Portland Observer, December 15, 1982 Page 5
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Ron Wyden
L.
W ith the econom y on the skid»
and governm ent program s reeling
from m ajor cutbacks, volunteerism
has become a critical factor in meet
ing the needs o f millions o f A m er
icans.
T his is not an issue that has es
caped the attentio n o f the Reagan
Administration: officials o f the A d
m inistration have taken to the po
dium time and time again to tout the
virtues o f private volunteerism.
The events o f the past week, how
ever, m ake one w onder i f those
speeches w eren't just so much hot
air.
Portland General Electric (P C E ),
P a c ific Pow er and L ig h t ( P P & L )
and other private utilities across the
country have undertaken a fundrais
ing project in w hich they have set
aside millions o f stockholders* dol
lars to help pay fuel bills for low-in
come seniors and others.
The companies are issuing notices
to their customers and employees re
questing matching funds from those
who wish, and can affo rd , to contri
bute— and have received enthusias
tic response.
u n fo rtu n a te ly , the Reagan A d
ministration has thrown a wrench in
the works. A fellow Congressman
and I learned last week that Health
and H u m a n Services Secretary
Richard Schweiker had decided to
uphold a regional H H S office ruling
stip ulatin g th at any assistance re
ceived by the elderly under this pro
ject would be applied against*Sup
plem ental S ecu rity in co m e and
other government benefits.
Oregonians and other Americans
should be outraged by this decision.
This project (called Project H elp in
Po rtlan d) is designed to help some
o f the most vulnerable people in our
society. I t ’s designed to help people
w ho are fa llin g between the
cracks— lite ra lly w a lk in g an eco
nomic tight rope on which they must
balance food against fuel, and fuel
against their medical care. It's de
signed to help people who are facing
the coldest months o f the year with
nowhere else to turn for help.
By proposing to p en alize re
cipients o f these private funds, the
A d m in is tra tio n has je o p a rd ize d
chances for this program's success.
Senior citizens and other needy per
sons are lik e ly to be scared aw ay
fro m p a rtic ip a tin g Tor fear th eir
other benefits w ill be cut. A nd the
utilities and private citizens are not
going to be willing to contribute to a
project that will only make matters
worse for recipients.
I am reasonably o ptim istic that
Adm inistration officials w ill not be
able to put this policy into effect—
at least fo r the tim e being. L o u isi
ana Congressman Billy Tauzin and I
today won House acceptance o f an
am endm ent that prevents the A d
m in is tra tio n fro m going fo rw a rd
w ith this ruling. I am hopeful that
the Senate w ill also ap p ro ve this
provision, and that it will be signed
in to law as part o f the C o n tin uin g
Resolution.
But that d oesn't mean the issue
has been resolved for all lime. First,
the C ontinuing Resolution w ill run
out in a few months, and the Project
Help question will once again be up
for discussion.
And even i f that is resolved suc
cessfully, there is still the larger is
sue o f governm ent policy tow ard
volunteerism in general. Is the gov
ernment going to encourage private
volunteerism as one way to help
provide for needy Americans? O r is
it going to cut federal spending on
one hand and thw art private in itia
tive on the other?
I hope the former is the case— for
the good o f all o f us. G overnm ent
needs to be more responsive to the
concerns of the needy. W e must be
gin looking to the defense budget
and other non-social areas for cuts
in spending, and move away from
attempts to balance the budget on
the backs o f the poor and the needy.
But we must also recognize that
the federal coffers are limited. G ov
ernment w ill never be able to meet
all (he needs that exist— and the pri
vate sector must be encouraged to
do its part.
The total amount of tea Americans drink is only one-
tenth of the am ount of coffee that gets drunk each
year.
The 10 gallon hat actually holds three-fourths of a
gallon.
Americans spend some $100 billion a year on shoes.
China's first newspaper appeared in Peking in the
eighth century.
We do not do busine»» w ith South Africa
American State
Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK
What the Administration has pro
posed to do in the case o f P ro ject
Help would only discourage volun
teerism — as well as th reaten in g to
leave millions o f elderly persons out
in the cold (his winter.
We must resist this policy— and
continue doing so as long as it takes.
M ,» d Office
2 7 3 7 N E. Union
Portland, O regon 9 7 2 1 2
y
DOUBLE
YOUR
TALK TO
NEW YORK,
NEW YORK.
$4.06
Historic theater puts on new look
by Catherine Siegner
125th Street in H a rle m , New
York C ity , strikes a memory chord
in any black person old enough to
have visited, or who hails from , the
East C o ast. Its bustling crow ds,
noise, theaters, restaurants, blues
and jazz clubs, and even its seamier
side, have enlivened fo r years a
stretch o f "u p to w n " Big Apple that
blacks have, since the riots o f 1943,
called all their own.
N o one lan dm ark on that street
has better defined that ambience, or
persevered as long, as the A p o llo
T h e atre . H a lfw a y between A dam
C la y to n Po w ell and F red erick
Douglas Boulevards on the north
side o f 125th S t., the 1,700-seat two-
balcony A p o llo , built in 1909, has
seen va u d e villian s and o rg a n -a c
companied picture shows grace its
maple stage. During the 1930s and
'40s, the th eatre’ s fam ed am ateur
night was the lau nchin g pad for
many an aspiring black actor, com
ic, singer or dancer.
Entertainers now forever revered
by fans and originally "discovered"
or helped on their way to stardom
by the A p o llo include B illie
H o llid a y , D u ke E llin g to n , Sarah
V a u g h a n , C o u n t Basie, C ab C a l
lo w a y , E lla' F itz g e ra ld , L io n el
Ham pton, and many more.
O th e r houses o f en te rta in m e n t
Uptown provided a forum for aspir
ing black entertainers: the w orld-fa
mous Cotton Club, originally above
the old Douglas T h e atre on 145th
St. and Lenox Ave. and established
by black boxer Jack Johnson (the
first club in the U .S . to present all
black entertainment); Connie's Inn,
a basement dive that drew standing-
room -only crow dstohear acts that
previewed the coming musical craze,
and next d o o r, the old L a fa y e tte
Theatre at 7th Ave. and 132nd S t.,
now a church.
M a n y o f H a r le m ’ s early show
cases fo r black stars and h op efu l
amateurs are gone now, lost to the
vagaries o f public taste, the wreck
ing b all or just p la in decay. The
A p o llo , and many other trappings
o f post-W orld W ar I I boom times,
began to decline in the 1960s from
lack o f capital and attendant disre
pair. Its longtime owners and m an
agers, F ran k S c h iffm a n , his sons
Bob and Jack, and Leo Brecher,
co u ld n 't charge enough admission
to attract major acts (who were now
" a c c e p ta b le " d o w n to w n ) and the
famous theatre languished.
The future seemed perm anently
bleak for the A p o llo until this year,
when a longtime dream o f rehabili
tating the theatre and reopening its
doors came true, mainly through the
e ffo rts o f Percy S u tto n , a black
m an, fo rm e r M a n h a tta n Borough
President and now director o f Inter
city Broadcasting C o rp . (In te rc ity
owns at least fiv e b la c k -o rie n te d
radio stations across the country, in
cluding W BLS in New York C ity.)
Sutton pursued his vision o f a re
v ita liz e d A p o llo th ro ug h a p ur-
chase-and-lease scheme that w ill re
sult in the first live p roduction in
years opening at the Apollo Theatre
this month.
This new "lease on life” is a $6.8
m illio n com bination o f grants and
loans from the U .S . Department of
Housing and Urban Development,
the H a rle m U rb a n D evelo p m en t
Corp and private lenders.
The City of New York applied for
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save a whopping (iO"... Wliieh means you
can talk more than twice
as long tor your money.
So reach out this
tr
weekend. And .give a big
hello to the Big Apple.
The old Apollo Theatre In New York.
the initial U rban Development A c
tion G rant through its quasi-public
E co n om ic C a p ita l C o r p ., and
loaned the seed money to Intercity
for the renovation w ork. The H a r
lem U D C , meanwhile, acquired the
th eatre b u ild in g fro m its fo rm e r
owners and signed a 30-year lease
with Intercity, which will do the ac
tual day-to-day managing.
P h illip M o rro w , H a rlem U D C 's
d irecto r o f develop m ent, said the
A p o llo 's lon g tim e owners had no
use fo r the th eatre any m ore and
agreed to sell it fo r $ 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 . He
acknowledged that " i t ’s a steal."
" I t ’s appraised for $600,000 and
is in pretty good condition now. The
acoustics are still quite g o o d ," he
said.
F or those u n lik e M o rro w , who
said he "n ev er got in " the A p o llo
due to the long lines winding " 3 or 4
times around the b lo c k ," the excit
ing experience o f being a part o f the
live audience at the A p o llo w ill be
theirs again in the 1980s That same
audience. B illie H o llid a y w ro te in
her au to b io g rap h y , th at " th e re 's
nothing lik e ."
" T h e y d id n ’ t ask me w hat my
style was, w ho I was, where I ’ d
come from , who influenced me, or
anything. They just broke the house
u p ."
M in o r re no vation s und ertaken
p rio r to this m o n th ’ s opening in
clude air conditioning and exit re
pairs and removal o f some seats to
make way fo r new sound e q u ip
ment.
Further plans dow n the line call
for restoration o f the theatre's m ar
quee and its exterior facade, always
drab and g rim y, but even more so
now from recent neglect. Additional
structures on 125th St. will be reno
vated and facades restored by H a r
lem U D C , M o rro w said, pointing
toward a concerted effo rt at bring
ing back the Uptown glory days.
H e said In te rc ity plans a video
production center with cable fac ili
ties at the A pollo for lease by com
m u n ity groups or students who
might gain valuable training. Live
productions with uplinks for satel
lite T V broadcast, locally produced
shows, and au d io , video and stage
production facilities are also in the
works.
Pacific Northwest Bell
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A d u lt Service C enter by M o n d a y ,
December 20, 1982, phone 288-8338.
I \ oi \ B ra c e le ts. B ings,
and I'.a rrin g s w n H I l k t rim
Party planned
T h e Jim m y B ang-B ang W a lk e r
Youth G ro up , w ill present its 17th
C h ild re n 's H o lid a y P a rty at 12
noon, on Saturday, December 18th,
at the Jefferson High School A u d i
torium, 5210 N. Kerby.
T h e even t, w hich is free to the
co m m u n ity , w ill inclu d e m ovies,
cartoons, treats, fun and songs, and
fru it and candy stockings fo r ch il
dren ages I -10.
Special guests include: Miss Tan
P o rtla n d , T e ra W a rre n ; W a lly
Scales, Portland T ra il Blazers; and
S. Claus of the North Pole.
/p q
p
Senior citizen dinner
Rev. Richard Lauer is C hairm an
o f the Dinner Com m ittee. He is be
ing assisted by Advisory Committee
Members: C arrie Cannon, Velma L.
Bush. Lewis Winchester, Genevieve
M a r tin , Bruce R am seyer, In e ll
Sim pson, Prescious W asson, Rev.
Ira M u m fo rd , Dana V ia, Jack W as
son, Sarah M a y fie ld , Ire n e Sage.
Betty T h o m p so n and C e n te r D i
rector, Barbara Bivens-Blincoc.
Dinner w ill be served at 12 noon.
There w ill be entertainm ent; music
w ill be by T hara M em ory, courtesy
o f Music Performance Trust Funds
o f the Recording Industries through
cooperation o f Local 99, A .F .M .
Persons needing tra n s p o rta tio n
should call the Urban League Senior
N<«ifrw*« Hr«
CHRISTMAS
SPECIAL
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(Continued fro m page I column I )
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THE KING'S RANSOM
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