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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1979)
Portland Observer D ecem ber 13,1979 Page S Portland Profile by Linda Thompson RIVERS: "Nothing comes easy" Judge not u n til you walk in my shoes. M any o f us tend to criticize and prejudge those persons who un fortunately seem to be overwhelmed with some facet o f life and turn to drugs/alcohol fo r consolation. Little do we realize that for the Love o f God there goes I. H is d e to u r in to his present position has lasted longer than usual because o f his deep feeling fo r this increasingly deadly social problem. He doesn’ t stop singing because he is tired or because his audience is tire d o f h im , but because he says there are other things in life he wants to pursue. “ A fte r I feel I have acoinplished the goals I set out to and that is to Our role model fo r this week rec ognizes the above and decided to do something about these two popular societal pitfalls. One shouldn’ t be deceived by his casual, wide glittering smile and hap py-go-lucky appearance. For M r. A l Rivers, D irector/S upervisor o f Day Treatment/Resident Center, is a very deep, w arm , dedicated, organized and sincere person who gives his all to any endeavor that he decides to get involved in. When he is not busying himself at the House of E xo d u s— a re h a b ilita tio n p ro g ra m fo r d ru g s /a lc o lh o l fu n d e d by state legislation w ith money from beer and w ine ta x — he is busy d o in g w hat comes naturally— entertaining. A n alum ni o f W ashington High School and the U niversity o f P o rt land, Rivers' home base has always been the C ity o f Roses and he has always returned a fte r doing many tours nationally. His entertainment career began in 1944, when he won a citywide talent Realizing this, he has worked as a co u n se lo r w ith P o rtla n d S chool D istrict, Area One, and also served as an announcer on the now gone K O IN Radio. One cannot dare men tion “ Exodus” w ithout hearing the name “ A l Rivers” . awaken the whole com m unity to the fact that drug and alcohol abuse can be c o n tro lle d through therapy and counseling. . and the victims can be channeled back into the mainstream o f the economy. Then it w ill be time fo r me to m ove back to the m icro p h o n e fu ll tim e , " says M r. Rivers. H is w o rk w ith the c lie n ts at Exodus is as natural as his singing is w ith his audience on stage. He enjoys working with people who were not as luck as he has been in avoiding the " p itfa lls ” o f drugs and alcohol. His form ula fo r success is reflected contest. From there he went on to take engagements at Portland Dude Ranch, the C lover C lub and even tually at A m a to ’ s Supper C lub where he joined the nationally known ‘ ‘ ink Spots” and he has been “ doing my th in g ” ever since. Rivers is too versatile and talented to lim it h im s e lf to any one area. in his life s ty le and his success. However, he states: “ The best advice I have to give to any young person regarding success is always to strive to be the very best in all circumstances. Anyone can be mediocre. " N o t h in g comes easy— th in g s haven’ t always been easy for me. I f one quits after setting his goal that’ s accepting defeat. It is definitely true that only the strong survive. “ Many people are m ulti-talented and never d isco ve r it . T h is is sometimes due to the fact that you are not in the right place at the right tim e — th e re fo re they are never discovered. H ow ever, i f you have been fa llin g in the above category, don’ t give up. Just keep on “ doing your th in g ", stales the very in depth, modest M r Rivers, " a n d someone w ill eventually recognize i t . " “ A ll o f us have God-given talents and you should develop them. Have a style o f your own and imitate no one, because each person is unique in his own rig h t.” When I com pleted the interview w ith the verry very "m o d e s t” M r Rivers, I had not only enjoyed it, but I had dealt w ith a man w ho is definitely "o n e o f a kin d ” . U n til next tim e rem em ber: We need to look more and realize that we are not so d iffe r e n t fro m one another. STU D EN T MEETS CARTER P re s id e n t J im m y C a rte r and D r. B e n ja m in M a y s w a tc h S h e rry B ro p h y , a fo u rth g ra d e s tu d e n t a t B re n t E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l in W ashington. D.C. before the President's signing of a bill creating the D epartm ent of Education. During the bill-signing ceremony the President praised the president of th e A tla n ta B o ard o f E d u c a tio n , s a y in g he "p e rs o n ifie s th e d e d ic a tio n of e d u c a to rs ." Dr. M a y s is also p re s id e n t e m e ritu s of M orehouse College. 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