Nationally renowned metal sculptor Walt Mendenhall chats with Regina Harwood of McMinnville during the Coastal Hills Art Tour.

Karl Klooster / News-Register

Lori and Don Lee of Estacada harness their 2,100 pound Percheron draft horses, Chase and Rock, in preparation for giving hay wagon rides.

Karl Klooster / News-Register

The Coastal Hills Quilters filled the Willamina VFW Hall with more than 500 examples of their work for the Art Tour.

Karl Klooster / News-Register

Grand Ronde Art Guild member Ron Thornhill of Willamina creates collages using real tree leaves.

Karl Klooster / News-Register

An intricately decorated pottery pitcher by Dan Willis of McMinnville requires two separate kiln firing steps.

Karl Klooster / News-Register

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Back in 1991, local leaders in the West Yamhill Valley town of Willamina met to discuss ways they might generate a higher profile for their hometown.

Its longtime nickname, Timbertown USA, lent an image of commercial success in the forest products industry dominated Pacific Northwest, but was hardly a tourist magnet.

Willamina's signature event, its annual July 4th celebration, was a local success story.

Still, its draw was then and remains today primarily local. That's great for community cohesiveness, but does little to attract outside attention.

Betty Frownfelter, who joined her husband, Auggie, in devoting 20 years to community building, led the charge. She was joined by other art-oriented locals, including April Wooden and Rita Burr.

As prominent local merchants and property owners, the Frownfelters had a stake in the town's future, to be sure. But Betty's motivation stemmed more from the thought of being able to look back and say, "I made that happen."

When pondering possibilities, the group noted there were quite a few talented artists and craftspeople living in the area. Perhaps the town could put on an event to showcase the work of these gifted local folks, members reasoned.

Best known among them was metal sculptor Walt Mendenhall, who had already been creating exquisite pieces for seven years. Now nationally known, he is celebrating his studio's 25th anniversary this year.

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Why not have a weekend tour? Artists and crafters were excited about the prospect.

Judy Buswell, who had recently opened an art gallery on Main Street, offered her place as one of the tour sites. Others followed suit.

They decided it would be an annual event held the second weekend in November, a time when little else was going on. The Coastal Hills Art Tour got off to a splendid start the following year.

Though Mendenhall's studio was a couple of miles northwest, the logistics worked to the tour's benefit. The only direct way to get there was by driving through the heart of town.

Art lovers bent on seeing the sculptor's stunning stuff stopped to see other artworks on the way, then stopped again on their way back. In the process, they discovered much more to their liking than just that singular attraction.

In essence, the town's entire downtown district was turned into one big arts and crafts gallery. Except instead of walking from one room to another as in a large gallery or museum, tour-goers walked down the street and entered buildings prominently marked with signs.

Frownfelter chuckled when she recalled how that first year so impressed folks in McMinnville that they decided to do something similar. The Yamhill County Art Harvest Studio Tour was launched in 1993.

The Coastal Hills Tour's 18th annual edition took place Nov. 13 and 14. For those into a little fun, the whole family could climb aboard a hay wagon drawn by a two-horse team of Percherons and be driven to all the gallery sites on the in-town tour.

This was the third year Don and Lori Lee of Estacada had brought their prized Percherons - an ancient French draft breed - to participate in the tour. The two gentle giants, Chase, 10 and Rock, 11, weigh about 2,100 pounds each.

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Eight in-town sites, as well as Mendenhall's studio, were featured on this year's tour. It stretched seven blocks along Main Street, from just west of the Willamina Creek Bridge to the fire hall at the east end of town.

Arts and crafts ranged the gamut of creative expression. There were oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, collages, pottery pieces, ceramics, photos, quilts, stoneware works, jewelry pieces, carved wooden bowls, other woodworking pieces and even examples of the horticultural art of bonsai.

The Coastal Hills Quilters brought more than 500 colorfully quilted pieces, from king-bed size to side-table runners, filling the VFW Hall. Prolific quilter Chris Darr supplied almost 300 of the pieces.

The group has been together for 12 years.

Pat Hyatt, who had moved to Fossil, drove the 200-plus miles to be on hand. And in 2002, members traveled to Paducah, Kentucky for the American Quilters' Society annual show.

At the fire hall, members of the Grand Ronde Art Guild held forth with an eclectic array of canvases.

Ron Thornhill of Willamina uses real and really big maple leaves to create striking collages. He also illustrates book written by his grandson, Kaleb.

Watercolorist Terry Dills displays a deft and delicate hand. She believes in affordable originals, pricing nothing over $250.

Prints of her work sell for $16. Card-sized reproductions cost $2.

After several years at April Wooden's historic Kershaw House, The Tea Room moved over to Willamina Maley's Mercantile & Cakery this year, at the invitation of owner Ila Skyberg.

Skyberg's shop is a year-round mecca of decor-oriented artistry. She and her husband also own the local hardware store.

She hosted a post-tour gathering for organizers and exhibitors to critique the event, which they felt had gone very well. Dry weather Saturday brought good attendance, and translating into solid sales.