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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017
Life in the
Valley y
sanews@salem.gannett.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVER FALLS STATE PARK
Crafting is always a popular activity during the Silver Falls Birding and Wildflower Festival.
Blooms and birds for mom
Silver Falls
to celebrate
Mother’s Day
with festival
ANNETTE UTZ
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
The wildflowers are blooming and the
water falls are welcoming as spring in-
vites some outdoor diversions. Every-
thing is ready for the 39th Annual Bird-
ing and Wildflower Festival at Silver
Falls State Park. The festival will run
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sun-
day, May 13 and 14, in the South Falls
area.
“This is our Mother’s Day event. At
one time it was called that … but folks
thought that the name we us now was
much more descriptive of what goes on
at the festival,” said Louise Nelson,
president of Friends of Silver Falls State
Park. “It is a great event for everyone.”
The variety of activities available is
part of the draw.
Families can enjoy a range of profes-
sionally guided wildflower and birding
walks, presentations on an assortment of
nature topics and creating springtime
crafts and sketches.
On Saturday only, Turtle Ridge Wild-
life Center will host a Raptor Meet-and-
Greet, which will also feature other re-
habilitated animals. “Silver Falls in a Nut
Shell,” a short walk in the day-use area,
will take place and the day ends with a
free live owl presentation by Susan La-
Fontaine of the Oregon Raptor Center.
Silver Falls State Park is located at
20024 Silver Falls Hwy. SE. A detailed
event schedule will be posted as it is fi-
nalized at www.SilverFallsStatePark-
.wordpress.com under “Events/Birding
and Wildlife Festival.”
A $5 day-use parking permit is re-
quired. Other than a $5 materials fee for
building a bird-nesting box, all activities
are free. For more information, call 503-
874-0201 or e-mail Matt.Palmquist@ore-
gon.gov.
To fuel up before the activities or to
re-energize afterward, the Silver Falls
Lodge & Conference Center is offering a
Mother’s Day brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 3
p.m. on Sunday. Further information is
available at http://silverfallslodge.com/
mothers-day-brunch/ and reservations
(required) can be made by calling 866-
575-8875.
Professional illustrator Christine Elder leads a sketching class during the Silver Falls Birding and Wildflower Festival.
Susan LaFontaine of the Oregon Raptor
Center, pictured here with Stanley, gives a
hoot about Oregon’s birds of prey during the
Birding and Wildflower Festival at Silver Falls.
Steve Shunk, owner of Paradise Birding & Tour Co., takes a group on a birding tour during the
Birding and Wildflower Festival at Silver Falls State Park.