May is when the annual "UFO Festival" in McMinnville is celebrated. This is the second-largest UFO festival in the nation after the one held in Roswell, New Mexico. The McMinnville UFO festival began in 1999 – and was a way to honor the 1950 sighting where two local citizens witness and photographed a UFO. The photos were printed in Life magazine by Paul and Evelyn Trent at their farm outside of McMinnville. On June 8, 1950, Powell's story of the incident—accompanied by the two photos—was published as a front-page story in the McMinnville Telephone-Register. The headline read: "At Long Last—Authentic Photographs Of Flying Saucer. This year they celebrated their 25th Festival. To learn more about this event please visit: ufofest.com. In 1974, the National UFO reporting center was established in Davenport Washington. This is a non-governmental, non profit organization registered in Washington State. Additional sightings continued to be reported – such as the sighting of a UFO over East Salem reported in January 1979 as reported by multiple residents to the Capitol Journal, who said they saw a round glowing object with red flashing lights, hovering in the sky. If you want to learn more about the National UFO reporting center please visit: https://nuforc.org/

April is World Landscape Architecture Month (WLAM). Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver practiced landscape architecture together in Salem, Oregon, from 1929 to the 1969. Their firm was the first office of professional women landscape architects on the West Coast.

In Salem, the Lord and Schryver Conservancy works to ensure the home gardens designed by Elisabeth Lord and Edith Schryver are maintained.

To learn more:

Read the Book: “Northwest Gardens of Lord and Schryver”

Visit Lord and Schryver Conservancy: lordschryver.org

New in 2025: Drop by and enjoy Gaiety Hollow Garden at on Wednesdays 10-4 (May thru September).

Watch the Video “Women of Mission”. This video explores the lives of four of Salem's most interesting women: Elizabeth Lord, Edith Schryver, Sally Bush, and Alice Brown. Salem's garden and parks wouldn't be the same without the influence of these important women.

On April 5th we celebrated our 7th annual Qing Ming Festival. Qing Ming is an annual celebration where we honor the Chinese who have lived and worked in our community. This year Salem’s Mayor, Julie Hoy read the Qing Ming Proclamation and swept the Chinese community funerary table at Pioneer’s Cemetery – and also shared her connection of a relative of hers, to Helen Ng Mun Tayne, who was born here in Salem. Helen’s father had come to Salem from China in 1879, and he became a hop grower. Helen Ng Mun Tayne was born on a hop ranch not too far away from Salem’s Pioneer Cemetery on 28 April 1906. Helen served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAC) throughout WWII. After the war, Helen continued to serve and she officially retired from the U.S. Army in 1964 as a Chief Warrant Officer 3, after more than 20 years of service. After Helen’s death in 1967 she was buried in Salem’s Pioneer cemetery near her family. Helen’s grave marker is one of four matching family stones that stand in a neat row not too far from the Chinese funerary table. To learn more about her life, and to see a picture please visit: https://www.willametteheritage.org/commemorating-the-life-of-cw3-helen-ng-mun-tayne/

March is Women’s History Month. 2025’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”

Chloe Aurelia Clark was a Methodist Missionary who initially came to Oregon in 1840 and served as a Missionary teacher in Nisqually, Oregon City and Salem. Chloe reflects the intelligence, strength and resiliency of a woman from this period. Chloe was born in Connecticut, and educated at the Wilbraham Academy, the seminary that trained a number of the Oregon missionaries including Jason Lee. Chloe married William Willson and she came to Salem in 1844 where she became Oregon Institute’s first teacher. This school later became Willamette University. Chloe later became Governess of the Ladies Department at Willamette University. She lived in a large house near campus, and female students boarded with her. In 1880, her former house was moved two blocks to the university and housed the Willamette Women’s College, later named Lausanne Hall.

To read Chloe’s original diary visit Willamette University’s digital collections. To see a picture of Chloe and learn more, please visit The Willamette Heritage Centers digital exhibit documenting her life.

Show notes:

March is Women’s History Month. 2025’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”

Caralyn (Carrie) B. Shelton, was the Nation’s first female Governor, who served right here in Oregon in 1909. She stepped into this role after Governor Chamberlain resigned and before Governor Benson could be sworn in. This was three years before Oregon women even had the right to vote! It took another 11 years for women nationwide to finally earn the same right with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

In response to being asked by the Capitol Journal on February 27, 1909 about how she felt about taking on the job - she was quoted in the saying: “I want to fill the governor’s shoes, and he really has a small foot, [but]I fear the principal trouble will be in trying to fill his hat.”

To learn more and to see a photograph of Carolyn, please visit The Willamette Heritage Centers digital exhibit documenting her life.

March is Women’s History Month. 2025’s theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”

Nell Sykes was a Salem schoolteacher, who lived at 1251 Center Street NE here in Salem during the 1920s. She was a teacher in Salem Public Schools - dietician who served the American Red Cross Commission to Siberia between 1918 and 1920. To see a photo of Nell in the Library of Congress prints and photographs online catalog from April 10, 1920, please visit their American National Red Cross photograph collection.

If you want to learn more about the work of the American Red Cross in Russia during their Civil War, please take a look at Julia Irwin’s article titled “The Great White Train” in Science Direct’s Endeavour journal, Volume 36 no. 3.

In the Spring of 1964 an 11 year old boy named Charles from Salem Oregon sent a hand written letter to Cape Kennedy in Florida. The Chief of the Aerial Phenomena Branch at the Airforce wrote back to Charles in October of that year, and the sighting became part of the thousands of reports collected by the Air Force as part of Project Blue Book, which was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects by the US Air Force between March 1952 and December 1969. To learn more, visit vault.fbi.gov and search for Project Blue Book.

Salem had a Chinatown downtown from the late 19th Century through the early 20th Century. Salem's Chinese contributed significantly to Salem's community and culture during this period, with George Lai Sun serving as a key leader in this community. While Salem's Chinatown is no longer extant downtown, we still have evidence of their culture and tradition, which can still be found within Salem’s Pioneer Cemetery where we continue celebrating the Qing Ming Festival.

To learn more please see the OHQ Article Searching for Salem’s Early Chinese Community as well as Russell Lowe’s book A Willow Tree Becomes a Forest.