Silverton Advantage Magazine December 2022

Dec. 20 is GamesNationalDay!

Gamers Win Big

with DirectLink High-Speed Internet

After a long day of work or studying, many people relax by immersing themselves in a video game. In fact, about 60% of Americans play video games daily, and there will be over 3 billion active gamers worldwide by 2023. Some folks might be gamers without even realizing it. Do you have any guilty pleasure smartphone games you like to play, like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, or Words with Friends? Over half of all gamers use their smartphones to play games, further showing that the typical persona of what a gamer looks like has changed. For example, the average gamer is 34 years old, owns a house, and has children.

more people getting into gaming, the fast, reliable internet service is greater last thing anyone wants is to be from victory, about to bring glory to set a new leaderboard record, only to internet lag or go out completely. Gamers that reacts as fast as they do and doesn’t during busy times. Online players fast upload speeds as they are sending information up to the internet. tell your character to jump or line up a you’re using upload speeds. DirectLink high-speed internet with upload speeds faster than other providers in the area Fiber to the Home connections.

Percentage of Americans Who Play Video Games

Kids: 76%

Adults: 67%

With more and more people getting into gaming, the importance of fast, reliable internet service is greater than ever. The last thing anyone wants is to be moments away from victory, about to bring glory to their team or set a new leaderboard record, only to have the internet lag or go out completely. Gamers need internet that reacts as fast as they do and doesn’t slow down during busy times. Online players especially need fast upload speeds as they are continuously sending information up to the internet. Every time you tell your character to jump or line up a row of candies, you’re using upload speeds. DirectLink offers quality, high-speed internet with upload speeds up to 10 times faster than other providers in the area on future-proof Fiber to the Home connections.

Discovering Woodburn is sponsored by our friends at Comcast Business.

FINDING YOUR GROOVE

Swenson Creates Woodburn’s Hot Gathering Spot

BY HILARY BERG

Community is essential for the success of any sized town. For Woodburn’s former mayor, Eric Swenson, he’s made it his business. At The Groove Café La Onda, Swenson and business associate Luis Lamas have cultivated a gathering place under the delicious disguise of an artisan coffee shop. Located in The Metropolis building in downtown Woodburn, The Groove offers a menu filled with tasty temptations. Food items such as house-made sandwiches and pastries join espresso drinks, smoothies, hot chocolate, chai and more. The menu seems like any other Oregon café, with almond, oat, soy, and hemp milk options, but the coffee beans themselves hint at something more intentional.

The coffee is imported directly from Guatemala and the Southern Mexican states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas, which is fitting for Swenson, whose wife, Alejandra, is a proud native of Mexico and bilingual teacher in the Woodburn School District for more than 25 years.

Sixteen years ago, when their son, Jonathan, was three, the Swensons moved to Woodburn, where he has been allowed to experience the rich culture of his Mexican roots and small-town U.S.A. — Jonathan played on his high school state-champion soccer team and in Woodburn’s well-renowned mariachi group.

Swenson learned Spanish working his way through college at a Mexican restaurant in Salem. His son, already a Spanish

ABOVE: The Groove’s upstairs space is the perfect place for business meetings.

...DISCOVERING WOODBURN AND BEYOND

speaker, also became fluent in Russian through Woodburn's Russian immersion program, beginning in kindergarten.

Swenson served as a middle and high school principal before retiring, being elected mayor and opening the coffee shop in 2021.

At the Swenson house, diversity is not merely a buzzword but a part of their lives. In fact, Woodburn boasts the largest Hispanic population in the state at more than 60%.

This statistic gives the city a vibrant foundation and a unique opportunity for residents to bridge the cultural gap. At the coffee shop, Swenson does so serving Mexican drinks such as horchata with coffee, along with their popular Mayan mocha.

More than bringing together cultures, Swenson also hopes to create community-building opportunities for customers with shared interests.

His idea is to make the café a portal of sorts where people

can find their “groove,” their own micro-community. Serving more than 30 years in education, Swenson says everyone — kids and adults alike — have something to offer, an interest that fuels them. Whether it’s knitting or playing the bass guitar or reading poetry, The Groove will soon be Woodburn’s venue to make social connections and foster those kinds of relationships — c heck The

Groove’s Facebook soon for more about this effort.

Besides the tables and chairs in the coffee shop, an upstairs room is available for such “groovy” groups wishing for a little more privacy. The Woodburn Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have held meetings in the space, but it’s for any social or business gathering accommodating 20 to 100 people. Drinks and food are catered by The Groove or The Hungry Lion, Vaquero BBQ and Tequila’s Bistro Bar, which round out the culinary offerings downstairs.

Whether you’re thirsty for espresso or thirsty for conversation with community members you know or have never met, The Groove is the place in Woodburn for gathering and connection. So, come on by and find your groove. 

The Groove owner Eric Swenson (right) chats with a friend while enjoying a coffee.