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A R TS AND C U LTU R E
5
A geeky pillar of the community
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JARED PREBLg
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ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
Whether it’ s slaying dragons, crowded
around a table littered with paper and
pencil, painting armies of miniature
figures that may perish in battle, or just
relaxing after a long day of work with a
board game or two, Geeks and Games has
you covered and then some. Arriving in
October of last year, Geeks and Games
has become a haven for gamers, painters
and fam ilies alike to come together
and support the spot that provides the
community with a place to unwind.
Adam and La Donna Cox are the
proprietors of Geeks and Games, and the
ones who took the chance to bring the
store to life. “ I’ve always been a hobbyist
and enjoyed gam es,” Adam Cox said.
“ I’ve been gaming a lot recently within
the last five to ten years and when La
Donna deployed overseas, I had really
nothing to do so I started hanging out
at a game store and my mind started
wandering, When she cam eback from
overseas, we started talking about it and
at first she thought I was crazy. She was
probably right, but she started looking
at what we could do in the community
because it’s really important for us to be
supportive of the community and of otir
employees and those are two things we
saw deficient in employers that we’ve
been with before.”
Since the start of the Geeks and Games,
Adam and La Donna Cox have gone to
great lengths to involve themselves in
the com m unity that revolves around
both them and their store. They are
active participants in the local Chamber
of Commerce as well as the Oregon City
Women’s Club.
Such com m itm ent to learning the
dynamics of being a family-run business
has offered m any opportunities for
th em , and it ’ s drawn students here
at Clack am as C o m m u n ity C o llege
through their doors as well. “Just prior
to opening, we were at the college trying
to promote the opening of our store,”
La Donna Cox said. “ We had a tent out
and some games för sale and we were
talking to a lot of people and we met a
lot of people at the college and then a
month and a half later we got keys to our
building and we kind of stood there the
doors were open and it was completely
empty in here and then ä whole bunch of
kids from the college showed up and said
“We hear you’re ready to move in, can we
Clackamas Print
help?” Then we had all of these college
kids that worked hard and brought in all
of our fixtures and furnishings that we
had already purchased and just started
m oving things in and helping us get
settled in, and completely unexpected.”
Nathan Ray, one of the CCC students
thatassisted the owners with moving
into the bu ild in g, has made Geeks
and Gam es his go -to spot for games
such as M agic the G ath erin g and
Warhammer. Before the coming of this
game shop, Nathan would often pass up
opportunities to game with others for the
sole reason of inconvenience, as driving
to and from Portland to play at the larger
game shops can be a drag. Ray regularly
attends events that the store holds and
continues to support the store and their
various ventures.
According to Ray, Geeks and Games
has given m any of the gamers in the
area a place to let loose. “ fth in k they’ve
reacted positively to this place, and we’ve
never had a place like this in Oregon City
so people really enjoy having this place,”
Ray said. “ It has a nice family friendly
environment.” .
While gaming is their forte, Geeks and
Gam es doesn’t restrict their creative
boundaries When it com es to other
hobbies. Paint Night is a favorite amongst
the community, and it’s attracted the
attention of other artists in the area who
are looking for a place display their art.
Oregon City High School’ s Art Club is
currently displaying their art in the store
u n til the end of the month. “ I was really
excited when the high school contacted
me and said that their kids had been
asking if they could have their artwork
displayed here for their annual artwork
show, ” La Donna Cox s a ic L “ I
s a id
absolutely, I’ve got to takej^Hbhdow n
some pictures but you can
have the entire wall, it ’s all yours
So far it’ s been very successful, we’ve
had a lot of. kids come in that are
excited to see their stuff on the walk
and of course their family members.
I would love to have them back every,
year'”
Geeks and Games supports all walks
of life and show no sign of turning their
back on those that seek to socialize, j l
game, and express themselves; they
also show no sign of slowing down when
it comes to the variety of activities they
offer. Juggling an average of a dozen
different events a week along with plans
to expand the size of their store, Geeks
and Games looks like it ’s here to stay.
According to the positive feedback from
the community, Oregon City is glad to
have them.
Images of the inside of the Geeks and Gamers store bottom, and a figurine of the terrifying watcher from D’n’D on top.
th e c la c k a m ra s p rin t.n e t
April 25, 2018