Oregon’s Magazine
ON E CO MPA N Y T WO ICO N IC B RA N DS
TRIP PLANNER: UNION COUNTY PG. 96
Our Ski Guide to the PNW
Strawberry Cucumber Crush Cocktail
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September | October 2019 HOME + DESIGN
Jaguar Land Rover Portland is building to serve all of Oregon. In our 70th year of business, Don Rasmussen Company is pleased to announce the future home of Jaguar Land Rover Portland, coming in December.
INSPIRING RENOVATIONS
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From our new state-of-the-art facility, we look forward to serving you and future generations with world-class automobiles and SUVs, and excellence in service. Cheers!
A DON RASMUSSEN COMPANY jlrportland.com
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volume 59
YOUR LOTTERY DOLLARS MAKE A DIFFERENCE CLEANING RIVERS & BEACHES FUNDING NATURAL HABITATS & MORE ACROSS OREGON
SEE PROJECTS AT:
OregonLottery.org/watersheds
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HOME SWEET HOME For you, satisfaction is seeing the team’s project come to life. At SAIF, our team finds satisfaction in building awareness for workplace health and safety. With quality workers’ comp insurance and tools to help businesses prevent injuries, SAIF strives to make Oregon the safest and healthiest place to call home.
Protecting Oregon’s workforce. saif.com
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The Cutting Edge photography by Bradley Lanphear Duke Bendis is a classic Central Oregonian. He combines the old—vintage hatchets—with the new—used skateboard decks. The result is functional art with that rugged but refined Bend feel. (pg. 64)
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
Several of Duke Bendis’ hatchets on display.
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 5
FEATURES SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019 • volume 59
80 Lighting the Way At HiiH Lights in Astoria, a husband-and-wife team are bringing art and function together—with beautiful results. photography by Bill Purcell
68 Home Refresh Renovations take a lot—a lot of patience, a lot of creativity and a lot of hard work. We visit three remodels around the state that took a lot, but give plenty in return. written by Melissa Dalton
74 David and Goliath What’s more important—the history of the Oregon Trail, or power for the West’s growing population? Advocates and opponents are clashing over the proposed B2H transmission line in Eastern Oregon.
Bill Purcell
written by Lee Lewis Husk
6 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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DEPARTMENTS
LIVE 20 NOTEBOOK
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019 • volume 59
Embrace fall with Alpenfest, curl up with some Oregon-made country music, and a new book from Chuck Klosterman—Portland’s newest former New Yorker.
26 FOOD + DRINK
Learn to host a beer pairing party, check out Oregon’s best foodie party of the year—Feast—and then travel the state for the best grilled cheese sandwiches and fresh oysters.
32 FARM TO TABLE
Chances are, you’ve been eating onions from Eastern Oregon forever. We check in with Paul Skeen, who runs Skeen Farms in Nyssa. Then, we have recipes that incorporate Oregon onions as both a building block and the star of the dish.
40 HOME + DESIGN
Ben Herndon
Bathrooms may be small, but refreshing this vital room in a home can make it feel new again. Learn the lessons of a DIY bathroom remodel (hint: it always takes more time than you think).
22
48 MIND + BODY
Trevor McKenna is on the mound for the Hillsboro Hops this season, and he’s loving every minute of the opportunity.
50 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Jean Wells runs the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, a mecca for quilt lovers. She’s been quilting for fifty years and inspiring other quilters for nearly as long.
THINK 56 STARTUP
MilkRun is bringing the ease of online shopping to farm-fresh food.
58 WHAT’S GOING UP
The University of Oregon and Oregon State University campuses are growing in big ways.
60 WHAT I’M WORKING ON
We learn more about the burgeoning canned wine industry from its star, Ryan Harms and Union Wine Co.
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Editor’s Letter 1859 Online Map of Oregon Until Next Time
Bradley Lanphear
32
Joni Kabana
64 MY WORKSPACE
Duke Bendis handcrafts hatchets from old skateboard decks and vintage blades, making pieces that are as at home on the wall as the workbench.
66 GAME CHANGER
The Smiley Brothers have changed the North Tillamook County Food Bank, bringing fresh, local fish to those in need.
EXPLORE 88 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
Asia America brings the East to Portland, in the form of furniture, art and antiques.
90 ADVENTURE
Expand your ski vacation experiences this year, with our picks in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Canada.
94 LODGING
Salishan Resort, the grand dame of coastal Oregon resorts, has a facelift and a new adventure attitude.
96 TRIP PLANNER
COVER
Union County in Eastern Oregon is brimming with so many opportunities to take in beer, views and mountain activities, you’ll start planning a trip back during your first day.
photo by Leah Verwey (see Home Refresh, pg. 68)
100 NORTHWEST DESTINATION
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
Take in the wonder of Eastern Washington’s Palouse Falls State Park, then try the hospitality that makes Pullman such a memorable destination.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO
It takes inspiration. It takes immunotherapy research and education. And it takes remarkable surgeons like Dr. Paul Hansen. Every day he’s motivated by his patients and their life stories to fight liver and pancreatic cancer – and win.
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CONTRIBUTORS
BRADLEY LANPHEAR Photographer My Workspace
KIMBERLY BOWKER Writer Artist in Residence
BILL PURCELL Photographer Lighting the Way
LORI TOBIAS Writer Game Changer
When I’m not working behind a camera, my other passion is woodworking. Getting an assignment from 1859 where I can combine both art forms was a real creative treat. It was super fun to collaborate with local artist Duke Bendis and create some amazing images of him doing his craft. Creating art for artists is always a win. (pg. 64)
For many years, I have hoped to sit in long conversation with Jean Wells. I knew of her creative heart and community spirit from growing up in Central Oregon, and for this article she graciously invited me into her home. We sat in her living room with the Three Sisters in view, and just talked—about the surprises of time, the value of trusting and the excitement of exploring possibility. The piece was then written amid all the color at this year’s Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. (pg. 50)
When 1859 asks me to shoot an assignment, not only am I excited to photograph unique and creative people and places, but I also go into the assignment knowing I am likely to come out with a new set of friends. Spending the afternoon with Kestrel and Lâm was no exception. They have created a studio and home that is welcoming, beautiful and inspiring. I am lucky to have had a chance to meet them and document their creative process. I cannot wait until our paths cross again. (pg. 80)
When I met The Smiley Brothers in 2010, they didn’t have a name nor a clue of just what they’d started. That was the year they expected to process 250 hatchery fish, but were already at 726. They needed to raise cash for the processing—and they got it. Nine years later, this homegrown volunteer effort has provided nearly 4,000 salmon to people in need. It’s a story worth repeating. (pg. 66)
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
EDITOR Kevin Max
MANAGING EDITOR Sheila G. Miller CREATIVE Allison Bye
WEB MANAGER
OFFICE MANAGER
Cindy Miskowiec
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Jenny Kamprath
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
HOME GROWN CHEF
BEERLANDIA COLUMNIST
EDITORIAL INTERNS
Aaron Opsahl
Cindy Guthrie Jenn Redd Thor Erickson Jeremy Storton Henry Rogers, Jessica Smith
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kimberly Bowker, Melissa Dalton, Jesslyn Gillespie, Lee Lewis Husk, Suzanne Johnson, Catie Joyce-Bulay, Sophia McDonald, Peter Madsen, Ben Salmon, Jen Stevenson, Lori Tobias, Arlo Voorhees, Mackenzie Wilson
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Charlotte Dupont, Joni Kabana, Bradley Lanphear, Bill Purcell, Jessica Smith
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Colin Andersen, Esther Loopstra
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12 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
BEND FILM FEST
Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World
OCT 1 0-13 16TH ANNUAL This activity is supported in part by a grant from the Bend Cultural Tourism Fund
B E N D F I L M .O R G
EACH SUMMER, WE WELCOME the next generation of journalists as interns to learn more about what we do and how we do it. In return, we challenge them with projects that push their experience to a new level, and do not saddle them with mere busy work. This summer, Jessica Smith from University of Oregon and Henry Rogers from Northwestern University joined our team. Ms. Smith is working extensively with us in video and photography. Mr. Rogers is plying his trade in business journalism. You can see Ms. Smith’s work in this issue, and Mr. Rogers’ in upcoming magazines. We look forward to their final projects and wish them the best on their separate paths. To create more cheap power for customers in Idaho, we must install towers over 7 miles of the historic Oregon Trail near Baker City, Oregon for transmission lines, or so goes the argument for the so-called B2H project. Lee Lewis Husk’s David and Goliath on pg. 80 dissects the battle quietly being fought between the privately owned power companies Idaho Power and PacificCorp and a small group of vocal locals in Eastern Oregon under the banner of Stop B2H. At stake is whether a private company will be able to mar an Oregon public treasure for private gain. True, some of the Oregon Trail is faint and on private land and more symbolic than tangible. But this transmission line for cheap power in Idaho would run over the top of wagon ruts along the Oregon Trail in Baker City, just outside the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Ultimately, the seven members of the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council will play a decisive role in approving or denying this 300-mile transmission line over the Oregon Trail. You can find information on how to contact these members on the state’s website. Read David and Goliath and see where your sentiment lies.
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
Jenn Redd
FROM THE EDITOR
On a positive note, a civil example of how people and companies came together to reduce fish waste and feed the hungry on the Oregon Coast is our Game Changer for this issue. In its eleventh season, the legacy of Imie Camelli and Bill Campbell lives on through the organization they spawned, called The Smiley Brothers. Warm your heart to this story on pg. 66. Finally, our Home + Design writer Melissa Dalton looks at three amazing home remodels (an architect-designed beach house, a prefab cabin in the woods and an urban loft) with DIY tips for everyone on pg. 68. Knock it all down with a seasonal strawberry cucumber crush, our Cocktail Card on pg. 26. Cheers!
SECOND ONLY TO THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME.
1859 ONLINE More ways to connect with your favorite Oregon content www.1859oregonmagazine.com | #1859oregon | @1859oregon
BEERLANDIA PODCAST Our columnist and cicerone Jeremy Storton explores the intriguing world of wild yeasts, dank hops and the stories of the Oregon craft brewers who push the envelope of art and science. Listen online at www.1859oregon magazine.com
have a photo that shows off your oregon experience? Share it with us by filling out the Oregon Postcard form on our website. If chosen, you’ll win 1859 gear and a chance to be published here. www.1859oregonmagazine.com/postcard photo by Beth Valentine Upper Klamath Canoe Trail
GEAR UP Show off your state pride with 1859 T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and more from our online shop. www.1859oregonmagazine.com/shop
16 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
NOTEBOOK 20 FOOD + DRINK 26 FARM TO TABLE 32 HOME + DESIGN 40 MIND + BODY 48
pg. 38 Onions are a building block of cooking.
Charlotte Dupont
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 50
the
Truffles
are coming...
“You shouldn’t miss Willamette Valley’s Oregon Truffle Festival” – FORBES
“Your chance to indulge in the best truffles America has to offer” – ROBB REPORT
Voted one of the Top 10 specialty food festivals in the country by USA Today
Explore North America’s premier wine and truffle region, Oregon’s Willamette Valley! The Joriad™ North American Truffle Dog Championship January 23, 2020 Eugene Weekend January 24 – 26, 2020 Yamhill Valley Weekend February 14 – 16, 2020
Tickets and more information: oregontrufflefestival.org
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Megan Morse
Tidbits + To-dos
Urban Eden Bath Products
BendFilm
Portland’s Urban Eden calls its bath bombs, shower steamers and bath salts “nearly edible,” and considering they’re handmade with organic ingredients and feature dried flowers, herbs and fruit, it’s true. The bath bombs even look like cupcakes. The company also sells candles and other goods, and donates 1 percent of profits to local causes.
Bend’s cultural scene has been diversifying for years. BendFilm, October 10-13, is a key component, bringing people from around the world to view dozens of independent films and mingle with filmmakers and other industry insiders. Grab passes fast—this is a popular event.
www.urbaneden.co
www.bendfilm.org
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Ex Libris Anonymous Journals This small Astoria company has been making beautiful journals from recycled books since 2000. The journals are all one of a kind, with covers and some pages salvaged—each are spiral bound with seventy-five pages of blank paper and actual pages interspersed throughout. Find your favorite Nancy Drew cover, or perhaps The Joy of Cooking, and make it your own. www.bookjournals.com
20 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
2019
ca mar le k yo nd ur ar Retro Gaming Expo 10 Barrel Canned Cocktails Summer may be almost over, but canned cocktails can keep that vacation feeling going year round. 10 Barrel Brewing spent more than two years perfecting its new canned craft cocktails. Try the Bloody Mary, Moscow Mule or Greyhound (all with a vodka base) or three flavors of margarita. www.10barrel.com
Oregon Alpenfest
Show your kids there was life before Fortnite at the Oregon Convention Center, October 18-20. Wander through 150,000 square feet of classic gaming, featuring a huge arcade full of classic freeplay games, hundreds of consoles such as Sega, Atari and Nintendo to try out, and games for sale. Think you’re the Space Invaders champ? There are tournaments, too. www.retrogamingexpo.com
In Oregon, Bavarian festivals aren’t just for Mount Angel. Oregon Alpenfest takes place September 26-29 in Enterprise, Joseph and Wallowa Lake, the region of the state sometimes called Oregon’s Little Switzerland. New this year—after four decades of hosting the event at the Edelweiss Inn, the building can no longer support public events. Instead, head to the Wallowa Lake State Park marina for four days of polka, beer, brats and yodeling under tents. It doesn’t get better than this. www.oregonalpenfest.blogspot.com
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1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 21
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Musician
Two Sides to Every Story
Enterprise’s Forrest VanTuyl splits his time between country music and cowboying written by Ben Salmon
FORREST VANTUYL is a Northwest fella through and through. These days, he lives in Enterprise, in remote northeast Oregon. He grew up in a tiny town in western Washington. And he spent many years bouncing between the border-hugging college towns of Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington. It took a trip to a faraway place to truly realize his passion for the places he has called home. “Around 2012, I went to Europe for six months. I bummed around and worked on some farms over there,” VanTuyl said in his canyon-deep drawl. “I started writing, changing my perspective and really digging into what I wanted to focus on artistically.” What he wanted to focus on was the American West, and he decided the best way to sharpen that focus would be to immerse himself in the lifestyle. So after a few “hiccups,” he said, VanTuyl ended up in Enterprise, where the cows, horses and sheep far outnumber the people.
There, VanTuyl lives a double life of sorts. In the summer, he’s a bona fide cowboy who spends his days doing cowboy things, and he has developed a deep affinity for horsemanship. And in the winter, he devotes his time to making music under the name An American Forrest. In May, he released a new album called O Bronder, Donder Yonder?, an eleven-track collection of unhurried country songs that reflect VanTuyl’s major influences—the wordy folk music of Bob Dylan, the traditional twang of Canadian plainsman Ian Tyson and the romanticism of the American West. Recorded in Portland, the album surrounds VanTuyl’s memorable melodies and plainspoken stories with beautiful band performances, including a healthy dose of Barry Alan Walker, Jr.’s swooping pedal steel guitar. For VanTuyl, the dichotomy of his existence in Enterprise is necessary for his art to flourish. “You can write great cowboy songs if you’ve never seen
a horse in your life. A lot of the guys who were writing for Westerns in the ’30s drove across Arizona once,” he said. “But for me, (cowboying half the year) makes me a better guitar player and performer and craftsman. It’s not about inspiration. It just helps me focus on music to take some time away from it.” VanTuyl didn’t just find cowboy work in Enterprise. He also met and married a woman in the past few years, and has fallen in with a group of artists centered around the town’s historic OK Theatre. He plays small local gigs, and he spent last May touring An American Forrest across the West. More each day, it looks like VanTuyl’s European epiphany was spot on. “If I can be a songwriter, have a music scene and also (be a) cowboy, this is the best place ever,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to leave somewhere to see it in a good light and realize what you’re missing.”
Forrest VanTuyl spends much of his time “cowboying,” but makes time for music as well.
22 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
2019
Ben Herndon
Listen on Spotify
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Pictured: Co-owner Kathy Jones-McCann planting a tree with the youngest members of her family; Ava (5), Parker (8), and Jake (6).
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Rich Fleischman
notebook
Chuck Klosterman is one of Oregon’s newest former New Yorkers.
Bibliophile
An Absence of Snark Chuck Klosterman chats about his latest collection of micro fiction interview by Peter Madsen
PROLIFIC AND TRENCHANTLY FUNNY, author Chuck Klosterman has forged a career that began with daily journalism and spans ten books, a SPIN magazine stint and a three-year stewardship of “The Ethicist” column for The New York Times Magazine. Klosterman wrote the majority of his latest book, Raised in Captivity, while relocating his family from Brooklyn, New York, to the Portland area. A collection of micro fictions, Raised contains thirty-four short stories, few longer than five pages. The result is a grippingly unpredictable battery of unlikely yet technically plausible scenarios that cut our notions of reality to the quick—a pair of airline passengers discuss what to do when they discover a cougar in the business class lavatory; a humpback whale is struck by lightning, which challenges everything a solitary witness holds true; and a band deals with the fallout of an unexpected, meteoric rise in popularity among white supremacists. Raised is a weird, preposterous and highly engaging work by one of Oregon’s newest former New Yorkers. 24 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
2019
Did you choose the bitesize format of Raised because it was easier to handle while you relocated your family across the country? There’s truth in that. … I have two small kids, so I can’t write at all on the weekends. I can really only write Monday through Friday from the time I drop them off at school in the morning until I pick them up at 5 p.m. I would start a story on Monday. On Wednesday, I would go back and edit whatever story I had written the previous week. On Thursday, I would go back to the work I started on Monday and Tuesday and refine it. Then on Friday I would finish that (week’s) story. I wrote one story a week for a year, and I ended up with fifty stories. The thirty-four best stories got put in the book. You said recently that as you move westward from the East Coast, the level of snark goes down. Increasingly, you hear words like stoke and rad. I wonder if your relocation had any effect on your writing. I don’t think that much. Writing is a very interior process where you’re always creating these characters in your mind, especially in fiction. Those characters tend to be some kind of incarnation or some kind of twisted version of yourself. I don’t
think people will read this book and go, ‘Oh, he’s nicer now.’ Has moving to Oregon changed you? I grew up in North Dakota, and I lived in Ohio for four years. Then I moved to New York for fifteen. Of course, New York is like a completely different country where they just happen to speak English. … My wife is from Portland originally, so we’re moving out here for family reasons. In Brooklyn, we had a great apartment for two people but then when we had our second kid, it was too small. We were going to have to move to the outskirts of Brooklyn and pay $2 million for a terrible house. Or, move here and have a really easy, good life. My assumption was that it would probably be a little like moving back to Ohio. … I guess I had come to that very New York conclusion that there is New York and the rest of the country is interchangeable [laughs]. It’s more different here than I expected. No one seems sarcastic. I often feel like (Oregonians) are authentically nice— I would say nicer than North Dakotans. … Here in Oregon, if you’re in a casual conversation with someone and they say, ‘Oh, we should get lunch next week,’ they actually want to have lunch with you.
food + drink
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of Wild Roots
Strawberry Cucumber Crush 1½ ounces Wild Roots Cucumber & Grapefruit Infused Gin 1 ounce lemon juice ½ ounce simple syrup 2-3 strawberries 3-4 cucumber slices Soda
Beerlandia
How to Host a Beer Pairing Party
written by Jeremy Storton | illustrated by Esther Loopstra
Muddle ingredients in a shaker. Fill with ice and shake. Double strain into a Collins glass filled with ice and top with soda. Garnish with fresh strawberry.
26 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
I SAT HUDDLED over a fire, a dozen shrimp staring back at me. A pan of paella roasted next to them, wafting aromas of saffron into the trees above. My guests helped themselves to tapas and the first beer I had chosen for our private, lakeside beer dinner. I remembered something a restaurant manager once told me. “There are two reasons people go out to eat,” he said. “To have an experience they can’t have at home or to avoid doing dishes.” But there I was, creating an experience with no restaurant to be found, thus proving we just need a little know-how. As a measure of an event’s success, I sometimes hear the question, “Did you get enough to eat?” This speaks to the “bigger is better” mindset of our culture. Let’s be clear—bigger is not better. Better is better. When it comes to the intersection of beer and food, a nobler question ought to be, “Did you eat and drink well?” If at the end of the evening we are perfectly sated and the pairing continues to loop in our heads like a good song, the answer is clear. This is the key to better experiences. Perhaps our desire for better stems from Oregon’s culinary adventurousness. Frankly, I blame food documentaries. Luckily, memorable experiences are not reserved for the privileged, but are accessible to the epicurious. Putting a good beer dinner together is fairly simple. It requires knowing the pairing ABCs and
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
THE ABCS OF PAIRING A is for Align Start by aligning intensities. A wispy American lager won’t stand up to a meat stew, but an Export Stout will likely bring it all together. B is for Bridging Like a good marriage, beer and food have a lot in common. For example, a malty doppelbock can bridge the caramelly roast of grilled meat to form a sacred union. C is for Contrast Sometimes opposites attract—an oldschool citrus and piney IPA can find a perfect life partner in a creamy bleu cheese. C is also for Cleanse Beer is acidic and usually somewhat bitter and carbonated. All this lends itself to cleansing the palate, so that every bite tastes like the first time. S is for Seek a Pro Local boutique stores often have knowledgeable people who can explain flavors and textures as well as help plan an event. If in doubt, seek them out.
maybe having a local pairing pro in the back pocket. Ultimately, beer and food have the ability to either create a memory or to conjure one. Pair them well and enjoy the afterglow. The dishes can wait until morning.
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Visit Newberg MY
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Discover nine very different tasting rooms within walking distance with unique stories, wine styles and outstanding wines.
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howard st
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the gateway to Oregon's renowned Wine Country
240
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franklin st
franklin st
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99W
HOW TO KAYAK THROUGH SEASIDE Check the tide table then rent a kayak at one of two locations in town. Head north and enjoy the views from the Necanicum or Neawanna Rivers. Once you reach the estuary say hello to the thousands of seabirds. Paddle on home and get a locally crafted beer. You’ve earned it! seasideOR.com
s river st
edwards st
college st
99W howard st
1st st Blaine St
99W
washington st
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Main st
This project is made possible in part by a grant from Newberg transient lodging taxes and the City of Newberg.
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s grant st
Lodging suggestions and other ideas to make your visit complete at NEWBERGDOWNTOWNWINERIES.COM
n river st
sherman st w sheridan st
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food + drink
CRAVINGS:
GRILLED CHEESE
MATT’S BBQ TACOS Just when you thought grilled cheese perfection couldn’t be improved upon, Portland pitmaster Matt Vicedomini (of Matt’s BBQ food cart fame) kicks things up a notch by adding a handful of his sublime Texas-style chopped smoked brisket. The result is melty, meaty bliss, best accompanied by a cold Coca-Cola, and depending on the strength of your digestive system, a couple pork belly lunch tacos. The lunch menu starts at 11 a.m. 3207 SE HAWTHORNE BLVD. PORTLAND
Aubrie LeGault
CRUX FERMENTATION PROJECT
There are tons of foodie options at Feast.
Gastronomy
50 SW DIVISION ST. BEND www.cruxfermentation.com
ROGUE CREAMERY
Feast Portland written by Jen Stevenson IN ADDITION TO Labor Day, back to school, the onset of autumn and National Potato Month, September is also known for Feast Portland, the epic annual food festival that draws a culinary coterie of the most talented chefs, winemakers, distillers, brewers, cider makers and artisans in the country. From September 12 through September 15, meet your tastemakers via intimate cooking classes, dinner parties and panels, as well as walkaround tasting events such as Brunch Village, Smoked and Night Market, a globe-hopping homage to international street food. This year, the eight-year-old festival’s Grand Tasting is getting an exciting upgrade—now dubbed The Big Feast, it’s moving to Saturday and Sunday, and will be held in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, allowing it to triple in size. Be it a laidback brisket-fest with Franklin Barbecue and the Eem and Podnah’s teams, a deep dive into Brut IPAs, or a cooking class with cookbook author and New York Times columnist David Tanis and Bollywood chef Troy MacLarty, event tickets get gobbled up fast. Secure yours at www.feastportland.com. PORTLAND www.feastportland.com
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This recently expanded, wildly popular Bend brewery is just the spot for a pint of Crux Pilz and a competitive game of cornhole, or food cart carnitas tacos and shave ice by the firepit. But it’ll also scratch your grilled cheese itch—just ask for the house-made Grilled Cheesy, a decadent mix of herbed goat cheese, cheddar, provolone, crispy bacon and spicy bread-and-butter pickles between crisp slices of spent grain toast crusted with parmesan and potato chips. It’s not for the fainthearted, but it is worth every gooey, cheesy calorie.
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
It’s easy to get distracted by the glass case filled with tiresized wheels of award-winning cheeses at this acclaimed Central Point creamery, or the generous tastings sprinkled throughout the adjoining market. But after you’ve thoroughly sampled and stocked up on Crater Lake Blue and Oregonzola, get a couple of the divine blue gingham paper-wrapped grilled cheese sandwiches to go (we’re partial to the blue cheese, cheddar and honey) and eat them on the pretty little patio. 311 N FRONT ST. CENTRAL POINT www.roguecreamery.com
CAMP 1805 One of Hood River’s finest watering holes, and its first craft rum and whiskey distillery, isn’t just about the Camp Mai Tais, Downstream Old-Fashioneds and CBDinfused Mojito Royales. It also makes a mean grilled cheese. The Distiller’s Grilled Cheese sandwich fuses creamy gouda, aged white cheddar and grana padano between two slices of nearby White Salmon Bakery’s rustic white bread, with an optional smoked tri-tip upgrade (note: you want the smoked tri-tip upgrade). 501 PORTWAY AVE. HOOD RIVER www.camp1805.com
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POPPIN’ BOTTLES AND BIVALVES FLYING FISH OYSTER BAR Browsing the impeccably stocked shelves of Providore Fine Foods, it’s not unusual to hear a burst of laughter from the tight-knit band of oyster enthusiasts perched at the eight-stool bar in the back corner, home to Flying Fish Company’s mini fish and meat market. Pick up some of the region’s finest Chinook salmon, wild black rockfish, Dungeness crab, grass-fed steak and lamb loin chops, then stay a while for a dozen freshly shucked Kusshi or Hama Hama oysters, a glass of bubbles and a good fish tale or two, courtesy of your fellow slurpers. 2340 NE SANDY BLVD PORTLAND www.flyingfishoysterbar.com
Dumplings are just one of the offerings on Gado Gado’s eclectic menu.
Dining
CHUCK’S SEAFOOD A delicious detour due west of Highway 101, or an easy pit stop en route to Sunset Bay State Park, this family-owned Charleston fish market takes its oysters (which it farms itself) very seriously— load up on fresh in-the-shell Coos Bay oysters by the dozen or half bushel, shucked oysters by the pint, quart and half gallon, oyster shooters, oysters smoked over native alderwood, and the muchloved smoked oyster sticks.
Gado Gado written by Jen Stevenson
This homey Wheeler locals’ hangout—a 2019 James Beard Foundation Smart Catch Leader—serves a simple sea-centric menu that includes the requisite seafood chowder and steamers alongside beer-battered local rockfish and chips and a rich brodetto swimming with Dungeness crab, clams and shrimp. Before all that, relax on the bayfront deck and relish a platter of cucumber-mignonette topped Netarts Bay oysters with a glass of Bow & Arrow’s Melon de Bourgogne, or the Happy Clam, an easydrinking $6 concoction of Hamm’s, tomato sauce and clam juice.
EVERY SO OFTEN, a restaurant comes along that’s as fun and surprising as it is delicious. So it is with husband-wife team Thomas and Mariah Pisha-Duffly’s new Gado Gado, a festive pink pop-up turned brick-and-mortar success story starring an eclectic parade of Chinese-Indonesian-influenced dishes based on chef Thomas’ childhood home cooking. It’s a bright burst of color in an otherwise mild-mannered Hollywood strip mall shared with Baskin Robbins and an arts center. Gado Gado sparks delight from first glimpse of local illustrator Kate Blairstone’s exquisite custom wallpaper, a tapestry of native Indonesian fruit, blooms and birds, plump pink prawns, crabs and stink beans patterned after antique Peranakan porcelain. Whether you sit down and buckle up (or better yet, unbuckle) at the rijsttafel, or “rice table”—a $55 prix-fixe Indonesianinspired family-style feast—or opt for à la carte grazing of snacks, salads, rice, noodles and chef ’s specialities like sticky sweet twice-cooked spare ribs, Coca-Cola clams and sooty squid ink noodles swirled with head cheese and uni ragu, it’s difficult not to declare yourself an instant fan. Pisha-Duffly’s creative kitchen skills were well-honed at esteemed joints on both coasts, from the Honey Paw in Maine to Portland’s Han Oak. As the last bite of whole wok-fried Dungeness crab with salted egg yolk butter sauce vanishes, drink levels dip and noise levels soar, order another round of peanut bourbon and gingerinfused Red Barons (or booze-less turmeric and tamarind-rich Wonder Juice) and the coconut pound cake smothered in black cardamom cream, see who can say stink bean the most times without slurring, and solemnly pledge to increase the sambal levels in your life.
380 MARINE DR. WHEELER www.salmonberrysaloon.com
1801 NE CESAR E CHAVEZ BLVD PORTLAND www.gadogadopdx.com
91135 CAPE ARAGO HWY COOS BAY www.chucksseafood.com
RED HILLS KITCHEN Considering the constant crowds at neighborhood favorite Red Hills Market in Dundee, it was a given that its sister restaurant— occupying an elegant high-ceilinged space in McMinnville’s beautiful new Atticus Hotel—would be a welcome addition to the downtown dining scene. Start with a dozen just-shucked Netarts Bay oysters, served with champagne mignonette, lemon and ideally, a pint of nearby Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery’s ale. 530 NE 4TH ST. MCMINNVILLE www.redhillskitchen.com
SALMONBERRY SALOON
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farm to table
Farm to Table
Peeling the Layers Nyssa’s Skeen Farms produces big, beautiful onions written by Sophia McDonald photography by Joni Kabana
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farm to table Onion harvest at Skeen Farms starts in August.
WHEN YOU PICK UP an onion of any color in a supermarket, there’s a decent chance it grew up in Eastern Oregon or Idaho. The two-state region produces more onions by volume than any other part of the country, sending nearly 1.6 billion pounds to market in 2016, according to the National Onion Association. “This is pretty much the onion capital of the nation,” said Paul Skeen, the fifth-generation farmer leading Skeen Farms Inc. in Nyssa. “Our valley’s known for big onions, it’s known for storage ability, and it’s known for beautiful onions.” For him, growing the largest member of the Allium family is a way to help feed the nation he loves. It has also provided a satisfying career—one that’s allowed him to teach his children the value of hard work and give back to the community he’s always called home. Skeen’s parents came to Malheur County in 1945 from Utah, looking for wide open spaces and less competition for water. His father initially raised horses, but returned to his farming roots in the 1960s, planting onions and other crops like his neighbors. “I can remember hoeing them when I was in second or third grade and getting a dollar a row,” Skeen said. This was in the days before chemical pesticides and herbicides, and he also remembers that as soon as you finished weeding the last row, it was time to go back to the beginning. The hard work was never a deterrent, though. Of the couple’s seven children, he was the only one who stayed on the farm. Like most growers in the region, Skeen’s 1,300 acres are used to raise a variety of crops. He also grows sugar beets, wheat, wheat seed and vegetable seeds. But onions are a major focus, as they are for most people in Malheur County. The region’s warm daytime temperatures, outstanding soil and limited rainfall create the perfect growing conditions for the bulbs. Onions are planted from seed around the second week in March. The majority of Skeen’s crop is yellow onions, though he grows some red ones and a few whites. The plants send up tall stems that feed the round bulbs growing beneath the surface. Come harvest time, “We start on what we call our earlies, which are ready the first to second week of August,” Skeen said. “Then we just keep delivering them to the packing sheds in order to keep the flow going for the consumer.” Onions have a tremendous ability to keep if stored in the right conditions. They must be picked when the soil is dry so they don’t get caked in mud. That means yanking them from the earth after the dew has lifted in the morning and continuing into evening. Each SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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farm to table
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Many of Skeen’s onions end up in the fresh market, though some may become onion rings or diced onions. Onions are picked when the soil is dry and stored in boxes at cool temperatures. Paul Skeen, left, is a fifth-generation farmer, and works with his son, Logan.
bulb is put in a box approximately 4 feet by 6 feet by 3 feet that will hold just more than 1,600 pounds of onions. The boxes are stored under refrigerated or cool temperatures to keep the onions fresh until they can be shipped to consumers. Skeen’s work is not without challenges. He cites labor, bureaucratic red tape and weather (“Mother Nature, she holds the trump card”) as the top three. But his roots are firmly planted in Malheur County and always will be. Onions have been an important crop in Oregon for more than 100 years, said Dr. Stuart Reitz, a professor at Oregon State University and director at the Malheur Experiment Station. Farmers in Malheur County discovered their ability to produce superior onions in the 1910s and never looked back. While many onions end up in the fresh market, that’s not the only use for them. “There are a few grown in the Klamath Basin, and they’re used primarily for dehydrated onions,” he said. “There are some in the Columbia Basin near Hermiston and some in Malheur that are bulb onions for grocery stores or fresh onions.” Malheur County’s products 34 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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also commonly find their way to grocery stores through the refrigerator or freezer, becoming onion rings and diced onions. On their own, there’s nothing particularly sexy about this pungent, sulfurous bulb. But sauté or caramelize an onion in some butter or olive oil, and it becomes an essential supporting player in some of the world’s most popular dishes. Onion dip is a surefire winner at parties, and this vegan version from Kirsten Hansen, co-owner of Lion & Owl in Eugene, will also get cheers for its higher ratio of healthy fat. Onions play a prominent role in two components of James Fink’s duck confit blini with sour cherry compote and pickled mustard seeds. The owner of Bend’s Wild Oregon Foods adds chunks of onion to the confit as an aromatic and caramelized onions to the compote for sweetness. Is there anything that doesn’t taste better with pickled onions? Try this recipe from Marcos Lopez, head chef-owner of ¿Por Qué No? Taqueria in Portland. They’ll add bright, spicy flavor to everything from tacos and sandwiches to curry and meat dishes.
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farm to table
¿Por Qué No? Taqueria’s tacos feature pickled red onions.
Oregon Recipes
Pickled Red Onions
Know Your Onions Cashew Onion Dip
Lion & Owl / EUGENE SERVES 6-8 2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight in refrigerator 1 bay leaf, fresh or dry 2 tablespoons oven-dried Walla Walla onion, minced 2 teaspoons oven-dried garlic, minced 2 tablespoons chopped chives 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons shallots, minced and macerated in red wine vinegar for 15 minutes 1 tablespoon chopped scallions ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper 1 teaspoon salt Lemon juice to taste
Drain cashews. Add to a saucepan and just cover with water. Add bay leaf and
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bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook 15 minutes until tender. Remove bay leaf. Pull cashews out of liquid and retain liquid they cooked in. Blend cashews in blender or food processor, adding liquid as necessary until a smooth texture is achieved. Mix in all other ingredients. Add lemon and salt to taste. Serve with chips, vegetable crudité or spread on a sandwich in place of aioli. FOR OVEN-DRIED ONIONS & GARLIC Slice Walla Walla onion and 10 garlic cloves as thinly as possible. Place in a dehydrator set at 120 degrees for 12 to 24 hours until completely dried. Crush into minced pieces. Alternatively, place onions and garlic on a sheet tray. Set oven to lowest temperature and cook onions and garlic for 2 to 4 hours until dry.
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¿Por Qué No? Taqueria / PORTLAND Marcos Lopez YIELDS 1 QUART 2 red onions 2 habanero peppers 1 cup water 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup white wine vinegar 1 cup baker’s sugar 1 tablespoon salt Remove both ends of onions and slice lengthwise. Set aside. Finely dice the habaneros (the whole chile, including the seed) and add them to the onions. Combine the sugar, salt, vinegars and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the onions and habaneros, then stir for one minute. Cool, then cover and store in the refrigerator.
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Find Wild Oregon Foods’ recipe for Duck Confit Blini with Sour Cherry Compote, Pickled Mustard Seeds and Quacklins online at 1859oregonmagazine.com
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farm to table A caramelized onion pie is worth crying over.
Home Grown Chef
Glass Onions written by Thor Erickson photography by Charlotte Dupont
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farm to table
“I told you about strawberry fields | You know the place where nothing is real | Well here’s another place you can go | Where everything flows” — “Glass Onion,” The Beatles I ONCE KNEW a person who refused to cook with onions simply because they made her cry. I would remind her, loudly: “Onions are one of the foundation blocks of great cuisine! Along with carrots and celery, onions give a rounded flavor to anything they are used in. To not use onions is like building a house without a foundation, like Shields without Yarnell, or McCartney without Lennon!” She would reply sternly, “I have enough to cry about. The world is already sad enough.” It didn’t take me long to realize that her sadness was more likely caused by cooking dishes that lacked the wonders that onions offer. When we smell whole onions, there’s only a faint onion aroma—no tears. It’s not until we cut through the layers of these alliums that everything flows. When the plant’s tissues are damaged,
its enzymes quickly convert the onion’s sulfur compounds into reactive, stinging molecules. This chemical compound, allicin, causes onions’ pungency, thus making us cry. It’s an onion’s version of hand-tohand combat. I’ve seen cooks use special goggles to shield their eyes from the fumes. An Italian grandmother swore by placing a crust of stale bread in a bowl of water beside her cutting board. I knew another cook who put onions in the freezer. None of these things really work. Embrace the tears. Peel back the layers and get in touch with your inner onion. In the early fall, I like to fill the kitchen with the comforting, sweet smell of caramelized onions. This caramelized onion pie pairs wonderfully with wilted greens and will teach anyone who prepares it that it’s alright to cry.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AMONG TYPES OF ONIONS? Yellow onions are always my utility go-to, all-purpose onion. I always keep plenty on hand. White onions are less astringent than yellow onions and can be used raw—sliced for sandwiches, and diced for items such as tacos and salsas. Sweet onions should be used like white onions. I do not recommend cooking with them because they tend to lose flavor. Red onions are similar to yellow onions in flavor, but give great color to food. Do not use them in stocks and clear soups, as the pigment tends to darken whatever you’re making.
Glass Onion Pie Thor Erickson SERVES 8 FOR CRUST 1¼ cups all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed FOR FILLING 3 large onions, finely sliced 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons light oil (avocado or coconut oil recommended) Salt and pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons flour 3 eggs ¾ cup cream ¾ cup chèvre goat cheese (optional) FOR CRUST In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms peasize pieces. Slowly add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together. It should be moist, but not wet. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pie dough to about 1/8 of an inch and gently lay it into a 9-inch pie pan. trim the sides and crimp. FOR FILLING Caramelize the onions in butter and oil on very low heat until they take on a lovely amber color. After they are caramelized, season generously with salt and pepper (it is important to wait to season them or the onions will not brown). Add the flour and cook for just a few more minutes, then turn off the heat. After the onions have cooled a bit, whisk the eggs with the cream, and mix well with the onions. Add the chèvre if using, then add the mixture to the pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees until the egg mixture is set, about 30 minutes.
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home + design
“Because it’s a Craftsman, the house is somewhat masculine, and so bringing some softer, more feminine touches in was important.” — Alissa Pulcrano, Bright Designlab principal interior designer
Muted colors for the tile contrast with bold finishes in the Craftsman.
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home + design
Fresh Start Bathrooms in two old Portland homes get new, modern looks written by Melissa Dalton
Bright Designlab
A Craftsman Makeover in Irvington ON A WALK-THROUGH of this 1909 Craftsman in Portland’s Irvington neighborhood, the casual observer would be hard-pressed to realize the home was once gutted to its studs. The owners, a couple with two young children, used the house as a rental for years while they lived in Taiwan. Upon returning to Portland, they decided to renovate, choosing to save much of the home’s important period detail. Pieces such as baseboards, casework and solid wood doors with brass hinges and antique crystal knobs were all carefully refurbished or replaced to match the existing profiles. “Even though the bones were good, it was rather worn,” Alissa Pulcrano said. Pulcrano is the principal interior designer of Bright Designlab who worked with Green Gables Design and Restoration and MKM Architecture to help the owners prep the house for its next life. A whole house remodel, wrapped in 2017, combines the gravitas of those saved traditional elements with modern artistic flair. Painterly wallpaper adorns the wall above the dining room paneling. Modern steel chairs sit in front of leaded-glass built-ins in the living room. In a downstairs bath, a classic wall-mounted sink shares space with a leather-wrapped mirror and inky blue paint. “They wanted to modernize it but still speak to the architecture of the era,” Pulcrano said. In the new, 150-square-foot principal bathroom upstairs, a set of large double windows were kept in place due to the neighborhood’s location in a historic district, which means exterior alterations are subject to review by a city commission so as not to disturb the building’s outward historic character. A pair of opaque blinds make the windows the perfect spot for a freestanding soaking tub tucked beneath the sill, and other “bells and whistles,” like the walk-in shower and a double vanity, were then slotted into place. The principal bath is a microcosm for the design approach taken throughout the home. “Because it’s a Craftsman, the house is somewhat masculine, and so bringing some softer, more feminine touches in was important,” Pulcrano said. To that end, concrete tile with a muted palette and striking pattern covers the floor and climbs the wall behind the sinks. The bespoke vanity, SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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home + design
composed of open-grain walnut and black powdercoated steel, and crowned with a white Caesarstone counter and Kohler sinks, presents a crisp silhouette softened by cloud-shaped hardware, which was chosen to reference the owners’ collection of antique Asian furniture sprinkled throughout the home. The restored five-panel door was painted a sharp black. “You see that a lot in older homes, but I think it also reads as a fun balance to the more modern style,” Pulcrano said. Modern sculptural light fixtures finish the scheme. By opting for “living finishes,” such as unlacquered brass faucets, oiled wood and concrete tile, Pulcrano ensured the room’s new additions would age comfortably alongside the old. “The client didn’t mind getting that patina over time,” Pulcrano said. “They like having that lived-in feel.”
Bathroom remodels can typically take three to four months. There are subcontractor schedules to juggle, product delays and surprises that happen when old house walls are opened up. But Casey Keasler, an interior designer and owner of the Portland-based Casework, specified a much more rigorous target to complete her personal bathroom remodel this past spring: thirty days. “Nothing puts you to work like a deadline,” Keasler said. “I’m very deadline-driven.” Keasler was motivated by her participation in a national design event, called the One Room Challenge, which happens twice yearly. Twenty designers compete—not against each other but against themselves—to remodel a single room in just six weeks. (Professional designers apply for a spot, but anyone may participate as a guest and post their progress to social media.) For Keasler, joining the One Room Challenge offered just the right combination of a deadline, brand partnerships and a supportive forum for her quick turnaround. To meet her ambitious timeline, Keasler planned to do much of the labor herself, from demolition to tile to electrical, with a strong assist from her boyfriend and a plumber. “I grew up with my parents remodeling their houses and doing a lot of the work themselves, and that’s my natural inclination,” Keasler said. Keasler’s Portland house is a “ranch-bungalow-hybrid” built in 1966, which she dubs the “Ranch-alow.” “It has that 1960s, one-story ranch vibe,” Keasler said. The bungalow influence is seen in some exterior brick detailing and the layout. “All of the rooms have their own function, whereas a typical ranch would have a more open plan,” Keasler said. The home was 42 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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Nicole Mason
A Bathroom Renovation in Thirty Days for a 1966 “Ranch-alow”
Casey Keasler
home + design
FROM LEFT Casey Keasler remodeled her “ranch-alow” bathroom in thirty days. An open vanity gives the bathroom an airy feel.
well-maintained over the years, with beautiful cherry floors and original black metal-framed windows, although the bathroom finishes were ripe for an update. Keasler started with the bathroom’s smallest detail, choosing a black Watermark faucet that syncs up with the existing black metal windows. Next, Keasler paired with Portland tile manufacturer Pratt & Larson to develop a tile palette of soft greens and cream, to complement the cherry floors elsewhere. The colors reference the orange and avocado hues of the ranch’s ’60s heyday, but Keasler wanted them “muddier” in tone, similar to what might be found in a turn-of-thecentury bungalow. Their geometric shapes further modernize the color scheme. For the vanity, Keasler designed a black metal base, custom fabricated by Parnell Design, and topped it with a ready-to-order sink in an integrated counter. The vanity is open and airy, so as not to fill the 55 square feet with unnecessary bulk. Likewise, a toosmall closet was replaced with floating shelves. Brass sconces and door hardware commingle with the black metal for a nuanced mix. Throughout the process, Keasler balanced her fulltime work schedule with nights and weekends spent on the remodel. “There was a lot of ordering of fast food and takeout,” Keasler said. She fulfilled her deadline and celebrated the final reveal with the other One Room Challenge participants. “It was incredibly gratifying to have this bathroom complete in such a short amount of time,” Keasler said. “I learned a ton, and it’s helped inform my design decisions with clients.” SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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home + design
Nicole Mason
Remodeling a bathroom can involve a lot of trial and error.
DIY: Lessons From a DIY Bathroom Remodel CASEY KEASLER JOINED the One Room Challenge as a way to demystify the process of a typical bathroom remodel. “Interior design is often considered a luxury, but we all live in a home or work in an office. These considered details are important to our overall happiness and satisfaction,” Keasler said. “I don’t want interior design to be a luxury. I want it to be as accessible to as many people as possible.” Here are Keasler’s top lessons from the remodel. Not only will there be sick days or no-shows, a small space like a bathroom means the plumber and the tiler can’t work at the same time.
1 CONSIDER FUTURE CLEANING
When choosing a beautiful tile or artful fixture, don’t just imagine how it will look in the finished space. Keasler opted for an integrated sink and counter and has found that she loves how easy it cleans up.
4
If doing the work yourself, “YouTube is a great resource,” Keasler said. “I look at four or five videos before I decide how I’m going to do something.”
2 THINK TACTILE
Choose finishes not just for their beauty, but also for how they’ll feel underhand and hold up to heavy use, like Keasler’s faucet. “It’s something that I touch every day, multiple times a day,” Keasler said. FLEX THE SCHEDULE
Set a realistic project timeline with room for delays, as there will be several subcontractors to juggle. 44 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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DO RESEARCH
5
ACCEPT IMPERFECTION
Make plenty of time to learn new skills. Regarding the installation of her bathroom tile, Keasler planned for two days and it ended up taking five. On top of that, she embraces any imperfection in the results. “That imperfection was part of the learning process and that makes me happy,” Keasler said.
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home + design
Bathroom Goods From Oregon Designers Freshen up your bathroom with ingenious picks
Sarah Van Raden took a ceramics class in college, then didn’t revisit the medium until nearly a decade later. When she did, it was love at second sight. Now, Van Raden runs Notary Ceramics out of Portland and makes each piece by hand, including the Cradle Candle Bowl, which fits a standard taper, doesn’t drip, and is perfect for illuminating a bath at the end of the day.
Pratt & Larson has been hand-making tile in Portland since 1982 and, being just blocks from Keasler’s studio, was a natural partner in her remodel. The Brownstone Diamond pattern is a fun departure from the typical hex tile and comes in four fantastic neutrals. www.prattandlarson.com
www.notaryceramics.com
Tired of wasting that last little bit of toothpaste at the bottom of the tube? John Gill was, too. So Gill invented the stainless-steel Tube Wringer to resolve the problem and his handy little gadget has been in production in Eugene, manufactured from parts made in Oregon, for more than thirty-eight years. www.canoe.design
The Gray Dot Shower Curtain was a collaboration between Portland’s Egg Press and Schoolhouse Electric. The curtain’s simple pattern adroitly combines the hand-drawn aesthetic of Egg Press’ letterpress stationery with the utilitarian spirit for which Schoolhouse Electric is revered. www.schoolhouse.com
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mind + body
Trevor McKenna Professional Baseball Player Age: 23 Born: Brooksville, Florida Residence: Brooksville, Florida
“My workouts have changed dramatically. In college it was all about getting as big as possible. Now during the season, I focus on stretching and exercises that help prevent injury like yoga, and I lift heavier in the offseason to maintain.”
NUTRITION “I practice intermittent fasting and stay away from eating dairy products. I do my best to get my nutrients from food rather than some type of supplement. I see healthy living not so much as my health right now. … I’m thinking about my health later on. You can kind of get away with some stuff while you’re 23, but it will catch up to you. So, I’m making sure I’m putting the right things in my body now.”
INSPIRATION “My dad. He still calls me before and after every game, even though most games get over at 2 a.m. his time in Florida. He played baseball and almost made it pro, so he’s excited to see me living out my dream and is with me through every step of my career.”
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Michael Jacobs
WORKOUT
Taking the Leap
Trevor McKenna is relishing his time with the Hillsboro Hops.
A Hillsboro Hops player relishes his shot at the big leagues written by Mackenzie Wilson WAITING FOR GOOD NEWS makes time feel like it slows down. A stretch of five days stood between Trevor McKenna and the call he was hoping for from a Major League Baseball (MLB) scout. In 2018, the MLB draft started on a Monday. McKenna, 23, had been assured he would be drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Days came and went, communication with the scout dropped off and the draft ended. McKenna didn’t get called up. “I thought I was done,” he said. “I was about to hang up my cleats. I thought my career was over.” To cheer him up, McKenna’s girlfriend took him to Tampa, near his hometown in Florida, for an impromptu vacation. She insisted on a no-phone policy during the trip to help McKenna stop obsessing over the draft. Not more than ten minutes into their first excursion, his phone started ringing. She begged him to ignore it. “But I take out my phone and boom, it was my scout. … I answer and he just says, ‘Hey, you still want to be an Arizona Diamondback?’ and I’m like, man, I would love to be an Arizona Diamondback,” McKenna remembered. He hopped on the next plane to Arizona to sign with the team. It was the fourth SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
flight McKenna had taken in his life. After signing, McKenna was placed with the Hillsboro Hops, a Diamondbacks affiliate team. “Being from Florida, I think the farthest west I had ever gone was Alabama,” McKenna said. “It was a big transition.” A transition, maybe, but not a disappointment. “I get to Hillsboro, and I see this gorgeous stadium all turfed, and then I see nine different uniforms, six different hats. … They are just a first-class organization. The way they treat their players, it’s like you’re in the Major Leagues,” he said. McKenna is a left-handed bullpen pitcher. He hopes to one day soon take the field with the Diamondbacks, but for now, he’s proud to wear the Hops uniform and understands the opportunity he’s been handed. “There was one moment where it was getting late into the season and we were playing a big game and I came into a really big situation. I got two strikes on the batter and I could literally feel the vibration under my feet on the mound. That’s how loud and crazy the stadium gets,” McKenna said. “I remember taking a step off and just saying to myself, ‘Remember this moment.’ It still gives me goosebumps.”
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artist in residence Jean Wells in her home studio, where she makes most of her quilts. Works in progress fill the room with colors and textures that mirror the native landscapes of Central Oregon.
Quilted Rhythms Jean Wells trusts intuition when making her award-winning quilts written by Kimberly Bowker photography by Jessica Smith
WHEN JEAN WELLS steps outside for a walk, she sees. She notices the colors of the sky, the angles of the trees, the shapes of leaves, the texture of the earth, the lines of the horizon. She is aware of the beauty that nature encompasses. Her connection with the natural world began as a young child. Growing up in Redmond, Wells often played in the Central Oregon landscape with her siblings and camped with her family at Elk Lake, Sparks Lake, Jack Creek and Suttle Lake. “For us it was always fun,” Wells said. “But I think about my own life, and there has been a lot of exploring in life: What if this? What if that?” 50 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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Bend Design 2019
October 23-26 Speakers, Workshops, Films & Optimism benddesign.org
This activity supported in part by a grant from the Bend Cultural Tourism Fund
artist in residence
Such a sense of exploration has led Wells to a life of creativity, family, teaching and founding one of the first quilt stores in the nation forty-four years ago—Stitchin’ Post in Sisters. Wells wanted to hang up people’s quilts to share, which eventually evolved into the world’s largest outdoor quilt show. It still brings tears to her eyes when the more than 1,300 quilts begin to cover the town each summer at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. “The quilts go up in the morning, and suddenly there is all this color and pattern,” she said. “It’s people sharing stories—there is so much compassion in the craft.” At the age of 9, Wells began to sew and immediately took to the machine. She witnessed her grandmothers sew and design needlework (including new wardrobes for her dolls). Wells saved her babysitting money for fabric, and once found herself in trouble during a home economics class for customizing an apron assignment. She wanted to personalize it. When Wells was pregnant with her first child in 1969, she hand-appliquéd her first quilt—a teddy bear wall hanging composed of oranges, yellows and greens. Since then, Wells has 52 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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completed thousands of quilts, authored thirty books on the subject, and taught classes around the world. “It’s the humanity,” Wells said of the beauty of quilting. “It’s the human hand that someone took time to make it.” Wells is known for her intuitive quilting techniques, which focus on colors, lines and the freedom of organic design. It is not necessarily structuring a big plan, but exploring small ideas and trusting herself in the process of allowing one element to lead to another. She shares with all students—from the middle-school students she once taught in home economics classes to her quilting classes—that you may have the best-laid plans, but they don’t always unfold as anticipated. It’s important to give the process time, and instead of panicking, see how it can form into an opportunity for something else to grow. Wells notices this in many aspects of life—from quilting to her love of gardening. “It’s a lot like creatively doing anything,” Wells said. “You plan and pick things and put seeds in the ground and hope it comes up, but it comes up not like you thought so you have to rearrange it—like in life, too.”
artist in residence
FROM LEFT In addition to running the Stitchin’ Post, Wells also teaches and has written many books about quilting. Her legacy has inspired her five grandchildren, who often host their own pretend art shows in her studio when they visit. Wells stitches a thin strip of material to a larger piece she is working on. While much of her process uses the sewing machine, her detail work is done by hand. “I think of it as painting with fabric,” she said, “one brushstroke a time.” The original Stitchin’ Post was established by Wells 44 years ago. In 1997, she relocated the business to the main street in Sisters, which attracted new visitors and through-traffic. Wells said, historically, most of her business came from visitors from out of town, but now more locals are coming in. This piece, titled The Wedding Garden, was inspired by the wedding ceremonies of Wells’ two children, which took place in the backyard of their family home. Zinnias and sunflowers were planted alongside existing wildflower patches for the occasion. The memory is preserved in the pattern work seen above.
There are three hats that Wells and her students wear—the detective hat to search for ideas, the engineering hat to figure out how to put the ideas together, and, of course, the artist hat. Ideas will present themselves, Wells explained, and when you stay open to what they uncover, intuition is instinctively woven into the process. It can sometimes be difficult for people to trust themselves, so Wells often begins her four- or five-day workshops with small projects to build that openness in the journey. Near the end of a project, she will step back to see what is needed to make the connections complete. “We all know when it feels right,” Wells said. “And we do. And that to me, is balance.” Wells remembers when she was young, playing throughout the boulders near her home, and felt drawn to collecting rocks. She has recently woven the memory into detailed rock quilts, such as “No Stone Unturned,” which was shown at the prestigious Quilt National exhibition in Ohio. Through exploring life, nature, creativity and business, Wells has designed a space through the years for quilters to come together—in trust and possibility. “I let it be,” she said about her quilts, “what it turns out to be.”
“The quilts go up in the morning, and suddenly there is all this color and pattern. It’s people sharing stories—there is so much compassion in the craft.” — Jean Wells, owner of the Stitchin’ Post, on the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show
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STARTUP 56 WHAT’S GOING UP 58 WHAT I’M WORKING ON 60 MY WORKSPACE 64 GAME CHANGER 66
pg. 60 What started as a marketing gimmick has grown into a huge wine-canning industry for Union Wine Co.
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startup
Back to the Land
FROM TOP Food deliveries take place two days a week and feature dozens of food options. Julia Niiro started MilkRun as an attempt to bring fresh food to the public and help farmers as well.
MilkRun connects consumers to producers with delicious results written by Sheila G. Miller LIKE IT OR NOT, online shopping is a way of life these days. Companies deliver their goods from far and wide within hours—shoes to shampoo and everything in between. Why shouldn’t local farms get in on the trend as well? That’s where MilkRun comes in, at least for Portlanders. The company has made farm-fresh food deliveries as easy as an Amazon order—by design. More than seventy-five farms and small businesses have products available on MilkRun’s website. Customers pick from two delivery days—order by noon on Sunday to get your order on Tuesday, or by noon Tuesday to get your products Thursday. More than 3,000 customers have caught on, ordering everything from tortillas from Three Sisters Nixtamal to sausage from Revel Meat Co. Availability depends on the season, but the goal remains the same—to connect people to local food. Julia Niiro launched MilkRun after growing up in Detroit and spending her early career in business-to-business advertising in Colorado. She moved to Portland in 2014 and soon struck up a friendship with a group of chefs who had recently moved to Portland with plans to open a restaurant and a farm to support it. Through this group, Niiro got into the local food movement. She was hooked. “A year later I found myself quitting my corporate job and being like, ‘I have no idea what I can contribute to the food movement, but I know this is the work I want to do.’” Niiro and her family bought 40 acres in Canby, raising beef and growing vegetables. She and her husband also took over a USDA meat processing facility. While consumers might want farm-fresh produce and other foods, it can be challenging to efficiently connect the farmers to consumers. Logistics cost money. But Niiro was up for the challenge. “I have always been a huge believer and taken an optimistic approach to how technology can impact and drive antiquated systems,” Niiro said. The local food movement, a $20 billion market, can be a disorganized thing—Niiro pointed to restaurants, some of which still fax order forms to farms. Other companies have tried to match technology and logistics with farms, with mixed success. Good Eggs, a San Francisco-based online farmers market startup that raised nearly $53 million from investors started in 2011, expanded quickly, then abruptly shuttered operations in Brooklyn, New Orleans and Los Angeles. The company still operates in San Francisco and in 2018 announced another $50 million raised. Farmigo, another online farmers market startup, shut down 56 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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“We’re looking at an actual, existing supply chain and then using technology to augment it, rather than trying to re-create a supply chain and asking people to hop on board.” — Julia Niiro, MilkRun founder and CEO
startup
in 2016 to focus on a CSA software management platform. Others have survived, like GrubMarket and various imperfect produce delivery services. Niiro researched these companies and discovered the issue was logistics more than consumer demand. “You’re asking farmers to adopt your retail channel, and their opportunity cost is ridiculously high. What if it doesn’t work out?” she said. “I think a real solution needs to be built based on what’s already happening. What trucks are on the road? What are the dropoff points? What restaurants are already buying and who are the farms who can support it? We’re looking at an actual, existing supply chain and then using technology to augment it, rather than trying to re-create a supply chain and asking people to hop on board.” Niiro set off, buying two refrigerated vans off Craigslist, enlisted her retired uncle to build a web platform, and visited neighboring Lady Lane Farm and Simington Gardens. “I just said, ‘Can I sell your products with mine?’ I wrote down what was available on a sheet of paper.” Then Niiro visited a teacher friend and offered to take orders and deliver farm-fresh foods to the school’s employees. Today, farmers and small businesses harvest or make the food to fill the order, then drive into Portland to make deliveries as usual—they just stop at one of several drop points with the products. MilkRun employees assemble the orders, then pay farmers to drop the order off as part of their alreadyplanned delivery route. Stops are also made to add fresh bread and coffee. MilkRun delivers to 500 homes and 100 restaurants each month. MilkRun’s average order is about $65. Niiro likened it a bit to Uber—“using technology to take the people who are already on the road and open up their visibility, where the drivers are and who is available. We do that, essentially, for farms.” Initially, Niiro wondered whether Portland, already so dedicated to local food, needed a company like MilkRun. Maybe another city, with fewer farmers markets and CSAs and direct-to-farm contacts, would be better suited to the program. Instead, she was shocked by the support. Farmers mentored her and never complained when she messed up a delivery schedule or orders. She said people who believe farmers are just a bunch of hippies who don’t want to embrace technology are wrong. “They know what they need,” Niiro said. “But they’re busy producing food and getting it to the people.” For now, MilkRun’s focus remains Portland. The next location on the company’s radar is Seattle. Many of MilkRun’s suppliers already sell there, creating a natural connection. After that, it’s a mid-market approach to places like Denver, Detroit and New Orleans. “There are all these cities that have these incredible local food scenes and systems and farmers that are ready to embrace these models,” she said. “It’s about identifying communities that are ready for this and have infrastructure like this.” SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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what’s going up?
FROM TOP The first phase of the Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Impact will remain under construction through 2021. Oregon State University’s new Marine Studies Building will be 80,000 square feet.
Universities Rising Schools around the state add new facilities written by Sheila G. Miller OUR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES are getting facelifts for the future. The University of Oregon has tons of construction, with no signs of slowing. The first phase of the Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Impact, on the north side of Franklin Boulevard, will be ongoing through 2021 and features two 150,000-squarefoot buildings, a pedestrian bridge and a 400-car parking garage. Tykeson Hall College and Careers Building, devoted to integrating academic study, academic advising and career support services, was slated to be complete by the start of the school year. And the Hayward Field renovation is set to open in 2020 in time for the 2020 Olympic trials. Renovations are underway in a variety of other buildings around campus as well. Up the road, Oregon State University will break ground on a $70 million Arts and Education complex in 2020 that should be complete in 2022 and will feature a 500-seat concert hall as well as education and performance spaces for the arts. The university is also nearing completion on a $61.7 million Marine Studies academic building and a $79.5 million George W. Peavy Forest Science Center. 58 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER
2019
On view beginning October 12, 2019 The landmark exhibit co-developed by Oregon Black Pioneers and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History 1680 East 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 541-346-3024 mnch.uoregon.edu
what i’m working on
David L. Reamer
A Can-Do Attitude Ryan Harms and Union Wine Co. innovate their way to wine fame interview by Sheila G. Miller
RYAN HARMS FELL in love with winemaking back in 1997 at the tender age of 20, working the harvest at Rex Hill and taking a semester off school to explore the business. “In a very romantic way, I fell in love with wine and the idea of being in the business,” he said. Harms envisioned a small vineyard and winery. Today, as the founder and owner of Union Wine Company, most known for its Underwood label canned wine, he recognizes his life looks a lot different than he intended. “Upon reflection, this really probably fits me,” he said. “I always enjoyed being in situations where people are the underdog. I enjoyed the challenge of doing things people don’t think is possible.” Wine in a can is one such thing—an unexpected success that has catapulted this company to new heights. How did you start canning wine? Originally we did it as a combination of marketing activation and maybe a way to test an idea and see what the consumer response would be. If we got laughed at by everyone, we figured the worst that would happen is we would have thirty cases of pinot noir and pinot gris to take camping over the next couple years. We had just launched new branding for Underwood a year prior, and were really just getting our feet under ourselves about how we talked about and marketed our brand. The cans just kind of lit that on fire to a degree. We introduced them at Feast Since developing canned wine several years ago, Underwood has added wine coolers as well.
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what i’m working on
Portland in September 2013, and we went from being in Fast Company as an innovation story to a week and a half later Perez Hilton talking about our wine in Hollywood gossip. That must have been a shock. It certainly presented a lot of challenges. First and foremost, when we presented the idea in the fall of 2013, we only had access to 12-ounce cans—we were just using them for marketing and that wasn’t a package we could legally sell. We had a ton of challenges and hurdles to overcome, all the way down to the pent-up demand and interest we’d created. At one point we had distributors who accused us of playing games with supply and demand. It was important as we tried to keep up with demand that we continue to work with growers that produce the quality of fruit we were looking for and that we continue to make wines we were proud of. When you’re growing so fast, quality sometimes gets compromised in the process. It’s the same wine in the glass bottle that was also going in the cans—it was simply the packages that were different. The growth concern was having new folks enter the canned wine category and ensuring their quality was high—I was concerned that if somebody didn’t do a good job and a consumer had that product first, they would then think all canned wine was bad, as opposed to that one wine. Tell us about the new canning facility you recently opened. We originally started working with a local company doing mobile canning, so they’d bring the equipment to our facility. We outgrew that pretty quickly, so then we went into a copacking arrangement in California. That was a good solution for a period, but eventually because of the cost and logistics we decided to invest in our own facility. We came online for 62 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
FROM TOP Union Wine Co.’s new canning facility is the fastest and most automated in the state. Ryan Harms is behind the massive growth in the canned wine industry.
bottling in summer 2018, and the canning line came in January 2019. What’s next for the company? Last year we rolled out some wine coolers in a more limited way, and this year we’re expanding their distribution and production. The Riesling Radler and the Strawberry Cooler are now both being canned at the facility. We are getting ready to have the line set up to also produce the smaller, 250-milliliter cans. Those cans we’re primarily interested in using for venues where the venue alcohol policy won’t allow the 375ml can. This year, starting in 2019, we’re sponsors of the Thorns and Timbers organization, and so we have custom
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250ml cans only available in the stadium. We also did some custom 375ml cans for sale in local markets. Just that ability to innovate around packaging, or do limited runs, is a big benefit that gives us control over our own line. We are also looking at beginning to offer a co-packing service. As we’re getting better and becoming experts at packaging, we have extra capacity in our facility. There are a number of other wineries in Oregon and in Washington who are venturing into the canned wine space, and as much as they’re our competitors, I think it’s also an opportunity to help those folks with our knowledge and experience.
my workspace
My Workspace
Hatchet Man Duke Bendis retools skateboards into hatchets written by Suzanne Johnson photography by Bradley Lanphear
Like many Bend natives, Duke Bendis grew up skateboarding. At 25, he’s still surrounded by skateboards, but now they are part of his craft—repurposing broken skateboards and vintage axe heads into hatchets that combine old-world function with fresh, organic design.
At Duke’s Woodshop, Bendis starts by piecing skateboard sections into blocks, manipulating angles to expose the original paint. “It’s intricate work, layering and flipping the blocks to create patterns,” he said. He shapes each handle by hand, balancing ergonomics with aesthetics.
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my workspace
The well-used blades range from small carpentry hatchets to log splitters, each designed for a specific function. Bendis scours flea markets and antique shops to find these rusty remnants of Oregon’s lumber history, then gives them a new life.
Not all of Bendis’ hatchets make functional tools. Some start as raw-edge redwood scraps, which he fills with resin to highlights knots and edges. These are meant to hang on a wall rather than a toolbelt.
Planks of raw-edge juniper and walnut fill the corners of Bendis’ shop, for larger projects like custom tables and bartops. But creating hatchets is where Bendis finds creative flow. “I don’t start with a plan. The colors bring out unexpected, funky designs, and it just happens.”
MORE ONLINE
See more of Duke Bendis’ work on Instagram @dukes_woodshop. SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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game changer
The Nehalem River Hatchery provides excess salmon to the food bank.
Hooked on Local Seafood A hatchery and food bank join efforts to provide seafood to those in need written by Lori Tobias IT’S BEEN TEN YEARS since Imie Camelli, director of the North Tillamook County Food Bank, expressed to Bill Campbell her frustration at not being able to accept free Coho salmon from a nearby hatchery for the food bank. Camelli didn’t have the means to process the fish, so Campbell said he’d see what he could do, and those weren’t empty words. From that simple conversation evolved the program now known as The Smiley Brothers, a local effort that has seen the local distribution of 3,870 fish, some canned, some in filets, all made possible through the generosity of volunteers and donors. “This is fish that used to be fertilizer that is now food for the community,” said volunteer coordinator Laura Swanson. “To me that is the biggest, most significant thing, that these fish would just literally go to waste. It just feels so good to do this and know the quality food we are providing.” It’s a story of the power people can wield when they work together. After Campbell and Camelli’s conversation, Campbell sought community advocate Mike Ehlen, who jumped right in. Next, they contacted the Nehalem River Hatchery, which agreed to let them have the hatchery-bred salmon that return to the hatchery to spawn and exceed its needs for replenishing 66 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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the salmon population. A local cannery signed on to process the salmon at cost, and Neahkahnie High School students offered their artistic talent to design the can labels. Add to that a cadre of volunteers that makes the drive to retrieve and deliver the fish, and The Smiley Brothers was born. “We were talking about what a great feeling this gives to all involved,” Ehlen said. “Peggy Campbell suggested, ‘You guys ought to just call yourselves the smiley brothers.’ It’s been The Smiley Brothers ever since.” Now in its eleventh season, the fall harvest has provided roughly 11,560 cans, or 40,000 pounds of salmon, to the community. The canned fish go to the food bank, and in big years, to Meals on Wheels as well. The jack salmon, hatchery fish that return early, are smaller and don’t can well so they’re fileted and distributed to assisted living communities Kilchis House and Nehalem Bay House. “They call it salmon week,” Swanson said. “It’s over-the-top excitement. It really brings back wonderful memories for the residents. It’s considered a delicacy.” Last season was shadowed by the loss of Bill Campbell. The coming season will be the first without Camelli, who died in February at age 96. But their generous spirits will not be forgotten. “Bill Campbell was a mentor to me and many others,” Ehlen said. “He loved people and was a true champion for doing good and improving the community and people’s lives. Camelli was a tower of strength, humor, perspective and benevolence all rolled into a small and adorable package. “We should all have such a good run at life.”
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Sloped ceilings were embraced in this Portland loft remodel. Photo: Leah Verwey
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Home Refresh With vision and patience, your house can be a home
written by Melissa Dalton
illustrated by Colin Andersen
C
REATIVITY, ELBOW GREASE, patience. All home renovations have the same requirements. We step inside three fantastic remodel projects around the state, including an architect-designed beach house, a prefab cabin in the woods and a historic city loft. What else do they have in common? Homeowners who love where they live.
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In Manzanita, two creatives revitalize a Mid-century architect’s personal hideaway For three years, Cole and Lea Anne Gerst sought a little piece of coastal property to call their own. They came close to buying a different house before they found a true gem. “Cole is a designer. I could tell that his eyes did not light up on the previous property,” Lea Anne Gerst said. “When we went and saw this home, his eyes just went crazy.” Their find was special because it had been designed by a Portland-based Mid-century modern architect named Marvin Witt, and built with his sons in the early ’80s as a personal family getaway. The Gersts—he’s a product designer and she’s a project manager at a design agency— are the second owners. The home sits on a hillside above Manzanita, rising three stories with corner decks on each level, giving it a treehouse feel. The bedrooms are on the lower floors and the shared living spaces on the top. Though there were plentiful windows overlooking the ocean and cedar lining the walls, there was also failing window glass, sections of unfinished flooring and water damage in the ceiling. “It looked like no one had been there in a long time, but structurally it was solid,” Cole Gerst said. In 2017, the couple initiated a year-long remodel to bring the house back to life. Exterior railings were rebuilt to code, as was a new internal staircase. They converted a second-floor 70 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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DIY Tip
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Hide the TV
Cole Gerst designed a chic spot on the back of the kitchen island to ensure the television wouldn’t be the room’s focal point. If doing the same, he recommends choosing the TV model first so you can tailor the cabinet to its dimensions. He opted to center the screen between black cabinet doors for pleasing symmetry, and to sync the display with the kitchen. Of course, don’t forget to test sightlines when you have a spot picked out. “We made sure you could see it from multiple points in the room,” Cole said.
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powder bath into a wet room, tiling every square inch of wall in a modern grid and maximizing an awkward layout with a petite corner sink, to make it a full bath. Kitchen storage and counter space was expanded with a custom island. The old carpet in the living and dining areas was exchanged for large-format ceramic tile. Through it all, they maintained a streamlined black, white and charcoal scheme that offsets the beautiful wood, which they also had installed in the lower-level ceilings for a cohesive experience. “We wanted the house to
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shine and not over-decorate,” Cole Gerst said. At the time of purchase, the house’s qualities attracted multiple offers. “Ours was the lowest, but [Witt] knew that we were artists, and when it came down to making a decision, he said he wanted the artists to have the house,” he said. With that in mind, the couple strived to take a light touch with the remodel and maintain the essence of Witt’s design. “We wanted to be very respectful of the original intent and not overdo it,” Lea Anne Gerst said. “Because when we first saw it, we both fell in love.”
DIY Tip Sew a Simple Pillow Cover 5
1. Start with an insert that measures 15 inches x 15 inches. 2. Cut a piece of fabric to be 16 inches x 34 inches. 3. On either of the short ends, fold over a half-inch of fabric, and press flat with an iron. Sew a line to create a finished edge.
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A small cabin in the Tillamook State Forest is transformed Thirteen years ago, Jeff Weithman had a quest. On Friday afternoons, the Portlander would load up his toddler in the car and go for a drive. Sometimes they would head to Mount Hood, or cruise along the Columbia River, or motor up and down the coast. Weithman’s goal for these trips? To find a cabin. Weithman spent his early childhood in Wisconsin, where he and his family frequented a neighbor’s Eagle River retreat. “I wanted to find a place where I could create an experience like that for my kids,” Weithman said. One summer day he was driving toward Tillamook and found it—a 1967, prefab cabin that oversees a stretch of the Wilson River, nestled in the Tillamook State Forest.
Weithman and wife Tess Darrow, who founded Egg Press, lived with the 600-square-foot cabin for five years, pondering the question of whether to expand. They hired an architect and discussed bumping out the back. “Finally, we just said, ‘Let’s work with what we have and make it as efficient as possible,’” Weithman said. They gutted the cabin in a top-to-bottom remodel, installing a 300-square-foot sleeping loft for the kids over the single bedroom and bathroom. The loft is accessed by a ladder that fits neatly into a thick plywood framework surrounding the kitchen, with the last step up on a platform suspended over the fridge. A 13-foot island wrapped in butcher block offers seating and plenty of prep space. In the living room, they made the window pattern symmetrical by mirroring the units on the river-facing façade on the adjacent walls, adding built-in window seats to create cozy nooks, and fitting in a wood stove with a tall stack,
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which leads the eye up to the clerestory windows. The project was a communal affair, with Darrow sewing cushions and their furniture designer friend Reed LaPlant crafting the window seats and waterfall island top. Simple subway tile, plywood paneling, cork flooring and Ikea buys further stretched the budget. Later, the couple converted a carport into a guesthouse, so the cabin can sleep up to twelve. Now, it’s the ideal getaway for any time of year, whether winter suggests curling up in front of the fire, or it’s summer and catching newts and fishing in the river is on the agenda. “It keeps us on the analog side of things,” Weithman said. The experience even inspired a career change, as he left a position as a creative director at Nike to become a real estate agent specializing in modern living, especially via unique Mid-century or modern finds. “I like helping people envision the possibilities,” Weithman said. “That’s what we did with this cabin project.” SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
4. Lay fabric so the pattern faces up. Fold one end over 10 inches, then fold the opposite end over 8 inches, so they overlap. Sew the outside edges, only coming in a ½-inch. 5. The finished cover should be 15 x 15 inches, or a little smaller for a tight fit. Turn the cover right side out and stuff the insert inside.
1) Huge windows offer stunning beach views, and wood lines the walls of the Manzanita home. 2) The home is three stories, with corner decks on each level. 3) A black, white and charcoal color scheme ties the home together. Photos: Oregon Coast Modern 4) The 600-square-foot prefab cabin was built in 1967. 5) The home overlooks the Wilson River. 6) The owners installed a 300foot sleeping loft for the kids over the bedroom and bathroom. Photos: Jeff Weithman
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“We talked about how to work the angles to our advantage and use them as a design element, as well as how to capture more space in a small footprint.” — Jenny Guggenheim
Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio principal designer and creative director
1) A remodel of this 1883 Victorian embraced odd spaces and transformed them into useful hooks. 2) A custom sectional with storage plays off the lines in the home. Photos: Leah Verwey
Dine Right
dead spaces,” as Richards called them. In the kitchen, cabinets that made the room feel small and dark were swapped for customized cabinetry, a hard-working island, and open shelves. Then a previously unused alcove received a built-in window seat packed with drawers and cubbies. Now it does everything from display cookbooks and hide the Cuisinart to give the kids a spot to grow plants on the windowsill or chat with their parents while they’re cooking. In the living room, Guggenheim designed a custom sectional that cleverly divides the long space into designated areas for TV-watching or dining, then backed the sectional with eye-catching shelves with triangular lines. “It was kind of a cheeky play off all of the angles in the home,” Guggenheim said. In the bathroom, sleek built-in storage replaced ad-hoc wire bins, while a hexagon-shaped mirror and modern hex floor tile further embrace the angles. The Richards couldn’t be more pleased with the results: “It just feels so great to wake up living in a place that has so much thought put into it,” Kathryn Richards said, “a place that looks good and works well.”
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A loft in a historic Portland building embraces its idiosyncrasies About a year after Kathryn and Matt Richards moved into their loft in a historic building in Northwest Portland’s Alphabet District, a fire started on a balcony next door and spread to the roof. “There were 10- to 15-foot flames coming out of the building,” Matt Richards said. “We all thought it was going to go down completely.” Thankfully, no one was hurt and the building was saved, but the ensuing damage from flames, smoke and water was extensive. When the couple, who have two children, learned they would be displaced for eleven months for the repairs, they decided to remodel during the vacancy.
Their building is a stately Victorian built in 1883, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and divided into condos in 1999. The Richards’ apartment is in the former attic, making for some awkward sloped ceilings with unused nooks formed by the low angles. “When we first moved into the building, we knew we needed help with the layout and design, just because it’s a big open space and the sloped ceilings aren’t always functional,” Richards said. The couple tapped Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio to get the tricky spaces right. “We talked about how to work the angles to our advantage and use them as a design element, as well as how to capture more space in a small footprint,” interior designer Jenny Guggenheim said. To start, they didn’t change the loft’s 1,720-square-foot layout, just better used the “weird
DIY Tip
Dining room feel pinched? Dining room layouts need to balance comfortable seating, feasting, and easy circulation. To get it right, know the numbers. A place setting is 24 inches per person, a table laden with platters needs a table depth of at least 36 inches, and there should be 3 feet between the table’s edge and the nearest wall or buffet. Have a small space like the Richards? “Previously they had a rectangular table, and the simple change to a round table really enhanced the flow of the room,” Guggenheim said.
Inside an underdog fight to stop a high-voltage transmission line across the Oregon Trail written by Lee Lewis Husk
DAVID
GOLIATH
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A
N ESTIMATED 80,000 early pioneers arrived in Oregon on the Oregon Trail, passing over the American West and etching their journey in miles of wagon wheel ruts. These ruts stand witness to an historic and epic journey, the evidence still visible almost two centuries later. But as Smithsonian magazine put it back in 2016, some of these ruts are in “danger of destruction as municipalities push to stretch bigger and better power supplies across the region.” That’s the case in Oregon, where a long-proposed project could change the view forever. It’s a battle over the desert, farmland, forests and big skies of Eastern Oregon—with scant attention from the rest of the state. It’s a tale of underdogs fighting enormous odds to protect what’s theirs, and what their opponents want and seem to have the power to take. It’s about 7 treasured miles of ruts near the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center outside Baker City. It’s also about something most of us want and need—cheap, plentiful and reliable electricity to power our homes and businesses. At issue is a proposed high-voltage power line that would run 300 miles from Boardman, Oregon, to Hemingway, Idaho, known as B2H. Depending on one’s perspective, B2H will either build capacity and flexibility to support population growth and new industries, or destroy sensitive wildlife habitat, spoil views for residents along the line and visitors to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, and trash the Oregon Trail. The latter view is espoused by the nonprofit Stop B2H Coalition, whose membership consists of 600 individuals—farmers, ranchers, environmentalists, wildlife protectionists, residents in five counties the line will cross and individuals intent on preserving the Oregon Trail. The grassroots opposition, based in La Grande, also has allies in organizations such as the Oregon-California Trails Association, Oregon Natural Desert Association, Oregon Wild, Greater Hells Canyon Council and WildLands Defense.
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Photos: Stop B2H Coalition
FROM LEFT Volunteers build a mock tower on the proposed site of one of the B2H towers above La Grande. Signs in Eastern Oregon support the opposition.
FIGHTING BACK A quarter mile of the Oregon Trail runs through Larry Solitz’s property, a homestead owned by his wife’s family since 1917. “We have a piece of history here,” he said. “I think of all the people who walked through here. I think of their joy and their agony. If we lose this jewel so people can leave their lights on at night, well, it just doesn’t feel right.” He’d like to be, he said, “the stone that slays Goliath” in this underdog battle. B2H is being proposed by two investor-owned utilities— Idaho Power and PacifiCorp (a Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary)—and the Bonneville Power Administration. Idaho Power has taken the lead, saying the transmission line is necessary to meet growing demand for low-cost clean energy across the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West states like Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. In the works for more than a decade, the $1 billion to $1.2 billion project will create a transmission line that carries 500 kilovolts, about twice the amount of electricity that runs through other high-voltage lines, and will 76 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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feature towers as tall as 190 feet in some places. The project must win approval from state and federal agencies that either own land along the route or regulate development of new energy facilities. So far, Idaho Power and its partners are winning the regulatory battle, with the Oregon Department of Energy recommending approval of the proposed facility. Fuji and Jim Kreider spearhead much of the opposition. They live in the Morgan Lake area in La Grande and, in the early phase of the project, noticed neighbors fighting neighbors over the proposed location of the power line. Once the locals came together, they agreed that no line was better than the least objectionable route. In the four years since launching Stop B2H, the couple has pored through thousands of documents, attended and testified at dozens of hearings, and created websites, fact sheets and lawn signs. Their goal is to stop the line from ever being built, but in the interim, they hope to delay construction until new technologies can make the proposed project obsolete. The central question the opposition is asking is whether there’s truly a need for B2H. “The energy industry is being
turned on its head,” Jim Kreider said. “It used to be that energy companies generated energy and sent it on a transmission and distribution network to our homes. Now energy generation using renewables and storage is becoming decentralized. Homeowners can add rooftop solar, industry can turn wasted steam and heat into energy, corporations can use energy from wind and solar farms, and entrepreneurs can generate and store energy cheaper than the utilities themselves. “These newer, disruptive technologies are game changers, significantly altering the way businesses and entire industries operate,” he said. “Energy can now be produced closer to where it is needed, eliminating the need for large, centralized transmission projects. Refurbishing and upgrading the current system would seem to be a more prudent investment than building a new line, especially in light of the utility-caused fires in California.” In its analysis, Idaho Power considered many options to satisfy the growing need, including roof-top solar, reducing demand and energy efficiencies. Those measures could supplement B2H, and Idaho Power is willing to use them. But it says small-scale sources aren’t enough to outweigh the benefits of a 500-kilovolt transmission line. Since Idaho Power began the B2H process twelve years ago, it has constantly analyzed whether B2H is the right project, according to spokesman Sven Berg. “We’ve looked at how many people are coming, what resources will meet that demand and what is the best option,” he said. “The resulting answer is always B2H.” “We do see overall growth in electrical need for our customers, especially in Boise and the Treasure Valley,” said Jeff Maffuccio, the facility siting coordinator for Idaho Power. “We’re looking for a clean energy future and to tap into hydroelectric, wind and solar generation out of the Columbia River Gorge.” He points to the abundance of solar power in the Southwest that can pour across transmission lines to warm homes in Portland and Seattle during peak winter months. The same lines could deliver surplus hydroelectric and wind power from the Northwest to cool homes in the Southwest and drive Southern Idaho’s irrigation pumps in summer months.
other three agencies have either approved or are expected to rule in the project’s favor. The remaining segments of B2H’s route include 190 miles of private land and 3 miles of state lands. Permission to build a line on those portions must be approved by Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council, which reviews every large energy facility proposed in the state. This council has jurisdiction over the entire project in Oregon, including federal lands, and is staffed by the Oregon Department of Energy. In 2016, Idaho Power submitted some 17,000 pages of documentation that took ODOE staff a year to review. “B2H is bigger than most because of its size, scope and complexity,” said Kellen Tardaewether, ODOE’s senior siting analyst. “It crosses five counties, sage grouse and ground squirrel habitat, and the line parallels and is in view of the Oregon Trail.” The siting council and Idaho Power recently held five public hearings in Eastern Oregon—Ontario, Baker City, La Grande, Pendleton and Boardman—to hear testimony and gather comments about the staff’s recommendation in a draft proposed order to approve B2H. The public comment and testimony period ended August 22. At a future two-day siting council meeting, Tardaewether said, she’ll provide a summary of key parts, an overview of comments received, and will answer questions from council members. Tardaewether expects ODOE to issue the proposed order and notice of contested case by the end of the year or early 2020. Members of the public who directed their comments with “sufficient specificity” to the council’s standards
A REGULATORY MORASS The power line’s proposed route crosses 100 miles of federal lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Department of Defense. The BLM granted Idaho Power a right-ofway across its lands in 2017. “The Boardman to Hemingway Project is a Trump Administration priority focusing on infrastructure needs that support America’s energy independence,” then-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said when the BLM approved the right-of-way. Since then, the SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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Bureau of Land Management
Depending on one’s perspective, B2H will either build capacity and flexibility to support population growth and new industries, or destroy sensitive wildlife habitat, spoil views for residents along the line and visitors to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, and trash the Oregon Trail.
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will have the right to participate in the contested hearing phase. After the contested case process is complete, the council will make its final decision. “One of our big complaints is that the process is extremely complicated,” Jim Kreider of Stop B2H said. “This works in the developer’s favor, (because it has) large staffs to comply with regulatory standards. As civilians, we don’t have the resources to argue if they don’t do a good job.”
CAN THE EFFECTS BE MITIGATED? In response to the public’s concerns, Idaho Power has agreed to a number of techniques to mitigate visual impacts and other effects—narrowing right-of-way paths to a maximum width of 250 feet, lowering tower heights to 140 feet in some areas, altering the type of tower in front of the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, limiting the number of new roads and minimizing how many active creeks and streams the B2H crosses, especially those that are habitat for salmon and trout. But mitigating damage to the Oregon Trail will be difficult. “Once the trail is gone, no mitigation will bring it back,” said Gail Carbiener of Bend, a member of the Oregon-California Trails Association. He’s particularly concerned about views in front of the Interpretive Center. He wants the line buried for about 2 miles and believes the increased cost is reasonable to protect both the Interpretive Center and the quality of life for Baker County residents. “Instead of seeing the view the emigrants saw, visitors will see a power line,” he said.
But Idaho Power’s Maffuccio argued burying the line would have a more significant impact on landowners than an overhead line and could also damage trail ruts. In addition, maintenance and repairs to an underground line are more difficult and expensive. “We still have a lot of hurdles to go through before it’s a done deal, and there’s a lot of opportunity for public input,” he said. Idaho Power and PacifiCorp must win authorization from public utility commissions in Oregon and Idaho, and BPA must work through a National Environmental Policy Act process before it can issue a final order. So what happens next? If Idaho Power and its partners get all the necessary permits by 2021, the transmission line could be in service by 2026. Before construction begins, opponents will likely take their case to the Oregon Supreme Court. “I believe that’s the place where people like me and those worried about the Oregon Trail will get an impartial hearing,” Carbiener said. If the utilities lose at the Supreme Court, Idaho Power says its plan B could be a natural gas plant in Idaho. “It only resolves our needs and not BPA or PacifiCorp needs,” Maffuccio said. “Natural gas is affordable today, but we don’t know what’s going to happen in five to ten years.” Regardless of who prevails over B2H, all parties agree that renewable, clean power sources, plus new energy storage options, are the future. The remaining question is whether a large new transmission line will pass over a landscape of vast distances and the historic voices of pioneers who once passed that way. SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
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Lâm Quang works in the HiiH Lights studio and workshop.
LIGHTING THE WAY photography by Bill Purcell TUCKED AWAY IN A colorful studio in Astoria, husbandand-wife duo Lâm Quang and Kestrel Gates take light fixtures to soaring artistic heights. Quang makes the paper and armatures, while Gates paints them. Using natural materials as a starting point, the pair works by hand to create these textured, beautiful pieces.
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ABOVE, FROM TOP Quang forms a metal frame for a light in the HiiH Lights studio. Papers and lights at different stages of completion. AT RIGHT Quang and Kestrel Gates work together to create custom lighting pieces, each a work of art.
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FROM TOP Quang creates custom paper in the studio. Gates puts finishing touches on a light with indigo paint. AT RIGHT A variety of completed HiiH lights.
TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 88 ADVENTURE 90 LODGING 94 TRIP PLANNER 96
pg. 88 Portland’s Asia America store brings the East closer to home.
Derrin Battles
NORTHWEST DESTINATION 100
Every Moment Covered
Full Spectrum News | opb.org 1859_slogans-image2018_FINALS.indd 7
7/31/19 2:58 PM
Travel Spotlight
Asia America
Asia America sells art, antiques and furniture from all over the continent.
Take a day trip to the Far East with Asia America’s showroom written by Jesslyn Gillespie
Derrin Battles
PORTLAND HAS ALWAYS been a mecca of culture. For more than thirty years, the staff of Asia America has done its part by curating Eastern art near and far, past and present, and bringing it to its downtown showroom. The team is a collective of authentic experiences and professional degrees. Twice a year they travel abroad to countries including China, India, Tibet, Mongolia and Japan to hand-select art, antiques and furniture. They respect the story within each piece—sometimes five generations’ worth—and carefully ship it via boat for its next chapter. Inventory has included antique kendo jackets and a bench converted from an old Chinese cattle trough. Asia America has two Portland locations—a 20,000-square-foot warehouse in the International Harvester Building (open Tuesday through Sunday) and a new west side showroom (call for hours). Purchases can be shipped nationwide, including Alaska and Hawaii. Asia America also supports local artists and nonprofits, and has an online presence at www.asiaamericafurniture.com.
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HWY 126
adventure
Henry Georgi
Fernie Alpine Resort in Canada gets about 30 feet of snowfall each winter.
PNW Ski Culture Find your favorite spot to shred the gnar pow this winter written by Kevin Max
WHEN IT COMES to skiing in the Pacific Northwest, we are pleasantly spoiled with options. Many of us are here to be in the mountains year-round, whether it be mountain biking or alpine skiing. When snow tops the Cascades, Blue Mountains and the Kootenay Rockies, skis of all widths come out of storage wax and their owners go into planning mode. Do we ski the same place we have forever because it’s familiar? Or do we break out and find a new place that has a cool ski culture and try something new? Here, we’ve brought together some of our favorites based on the alpine and nordic ski culture behind these winter destinations.
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In less than 3.5 hours you can be Forest Bathing under the fall canopies and colors of the Olympic National Forest, and staying at one of the most beautiful Lodges in the NW— Lake Quinault Lodge. Historic, yet modernized.
Complimentary Wi-Fi, renovated lake view guest rooms, indoor heated pool, dry saunas, dining room, game room, and miles of hiking trails –
15% OFF September 2nd—November 25th* *some restrictions apply Promo CODE: FORESTBATH 888.896.3818 olympicnationalparks.com 345 South Shore Road Quinault, WA
Lake Quinault Lodge is managed by Aramark, an authorized concessioner of the U.S. Forest Service
Pursuing excellence through fitness 61615 Athletic Club Drive
(541) 385-3062
Christopher Robert
adventure
OREGON
WASHINGTON
Mt. Bachelor
Winthrop
Because the nordic ski trails at Mt. Bachelor sit at about 6,000 feet elevation in the Cascades, this resort has one of the longest seasons. The U.S. Ski Team comes to Bachelor nearly every spring to train in T-shirts, in sunshine and atop what’s left of the typical base of 150 inches. There are 56 kilometers of trails and most of it is trackset beginning in November. The Nordic Lodge is a log cabin with a small kitchen. From that kitchen come the best burritos with brown rice, chicken and jalapeños. See everyone you want at the confluence of the lower trails near Emil’s Clearing or ski into solitude on many loops.
Winthrop is truly an internationalgrade gem when it comes to nordic skiing. The Methow Valley in Washington’s North Cascades has reliable snow and, in this case, 200 kilometers of well-groomed nordic trails. It’s the beauty of the mountains, the immensity of the trail network and the ingenuity of the community that make this experience like none other. Bonus: Dogs are allowed on select trails.
STATS Trails: 56k of groomed trails Elevation: 6,000 feet
Crystal Mountain
Anthony Lakes Resort In Eastern Oregon and the aptly named town North Powder, Anthony Lakes Resort is a low-key, small outpost with old-school lifts, great cat skiing and a classic bar called the Starbottle Saloon. Local music and craft beer make this scene special. With the highest base elevation in Oregon at 7,100 feet, Anthony Lakes never really struggles for snow as ski areas with lower bases do. STATS Base Elevation: 7,100 feet Vertical Feet: 900 Lifts: 2 Acres: 1,100 Average Snowfall: 300 inches
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STATS Trails: 200k groomed trails Elevation: 1,500-2,300 feet
True, you’re on the majestic Mount Rainier. True, you’re at Crystal Mountain, Washington’s largest ski resort, with great on- and off-piste skiing. It’s the classic Bavarian design of Snorting Elk Cellar, however, that gives Crystal its great vibe. The interior rooms separated by plaster archways, wood paneling and wood chandeliers are warmed by a woodburning fireplace. Outside, Bavarian fairy tale murals top the windows and wooden cellar door. This apresski setting makes for great memories. STATS Base Elevation: 3,912 feet Vertical Feet: 3,100 Lifts: 9, plus a gondola Acres: 2,600 Average Snowfall: 350 inches
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FROM LEFT Crystal Mountain, Washington’s largest ski resort, features a gondola. Galena Lodge in Sun Valley is the jumping-off point for great nordic skiing. Schweitzer Mountain Resort has world-class downhill skiing.
adventure
IDAHO
CANADA
Galena Lodge, Sun Valley
SilverStar Mountain Resort
Here you are in Ketchum, Idaho, and home of the legendary Sun Valley ski resort. But head 23 miles up I-75 into Sawtooth National Forest, where Galena Lodge sits at the nexus of a vast network of nordic ski trails. You can choose to stay up high on the 50 kilometers of trails around Galena Lodge and end the day with a glass of wine by the fireplace, or ski a hearty 30 kilometers down the gently rolling Harriman Trail toward town and more watering holes. STATS Trails: 50k trails + 30k Harriman trails Elevation: 7,290 feet
Schweitzer Mountain Resort It’s a little-known fact that Schweitzer Mountain is Idaho’s largest ski area. In the northern Idaho Selkirk Mountains, Schweitzer is tucked away, and a massive revelation upon arriving. The skiing is world-class, especially if you dig telemarking. The village has all it needs and nothing more. This year, Schweitzer will get two new lifts, seven new runs and, soon, a new thirty-unit boutique hotel.
Dev Khalsa Photography
Schweitzer Mountain Resort
STATS Base Elevation: 3,960 feet Acres: 2,900 Vertical Feet: 2,400 Lifts: 9, plus a T-bar Average Snowfall: 300 inches
Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre SilverStar makes our list for many reasons, but let’s focus on the village and the nordic skiing for a moment. The nordic network encompasses 55 kilometers of trails at SilverStar and 50 kilometers of connected trails at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre. Stay on the resort trails for hale climbs and thrilling descents, or head farther out to Sovereign Lake to challenge your endurance on nicely groomed trails. All trails should end at the European Bugaboos Bakery for coffee and pastries or the handful of restaurants in the small ski village, which includes chalets, hotels, five eateries and one small grocery. STATS Trails: 105k combined nordic trails Elevation: 5,280 feet
Fernie Alpine Resort Located in the Lizard Range of the Canadian Rockies, Fernie is renowned for its huge annual snowfall that averages almost 30 feet. Of course, you’ll only need the top 3 or 4 feet of wispy powder to make it the best ski experience ever. Finish with fire and ice. At Cirque restaurant and bar, warm up with flaming cocktails and spectacular mountain views. Then slip on a parka and walk straight into the Stoli Ice Bar, built from blocks of ice. Fernie’s remoteness in southeastern British Columbia is another reason to love it. STATS Base Elevation: 3,450 feet Vertical Feet: 3,550 Lifts: 10 Acres: 2,500 Average Snowfall: 360 inches
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ROOMS
The lodge’s 205 newly renovated rooms range in size and features—some have private whirlpool tubs, many have roomy sofa-endowed sitting areas, all have private balconies—and creature comforts abound, from stone fireplaces and Pendleton wool accents to plush robes and Keurig coffee makers. The best Siletz Bay views are from the Alder building, but if the Highway 101 buzz proves bothersome, request a quieter room farther east, or facing the richly forested Peter Jacobsendesigned eighteen-hole golf course, an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
FEATURES
Newly opened in 2019, the Salishan Resort Aerial Park, the only one of its kind on the Oregon Coast, is an eco-adventure for the whole family (ages 8 and up). After a meet and greet at the Salishan Marketplace base camp, hike a half-mile through serene forestland to the park, get schooled in ropes course safety by personable guides, then test your above-ground mettle during two hours of heart-pounding climbing, clambering and swinging across dozens of wire cable and wood platforms and pathways. Be sure to climb the Crow’s Nest roosting in a giant spruce for the adrenaline rush and breathtaking views.
DINING
Start your day with an egg white and asparagus omelette or pulled pork Benedict in the Sun Room, aptly named for the bright banks of windows overlooking the golf course. For casual happy hour cocktails, steamed clams with focaccia crostini and Tillamook-cheddar-topped Salimash burgers, plus live music and lovely golf course views, settle into the Attic Bar and Lounge right around sunset, and for an elegantly plated formal dinner, book a table at The Dining Room.
AMENITIES
A five-minute walk from the main lodge, at the north end of the Salishan Marketplace, Salishan’s award-winning luxury spa is a must-visit during your stay—book the Salishan Signature Stone massage or a Seafoam Mud Wrap, then spend the rest of the afternoon soaking in the bayfront infinity whirlpool, hopping from steam to cedar sauna with a cold rainshower in between, and sipping Steven Smith tea or a glass of Willamette Valley pinot noir on a fireside lounger in the relaxation room, taking in the stunning Siletz Bay views.
Lodging
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Salishan’s golf course was its original draw, and remains one of the resort’s prettiest features. A new aerial park offers challenges for the whole family. Rooms have been extensively remodeled.
Salishan Resort written by Jen Stevenson WHETHER YOU’RE PLANNING a restorative wellness weekend of downward dogs and sauna sitting, only want to leave the links for a good burger and beer, or would prefer to perch on your Siletz Bay-facing balcony doing nothing with a few leisurely hikes in between, Salishan Resort in Gleneden Beach is your new home-away-from-home base. The expansive 250-acre bayfront resort, under new ownership as of late 2017, was originally opened in 1965, and you’ll feel the classic Midcentury architectural influence of the Mad Men era walking into the John Storrs-designed lobby, with its rustic coastal lodge meets swanky summer camp vibes. The amenities, however, are decidedly twentyfirst century—daily morning yoga classes, a full-service luxury spa, the brand-new aerial park and a bank of Tesla charging stations make for a comfortable, modern stay. A quartet of onsite restaurants and fully stocked wine cellar and bar ensure that a snack, snifter or multi-course meal is at hand anytime, and if you need to burn off that last order of short rib mac and cheese, consult the adventure concierge—in minutes, you’ll be kitted out in Pendleton and ready to kayak the Siletz River, surf Lincoln City swells, climb a soaring sea cliff or just walk the peaceful nature trail that leads to the private beach for a solitary sunset viewing. 7760 N. HIGHWAY 101 GLENEDEN BEACH www.salishan.com
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Eric Valentine
Country Living
Union County is a mix of rugged beauty, farmland hospitality and a few surprises
Mount Emily Recreation Area combines stunning views with outdoor activities.
written by Catie Joyce-Bulay
OF OREGON’S thirty-six counties, Union may not be the sexiest—you won’t find any sweeping beaches, hipsters or thirdwave coffee, and the only haystacks are made of actual hay. What you will find is a nature lover’s playground spanning a diverse landscape, from high desert shrub steppe to rugged mountains, where three national forests converge over three mountain ranges, lush farmlands sprawl across valley floors and genuine local hospitality echoes the pioneering spirit of the Oregon Trail. 96 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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Day MOUNTAINS • BREWS • BOUTIQUE HOTEL Oregonians are probably most familiar with I-84 along the Columbia River Gorge, but it’s no less scenic once it parts ways with the river. The stretch crossing into Union County is one of my favorite drives and a perfect example of how incredibly beautiful overlooked Eastern Oregon can be. With no traffic to slow you down, the highway climbs the Blue
Mountains around winding curves with sweeping vistas of the valley below, and eventually meets up with the Grande Ronde River before careening into La Grande. The town of 13,000 is so nicely tucked into the surrounding foothills and mountains, one can’t help but fantasize about what it would be like to wake
n i u o Y e Se
C U e h t
The Landing Hotel & Dining 1501 Adams Ave., La Grande 541-663-1501 | lagrandelandinghotel.com
Grande Hot Springs RV Resort 65182 Hot Lake Ln., La Grande 541-963-5253 | grandehotsprings.com
Side A Brewing 1219 Washington Ave., La Grande 541-605-0163 | sideabeer.com
Eagle Cap Excursion Train PHOTO: ERIC VALENTINE / PRAISE PHOTOGRAPHY
1307 Adams Ave., La Grande 541-963-9000 | eaglecaptrainrides.com
Âť Union County, Oregon ÂŤ From the Blue Mountains to the Grande Ronde Valley, there is so much to discover in Union County. Must-try beer, historic lodging and unique experiences await.
Learn more at visitunioncounty.org
Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort 47500 Anthony Lakes Hwy., North Powder 541-856-3277 | anthonylakes.com
Oregon State Parks
trip planner
CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT The Landing Hotel in La Grande has been lovingly restored. The Elgin Opera House is a beautiful spot for a show. The Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway is 134 miles of dazzling views.
up to that view every morning, which you’ll be able to do at The Landing Hotel. This five-room boutique hotel, opened in 2017, rescued a 1900-built house from dilapidation, transforming it into a chic inn and restaurant. White-washed shiplap walls and old-fashioned tile floors are restored with comforting updates like luxurious walk-in showers and soaps handcrafted at a local mint farm. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, La Grande’s tree-lined downtown begs a stroll. Give yourself the opportunity to slow to the rhythms of small-town life, popping into its used book stores and thrift shops and sampling the gelato at Community Merchants while browsing crafts and curio. Any gear nerd will recognize Blue Mountain Outfitter as a treasure. It’s also where you’ll purchase a Northwest Forest Pass. La Grande is the perfect base camp for any outdoor adventure. The go-to place for locals is Mount Emily Recreation Area. A mere ten minutes from town transports you from flower-dappled cow pastures to the intimacy of tree-lined slopes with miles of trails for hiking, biking, skiing, horseback riding and ATVing. After a day of calorie burning, refuel at Side A Brewing. You’ll not only find beers on point with brewing trends but one of the best meals in town. The locally sourced dressed-up pub fare pays a surprising attention to detail, like the spicy peanut sauce on the peanut-butter bacon burger and the fresh herb and cherry pepper-laced dirty fries. The industrial-style pub is housed, along with the Eastern Oregon Fire Museum, in an old fire station. Afterward, even if you missed the tenth annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival in October, catch a movie in the old-fashioned Liberty Theatre or at La Grande Drive In, one of only four remaining in Oregon. Or explore the nearby tiny town of Elgin for a show at the historic Elgin Opera House. 98 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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Day BIRDING • HOT SPRINGS • PHOSPHATES After The Landing’s pesto breakfast panini, you’ll be ready to hit the road. Whether in a car or on two wheels, you’ll notice signs for the Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway, a 134-mile popular figure-eight bike loop. The Grand Ronde shows off more than any other valley I’ve driven through, with far-stretching flat roads that disappear into the horizon hugged on either side by snow-capped mountains—the Blues, Wallowas or Elkhorns seemingly within arm’s reach wherever you go. Before getting too far out of town, make a detour to Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area, another locals’ favorite. Even if you’re like me and don’t consider yourself a birder, you’ll be rewarded with so many sightings you may just become one. Be sure to cut the engine and listen to the symphony of bird calls that make this peaceful 6,000-acre wetland come alive. Along Route 203, the neon-lit Hot Lake Springs sign looming over an old building seems out of place, but definitely make a pit stop for the self-guided tour. In its early-1900s heyday, the grand hotel saw thousands in its 300 guest rooms and hospital. These days the enormous building is showing its age, but artist David Manuel and his family, who bought the property in 2003, continue restoration. In addition to the grounds, where shrieking peacocks roam among Manuel’s bronze sculptures created in his on-site foundry, you’ll tour the bed-and-breakfast’s museumlike period-furnished guest rooms and Manuel’s extensive collection of Native American and military artifacts. Though the lily-pad-covered hot lake is too hot for bathing, visitors can soak in spa tubs both outdoors and in the original bath house.
FROM LEFT Elgin’s Eagle Cap Excursion Train is one of many rural adventures. Frisch Farm’s Pick’N Patch near Cove is on the Union-Cove Farm Loop.
Continuing on Route 203 will soon bring you into Union. You know you’re in rural Oregon when the Main Street hardware store also sells liquor and espresso. History buffs will enjoy an afternoon at the Union County History Museum, housed in four downtown buildings including the former roller rink. Then lunch at Union Drug Co. and Soda Fountain, where you can grab a sandwich paired with a malt or phosphate. Others will prefer a scenic drive out of town through the sage brush for a creekside picnic under the ponderosas at Catherine Creek State Park. Even if the Historic Union Hotel wasn’t the only one in town, it would still be my top choice. Owners Charlie and Ruth Rush are the picture of hospitality. My stay with a little one in tow felt as comfortable as a trip to see the grandparents, only with better service. Chat with Charlie and you’ll soon learn everything you want to know about the town and hotel, and understand how the mish-mash of the 1921 hotel’s eclectic antique décor somehow all works together, a reflection of his past and personality. Find a home-cooked-feel dinner and breakfast in the elegant dining room. Even if the restaurant isn’t open, Charlie, who is also the chef, won’t let you go hungry.
Day COFFEE WITH LOCALS • FARMS For a light breakfast, good coffee and mingle with the locals, the Old West-themed
UNION COUNTY, OREGON
Janet Dodson/Eastern Oregon Visitors Association
Ed Spaulding
trip planner
Rattle Tales Coffee and Such is the place. In no time I was invited to sit down with a group of regulars, but I could have easily whiled away the morning reading its collection of old National Geographic magazines. The Union-Cove Farm Loop will bring you back to La Grande the long way, via Cove. Heading out of Union is Platz Family Farm, which was officially closed the day I drove by, but I was invited to stop in anyway by the farmer I met at the coffee shop. Becky and Joe Platz, with the help of their three young children, specialize in berries grown alongside other fruits and vegetables. The produce at self-serve Nella Mae’s Farm stand is a local staple. Stock up on gourmet garlic at Folly Farms, a U-pick micro-farm just down the road, where several varieties of garlic, among other heirlooms, grow. Farther up the ridge, the view and the product get sweeter at Cove Honey, just past the alpacas. Before heading out of town, lunch at Steakhouse at Cove. Don’t let the simple country décor fool you—this comfort food packs surprisingly sophisticated flavors paired with house-infused cocktails. By now you’ll be planning a return trip to fit in everything you missed. Worthy of the list are a dip in Cove’s warm spring-fed pool, a ride on Elgin’s Eagle Cap Excursion Train, backpacking Eagle Cap Wilderness, skiing at Anthony Lakes, the state’s highest base-elevation ski resort, and the giant desserts at North Powder Café. If you’ve left Union County with a full belly and sore muscles, you’ve done it right. SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
EAT Side A Brewing www.sideabeer.com The Landing Hotel www.lagrandelandinghotel.com/ dining-at-the-landing Union Drug Co. & Soda Fountain www.bit.ly/2ynrebB North Powder Café www.bit.ly/2LSpH69 Historic Union Hotel www.thehistoricunionhotel.com Steakhouse at Cove www.steakhouseatcove.com
STAY The Landing Hotel www.lagrandelandinghotel.com Historic Union Hotel www.thehistoricunionhotel.com
PLAY Wallowa-Whitman National Forest www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman Umatilla National Forest www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla Malheur Natonal Forest www.fs.usda.gov/malheur Eagle Cap Wilderness www.fs.usda.gov Mount Emily Recreation Area www.meetmera.org Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area www.myodfw.com/ladd-marshwildlife-area-visitors-guide Blue Mountain Outfitters www.bluemtnoutfitters.com Eastern Oregon Fire Museum www.bit.ly/335c74s Art Center East www.artcentereast.org Nightingale Gallery www.eou.edu/art/nightingale-gallery Union County Museum www.ucmuseumoregon.com Catherine Creek State Park www.bit.ly/317ztF2 Elgin Opera House www.elginoperahouse.com Eagle Cap Excursion Train www.eaglecaptrainrides.com
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 99
northwest destination
Chasing Waterfalls Visiting one of Washington’s zen wonders—Palouse Falls written by Kevin Max
AFTER YEARS OF HEARING about the natural wonder of Palouse Falls, I finally put it on my schedule. Neither my regular driving nor typical flight routes would ever get me close enough to this remote southeastern Washington site to make it feasible. Starbuck, Washington, where Palouse Falls flows, is at least an hour-and-a-half drive north from Walla Walla, southwest from Spokane and northeast of the Tri-Cities. But, damnit, this was named Washington’s state waterfall in March 2014, and I was determined to see why. Kids from Washtucna Elementary School, 17 miles away, helped write the bill that would designate this as a state gem. I wanted to see what they saw. As a rule, I never overplan. Nothing unexpected ever comes to those who overwrite possibility with assurance. I packed a oneman, one-dog tent, a good camera and few provisions for an overnight stay at the state park. I had it in mind that this would be more about the natural beauty and less about its bounty. 100 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
Palouse Falls is a natural wonder in the Eastern Washington town of Starbuck.
The park is a small 105 acres and has ten primitive campsites at $12 (cash) each and on a first-come, first-served basis. Cell service is a faint wisp, if at all. The nearest restaurant is a thirtyminute drive. It was the remoteness of Palouse Falls that kept me from going for so long, yet it is the remoteness of Palouse Falls that eventually drew me in. Palouse Falls State Park is 2 miles in from the nearest paved road. As soon as I turned off the pavement, I encountered two large electronic signs. They rose up from the sagebrushed ground and into the blue-grey sky. The first one read: Danger 4 Recent Deaths. From what, I wondered. The second sign served as a partial answer: Recreate Safely. You can hear the falls from the parking lot but not yet see them across the sloping embankment. Palouse Falls is one of the few remaining waterfalls along the Ice Age flood path from Lake Missoula. It is the coincidence of drama, power and beauty. At the cliff ’s edge, basalt walls drop 200 feet to a bowl and, across
FROM TOP A natural nativity scene above Palouse Falls. The Black Cypress in Pullman specializes in Mediterranean cuisine.
PALOUSE FALLS STATE PARK, WASHINGTON
northwest destination
EAT Campfire food at Palouse Falls State Park The Black Cypress, Pullman www.theblackcypress.com Rico’s Public House, Pullman www.ricospub1909.com Foundry Kitchen & Cocktails www.facebook.com/foundrypullman
STAY Camp at Palouse Falls State Park www.parks.state.wa.us/559/ Palouse-Falls Coast Hilltop Inn www.coasthotels.com Courtyard by Marriott Pullman www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ puwcy-courtyard-pullman
PLAY Hike and photograph Palouse Falls State Park www.parks.state.wa.us/559/ Palouse-Falls Check out Pullman www.pullmanchamber.com
Steven Devine
Drive the Palouse Scenic Byway www.palousescenicbyway.com
the bowl the Palouse Falls pour powerfully into the mint tea of the Palouse River. At the top of the falls stand handsome basalt columns that could easily be mistaken for a nativity scene or array of chess pieces. This is a moment in life. If Liam Neeson were providing the voiceover for this moment, he might have said in his graveled voice: “The first thing you must know is … you will be taken … by its beauty.” For the next two days, I explored the canyon below. On the north side of the park is a trail that winds around and down into the canyon. While the main attraction of Palouse Falls is a narrow-gauge blast of water, the falls around the north side of the canyon are a wide and distributed spill whose pools you can walk up to, dip your feet, or, if you’re so inclined, strip and dip, cold as it is. Over these days, I explored, took many photos and, during the harshly lit middays, lit out for the closest towns for food and drink.
Any visit to Palouse Falls should include a side trip to the Palouse region’s largest city—Pullman. Pullman, home to Washington State University, is a ninety-minute drive, but well worth it. The small college town is surrounded by fertile lands that yield lentils, wheat, barley and peas, a fitting landscape for Washington’s largest agriculture university. There are many choices for those coming out of isolation. I walked downtown Pullman considering the dining options. Foundry Kitchen & Cocktails has a great back patio, chowder and burgers; The Black Cypress for Mediterranean cuisine, the venerable Rico’s Public House for soups, salads, burgers and live music, and a handful of Asian and Mexican restaurants. I ended up building my decision around a margarita-first mantra and ducked into Rancho Viejo for absolution. Hours later, I would make it back to Palouse Falls in time to watch the sun climb the falls as it fell over the western bank and gave way to a thousand stars blinking remote signals lightyears away and into my one-man tent. SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 101
1859 MAPPED
The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1859.
Astoria Seaside
Milton-Freewater Hood River Portland Tillamook Gresham
Pendleton
The Dalles La Grande
Maupin Government Camp
Pacific City Lincoln City
Baker City
Salem Newport
Madras
Albany Corvallis
Prineville
John Day
Redmond
Sisters Florence
Joseph
Ontario
Bend
Eugene Springfield
Sunriver Burns
Oakridge Coos Bay Bandon
Roseburg
Grants Pass Brookings
Jacksonville
Paisley
Medford Ashland
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Live
Think
Explore
16 Rogue Creamery
48 MilkRun
80
Asia America
22 Chuck’s Seafood
52 George W. Peavy Forest Science Center
82
Mt. Bachelor
84
Salishan Resort
86
The Historic Union Hotel
92
Palouse Falls State Park, Washington
28 Skeen Farms 40 Hillsboro Hops 42 The Stitchin’ Post
102 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
54 Union Wine Co. 56 Duke’s Woodshop 58 North Tillamook County Food Bank
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
Discover the unsearchable Discover the forest
Find a trail near you at DiscoverTheForest.org
Erika Unyatinszki
Until Next Time
The Mystery of Random Person written by Arlo Voorhees
IN A CITY THAT boasts thousands of acres of green space, a graveyard may seem an odd place for a casual autumn stroll. However, Lone Fir Cemetery—founded in 1854 and still accepting burials—is at once an arboretum and a 30-acre portal to the ghosts of Portland past. Home to several notable Portlanders such as James Hawthorne, Lone Fir—which also accommodates murderers and prostitutes—is teeming with secrets for the gumshoes among us. My mystery begins with chestnuts. As I stepped down to crack the spiky armor of a fallen morsel, a certain stone caught my eye. Its inscription read “Random Person.” Not Unknown Person. Not Unidentified Remains. But Random Person. Who lies beneath this stone? Was it an elaborate prank? Why the odd, dismissive diction? And why was the stone so shiny and modern? After a few phone calls to Lone Fir stewards and combing through the manila folders crammed with newspaper clippings and brochures at the Oregon Historical Society, I had nothing to go on. Well, almost nothing. I became acquainted with some other folks who share a resting place with Random Person. Among them is Julius Caesar, a baseball-loving freed slave who patrolled the downtown streets, often hollering “Play Ball” at pedestrians. When he was found dead of exposure, a group of citizens purchased a plot in Lone Fir—his catchphrase etched upon his tombstone. Another is Emma Merlotin, an infamous French courtesan and victim of the Notorious Portland Hatchet murders of 1885. While grateful to make these acquaintances, I returned to the subject of the original investigation—Random Person. This time I noticed the grave in question was eerily similar to a stone from 2017 directly to its south. Erected to commemorate Bill and Sandy Corder, it seemed Bill had passed in 2017 and Sandy 104 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2019
had survived her husband. Though reluctant to pry, I wrote to Sandy on the idea that she might know something about Random Person. It turns out she did. When her late husband was to be buried in 2017, Sandy received a distressed call from Emma Williams at Metro. She ruefully reported that when workers broke ground at the site, “they found a random person there.” As one can imagine, records of the deceased in the mid-nineteenth century weren’t meticulous. The bones could not be identified. While some families may have reacted indignantly, the Corders thought it strange and her word choice frankly hilarious. In a deal to offset the grief of the mishap and relinquish another site Sandy purchased in 1993, Metro agreed to erect the tombstone with Sandy’s suggested inscription, Random Person. Since then, the family has adopted the unknown Portlander. They bring him or her flowers every time they visit Larry. Sandy’s son has decided to be buried on the other side of the unknown stranger, so as to cement Random Person’s place in the family. Humor and good nature aside, Sandy gets somber when talking about the newest member of the Corder clan. “These people were our pioneers. They deserve commemoration and respect.” So the case is closed on Random Person. Onward into the unknown and myriad other mysteries that haunt Portland’s oldest cemetery.
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Oregon’s Magazine
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TRIP PLANNER: UNION COUNTY PG. 96
Our Ski Guide to the PNW
Strawberry Cucumber Crush Cocktail
Sculptural Lamps
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