Elfr ^porttauh OOhserUer Diversity Special Edition
Page 6
Fightingfor History
Apprentice To
Become an
Electrician
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
A ll o f this m em o rab ilia has now
been packed into card b o ard boxes
and locked aw ay in a storage room
only to be seen again once a year.
E rnest R ichie, 69, has started a
petition for the boxing c lu b ’s h is­
tory to be perm anently replaced in
the display case. H e too used to box
at M att D ishm an and is well ac­
quainted w ith the m any fighters w ho
had p lacem ents in the display case.
H e says he w ould visit the case
every tim e he cam e to the center,
o p erated by P o rtlan d P ark s and
R ecreation, because it ‘brought back
memories.
But his m ain concern is less p e r­
sonal, “Y o u ’re taking ou t o ur h is­
tory, y o u ’re taking the h istory o f the
people that created this, and now
y o u ’re taking it o u t,” he says.
R ichie says that a sim ilar thing
had hap p en ed 10 years ago. A ll the
relics w ere rem o v ed from the case
and packed aw ay. W hen this h a p ­
pened, R ichie says he d ru m m ed up
co m m u n ity support and together
they b eg an placing calls to fo rm er
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4
than a y e ar into his post. H e says
one o f his m ain goals is to shed light
on the m ultitude o f program s the
cen ter has to offer.
“ W e have an am azing facility
h ere,” M axim o says. “ W e have a lot
o f o th er program s and am enities
here that can be utilized by the p u b ­
lic that w e really w ant them to be
aw are o f.”
So B eh ren s, in c o lla b o ra tio n
w ith o th e r le a d e rs fro m P o rtla n d
P ark s an d R ec re a tio n , b e g a n d e ­
v e lo p in g se v e ra l s tra te g ie s fo r
w h at th e y h o p e d w o u ld in c re a se
p a rtic ip a tio n in all o f the c e n te r ’s
p ro g ra m s.
“ A s w e w e re k in d o f g o in g
th ro u g h th a t p ro c e ss, w e w e re ju s t
k in d o f id e n tifie d d iffe re n t p la ce s
in th e b u ild in g , to say , ‘w h a t are
so m e im p ro v e m e n ts w e c an c o n ­
tin u e to m ak e h e r e ,” ’ he said .
T h a t in c lu d e d re m o v in g th e
b o x in g m e m o ra b ilia in o rd e r to
u tiliz e a d isp la y s p ac e to h ig h lig h t
v a rio u s ‘O ther a c tiv itie s an d p ro ­
g ram s.
F a c ility u sers w e re g iv e n n o ­
tic e in th e m o n th s le a d in g up to
0
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16021 NE AIRPORT WAY • PORTLAND, OR 97230
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I l 30 NE Alberta Street • Portland, OR 97211
sbrooks.com • jobs@brooks.com • 800.540.7930
503.284.7930 [o] • 503.284.7977 [ f ]
SERVING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR 30 YEARS
Portland C ity C o m m issio n er Jim
F rancesconi, d em an d in g that the
m aterials be replaced.
S hortly th ereafter the item s w ere
replaced, though in the m o v e som e
things w ere m isp laced and lost fo r­
ever.
N ow R ichie finds h im se lf fig h t­
ing again to retu rn the b o x in g h is­
tory to M att D ish m an ’s cen ter stage.
H e has well o v er 3 00 signatures
fro m supporters, all in sistin g the
aw ards be replaced.
H e ’s d istrib u ted the p etitio n s to
various ch u rch es and co m m u n ity
o rg an izatio n s th ro u g h o u t the city.
S upport continues to sw ell.
“I know a lot o f th e p eo p le that
have signed this [petition], th e y ’re
angry and u p set,” he adds, “T h a t’s
been there fo r five decad es, five
decad es, and so m eo n e co m es in
and takes it out. W e ’re supposed sit
b ack and say n o th in g ?”
T he native n o rth east P ortlander
has since m ailed o ff a letter to C o m ­
m issioner A m anda Fritz, the current
Parks co m m issio n er, detailing his
and other signees concerns. M ailed
o ff on July 29, it urges F ritz to have
the item s reinstalled. H e has yet to
hear back.
M axim o B ehrens, 39, the current
d irecto r at M att D ishm an, is less
th e o v e rh a u l w ith a se rie s o f n o tes
a tta c h e d a d ja c e n t to th e d isp la y
case. T h e la st w a rn in g c a m e in
Ju n e.
T h e case w ill now hig h light m u l­
tip le p ro g ra m s th ro u g h o u t th e
y e a r , w o rk in g o n a q u a r te r ly
s c h e d u le . U n d e r th e n ew ro ta tio n ,
th e b o x in g p ro g ra m w ill be h ig h ­
lig h te d fo r m o n th s at a tim e s ta rt­
in g in S e p te m b e r, B e h ren s say s.
T h e h is to ry o f th e c e n te r d o e s
c o n tin u e to b e re c o g n iz e d in o th e r
w ay s to o .
O n S a tu rd a y , M a tt D is h m a n ’s
a n n u a l c o m m u n ity b lo c k p a rty
to o k p la c e . T h e fe s tiv itie s se rv e d
to h o n o r th e c e n te r ’s n a m e sa k e
“ M a tt D is h m a n ,” M u ltn o m a h
C o u n ty ’s firs t A fric a n -A m e ric a n
s h e r iff’s d e p u ty an d a P o rtla n d
p o lic e o ffic e r an d c o m m u n ity a d ­
v o c a te . T h e c o m m u n ity lo b b ie d
fo r th e n a m e c h a n g e fro m “T h e
K n o tt S tre e t C o m m u n ity C e n te r”
to ‘M a tt D is h m a n C o m m u n ity
C e n te r’ in th e la te six tie s.
D ish m a n w o u ld h a v e b een 100
th is m o n th .
A s fo r R ic h ie , he c o n tin u e s to
v o lu n te e r h o u rs o f h is tim e e v e ry
w eek in an e ffo rt to see th e b o x in g
h isto ry o f h is b e lo v e d c o m m u n ity
c e n te r re tu rn .