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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1985)
Portland Observer, January 2, 1985, Page 3 LEW WILLIAMS CADILLAC METROPOLITAN “ ----------- 1 C ad illac Asian store serves community iy Bob Lothian W a lk in g dow n the aisles o f the Vieng L ao O riental Food Center at 1032 N .E . Killingsworth is like taking i trip to S.E. Asia. Y o u 'll fin d 30 lb. sacks o f rice, jic kled banana buds, cu rry paste, iweet mung bean cakes, betel leaves, »hole dried fish, palm hearts, quail rggs, huge dried lotus leaves and a variety o f pungent herbs with untrans- atable names. M an y o f these exotic delicacies am e from Thailand, said store w ork s’ 'Chi Hong Bee. Thailand is open to rade w ith the U .S . and has food im ila r to that preferred by the itore’s mainly Lao and C am bodian tustomers. C o m m un ist C am b o d ia and Laos do not trade much with the U.S. H o n g, together w ith his brother, who owns the store, his sister and wife, have operated the small store for three years. " W e thought it was a good idea to have a store here be cause a lot o f us live in this a re a ," he said. M any customers live within w alk ing distance. Low rent, proxim ity to the freeway, a busline, and the pos sibility o f a community o f Asian busi nesses add to the lo c atio n ’ s advan tages, he said. A Southeast Asian business district is emerging near the store along K ill ingsworth between the freeway and Cascade campus, w ith tw o restaur ants, two markets, a photo studio and a pool h a ll/c u ltu ra l center. The dis trict has seen hard times in the past but the Asian emergence appears to be leading a comeback. Living in a multi-racial community has not been d iffic u lt, said H o n g . " I t 's a nice place. W e are getting along very well, we don’t see any big problems among us.” Hong speaks Cambodian, Chinese, Lao, English, a little French and a little Vietnamese. Knowing so many languages is an asset, he says. "T h e Lao and Cambodians like to come to our store because we speak the com mon language. We can help them find the food they w a n t." Vieng L ao A Recognized Induatry means " C it y o f L a o s " in the Lao language, he said. About 85 percent of the store’s cus tomers are S.E. Asians fro m North Portland, he said, with the rest from G uam , the F iji Islands and other countries. O n a recent S atu rd ay, Basko K a nte, a regular customer from Ghana, shopped in the store for potato starch and special items for curry dishes. Hong said his nine-member family emigrated to the U .S . in stages start ing ten years ago. "W e were forced to leave because the communists took over the co u ntry and i f we d id n ’ t leave we w ould have been in great trouble." he said. Business remains steady, and the fam ily would like to expand into a larger store in the future. "T h is is a start in this a re a ," he said, though. " W e still need the com m unity sup port.” Women learn home repair Kimberly Ann Martin. Christina M . Travis Shamsud- Din. Valma Marla Spears. Tammy Pruitt. Daryl La- Shuan Wooding. L - R Front Angela Maria Watson. Rosalyn Hioks. Stacy Lavotta Thompson. Rena Renee Hurley, Andrew M. Stephens. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) At the 33rd Annual Debutante and Cavaliers Ball held Saturday, December 29. 1984. at the Red Lion, Jantzen Beach, these young men and women were presented to the community: L-R back - Kevin D e - Ron Fuller, Kimberley Davette Mason. Alax Harvey. Center offers recycling try Robert Lothian In case y o u ’ ve been w ondering sbout that ex-gas station w ith the dumpsters out in front at the corner of North Portland Blvd. and Denver Ave., it’s a recycling center. You can drop your old newspapers at the center, glass o f all colors, tin cans, paper sacks, alu m in u m and cardboard. Even used motor oil can be poured into the tank that once contained gasoline. Portland Recy cling T eam , the com pany that runs the center, then sells the oil for about 20 cents per gallo n . W ith their big trucks they haul the large dumpsters of newspaper, cardboard and glass to processors who buy it. PRT has been in business for about 10 years. They have four centers in Portland and one in Lake Oswego, handling tons o f reusable materials that w ould otherwise end up in the dump. According to P R T worker Louise W oodward, who sometimes works at the Portland Blvd. center, recycling helps the en viron m ent and creates jobs. “ I believe in re c y c lin g ," said W oodward, 54, a full-tim e employee w ith P R T fo r five years. " I t ’ s a th ro w aw ay society and it's got to stop some place. I just don’t believe in things going out to the dum p." O n Wednesdays during the school year, W oodward does recycling edu cation in Portland schools. " I really get involved,” she said. " T h e other day I went up to M a ll 205 and saw this dumpster full o f cardboard going to the dump and I thought, ‘ W hat a shame, all that cardboard going to waste'." W o o d w ard sometimes gets help from Rick Broadfield, 18, a junior at Roosevelt High. Broadfield, a friend o f the fam ily who lives nearby, has been helping about four years, and sometimes gets money for it. "R ecy cling is a good idea, it's easy and it’s quick,” he said. Some customers are so adept at re cycling that they are able to avoid a garbage pickup at their house. Also, she said, " W e have a lot o f people that come from Vancouver with their alum inum cans, seeing as how they don't have a bottle bill.” The center sometimes has a prob lem with people dropping o ff ju n k , she said. P R T docs not take maga zines, junk mail, plastic, scrap metal or old car parts. "Plastics are a big problem. We were taking plastics for a while but we ended up with a lot of garbage ” help P R T gets now, she said, comes from the courts in the form o f com munity service workers. The company is m anaging to struggle along and keep it’s 17 employees busy, although " w e ’ re lucky to break e v e n ," she said. W oodw ard herself came to P R T through C E T A , after having raised five children alone and finding herself unem ployed a fte r getting laid o f f from her sales job in a sporting goods store. She describes her present jo b as ideal. " I love meeting people, 1 love talking to the school kids,” she said. " T h e work is hard at times, it ’s de pressing at times, but when you get to talkin g to people and realizing the good y o u 're d o in g , it makes it all worthwhile.” Career choice w orkshop M ake Choices — Get Jobs, is the title o f a free Career Cycle workshop at P o rtlan d C o m m u n ity College's Cascade Cam pus, 705 N . K illin g s worth. Scheduled for Thursday, February 7 from 6-8 p.m . in Porta-Building 2, the workshop deals with coping with job loss and job changes. Furniture and other usable items that people leave end up at the P R T center on N W F ro n t. D oors, w in dows, lum ber, firew o od and other materials can be picked up there for a fraction o f what they would cost at other places, she said. Recycling once received a lot o f public support with C E T A jobs and subsidies from the d ty and from M et ro. " A ll of those things have been cut back, and it's really hurt u s ," said W oodw ard. A b o ut the only public Anyone wishing to attend the Make Choices — Get Jobs workshop should call the P C C Cascade D epartm ent, 283-2541, to reserve a space. The presentation is offered free to every one. 633 N.E. 12th Portland, Oregon 97206 233-6451 C a rp en ter, c o n trac to r and engi neering aide Patricia Robertson will teach two home repair classes through Portland C o m m u n ity C o lle t - winter term. The classes, entitled Hom e Ecpaii i for W om en I and I I are designed i provide introductory inform ation n parts of the house that work and what to do when they don’t. The classes are held weekly at O k- ley G reen M id d le School, 6031 N . M o ntana, fro m 7-9 p .m . beginning Tuesday, January 15. Part I lasts four weeks, and will introduce students to com m only used hand and power tools, tool safety and the use and se lection o f fasteners. T h e home se curity portion is particularly relevant to crime prevention efforts, according Io the instructor. Part I I , also fo u r weeks in d u ra tion, deals with the mechanical skills and problem solving techniques asso ciated w ith com m on household re pairs. Insulation improvement, prob lems with plum bing, electricity and other areas will be covered in the class which begins February 12. Registration for either of the classes may be done now through PCC . For further inform ation contact the PCC Com m unity Services Departm ent at 283-2541. In the Automotive FIRST IN g Performance Value Quality Comfort Prestige Don I M ill« lor lass whan you diaarva the bost Stop by and visit our showroom or call Cleophaa Smith 233-6461 I can pul you in the dnvars saal today DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SAVE ON YOUR FOOD BILL? W e offer savings of up to 40% and more on fine quality wonder end Hostess products, plus large discounts on other baked goods Besides our every day low prices, w e feature in store specials daily Just look tor the bar gam " signs on the displays in our store Discover tor yourself w liat thou sands of smart shoppers in the area have found mO © You'll be amazed at the savings you make at our Wonder Thrift Shop! Food »t«mp» gladly accepted ! S A T IS F A C T IO N GUARANTEED V You m u tt be comp*ele*v M litfte d «nth •very p u u h aa» o» wc cheerfully refund yOu» purchete price WONDER-HOSTESS THRIFTSHOP IIS N .C o o k S I. C o rn e r o f V a n c o u v e r b C o o k S t.. P o rtla n d . O re g o n THE QUALITY DIFFERENCE For thirty years Portland families have know n Ih el Venn h Venn Funeral Directors have made the difference in their families' funeral an engem enls - made the uncomfortable task «asm' As wwi enler our 31 St year of service, we bring you the kind of crxnprnhensive funeral pfenning Ihel assures the beet protection for every member of your temily Wo offer the Evergreen I oner el Pion or e Funerel Trust Plan This le rv ire not only lifts the fi nancial burden from your family, but relieves them of a som etimes em otional burden as we« Pre planning is one of the most thoughtful things that can be done for a fem iy Our free counseling service lets you ixetiere every ileieil in the convenience of your home or rhe pnvecy of our office Your stxv.iel wishes will tie rlis< usaed end recorded, relieving you of concern end worry VANN & VANN FUNERAL DIRECTORS 5211 N. Williams Ave. FOR SALE Admiral refrigerator Portland. Oregon 97217 White, 6 ft tall by 4 ft wide $89 or beat offer. Only 23 moa. old 281 2836 and been used twice Call 284-9723 QUALITY CAR CARE HONESTY IS OUR POLICY SPECIAL TUNE UP,31“ «os. cars TRANSMISSION OVERHAUL Call VANN b VANN (281 2836) I'd like to know more about the Evergreen Funeral Plan or the Funeral Trust Plan Please call or stop by soon. N am eN am a A d d res s $250.00 Thomas Auto Repair c it y _____ ZIP P h o n e __ 2536 N.^. Union Phone 284 3932 Hours Mor • S«t 8 (JO a m 6 00 p rn A Dedication Letter of Love & Honor With Love and Pride W e openly honor you. Mother. Loving you makes our dreams A IrTTle more realistic. The Faith you have in us Makes our paths a lot clearer. Though we don't often say It a lot, we truly love and PORTWND OBSERNER □ *1 6 for one year □ *26 for tw o year* Boa 3137. Portland OR 97208 Mr» Mi Of letting us ell share 1964 And will promise to make Your 1986 M uch Betterl « 3 8 8 3 5 5 I M em I Street ®UII? Deeply appreciate God's Power Apt To: Mrs. Uzzla Bess Mayfield From: Elizabeth A. Hayaa b Family Mr and Mrs Marshall Goss b Family Mr Paul W Mayfield Mr Samuel Henry Churchwell Jr.
