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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2015)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 32 SECTION A JULY 10, 2015 $1.00 Civil War reenactor dies KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Tammy Stillwell, second from right on the white horse and shown on July 3, was thrown from her horse Maxx the following day and died from her injuries. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes The Northwest Civil War Council held its milestone 25th anniversary Civil War re- enactment this past weekend at Willamette Mission State Park just north of Keizer. Unfortunately, a sad mile- stone was also marked. Fire and brimstone sign ignites furor By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes A reader board message at Town & Country Lanes has garnered the business a lot of attention, but most of it is prov- ing costly. On Thursday, July 2, T&C owner Don Lebold posted a message on the bowling alley’s sign along River Road North reading: “Judges making deci- sions contrary to the word of God will they themselves be judged.” The sign alludes to a recent U.S. Supreme Court Ruling legalizing gay marriage. Since the sign was put up it went viral online and was on Scott Ingalls, event organiz- er, confi rmed Tammy Stillwell, a reenactor from Washington who was riding her horse Maxx for the afternoon battle on July 4, became the fi rst to die during an event put on by the group. “We’ve never even had a serious injury,” Ingalls said. Ingalls and others said Still- well was preparing to head to the battle fi eld when Maxx turned into the woods. Still- well hit a branch and fell to the ground. She was taken to Salem Hospital, where she passed away from internal in- juries the next day. Some of Stillwell’s fellow reenactors posted details and condolences on Facebook. “Her horse turned between two trees and she caught a branch that took her off the back of her beloved Maxx,” Alex Johnson wrote on Mon- day. “The initial report from the hospital was two broken ribs and a laceration on the liver. (On Sunday) they took her into surgery to get con- trol of some internal bleeding. That great heart stopped and they were unable to resuscitate her. Our thoughts and prayers to her family.” The incident happened as the 3 p.m. battle was about to get going. The Civil War weekends feature two battles a day each of the three days around the 4th of July. Nearly 1,000 reenactors from around the Northwest participate and camp in pe- riod-correct conditions from 150 years ago. Stillwell’s husband Bret was a fellow reenactor. Fellow reenactor Stephen Bell posted about the incident Monday evening. “Nothing can express the sorrow we feel for the un- timely loss of our comrade and good friend Tammy Still- well,” Bell wrote. “She went down hard in a fall from her horse and passed away a day later. Captain Bret Stillwell, her husband and commander of the 79th New York, has thanked everyone for their support. But kind thoughts and prayers are still needed for the family to go forward.” Civil War reenacted PAGES A6-7 KEIZERTIMES/Andrew Jackson A reader board sign at Town & Country Lanes decrying a recent SCOTUS decision went viral earlier this week. the dailykos blog, the website for the Hillary Clinton cam- paign and trended on Facebook. Please see SIGN, Page A9 Keizer senior jumps high KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy New homes continue to be built in the Windsor Island Estates subdivision in Keizer. Please see HOMES, Page A12 levy in November. Transit Board of Directors recently approved plans to put a ballot measure that would levy a .21 percent tax on a business’ annual payroll on the Nov. 3 ballot. It’s estimated the tax would bring in about $5 million a year. Please see TAX, Page A8 PAGE A10 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Wally Graham and Bud Christopherson joined forces to publish Graham's fi rst book, Wally's Friends, last month. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When Wally Graham was 10 years old, a relative intro- duced him to a neighbor as “weak-in-the-head.” That en- counter and others left him with a diminished sense of self for much of his life. “The worst thing you can do to a child is make them feel inferior,” said Graham, now in his late 80s. Many years later, by the time he had kids and grand- kids of his own, Graham wanted to do something that would instill self-confi dence in his growing family. He al- ready made weekly visits to check in on his granddaugh- ters Julie and Jennifer, but one Sunday he decided to make it something extra special. “I sat down and wrote a poem and drew an illustration to go along with it,” Graham said. The poem was called Mis- 3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 463- 4853 2015 OREGON FORD DEALER OF THE YEAR ter Toad and told the story of the titular toad regaling a bear with his feelings of inferior- ity compared to other animal friends. “I wanted the girls to learn something from the poem, and I thought that kids would listen to animals more than they would people,” Graham said. The poem was a hit, but Graham returned to visit the girls the next week empty- handed. “Boy, they were all over me for it,” he said. It was quite a while before he visited again without a new poem and illustration in-hand. Despite having never taken an art class or considering him- self much of a writer, Graham amassed dozens of them and kept each one. “Each one is kind of its own thing, but the idea was getting them to think about the lesson, then we started Volcanoes dust devils PAGE A10 thinking about it together and it brought us closer together,” Graham said. Twenty years later, Graham met Bud Christopherson at Willamette Lutheran Retire- ment Community. Graham showed Christopherson his collection of children’s poems and associated illustrations. “I was so impressed with his poems and pictures that, for three years, it’s been my mission to get them pub- lished,” Christopherson said. “Wally didn’t put up much of a fi ght, but I’m a pretty good talker.” Christopherson ap- proached numerous publish- ing houses with the project, and generally got rave reviews for Graham’s work, but no commitment to publish. The long and winding road led them to Outskirts Press in Parker, Colo. Please see BOOK, Page A8 YOUR 1 STOP SHOP BRAKES, TIRES, BATTERIES FOR ily residential units? They’re being built, too. Permits for new homes have been submitted to the city in higher numbers so far in 2015 than in recent mem- ory. “Last Friday we had 18 res- idential permits applied for in one day,” city manager Chris Eppley mentioned in a weekly update to staff and city coun- cilors June 26. Nate Brown, director of Community Development for Keizer, confi rmed there were 18 permits applied for in one week, mostly in one day. Transit putting tax on fall ballot By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes More transit service is coming in September. Salem-Keizer Transit offi - cials hope additional services will be coming in the years ahead. In order for that to happen, however, voters will need to approve a business payroll tax PAGE A2 Friendship puts book on shelves Housing taking off in Keizer By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes At a budget meeting in April, concerns were ex- pressed about projected hous- ing starts. As it turns out, there was no need for such concerns. Several new projects are ei- ther done or in the works for multi-family housing units, including an expansion of the Hawks Pointe Apartments and a couple of senior center facil- ities. That’s in addition to the upcoming apartments and se- nior center facility coming to an expanded McLeod Lane in Area C of Keizer Station. And what about single fam- Task force talks signs We service all makes & models. No appointments needed. 3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 304-7555
