Monthly Archives: October 2011

Going up - The total weight of the completed new steeple is 21,000 pounds; the copper alone weighs in at 4,500 pounds. The structure’s height is about 70 feet. When placed on top of the bell tower, the total height will be approximately 200 feet. Photo courtesy Jerry Lauzon.

Mount Angel, OR   This winter, after a severe rain storm, Fr. Philip Waibel, OSB, the pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Mount Angel, noticed some water damage on the ceiling in a vault under the bell tower. Investigation showed that the 100 year old steeple was leaking water down into the church. Much of the copper sheathing had loosened, allowing the wind to drive water into the structure. Water had probably been seeping for a considerable time. Significant dry-rot extended nearly the full length of the steeple structure on three of the eight sides.

Schommer & Sons was selected as the general contractor for the project. Andy McBride has been the on-site supervisor. The 60’ of the upper most part of the steeple was disconnected from the bell tower and lowered to the parking lot by a huge crane to start the needed repairs.

Repairs were far more extensive than anticipated. The steeple needed to be entirely rebuilt. The old steeple was dismantled and a new steeple consisting of glulam beams over 1” plywood was built off site by Western Wood Structures of Tualatin.

The dormers were added by the carpenters of Schommer & Sons. The entire structure was then covered with an ice and water shield and sheathed in 16 gauge copper by TT&L Sheet Metal of Beaverton.

Just as we are beneficiaries of the sacrifices and vision of our ancestors – a gift that has lasted 100 years, we are paying it forward. The estimated project budget is not to exceed $475,000.00. We know that our gift to future generations will last at least another hundred years before repairs are needed.

The total weight of the completed new steeple is 21,000 pounds; the copper alone weighs in at 4,500 pounds. The structure’s height is about 70 feet. When placed on top of the bell tower, the total height approximately 200 feet.

The original church with its steeple was begun in 1910 and dedicated in 1912. The parish will celebrate its 100^thAnniversary of the dedication of the church in June of 2012 with Archbishop John G Vlazny presiding. Jerry Lauzon, St. Mary Parish Church

Thanks for the rest of the story Jerry. I hope folks will go see it – that church is a beautiful sight to behold.

Luv Sissy

For a related story on St. Mary Church, visit http://countrytraveleronline.com/2010/07/14/another-test-story/

The Gordon House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Pacific Northwest open to the public, sits in a grove of oaks at The Oregon Garden; photo by Eric Silberg

SILVERTON, Ore. – Little did Conrad and Evelyn Gordon know that when they commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a house for their Wilsonville farm, that it would end up making a wonderful contribution to the art world. Commissioned by the Gordons in 1956 and designed by Wright before he died in 1959, the house was completed in 1964 under the guidance of Taliesin Associated Architects, Wright’s architectural firm. T

The house was taken apart and moved to the The Oregon Garden in Silverton Oregon in 2001, and was reassembled and opened to the public in March 2002.  One of only 60 of its kind, the custom designedGordon House is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house open to the public in the Pacific Northwest.

            Eric Silberg, a volunteer docent since the house opened, has developed a passion it.

            “I’m sure onlookers were surprised to see the house perched on

Usonian homes are characterized by horizontal lines (shown here out of native Western red cedar), floor to ceiling windows and doors that create continuity between indoors and outdoors; photo by Jan Jackson

the back of a flatbed truck, moving four miles an hour along the 40 miles of back roads between Wilsonville and Silverton,” Silberg said. “It had to be cut into moveable sections, the pieces marked, numbered and categorized and then reconstructed like a giant jigsaw puzzle. It was built to sit along the Willamette River on the Gordon farm, but after Mrs. Gordon died and the property was sold, it was relocated to Silverton in the grove of oaks.”

Silberg, who was born in Boston and went to high school in Billings, Montana, came to Oregon and entered Linfield College on a baseball scholarship. Armed with a degree in accounting, he was working at The Oregon Garden when the Gordon House arrived.

“My first encounter with a Frank Lloyd Wright house was a visit to Fallingwater, in Mill Run Pennsylvania,” Silberg said. “My mother and I were touring historic battle sites in the Virginia and Washington DC area and ended up close enough we decided to continue on and have a look. I was inspired and when they needed docents when the Gordon House was opening, I volunteered.

Eric Silberg, volunteer docent at The Gordon House since it opened to the public in 2002; photo by Jan Jackson

“Frank Lloyd Wright had such a long career and was such an interesting man, that the big problem is limiting the information to the 40-minute tour time frame. We just do the best we can.  Some who visit the house already are Frank Lloyd Wright fans and some are new to him. Visitors come from all over the world though most are from the Pacific Northwest. We also get architecture students from the University of Oregon, motorcoach and travel group tours and the house is available to rent for small private celebrations and corporate and association group meetings. I volunteer at least a couple of times a month or whenever they need me.”

Though hated by some and celebrated by others, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959) was a genius ahead of his time both in his professional and personal life.  An American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, he was a leader in promoting an organic architectural concept that not only used local materials but also incorporated his designs into the landscape. Refusing to build houses with rooms that were boxes beside boxes within boxes, he designed and built houses as a unified whole that appeared to grow naturally from the earth. The Gordon House is one of his Usonian houses (an abbreviation of the United States of North America), which he designed to make affordable to the common American family. They had no attics, no basements, and minimalist ornamentation and were built with carports (Wright’s own term) instead of garages.

“Whether it is the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Taliesin West near Phoenix Arizona or any of the 60 Usonian houses, Wright’s buildings are as unique as the man was himself,” Silberg said.  “To walk into the Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon House is an experience apart from walking into any other structure. It is a work of art and you feel that the minute you step inside.”

For more information an guided tour reservations, call 503-874-6006, email gordonhouse1957@frontier.com or visit www.thegordonhouse.org.

Jan Jackson - ©2011 – See Jan Jackson Bio

It’s almost mid-October and Lincoln City float fairies are starting to hide hand blown glass floats along the 7-½ miles of beach between Roads End and Cutler City areas. And the good part? If you find one,  you get to keep it.

From mid-October through Memorial Day, floats are only hidden above the high tide line and below the beach embankment. Also, please be aware of beach safety – never turn your turn your back on the ocean – those sneaker waves and the force of the ocean moving logs can be unsafe.

What do you do when you find one? Well, they are signed and numbered you know -so call the Visitor and Convention Bureau at 800-452-2151 or 541-996-1274 and register your float and they will then send a Certificate of Authenticity and information about the artists who crafted it for you.

And, want an insiders tip? Bring a flashlight (yes, I’m talking about doing it in the day time) to shine back and forth on the sand as you walk along. Sometimes, when the light hits on a float it will create a flash of light – and – its yours.

How fun is that? Try it and you’ll see – smile.

Luv,

Sissy.

See related story at http://countrytraveleronline.com/2010/07/14/eight/

… is back by popular demand. Remember last year when you went to the beach and learned stuff while you were there? It is time to do that again and the list of classes and workshops have grown. Take a look at these:

Woodcarving – Walking Fish – Saturday October 15 – 9 am to 12 noon – $10

Woodcarving – Christmas Moose – Saturday October 15 – 1 to 4 pm – $10

Goat Soap Making – Saturday October 15 – 9:30 am to 12 noon – $30

Woodspirits in Cottonwood Bark – Saturday & Sunday October 15 & 16 – 9 am to 5 pm – $100

Glass Fusing – Saturday October 15 through Saturday October 29, – $50 (just call and tell them when you want to come – 541-994-2427)

Shell Printing with Metallic watercolors – Sunday October 16, 1 to 4 pm -$35

Anatomy for Artists (6 day course) – October 17 through 22 – 9 am – $455

Homemade Spa Treatments (2 day course) – October 18 through 19 – 1 to 4 pm – $48

So you want to build a Guitar? (4 night course) – October 19 – 22, 6 to 9 pm – $375

Photography: Unraveling the Mystery (3 day course), Oct 20 through 22, Time TBA – $300

Belly Dancing with Ireta – October 21, 22 & 23, 11 am – $10

Italian Cooking Intensive – (5 day class) October 24 through 28 – 9 am – $500

Henna body Art – Friday October 28, 4 to 7 pm – $30

Introduction to Photography – October 28, 9 am to 4 pm – $50

Beginning Woodcarving – October 29, 9 am to 4 pm – $46

Sky Hunters: Live Raptor Education – Saturday, October 19, 1 – 4 pm – $20

You can find out more about these classes and learn about some that aren’t even listed here by calling 541-996-2119 or visiting http://www.oregoncoast.org/festivals-events/#fall-learning-feast

There you have it. Now, get over to the beach and have some learning fun at the Learning Feast – smile.

Luv

Sissy

It’s the time of year when we sell our lambs to the sheep buyer.

My brother volunteered my nine-year-old nephew Andy’s services for the operation.

As a rule, my wife and I don’t accept much help with livestock. This isn’t for some misguided self-reliance issue. Rather, we know our animals and they know us, working with them is much easier when there are no strangers around. Newcomers—through no fault of their own—keep ending up where they’re not needed or can’t be found where they’re most needed.

Andy’s not a bad kid; however, to say that he’s active is something of an understatment. Nevertheless, we broke our rule and signed him up for lamb sale day.

On the big day, Andy was quivering with his need to help. We temporarily relegated him to the sidelines while we gathered skittish lambs.

Andy, standing only a few inches taller than my belly button, got frustrated with his inability to see the action. He climbed up the side of the stock trailer and perched on the roof for a better view.

One of the reasons we don’t allow outsiders to help work with livestock is sheep view themselves as prey. To them, a bored boy peering at them from the roof of a stock trailer looks a lot like a cougar—for them, an unsettling affair.

The lambs discovered Andy as they entered the trailer. He’d become excited and started drumming his feet on the metal roof—it sounded like rapid-fire thunder.

The worried lambs were startled by the sudden “BANGS and BOOMS” inside the trailer. They looked up and saw what appeared to be a lamb-eating monster ready to pounce from the roof.

The lambs leaped and bounced off each other and the trailer wall, then spurted out the door in all directions.

My wife was the first to recover. She ordered Andy off the roof and explained what happened and what she wanted him to do. Then she looked at me:

“Rolling your eyes and sighing isn’t helping,” she said pointedly.

After all parties recovered, we loaded the jumpy lambs without incident and headed off to the sheep buyer. We explained to Andy that he would, once again, need to keep himself occupied while we offloaded the livestock onto the scale.

Meanwhile, Andy was bored, again.

We were preoccupied with getting the weight from the scale when the sheep buyer spotted Andy climbing around on top of the stock trailer.

“There’s another lamb,” he pointed at Andy, “wanna throw him in with the load?”

My wife and I exchanged a deep, searching look—one that conveys volumes.

“Ya know, he’s about sixty pounds, just like the rest of the load,” my wife said.

“How’s he do eating grass, will he gain weight?” the sheep buyer asked.

“Not so well,” I admitted, “if you wouldn’t mind throwing him a few greasy cheeseburgers, we’ll use him to fill out the load.”

“Don’t think I can do that,” the sheep buyer said, “besides they’d dock me for his fleece.”

“Oh, well, maybe next time,” my wife and I sighed in unison.

We picked up our check from the sheep buyer and loaded Andy in the truck. On the way home, we bought him a milk shake and greasy cheeseburger—without incident.

Bing Bingham is a writer, rancher and storyteller. He’ll buy you lunch if you’ll quit crawling around on his trailer roof when he’s loading livestock. If you have a story to pass along, contact him at http://bingbingham.com/blog/