Oregon150

Ongoing Exploration

Merina Christoffersen
Waterfalls of Oregon

by Merina Christoffersen
Marcola, OR
My favorite memory of this state? Youngs River Falls…off a rope swing as a child. I fell in love - So many waterfalls! Once I learned to drive I visited the Columbia River Gorge - Hiking Oneonta and the Punchbowl and Tunnel Falls. Later motorcycling into Golden and [...]

Window View

Kim Hall
Cascades

by Kim Hall
Salem, Oregon
I boarded the 8:30 morning train leaving Klamath Falls headed to Salem. Stepping onto the train with my black bag containing a few personal items, I looked for a seat next to a window. Several passengers had boarded the train with me and seats were running out, so I quickly took a [...]

My Oregon, 1998

Elizabeth Danek
Portland

by Elizabeth Danek
Portland, Oregon
The decision was made. After an eleven-year absence, we would move back to the states—to Oregon. I found the beauty of the region and the pace of life a sanctuary. Within weeks, I secured a teaching position in Portland.
“Take only what’s necessary,” I told them upon my return to [...]

Oregon by Choice

Darla Neiman
Coos Bay, Oregon

Darla Neiman
Coos Bay, Oregon
I didn’t want to come to Oregon but I had no choice. It was 1952 and I was sixteen and you went with your parents.
We came to the Coos Bay Area from Washington state-having been born in Texas and raised there until I was fourteen. As we drove across the [...]

Strangers on Unfamiliar Ground

Nancy Hill
Lake Oswego, Oregon

by Nancy Murphy
We had little in common. I was 18 and new to Oregon, having taken the phrase “Go west young man” to heart. Never mind I was a girl. I’d looked forward to 1971 and coming of age for a long time. Sam was over 80, a native Oregonian living in a nursing home [...]

Why Do I Love Oregon?

Marie Arnold
Coos Bay

By Marie Arnold
Coos Bay, Oregon

My Oregon

Dorothy Heath
Marshfield & Coos Bay

Dorothy Heath
Ocean Ridge Retirement Community
Coos Bay, Oregon
For 90 years, I’ve lived in Oregon and called it home. May 28, 1918 was the special day when I was born on south Sixth Street in Marshfield. My plan was to continue spending the rest of my life there but an unexpected operation caused me to change my [...]

Oregon at First Glance

Jhana McCullum
Roseburg, Oregon

Jhana McCullum
Roseburg, Oregon
When I first traveled through Oregon, I was totally amazed at its beauty. Even along I-5, its splendor overwhelmed me. I saw hawks floating on air waves high above rugged peaks, a clean blue sky and trees that stood tall and proud testifying of greatness. The air was cleaner than any I could [...]

My Oregon Song

Kristen Owen
Seaside, OR

Kristen Owen
Broadway Middle School
Seaside, Oregon
When I first thought about writing this story I thought “this won’t be that exciting,” but I was presented with a choice to write a song and I took that option up immediately. This song tells about what Oregon is like, and if anything changed, what I would miss:
The oceans are [...]

Brett Willyard’s Oregon Story

Brett Willyard
Broadway Middle School
Seaside, Oregong
Oregon is a very beautiful state, there’s only one problem, you never get the time to really explore it. But that all changed in late December 2007, when the power got knocked out for a week. The first couple days of the storm were fierce, tipping over trees in every direction. [...]

Oregon Essay

Jose Sosa
Broadway Middle School
Seaside, Oregon
When I first came to Oregon, I was kind of sad because my cousins and friends live in California. At first I felt like this place was so ugly but after I went to school and met new friends I felt better. There are some beautiful places like Seaside and [...]