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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2002)
June 12. 2002 u u u .p m I l . i ih I o I isc m ci .cnin ( iiiiiiilit ( it i li» ( u lt m ul D iw is iK “S iiidgin p P a itta n d ô C&rnnuuMieô” Innkeepers Celebrate First Year North Portland bed and breakfast may be first of its kind in Oregon by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver Pioneering spirit is nothing new to Rozell and Bea Gilmore. In 1955, Bea w as the first A frican A m erican to graduate from the U niversity o f O regon’s School o f Nursing. In 1963, Rozell was the first to graduate from C ascade College. N ow it lo o k s lik e th e c o u p le ’s R iv erv iew G uestH ouse at 3909 N. O verlook Terrace m ay be the first official A frican A m erican ow ned bed and break- • fast o f its kind in O regon. “Y ou w ill note I said official,” says Rozell. “A fri can A m ericans have a long unofficial history o f ’operating bed and breakfast businesses.” Before the civil rights m ovem ent o f the 60s, he says, blacks w ho traveled from tow n to tow n had few other options than staying in the hom es o f fam ilies and friends. “O ur hope is that m any o f ou r friends and neigh bors living in the m etro area w ill reserve our guesthouse for friends and relatives visiting the city o f roses,” says Rozell. T he couple opened the bed and breakfast one year ago. T hey w ere trying to com e up w ith an innovative w ay o f holding on to a second property. “T he bed and breakfast allow s for m ore flexibil ity,” R ozell says. “If w e w ant to close it dow n for a m onth and take a vacation, w e can do that.” T he inn is ju st around the bluff from K aiser clinics and O verlook Park. “W e w ere blessed to purchase the property in 1972,” Bea says. “O ne can see the Frem ont Bridge n nt nt u n i t n a I r it b a r Juneteenth Celebration T his y ear’s annual Juneteenth celebration will feature a parade, historical presentation, m usic and carnival. Special guest is Cedric the E nter tainer. The event w ill be from June 1 9 - 2 3 , starting noon tim e every day at the co m er o f M artin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and Highland St. For vendor inform ation, call 503-284-1693 and for parade inform ation, call 503-288-6571. Advance tickets are available by calling 503-285-8898. Friends of Trees V olunteers w ill be on hand to provide expert inform ation during the “T ree T eam ” N eighbor hood Tree C are. P articipants will learn how to ensure that new ly planted street trees are prop erly cared for. T he event w ill be held on June 15, from noon to 5 p.m. at M cM enam ins K ennedy School, 5736N.E. 33rt. Call Teri Ruch at 503-282- 8846, e x t. 17 or go o n lin e to w w w .friendsoftrees.org. Strawberry Festival Straw berry season arrives in early June and peaks w ith a Straw berry Festival W eekend from 11 a .m .-4 p .m .,S a tu rd a y , June IS a n d S u n d a y , June 16 at K ruger’s Farm M arket on Sauvie Island. Visitors will have an opportunity to sample som e o f the N orthw est’s tastier varieties and discover w hich kind are best suited to canning, baking and eating straight from the plant. Call 503-621-3489. b H \ Rozell and Bea Gilmore show o ff the stunning view and other amenities o f their bed and breakfast in the Overlook neighborhood of north Portland. photo by D avid P i . f . chl /T he P ortland O bserver and m ost o f dow ntow n from o u r location.” B esides a stunning view , they offer am enities such as a private bath, TV , telephones, and a great breakfast m ade by B ea herself. “Y ou can choose from a traditional breakfast of southern style,” she says. Rozell says m ost o f their business so far has been people from out o f state, ju st passing through or visiting fam ily in Portland. B ea’s sister. M arge W hite and her husband, Ken are the host couple. R ozell says business is going good so far. “P eople are beginning to know about us,” he says. For more information, call 503-287-3937 or visit on line at w w w .riverview guesthousebb.com . Mortgage Turns Sour for Portland Investor B y D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver Jew elia F runchess has bought houses in Portland before. She is not a financial expert, but she know s a deal w hen she sees one. A t least that is w hat she thought w hen she agreed to buy a sm all house as incom e property in a quiet northeast Portland neighborhood in 1999for$l 11,000. Frunchess soon realized som ething w as wrong w hen Spartan M ortgage refused to show her an interest rate before she signed the deal. N ot only that, she claim s officials at the m ortgage com pany intim idated her. A t one point, Frunchess said three w orkers surrounded her and told her she had to sign the papers. “T hey leaned o ver me and said they put to o much w ork into it for m e not to sign.” Frunchess said. "T hey scared m e so bad, I co u ld n ’t m ove.” Frunchess said she succum bed to the pressure and reluctantly signed. W hen Spartan sent a truth and lending statem ent days later, she discovered her interest rate w ould be 14.75 percent. She w as also charged origination fees unknow n to her at the tim e o f purchase. Frunchess also found out Spartan had sold her m ortgage to a m uch larger H ousehold Beneficial, w ho charged her additional fees. Soon, she was dishing out alm ost $ 1,600 a m onth to pay o ff a house that had ballooned to $ 152,000 with an additional $32,000 in fees. Paul Sam uelson, the real estate agent that was selling the house for the previous ow ners said he had never before dealt w ith Spartan M ortgage and never will again. He said he asked them num erous tim es to Jewelia Frunchess picks up a picket sign outside her northeast Portland investment property to protest a mortgage agreement she claims she signed through Intimidation. P hoto by D avid P lechi / T send a good faith estim ate, but never received one. "T rying to get a hold o f anyone that w ould give m e inform ation w as ju st about im possible," he said. Sam uelson called S p artan 's tactics “probably le gal, but definitely unethical.” He recom m ends having a financial expert or realtor he P ortland O bserver w ith you at the tim e o f purchase to avoid being taken advantage of. Frunchess has tried to refinance her loan for a better rate but says she c a n ’t because she is locked into her original deal. continued on page B4 Need a Small Business Loan? N eed a sm all business loan for a start-up or business developm ent? M ercy E nterprise’s PEI program offers m ini-loans for qualified business applicants. T o leant m ore and receive an appli cation, call 5 0 3 -236-1580 o r go on lin e to w w w .m ercyenterprise.org. PCC Graduation Celebrates 40 Years of Success Hike Northwest Portland Andi Prewltt wlll give the student address atPCC's 2 00 2 graduation commancmant. M azamas leads casual hikes exploring the streets and trails o f N orthw est Portland at 6 p.m. every T uesday and T hursday. T his is a great w ay to m eet other hikers, plan a w eekend trip o r ju st to m aintain your fitness after w ork apd see som e hidden parts o f Portland. M eet at M azam as at 909N.W. 19* Ave.Call503-227-2345. t 1 T he spotlight w ill shine on 2,104 graduates o f Portland C om m unity C ollege on Friday, June 14, w hen they will take cen ter stage to receive diplom as and celebrate their accom plishm ents w ith fam ily, friends, faculty and staff. T he co lleg e's com m encem ent w ill be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the M em orial Coliseum . P C C sprung from h u m b le ro o ts, c e le b ra tin g its first c o m m en c em en t in 1962 w ith a d o zen g ra d u ate s in the lu n ch ro o m o f, iro n ic a lly , th e fo rm e r F ailin g E lem entary S chool. T h e co lleg e is now the la rg e st p o st-se c o n d a ry in stitu tio n in O re g o n , serving nearly 100,000 full- and part-tim e students th is a c ad e m ic year. PCC President Dr. Jesus "Jess" C arreon will d e liver the 2002 com m encem ent address. T he student speaker is 20-year-old A ndi Prewitt. Prewitt is a winning parliamentary dehater for PCC and is also a member of the two-year honor society Phi Theta Kappa with a 3.73 GPA She plans to transfer to Portland State University with the goal o f entering the U niversity o f California- Berkeley her senior year. I
