B2
Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
www.columbiagorgenews.com
THE PORCH
Who knows where the
Demographics, as told inside “Eyrie” is behind this sign in
Brenna’s Market, Mosier.
downtown White Salmon?
Pixan: Chrisoforo Devart of White Salmon painted this centerpiece
art displayed in the White Salmon taqueria.
Kirby Neumann-Rea photos
Trout Lake: Long-abandoned phone booth mostly catches leaves
now.
Dee Highway firewood sign, phrased to fit.
Pig-on-the-wing figurine, a near-twin of the Apple Valley BBQ symbol, was donated anonymously to the Parkdale restaurant last fall.
WELL SAID: “Democracy
is the most difficult of all
forms of government since
it requires the widest spread
of intelligence.” — Historian
Ariel Durant
WELL DONE: When a
70-foot pine tree fell in the
wind across Plog Hill — the
hairpin turn at where Dee
Highway and Odell Highway
meet — the Feb. 26 morn-
ing traffic was backed up
in both directions, and the
serpentine nature of the
roads meant something
needed to happen quickly.
Along came Juan Guzman of
Guzman Towing, who pulled
up and hooked the trunk
that ODOT’s Guy Mooney
had cut away, and Guzman
dragged the tree out of the
way.
RECYCLING 101: “Please
put containers in the holes.”
The signboard at the Mt.
Hood Town Hall recycling
station puts recycling in the
simplest of terms. Some peo-
ple still need to be told.
SEEN AND HEARD:
Remnants of the storm: In
Hood River, a shattered truck
tire and a pile of rusting
truck chains along the
fence at the ODOT yard on
West Cascade ... Toddler on
training wheels while Dad,
barefoot, escorts him ... “The
task before us is not as great
as the power behind us”
readerboard at Seventh Day
Adventist Church in Hood
River ... City of Hood River
crew on both sides of State
using leaf blowers to send
cinders off the sidewalks, fill-
ing the street with a blinding
pink cloud ... lost masks,
everywhere ...
MINIMALLY CIVIL: In
a restaurant in The Dalles,
two men wear mini-masks
of a kind we can only hope
will not be a trend to stay:
Strapped around their chins,
with up-scooping plastic
guards two inches from their
mouths and barely covering
their noses.
A TIME capsule of sorts
hangs in White Salmon on
the Estes Avenue exterior
of the building that is now
Umpqua Bank: Since 1981,
the multi-panel map and
business guide has become
more and more weathered,
some parts obliterated by
sun, wind, and time. “Paper
folding maps available
inside” it reads, over ads
for businesses such as
Charburger, Shari’s of Hood
River, Schwigert’s Old World
Deli, Daisy Patch Floral,
Tveidt’s Sentry, Scandia
Motor Lodge, and Meredith
Hotel, all either closed,
renamed or gone.
SCANNER TALK: All-time
great 9-1-1 description
(italics mine): “RP (reporting
party) said they saw a small
ground fire, west-bound side
of the freeway, no structures
involved, about the size of
five basketballs.” (The fire
was a permitted yard burn
pile, attended by the owner.)
SEE IT, EVENTUALLY:
SUDOKU
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Blaine Fontana’s mural
surrounding The Hub build-
ing facing the north end of
Laughlin Street in down-
town The Dalles is worth
a new look. “An Eventual
Gathering” is a bright-
ly-colored, richly-detailed
two-story panorama of flora
and fauna of the region, with
Indigenous designs as well
as barbed wire incorporated
as a way to remind us of the
arc of human habitation
and influence in the Gorge.
The mural, painted in 2018,
wraps fully around the build-
ing. It is easily visible from
the freeway but not so much
from any other vantage, yet it
demands to be appreciated
up close. The mural would
be a visual boon to anyone
sitting at Sedition Brewery
across the street. Fontana
had help from Toma Villa,
Jeff Sheridan, and Jeremy
Nichols.
SAVE THE DATE:
Speaking of Toma Villa, he
will be featured in a show
featuring Native American
artists at Hood River’s
Columbia Center for the Arts
in April along with Lillian
Pitt, Sara Siestreem, and Joe
Cantrell. You can see other
murals done or coordinat-
ed by Villa in Mosier at the
Century Link building and at
Hood River Middle School,
in the exterior alcove off the
Eventual Gathering: Blaine Fontana’s mural encompassing The Hub
west courtyard of the cam-
pus. (Forgive my ignorance, Building, at Laughlin and E. First streets, The Dalles.
as there are likely others.)
LAST HURRAH: The
Porch ends its 20-year
run with this edition. It’s
been a joy over the years
to celebrate the underseen
or underappreciated and
rewarding and, in recent
months, to expand its view
to other communities of the
Gorge.
Responses to this Porch
welcome, however, at kir-
byn@gorgenews.com.
With thanks.
Kirby Neumann-Rea
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