growing up in portland
by Vern Pruitt
Hood River, OR
My parents moved to Portland in 1946 from Kansas, bringing my older brothers and sister. And in 1950 my other sister was born and I came along in 1952. Watching the changes since then makes me miss the ’50s and ’60s before we lost neighborhoods, and the age of innocence. I also had a father who drove the bus on the route in North Portland on Interstate when Vanport was wiped out by a flood, and then attend the Oregon Centennial on the same spot in 1959.
Having done alot of traveling in my life and seen what else is out there, I can tell you that there is no place like home. I now am living in Hood River and learning of it’s special beauty and appeal. I AM AN OREGONIAN and proud to call Oregon my home, the special place it is and the people who make it so.
To all who discover this place- just realize that it is this way for a reason and become an Oregonian also. For the rest of you, to paraphrase a former governor -Welcome to Oregon, enjoy your stay, but please don’t stay.
