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.
We bear gifts
from the East
for savers.
r
i
M r and M rs. Wilson W alker, and Dr. George Guy view objects in the
Portland Art M useum 's Gebauers Collection of Cam eroon A rt during
the reception to celebrate the publication of Paul Gebauer's book A rt of
Cameroon The piece in the low er left side of the case was donated by
the Links.
(Photo: Richard Brown)
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