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| 2004: A year in review |
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| We've chosen our top 10 stories and themes for 2004. |
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 | | File photo | | The Woodburn Tulip Festival continues to draw record crowds to its stunning array of color each spring |
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By Michelle Te
It's quite amazing the difference a year can make, and 2004 was no exception for the Woodburn area. Now that the calendar has rolled over to another year, it seems fitting to take a look at what 2004 brought us.
Woodburn High School receives Bill and Melinda Gates' grant
Last spring, Woodburn High School was one of eight schools in Oregon to receive almost $1 million from Bill and Melinda Gates. The money was to help Woodburn divide itself into at least four smaller schools, hoping that by creating smaller schools, students would be able to create greater relationships with their teachers. With that relationship would come better attendance, fewer dropouts and improved academic achievement.
Not only did Woodburn receive a sizable amount of money, but the impact of this decision will be felt in our community for many years to come. Administrators and parents hope this will be the positive change that Woodburn High School needed.
Voters pass police facility
Woodburn voters passed a bond for a new police facility in November with a resounding yes. They heard the plea from the Citizens in Support of the Police Facility Bond committee. Voters understand that Woodburn has grown and will continue to do so. Anyone who has visited the current facility can see why the police department was clamoring for more space, updated technology and a more convenient location from which to catch the bad guys.
Ice storm hits
Very few probably predicted the snow and ice storms that hit our area just one year ago. There's nothing like Mother Nature to stop everyone dead in their tracks. Fortunately, our storm was just a speck on the scale compared to other natural disasters facing the world right now. Nonetheless, the ice literally brought our area to a standstill -- unless you were slipping and falling down on the ice. Schools were closed. Woodburn Company Stores closed for several days. Residents spent days trying to chip away the layers of ice that covered everything in sight. It was beautiful and terrible to behold, and something that most likely won't be seen again for decades to come.
Woodburn finds itself in the midst of road construction
Oregon Department of Transportation spent a considerable amount of time in Woodburn this year, both by the Interstate-5 freeway interchange, and at the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and Highway 214. Not everyone was happy about the changes. Near the freeway, workers constructed a dedicated right turn lane for travelers heading north on I-5. Because of the turn lane and the sidewalk alongside of it that blocked entrances, two restaurants -- Patterson's and Wendy's -- closed their doors. The problem? It was too hard to get into their parking lots -- if you could find the entrance. Here in town, construction workers widened Boones Ferry Road in front of the Woodburn School District office and the two neighboring schools. That meant smaller parking lots for the schools, fewer trees along the roadside and disagreement over a sign. The city took down the school's readerboard sign for the construction -- but then they wouldn't put it up again due to the city's new sign ordinance. After a little haggling, the school found a winning solution -- each school now will get its own sign in front of their schools.
Heritage Elementary meets AYP
Since the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act sent schools into a tailspin with its new regulations about standards, funding and certifications, Woodburn schools have struggled to meet the mark. But Heritage Elementary School became the first in Woodburn to meet the government's required "adequate yearly progress," meaning that all subgroups in the school met their benchmarks for that year. It doesn't necessarily mean that all students in the school are succeeding though. It simply means that at least 40 percent of the students met or exceeded the benchmarks set for them. Still, it's impressive, considering that other schools in Woodburn continue a downward trend on test scores overall.
Local festivals continue to grow and flourish
Woodburn has put itself on the map for the Woodburn Tulip Festival, which draws record numbers of crowds through the city and out to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Bulb Company. It even drew enough traffic to have some ODOT officials worried about the backups created by the spring onslaught of cars. But there's no doubt that this one's a keeper and we're lucky to have it in our corner of the world.
Not to be totally outdone, though, are other smaller events that are making a name for themselves too. The City of Woodburn made a concerted effort to have events once a month in its core downtown area, often drawing hundreds of visitors to Warzynski Plaza for music, food and prizes.
The summer months were filled with similar events in surrounding towns. The growing city of Donald brought back Donald Daze with a parade, food and lots of fun small-town activities that helped residents get to know each other better and have a good feeling about where they live. The Hubbard Hop Festival continues to do the same for its city, and organizers do a great job of making sure there's a little something for everyone.
Drums of Fire is a sure highlight for many who enjoy the music, precision and bright colors of the color guard. Aurora Colony Days is a fun way to bring back the old days, when Aurora really was a colony and residents there had to do and make most of what they had by hand.
Mexican Fiesta still draws huge crowds into Legion Park each August, and a new Mexican Independence Day celebration in Woodburn's downtown was a positive way to highlight the culture of 50 percent of Woodburn's population.
Expansion
Hopefully the darker days of Woodburn have passed on, and we've moved into a time when businesses want to stay in Woodburn for the long term, rather than packing their bags and leaving -- which seemed like a constant struggle just a couple of years ago.
Salud Medical Center took on a big expansion project this year, taking over the building next door and combining both to make a very nice, up-to-date facility. It's quite a change from the days when they had to be housed in an old grocery store, and their commitment to Woodburn is a positive statement for our area.
Silverton Hospital also announced that it would be taking over the old K-Mart building, and continue its expansion into our area. The medical facility will eventually have a birthing center and an emergency room, and, along with other services, will be important to many in our area who will not have to travel far for immediate medical services.
Another positive change was the completion of the Woodburn Fire District's remodel and expansion along Highway 214. With more space, greater training facilities and better access, Woodburn voters will get what they paid for.
Legislative moves
The more that Woodburn grows and expands, the more it diversifies its population, and the more businesses continue to find our spot on the map, the more important this area becomes in the legislature.
Woodburn's own Cliff Zauner, who may have been loved as much as he was questioned in Salem, decided not to run again after two successful terms. Zauner had had enough of the mudslinging and backbiting, as well as not having control over campaign ads, and he was happy to let his friend Betty Komp try to fill his spot again. Which she did, successfully winning the election in November over Al Shannon. Peter Courtney, past senate president, was again elected by his peers to keep the spot.
Woodburn police target downtown
While many people are moving to Woodburn for all the right reasons, the criminals seem to find our area an appealing place as well. Woodburn police made several moves to thwart those attempts, especially targeting the downtown area with the help of local businesses. The result was downtown residents and employees who kept a closer eye on local activity, saw more arrests. They also had better communication about what the problems are -- particularly drug trafficking, graffiti and petty theft.
Sabroso buys Smuckers
It's hard to let a legend die and the Smuckers plant was one of those icons that greeted anyone coming into Woodburn from the east with the summer smells of strawberries. It was a reminder of what the Woodburn area used to be -- a mostly agricultural community that prided itself on having the best berries of anyone around. To hear that Smuckers would be closing its doors and moving on was just as big a blow as anything. Until the Sabroso company found the fruit processing plant and knew the gem that it was -- faithful employees, local product and the facility it needed.
Lots of things can get honorable mention and here are just a few:
Woodburn High School's principal Laura Lanka returned to the halls of her school with a renewed, although somewhat fatigued, spirit. Lanka had been diagnosed with cancer and fought a lengthy and successful battle.
Parents on the perimeter of the Gervais School District continued to challenge the board on whether they should be able to change school districts, regardless of whether they lived in the GHS or not, if they wished. Some were successful, some were not. And some are still fighting the fight.
Woodburn School District continued to introduce bilingual programs for its students, allowing students of any language to take language classes. Lincoln Elementary became the second school to introduce a dual language (English/Spanish) kindergarten class, while Heritage Elementary opened up its Russian language program to all students.
Woodburn High School biology teacher David Ellingson became the poster child for the model teacher when he was awarded a "trunk" full of scientific goodies regarding his exploration into the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The trunk will aid him in his research with students, their classroom exploits -- and just to have some fun.
Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society's biggest fund-raiser, continued to be a winner for the Woodburn area as well. In its third year, the event at Woodburn High School had its most successful drive ever, and organizers at local and state levels applaud Woodburn businesses and residents for turning their eye -- and pocketbooks -- toward such a worthy cause.
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