Section
SANDY
O REG O N
THURSDAY
DECEMBER 17. 1981
The Sflndy Post
A rea News
People
Home & Garden
Features
Retreat center offers a local alternative
by M O TT NEWTON
Educators, church leaders and
persons involved with community
agencies no longer need to lose
regional seminars to surrounding
cities
There is now a facility in the
area that can handle groups of up
to 120 in the day, or 66 for events
that require people to stay the
night
One of the advantages of holding
a workshop at the Alton L. Collins
Retreat Center is its wilderness
setting.
Driving down Highway 211, one
would never know that the road
just south of the Deep Creek
bridge, about four miles south of
Sandy, leads to a contemporary
building large enough to support
small groups.
Groundbreaking for the $1.2
m illion facility was in September
of 1980. and although there are still
a few things that need to be done,
the center is complete and is being
used
In fact, the center is already
booked, on weekends, through
May. which pleases Kathy Trotter,
director, who is responsible for
seeing to it that the facility is self
sufficient
M id -w e e k
re s e rv a tio n s ,
however, are still available, and on
some weekends smaller groups
may still be able to get bookings
The retreat center was establish
ed in memory of Alton L. Collins, a
Portlandarea lumberman It is
owned and operated by the Oregon
Idaho Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church.
The Oregon-Idaho Annual Con
ference has eight camp sites, two
of them good-sized But. they are in
traditional camp settings
“ And, there were some adults
who were physically not able to
cope with that," Trotter said, “ and
others that just weren’t willing to
cope with that rusticness ”
The United Methodist Church
has a strong adult education pro
gram, according to Trotter, and
the intent of the Oregon-Idaho An
nual Conference was to keep these
people involved by providing
modern facilities, while still re
taining a wilderness setting
Although the retreat w ill serve
the United Methodists, it is also
available to other groups whose
philosophies are compatible with
the United Methodist Church’s
About six to 10 persons w ill be
employed at the center, with the
number varying according to the
size of the groups using the facility.
“ I am employing, and very cons
cientiously, local people," Trotter
said " I see that to be good for me
and good for the com m unity."
The tables are set and meals are
served fam ily style, although an
area where picnics may be held or
summer buffets served w ill be
available downstairs.
The kitchen, a combination din
ing room -large meeting room
(which can be separated by a par
tition i, T ro tte r’s office and a lobby
are all on the main level. Upstairs,
there are three “ guest leader
suites,” small meeting rooms and
the Sue Collins Memorial Library,
named for Alton Collins' wife
A sleeping wing is connected via
covered walkways on both floors.
On the main floor, the rooms are
furnished for two. Upstairs, bunk
type beds have been installed, pro
viding sleeping areas for four.
The rooms on the main level may
eventually also be furnished for
four, depending on the demand.
Also in the sleeping wing there
are two rooms, to accommodate
two to a room, for handicapped
persons They ieature an especial
ly wide bathroom and shower stall.
Each room has a private bath
and a patio.
The lower level, located opposite
of the sleeping wing, is not finish
ed Plans for the lower level in
clude a wood stove, and carpeting
and linoleum Like the rest of the
west side of the building, the large
room on the lower level is encased
in windows.
Also, the lower level w ill provide
space for a second large meeting
room.
The center was built by the
Western Modules Manufacturing
Company of Portland, and was
designed by Architect John Kyle,
also of Portland.
“ It's a very artistic building, I
th in k," Trotter said "He did some
really interesting things with the
round surfaces "
That has made for some unique
decorating problems, she said, ad-
dding, “But, i t ’s fun."
Much of the landscaping was
done by volunteer work, and the
grass is just starting to come up
A short path going into the woods
w ill be completed in the spring,
after the rock base has had a
chance to settle. A hard surface
finish w ill be put on the path so that
persons in wheelchairs, or older
people a little unsure of themselves
on a more rugged path, w ill be able
to enjoy the solitude of the forest.
Tradit.onal hiking paths along
Deep Creek are planned for the
future
The Collins Retreat Center is
lo c a te d a d ja c e n t to Camp
Leewood, which is another of Trot
te r’s responsibilities.
Trotter, and her husband Dick,
who is an o rd a in e d U nited
Methodist pastor and serves as
chaplain, live in a new residence
near the center.
Both have experience doing this
kind of work “ So, we felt real com
fortable just moving right in,"
Trotter said.
They have three daughters,
Terri, 13, Nancy, 11, and Laurel,
10. All attend Boring School.
Trotter was executive director
for camps and conferences for the
United Methodist Church for two
years in the Black Hills of South
Dakota (a job her husband held for
six years before going back to
work as a pastor), so the Trotters
are used to the wilderness They
are not used to the rain.
“ We moved the eighth of April,
and it was raining," she said with a
laugh, “ and it rained until the 16th
of June. "
She added, " I t ’s kind of a neat
area, as far as having the best of
all worlds available to you in about
an hour or two hours in any direc
tion
" I think we re going to like it.”
And, there are other plans for the
Collins Retreat Center Adding
computers, and tying them in with
other resources, is a possiblity for
the future
Trotter envisions a place “ that
gets people in touch with basic
needs, but meets them in a real up
to-date w ay."
Staff photon
Kathy Trotter
The east side of Ihe Alton Collins Retreat ( enter is pictured above.
December off to fast start for Hoodland Fire Department
by M IC H A EL P. JONES
Post Correspondent
An increase of calls has marked
the month of December as one of the
Hoodland Rural Fire Department’s
busiest.
On the average, the Hoodland Fire
Department answers 40 to 50 calls
per month, according to Fire Chief
Don A rm introut The firs t 13 days in
December the departm ent has
responded to 31 calls.
Not included in this figure are the
many times they administered minor
f ir s t a id o r p ro v id e d p u b lic
assistance.
In the past week fire personnel
gave first aid to 13 persons and made
one public assist.
Chief Arm introut said that it is d if
ficult to pinpoint exactly what the
reasons are for the increase in calls,
but contributed some of them to the
turn in weather and the opening of ski
season, which has increased the
volume of tra ffic in the area.
“ There’s surely more tra ffic going
up and down the highway,” said A r
m introut. “ In November we only had
six or seven accidents. This month,
so far, we’ve had even more.”
Last Sunday, icy road conditions
sent a car over an embankment on
Lolo Pass Road just north of Zigzag.
The driver of the vehicle escaped in
jury.
On Saturday, Dec 12, at 9:30 a m.,
during the peak morning ski traffic,
the department responded to a non
injury accident on Highway 26. The
accident occurred at the "Rock Cut"
(also known as the "Double Cut” just
below “ Map Curve." Icy conditions
on this secton of highway had sent
three cars off the road earlier that
morning, despite sanding efforts by
the State Highway Division.
One Dec. 9 a car containing three
persons slid into a telephone poll one
mile east of Rhododendron at 10:30
am .
The injured were transported to
Gresham Community Hospital by
Alpine Ambulance, where they were
treated for lacerations and abra
sions. Once again, icy highway condi
tions were determined to have been
the cause.
Two days later, just above this
same area, at the bottom of Laurel
H ill, another accident occurred No
one was injured in the accident The
cause-icy roads.
Sergeant Dan Wolf of the Oregon
State Police, commander of the
Government Camp outpost, said that
the best weapon
drivers have
against icy roads and bad weather is
to obey the new traction law, which
requires traction tires or chains in
ski areas such Mt Hood
However, the law only covers state
highways, and not side roads or
Forest Service roads, which means
although they are not posted, hazar
dous driving conditions could still ex
ist.
An example of this is a recent acci
dent that occurred on Still Creek
Road above Rhododendron At 5:15
a.m. a motor vehicle accident occur
red on this Forest Service Road The
cause—improper traction devices, or
tires too bald to safely travel the icy
back road The injured person was
taken to the Zigzag Ranger Station
and administered first aid for minor
injuries
Two structural fires, as well as a
chimney fire, also kept the fire
department busy this past week
Sunday a fire, caused by moisture
entering an electrical box, struck a
summer home on Road 10. A rm in
trout said that the fire caused only
minor damages to the house.
On Dec 8 another fire was caused
by a malfunction in an electric panel
box. Armintrout said that the fire
department responded at 7 p m. to a
residence located in the Alder Creek
area Damage to the structure was
minimal.
While en route to this fire, at 7:05
p m , high winds blew a tree lim b into
a P o rtla n d G e n e ra l E le c t r ic
13,000 volt feeder line and shorted out
a transformer near Wildwood Park
One thousand residents in the
Brightwood area were without power
until about 8:15 p m.
jSSSSSSK
This picture of Mt. flood was taken recently uhout a m ile west of Sandy
At 5:45 p m on Dec 12, the depart
merit responded to a chimney fire on
East Plaza Trail. The house suffered
no damages and the fire had been ex
tinguished by a neighbor prior to the
a rrival of the fire deparment