Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In

I attended another classic car cruise-in (see the event's web site) last night at the A&W. I haven't processed most of the photos yet, but I did get a photo of the ring leader, Russ Strohmeyer (left -- didn't get the name of his assistant). He emcees each event, and raffles off donated prizes to raise money for the Brent Strohmeyer Memorial Foundation, which gives college scholarships to area students.

I had a bit of a winning streak during the raffle. I bought six tickets, and ended up winning three times. I gave two of the winning tickets to a couple of kids, as did other multiple winners.

As a point of interest, Russ is also an extremely talented professional portrait photographer.

Tomorrow I'll post more photos of the cars at the show, but for now, please visit the handful I have up in a Flickr photoset.

Born At The Brown House

Yesterday, I attended an open house at the Charles and Martha Brown House, an historic home presently being restored by volunteers. It will eventually be opened to the community to hold events, etc.

I had the privilege of speaking with Mrs. Marlene B Getchell-Knieling, who was born at the house during its tenure as the town's first hospital in the 1930's. She showed me the room where she was delivered by Dr. Brewer in May of 1935, and maternity room where she and her mother stayed after her birth.

Tomorrow I'll be posting photos of the house's interior, as well as some of the folks who worked to help restore the house. Stay tuned.

Getting Ready

I guess the holiday season is truly here. I happened by some workers who were putting up the city Christmas tree on 3rd Ave. yesterday... it took me completely by surprise. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is tomorrow, but I still have Halloween decorations to put away.

I managed to go out and take some new photos yesterday, which was nice. My camera isn't happy when it doesn't get to scooter around town taking pictures of random things.

A Distortion Of The Past

This mirror resides in the parking lot of the somewhat retro-oriented A&W restaurant on Washington St. It creates some nifty distortions... the guy in the photo looks like a giant compared to the children on either side of him. It makes me giggle.

Red Truck

This is a red truck. A big red truck. I don't know what kind of truck it is or what it's being used for in the photo. Don't ask me, I just take pictures. I don't actually know what I'm taking pictures of most of the time. As I've probably said before, I tend to just point the camera at whatever is in front of me and press the shutter. Sometimes I even remember to turn on the camera first.

Waiting For Harry

I just got back from the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and thought I'd post a photo of the hearty souls waiting in line outside the theater. They were very kind to pose for me. :)

For the record, both my niece and I loved the movie. It was awesome.

Road Warrior

I caught this guy pulling out of the parking lot at the classic car show I attended two nights ago.

He's wearing an Oregon State University Beavers shirt. The OSU baseball team is presently kicking posterior end at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Go, Beavs.

Motorcycle Rider

I happened to catch this lucky guy going by on his motorcycle the other day. I always feel a distinct case of bike envy whenever I see someone on a rumbling motorcycle... makes my 49cc scooter seem like a bicycle with training wheels.

Note: I rearranged the numbers on the license plate to protect the privacy of the rider.

A Walk in the Park

I was at Neitling Park the other day and saw this friendly couple walking amongst the cherry blossom trees. It's always good to see couples out doing things like taking walks together.

I hope they don't mind me photographing their back sides. ;)

DP Theme Day: Men At Work

Each month several of us daily photo bloggers post a photo based on a theme. This month's theme is 'men at work.' The men above are working on the building expansion for the Stayton Public Library, which should be completed this year. I can't wait.

Over 60 Daily Photo sites are participating in the 1st March theme, "Men at work", please use the links to below to visit them.

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

1 (Greenville SC (USA) ) -2 (Hyde (UK) ) -3 (Tenerife (Spain) ) -4 (Albuquerque, NM (USA) ) -5 (Stayton, OR (USA) ) -6 (Rotterdam (NL) ) -7 (Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) ) -8 (London (England) ) -9 (Richmond, VA (USA) ) -10 (Sydney -Sally (Australia) ) -11 (Newcastle upon Tyne (England) ) -12 (Constanta (Romania) ) -13 (Evry (France) ) -14 (Lubbock, TX (USA) ) -15 (Szentes (Hungary) ) -16 (Villigen (Switzerland) ) -17 (Mumbai (India) ) -18 (Tel Aviv (Israel) ) -19 (Twin Cities, MN [USA] ) -20 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) -21 (Houston -Candice & Megan, TX (USA) ) -22 (Budapest (Hungary) ) -23 (Singapore - Zannnie (Singapore) ) -24 (Dubai (UAE) ) -25 (Singapore -Keropokman (Singapore) ) -26 (Madrid -Dsole (Spain) ) -27 (Mazatlan -Kate (Mexico) ) -28 (Nelson (New Zealand) ) -29 (Vantaa (Finland) ) -30 (Kyoto (Japan) ) -31 (Tokyo (Japan) ) -32 (Joplin, MO (USA) ) -33 (Auckland (New Zealand) ) -34 (Sequim, WA (USA) ) -35 (Menton (France) ) -36 (Minneapolis, MN (USA) ) -37 (Istanbul (Turkey) ) -38 (Sydney -Nathalie (Australia) ) -39 (Sharon, CT (USA) ) -40 (Seattle, WA (USA) ) -41 (Anderson, SC (USA) ) -42 (Monte Carlo, (Monaco) ) -43 (Milano, (Italy) ) -44 (Grenoble (France) ) -45 (Wailea, HI (USA) ) -46 (Guelph, ON (Canada) ) -47 (Melbourne - John (Australia) ) -48 (New York City (USA) [Ming_the_Merciless] ) -49 (Cebu (Philippines) ) -50 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) -51 (Antigua Guatemala (Central America) ) -52 (Hamburg (Germany) ) -53 (London -Jonemo (UK) ) -54 (Hong Kong ) -55 (Stavanger (Norway) ) -56 (Paris (France) ) -57 (Naples, Florida (USA) ) -58 (Saarbrücken (Germany) ) -59 (Shanghai (China) ) -60 (Quito (Ecuador) ) -61 (Zurich (Switzerland) ) -62 (Joensuu ( Finland ) ) -63 (Aliso Viejo, CA (USA) ) -64 (Cheltenham (England) ) -65 (Brussels (Belgium)) -66 (Montreal (Canada))

Pizza Girl

This is the walkway which runs in front of a handful of stores on Shaff Rd., including a pizza place. The young woman in the photo was just returning after delivering pizzas to some lucky folks.

Mmmmm, pizza. I could never work in a pizza place. I'd eat all the profits. ;)

School's Out

I don't want to shock anyone, but I actually managed to remember my camera and a spare battery when I went out to take pictures yesterday. I didn't get many photos taken, because the weather was being extremely annoying. But I did get a few.

Today's photo was taken out front of St. Mary's, which is a private catholic school for grades one through eight. The kids were leaving school for the weekend... which was always a happy time when I was in school.

Tomorrow I shall endeavor to post a photo in color, since the last handful I've posted have been black and white. Since the weather's been so dreary lately, things haven't looked good in color. But tomorrow I'll see what I can do.

Salvation Army Bell Ringers

Thanks to everyone who guessed what the people in yesterday's photo were doing. Annie of Little Rock Daily Photo got it right with the first guess -- they were Salvation Army bell ringers. The World AIDS Day guesses were good, as well.

The photo above is the full shot of the two bell ringers, who were standing outside Safeway, which is one of Stayton's two grocery stores.

Annie, if you'll email me at 'site (at) specialweb.com' with your postal address, I'll get the postcard out to you right away.

Technorati tags: stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

DP Theme Day: A Photo from the Waist Down

This month's theme day was an interesting one -- to photograph someone from the waist down. I didn't end up taking my photo until two days ago, since I was having trouble finding an appropriate subject.

Think you can guess who the two men in my photo are doing? It shouldn't be difficult -- the red color should be a big clue. The first person to guess gets a postcard of the Stayton-Jordan Bridge from good ol' Stayton, Oregon. Then you can tell all your friends you received a post from some place you likely couldn't find on a map. ;)

I'll post the full photo tomorrow.

Several Daily Photo sites are participating in the 1st December theme, "A Photograph from the Waist Down." Please use the links to below to visit them.

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

1 (Porto ) - 2 (Greenville ) - 3 (Evry ) - 4 (Queens ) - 5 (Seattle, WA, USA ) - 6 (Stayton , OR, USA ) - 7 (Albuquerque, NM (USA) ) - 8 (Joplin, MO (USA) ) - 9 (Singapore (Raymond) ) - 10 (Guadalajara, Mexico ) - 11 (Santiago, Chile ) - 12 (London (UK) ) - 13 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) - 14 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) - 15 (Melbourne, Aust (John) ) - 16 (Phoenix, AZ (US) ) - 17 (Twin Cities, MN ) - 18 (Newcastle Upon Tyne (England) ) - 19 (St. Paul, MN (USA) Carol ) - 20 (Szentes (Hungary) ) - 21 (Tuzla (BiH) ) - 22 (St. Paul Kate ) - 23 (Dubai (U.A.E.) ) - 24 (Nelson (New Zealand) ) - 25 (Sharon, CT USA ) - 26 (Tenerife (Spain) ) - 27 (Auckland (New Zealand) ) - 28 (Budapest (Hungary) ) - 29 (Sydney, Australia (Sally) ) - 30 (Sequim, WA ) - 31 (East Lansing, MI (USA) ) - 32 (Vantaa; Finland ) - 33 (Singapore (Zannnie) ) - 34 (Paris (France) ) - 35 (Kuala Lumpur ) - 36 (Shanghai, China ) - 37 (Sydney Aust (Nathalie) ) - 38 (Hyde (UK) ) - 39 (Akita City, Japan ) - 40 (Tokyo (Japan) ) - 41 (Rotterdam ) - 42 (Manila (Philippines) ) - 43 (Not Strictly Seattle ) - 44 (Stavanger (Norway) ) - 45 (Hong Kong ) - 46 (Chattanooga, Tennessee ) - 47 (Barcelona (Spain) ) - 48 (Trujillo (Peru) ) - 49 (Naples Florida ) - 50 (Delta Colorado ) - 51 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - 52 (Cheltenham, England) - 53 (Saarbrücken, Germany)

Technorati tags: stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

Scenes From a Table

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday had a great holiday. My brother and his family came out to our house and we ate entirely too much, talked too loud, and nobody got in a fight with anyone, so it was all good.

That's my 14-year-old niece pictured above eating during Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know why she suddenly became shy in front of the camera, because she's usually anything but. Oh, wait, sure I do -- she's a teenager. It's her job to be contrary.

FYI, her shirt says: "I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day."

Technorati tags: stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

Mountain man at the Oregon Covered Bridge Festival

I thought I'd throw in one more photo from the festival before we moved on to other things. Today's photo is of a "mountain man" who demonstrated what it was like to live off the land. It was his mules featured in yesterday's photo.

The man, Tom Marquette, definitely looked the part. Looking at him, with his grizzled beard, old fashioned clothes, etc., was like looking at another time. His setup was right across from a man doing wood carving, and another making arrowheads out of obsidian.

There's just something rather nifty about going to something like this. That, of course, is the great food you can get (like the grilled brown sugar chicken I had), but the other stuff is good, too. ;)

Technorati tags: oregon covered bridge festival / stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

Sliding Up

When I was a kid, oh so long ago, playgrounds had slides made of metal. On hot days, the slides would heat up and burn the backs of your legs, whether you were wearing shorts or pants. And if you were wearing shorts, by golly, you'd stick to the dang things, no matter what the weather. And all the slides had that flat area at the end which pooled water when it rained, and that pool would stay there for days, rendering the slide basically useless. That was part of being a kid, back in my day.

Slides are different now. They all seem to be made of molded plastic. There's no way such slides could heat up like the metal ones did. And where are the flat areas to pool the water? Is nothing sacred anymore?!

Well, what slides are made of may have changed, but the way children play on them certain hasn't. I can't tell you how many times I walked up a slide like the boy in the photo is doing, just to slide back down and do it all over again.

Of course, in my day it was harder. You can't slip on plastic like you could on metal. Especially when it rained. Ah, the good ol' days. ;)

The above photo was taken at Westown Park in Stayton.

Technorati tags: stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

Boys on boards

After I was finished taking pictures the other day of the construction site (and its photogenic garbage bin ;) ), I was in the middle of putting my camera away when three boys on skateboards zipped by me. I just barely managed to get my camera back out and turned on to take the above photo. They were practically gone before I even realized they were there. I apologize for the blurriness.

This was taken on 1st Ave in Stayton, next to where a dentist's office (which used to be a pharmacy), which is next to where that dentist's office will be (that building used to be a dog groomer's place), which is in front of the library (which used to be the fire department), and across the street from a parking lot (which used to be a house and yard), and it's also across the street from the phone company (seen in the background of the photo), which also used to be the cable company and also used to be a cell phone provider, but then it wasn't, and now it is again. I think.

And I am my own grandpa.

Technorati tags: skateboarding / stayton / willamette valley / oregon / daily photo / photoblog

That's a Big Elephant Ear

Another photo today from Saturday's Santiam SummerFest in Stayton. The guy in the photo just bought an elephant ear (it's made of fried dough, for those who aren't aware) and looks perplexed as to how he's going to keep it on the plate, let alone eat it all.

But that's part of what festivals and fairs are for, aren't they? You eat food you wouldn't otherwise eat, in quantities that would feed remote villages for days.

Don't forget to check out my Flickr photo gallery of the event.

I also created a Cars, Car, and More Cars photo gallery because I seem to have amassed a fair amount of photos of them. I can't identify them unless they explicitly say what they are, since I know virtually nothing about cars. If anyone can offer up info about the cars in the set, please post a comment on there to help me out. I'd really appreciate it.

Santiam SummerFest

Yesterday was this year's Santiam SummerFest in Stayton. I went with the express purpose of taking photos to share here. Okay, and to eat some curly fries. And to buy my mother a Buddha statue. And I had the best strawberry smoothie in the world.

But, really, it was all about the photos. To that end, I've created a Flickr gallery of the event for your viewing pleasure. There are classic cars, dogs, people more classic cars, more dogs, and various other things.

I'll probably post one or two more pictures from the event here on the blog over the next couple of days.

By the way, I want to send a big thank you to everyone (and there were many) who saw I was taking photos and kindly stopped before they walked into the shots. I really appreciate it.

Bicycling to the park

This man has the right idea, riding his bike to the park on a sunny day. I take my bike most places I go. Of course, my bike has a motor since it's technically a scooter, so I don't need to pedal. I don't exert myself at all, really, beyond turning the throttle and steering to make it go. Still, it has two wheels, so close enough.

The picture was taken at Pioneer Park in Stayton.

A reminder: if you have any nifty Willamette Valley area photos you'd like to share here, feel free to send 'em on over. Check the right-hand side for contact info. You can email the photo or send me a link. Thanks!

A kid being a kid

This adorable little boy was playing at Pioneer Park in Stayton the other day. I love the expression on his face, and the stains on his shirt. A kid being a kid.

Be sure to click on the photo to see the full-sized version.

Happy 4th of July!

Today marks the United States' independence day. The photo above is my niece lighting a firework in south Salem, July 4, 2005.

To everyone who celebrates the holiday -- have fun and be safe. To everyone else... well, you be safe and have fun, too. If you don't have fireworks available, put some Mentos in some Coca Cola and see what happens. If you've already seen it, watch it again.