We visited Silver Falls State Park, located about 15 miles South of Silverton. There are nine waterfalls in the park along almost nine miles of hiking trail. Three of the falls are either visible from the main road, or are only a short walk from the road. Very pretty park and very much
worth a visit, even more so if you enjoy hiking. The trails looked very well maintained and not especially strenuous.We also drove up to Mount Angel, a very small Bavarian community about four miles North of Silverton. The town recently built a new senior home in the middle of downtown that looks like it should be in the Alps. In the corner of the building they built a huge Glockenspiel that goes off every four hours. Supposedly the largest in the United States. Our timing was off, so we didn’t get to see it operate. There are a number of other Bavarian looking buildings in town and they are primarily known for their Oktoberfest Weekend (which is in September, go figure).
Friday started the official Homer Davenport Days weekend in Silverton. We learned that Homer was a famous political cartoonist in the early 1900's who was from Silverton. Among other things he is associated with President Theodore Roosevelt’s nickname of Teddy, based on a number of his cartoons of the President with teddy bears in the picture. He died of pneumonia contracted while he was covering the sinking of the Titanic.
Friday we went to the fair in the park which included various craft booths, food and local entertainment. Most of the craft booths had very nice goods at very reasonable prices - far less than we have seen at similar events in larger tourist towns.
Saturday morning we went to the parade. About an hour long with the usual small-town trappings - local dignitaries in old cars, high school band, floats from local businesses, and lots of fire trucks. The parade participants threw candy out to the people on the street. We kind of saw this coming when we noticed before the parade that all the kids had plastic sacks in their hand. Probably the cutest thing was the local hospital’s Bed Pan Brigade, a group of nurses doing close order drill with bed pans. Very Do Dah for those of you who have been to Pasadena for that event. After the parade we went to the car show the local car club put on in the park. I was amazed to see that there were more restored cars and street rods than I used to see at the events in Palm Springs! Very nice group of cars. Saturday night we went back to the Elks Lodge for Karaoke. Not a real big crowd, but some very good singers. The ER, Jim Christensen, has his own band and does a lot of the oldies. Spent the evening sitting with the ER and his group. Very friendly folks.
On Sunday we got up very early and drove the 15 miles into Salem to the fairgrounds. We got right into the rally site with no wait and got the coach set up. We then drove back to Silverton for the davenport races. They have been putting on this event for the last 24 years. They close off Main Street right downtown and race couches down the street. (Well, technically, most of them were love seats) Local businesses sponsor race teams who put sofas on wheels with some sort of steering mechanism. One person rides on the coach to steer and other team members
push. They have a variety of races with four man push teams, two man teams, only male, only female, over 40, etc. They race about hundred yards and the sidelines were packed with spectators. Only in a small town!If you are ever in the Salem area I would strongly recommend a visit to Silverton, it is a charming little place. If you happen to be around during the first weekend in August, check out the Homer Davenport festivities. Makes you feel good about small town America.
We are now set up at the Salem, Oregon State Fairgrounds for the Monaco International motorcoach rally. We will be here until next Saturday when we leave for Redmond and the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) International rally. We should have a busy week and I will report on our activities here later on.
Adios Amigos
