church
Vows Exchanged
After Losing a Son Last Summer,
the Walter Dines Family reaches
Out to Help Portland Youth
By helen Silvis
of The Skanner News
L
ast June, two weeks after graduating
from high school, 18-year-old Walter
Dines died in a tragic drowning acci-
dent in the Clackamas River. Talented and
with a 3.8 GPA, the basketball player and
track star had won a scholarship to the
University of Newhaven in Connecticut.
“He made a great impact on a lot of peo-
ple,” says his god-
father Paul Kelly,
who is Walter
Dines Sr.’s best
friend. “It was a
very difficult loss
to accept because
here was this
handsome young
man with so much
promise.”
Thanks to the
Dines family and
Kelly, Walter Dines continues to have a
great impact. They created the Walter Dines
Memorial Basketball League, a memorial
they felt would truly reflect the spirit of
their young son.
“I couldn’t let his death pass by without
turning it into something positive, because
that’s what he would have wanted,” Kelly
says.
Now wrapping up
its first season, the
league offers a
chance to play com-
petitive basketball
to high school stu-
dents who attend
alternative schools,
are home-schooled,
or who simply want
to continue playing
but don’t make it
into their high
school programs.
This year eight
teams competed – four from alternative
high schools and four clubs that brought
together unaffiliated teens. They played
eight games in the regular season then came
together for single elimination playoff tour-
nament. Reynolds Middle School offers the
league a place to play.
It’s important, Kelly said because sports
give young men a way to express them-
selves in a positive arena. through the
newly founded Walter Dines memorial bas-
ketball league. The lessons you can learn on
the court, Kelly says, can help you succeed
in life. But too many teens lose the chance
to play just when they need sports the most.
“What made me the proudest was the way
they conducted themselves, even in losing,”
Kelly said. They kids were great, they had
great attitudes and they embodied what
Walter wanted to
see in the world.”
Originally from
Portland, the fami-
ly had moved to
Maryland,
but
retained strong ties
back home. In
M a r y l a n d ,
Walter’s
team
retired his basket-
ball jersey. A
scholarship too has been created in his
name.
Last Friday, the league’s successful first
season ended with the championship tour-
nament. After a hard fought final, the
Dragons triumphed over the Whosits. The
Dines family were in Portland to present the
first championship trophy.
Coach Kelly says he hopes the league will
expand as more
players
and
coaches
learn
about it.
“We are more
than happy to
work with any-
one,” Kelly says.
“There are so
many
lessons
that kids can
learn
through
games, versus
real life. If we
didn’t have this
league, then they wouldn’t have the oppor-
tunity to express themselves and learn those
lessons.”
Contact him at super-duper1@att.black-
berry.net or call him at 503-866-6598
Visit the Skanner news You Tube Video
Channel to see Paul Kelly and Walter Dines
Sr. tell how they started the league.
18-year-old Walter Dines
died in a tragic drowning
accident in the
Clackamas River
the union of ronnetta Walker and A. Lee Wilson, Jr., at the Crenshaw
Christian Center in Los Angeles, Ca. in a private outdoor ceremony, was
officiated by Pastor Fredrick k. Price, Jr. the couple’s daughters Loren Zaire,
20, stood as “best-person,” with her father and Aaliyah, 10, stood with her
mother and “gave-her-away” during the ceremony. the couple met 30
years ago as performing artist during a theatrical production at Portland
State University.
page 6 The Portland Skanner April 20, 2011
They created the Walter
Dines Memorial Basketball
League, a memorial they
felt would truly reflect his
spirit