Members of Coastal Hills Quilters are among the artists participating in the annual Coastal Hills Art Tour.

WILLAMINA - Ila Skyberg, like so many West Valley residents and out-of-towners, will ring in the holiday season by participating in the 17th annual Coastal Hills Art Tour on Friday and Saturday.

While the event has become a long-standing tradition in the area, Skyberg fondly remembers the Country Christmas celebration of years gone by. It was held at the old elementary school that burned down.

"There's been a show of one type or another for years," said Skyberg, a Willamina resident and businesswoman.

Tour Director Geneva Spees' association with the event spans 14 years. She once owned ArtWorks Studio and Gallery in Willamina, where she taught classes, in addition to specializing in portrait paintings, in both acrylic and oil, of people and animals. The shop closed in 2003.

Spees said it was exciting to have a lot of people in town for a couple of days when the tour was held, and she's more than ready to reopen a studio so she can enjoy the experience again.

"I want to help promote all the wonderful art we have in the area and bring some recognition to downtown Willamina," said Spees, regarding her involvement in the tour.

It will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Tour maps will be available at all tour sites, the Galloping Goose train car at the west end of Main Street and at the Willamina Library.

Artists participating in this year's tour are:

Julie Biller, fused glass jewelry; Bill Boyson, ceramics and functional stoneware; Grand Ronde Art Guilt, paintings; Dave Hansen, hammered copper vessels; Melissa Hansen and Jennifer Kent, jewelry; Cheryl Hudson, paintings and sketches; Peggy Kearl, jewelry; Cindy Martinsen, acrylic/oil paintings and fabric art; Walt Mendenhall, metal sculpture; Gary Wooden, wooden bowls, and the Coastal Hills Quilters.

Mendenhall will hold his annual studio sale at his Willamina Creek Road residence. The quilters will celebrate their 10th annual show and sale at the VFW Hall on East Main Street. They will give away a free quilt as a door prize.

"We have wonderful artists," Spees said. "What can I say? There's a real variety. It's a wonderful quilt show - the best one next to Sisters. Our women are hard workers."

Members of the Willamina Business Group and the Willamina Coastal Hills Chamber of Commerce sponsor the tour, and Spees said the event is a culmination of hard work on the part of many volunteers each year. Everyone has a job to do and they carry out their responsibility well, according to Spees. That makes the tour a success and popular event.

"You step back in time when you come to Willamina," she said. "Big city people love a small town. We have the hay rides which are unique compared to a lot of tours."

This year, event organizers are reintroducing the "Take the Tour" card. Each artist donates a piece of artwork for a drawing, to be entered by visitors who have their card stamped at each tour location. Eleven names will be drawn; winners will be contacted following the tour.