Portland observer., July 09, 1981, Page 4, Image 4

Pag« 4 Portland Obaarvar July 9. 1981
OBSERVATIONS
FROM THE SIDELINES
By Kathryn Hall Bogle
A banquet, held recently at the
M allory Hotel, marked a milestone
in the working career o f Osly James
Gates.
The genial M r. Gates, a few
weeks before, had announced his in­
tended resignation from his long­
tim e position as D irector o f the
City-County Commission on Aging
Nearly a hundred com m unity
leaders and friends gathered at the
hotel to reminisce a little with the
man they so openly admired for his
accomplishments in behalf o f the
elderly segment o f Portland's
population.
Banquet arrangements were made
by Sam Lessitz, a gerontologist ap­
pointed to Governor Victor Atiyeh’s
Commission on Aging. Lessitz is
also a former director o f Robison
Jewish Home for the aged
Acting as master o f ceremonies
was A lfred Sugarman, a professor
o f Speech Communications at PSU.
He was a form er chairman o f the
City-County Council on Aging.
i
Among the well-wishers present
were D r. Paul W right, minister
' Emeritus o f First Presbyterian
Church who had also served as a
chairman o f the C ouncil; Phil
Mayer, another form er Council
chairman and William Gordon, the
Council’ s present chairman.
Oregon’ s firs t and only Black
state Senator, W illiam McCoy,
seated at the speaker’s tabie, spoke
briefly as did his wife, Multnomah
County Commissioner Gladys Mc­
Coy. A t other tables were noted
many representatives of other social
agencies, public and private, among
these: Eugene Nudelman, M arie
Record Smith and Maude Banks
Young.
Gates resolutely set his te r­
m ination date as o f July 1, 1981,
completing 16 years o f helping to
establish the agency and fostering its
growth and strength in the com­
munity.
’ ’ We started in the community,”
said Gates in a subsequent in te r­
view, "back in 1965, as a committee
on aging. Essie McGuire had recent­
ly retired as the executive o f the
YW CA and she was persuaded to
lend her time and expertise to head
this new committee of nine persons.
Ours was the first group in the
nation to attem pt to achieve the
goals we had in mind and to do it
w ith a compatabile w orking
relationship between C ity and
County. We started the first Loaves
and Fishes program in the country.
"Essie McGuire knew how to get
things done. She had the assistance
and cooperation o f Gerson G old­
schmidt and the rest o f that first
com m ittee. Even though other
groups patterned programs after
ours in other cities in the nation to
im prove n u tritio n fo r older, the
P ortland Loaves and Fishes
program was the largest.
"T h e original C ity-C ounty
Committee on Aging started at the
same time that Medicare was signed
in to the laws o f the land by
Congress. The committee appointed
me to be the first director and when
we opened our offices many persons
in the public had the two agencies
blended in their minds. It was true
that a great deal of the committee’ s
work involved interpretation and
im plem entation o f the medicare
law. Many were the times when
telephone calls wefe routed to the
•Medicare m an.’ They meant me.
Well, I have tried my utmost to be
together, get back on the bus and
ride home. A ll for free.
"N o w as I look out o f my office
windows downtown, 1 can tell, by
the pedestrians I see passing along
the city streets, when it is ten o’clock
in the morning. I smile contentedly
to m yself and th in k : Grey hair
comes to town at ten o’clock.
" B u t , " Gates q u ickly warned,
"T he elderly (and the Commission)
w ill have to be vigilant. They must
constantly examine and challenge
any law having to do with transpor
tation. They must be alert to be sure
that no other law, no matter how it
masquerades, w ill appear on the
books that might negate or deprive
the elderly o f the privileges that are
now theirs by law.”
Gates, retiring at 61, seems fit af­
ter recovering from a heart attack
during last year. A graduate o f West
V irgina State College, he took a
m aster’ s degree in Public Health
from Columbia University in 1950.
A former marathoner, Gates has
returned to an athletic program he
designed for himself. Three times a
week he runs a comfortable six-mile
course along a g o lf course and
flow er gardens near his southeast
home.
Osley J. Gates is married to the
form er Jeanette McPherson. They
have one daughter, Sylvia Carlisle,
who is com pleting her medical
training at Brown University.
Plans after retirem ent are
“ Beginning to take shape” says Mr.
Gates. " I ’ m tired o f bureaucracies
and spending eighty percent o f my
time with them rather than with the
real job o f serving the people."
Now he w ill do "som ething d if­
ferent from what I have done
before,” but first, "There w ill be a
time to depressurize a contemplative
period to sort through a lo t o f
ideas.”
A little fishing in the m ountain
streams is probably a part o f the
contemplative forecast, says Gate’ s
friends.
" J i m " G ates e n jo y s h is re g u la r s ix -m ile ru n th r o u g h S o u th e a s t
P ortland.
(P h oto : R ichard J. B ro w n )
o f real assistance to the elderly by
working to hold down costs for their
basic needs.
" I n 1968," Gates continued,
" O u r committee changed its
designation to that o f ‘ C ouncil’ to
denote its advisory and authorative
status in the community. Later, in
1972, we became a commission -
reflecting our evolving status and
the achievement o f a higher level of
governmental responsibility on
behalf of older people.
"W e have achieved an ideal - a
working relationship on a two-way
basis between government and older
people: people in government
helping people in the public who,
after a ll, are the government in
America.”
Gates paused fo r a moment to
remember and savor the beauty o f
witnessing democracy working and
meshing well in this he had ex­
perienced.
"Portland churches,” Gates went
on, "were helpful in the Loaves and
Fishes programs. The response from
them was g ra tifyin g . In fact, they
made us so over whelm ing suc­
cessful that the program eventually
outgrew us. It became too big for us
S p e cia lizin g in all cu rly perm s, s ty lin g b trim m in g .
Proline
Style
Shop
917 S.W. Alder 224-8401
(«eroaa from the Galien«)
to operate it. Loaves and Fishes was
taken over by a private non-profit
organization. The transfer freed the
commission to turn its attention to
other needs o f the elderly.
"W e tackled tra n sp o rta tio n
next," Gates said. ‘ ‘ We had already
done a lot o f prelim inary work to
find low-cost transportation for the
elderly, but we had failed to per­
suade the transit company to offer
lower fares.
"F in a lly we resorted to our own
state legislature to provide us with a
law to protect the elderly against
constantly rising bus fares that
would take too big a bite out of their
funds.
"O u t o f the struggles o f staff and
volunteer workers o f the C ity-
County Council on Aging and the
Oregon State Legislature, a law
came out o f it all. The law states
that no transit company in the state
may charge the elderly over ten
cents during non-rush hours. The
elderly may ride free on July 4 and
other holidays or on week ends to
shop, to visit, and to enjoy them ­
selves.
"O nce the law was achieved, we
had to educate the elderly to use
their privileged rides.
"W e organized a project, ‘ End of
the Line.’ The elderly, in groups o f
six persons traveled together to the
end o f the bus line during free-ride-
times. At the end o f the line they
could lunch in a park, spend time
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From the Front Door
By Tom Boothe
From The F ro n t D o o r, I see th o se w h o fo llo w along the course o f:
Cleanliness, Caring, Courtesy and Completeness. Even as in Nature the same
courses are followed.
We m ight equate W inter w ith an act of Cleanliness; Spring an act of Caring;
Summer an act of Courtesy; Autum an act of Completeness.
But, then I see those w ho do not follow this course. They are those who are
not clean and they practice Dirtiness; there are those who do not care, and
they practice carelessness; there are those who are not courteous, they prac­
tice rudeness and arrogance and are merciless; and there are those w ho do
not complete w hat they start, and they practice incompleteness.
These individuals w ill always Criticize, Complain, and find "Blam e Factor"
excuses; but most w ill change given enough time and encouragement.
I find that there is a great advantage in follow ing the course of Cleanliness
Caring, Courtesy and Completness. Even, as in Nature this is the course of
Power, P ro d u ctio n and Perform ance, the p o sition o f g ivin g . Those w ho
follow this course are in charge and hold great power over those who are less
clean, and those w ho do not care as much, and those who are not as cour­
te o u s, and th o se w h o do n o t c o m p le te m uch o f w h a t th e y s ta rt- th e ir
position is one of consuming. It is better to give, than to consume, or be con­
sumed.
When and if you feel oppressed and victim ized, it may be that you are on the
wrong course. The way to change courses in the Right direction, is to prac­
tice and dem onstrate m ore Cleanliness, m ore Caring, more Courtesy and
more Completeness.
Exodus Clean Team Meeting each Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.
Tu« Frl 1 7pm • Sat. 1 00 8pm
Offer good for July
p*