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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Enchanted Forest celebrates 50 years Connor Radnovich Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK On August 8, 1971, Roger Tofte hung a butcher-paper ‘Open’ sign outside En- chanted Forest, for the first time beck- oning guests into his fantastical theme park. At the time, it consisted of little more than a small trail running through handcrafted storybook scenes and characters. A half-century later and many attrac- tions greater, Tofte, his family and gen- erations of Oregonians celebrated the park’s 50-year anniversary recently with a cake-cutting and Q&A sessions for guests with the park’s creator, now 91. “It doesn’t seem like 50 years ago,” Tofte told a gathered crowd in Tofteville Western Town. “Time flies, I guess, when you’re having fun.” The occasion was also an opportuni- ty for the park to thank community members for supporting them through the past 18 months, which they de- scribed as the toughest period in the park’s history. “There were times when I wasn’t pos- itive we would make it to our 50th,” said Susan Vaslev, park co-manager and Tofte’s daughter. Visits for generations Tim Brumbaugh of Albany moved to Oregon in 1975 when he was in 4th grade. Enchanted Forest was one of the first places his parents took him, he re- See ENCHANTED FOREST, Page 4A Enchanted Forest creator Roger Tofte is added to the end of the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme at Enchanted Forest. CONNOR RADNOVICH / STATESMAN JOURNAL A beloved Bronco and a desire to help inspire Santiam Canyon auction Geoff Parks Special to Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Cathleen Emily Freshwater Du Bois and Stephen James Du Bois pose for a portrait in their Rockaway Beach gallery. PHOTOS BY WESLEY LAPOINTE/ STATESMAN JOURNAL Turning ‘Oregon sunshine’ into a special keepsake Wesley Lapointe Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK For nearly 100 days in 1999, Eugene’s skies were dry. When the clouds finally opened, one Oregonian decid- ed to bottle the rain. He hasn’t stopped. “I vowed I’d never be without Oregon rain again,” said James Stephen Du Bois, owner of Du Drops, a small gallery in the coastal town of Rockaway Beach where he creates and sells rain-filled light bulbs, known as Du Drops. As far as he knows, beneath his feet lies the only dated archive of rainwater in the world: the Oregon Rain Cellar. Customers can buy rain-filled ornaments for between $55 and $325 each, often requesting rain from the day of a wedding, death or birthday. At first glance, the cellar is unremarkable. But, brightly illuminated at the front of the basement, doz- ens of wooden shelves are lined with bottles of rainwa- ter. There are currently 479 bottles in the cellar, total- ing to about two bath tubs of water. Rain from most months can be found in this li- brary, including a liter from the drought-breaking storm on October 5th, 1999. But the collection also has gaps, where entire months have sold out. “Once the rain is gone, there’s no getting any more of it,” said Du Bois. He’s committed never to fake the date on a bulb for a sale. “That would negate every other Du Drop I’ve ever made,” he explained. Love and a ‘lightbulb moment’ The idea of collecting rainwater was first planted on a 1972 hike in Indiana, when a spider web covered See KEEPSAKE, Page 4A Bringing back the joy Summer camp for people with disabilities returns after wildfires Steffani Klein’s husband, Mike, came to her after the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires of Sept. 8 overran the communities of the Santiam Canyon and asked her a simple question: “What can we do?” The two decided they could best help the commu- nity by providing funding for the relief efforts that began immediately after the fires. Their first thought was to auction off a 1972 silver Ford Bronco they had lovingly restored over a number of years. With that ante, which they hope will bring in more than $100,000, the work — and the genesis of the Heart of the Canyon Auction and Benefit — began. The event will be held on Aug. 28, from 5 to 11 p.m. at the Historic Heater Farm in Stayton. Deana Freres of the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Re- covery Fund and friend Candy Page are the others be- hind the event. “We met with Deana and said we would donate the funds raised (from the Bronco) to them,” Klein, the overall organizer of the event, said. “But then it grew, and when I met with other people, we decided, ‘let’s just do an auction.’” They reached out to the community and were able to secure nearly 20 sponsors contributing “anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000,” she said. Commitments to donate items were also solicited. And by the end of July, they hit their maximum attendance capacity with 300 people signing up. The event had been planned for as early as Janu- ary, then moved to April 10 because of pandemic con- cerns, and finally settled into the Aug. 28 spot just a few weeks ago. Klein and Page said moving the date actually helped give them more time to secure spon- sors and donations. A social hour will precede raffles, the silent and oral auctions, bands and speakers before the auction of the Kleins’ Bronco. Klein said the funds derived from the auction will be split between the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Recov- ery Fund (60%) and the Detroit Lake Foundation (40%). Freres said her group’s purpose for the money is for the “relief, recovery and rebuilding” of the canyon with a focus on support for individual families. For the Detroit Lake Foundation, Page said, there is more of a community-wide target for the funds. “We would love to raise $300,000 to $400,000,” Klein said. “Luckily, we have more than enough sponsorship money so that extra money that does not cover needs for the actual event goes straight into the donation pile.” The auction group brought in the 300 attendees solely through their Facebook page and word-of- mouth, she said. Though Page is not a member of the Heart of the Canyon Auction committee like Klein and Freres, she has been intimately involved from the start, having See AUCTION, Page 4A Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Leigha Christensen was so overjoyed about the prospect of being able to return to Upward Bound Camp this summer that she told her doctor all about her best camp friend, Gabby Gjesdal, and described in great detail how much fun she was going to have. The 25-year-old from Keizer hadn’t seen Gjesdal or been to the camp in two years. A few months ago, all that remained at the Gates campus of the summer camp for children and adults See CAMP, Page 2A Molly Murphey, left, and Shelby Nelson play with bubbles near the Santiam River at Upward Bound Camp in Gates. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL Vol. 140, No. 35 Online at SilvertonAppeal.com News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: h Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal QEAJAB-07403y ©2021 50 cents Printed on recycled paper From left, Deana Freres, Steffani Klein and Candy Page on the tailgate of the restored 1972 Ford Bronco that will be auctioned off at the Heart of the Canyon Auction on Aug. 28, 2021. GEOFF PARKS/SPECIAL FOR THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
