S ERVING THE S ILVERTON A REA S INCE 1880
50 C ENTS
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A U NIQUE E DITION OF THE S TATESMAN J OURNAL
V OL . 135, N O . 24
W EDNESDAY , J UNE 1, 2016
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
Small town sports run deep and diverse
JUSTIN MUCH
STAYTON MAIL
When a handful of high-
school athletes — Anna McGill,
Hannah Hallock, Keiley Grif-
fin, Taylor Price and Shylar
Halverson – competed in the 4 x
100 girls relay for Perrydale at
the OSAA Class 1A state track
championships this spring, it
seemed like any other relay
team on the surface.
But it wasn’t.
It was a team consisting of
one track athlete and four soft-
ball players.
But, hey, at a rural school like
Perrydale — a Polk County site
where the lone retail establish-
ment within miles of the
school’s surroundings is a soft-
drink kiosk — athletes some-
times pitch into multiple sports,
even within the same season.
Multisport athletes are com-
mon in small schools, as is the
tight-knit school spirit that per-
vades many smaller communi-
ties.
Sports teams are vital to
small towns in general, and that
vitality may be doubly impor-
tant to a place such as Perry-
dale, where fall’s Friday-night-
lights gathering corrals its fan-
dom from a broad swath of acre-
age around the Polk County
countryside and beyond.
As the Mid-Valley Sports
Awards near, many of the 89
athletes receiving recognition
that evening hail from smaller
hamlets around the region.
High-school sports teams of
rural complexion are vital fix-
tures of community pride,
whether they are centered
around homespun, road-map
blinks such as St. Paul, Scio or
Perrydale, or more king-size
schools that are in relatively
small towns, such as Silverton,
Stayton, or Central of Independ-
ence and Monmouth.
Schools such as Cascade
High School, serving the Aums-
ville, Turner and Marion areas,
exemplify the mold even
though the institution doesn’t
take one namesake municipal-
ity, but rather weaves a largely
agricultural region into one fo-
cal point of pride.
“Cascade is like a communi-
ty,” said Heidi Hermansen, the
school’s athletic director and as-
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Silverton's Sam Roth drives past a Corvallis guard in a game at Silverton
High School in February.
See SMALL TOWN, Page 4A
‘Planning on a great year’
Should
Detroit Lake
be managed
differently?
ZACH URNESS
STATESMAN JOURNAL
MOLLY J. SMITH/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Scott Lunski, center, owner of Detroit Lake Marina, stands with employees Lucas Lunski, right, and Braeden Cook on the docks of the marina on
Thursday. Lunski has owned the marina since 2004, and has become frustrated by low water levels at the reservoir.
Reservoir is in good shape,
but shortages on horizon
ZACH URNESS
STATESMAN JOURNAL
There is both good and bad
news for outdoor recreation
this summer at Detroit Lake.
The positive news is that the
reservoir is in far better health
than a year ago, when a severe
statewide drought dropped the
lake to its lowest summertime
level in history, stunting tour-
ism and hurting business
throughout the Santiam Can-
yon.
As of this week, Detroit
Lake is 47 feet higher than this
time last year, meaning nor-
mal boating and fishing condi-
tions for Memorial Day Week-
end.
“It’s a very positive atmos-
phere up here right now,” said
Callie Lunski, one of the own-
ers of Detroit Lake Marina.
“We’ve got boats in the water
and that are ready to rent.
We’re planning on a great
year.”
Yet the news isn’t all posi-
tive.
The U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers said hot and dry condi-
tions this spring means reser-
voir levels are lower than nor-
mal. Detroit Lake never
reached its maximum height
of 1,563 feet above sea level,
and is already dropping, down
to 1,554 feet as of May 26.
The reservoir will be as low
as 1,540 feet by mid-August,
the Corps projects, meaning
many of the docks and marinas
will find themselves on dry
land.
Early snowmelt and lack of
spring rain — about 70 percent
of normal in the Willamette
Basin — created the shortage,
Corps spokeswoman Amy
Echols said.
“This year had more snow
and a little more rain than last
year, but again, we saw a pret-
ty dry spring,” she said. “We
could still see big rains, but it’s
definitely going to be a lower
level than normal.”
Flood control, followed by
keeping enough water in the
North Santiam River for en-
dangered species and wildlife,
are the top two priories for the
Corps at Detroit Lake.
That’s not good news for
businesses such as Kane’s and
Detroit Lake marinas. The two
businesses already took a ma-
jor hit last season — both had
to move their docks to a new lo-
cation just to stay in business.
An early end to business this
year wouldn’t help.
“We’re going to work with
what we have,” Lunski said.
“Obviously it is frustrating,
but it’s out of my hands.”
Zach Urness has been an
outdoors writer, photographer
and videographer in Oregon for
eight years. He is the author of
the book “Hiking Southern
Oregon” and can be reached at
zurness@StatesmanJour
nal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find
him on Zach Urness or @Zach-
sORoutdoors on Twitter.
Scott Lunski believes the
time has come for changes in
the way Detroit Lake is man-
aged.
The owner of Detroit Lake
Marina said the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers has strug-
gled to keep the reservoir east
of Salem high enough for sum-
mer recreation.
He pointed out that guide-
lines for filling the reservoir
haven’t been significantly up-
dated since the 1950s, and that
water releases for fish conser-
vation have pushed the reser-
voir to lower summer levels.
“I don’t think the Corps are
doing their job very well,” said
Lunski, who has owned the
marina since 2004 with his
family. “Their job is to keep
the lake full and meet all the
demands. Instead, they’re
making excuses in the name of
fish conservation and using
technology from the era of
black and white TV to run the
reservoir.”
Corps officials said they
are fulfilling their mandate,
which prioritizes flood control
and fish health above recrea-
tion. They point to the myriad
uses for reservoir water — hy-
dropower, irrigation and city
drinking water — and said
they actively plan and adjust
management of Detroit Lake.
“We understand the eco-
nomic value for recreation at
Detroit, and we can make
some concessions to keep wa-
ter in the lake, but recreation
isn’t the top priority in driving
the decision-making process,”
said Amy Echols, spokeswom-
an for the Corps in Portland.
“All the demands on water —
plus fulfilling our mission on
flood control — create a chal-
lenging balancing act.”
The rule curve
The primary issue centers
on what’s known as the “rule
curve.”
Developed when during the
period the reservoir was con-
See LAKE, Page 2A
Strawberry season
here for your pick
Online at
Silverton
Appeal.com
HEATHER RAYHORN
NEWS UPDATES
STATESMAN JOURNAL
» Breaking news
» Get updates from the
Silverton area
You-pick strawberries
are an Oregon tradition
that mark the beginning
of warmer weather and a
summer bounty of fresh,
local produce. Several lo-
cal farms already have
opened their strawberry
fields to you pickers in-
cluding Olson Peaches in
southeast Salem, Greens
Bridge Gardens in Jeffer-
son and Willamette Valley
Pie Company in northeast
See STRAWBERRY, Page 2A
PHOTOS
» Photo galleries
INSIDE
Calendar ...............................2A
Classifieds..............................4B
Life..........................................6A
Your Turn ..............................3B
Obituaries .............................3B
Police logs.............................2A
Sports......................................1B
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Call us at 503-873-8385
AP
Several local farms have
opened their strawberry
fields to pickers.
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