Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1978)
State offers Swan Island traffic solution INSIDE: Black History Special A newly completed Draft Environmi-n tai Impart Statement on Swan Island Transportation Access has been released by the State Department of Transports lion. PORTLAND OBSERVER TWO SECTIONS Volume » No. 9 Thursday, February 23, 1978 10c ;ier co;iy The I iepartinent of Transportation has t wo alternatives to release the congestion in Swan Island and the adjacent area. They are: construction of ramps connect ing Greeley Avenue with Interstate 5 and roadway improvements at the Basin and Going Street intersection. North Portland residents and business es have been anxious to alleviate noise and traffic problems on Going as well as to provide easier access to Swan Island. Currently, access to Swan Island is limited with most of the traffic using North Going, a four to six lane arterial which runs through a predominantly residential area. With increasing de velopment of Swan Island as an industrial park, increased traffic has created safety and noise problems in the neighborhood. North Going has heavy congestion problems at peak traffic hours because of its limited rapacity and bottlenecks at the Basin and Interstate crossings. The proposed solution is the develop ment of roadway improvements at the Going/Basin intersection and construe tion of ramps to connect Greeley Avenue and 1-5 near the Fremont Bridge inter change. This would improve flow of traffic to and from Swan Island and would reduce traffic on North Going by divert ing traffic to and from 15 to the south via Greeley. A public hearing will be conducted on March 15th at Humboldt School, 4915 N. Gantenbein at 7:30 p.m. Persons unable to attend the hearing can submit written comments to Robert Rothman, Oregon Department of Transportation, 5821 N.E. Glisan, by March 25th. For locations of plans for review call 238 8226. -> ' III Í » / i ?.. Ç G R EELEY/,-5 "¿'R A M PS’ ^ , . . i A // n ‘ / 11 // - ^ -7 / n Tennis Town emphasizes teaching by Sally Bibbs Marion Black bur » Tennis Town ,iro;irie4or. ,wuaes in the lounge aron of the Raleigh Hill, facility. "Build a better mousetrap." Marion Blackburn almost uttered the words as an aside, explaining a business philosophy as old as business itself. Applying the mousetrap formula to teaching tennis is what he is doing. Or. as he put it, “I was dissatisfied with the way tennis was being taught and I knew a better job could be done.” The job Blackburn has done is amply evidenced by either an outside or an inside look at his Tennis Town facility in Raleigh Hills. The attractive structure, bareiy six months old. contains six non glare plexipaved courts, a day nur sery, lounge, locker rootns, and a fair share of Blackburn's approximately 900 devotees. But the pleasant surroundings do not sell tennis lessons. "Our emphasis is on teaching from a personal standpoint,” Blackburn says. He compared his or ganization to social/athletic organiza tions where sports lessons, including tennis, are available. The difference is that Tennis Town exists to teach tennis. Tennis is not an additional offering, according to Blackburn, tennis is the reason to be here. Success appears no stranger to Black burn. Before seizing the tennis opportu nity, he had successfully founded and operated Wood Arts, a wall plaque manufacturing company. In 1965 Black bum was the first Black salesman at Nabisco. Through 1973 he was frequent ly ranked in the top ten of the Northwest tennis tournament circuit. Blackburn, Portland, and tournament tennis became acquainted in 1961, when Blackburn arrived here compliment of the U.S. Army. A native of Alabama, and a graduate of Alabama A&M, Blackburn started playing tennis while with the Army's Mental Test Service in Portland. Blackburn competed in service tourna ments and when discharged, stayed in Portland working as a recreation director before going to Nabisco. Blackburn continued with tennis, and with his concept of Tennis Town, until the means of realizing his plan were avail able. In 1975 Blackburn founded Tennis Lessons, Inc. in a portion of a S.W. Macadam Avenue building best described as a vacant warehouse. Blackburn obviously knew his product and the demand for it because the Macadam Facility lasted barely two years before groundbreaking ceremonies took place at the Raleigh Hills location. An Observer photographer inadver tently visited the Macadam Avenue warehouse where Blackburn started his current enterprise. Although the Tennis Lessons, Inc. site obviously was the success upon which Tennis Town was built, it is perhaps a mark of Blackburn's business acumen that the Raleigh Hills plant was financed by a warehouse space now put to its apparent best use, a perking lot. Portrait painting promotes artist’s creativity Henry Frison ho,ies to s.iend more time st .lortrsint .minting after recent unveiling of the first ,mnel of the Albin« Mural Project. Frison designed «the mural'« first .mnel and did much of the brunii work. Henry Frison, whose most public con tribution to an art work is visible on the finished panel of the mural at the Albina Human Resource Center, wields his brush in possibly the most difficult and certainly the most diplomatic of artistic endeavors: portrait painting. Historically, portraitists enjoyed and suffered the whims of favor or disfavor of patrons, royalty and politicians. Frison needn't fear for his safety or his reputa tion. but a portraitist of today must still reconcile his own vision with the client's self vision. Frison's satisfied customers «test the veracity of his conversions from vision to canvas. But the success evident in some of Frison's portraits is only the beginning on the road he hopes to follow. This initial success, however, was achieved under difficult circumstances and the man's tenacity is clearly established. Frison is a Texan by birth. In 1965, after a stay in New Mexico, he arrived in Portland and took employment for a number of years as a foundry worker. In 1970 an. as yet, still undiagnosed illness of the upper spinal column semi-paralyz ed a portion of his left side and it was obvious his family's income would no longer come from the foundrys. And, although Frison had suffered an on the job injury to the small of his back, the location of this undefinable illness or injury voided the possibility of work men's compensation. But Frison was James advises Linfield students BOBBY JAMES Bobby James is the new ethnic and student activities advisor st Linfield College. James, 31, graduated from Linfield in 1970 with a bachelor of arts degree. After a year of leaching in Florida, he returned to Linfield to work on his masters in education in 1971 and 1972. James has since worked in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, as recreational director for the Eglind Air Force Base. His wife Jean will come west in June when her teaching year is completed. As ethnic and student activities advi sor, James will help the admission office recruit mino; :ty students, work with the career development office, and help with student activities. James also will serve as an advisor in helping students plan schedules and social activities. James commented that, "Having more students involved in activities at Linfield will enhance our recruiting program," and he expressed the goal of drawing more minority students to Linfield. determined to provide his family an income. He put his trust then in an Frison says he prefers to work with oils. But the time requirements of oil portraits have prompted the innovator in Frison, and he has developed a fixing process for working with pastels. Pas tels, Frison says, are faster, but the delicacy of the medium often ends with colors washed together and a finished surface very fragile to touch, humidity, accidents of transportation and handling. Frison's fixing process results in a pastel surface almost as secure as a photograph. And Frison demonstrates by rubbing his hand harshly over a finished pastel portrait. • Frison's work with the Albina Mural Project has kept his portrait work in a state of semi-limbo lately. The project's completed panel was designed by Frison and his presence was required almost night and day as he and other artists worked to meet the deadline for the recent unveiling. With the unveiling past, Frison hopes to have evenings free for portraiture and other painting. His future dreams include a combina tion gallery and studio, he explains, standing in the portrait lined living room of the dwelling which is now both of those, as well as the home for him and his family. He looks forward to doing landscapes. Frison loves childrens’ and babies’ portraiture. Words in a newspaper, of course, cannot convey the visual world of a painter. Frison's portraits and the Albina mural provide their own testaments. Or drop by the home of a vegetarian named Lucas and view a scene unavailable at the artistic ability he had possessed since childhood and, with assistance from the Employment Division's Vocational Reha bilitation program, he entered Advertis ing Art School. Working without vacations, he finished the four year program in less than three. With his ability at painting and portrai ture, Frison acquired a competence in fashion drawing, silk screen, graphics, lay-out and air brush painting. While portraits are his pleasure and a primary income producer, some of his bread and butter work includes sign, van decoration, tire cover insignias, CB'ers call cards, etc. But portrait work is where Frison's creativity displays itself. Frison knew portrait work was difficult, but he also observed a failing in portraits by other artists to adequately capture the essence of the model. Frison thought he could be better. Asked to number the portraits he’s finished since finishing school last June, Frison hesitated, then guessed, "maybe three hundred or so." But many of his portraits are not commissioned. Frison does them to improve his skill. Many of these unsolicited' portraits have been stolen, Frison says, because he is his own salesman and his gallery is often the trunk of his car. Where Frison goes, his works go. and although he finds custom ers in this manner, some of the portraits which he speaks of proudly, while dis playing photographs of them, are lost to him for the present. Coliseum. Lynn Nelson’s television production instructor at Jefferson High School advised the “Observer" photographer to first “awaken Ms. Nelson” before capturing this evasive smile. Ms. Nelson is -ierha;is .Hindering uses for her current «1,000 Oregon Association of Legal Secretaries Scholarship. Jefferson student earns grant Lynn Nelson, a Jefferson High School Senior, has been awarded a $1,000 scho larship by the Oregon Association of Legal Secretaries. She also is eligible for consideration for a national scholarship. Lynn is a student in Jefferson's Legal Secretary Magnet Program. Along with two years in this program, which includes learning to use the Mag Card II type writer and field trips and speakers on law, she has taken courses in business naacp education. These include shorthand, typing and personal finance. She works part-time during the school year and full time during the summer in the law offices of Evans, Anderson, Hall and Grebe. Her hobbies include camping, biking and reading. The daughter of Mrs. Vera Nelson, Lynn attended Applegate Primary School and Kenton Elementary School. Her future plans are still indefinite. youth plan conference The NAACP Youth Council will hold a Leadership Workshop February 25, 1978, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the King Neighborhood Facility, 4815 N.E. 7th Avenue. Youth People from Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima. Bremerton, and Van couver, Washington: and Salem, Oregon are expected to be in attendance. Topics to be discussed are: NAACP History and Structure; Alternatives to College; The Bakke Case; Effects of Interracial Dat ing; Youth in the NAACP; The 1978 National Convention, and the National Membership Campaign. The purpose of the workshop is to prepare the young people for the national convention to be held in Portland, Ore gon, July 2nd through the 7th. At this time approximately 2,000 young people will be attending the convention. The workshop is open to the public. Officers of the Portland Youth Chapter are Brenda Knapper, President; Lucretia Fuller, First Vice President; Julianne Johnson, Second Vice President; Desiree King, Recording Secretary; Tericita Po well, Correspondence Secretary; Leo nard Lamberth, Treasurer; Eileen Clark. Membership Chairman: Spencer Barrett, Chaplain; Benita Payne, Executive Com mittee Chairman; Mrs. Ora L. Nunley, Advisor. Honor Collins Miss Evelyn Collins will be honored at a reception to be held at Concordia College Sunday. February 26th at 3:00 p.m. Billed as “Community Thanks to Moth er Collins," the event is sponsored by Commissioner Charles Jordan. The pro gram will include a talk by Commissioner Jordan and musical selections. The public is invited to demonstrate by their attendance the esteem in which Miss Collins is held in this community. AFSC nominates Biko for Nobel Peace Prize The American Friends Service Com mittee announced that it has nominated the late Stephen Bantu Biko, the South African activist who died in prison of suspected police beatings last fall, for the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. The Quaker organization, as co reci pient of the Prize in 1947, is entitled to make a nomination each year. “To recognize Stephen Biko for his work is to acknowledge the love and esteem in which he was held as a gentle, yet forceful, leader," AFSC Executive Secretary Louis W. Schneider said. "But it may also serve to acknowledge the labors and lives of Biko's colleagues, and the tens of thousands of South Africans whom he inspired. "These people, many of them still schoolchildren, through a conscientious refusal to submit to an unjust social order, have emerged as principal actors in open of the key engagements for peace in our times. We think that the struggling people of South Africa would draw strength, and feel themselves re cognized as a result of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Stephen Biko.” He died in South African police custody last September. Biko helped found the South African Students' Organization (SASOI in 1968 and the Black Peoples’ Convention (BPC) in 1972, of which he was to become honorary President. Raised in the Anglican Church, Biko was active in South Africa's University Chris tian Movement; then in SASO. There his spiritual leadings were fused with a conscientious seeking of means to bring self esteem and self confidence to Black people through their own institu tions. He encouraged the flowering of these and other efforts that together produced one of the most powerful forces on the South African scene: the Black Consciousness Movement. Although arrested and restricted to a small town in 1973, Biko continued his leadership. He helped found the Black Community Programs, a support organi zation for many community activities from clinics to cooperatives. His standing in the Black community was such that, in the height of the 1976 urban upheavals, community leaders in Soweto asked the Government to negotiate the country’s future with three leaders then restricted or imprisoned: Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANCI; Robert Sobukwe, leader of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and Stephen Biko. “Since the days of the late Chief Albert Luthuli, the last South African to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, it has grown steadily more difficult to hear - from a land of tragically deepening brutality, oppression, and fear - the voices of South African leaders who speak of both justice and gentleness," Schneider said. “Steve Biko was a leader who spoke and lived for the liberation of all South Africans, and for their unity as a people of one nation. “His was a vision of peace born of non racialism, saying. 'We believe that in our country there shall be no minority, no majority there shall just be people ." The AFSC has been seeking since 1917 to find nonviolent solutions to problems at home and abroad.
