WWW JUSTOUT COM
AUGUST 21 2009
MEADOWS GROUP. INC.
REALTORS
Owner: Celia Lyon. Principal Broker
Years in Business: 18
Address: 1902 SE Morrison St.
Web. www.Gelialyon.com
“Buying a home is a pretty intimate experience,” accord
ing to Celia Lyon, Principle Broker with Meadows Group,
Inc. Realtors. After nearly twenty years in Portland’s real
estate business, she understands just
how important— and sometimes
frightening—buying or selling a
home can be. •
Her presence is long felt in the
gay community, she says, adding,
“I’ve been advertising in Just Out
since the beginning o f time.” She es
timates that 80 percent o f her clients
are gay.
For Lyon, as a gay woman, she can relate to her clients’
experiences and what they might need or want in a home.
“I have an understanding o f their life, they have an under
standing o f my life,” she notes.
In the process o f purchasing a home, clients must be able
to talk honestly about their lives, Lyon says, and to feel they
can trust the person with whom they are working. Drawing
on her background as an educator, she focuses on listening,
paying attention and giving support. It’s an emotional experi
ence, Lyon says, and her clients appreciate her accessibility.
“They can always reach me,” she adds, “and they can,
literally. I answer my phone.”
Lyon works with buyers and sellers equally. She feels
working with both groups affords her a better grasp o f the
marketplace, and o f what all clients are looking for. “I f you
only work with one side, you do not really understand the
other,” she says.
As for the housing market crisis, Lyon believes it has been
blown out o f proportion. For Portlanders, “whatever crisis
there was hit us last and is leaving [us] first,” she states.
“It’s actually a really smart time to be buying property,”
continues Lyon. The first-time home buyer tax credit is
available until December 1, and according to Lyon, the
market is not unhealthy. She warns against exploiting the
economic downturn and taking advantage o f “the other
side.” However, she says, “you can get a good deal.”
To help potential buyers navigate the sometimes confus
ing process, Lyon and her partner, a mortgage broker, and a
financial adviser friend host classes for individuals to discuss
the industry, tax credits and how to get a loan.
“To me it’s not just a job, it’s my life,” she says. “I enjoy
helping people.”
- K ir a L e s l e y
z - j
THE FUNNY BONE
DAVIS
J t J i
Owner: Gory Hopping
Years in Business: 18
Address: 617 SW Washington St.
' Web: www.funnybon 0 stor 0 .com
Though recently having received much regional and
local attention for the plight o f missing Veronica— the
Yorkshire Terrier belonging to owner Gary Hopping—The
Funny Bone has, in fact, been garnering attention in its
downtown locale for almost two decades.
Hopping’s business shifted gears over the last couple of
years, morphing from simply Balloons on Broadway to re
naming the retail side o f the business The Funny Bone. The
move allowed each side to have its own identity.
“We were just trying to make sure people are aware
of what we do, both sides o f the business,” says Hopping.
“Just to be able to market ourselves into different groups o f
people, different marketing strategies. What works for the
store doesn’t always work for the balloon side o f it.”
Balloons on Broadway specializes in balloon delivery,
décor and events, while The Funny Bone store is buried in
a gag-trinket avalanche, with novelty toys, magic sets, and
silly cards dotting the aisles like pines on a toboggan run.
It’s the kind o f place where children and adults alike can
spend hours browsing or buying, thinking they’ve been do
ing so for only a minute.
Despite the built-in hypnosis, Hopping admits that
changes in downtown Portland— construction, economy,
eta— have contributed to some serious years for The Funny
Bone. Still, the resiliency o f the gay, lesbian, bi and trans
business community has helped significantly and been a
source of inspiration, even in more desperate times.
“I think we’re on a plateau,” says Hopping. “Hopefully
when the bus mall reopens and things get back to normal,
WITHAM 8 DICKEY
Owners: Bill Dickey 8 Matthew Witham
Years in Business: 5 in current location
Address: 4824 NE 42nd Ave.
Web: www.withamanddickey.com
In a time when amenities like printing seem to be bear
ing the brunt o f the economic tsunami, Portland-based,
half-gay owned print services company Witham 8c Dickey
is weathering the storm.
Witham 8c Dickey have been in business longer than
their residency at their current location on N E 42nd Ave.,
and have brokerage agreements and national accounts with
Working to Protect
the LGBTQ community
since 1996
it’ll help. The wonderful thing about Portland is it’s got a
great downtown, but it always seems to be three steps for
ward, two steps back.
“I think everybody really needs to support local gay
business,” he says. “Instead o f buying it online, see if it’s
available at a local store. Support your local business,
whether it’s gay, straight, or any orientation; just support
local business.”
- R yan J . P r a d o
printers in several different locations throughout the coun
try, as well as printers that are set up to handle their work in
other cities for regional services. The business boasts a digi
tal department, small press department, large press depart
ment and facilitates in-house mail services. The company is
most notably involved in the election business, producing
political campaign materials including letterhead, fundrais
ing letters and business cards.
For Dickey, who represents the “gay” in the “half-gay
owned” title, the recession prompted some downsizing
earlier this year, but ultimately revealed the importance of
opportunities to flex their philanthropic muscle— a major
aspect o f doing business the Witham 8c Dickey way.
“The business model that I had before we merged and
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Beth Allen Law PC
tel 5 0 3 . 2 8 1 . 8 6 6 6
A d o p tio n s
811 SW Naito Pkwy., Suite 420
S u rro g a c y
Portland, OR 97204
D iv o rc e
C u s to d y
( 503 ) 241-3103
W ills /E s ta te P la n n in g
info@bethnllcnlaw.com
www.bethallenlaw.com
E m p lo y m e n t
Winner of the Oregon Gay & Lesbian Law Association (OGALLA) Silver Jubilee Award; OGALLA
Award of Merit; and the Basic Rights Oregon Superhero Award. Founding member of the BRO
Legal Group; author of Same-Sex Marriage: a Conflicts of Law Analysis for Oregon; frequent local,
state and national speaker on marriage equality.
H .
D
w ayne
D
a v is
,
w w w .im p re ss-u sa .co m
Broker
AS YOUR AGENT I WILL'.
Listen to you
Communicate throughout the process
Be present through closing and beyond
ceil 503/319-4057
office 503/294-1101
Email hddavis@ realtytrust.com
wwwTealtytrust.corrVhdwaynedavis
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