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Hood River News, Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Hoover Trust donation of $55,000 fuels crucial
kitchen restorations at Mt. Hood Town Hall
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
THE LEGACY
OF ‘HOOVER
LUNCHES’
News editor
The countertop re-
quires a plastic covering,
the dishwasher doesn’t
work, and you have to lie
on your back to light the
pilot light to the stove.
But Mt. Hood Town Hall
is a venerable and popular
meal site for people of all
ages of the Upper Valley,
especially in the summer
when kids do not have ac-
cess to school meals.
A major donation made
possible by a Mt. Hood
wo m a n , wh o s e g r e a t -
grandfather was Presi-
dent Herbert Hoover, will
improve the ef ficiency
and safety of this commu-
nity resource.
T h e H o ove r F a m i l y
Trust has given $55,000 to
the Mt. Hood Towne Hall
Association for its kitchen
renovation project and
meal programs. The Asso-
ciation is the non-profit
group whose mission is to
restore the 101 year old
school house along High-
way 35 in Mt. Hood, and
manage the building as a
community center.
T h e H o ove r F a m i l y
Trust was created by de-
scendants of President
Herbert Hoover to contin-
ue the President’s passion
for ensuring everyone has
a c c e s s t o fo o d . L e s l i e
Hoover-Lauble is a repre-
sentative of the trust and
long-time Upp er Hood
River Valley resident. She
had this to say about the
contribution to the town
hall. “Many remember
great-granddad (President
Hoover) as the Depression
President. Very few are
aware of the monumental
things he accomplished in
Europe in 1915-1917 in
feeding millions of people
in Belgium and in Russia.
It is such a pleasure to
honor his le g acy in a
small way by helping the
M t . H o o d Tow n H a l l
achieve its goal of re-
building the existing
kitchen facilities.”
“We are overwhelmed
by the generosity of the
Hoover Family Trust and
its selection of the Mt.
Hood Town Hall for this
f u n d i n g , ” s a i d Ke l l y
Govro, the chair of the
town hall association.
“It’s difficult to describe
how important this con-
tribution is to our small
non-profit group.”
The trust donation will
support two important ac-
tivities at the town hall. A
A
Pilot
Fund
majority ($30,000) of the
funds will be directed to
the kitchen renovation
project. The remaining
funds will be used to es-
tablish a special account
to provide long-term fi-
nancial stability to the
town hall senior meals
program and potentially
other meal programs that
the town hall could estab-
lish. Town hall volunteers
serve a meal to seniors
every Thursday at noon.
Hoover-Lauble and her
husband Todd began serv-
ing this weekly communi-
ty meal 20 years ago.
“Directing some of the
funds to the kitchen reno-
vation hopefully will re-
sult in others donating to
this critical project as
well,” said Hoover-Lauble.
“And creating a perpetual
fund for senior meals and
other potential ‘direct
feeding’ prog rams is
great. That most certainly
follows the premise that
great-granddad felt when
it came to the masses hav-
ing access to food.” (See
sidebar for some little-
known details.)
Mt. Hood Towne Hall As-
sociation has been restoring
the town hall for nearly 30
years. The last remaining
major project is to renovate
the entire kitchen area. The
existing facility has numer-
ous significant problems
that must be addressed to
have a clean, functional and
code compliant kitchen
which would allow the com-
munity center to achieve its
full potential.
The association hopes to
raise $100,000 for the kitchen
restoration. “The $30,000
contribution to the kitchen
project gets us off to an
amazing start with our
fund-raising,” Govro com-
mented. “It gives us confi-
dence that we will be able to
make the kitchen project
happen.”
When presenting the
H o ove r F a m i l y T r u s t
f u n d s, H o ove r- L a u b l e
added, “On behalf of my-
self, and the other Hoover
descendants, it is my ex-
treme pleasure to be able
to make this donation to
the Mt. Hood Town Hall.
The recent members of
the board and many vol-
u n t e e r s h ave d o n e s o
much to make the build-
ing so beautiful. What
good is it to our Upper
Valley residents if it can-
not be used because the
kitchen is not functional?
Please accept this dona-
tion as recognition for all
the good things the many
volunteers have done to
restore the town hall.”
LONG-TIME volunteers
Leslie Hoover-Lauble and
Roger Nelson discuss the
many needs of the Mt.
Hood Town Hall kitchen:
an outdated stove (top
photo) and non-function-
ing dishwashing machine
among them. Town hall
meals are a time of com-
munity: by chance Hoover-
Lauble and cook Heidi
Hansberger discovered
they have mutual family
members in the valley.
Hoover-Lauble tore off a
section of napkin to make
notes.
Photos by Kirby Neumann-Rea
SAFARI
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Find the newest member
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541.387.6563
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Herbert Hoover (1874-
1964) served as the 31st
president of the United
States. Hoover lived in
Newberg from 1886-1889.
He is best known for
bringing on the greatest
economic upheaval in his-
tory, the Great Depression,
but according to histo-
ry.com, there are two sides
to his legacy.
“Although is predeces-
sors’ policies undoubtedly
contributed to the (Depres-
sion) Hoover has born
much of the blame in the
minds of the American
people. As the Depression
deepened, Hoover failed to
recognize the severity of
the situation or leverage
the power of the federal
government to squarely
address it.
“However, as a mining
engineer by training he
was a supreme logician,
and was appointed by
President Wilson to head
efforts during World War I
in Europe and afterward in
Russia to channel food,
medicine and other sup-
plies to millions of starving
people.
“He earned worldwide
acclaim for his humanitari-
an efforts, as well as thou-
sands of appreciative let-
ters from people across Eu-
rope who benefited from
the free meals known as
‘Hoover lunches’.”
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70 Acme Rd., White Salmon, WA
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