Portland Observer, January 2, 1985, Page 3
LEW WILLIAMS CADILLAC
METROPOLITAN
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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
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Wo offer the Evergreen I oner el Pion or e Funerel Trust Plan This le rv ire not only lifts the fi
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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.