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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1982)
Page 8 Portland Observer, May 27, 1982 OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SIDELINES The four lives o f Ira Daniel M um ford flow together in one great stream o f energy in his powerful six- foo t-tw o body. H e ’ s a busy man, that Mumford. And yet he can take time for a personal touch. The kids call him the “ 4 -H M a n ,” parishioners at the C .M .E . Smith missionary chapel call him “ the Rev. M u m fo rd ,” music a ffi- cianaods know him as one o f the orig in al ‘ ‘ M ills B ro th ers,” M rs. Lydia M um ford calls him husband and 17-year-old Ire tta calls him ••D ad." In a day he is here, he is there, al ways in demand, working with peo ple for people, helping and encour aging the young, inspiring the not- so-young. Born in North Carolina, the mid dle child in a family of eight, Ira has always been in the middle of "things going o n ” and in the m iddle o f music. Both m other and fath er played piano and several brothers and sisters played piano. Ir a was elected to play the drums and sing. They, as a group, were in demand to sing and play in churches and at so cial gatherings and, said Ira , “ We were the first black group to sing over D u rh am ’ s W D N C radio sta tio n ." Good musical perform ance re quires a certain amount of self-disci pline and the Mum ford children ap parently had impetus supplied in the right direction for this. M u m fo rd chuckles as he says, “ I was the best M other had. She gave me plenty o f discipline— orders to stay in my own backyard and not to play w ith all the other kids playing out front, or whippings (I got lots o f thm) until 1 learned how to discipline m yself. Mother did most o f the chastising as our fath er was usually away at work. He was the chef for 41 years at the hospital in town. " W e always ate w e ll, and 1 learned to cook from my dad. N o strict recipes, but just good whole some food with good seasonings. I cook for my family quite often now and am mindful o f the salt to keep it at a m inim um . M y specialties are Southern fried chicken and a real good potato salad. "L a te r 1 spent several years sing ing with the original M ills Brothers and with the original Ink Spots too. 1 sang all the parts— whichever ones were needed. " I came to the Northwest first in 1952 as an entertainer with the Rival Brothers. We landed in W alla Walla and wound up in Eugene and came to Portland from there. 1 was grow ing tired o f the travel involved and settled myself with a singing group we called the Carmenaires. We were featured for several years at C a r men's restaurant. “ L a te r on I w orked as C h ie f Counsellor for David M . Nero, Jr., when his company, Nero and Asso ciates, In c ., had 25 employees. 1 helped the jobless men fit into their new employment patterns and kept in touch w ith management to help smooth out labor problems as they arose. " F o r nine years I was a consumer educational specialist for P M S C — and. since 1974,1 have been with the Oregon State Extension Service as an extension agent. " I'm enthused over the 4 -H pro gram located over at King N eigh borhood Center. We offer classes in arts and crafts, cooking, sewing, the martial arts, and yes, we have a 4-H Choral Ensemble. The ensemble will sing a capptIla again this year. We have travelled all over Oregon with the c h o ir and in to C a lifo rn ia . I started w ith 26 children who had never sung together, most o f them were strangers to each other, their ages varied from 11 years to 19 years and they came from various races and sectors o f the community. They were thrilled to hear the first o f their tapes I made o f their performance and now they have learned to be critical and really appreciate their performance and their progress. “ W e started a tutoring class for reading back in November ’81 with the help o f D r. B ill G erald o f the Portland Public Schools. This was my class, a small class with kids out o f the 5th grade who could read only at the 2nd grade level. Now in M a y those same kids have raised their reading level to the 6th grade. I ’m so proud o f them.” The oldest person ever to win the Academy Award for acting was George Burns for his perform ance in "Sunshine Boys"—at the age of 80. • Strangely, the brother of a man w ho shot a U .S . President is in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Edwin Booth, a great actor, is in the Hall of Fame. His brother, John Wilkes booth, was the man who shot Abraham Lincoln. • The 17-year locust is not a locust at all, but a cicada. W e do not do buaineaa w ith South Africa. American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 27 37 N. E. Union Portland, Oregon 97212 IR A M U M F O R D M u m fo rd ’ s face glowed w ith pleasure th in kin g o f those happy confident children who had applied themselves and accom plished so much for themselves in a few short months. “ W e need volunteers who will give their time to teach crafts, or anything worthwhile that we can fit into our program s,” M u m fo rd said. The ministry o f this tireless man also reaches out from the pulpit at Sm ith C h ap el, a sm all mission Mum ford opened three years ago in N .E . Portland. The mission is a ffili ated w ith A lle n T em ple o f the C .M .E . Church. A t Smith Chapel, Iretta M um fo rd is pianist and also sings soprano in the c h o ir. M rs. M um ford is president o f the Ladies M issionary Society, rounding out the participation o f the total family in Sunday Service. The 4 -H man surfaced again as M u m fo rd thought o f “ his k id s ” and the com ing summer vacation period looming nearer. He recalled that "last year I had 161 kids in the program and I didn't have one nick el to work with. The budget crunch for us was early and complete. “ I went to C ity C om m issioner Charles J o rd a n ,” M u m fo rd said, "and 1 begged his help. Jordan gave me a van to transport the kids from place to place. The use o f the van had council a p p ro v a l, and then 1 went to the Downtown Kiwanis and they gave me money for arts and crafts supplies. A number o f m er chants and business people in the N .E . section o f P o rtlan d gave me miscellaneous supplies. We used the school’ s cafeteria and the gym na sium and we had a program after all. "T h e kids always enjoy the sum mer program and a lot o f them cry when at the end o f the season they have to part. This year we will have three bilingual students to help us in our program . I t ’ s free and all are welcome.” “ June 28 is reg istratio n tim e, K ing N eighborhood Center is the place,” reminds M um ford, the 4-H man. MRS. C’s Z z«y WIGS N Betty Cabine. Proprietor 64 D IF F E R E N T S T Y L E S A T »6 IN A V A R IE T Y O F C O L O R S I Featuring w ig. by NAOMI SIMS. ANDRE DOUGLAS. BILLIE » NATALIE COLE Now Lalle N ig h t Fever by Naomi Sime by Billie *15°° R»y 32“ PSU holds African Cultural Night The Association o f A frica n Stu dents at Portland State University is holding its T h ird A n nu al A fric a n C u ltu ra l N ig h t. The A fric a n C u l tural Night is an annual event held in honor of the founding o f the O r ganization o f African Unity (O A U ) in May 1963. A ll independent African countries are members o f the O A U , with the exception o f the racist regime o f South Africa. The main objective o f the O A U is the total lib eratio n o f African countries from the yoke o f colonialism. M oreover, it is deter- mined to accelerate the economic in tegration and the unification o f the continent o f Africa. The Association o f A frica n Stu dents at PSU is taking this oppor tu n ity to bring closer contact be tween the continent o f A fric a and the people o f the Northwest, and at the same time to educate the people o f .Oregon about the role o f A frica in world affairs today. T o accom plish these objectives they are pre senting the African Cultural Night. The event will take place on F ri day evening. M a y 28, 1982 at the Portland State University Ballroom (S m ith M e m o ria l C en ter, Room 355). The programme will start at 7 p.m. Admission is S3; $2.50 for stu dents. The programme will feature the follow ing: D in n er (fo o d from various A fric a n countries); Speakers (Am bassador Legw aila, Botswana Ambassador to the U N , and Ronnie H erndon, co-chairman o f the Black United Front); Cultural dances and music (O C H E A M I, Obo A d d y ). 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