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 . 40
W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 20, 2017
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
HOPS SHAPED NEW ERA
How Oregon hops changed the
beer that the world drinks today
BROOKE JACKSON-GLIDDEN
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Gayle Goschie, a third-generation hop farmer,
walks through tall vines on her farm outside Silver-
ton and shakes one of the vines, the way her father
and grandfather did before her.
She can hear it: a hollow rattle; one she grew up
hearing. She picks a small, green heart-shaped cone
off the vine, snug between her pointer finger and
thumb, and rips it apart.
They're ripe, Goschie thinks -- she'll know for
sure after she dries a few -- but she's pretty sure.
The rattle of cones is the starting bell, marking
the beginning of hops harvest: the picking and dry-
ing of hops, six days a week, 24 hours a day.
Soon, local brewers will rush to Goschie Farms
for fresh hops, and dried hops will ship across the
country. Goschie's hops, for example, will hit batch-
es of brews in Michigan, Colorado, California, at lo-
cal breweries in Portland, Bend, and down the street
at Silver Falls Brewery.
Hops are crucial to beer as a bittering agent, and
the ones grown in Oregon steep in brews every-
where from Japan to Mexico. We taste them con-
stantly, in our IPAs and our cans of Coors.
But Oregon’s biggest impact on beer has more to
do with a specific hop: How it was created by a few
people in Corvallis, and how it changed the way we
brew and drink beer.
That hop is the Cascade, and contemporary craft
beer would not exist without it.
See BEER, Page 3A
Gayle Goschie, a third-generation hop grower, admires the
ripening hops on her farm in Silverton. PHOTO BY BROOKE
JACKSON-GLIDDEN / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Councilor Plummer to lead
transportation committee
CHRISTENA BROOKS
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
How does a forward-thinking little town best serve
its residents while planning for the future?
Sometimes, by committee.
In Silverton, four committees research and recom-
mend action to the City Council regarding the environ-
ment, budget, tourism and urban renewal.
Now there’s a fifth, the Transportation Advisory
Committee, led by Councilor Matt Plummer, with five
seats available to volunteers who want to improve Sil-
verton’s transportation network.
It’s largely seen as a replacement and expansion of
the now-defunct Silverton Bike Alliance. Plummer said
he hopes to focus on making Silverton more bike and
pedestrian friendly, not necessarily on projects for mo-
tor vehicles.
“If you focus on cars in your transportation efforts,
that’s what you get,” he said. “If you focus on the people,
that’s what you get … I just want to make sure our em-
phasis is on people, not cars.”
Two state-funded projects will be coming to Silver-
ton in the near future, one a $750,000 pedestrian-safety
upgrade at the intersection of Highway 214 and Jeffer-
son Street to the north, and the other a bike lane/side-
walk addition along Water Street to the south.
The state’s legislature’s $5.3 billion transportation
package, passed in July, named the Jefferson Street
project as a priority in the Mid-Willamette Valley.
“One of Silverton’s main goals is connecting all our
neighborhoods to schools and the downtown area,”
Plummer said. “The South Water project is looking at
Pioneer Village, and the Jefferson crossing is looking
at the Webb Lake area.”
Silverton’s Transportation Advisory Committee
can affect these and other projects by recommending
changes and/or updates to the city’s
Transportation Systems Plan, Plummer
said.
In another part of town, he’s interest-
ed in asking the committee to explore
the bike path options between Coolidge-
McClaine Park and the neighborhoods
clustered around Eureka Avenue.
The Lottis Living Trust’s May gifting
Plummer
to the city of a hillside parcel of proper-
ty upstream from the park now puts 5 acres, zoned
“public,” at taxpayers’ disposal. Now Plummer is curi-
ous whether it could be used for a switchback path for
bikes and pedestrians.
The land is currently vacant, said Community De-
velopment Director Jason Gottgetreu.
“This new committee will take a logical, thoughtful
approach to our transportation needs,” Plummer said.
“At the end of a year, I’d like to have a good working
list of projects that we’ve identified as priorities for
the city.”
Anyone interested in serving on the Transportation
Advisory Committee can log on to www.silverton.o-
r.us, where applications will soon be available.
Mayor Kyle Palmer will do application review and
appointments. By ordinance, Public Works Director
Chris Saxe will join Councilor Plummer on the com-
mittee, bringing its total membership to seven.
STAYTON MAIL
“I jumped in on day one to learn the issues and prob-
lems our district and state face,” he added. “I am eager
to continue working hard for policies that best serve
my constituents in House District 18 and the people of
Oregon.”
Lewis, who has served as mayor of Silverton and the
city’s chief of police, said he’s proud of the work he ac-
complished in his first legislative session. He was the
chief sponsor of House Bill 3427, a bill signed into law
by the Governor, that creates greater safety measures
for dams in the state that are considered “high-hazard.”
Lewis is a strong advocate for the passage of the 5.3-
State Rep. Rick Lewis (R-Silverton) officially an-
nounced that he has filed to run for the House District
18 seat.
Lewis was appointed to the seat in February after it
was vacated by Vic Gilliam due to health concerns.
Lewis said recently that he accepted the appointment
with the intention to run for the seat.
"Serving the people of House District 18 this year has
been an honor,” Lewis said. "Being appointed during the
2017 Legislative Session gave me an opportunity to
learn a great deal in a short amount of time.
See LEWIS, Page 2A
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
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ZACH URNESS
STATESMAN JOURNAL
For some, it was the obvious step to safeguard a
community from wildfire.
To others, it was an unnecessary encroachment
that marred a pathway through virgin forest.
The result, all agree, is ugly. A trail that once trav-
eled through never-before-logged forest is now home
to stumps from an effort designed to stop flames from
spreading.
The question is whether cutting trees and snags
along two miles of the Emerald Forest Trail system, to
protect the Breitenbush area from wildfire, was nec-
essary.
Forest Service and Breitenbush Hot Springs offi-
cials say yes, while other members of the community
disagree.
“It was one of the best intact ancient forest hiking
trails in Oregon,” said Michael Donnelly , who helped
build the trail in the 1980s. “This was a great loss.”
The Breitenbush Community, which includes the
hot springs resort and 72 privately owned cabins, has
been threatened by multiple fires this summer.
Smoke got so bad the hot springs closed
temporarily and laid off around 100 employees.
The biggest fire in the area is Whitewater, at more
than 10,000 acres. But the one that's brought the great-
est threat to Breitenbush has been the Little Devil
See TRAIL, Page 2A
Rick Lewis to run for District 18 seat
JUSTIN MUCH
To protect cabins,
firefighters cut
forest trail
Classifieds..............................3B
Life..........................................4A
Obituaries .............................4B
Sports......................................1B
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