Page 16
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 21, 2004
… Sonny Moore, owner of Sonrise
Tile, a teacher’s aide at Lorna Byrne
Middle School, a Little League coach,
and outgoing president of I.V. Little
League
Where are you from?
Southern California, born and raised.
My parents actually came from San
Jose, but moved to Southern California
in 1963. I graduated from Cypress High
School. I played left tackle offense for
six years in junior high and high school
and was the team captain. I was also on
the student council. I was the president
of our junior class. Junior high was 7th,
8th and 9th grades; kinda’ different than
it is here.
Any brothers and sisters?
I am the baby of the family. I have three
sisters, Becky, the oldest, Cindy and
Colleen. My sisters used to dress me up.
Colleen is a beautician by trade, and so
I was her guinea pig. She always took
me down and colored my hair or something. One time my hair turned green when she
tried to color it. There are even some family photos with me dressed up with long hair and
wigs; I was kinda’ like their dress-up doll.
However, I grew up and got bigger than them, so they respect me now. We were al-
ways rich in family life. My mom stayed home, and my dad worked for 30 years manu-
facturing ceramic tile. He was the branch manager for a store in Anaheim, and I worked
for him; that’s how I got interested in what I do today.
Where do you work now?
I’ve owned my own company, Sonrise Tile, since 1998. It hasn’t been a full-time
thing yet, just supplementary. In ‘93, my wife, Lisa, and I moved to Portland with our
family. Since I had experience working for a company called Dal Tile, a carpet company
in Portland wanted me to help them expand into flooring and ceramic tile. Once I finished
with that, I had the opportunity to work with Home Depot in ‘95. They had just started
coming out with the big expo design centers. We had clinics during the day to teach home
owners how to do different projects such as plumbing, flooring and other stuff. The high-
light of that was the kids workshop on Saturdays. I think that is when I realized I wanted
to work with kids. To see their faces light up when they finished their project was neat.
Have you and your family taken many trips together?
We went to Disneyland last year. I had been there before for my high school gradua-
tion party, and since I grew up nearby, we pretty much spent every other day there. Our
grad party was neat because they shut it down and all the high schools came. Instead of
standing in lines for several hours, we got to run around and go on as many rides as we
could. It was the first time my kids had been there though. I thought we’d go on some of
the bigger rides, but we ended up on attractions like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pirates of the
Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.
It was fun reliving my experience with my kids. One tradition I grew up with was go-
ing to “A Night With Mr. Lincoln” before leaving the park. It always fascinated me; I
would stare at that mannequin and wonder if it was real. It was neat watching my kids
grapple with that too.
How did you end up in Cave Junction?
My grandma lived here since I was little. We used to come up on vacation all the
time. After she died, we started coming down once a month from Portland to cut the
weeds and clean up the place. My parents had purchased the property from her before she
passed away with the intent to retire and move to CJ. I had always wanted to step out on
my own and do tile work. My wife and I had talked about opening a place and came here
in ‘98 with that idea.
What attracts you to this area?
Well, I have met a bunch of great people here. People said coming here from the city
would be culture shock. It’s always been a dream of mine to go to a restaurant where peo-
ple know you; you don’t get that in the city. I have an aunt here who is still living. My
cousins, who grew up here and graduated from Illinois Valley High School, all moved
away. They thought I was nuts to move here. They worked all their lives to get out; it’s
just the opposite for us.
We love living in such a close-knit community. In the city, there’s always a mechani-
cal hum. When I came here, I remember hearing the crickets for the first time again, it
was so loud. At first, it was hard to adjust to the silence; you could practically hear your
heartbeat. You also don’t get to see the stars living in the city.
Have you always been a family man?
I kinda’ have to be. When my family names our kids, we always look at family names
and want their names to have some connection with our past. I always go by “Sonny,” but
my name is Glen. My father is Glen; I am the junior. My oldest child, Glen, is the third. I
have three daughters too. My oldest daughter Cindy was named after my sister. Rachael is
the middle child. Then there’s my daughter Aldon; named after my great-grandfather.
What kinds of youth activities have you been involved with here?
In September I’ll begin my third year at Lorna Byrne Middle School as a Title I
teacher’s assistant. The first year I worked there, they were in the process of tearing down
the old school and building the new one. In the past, they had always had the junior age
Boys & Girls Club at the middle school and the younger ones at Evergreen, but they were
both at Evergreen while the middle school was built.
The following year, we wanted to start up the junior program again at the new middle
school. I wanted to be a part of it and learn what it was about and how to organize the dif-
ferent programs. I worked the whole summer as their team coordinator. This last school
year, we developed the after-school program, “Homework Help House.” This summer, I
decided not to work with the Boys & Girls Club because my tile work had picked up.
However, my wife picked up the job and works with the club and helps at the front desk. I
also coach Little League.
What is your favorite flavor ice cream?
Vanilla with fresh-picked blackberries. It’s just the best; to die for. We have a little
blackberry patch on our property and we go down to Sucker Creek where there’s a ton of
them. We usually make jam and pies, and what’s left over we pour on ice cream.
- Interview and photo by Shane Welsh -
Pickup and trailer block I-5 for 90 minutes
A pickup truck towing
a camp trailer overturned
on Interstate 5 south,
blocking both lanes of the
freeway and the shoulders
of the road about 8 miles
north of Grants Pass for 90
minutes, said Oregon State
Police.
On July 16, at approxi-
mately 10:43 a.m., a
pickup truck driven by
Phillip Shinar, 53, of Long
B e a c h , C a l i f. , w a s
southbound near milepost
67 near Hugo on the fast
lane of I-5 when the trailer
in tow began to fishtail as
Shinar negotiated the
downgrade, OSP said.
His 2001 Toyota Ta-
coma pickup truck flipped
on to its left side, causing
his 1985 25-foot Fleet-
wood camp trailer to do
the same. Both the pickup
and the trailer came to rest
across lanes of the free-
way, said OSP.
OSP, Oregon Dept. of
Transportation, and Rural/
Metro Fire Dept. re-
sponded. The crash re-
quired two wreckers to
upright the vehicles. Traf-
fic was backed up 4 miles.
Shinar extricated him-
self from his vehicle and
was transported by Ameri-
can Medical Response to
Three Rivers Hospital for
medical evaluation.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
- Benjamin Franklin -
TUNEFUL - A small, but
mighty crowd (top and
left) attended a benefit
for Illinois Valley Family
Coalition at Taylor’s Sau-
sage Country Store on
Saturday, July 17. Prizes
included those donated
by Shop Smart, CJ Se-
lect Market, and Oregon
Caves Chevron. Michael
Yanase, president of the
coalition
board,
was
master of ceremonies.
‘Sons of the Oregon
Trail’ (bottom) played for
the I.V. Chamber’s con-
cert series on Thursday,
July 15. ‘Tequila Mon-
sters’ will play July 22.
Police arrest
caveman icon
fire suspect
David Gerette Wilson,
18, of Grants Pass, was
arrested following an arson
investigation involving the
Caveman Statue, said
Grants Pass Dept. of Pub-
lic Safety (GPDPS).
The fiberglass cave-
man has stood on the cor-
ner of Sixth and Morgan
streets in Grants Pass for
33 years. It incurred fire
damage July 4.
On that evening, re-
sponding GPDPS firefight-
ers found the statue en-
gulfed in flames. Although
the fire was quickly extin-
guished, the Caveman sus-
tained heavy damage.
Investigation revealed
that the fire was caused by
a road flare.
Acting on information
from citizens, GPDPS de-
tectives “initiated Wilson’s
arrest.” He was charged
with second-degree arson
and first-degree criminal
mischief.
is open
Saturdays:
9:30 a.m.
to
2:30 p.m.
Hours: Mondays - Saturdays
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information
phone (800) 922-1025