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October 18, 2023
Wattles Club to be renamed the
Lionel Clegg Boys & Girls Club
Honoring years
of service and
dedication to the
community
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Port-
land Metro Area and PCC Struc-
turals, a division of Precision Cast-
parts Corp., (“PCC”) announced
the honoree for the Wattles Club
located in the Lents neighbor-
hood in SE Portland, which will
be renamed in January 2024. PCC
Structurals has made a transfor-
mative investment in the mission
of Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland
Metro Area through a 10-year part-
nership and is using this as an op-
portunity to honor a leader of color
from the community to rename the
Club facility. The Wattles Boys &
Girls Club will now become the
Lionel Clegg Boys & Girls Club –
powered by PCC Structurals.
“After an extensive communi-
ty-wide nomination process that
included voting by youth Club
Lionel Clegg, OnPoint Credit Union’s 2021 Educator of the Year to have the wattles club renamed.
Photo credit Whitney Lyons.
members, Mr. Lionel Clegg was
selected as the honoree for re-
naming the Wattles Club”, said
Terry Johnson, CEO for Boys &
Girls Clubs of Portland Metro.
Mr. Clegg is a first-grade teacher
at Woodlawn Elementary where
he has taught for 24 years, which
is the same school he attended as
an elementary student growing up
in NE Portland. He was named
OnPoint Credit Union’s 2021 Ed-
ucator of the Year and was fea-
tured on the Today show for his
inspiring work as an educator that
same year. The significance of
honoring Mr. Clegg as an educa-
tor as the building honoree for this
Club is that the Wattles Club was
first an elementary school (Lents
Elementary) prior to when it was
converted to the first Boys Club in
Portland back in 1954.
“We are extremely excited to
honor Mr. Clegg by renaming the
Wattles Club for him. He is tru-
ly a dynamic community leader
here in Portland and deserves to
be celebrated because of his com-
mitment and dedication to edu-
cating students in the classroom.
This is a significant moment for
us because the Wattles Club is our
flagship location where we estab-
lished our very first stand-alone
club in 1954 by converting the old
Lents Elementary school into a
Club after we were initially found-
ed in 1946. We’ve been serving
the Portland Metro Area for 77
years, but directly serving the
Lents neighborhood for 70 years
at this particular location. We real-
ly appreciate PCC Structurals for
partnering with us and creating the
opportunity for us to take such a
unique approach to renaming this
particular Club”, said Johnson.
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Site of former Carson homestead, 2022
Soap Creek Valley, Benton County
Photo by Barbara Forrest-Ball,
Oregon State University