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 . 136, N O . 4
W EDNESDAY , J ANUARY 11, 2017
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
CREEKSIDE CHAT
Arts, reading, civil rights top topics
JUSTIN MUCH
Rob Sisk stopped by
Silver
Creek
Coffee
House for a Creekside
Chat on Jan. 4 to share in-
formation about Silver-
ton’s MLK Day celebra-
tion, to which he ascribes
a weighty significance in light of recent
reports of slurs directed at Latino popu-
lations in the aftermath of the November
election.
The 14th Annual Silverton Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Observance will be at 6
p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at Silverton
Grange, 201 Division, which is two
blocks off S. Water St.
In addition to Rob, we heard from
North Willamette Valley Habitat for
Humanity Development Director Mi-
chele Finicle, who apprised us of a build-
ing project planned in Silverton.
That day’s chat came amid the coldest
stretch yet of this winter season, so it
was nice to hear about some springtime
planning from local artists Lori Lee
McLaughlin and Bob Foster.
Additionally, Start Making a Reader
Today (SMART) Program Manager Mi-
chael Finlay brought us up to date on a
new chapter in Silverton. While Silver
Creek co-owner Josh Nightingale was
eager to invite everyone to inspect the
new coffee house changes.
MLK Day event
Rob said organizers stress MLK
looked beyond racial or color divides, di-
recting his energy toward helping peo-
ple who needed it, especially those im-
periled as targets of discriminatory ve-
hemence or persecuted due to ethnic or
cultural persuasion.
That is one reason why many cele-
brate the iconic 20th-century civil rights
leader’s birthday today. In various com-
munities nationwide, MLK’s image is
paradigmatic to civil rights beyond a ra-
cial intonation.
Silverton is among those.
See MUCH, Page 3A
Salem parents welcome
first babies born in 2017
JUSTIN MUCH/APPEAL TRIBUNE
Rob Sisk discussed the Silverton Martin
Luther King Jr. Day Observance and potluck,
set for Jan. 16 at the Silverton Grange.
Rural roots
run deep
for new SHS
principal
CHRISTENA BROOKS
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
Jean Swanson of Salem with son Micah Thomas Swanson, born at 12:58 a.m., the first at Silverton’s Family Birth Center.
New mom: ‘I have a lot of hope and promise for
the year now that he’s here, healthy and happy’
Any farm kid knows raising a hog
can be lucrative.
So, as a 13-year-old, Justin Lieuallen
decided to raise not one – but 200 of
them. At auction time, his gamble paid
off. Now a grown man of 46, he’s too
modest to talk dollars and cents, but
he’ll admit he earned enough money to
buy his own brand-new snowmobile.
Lieuallen’s backstory is brimming
with the sort of success only achieved
by working hard and reaching high. A
successful educator and former All-
American wrestler, Silverton High
School’s new principal is already apply-
ing his competitive nature to the task of
bettering the high school for its stu-
dents and staff.
First, he’s looking hard at the Silver-
ton High’s data, especially how it com-
pares to similar schools throughout
Oregon. He’s considering the state’s
best schools too, shooting high and hop-
ing to learn from them.
“Justin is completely committed to
student achievement,” said Erik Jes-
persen, principal of McNary High
School in Keizer and Lieuallen’s most
recent boss. “He’s very driven, he’s
very focused. He wants what’s best for
the students; his ambition is properly
placed … he’s going to do everything he
can to ensure Silverton is a great high
school.”
One statistic on Silverton High’s
most recent Oregon Department of
Education report card that he’s scruti-
nizing is the fact that only 57 percent of
Silverton graduates go on to two-year
or four-year colleges, while 70 percent
of students at similar Oregon high
schools do.
See PRINCIPAL, Page 2A
Online
LAUREN E HERNANDEZ
STATESMAN JOURNAL
As the clock struck midnight
marking the start of 2017, Jean Swan-
son was preoccupied with labor pains
as she awaited the birth of her baby -
the Mid-Willamette Valley’s first ba-
by born in the new year.
Swanson was in a Silverton Hospi-
tal Family Birth Center delivery
room with her parents, husband
Mark, and midwives when she gave
birth to her baby boy Micah Thomas
Swanson at 12:58 a.m.
“I guess it sort of starts the new
year off on a really positive note,”
Go to StatesmanJournal.com for more
photos and videos of the New Year’s
babies.
Swanson said. “I have a lot of hope
and promise for the year now that
he’s here, healthy and happy.”
Swanson’s father, Thomas, the
namesake of Micah’s middle name,
had joked with his daughter that his
grandson should be born before the
end of 2016 in order to bank on a tax
deduction.
“I said ‘Maybe he just wants the
notoriety of being the first’ and that’s
what it was,” Swanson said with a
laugh, looking at her baby. “We’ll use
you as a tax deduction next year.”
Swanson and her husband arrived
at the Silverton Hospital prepared
with hours of entertainment with a
set of movies to watch as the mother
and baby rest from the birth.
Among the selection, the Salem
residents rented Pete’s Dragon and
Suicide Squad but have already put a
dent in the collection. They’ve al-
ready watched Inside Out, Babe, The
Proposal and The Blindside.
See BABIES, Page 2A
Literacy for little ones
is the SMART thing to do
ANNETTE UTZ
FOR THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
While speaking of the impor-
tance of reading and literacy, Start
Making A Reader Today®
(SMART) Executive Director
Chris Otis quoted Carl Sagan: “One
of the greatest gifts adults can give
-- to their offspring and to their so-
ciety -- is to read to children.”
It is with this philosophy that
SMART has announced the open-
ing of a new program to be held at
the Silverton Oregon Child Devel-
opment Coalition, adding to the re-
cently opened program at Jeffer-
son Elementary School and the ex-
isting program at Aumsville Ele-
mentary. The schedule is expected
See LITERACY, Page 2A
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
NEWS UPDATES
PHOTOS
» Breaking news
» Get updates from the Silverton area
» Photo galleries
CHRISTENA BROOKS/SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
Silverton High School Principal Justin
Lieuallen visits with students as he heads
out of English teacher Ben Hynes-Stone’s
classroom.
Harcourts NW Oregon Realty Group
We Are Honored
to Receive the
SMART
Silverton Chamber
of Commerce
SMART readers foster a lifelong
interest in reading and fortify literacy
in youngsters.
INSIDE
Obituaries .............................2B
Police logs.............................3A
Sports......................................1B
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