Portland Observer, August 10, 1983 Page 3
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Mr. Vernon Gaskin, founder of the Leisure Hour Golf Club, shows
Merkel Sales (age 6) the proper wey to hold e club.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Golfing pioneer aids
youthful players
G R A S S R O O TS N E W S . N . W. —
It is only through the foresight and
organizational skills o f others that
Afro-Am ericans have been able to
enter the arena o f non-traditional
A Calvin Peete would have never
been able to swing high and Zina
Garrison wouldn't be on the rise
now in tennis. Other people, alive
and dead, have paid dues and in
Portland M r. Vernon Gaskin has
such an account.
Gaskin is a pioneer in the field of
golf and it is through his efforts that
young blacks are able to play the
game. H e is the founder o f Leisure
Hour G o lf Club. H e says. " In 1939
there was no organized black golf
club in the city o f Portland. I
thought it was necessary to have
some type o f organization to gain
some type o f recognition. In the be
ginning it was called the Leisure
H our G o lf and Bridge Club. In
those days the men had their club
and the women had theirs. I thought
why not put them together. It lead
to more interest and having a pretty
lady present meant a lo t."
In 1939 de-facto Jim Crow was
alive and well in Portland. Gaskin
remembers, "There were some
courses who did not care for our
patronage. But we found all the
municipal courses open.”
He calls golf his cardinal sin. " I
say it is one o f the greatest games
that there is. It brings you up to a
mental peak and it develops you
physically and builds character. The
funny thing about golfers is that you
can play with the President o f the
United States and call him by his
first name. You are just another
g olfer."
Gaskin says he believes the reason
why golf doesn’t have the appeal of
basketball or football is that it is not
taught to youngsters at the high
school level. He learned as a caddy
and a locker room boy for a private
golf club. " In my day, the only
thing a black man could do was to
caddy or shine the rich man's shoes.
But since we have progressed, we
are able to play the game.
" T h e men in this club would
give me a couple o f clubs and when I
was o ff duty I would slip o ff behind
the caddy shack and hit golf balls.
"I've seen and heard people say that
golf is such a foolish game — to hit
a little white ball and run o ff down
the field and look for it. But I've seen
those same people once they are ex
posed to the game they become so
absorbed you couldn’t pull them
away from it ."
For the average man seeing the
growth o f his local club would have
been enough. But M r. Vernon
Gaskin is not the average man and
in 1953 Gaskin spearheaded The
Western States G o lf Association.
" In numbers there is strength.
When you have the clout o f 28 golf
clubs extending from Texas to
Washington it gives us power and
recognition. W e started with 8 clubs
and we just grew. W e started with
400 members and now we have
2,0 00."
The W S G A sponsors yearly tour
naments which start in March and
end in November. " W e have a
handicap system. We put golfers in
certain flights where they are equal
ly pitted against someone o f the
same skills.”
The W SG A also provides scholar
ships to students along the coast. In
Oregon, Lisa Rankins won the
scholarship for 1983.
W ith an afterthought about the
growth that he has created, Vernon
Gaskin says, " I 'm luckier than
M artin Luther King. We both had a
dream I have lived to see my dream
come true and The Western States is
growing, along with The Leisure
Hour We have our youth program
and hopefully in Portland our youth
will one day own a golf course of
their ow n.”
Portland Cleaning Works
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Aug. 22 thru Sept. 3
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282 83«
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Toughskins" jeans
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Our best jeans tor kids D acron' polyester DuPont
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Req $11 99 Little boys jeans regular and slim
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Not shown Big boys athletic shirt Reg $7 99 sizes 8 to 12
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SAVE! Sears Best kids
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Reg $5 49 Little girls' print vests or panties
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