SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017
B&G Club
from 1A
They wanted to share their
story, one that is vital to the lives
of this community.
It begins in 2014.
During that period, Trent was
what he called “a happy retired
camper.” He had been in the area
since 2010, collecting his retire-
ment checks and spending a
modicum of time volunteering
with Backpacks for Kids.
Dale Edwards, who was on the
board of the Boys and Girls Club,
needed someone who had finan-
cial experience to help out. Trent
joined the board, only to find the
club was going through the most
tumultuous period in its history.
When asked why he got
involved with the club, Trent did-
n’t hold back: “I used to be one
of these kids.”
Trent came from a troubled
home in the Midwest; the oldest
of five kids, dirt poor and food
insecure. When his father was
jailed, his mother decided it was
high time the family went to
church. They didn’t know which
church, though, so Trent and
three of his siblings went walk-
ing to find one.
They got lost along the way
when a white bus pulled next to
them. It was from the Seminole
Baptist Church. The pastor,
noticing the disheveled kids,
offered them a lift to the church
they were looking for.
“Or you could just come with
me (to my church) where we
meet every Sunday,” he offered.
Trent went to the Baptists, and
soon after the pastor took him
under his wing.
“If it hadn’t been for him, I
would have followed my father
and my brothers to prison,” he
said.
Trent went on to become a
successful businessman that led
to his life as “a happy retired
camper.”
Davis, however, came from a
decidedly different background.
In his words, he was “privi-
leged.” Like many teenagers, he
didn’t have much direction.
He got into to the University
of Oregon but had no idea what
his major would be. He chose
journalism, not because he held
any deep love for the profession
(though he loved to write), but
simply because it didn’t have any
math requirements.
He graduated, but the news
didn’t fit his liking. Instead, he
went into business, owning a few
fairly successful companies.
But priorities changed and he
found himself in Florence, com-
muting to Newport to work for
the paper in advertising.
The Newport News Times is
owned by Siuslaw News’ parent
company,
News
Media
Corporation, so communication
between the two papers was reg-
ular.
Siuslaw News’ then-publisher
John Bartlett offered Davis a job,
first in the advertising depart-
ment, then in the editorial room
as a journalist.
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One of Davis’ first beats was
the Boys and Girls Club.
Incidentally, Trent was just
beginning his tenure on the board
at that same time.
“I had been trying to get an
interview with the director of the
club (Jonathan Hicks), but I was
having no success,” Davis said.
However, he was able to get
an interview with a few members
of the board, including Trent,
who informed Davis that the club
was in turmoil.
“We had a stack of checks that
hadn’t been mailed out that was 2
1/2 inches thick,” Trent recalled.
These checks for local vendors
were never sent out simply
because the club had no ability to
pay.
All told, the club was
$120,000 in debt. That didn’t
include the $30,000 in back taxes
it owed.
“When you have the IRS come
knocking on your door with their
gold badge, that is not a pleasant
experience,” Trent recalled.
Davis went on to describe the
meeting: “Sitting down and talk-
ing with these three board mem-
bers, I was thinking ‘This is
going to be an obituary.’
“What kept coming back in
my mind was their tenacity. Have
you ever seen that cartoon of the
heron with the frog in his mouth,
but the frog has his hand around
the heron’s mouth, never letting
go? That’s what I was seeing in
these guys.”
To Davis’ surprise, the board’s
enthusiasm worked. The group
started chipping away at the
club’s debts, even if it meant
chipping in themselves. Board
members donated $60,000 to the
club from their own pockets.
“Then the next story I got to
write was how they had reduced
their debt,” Davis said. “They
closed down the Teen Center, but
it was to reorganize it.”
Before this period, the Teen
Center was considered an eye-
sore. It was run down, the lights
always partially off. The compo-
nents existed for something
grand — pool tables, televisions,
etc. — but the only things that
were utilized were a few comput-
ers, used mainly to play
Minecraft.
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When the Teen Center
reopened, the games were set up,
the walls were painted, windows
were opened and programs were
being instituted.
“It started growing on me,”
Davis said. “Wow. I kind of want
to be involved with this. So my
wife and I came over and we
started clearing trash out. I start-
ed to write more stories about
how the club was improving.
When the club got to reopen, it
was only nine kids, but the feel-
ing was, ‘Wow, we got to open.
Our feet are on the ground
again.’”
It was then that John and
Patricia Hardison came into the
picture. According to Trent, John
Hardison came to Trent and said,
“Tell me about the Boys and
Girls Club. Half of this town
absolutely hates you guys. The
other half absolutely love you
guys. So tell me what the real
story is.”
At that point, Trent pulled out
all of club’s financial information
and told Hardison, “I don’t know
if we can pull this off or not. But
I’ll tell you, as long as there is a
breath in me, I refuse to give up.”
Hardison trusted Trent’s com-
mitment.
According to Trent, he pulled
him aside and said, “I’ve got
some good and some bad news.
“The good news is that I’m
going to give you money, and
with what you shared with me, I
know you can do this. The bad
news is, you can’t get it until I
die. But the good news is the
doctor only gave me three
months to live.”
All told, the Hardisons gave
the club $200,000.
They even donated the wood
carved bear that sits outside the
club entrance. Inside the bears
mouth when it was presented to
the club? A check for $20,000.
Since the angel contributions
of the Hardisons, the club has
regained its footing. As improve-
ments came, so did the public
attention. Soon, donations were
being made from across the
region.
“This club was just coming
back up from an impossible
experience,” Davis said. “Then I
got to experience not only the
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club, but the kids and their reac-
tion to all this stuff going on. All
of sudden they get programs that
they care about.”
Both Trent and Davis wanted
it pointed out that the club is in
no way “rich,” a perception they
believe some in the community
have. While debts are now paid
off, the programming and activi-
ties for the children are constant-
ly expanding and improving.
Current club fees don’t fully
cover everything.
The remodels that the club is
going through are also costly. It
has built a garden and paved a
basketball court, and will install
another building soon.
And then there’s the personnel
funds. Forty-seven percent of the
youth club members are on
scholarships.
And Trent only gets paid $1 a
year.
As he is still retired, Trent and
the board decided it was time to
make the director position paid
again and turn the reigns to
someone else.
When Davis found out about
the open position early in 2017,
he knew he had to apply. Over
the next six months, he was inter-
viewed eight times, three of them
by students.
The toughest interviewers of
his life, he said.
And of Davis’ new pay?
“I’m holding out for double of
what Chuck makes,” he joked.
When asked why Trent felt
Davis was the best choice for the
position, Trent pulled it back to
story.
“Telling the story is what this
(directorship) is really about,” he
said.
To Trent, it’s about recogniz-
ing the story of each child. And
not a story about a statistic or a
quick anecdote, but of an indi-
vidual with specific moments
that add up to form a life.
It’s the director’s job to crys-
tallize those moments in a clear
manner, and present them in
ways that truly communicate the
love the program provides.
That, in Trent’s mind, is why
he has faith in Davis. Because he
can tell the story.
When Davis was asked what
his fear is for his new position, he
went quiet for a moment. He
looked down to the new-orienta-
tion paperwork littering his desk
and said, almost in a whisper,
“Let the kids down. Because
without them it’s nothing.”
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Trent has no fears about the
transition.
“I have 100 percent confi-
dence in Jack,” he said. “What’s
impressed me about him and his
wife Lori is that in the middle of
the storm we were going
through, Jack came to us and
said, ‘What can I do to help
you?’ When you’ve got people
who come in and roll their
sleeves up, I just have tremen-
dous respect and admiration. I
know he has the drive, not
because he had to, but he wanted
to.”
This ultimately drove Trent’s
thoughts to why the club means
so much to him.
“It’s humbling when you see
people, especially those who
don’t have a lot to give ... It’s
those that are the ones that matter
the most,” Trent said, tears
swelling up in his eyes. “It’s
those that truly sacrifice. The fact
that they trusted me, the fact that
every time I asked, for anything,
they were always there for me.
That’s my hope that they give
that to Jack”.
Trent will never leave the
club, he said. It means too much
to him. He’ll be on the board of
directors and volunteer at least
once a week, probably more.
“These are like my grand-
kids,” he said.
And Davis won’t be a com-
plete stranger to the newspaper
business, either. Aside from
missing what he called the cama-
raderie of the Siuslaw News staff
and the pure thrill of getting in a
story in just before deadline,
he’ll be in charge of one of the
Boys and Girls Club’s primary
modes of storytelling: Press
releases.
While Trent and Davis’ medi-
ums may change, they’ll go on
telling the stories that they
believe matter.
Like a double blind survey by
the Boys and Girls Club, finding
that the children’s satisfaction
with their work “blew the roof”
over national levels, according to
Davis.
Or that 100 percent of the
teens are expected to graduate
high school because of tutoring
the club provides.
Or that one time the kids got
together and…
Those are other stories for
another time.
And Davis and Trent will be
there, enthusiastically waiting to
tell them.
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Classes and Workshops
Ceramics Classes:
Kids Summer Clay Camp w/ Ben
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Take advantage of our Anniversary Special: Take Financial
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receive $1,995.00 off of your August Rent!
Contact our Community Relations Director for details….
July 24th, 25th, 27th and Art Show on 28th
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included. To register:
benjaminjcahoon@gmail.com
Whimsical Hand Building
Ceramics w/ Alissa Clark
Wednesdays, 3-5 pm and
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No classes from July 3rd - 19th
Open Lab Ceramics on Saturdays
Drop in, work at own pace. Sat 12-5 pm
No classes from July 3rd - 19th
All ceramics classes held at Alissa’s
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Open Studio at FRAA,
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No registration required. Drop-in, bring
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mediums welcome.
Every Thursday, 1-4 pm
Creative Writing Workshops -
Writers on the River w/ Catherine
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For more information about classes, visit fraaoregon.org. To register for
these classes, please call or visit FRAA at our art center on Maple Street.
