost Elementary School; John Lashley, 9, of the Silvies River Charter School; and Noah Stoneking of Sacred Heart School in Gervais, will be in Dallas, Texas from May 10-12 for the VEX Robotics World Championships. The Think Robotics club, which is governed by Marion County 4-H, qualified for the international event with their performance at the Oregon state tournament in February in Salem. The Silverton robot group has been meeting three times a week since September to work on their robots and coding, and right now they are focused on the challenge that is required for the Texas event.

From left, Derek Schaefer, Noah Stoneking, Aiden Adams and John Lashley are shown working on their robot challenge for an upcoming international event in Dallas, Texas. SUBMITTED PHOTO

This year the challenge is called “Pitching In.” A robot field is set up with balls that the robot has to collect and place into different corral areas to score points. There is also an added bonus to get your

robot to hang on a high or low bar to score more points. All this has to be done within 60 seconds. The competition also includes skills challenges in which team members can

The team is raising money for the trip (the admission fee alone is $1,200). Those who want to contribute can mail checks to Marion County 4-H, Attention: Think Robots Club, 1320 Capitol St. NE Suite 110, Salem, Oar 97301. Those who prefer not to mail a check or who wish to donate in cash can contact Dave Adams at 541-760-3789 to arrange a pickup. Those interested in joining the club (the age range is 9-18) should email Morris at g.l.morris@gmail.com.

BASEMENT WATERPROOFING - CRAWLSPACE ENCAPSULATION ATTIC INSULATION - TOTAL BASEMENT FINISHING

FREE ESTIMATES. CALL TODAY! 503-444-8625 | JohnsWaterproofing.com Our Town Life

ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 11


Business

Family crafted

Paradis Vineyards opens on-site tasting room

By Melissa Wagoner It’s been 32 years since Pete and Donna Paradis planted their first block of Pinot gris vines in what would eventually become the Paradis Vineyards. It is only now – with the opening of a newly built tasting room – that they realize they are truly in the business of wine. “It’s a leap. It’s a big leap,” Tim Paradis said. He and his brother, Pierre, took over the majority of the day-to-day operations of the vineyard in 2017. “Pierre and I used to say we had our toes in,” he continued. “But now we’re in it” he said of the commitment the construction of the building represents. It’s an investment, to be sure. The open-air concept building has banks of windows and a wraparound deck that provide visitors a sweeping view of the vines that produce the vineyard’s wine and the grazing goats, sheep and even emus that serve as a reminder that this is first and foremost a working farm.

The interior of the new on-site tasting room at Paradis Vineyards.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

landscape business to run.

For the Paradis family – fourth generation farmers – farming hasn’t always meant grapes. In fact, grapes were an experiment of sorts, conducted by the brothers’ dad, Pete, who was looking for a crop that would be less labor intensive during the summer when he also had a

“They were looking for a crop that the bulk of the work

vines actually achieved his father’s goal, they did achieve another one – bringing the family closer together than ever before.

While he has some doubts as to whether or not those

“We work together well. We found that out early,” Tim laughed.

was in the winter,” Tim confirmed.

Make Your Tractor A KUBOTA!

It Takes a lot of skill to operate successfully in today’s Real Estate Market.

LX2610SUHSD

• 24.8 Gross HP,† 3-Cylinder Kubota Diesel Engine • 3-Range Hydrostatic (HST)Transmission

Z231KH-48

• 21 Gross HP,† Gas Engine • 48” Deck • LED Headlights

Z421KWT-60

• 24 Gross HP,† Gas Engine • 60” Mower Deck

33599 Hwy. 99 E. Tangent, OR 97389 541-926-1811 linnbentontractor.com

0 DOWN, 0% A.P.R. FINANCING FOR UP TO 84 MONTHS ON SELECT NEW KUBOTAS!* $

*© Kubota Tractor Corporation, 2022. Offer valid for residents within states of CA, AZ, NV, UT, WY, ID, OR, MT and WA only. $0 Down, 0% A.P.R. financing for up to 84 months on purchases of select new Kubota BX, L01 Series and LX Series equipment from participating dealers’ in-stock inventory is available to qualified purchasers through Kubota Credit Corporation, U.S.A.; subject to credit approval. Some exceptions apply. Example: 84 monthly payments of $11.90 per $1,000 financed. Offer expires 6/30/22. Terms subject to change. This material is for descriptive purposes only. Kubota disclaims all representations and warranties, express or implied, or any liability from the use of this material. For complete warranty, disclaimer, safety, incentive offer and product information, consult your local Dealer or go to KubotaUSA.com. † For complete warranty, safety and product information, consult your local Kubota dealer and the product operator’s manual. Power (HP/KW) and other specifications are based on various standards or recommended practices. K1167-04-147371-1

12 • April 2022

Go with Experience.

MX6000

• 63.4 Gross HP,† Kubota Diesel • 4WD • Hydrostatic Trans.

DIXON BLEDSOE, Principal Broker

503-602-4320

ourtownlive.com

TREVOR BLEDSOE, Broker

503-871-6858

206 Oak St., Silverton SimplytheBSTRealty.com Brokers licensed in the state of Oregon.

Our Town Life


“We’re not changing our principles – we’re still familyrun,” Tim pointed out. That means, on any given day, customers to the tasting room might be served by a member of the family, each one knowledgeable in the eight varietals offered, like this year’s surprise wine, a sparkling Riesling.

Emus and goats reside on the active farm.

MELISSA WAGONER

Pierre agreed, “You can’t trust anybody like your family.” It’s a bond that appears to encompass the entire

family. Pete picked up the charcuterie boards for the

tasting room on opening day. Mom Donna pokes her head out of the on-site office to corral the new vineyard puppy.

“There was a little bit of residual sugar,” Tim said. That sugar led to extra fermentation and eventual effervescence in the wine. “But it makes great mimosas.”

Property next to Roth set for possible sale

Plus it’s a wonderful addition to celebratory events like bridal showers, birthday parties or anniversaries – any of which could be held in Paradis Vineyards new open-air space.

The large area of gravel lots north of the Roth’s grocery store in Silverton is up for sale, a real estate source close to the transaction told Our Town.

“We’re also going to do some live events with music,” Tim said of summer plans, which he hopes will bring visitors out to the vineyard.

The 1.1 acres of property, which exists in two tax lots, was donated by Roth’s to the Salem Foundation a few months ago, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the privacy required for negotiations on a potential sale,

In the meantime, the family is taking things one day at a time. Initially they are opening the space Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. or by appointment while they work out any kinks. The vineyard is located at 17627 Abiqua Road NE, Silverton. More information is available at paradiswine.com. “It’s gone very smooth so far,” Tim said, looking around at the building, which is mostly his design. “It’s turned out just the way we wanted.”

April 2022

SILVER FALLS FAMILY YMCA

The source indicated that there is a “pending sale” of the property but did not identify the potential buyer. No information was available on how the buyer might develop the property, which is zoned for commercial use. – James Day

Quality Dental Care in a Friendly Environment

Lots of Fun

IS HAPPENING AT YOUR Y! MAY LIFEGUARD CLASS

Call the pool for more information! Pre-registration is required.

SUMMER CAMP

Registration is open... Please contact kbarnes@theyonline.org for week selection and activities guides!

SWIM-A-THON

Sign up for our Swim-A-Thon on May 14! Please stop by the pool for an envelope and directions. Spectators welcomed!

C o m p l e t e Dental S ervi ces

Fillin gs • Cro w n s • Ro o t C a n a ls Im pla n ts • E x t ra c t io n s • D en t u res

Matthew B. Chase, D.M.D.

Nathan C. Braxmeyer, D.M.D.

5 0 3 . 8 7 3 . 6 456 w w w.T h e YO n l in e.o rg Our Town Life

New patients welcome

Mark A. Haskell, D.D.S.

303 N. First • Silverton 503-873-8614 ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 13


Passages

Gela Mae Koester Gela Mae (Cort) Koester was born on June 21, 1931 in Marysville, Washington. She spent her carefree childhood days there before relocating to Long Beach, California in her teens. After graduating, she married her high school sweetheart, Al Koester. Their marriage lasted 72 years until her death on March 13, 2022. The couple’s three daughters, Angela Phillips, Denise Winter, and Cherie Thorn, along with their father, were by her side as she peacefully passed. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Inge, Cameron, Tyler and Devon. Her grandson, Zachary, preceded her in death. She had seven great grandchildren, four great great grandchildren, and her constant canine companion, “Buster.” She and Al lived in numerous cities after moving to Oregon in 1972, exploring

June 21, 1931 – March 13, 2022 nature all around the state. They ultimately settled in Silverton in 2009. Everywhere she lived she loved working in her yard, growing beautiful flowers and tomatoes she enjoyed sharing with everyone. Laughing was her second favorite hobby, finding humor and happiness in the small things. She was known by many in Silverton as the little old lady wearing a straw hat, pushing her walker around town. She often took the same route in order to pet favorite dogs and see colorful yards where she occasionally “borrowed” a flower or two. She walked to DQ for a strawberry sundae, Subway for soup, and Goodwill for treasures. Her 90 years were filled with good times and bad, laughter and tears, most of all memories of her family that will be with her devoted husband and family for years.

Glenna Payzant Martin Dec. 17, 1936 – March 7, 2022 Glenna B. Payzant Martin passed away on March 7, 2022. Born in Sydney, Nebraska on Dec. 17, 1936, she moved to Oregon with her parents Leverett and Ethel Payzant and grandparents William and Kate when she was one. She attended Molalla High School and graduated in 1954. She is survived by her three siblings Wayne, Linda, and Dan; two of her sons, Lee and Delane; her stepdaughter,

Michael Provonsha Michael Arwin Provonsha passed away peacefully on April 4, 2022. Mike was born in Provo, Utah on June 4, 1937 to Merrill and Lois Provonsha.

Daniel Arthur Woodall

He later moved to Hayward, California with his family where he married Diane Pixley, his wife of 47 years.

Dan Woodall was born to Jack and Eleanor Woodall in McMinnville, Oregon. He was one of nine children. He graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1974, then served four years in the Army. He loved to talk about being stationed on the East Coast and in Germany. He died in Silverton, Oregon on March 6, 2022, of complications from congestive heart failure.

Mike had a talent for everything mechanical. While working at Hunts Foods in Hayward his talent was soon recognized and he was made a millwright then later a supervisor. In 1971, he moved his family to Silverton, Oregon when he

Jan. 28, 1956 – March 6, 2022

He married Terry McCurdy in August of 1991. They raised three sons in Silverton and Scotts Mills. He was an active leader in Boy Scout Troop 485, helping each of his sons, and many others, to become Eagle Scouts. One of his last wishes was to have Eagle Scouts carry his casket. Dan spent most of his career working as a weighmaster for the State of Oregon and, most recently, Marion County. He retired in 2011 and enjoyed volunteering at the Father Bernard Youth Center and St. Mary Church in Mount Angel for a few years after his retirement. He has been a member of Holy Rosary Chapel in Scotts Mills for many years. Dan enjoyed the outdoors, and spent as much time as he could hunting, fishing, crabbing, and camping with his family and friends. He loved his small farm and raised cows, pigs and chickens. He liked working

14 • April 2022

in his greenhouse and raised bed gardens, and preserving the vegetables he raised. Even after he became disabled, he actively tended his plants and animals, and his sons poured more concrete pathways for his mobility scooter every year. He made countless bird houses, which he used to decorate his property and give as gifts. He collected antlers, guns, Coleman lanterns, antique glass jars, and books about hunting and World War II. He loved to tell stories and jokes, and spent many hours sharing creative “insults” with his brother Ed on Facebook Messenger. Dan is survived by his wife, Terry; sons, John (Taya), Jake and Eric; mother, Eleanor; sisters, Kathy, Leanna, Alice Chisholm (Tom), and Valora Eastman (Mark); brothers, Vern and Ed (Paula); and lots of cousins, nieces, and nephews. Preceding him in death were his dad, Jack, and his brothers Albert and Tom. Services were held on April 1 at Holy Rosary Chapel in Scotts Mills and graveside service with military honors at the Holy Rosary Cemetery. Arrangements are by Unger Funeral Chapel in Silverton. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Holy Rosary Chapel or Boy Scout Troop 485.

Troy A. McNeeley Troy Anthony McNeeley of Molalla, Ore., passed away March 2, 2022. He was 55. He was born May 24, 1966, in Payson, Arizona to Lawrence McNeeley and Twyla Trute, one of ten children. After serving in the Army, Troy built a career as a building official, serving multiple cities in Oregon. He loved his job and gave it his all, making many friends along the way. Troy loved to cook, best known for his chicken enchiladas, and always made enough for a crowd. He was an avid football and golf fan,

Renee; two step granddaughters; four grandsons; and five great grandchildren. Her son, Doug, preceded her in death). A long time resident of Scotts Mills, Oregon, she spent her life raising cattle and pigs and was very active with 4H programs with her children. A private graveside service was held with her family on March 25 at Miller Cemetery.

June 4, 1937 – April 4, 2022 accepted an opportunity as a millwright at Birds Eye Foods in Woodburn, Oregon. Mike enjoyed gardening and farming and had a special appreciation for raising livestock. Mike is survived by his son, Don (Melodi) Provonsha; daughter, Michelle Brenden Provonsha; daughter, Denise (Sean) Parker; granddaughter Madeline Brenden; grandson Samuel Brenden; granddaughter Alice Parker and great granddaughter Baylee Brenden.

May 24, 1966 – March 2, 2022 fished whenever he got the chance, and loved cats and Disney movies. He is survived by his children, Anthony, Lara and Keith; grandchildren, Stella Jo, Cadence, Chloe, Aurora, Sofia, Riley and Twyla; sisters Viann, Robin, Diana, Tonya and Kristina; and brothers Edward, Woodrow, John and Tony. He will be greatly missed. Troy’s memorial service was held on April 2 at Silver Creek Fellowship in Silverton. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Oregon Humane Society; see www.oregonhumane.org.

Submissions welcome: Send it to ourtown.life@mtangelpub.com or mail it to

ourtownlive.com

Editor, Our Town, P.O. Box 927, Mount Angel, OR 97362

Our Town Life


Edna Jean Smelser April 11, 1980 – March 30, 2022 Edna Jean Smelser, resident of Silverton, Oregon, and originally from Casper, Wyoming died Peacefully at home on March 30, 2022.

Juarez, Barron, McKennan families, and friends that didn’t get a chance to be included. There are several cousins in Washington State including Robin and Elizabeth.

A Celebration of Life and Birthday Celebration was held on April 10 via Zoom. Details are on her Facebook page at www. facebook.com/edna.cardenas.7

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Norman and Wilma Anthony, and father, Curtis Dean.

Those who shared the joy of being in Edna’s life included her husband, Karl; her three children, Jasper Jones of Wyoming, Tyrell Anthony of Iwoa, Justin Robbins of Oregon; and second mother to her dear friends’ daughter, Katalina Arellano. She is also survived by her brother, James and his wife, Melissa Anthony, of Plymouth, Massachusetts; her brother, Cordell and his wife, Presley, of Montana; her brother, Levi Anthony, of Wyoming; and her mother, Holly Anthony, of Iwoa. She will be missed dearly by her extended family, aunt Julia and uncle Kevin of Washington; her close friends in Oregon including, but not limited to, the Arellano,

Edna married her best friend, Karl on Aug. 8, 2015. She would say that their wedding day was the perfect day. Karl took care of her, and they were able to cherish the love that they shared. Edna wrote down three things that she was grateful for: her family, her friends and her dogs, which were her companions. Karl’s father, Charles (a.k.a “Grandpa”), who lives with Karl, also acted as a companion for Edna. She will be remembered for all the love, kindness, and generosity she had for her family, friends, especially recognizing her grandparents and her children. She was a hard-working woman who gave every bit she could to raising and tending to family.

March 10, 1940 — March 14, 2022

Susan Zastoupil

April 13, 1958 — March 29, 2022

Edna Smelser

April 11, 1930 — March 30, 2022

Joey Monk

March 8, 1978 — March 31, 2022

Elmer Valkenaar

March 25, 1930 — April 1, 2022

Michael Provonsha

June 4, 1937 — April 4, 2022

Sandi was born in Biddeford, Maine to Catherine (Arnold) and Meredith Littlefield. She was the eldest of three daughters and grew up in Kennebunk. In her early teens she moved to central California with an aunt and uncle, where she completed high school and went on to earn an Associates degree in Art at UC Davis. In her early 20s she made a trip to Japan to visit her aunt, where she met and married an American Air Force Airman. Upon their return to the States, they lived on air bases in South Carolina and Alabama and had a son and a daughter in the early 1960s. As their whirlwind romance came to an end, Sandi and her two youngsters returned to California for a fresh start and to reconnect with old friends. In 1966 she married John L. Patterson and they eventually settled in Northridge. John worked for the City of Beverly Hills in traffic control and Sandi worked for Ross-Loos Medical Group. In the early 1970s they became parents to a daughter. By the late ‘70s, they were ready to leave the big city and seek out small town life. In 1976, a cross country road trip to Maine gave them the opportunity to check out small town America from coast to coast. Ultimately, they chose to settle in Silverton in 1979, after falling in love with the Pacific Northwest. John started Patterson Electric and Sandi went to work at the Schmidt Clinic. She eventually became the office manager at Mt. Angel Chiropractic until her retirement.

When she retired from the chiropractic community, she helped care for John who had a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. After his passing in 2010, she returned to her painting and friends in the community, finding solace in her art. She loved her rambling old house, trips to the beach and spoiling her grandkids. Her home was filled with sunlight, art, jazz music, people, pets and paperbacks. Sandi is preceded in death by her husband, John and her sister Joan Dennett of Kennebunk, Maine. She is survived by her children: son, Jamie (Lori) Patterson; daughter, Deede Williams and daughter, Janet Patterson – all of Silverton; sister, Elaine Davis of New Jersey; four grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Your local funeral chapels serving Mt. Angel since 1919 & Silverton since 1924. Always available at your time of need

Our Town Life

Sandra Patterson of Silverton passed away March 12, 2022 at the age of 84 from congestive heart failure. Her final days were spent at home, surrounded by the love of family and friends and her beloved pets.

Sandi was a sunshine girl and loved working in her yard in spring and summer. She enjoyed painting in natural sunlight and loved the color yellow. She was also an avid reader. Fall and winter were spent curled up by the fire with her nose in a book – most often set on an east coast beach. Her home held an open door policy. Everyone was welcome and loved. Her true art was the nurturing of her kids and grandkids. Enough so, that family get-togethers were a frequent occurrence and everybody stayed close enough to visit often. She was home base.

See full obituaries at www.ungerfuneralchapel.com

190 Railroad Ave. • Mt. Angel 503-845-2592

Aug. 17, 1937 – March 12, 2022

Sandi was involved in the Silverton Arts Association and delighted that the Fine Art Festival was held on or near her birthday weekend each year. Her earlier artworks were charcoal sketches and oils, and in later years she enjoyed working with watercolors. She made and supported many friends in the art community.

In Memory Of …

Virginia Sessums

Sandra R. Patterson

229 Mill St. • Silverton 503-873-5141

Arrangements are through Unger’s Funeral Chapel. At her request, no funeral service will be held. At the family’s request, in lieu of flowers, please celebrate mom’s life by supporting the arts community and helping to nurture young artists and gardeners alike.

ourtownlive.com

April 2022 • 15


Sports & Recreation

Track veterans

Nearly 50 years of coaching experience at JFK, Silverton

It’s spring. It’s raining. And if you drive anywhere near the tracks at Silverton and Kennedy you will see dozens of athletes running and jumping and throwing things.

On the girls side, Lilly Horner and Leah Twede return to lead the javelin corps, Kirsten Kuenzi, Kyra Bashor and Molly Kuenzi are strong in the sprints and horizontal jumps, Amanda Dahlquist is one of the league’s top shot putters and Emily Gehring, Natasha Fink and Alisha Larkin “will be a very tough hurdle crew,” Cross said.

Last week I saw a half dozen Foxes runners trying to cross Oak Street on Second Street at rush hour. Brave lads. And you also know that those activities, as well as with cross country in the fall, are taking place under the veteran supervision of coaches Erik Cross of Silverton and Kennedy’s Steve Ritchie. Cross has been coaching the Foxes for 25 years, a milestone that Ritchie will reach next season. What keeps them going? “Several things, I suppose,” Cross said in an email exchange with Our Town. “It’s inspiring when you see athletes improve doing something they enjoy [and] often that is something they didn’t know they enjoyed until they decided to join the team. I’m motivated by the questions ‘What can this group accomplish?’ and ‘What can the program become?’ The answer to both are determined by the individuals who decide to spend their spring with us. Each team and season is very different. We try to balance teaching general guiding principles with giving the athletes space to make this experience unique for their team.” Ritchie, meanwhile, noted that “I love the students who turn out for track and cross country at Kennedy. The kids are very nice to an old codger like me, and it is fun for me to see them improve and excel in these sports. I sincerely believe that the sports I coach are great for life lessons and can enrich their high school experience just like mine was enriched back in the 1960s.” Obviously, both have experienced massive amounts of change in their careers. Cross said “the ability to connect with other coaches from all over is incredible now compared to when I started coaching.” Ritchie noted both positive and negative impacts of technology. “When I started coaching everything was with paper and pencil and hand times,” he said. “We spent hours filling out event sheets and copying reams of results after a meet. Sometimes we wouldn’t get results for two days after a meet; now it is possible to get instantaneous results as kids finish a race by just picking up your phone. It’s an amazing change.”

16 • April 2022

Ritchie, however, also noted the challenging effects of social media. “While there are good things about social media,” he said, “ I think in sports like cross country and track it is too easy for kids to look at what others are doing and feeling worse about themselves. A college coach I talked to recently said he would like to ban his team from using [the] Strava [app] because it was distorting their workouts, as they tried to top other people they follow on Strava.” Cross said that he is concerned about “the social pressure on these studentathletes to do it all and to always be available. It isn’t surprising that there seems to be a correlation with chronic worry of missing out, messing up, or making the ‘wrong’ decision among many of our young adults. Generally, I’ve felt that the students I work with are less happy, content, and confident than those I coached and taught even ten years ago. Again, I’m speaking in general terms, but the trend is something we need to pay attention to.” On the track itself both coaches are pleased with the crop of athletes and their performances in the early going. Ritchie noted the versatility of boys standouts Stephan Salinas (high jump and relays), Jeremiah Traeger (hurdles, jumps and relays) and Elijah Traeger (javelin, jumps and relays). On the girls side freshman Rachel Kintz will look to pick up where she left off in cross country and lead the distance corps, while Haley Kline, Kylee Rodriguez and Alyse Williams are set to go in the sprint races and the relays. At Silverton, the usually strong field events corps features Sam Willis, who already has broken his brother Ben’s discus school record with a 155-5 effort, Orie Schaffers, who is closing in on 50 feet in the shot put, javelin thrower Steeley Mucken and Joel Rush (pole vault). A deep sprinting group will benefit from the addition of football standouts Austin Ratliff and Jackson Pfeifer.

Equestrian: Silverton placed second behind Canby in the second Oregon High School Equestrian Teams North Valley competition at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The Foxes participate in one more North Valley event before the May 12-15 state meet in Redmond. Silverton scored 584 points, trailing only Canby’s 716. Silverton had three Foxes win four individuals events, plus two teams finishing in the top spot. Megan Cuff was first in showmanship and trail equitation, while teammate Samantha Griffin was first in barrels and Danielle Velasco won the figure 8 competition. Griffin and Hannah Russel teamed up to take first in the Canadian flag race and Griffin and Alexis Ditchen were first in two-man birangle. Gymnastics: Silverton Gymnastics Academy turned in a series of strong performances in the USA Gymnastics Oregon Xcel state competition April 1-3 at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. The Silverton club won team titles in four divisions and finished second in another while qualifying 23 athletes for regionals April 29-31 in Monroe, Washington. “We are super, super excited with how the girls finished this year,” said coach Celia Storey, whose club features 62 athletes, aged seven to 17. Seven club members won all-around titles. They were: • Riley Hess, Xcel bronze, child division • Elaina Knaust, Xcel bronze, Jr. B division • Rowan Neal, Xcel silver, Jr. C division • Mikayla Giard, Xcel gold, Sr. B division • Addie Gerasimenko, Xcel platinum child division • Jenica Gerasimenko, Xcel platinum, Jr. B division • Ella Storey, Xcel diamond

ourtownlive.com

In addition, club members also claimed five champions in vault, eight in balance beam, ten in uneven bars and 13 in floor exercise. Academics: The Kennedy girls basketball team turned in a combined 3.89 gradepoint average, tying the Trojans with Regis for the top spot in Class 2A in the OSAA’s winter sports rankings. The top GPA turned in by a Silverton team was a 3.66 by the dance and drill squad, which finished 17th among all Oregon teams. Here is a look at other Kennedy teams: Girls swimming: 3.88, 3rd in Class 4A-3A-2A-1A Boys swimming: 3.52, 8th in Class 4A-3A-2A-1A Wrestling: 3.28, 6th in Class 2A-1A Cheerleading: 3.27, 40th among all classes Other Silverton scores include: Girls basketball: 3.68, 14th in Class 5A Boys basketball: 3.48, 10th in Class 5A Girls swimming: 3.54, 15th in Class 5A Boys swimming: 3.2, 14th in Class 5A Baseball: Kennedy battled back from its first loss of the season to take 2 out of 3 from Westside Christian and retain its No. 1 spot in Class 2A-1A. The Trojans, who lost the opener 5-4 on April 7, came back to win the April 8 doubleheader 13-0 and 15-0 to improve to 9-1. Kennedy is 5-1 in Special District 2, tied with Culver and one game ahead of Santiam and Westside. Silverton, meanwhile, is 6-4 and ranked No. 10 in Class 5A. The Foxes opened their Mid-Willamette Conference season April 11 against Corvallis after the Our Town presstime. Softball: Kennedy is 5-3 overall and 4-0 in Special District 2 and ranked 5th in Class 2A-1A. Santiam is 4-1, with the lone loss a 6-0 shutout at the hands of Kennedy on April 6 at Mill City. The two teams play again May 2 in Mount Angel. Silverton is 7-3 overall and ranked No. 10 in Class 5A entering Mid-Willamette play. The Foxes, led by veteran coach Ralph Cortez, have been an offensive machine thus far, averaging 12 runs per game. They have scored in double figures in 9 of their 10 games. Follow me on Twitter @jameshday and Our Town on Facebook.

Our Town Life


Coaching changes Foxes have key openings to fill By James Day In the midst of one of its most successful sports seasons ever Silverton High finds itself posting a series of help wanted signs. The good news is that Athletic Director James Rise and school administration already have filled one slot. Josh Craig, who led the football program to a 41-11 record in five years and last fall’s Class 5A title before leaving for family reasons, has been replaced by Silverton-area resident Dan Lever, who led Class 6A Tualatin to a second place finish at state. The bad news is that Rise and Co. have boys basketball, girls basketball and volleyball jobs to fill. And the success level was almost as high as that of football. Boys basketball, under Jamie McCarty, finished second at state, while Tal Wold’s girls hoops squad and Kate O’Connor’s volleyball team each advanced to the state quarterfinals. McCarty and Wold won Mid-Willamette Conference titles, while O’Connor’s squad tied for second with Crescent Valley. Boys basketball: McCarty dominated the Mid-Willamette during his five years, losing just one league game. He finished 4th, 3rd and 2nd at state in the three years out of those five in which it was conducted. In the two COVID years he was just as accomplished. His 2019-20 squad already was through to the Class 5A semifinals when the pandemic shut down the tournament. His 2020-21 “short season” squad went 14-1, undefeated in league and 6-1 against the Class 6A teams in Salem. McCarty, 48, was facing a challenging work-life balance. Already the principal at Victor Point and Evergreen, Pratum was added to his plate for this school year. “It was a tough year,” McCarty told Our Town. “Being principal at three different schools and all the responsibilities of boys basketball... I don’t know how I survived.” McCarty not only survived, he thrived, leading a senior-dominated group of Foxes to their fourth undefeated league season and a second-place finish at the state tournament. “I owed it to the nine seniors on our team to finish the job,” McCarty said. This is the second coaching hiatus that family and work issues have led McCarty to undertake. In 2007 after leading the

Our Town Life

Stayton boys to a runner-up finish in Class 4A he stepped away from coaching to pursue an administrative career and to help take care of children Brooke, then seven, and Jordan, three. Brooke helped lead three Silverton girls teams to state trophies, including the 2016 state title, while Jordan was a four-year standout in basketball and quarterbacked the football team to last fall’s state title. Is McCarty done with coaching? He ruled out ruling out whether he would coach again. “You never know where life is going to lead you,” he said. Girls basketball: Wold, 49, led Silverton to five Mid-Willamette titles and took the Foxes to Gill every year the 5A tournament has been held there. Like McCarty, Wold has family balance issues that he is juggling. Daughters Harper, nine, and Henley, three, require his attention, and his wife Taryn, is working on an administration license that requires weekly Tuesday night appearances at Portland State. A lot of basketball games, unfortunately, are played on Tuesday nights.

APRIL 22-23, 2022 THE OREGON GARDENS

DRINKS, FOOD & LIVE MUSIC

When the program concludes next spring, Wold said it is possible he will seek another high school coaching position at that point, if it’s close to home. “Family is just so important to me,” Wold told Our Town in an interview in his math classroom at Silverton Middle School that was at times emotional. “And it’s not just a four-month season. It’s so mentally consuming.” Wold said he felt a bit worn down by the end of this season, which ended with the Foxes losing both of their games at the 5A tournament. “I think a little rest is needed,” he said. “It just got to be too much and I need to take a deep breath.”

Willamette Valley Savour is bringing the best of our valley to one location. Enjoy live music while sampling array of Oregon wines, craft beers, hard ciders, spirits, tasty bites and artisan crafts from an exclusive list of exhibitors on display.

Volleyball: O’Connor was coming off the best of her four seasons with Silverton. She was named coach of the year in the Mid-Willamette after leading the Foxes to a 13-3 record and a berth in the Class 5A quarterfinals. In her rookie season the Foxes also made the 5A playoffs, falling to Wilsonville in the round of 16. “I did not resign for another school but have a great friend/coach that convinced me to volunteer assist and I’ve been doing skills development sessions with her the last couple months,” O’Connor said.

ourtownlive.com

Join Us April 22-23, 2022 Oregon Garden in Silverton Fri 4-9 PM | Sat 12-9 PM Buy your tickets early & save savourthevalley.org PREMIER SPONSOR

April 2022 • 17


A Slice of the Pie

Passcode predicament Sometimes the best life lessons happen when things take a turn for the worst. That’s what happened last month when I forgot to charge my cell phone before driving my daughter to a gymnastics meet in Hillsboro. I initially believed my dying phone was just a minor inconvenience. I turned on the power saving option, minimized its use and downplayed the fact that I’d also forgotten to bring along a charging cord. That, it turned out, was challenge #1. Challenge #2 came when I arrived at the meet to find that the only two charging stations – I was driving an electric car – were occupied (one of them by a hybrid car that was not plugged in, but I digress). Thankfully my car had been fully charged before we left and, having done the math beforehand, I knew I had more than enough juice to get to our next destination, a rental house in Pacific City. Challenge #3 was the length of the meet, which didn’t end until after 11 p.m. And, when we finally stumbled out of the building, exhausted and starving, nothing was open in that part of the city except a McDonalds. “This is your first taste of what sports competitions were like when I was going up,” I told my daughter who viewed the greasy nuggets and fries as the ultimate in unique experiences. Then we were back on the road headed… in the wrong direction. Challenge #4. I’m still not certain why I headed for Cannon Beach instead of Pacific City. Maybe it’s because Cannon Beach was the last place I’d taken an Oregon beach vacation. Or maybe – and I would love to

Lessons learned the (almost) hard way Challenge #5. My hands began to shake. Then I looked at my daughter, sitting beside me and I realized that right then I had a choice. I could sit on the side of the road and cry, get angry and cuss up a storm or I could turn this whole darned mess into one big teachable moment.

hear if this has ever happened to anyone else – it’s because both beaches have rocks named Haystack Rock. (This is true, you can look it up, because I did the next day, and it makes absolutely no sense to me.) But whatever the reason, I pointed the car a whopping 65 miles in the wrong direction and drove for at least 20 minutes before I realized my mistake. Now I’m going to stop this narrative to issue a disclaimer. This is in no way meant to be a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of electric cars. At no point between the Hillsboro city limits and Cannon Beach did I pass an open gas station. So, even if I’d been driving a gaspowered car and had underestimated the fuel in my tank, I would not have been any better off. Now, the car I was driving aside, when I realized the incredible scope of my error, I instantly felt sick. Not only had I just added hours to our trip but I had handed us a very real problem – I wasn’t sure we would have enough power to make the extended trip and my phone was about to die. But wait! My daughter’s new cellphone, the one we had just given her for her birthday the week before, was fully charged inside her backpack. What I failed to remember? It became unusable after 8 p.m. thanks to parental controls and I – with my reptilian brain in full control – could not, for the life of me, remember the passcode.

So, that’s what I did. I told her, “We’re going to call your dad. And I need you to write everything down, because if this phone dies, I’m going to need written instructions.” “I’ve gone the wrong way and I don’t think the car can make it all the way to Pacific City now,” I told my husband when he, thankfully, answered the phone. “Also, my phone is dying.” Thankfully he didn’t ask a lot of questions – at least not then – about how on earth I’d gotten us into this particular predicament. Instead, he calmly began researching all the charging stations between us. Turns out there was one in Cannon Beach. I handed my daughter a pen. The next day the whole experience took on almost an other-worldly tint as the two of us rehashed the wild adventure that got us to the rental house well after 3 a.m. And we agreed on the following things: 1) We will always carry a cellphone charger. (I now had one, thanks to my husband, and I placed it in my purse immediately.) 2) Kids’ cell phones need restrictions but not the kind that render them useless in an emergency. (I am incredibly grateful it didn’t take a true emergency, especially one in which she was without a trusted adult, to teach me this.)

3) Sometimes the best solution is starting again. (There was a moment, after I initially discovered my mistake, when I could have turned back and found a charging station, or even a hotel – in hindsight that was the less risky option.) 4) Calling for help is always OK. (Calling my husband meant swallowing my pride but it was far and away the best choice because not only did it alert someone else to our potentially dangerous situation and our whereabouts but he – not under the influence of adrenaline – was able to think much more clearly and give some solid advice.) It was a good discussion – from the safety of the beach, after sleep had cleared our heads. And, while I’m pretty sure the experience took a good ten years off my life, when I asked my daughter if she had been scared, the answer she gave was “No, not really. Because I always knew we would be OK.” That’s when I realized what the really big lesson had been. 5) Keep calm and keep going. That was a lesson that was especially for me. Because, as a mom, I can fly off the handle, when everything is going wrong and it all feels like a bit too much. But that night, sitting there on the side of the road in the dark, with every mistake sitting like a pile of stones on my chest I decided not to default to “mad mom” or even “sad mom.” Instead, I chose “in control mom,” “you got this mom” and even “I know I can’t do this alone but I know who to call mom.” Because that’s who I want my daughter to see me as, and – more importantly – that’s who I want her to be.

CCB #14854

Custom Homes & Remodeling General Contracting Steven R. Herr – Certified Master Builder

503.873.1178 • 503.931.5814 Building homes since 1975

18 • April 2022

ourtownlive.com

Our Town Life


Place your ad in Marketplace 503-845-9499

S I LV E R T O N H I G H S C H O O L

FOXES GENERAL AVON IS IN SILVERTON! Call Arlene for a book or to place an order. Online shopping available: youravon.com/ arlenecaballero 503-720-5416 FREE TO ANY MUSIC LOVER Player piano and three boxes of rolls. Just pick it up. 503-881-1575 HELP WANTED Custodial and Coaching positions. Please visit: www.masd91.org to apply.

NOTICES FREE BREAKFAST Pancakes, sausage, eggs, hash browns at the

Marquam Methodist Church Community Hall Saturday, April 16 7:30-9:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome.

SERVICES HANDYMAN & HOME REPAIR SERVICE Installation and repair of fencing, decks,doors, gutter cleaning, moss removal, power washing, yard debris removal. CCB# 206637 Call Ryan 503-881-3802 GOT STUFF U WANT GONE? From yard debris to scrap metal-From garage sale leftovers to rental clear outs. We repurpose, recycle, reuse or donate what we can. Call and find out what we can do for you. $20 minimum. Keith 503-502-3462

SPORTS GUIDE SPRING 2022

VISIONS CLEANING Invision coming home to a clean sanitized home! Let Visions House Cleaning wearing gloves and masks do the hard work. Silverton, Mount Angel & Scotts Mills $75. Other areas $100. Excellent references. 503-989-0746. Email at landrider007@gmail.com JESSE’S LAWN SERVICE & HANDYMAN Pruning, edging, trimming, blackberry cleaning, gutter cleaning, arborvitae, moss treatment, yard clean-up, haul-away. 503-871-7869

Available April 15 at Silverton High sports events and these locations... AmeriTitle • Bella Casa Real Estate Group BST Realty, LLC • Côté Chiropractic Country Financial – The Satern Agency Ed Jones – Tim Yount & Daniel Hailey Harcourts Elite • John’s Waterproofing Larsen Flynn Insurance • Les Schwab Tires Napa Auto Parts – Silverton Our Town Community News Silver Creek Auto Body Silverton Chamber of Commerce Silverton Family Dentistry • Ticor Title

To advertise call

503-845-9499

Shop Local and Save! Family Owned and Operated Since 1974!

We have what you need to get your projects done! Hardware Sheetrock Insulation Moldings & Trims Paint & Sundries Pole Buildings

Our Town Life

Nuts& Bolts Fasteners Lumber P.T. Lumber Plywood Siding

Concrete Rebar Ag Fencing Cedar Fencing

Chain Link Fencing

Electrical Plumbing

ourtownlive.com

Steel Residential Wheelbarrow SKU #7127129

$54.99

April 2022 • 19


Kirsten Barnes Broker 873-3545 ext. 326

Meredith Wertz Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 324

Mike Ulven Broker 503-873-3545 ext. 312

Whitney Ulven Broker, GRI 503-873-3545 ext. 320

Ryan Wertz Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 322

WWW.SILVERTONREALTY.COM

Mason Branstetter Principal Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 303

Micha Christman Office Manager 873-1425

Chuck White Broker 873-3545 ext. 325

#T2719 INVESTOR OPPORTUNITY $489,000 Opportunity for investors, potential for development, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath home sitting on 1.52 acres, partially in the city limits, partial in UGB. Hooked up to city water, sewer. Come put your touches on this home or make room for more homes. Lots of potential for the next owner. Buyer to do their due diligence. Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 (WVMLS#788578)

level home in a desirable area, private entry into this home, oversized lot with garden area and back deck for all your entertaining needs. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath home with single car garage and workstation area. Hardwood floors, newer paint inside and out, newer roof. Designated office area off the dining room. Plus wonderful reading alcove off the living room. This home is ready to move into! Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 (WVMLS#789185)

SILVERTON

SILVERTON

SOLD! – #T2711 CUSTOM HOME 4 BR, 2.5 BA 3111 sqft Call Chuck at ext. 325 $759,900 (WVMLS#787289)

SOLD! – #T2715 RANCH STYLE HOME 3 BR, 1.5 BA 1461 sqft Call Chuck ext. 325 $459,900 (WVMLS#787944) #T2718 MANY UPDATES 4 BR, 2 BA 2403 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $496,600 (WVMLS#788318) SOLD! – #T2717 GREAT LOCATION 3 BR, 2.5 BA 2437 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $589,000 (WVMLS#788288) #T2714 2-STORY HOME 4 BR, 2.5 BA 2606 sqft Call Kirsten at ext. 326 $589,900 (WVMLS#788746)

Becky Craig Principal Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 313

#T2721 MID-CENTURY HOME $418,700 Mid Century single

#T2713 CHARMING FARMHOUE $545,000 Charming farmhouse on the outskirts of Silverton. All the best parts of country living with all the amenities of being near town. This beautiful 1901 house is waiting for its new owner to put the finishing touches on it to make it their own. Manageable acreage with a 3-stall barn with hay storage is just right for your horses, livestock or your next 4h project. There are too many things to love about this property! Call Becky at ext. 313 (WVMLS#787746)

SILVERTON

#T2719 INVESTOR OPPORTUNITY 3 BR, 2 BA 1164 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $489,000 (WVMLS#788578) #T2721 MID-CENTURY HOME 3 BR, 2 BA 1434 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $418,700 (WVMLS#789185) #T2713 CHARMING FARMHOUSE 4 BR, 1 BA 1416 sqft Call Becky at ext. 313 $545,000 (WVMLS#787746)

SOLD! – #T2720 CLASSIC SILVERTON HOME 3 BR, 2 BA 1411 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $474,250 (WVMLS#788838) #T2724 NEW CONSTRUCTION 3 BR, 2 BA 1399 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $395,000 (WVMLS#789622)

NEW! – #T2729 PIONEER SUBDIVISION 3 BR, 3 BA 2235 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $572,800 (WVMLS#790157)

COUNTRY/ACREAGE

Michael Schmidt Principal Broker GRI 873-3545 ext. 314

Sarah Graves Office Manager 873-3545 ext. 300

We have Buyers looking! Now is the perfect time to list your home. Contact us today for a FREE home evaluation! BARELAND/LOTS #T2646 HWY 213 FRONTAGE .30 Acres Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $149,500 (WVMLS#773635)

SALEM/KEIZER

SOLD! – #T2710 2.14 ACRES 3 BR, 2 BA 1188 sqft 1.82 Acres Silverton, Call Chuck at ext. 325 $399,900 (WVMLS#787367)

#T2723 SINGLE LEVEL HOME 3 BR, 2 BA 1399 sqft Keizer, Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $395,000 (WVMLS#789496)

NEW! – #T2725 WELL MAINTAINED GEO/ DOME 3 BR, 4 BA 2416 sqft Silverton Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $627,400

NEW! – #T2727 HOME IN THE VINEYARDS 4 BR, 3 BA 3415 sqft Call Meredith at ext. 324, Ryan at ext. 322 $668,000 (WVMLS#789928)

(WVMLS#787367)

SCOTTS MILLS #T2707 MOVER 3+ BR, 2 BA 1782 sqft Call Becky at ext. 313 $40,000 (WVMLS#786505)

For Rental Info Call Micha at 503-873-1425 or Check Our Website.

BROKERS ARE LICENSED IN OREGON

20 • April 2022

ourtownlive.com

Our Town Life


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.