WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
80 restaurants opened despite COVID-19 in 2020
Emily Teel
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The year 2020 was so excruciating, so keenly difficult
for those in the hospitality industry. Casualties of the
pandemic included many notable restaurants in the Sa-
lem-area dining scene, and even the survivors are barely
hanging on, hopeful that resuming indoor dining even on
a limited basis will offer a lifeline to the suffering restau-
rant industry.
It seems insane and somehow impossible, but in the
Salem area 2020 was also a banner year for food busi-
ness openings. More than 80 food businesses opened in
the Salem area in 2020, far more new eateries than the
year prior.
It’s important to note that many of the eateries
opened in 2020 were already well in the works before the
pandemic. Leases had already been signed and deposits
paid on equipment, which meant even the restaurants
that opened in late summer and into the fall of 2020 were
often products of pre-pandemic promises made.
It remains to be seen whether food entrepreneurs in
the Salem area will keep up this pace of openings
through 2021, whether they’ll slow in the wake of a diffi-
cult year or, alternatively, whether the hope of vaccines
on the way and a return to normalcy will spur more confi-
dence in dining-focused business endeavors.
Perhaps it’s the strange way time has passed in the
pandemic, but some on the list below might feel as
though they’ve been here forever. Others may be entirely
unknown.
Alleycat Bar
A new bar next to Masonry Grill from Diana Ramallo,
See RESTAURANTS, Page 3A
Alleycat Bar, a new bar in downtown Salem, serves
customers after opening Nov. 12. The space is
located behind Masonry Grill.
ABIGAIL DOLLINS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Six months
after historic
Labor Day
wildfires ...
Santiam Canyon
residents begin recovery
Tracy Loew, Capi Lynn,
Bill Poehler and Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The Signature Oak sustains some damage from the recent ice storm at The Oregon Garden in Silverton. The
tree is over 400 years old. ABIGAIL DOLLINS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
400-year-old
Signature Oak is
showing its age
Capi Lynn
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
SILVERTON – A steel cable support system runs
through the crown of the Signature Oak, barely no-
ticeable through its dense branches even when the
tree has no leaves.
It was installed about five years ago to help fortify
the more than 400-year-old tree.
At nearly 100 feet tall, it is one of the largest and
oldest Oregon white oaks in the state – if not the larg-
est and oldest.
The cable system is used to help maintain the tree’s
structural integrity during high winds or snow and ice
accumulation, and it was put to the test last month.
“That is maybe one of the reasons it didn’t suffer
more damage,” said Delen Kitchen, director of opera-
tions at The Oregon Garden.
The massive tree with tentacle-like branches
looms on the southern edge of an oak grove along the
pathway through the 80-acre botanical garden. It has
been referred to as the Signature Oak since the garden
was created in the late 1990s, because of its distinc-
tion as the dominant tree in the grove.
At that time, the 25-acre grove consisted of more
than 100 other native Oregon white oak trees estimat-
ed to be between 250 and 300 years old. The Confed-
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde awarded a $266,000
grant to The Oregon Garden in 1999 to help restore and
preserve the grove on what is their ancestral land.
The money was used to clear out invasive plants
and provide care and maintenance for the grove for
about five years, according to Statesman Journal ar-
chives.
No one has done an oak inventory in recent years,
but we know the grove has at least 10 fewer trees after
the February ice storm.
See OAK, Page 2A
Pandemic takes toll on DMV service
Claire Withycombe
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
It’s taking longer than normal to process vehicle ti-
tles and new registrations at the state’s Driver & Mo-
tor Vehicle Services because of staff shortages and
closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to
the agency.
Right now, the longest time someone has had to
wait for an Oregon title is 18 weeks – over four months.
The title is the document confirming your owner-
ship of the car. You need to apply for a title when you
buy a car or relocate to Oregon from another state. You
also need to register the car with the state. Since you
register the car at the same time you apply for a title,
you should expect that same delay for a new regis-
tration.
However, if your car is already registered in Oregon
and you just need to renew it — registration needs to
be renewed every two years — you can do that online
at https://dmv2u.oregon.gov/eServices.
The 18-week estimate is the longest time it has tak-
en to process a transaction – not an average wait time,
said Sally Ridenour, a spokesperson for the Depart-
ment of Transportation. You likely won’t need to wait
quite that long if you just need to replace an existing
title – at most three weeks according to the DMV – but
the estimate is longer than that for titles in most other
circumstances.
Ridenour said the DMV wants to “under-promise,”
so it provides a conservative estimate of how long it
News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from
the Silverton area
Photos: h Photo galleries
Housing
Dennis and Denise Schlies imagine sitting on their
covered porch or in the window-filled living room of
their new home, gazing at Rocky Top and Green
Mountain.
“We’ll have a panoramic view of the mountains,”
Denise said. “It will be beautiful.”
They’re just weeks away from what was once un-
imaginable after the Beachie Creek Fire destroyed
their house, barn and just about everything else on
their 23-acre property in Gates.
The manufactured home they ordered is sched-
uled to leave the factory floor in mid-March and if all
goes well with delivery and installation, they hope to
move in sometime in April.
Some of their canyon neighbors are living on their
properties in RVs while they attempt to rebuild. Oth-
ers are living in temporary housing, such as Salem-
area hotels and the FEMA trailer park on the edge of
nearby Mill City.
More than 700 primary homes in the canyon were
destroyed, and those with insurance had more op-
tions.
Dennis and Denise Schlies were covered, and site
work is underway on their property, including finish
work on the new septic system. Once that’s ap-
proved, work will begin on the electric system, some
of which will be installed underground by Pacific
Power.
Then, the concrete slab will be poured.
Their neighbors were glad to hear they’re coming
See FIRES, Page 2B
See DMV, Page 2A
Vol. 140, No. 14
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
It’s been six months since one of the worst wildfire
events in Oregon history turned life upside down for
residents in Lyons, Detroit, Gates and Mill City
Ever so slowly, the Santiam Canyon is rebuilding.
New homes are being erected. Destroyed water sys-
tems are being reconnected. Some forests are being
replanted
But it’s a long path to recovery, with many still liv-
ing in trailers on charred property, and iconic camp-
grounds and trails likely closed for years.
Extreme winds Labor Day night fueled a historic
firestorm that killed five people, destroyed 700
homes and incinerated ancient forests in the span of
about 12 hours. The combination Beachie Creek and
Lionshead fires burned 400,000 acres – the third-
largest fire since 1900 in Oregon.
“One thing we learned this year is that we have a
new frame of reference for what’s possible,” said
Dave Warnack, Willamette National Forest supervi-
sor who oversaw firefighting.
The spirt of “Canyon Strong” is alive and well. But
it’s clear that it’s going to take time.
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Six months after the Labor Day wildfires, cleanup
efforts continue in Detroit.
BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL