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Volume XXVI, Number?
Committed to cultural diversity.
January 10, 1996
Œljr Jlnrtlanfi ©bserliEr
SECTION
Local Company Manufactures New Park Cover
'aagm eester, Incorporated, a
W
Wallpapers
On Review
Wallpapers by intemationally-recog-
I nized designer Bradbury and Bradbury
w illgoondisplay inabenefit,Feb. lO from
7 p.m. to 9 p.m at Trinity Episcopal Church,
147 N.W. 19th.
Gene Harris
Performs
The Gene Harris Quartet performs Fri-
| day and Saturday at the 8 p.m. at Red Lion/
Downtown The quartet w ith Dennis
[ Springer, Marc Fendel and Nola Bogle
w ill perform Sunday 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at
| the Benson Hotel.
Meeting
Honors Activist
A public meeting celebrating the life o f
I Gloria Martin, 79, author, civil rights ac
tivist and leader o f the women’s move
ment, w ill be held Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5
p.m. at the Koinonia House, 633 S.W.
I Montgomery St. Martin died Nov. 22 o f |
I cancer.
second-generation company lo
cated on N ortheast A lberta,
soon will com plete one of its largest
structures-a cover for the tension struc
ture over Cathedral Park ’s stage. Thanks
to the firm ’s expertise and generosity
and donations from a granting com m it
tee and an other local company, a brand-
new, heavy-duty waterproof canopy will
be installed for the first of a series of free
concerts in the park this summer.
Concert Series Chair Clarice White re
cently received the last installment from Metro
t entrai Enhancement Committee, which gave
$10,500 toward the purchase. David Berg
from Simpson Timber’s Oregon Overlay
Division also presented Simpson’s contribu
tion of$2,380 to company President and Co
owner Steve Waagmeester.
While the canopy manufacture was in
progress at Waagmeester’s large pieces o f
the heavy material were spread over the shop
flo o r. Len Breazeale, sewer, and K urt
Waagmeester, awning manufacturer, two o f
the firm ’s 12 employees, were marking the
outline o f one o f four huge sections for the
cover, which consumed more than 150 yards
o f eight-foot-wide material.
For the past seven years, musicians and
vocalists from every style o f music have
pei formed in Cathedral Park under a disinte
grating coverthat let in the wind and rain, was
an eyesore and a security risk,” says White.
“ The dark stage area under the old orange
All-Teen Dance
Is Friday
S T ^ agm,eGSter' l6ft' StitChGS thG heavy du<y waterproof material for Cathedral
p
Park s new stage cover, which will be raised for the park series' first concert on
Y
f CheTC
hking his P^Sress is David Berg. Environmental Health and
Safety Manager for The Oregon Overlay Division o f Simpson Timber Company a
major contributor to the massive project.
P y'
canopy encouraged vandalism and vagrancy
while the canopy was up and made it d iffic u lt
to see the performers.
"Fortunately for those o f us who love
North Portland’s Cathedral Park, five enti
ties came together to rectify these problems.”
First, Waagmeester agreed to give Friends o f
Cathedral Park neighborhood Association
and in-kind contribution that amounted to an
$8,000 savings. Then, Portland Parks and
Recreation Supervisor Jim Gardiner and
Deputy Director David Judd agreed to install
the canopy free for the FCPNA series each
year for five years, provided the association
raised the rest o f the money for the project.
The Metro Central Enhancement Com
mittee donated $ 10,500 with the proviso that
W h ite ’ s group obtain m atching funds.
"Simpson Tim ber came through in thenick o f
time with a grant o f $2,380,” White savs
exactly wha, we needed to complete the
project.”
White and Berg watched Waagmeester’s
co-owner stitching the beautiful material with
a 7-31 class sewing machine used by his
father. Bud, when he began the company in
1945 in his basement The father, Winfred
Waagmeester, was a sail maker’s mate in the
Navy, whose parents came over from Am
sterdam in the late 1880s.
“ We use 1/8” diameter needles," Steve
Waagmeester told White. “ This machine is
so strong it could literally sew two pieces o f
1/4” plywood together.”
I his fall, after Waagmeester’s busiest sea
son, he arranged to have Parks & Recreation
bring the old, disintegrating canopy to the
covered outdoor basketball court at Alberta
Park. “ They were great,” Waagmeester said
o f the parks maintenance people, “ they were
there early, and they would not allow us near
while they o ft loaded the cover without hard
hats (very conscientious).”
Waagmeester cut the old canopy apart in
one day to build a pattern, but the toughest
part for the company was getting started,
Waagmeester says. “ Our space in here was
lull o f boats, and this has been our busiest
off-season’ ever. This fall we did a cover for
live steam generators and the reactor from
I rojan to help with transport o f the pieces for
decommissioning at Hanford,” he explained.
" I told them I would manufacture the cover
Continued to page A4
A drug-free “ all-city teen dance” w ill be
held Friday at Memorial Coliseum for
youth, ages 14 to 18 with student I.D.
Portland DJ M ix Masta K.D. w ill keep the
| music ju m p in ’ .
Gauguin Art
On Display
Art works by Paul Gauguin, Emile Ber
nard and 19 other artists from the turn o f
the century are on display through Sunday
| at the Portland A rt Museum.
Joan Baez
Tickets On Sale
Tickets are now on sale for a Portland
I concert with Joan Baez and Dar Williams.
The Feb. 5 event w ill be begin at 8 p.m. at
| C ivic Auditorium.
Semi-Formal
At Shenanigan’s
A semi-formal dinner and fashion show
featuring A ff ican dance, singing and poem
reading w ill be held Friday, Jan 26 from 6
p.m. to 10 p.m. at Shenanigan’s, 4575 N.
Channel. Cost is $25 per person. Call 335-
8091 for information.
Living Legends
Opens Tuesday
“ Living Legends” American Indians To
day” opens Tuesday in the Children's M u
seum at 3037 S.W. Second Ave. Kids and
adults w ill experience the diversity o f
American Indians and the contributions
they’ve made to other cultures.
Senior Volunteers
Sought
Seniors 55 and older are encouraged to
consider sharing their skills o f a lifetime
with a not-for-profit organization. Call
Helen Wahl at the Multnomah County
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at
415-7787 for more information.
Tree Disposal
Offered
Christmas tree recycling is offered Sat
urday from 9 a m. to 4 p.m. from the St.
Andrew parking lot at Northeast Eighth
and Alberta behind the community center
A $3 or $4 donations w ill benefit a low-
income housing program.
SUBMISSIONS: Community
Calendar information will he given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
Nola Bogle
ene Harris, proclaimed “one of
Fred Buckman (left), president o f PacificCorp, joined recently with community
volunteers to plant trees on Alberta Street as part o f Pacific Power's new
GreenStreets program. "GreenStreets ’ is designed to give commercial streets
an environmental and economic boost. The tree planting event on Alberta Street
was sponsored by Pacific Power. Friends o f Trees, and local neighborhood
associations.
o f the Benson Hotel, The Gene I larris Quar
the g reatest blues pianists in
tet w ill be joined by an amazing array o f |
the world” by the Wall Street
local talent, including the Dennis Springer
Journal, will headline the jazz Society
Quartet, the Marc Fendel Quartet, and the
of Oregon's First Jazz 9 6 in January.
Nola Bogle Quintet. Doors open at 2pm,
Friday and Saturday, January 12 & 13,
music is from 3pnt to 9:30pm.
the Gene Harris Quartet w ill play in a club
Tickets-Friday & Saturday: $ 15 advance,
setting at the Club Max, Red Lion/Down-
$ 17 door; Sunday: $20 advance, $22 at door.
town, 8pm.
Call Fastixx: 224-JIX X. For information,
Sunday, January 14, in the Mayfair Room
contact the Jazz Society ofOregon 234-1332.
G
1949 Cotton Bowl Team Were ‘Heroes
hey were all heroes-those gal
line.
lant young men and their coach-
Then North Carolina turned down the
es-in December of 1 9 4 8 when
Cotton Bowl match against Southern Meth
the Oregon Ducks flew south to odist
the University and Cotton Bowl officials
1 9 4 9 Cotton Bowl game in Dallas.
began flirtin g seriously with Oregon. The
Co-champions and undefeated in Pacific
Duck team even scheduled a meeting to vote
Coast Conference play, the Oregon Ducks’
on whethci lu accept the Cotton Bowl invita-
dreams o f roses evaporated when Rose Bowl
tio n -if it arrived. News reports at the time
officials instead picked California, Pacific
said the Duck fans were “ju b ila n t.”
Coast co-champions who were also unde
But three young black men were not smil-
feated in conference play.
ing-Chester Daniels, Duck guard and place
Invited to h alf a dozen m inor bowls. Duck
kick expert; Woodley Lewis, starting left
Head Coach Jim Aikens was holding out for
half; and Win Wright, end. These three Duck
a major bowl bid-Cotton, Sugar, O range-
athletes were very aware o f Texas segrega
even though it then took special permission
tion laws. In 1949 it was till illegal for blacks
from the Pacific Coast Conference to play a
and whites to complete in the same game Or
major bowl elsewhere.
eat in the same restaurants. Or stay in the
The clock was ticking. The sports world
same hotels.
was watching. Duck fans were holding their
"The three asked for a meeting with Coach
breath. Reputations and careers were on the
Jim Aikens," relates UO archivist Keith Ri
T
chard ” f f we go (to the Cotton Bowl), we
play and not sit on the bench,’ the trio insist
ed. Without a pause, the coach answered.
“ I f you can’t play, we all stay home,”
Aikens promised.
The invitation arrived SM U agreed to
play against the integrated Duck team and the
Cotton Bowl directors said the black players
could play.
The Oregon Ducks-all the Oregon Ducks
football team-were on the field in Dallas,
Jan I, 1949
The precedent had been set the year before
when Pennsylvania State University put two
black players on the field against SMU in the
1948 Cotton Bowl. Segregation laws were
just beginning to unravel around the edges
even though it would be another dozen years
or so before U.S. marshalls helped the first
African-American children integrate Little
Rock, Ark, schools.
Like Penn State’s black players in 1948,
Oregon’s Ducks still could not stay in the
team 's hotel or cat in most public restaurants.
Daniels, W right and Lewis 47 years ago
were guest in “ the home o f a wealthy Negro
Physician," according to news reports at the
time. But, they did eat most o f their meals
with the team in a special dining room at the
Melrose Hotel-team headquarters.
In 1949, the final score was SM U 21,
Ducks 13. But the Ducks did n ’t lose that day.
Thisyearallm em bersofthe Duck football
team w ill stay in the same hotel, eat together
and line up-togethcr-on New Year’s Day in
Dallas, thanks in part to the 1949 Duck
Cotton Bowl team.
Given the hopes, the stakes and the context
of those times, "Ih e y were heroes,” says
Richard