Hold on to your myrtlewood as Pink Martini and the 234th Army Band—Oregon National Guard and Oregon 150 present Oregon! Oregon! 2009: A sesquicentennial fable in IV acts, which will debut August 28, 2009 at the Oregon State Fair and then tour the state – the icing on the cake of the state’s 150th birthday party. Tickets are on now on sale statewide.

In 1959 – to celebrate Oregon’s centennial – the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company commissioned the Grammy Award-winning radio personality Stan Freberg to write a 21-minute-long musical comedy about the Beaver State. What resulted was a hilarious tale of two explorers in 1859 named Harry and David, their encounter with a witch, and the subsequent birth of a state which must go back into the bottle after 100 years … that is, if the citizens of 1959 can’t break the spell.

Fifty years later a team of Oregonians – including Chariots of Fire conductor Harry Rabinowitz (age 92), Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini, PICA Flash Choir’s Sarah Dougher & Pat Janowski and the writers of Livewire! – have teamed up to write a new Act IV … complete with brand new songs and rollicking plot! Unlike the 1959 Oregon! Oregon! the show is being performed live, with Pink Martini and the 234th Army Band—Oregon National Guard joined by a surprise cast of Oregonians.

“We are so proud to have Oregon’s own, internationally-renowned Pink Martini and our amazing 234th Army Band performing Oregon! Oregon! 2009 across our state,” said First Lady Mary Oberst, chair of Oregon 150. “This will be a fantastic, memorable and hilarious birthday present for Oregon, and the Governor and I invite everyone to join us for the performances and blow out the candles on our official sesquicentennial celebration.”

Lauderdale, a member of the board of directors of Oregon 150, the non-profit organization appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski to plan this year’s sesquicentennial celebration, is a collector of Oregon kitsch and was entranced by the 1959 soundtrack. The 2009 update is made possible through generous support of The Kinsman Foundation, The Wessinger Foundation, Stoel Rives LLP, PICA, and the Hotel DeLuxe and Hotel Lucia in Portland.

With sets by Portland-artist Scrappers and an all-star Oregonian cast backed by the 234th Army Band—Oregon National Guard and Pink Martini, Oregon! Oregon! 2009 will debut on the opening night of the Oregon State Fair, followed by performances in Bend and Jacksonville. The final performance – in Portland – will be presented in the bowl of the historic Memorial Coliseum (built in 1959) for one night only – Saturday, September 5! Each performance will be followed by a full set by Pink Martini.

Oregon! Oregon! 2009 Performances and Tickets
Schedule

8/28: Salem, Oregon State Fair,
8/29: Bend, Les Schwab Amphitheater
8/30: Jacksonville, The Britt Festival (reserved seats sold out! General admission tickets still available)
9/5: Portland, Memorial Coliseum

Tickets - start at $12.00

Salem (State Fair)
(1-800-992-8499 or www.Ticketswest.com) and all participating Safeway TicketsWest outlets in Oregon, and at the Oregon State Fair office (2330 17th Street NE Salem, OR; 8:00 AM-5:00 PM on weekdays).

Bend

Jacksonville

Portland

More information is available at www.oregon150.org or by calling Oregon 150 toll free (877) 355-6905.

Born in 1941, Cliff moved to Oregon in 1962 to find work after serving in the military. Just after moving to Portland, he decided to visit his mother—coincidentally, the day he went to see her in Yakima, Washington, was October 12. Shortly after leaving town, the Columbus Day storm hit and he missed one of the biggest events in Oregon history.

Two of Cliff’s passions are fishing and cars. He thoroughly enjoys Oregon’s coast for its lakes and streams and fishing for large mouth bass. He always will remember landing a 48-inch sturgeon in the Columbia River by Westport. His fishing buddy advised him to hold the fishing pole tightly between his legs when fishing for sturgeon. Although this was good advice, Cliff learned that it was important where to hold the pole between your legs after the sturgeon struck the line. After struggling for half an hour to land it, Cliff says it was well worth it. He says it “cans up real nice…just like tuna.”

He has a couple of favorite car memories—one more pleasant than the other. The first is about his ‘56 Olds and a braggart acquaintance who had a ‘56 Pontiac. They decided to settle which car was fastest by going to the Tillamook blimp hanger to race. Cliff’s Olds won hands down with the dual four-barrel carburetor! The second memory involved a car he loved—a ‘53 Dodge—which he sold only to see it later at the Klamath Falls Fourth of July celebration as the focal point of the car bash fundraiser. “Ouch, it hurt!” he says.

Cliff has both fine memories and some life struggles. He had a stroke in the 1980s and more recently a sextuple bypass. In assisted care living, he gets around well in his motorized scooter and is thankful for Portland’s mass transit system that gets him wherever he wants to go.

I have lived in Oregon my entire life of 41 years. I was adopted through the State of Oregon as a newborn. When I found my birth parents at age 27, they both still lived in Oregon as well. I have camped and traveled through most of Oregon (thanks to my adopted parents who LOVE OREGON) I have lived in several cities in Oregon, but never more than 100 miles from Portland. My only daughter was born in Oregon. I have my favorite places in Oregon: Crater Lake, The Oregon Coast, Oregon Gardens, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. I am an avid amateur photographer and can’t imagine living someplace with more to photograph.

I love Oregon and early summer is my favorite time of year. Watching my yard come ‘back to life’ is amazing. The flowers and the yard are my own ‘quite place.’ I grew up in a state when parks are a priority and NO ONE OWNING THE BEACH is just the way we all enjoy it. Thanks to those that paved the way for the other 49 states to envy where we live. I hate to say it, but others should come visit, and then go back home and brag. We also have the strawberries (and other produce) that is second to none!

Life is great in Oregon!

Soon after I sat down with Mrs. Colleen Stoudt at the Providence ElderPlace, I learned that it was Australia Day. It was a fitting day for the interview since Colleen was born in Millaa Millaa, Australia in 1926. She had moved to the states with her husband, first to Michigan and then to Oregon, but I could see that her birthplace helped define the person who sat before me.

As a young girl, Colleen lived on a 25,000 acre cattle farm. She enjoyed riding her own horse, as did her brother and sister. She described a river that flowed through the property. Sifting the waters would sometimes reveal gold. Colleen’s father, John Thomas Hoffman, displayed a nonchalant attitude about the gold. “Let the help have it,” he would say. “You can’t take it with you; it’s long gone.”

One day her father encountered a yellow belly snake. The snake had just eaten a chicken. Rather than let the snake digest the meal, Jack Hoffman dissected it and freed the still-lively chicken. The bird ruffled its feathers and walked away as if nothing had happened. Jack then sewed the snake up. The reptile may have lost a meal, but it slithered away, stitched up and still alive. Colleen swore this story was true.

Her father fought in the Boer War in Africa and in World War I. Queen Victoria decorated him for his service. A medal and a box of chocolates from the Queen held places of honor in the household. Colleen and her siblings were told never to touch the chocolates.

When her mother became ill from cancer, her father moved the family to the more populated Brisbane for treatment. Colleen was only 9 years old when her mother died. Her father kept the family in Brisbane and went into construction work.

Colleen went to school and eventually became a dancer. She met her husband, Andrew Stoudt, at a dance studio and married him at 18 years of age. Colleen agreed to accompany him to his home in Battle Creek, Michigan.

While sailing across the Pacific, they stopped at several islands. Colleen wanted to arrive in America with a fresh set of clothes, so she decided New Zealand would be a convenient place to have her dresses cleaned. The cleaning process took much longer than she expected. The ship started to pull away with many of her clothes still in New Zealand. At the last possible second, a boy ran towards the ship and into the water. He held her dresses over his head and delivered them to the much-relieved and grateful Colleen.

After landing in San Francisco, they took a train to Battle Creek, Michigan. Here Colleen began her career as a tailor. She continued tailoring for many years and worked at Meier & Frank and JC Penney’s. Andrew earned a living primarily in construction. Nine years later, he decided that Oregon would be a better place to live, and the couple moved to Portland. They bought a house in the St. John’s neighborhood.

Colleen has lived in Portland ever since. Her husband died in 1980, and she adapted to an independent way of life.

She tells me she likes living at the Providence ElderPlace. She’s resided there since she had a fall about a year ago. Her daughter, a computer operator at an insurance company, lives only a mile away and visits often.

In her spare time, Colleens enjoys reading ancient history. She admits to practicing both Catholicism and Scientology. She enjoys attending the Scientologist Church when possible.

Colleen also loves writing poetry. She has had several poems published. As a great cat lover, she wrote a poem for a fellow resident entitled, “Geraldine My Feline Queen.” Her current cat, Pumpkin, live upstairs in her apartment. This cat adores Colleen and is dismayed when her owner goes downstairs.

At the end of our conversation, Colleen asked, “I hope I didn’t bore you with all these details?” I assured her the opposite was true. I found her stories to be fascinating, and it was a joy to spend the morning of Australia Day in conversation with her. I will not soon forget the snake with stitches, the boy with dresses held over his head, or Colleen herself, a delightful Oregonian, with a rich history all her own.

In celebration of Oregon’s 150th Birthday, Metroeast has gathered stories from Oregon’s residents telling why they live here, their fondest memories in Oregon and why they love this state.

Videos can be viewed at:

http://www.metroeast.org/productions/?id=255

or listened to on itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=321023628

Have we done our job as a community to raise productive, wise and functional prodigy? Perhaps. Regardless, they’re out there. Walking the streets, attending our schools, patronizing local businesses and learning how to overcome issues they have been given as a condition of citizenship.

Given that change is on the rise, it makes sense to engage those who will usher in the results of our work now, while there’s still room for them to help make decisions. Project 2059 began with a series of assumptions: the youth of Oregon have something to say. They care about their future, and given the opportunity, they would collaborate in creating a vision for what Oregon should look like in the future, and would come up with some ideas for what needs to be done to ensure that the future that they envision can be realized.

With that notion the youth visioning portion of Project 2059 began with a series of questions.

* Who are the youth of Oregon?
* What do these young people think are the most important issues facing their communities, and Oregon as a whole?
* Do they feel empowered, that their voice matters, that their voice has weight on issues that pertain to them or their future?

Stay tuned: Later this week we will have “Notes from the Road” an account of Travis’ travels around the state talking to youth about the future of Oregon and what is important to them.

About: Travis is the key program architect for Project 2059.His roles in Project 2059 include:Core Team Orientation & Planning & Steering, Strategic Communications planning and execution, Peer Community Development, Earned media, Youth facilitator, Media mentor, Executive media producer, Media spokesperson

The “Oral History at ElderPlace” project
Portland, OR

Alice grew up in St. Cloud Minnesota. Her family (husband, Paul and 3 children) followed her parents and siblings to Oregon to work in ship building. The family made the trip from Minnesota about 3 times before staying permanently. Alice did not want to stay in Oregon because it was “not home”. Unfortunately, they lost everything they had in the Vanport flood and did not have the means to return to Minnesota.

Alice’s parents and sister went to live in Seattle after the flood. Alice and her family lived in someone’s basement while they got back on their feet.

The Krauserts eventually settled in an old house on SE 99th Ave and SE Foster.

Paul “Bud” Krausert was a truck driver for Garret Freightliner for 22 years. He worked the local routes so that he could be home every night.

Alice Krausert worked in retail. She was a cashier at Meier & Frank in downtown Portland. She talked about how the cashiers were not suppose to take the elevators or draw attention to themselves. She had to dress proper, but nothing too flashy. She remembers her legs hurting form all the walking up and down stairs. Meier & Frank had 11 floors.

Alice later worked at Montgomery Ward, aka Monkey Ward, in NW Portland.

When not working Alice liked to play cards. Her father taught her how at age 5. No gambling though: “It takes out the fun.” Although, most of her time was spent taking care of her household. She purchased most of her produce at the area farms in SE Portland. The family loved her gravy and potatoes.

The Krausert family vacationed in Seaside a lot, along with many other Portland families that they knew.

Alice currently lives with her daughter Maria. Illness brought them together again. They have been living together for appromatley 20 years. Two years ago they moved to ElderPlace in SE Portland.

By: Travis Huntington

We all start with an idea.  Who are we?  Where are we?  What do we want?  How are we going to get it?  So marks the era of human evolution spanning several ages, continents and life ways.  One hundred and fifty years later, Oregon celebrates its past, its present and, with Project 2059, its future.  How do we celebrate the future?  By reaching out to the next tangible thing.  Our youth.

Have we done our job as a community to raise productive, wise and functional prodigy?  Perhaps.  Regardless, they’re out there.  Walking the streets, attending our schools, patronizing local businesses and learning how to overcome issues they have been given as a condition of citizenship.

Given that change is on the rise, it makes sense to engage those who will usher in the results of our work now, while there’s still room for them to help make decisions.  Project 2059 began with a series of assumptions: the youth of Oregon have something to say.  They care about their future, and given the opportunity, they would collaborate in creating a vision for what Oregon should look like in the future, and would come up with some ideas for what needs to be done to ensure that the future that they envision can be realized.

With that notion the youth visioning portion of Project 2059 began with a series of questions.

• Who are the youth of Oregon?
• What do these young people think are the most important issues facing their communities, and Oregon as a whole?
• Do they feel empowered, that their voice matters, that their voice has weight on issues that pertain to them or their future?

Stay tuned: Later this week we will have “Notes from the Road” an account of Travis’ travels around the state talking to youth about the future of Oregon and what is important to them.

About: Travis is the key program architect for Project 2059.His roles in Project 2059 include:Core Team Orientation & Planning & Steering, Strategic Communications planning and execution, Peer Community Development, Earned media, Youth facilitator, Media mentor, Executive media producer, Media spokesperson