The Big Surprise!
The Lunch Box Journal comes back for Spring 2014, and like all good adventures, starts with a big surprise (for most of you). During the winter journey retracing the Camino Real I spent a lot of time pondering what retirement was meaning to me, and after weaving together thoughts, needs, advice from the doctors, etc., I decided that after 42 years in Oregon, it was time for me to move back to my roots in Billings, Montana. If you’re into the travelogue aspect of the journal, skip ahead to Chapter 2, but for the rest of you, indulge me for a chapter while I set the stage for the journey home by bringing you up-to-date with the kids and then giving thanks to four people who form the core of my Oregon support. I have many friends who have supported me over the years, but these four people are the core.
First, the kids. Over the years in Oregon I have had the privilege of helping 9 kids who, for a variety of reasons, at some point needed a safe haven and help re-building their lives. Some were relatives, most not. Steve, Rose, Neva, Amber, Ryan and JanDel all needed a temporary port in the storm before leaving to pursue their lives, while Scott, Amber, Shannon and Justin grew into more permanent fixtures. Scott and his partner Ernie are flourishing in Tampa, Florida; Amber and her family are working out life in Gresham, Oregon; Shannon and her family moved to Billings in January as son-in-law Curtis got a job in the North Dakota oilfields; and Justin continues to search for his path forward in Hillsboro, Oregon. Here’s a great picture of the four of them at Shannon’s wedding (Justin, Scott, Shannon, Amber) followed by pictures from Christmas 2013.
I am proud to say that each and every one of the nine is making their way through the world, not without struggle, but not giving up along the way.
Why Billings? I was born and raised in Billings, Montana and have 3 siblings and their families still living there. I came to Oregon in August 1972 for the first time to attend Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. I had never been to Oregon before and remember being petrified driving on a “real” freeway and crossing the double-decker Marquam Bridge in downtown Portland for the first time. Why Linfield? The answer is easy, they were the “highest bidder” for my education, beating out Rice University in Texas by offering the best financial package that I could get. I was fortunate at the time in being a poor, smart white kid and had a number of opportunities. I chose Linfield and never looked back.
Pioneer Hall is the iconic image of Linfield, but much more important to me was Mac Hall, the dorm that I lived in (and cleaned as part of my work study grant for the first year). Bill Hockensmith, a farm boy from Hermiston, Oregon and I were roommates that year in the middle room on the first floor, left of the door, The two windows gave us a great view of the action. I had a great experience at Linfield and met a man who turned out to be one of the most important people in my life for the next 42 years. If you have ever seen the TV show “The Odd Couple” (youngsters can Google it) you have an instant picture of the relationship that formed between the pudgy smart white geek from Billings and the smooth, smart, multi-racial player from Nashville, Tennesee lasting ever since, right up until my last afternoon in Fairview when he dropped by and sat with me on the front steps while the movers did their thing behind us. (Use your imagination, I’ll bet you can tell who was Oscar and who was Felix in about 5 seconds!). John Meisenhelder and I met during freshman orientation that year (he lived in the second floor of Mac Hall, right above me) and through the next 42 years has been the best friend a guy could ask for. We have woven our lives together through marriages, divorces (mine), children and getting old. Shout out to the big guy!
After graduating from Linfield in 3 years (they were going broke in the early 70’s and offered a plan where each consecutive term got significantly cheaper and so I went summers to get done early), teaching jobs were hard to come by since I didn’t coach and finally Bob Taylor, principal at Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon, hired me for a half-time math position. I was married at the time to my college sweetheart, Vickie, and lived in northeast Portland on NE 76th. I was at Sam Barlow as a teacher and assistant principal from 1975 to 1988, and then returned as the principal from 2000-2004. After my first year at Barlow I became full-time and began participating in a car pool with three women, Daphne Heater (German teacher), Carolyn Menegas (counselor and future nemesis), and Sharon Beckman (Business teacher). Thus began in 1976 a friendship with Sharon and her husband, Gary, that has lasted 38 years. Sharon doesn’t let me off the hook, asks the hard questions, and forces me to be a little less pompous and a bit more thoughtful. Lunch last week was a great send-off. Thanks!
I was at Barlow from 1975-1988, the last year as an assistant principal, until my position was cut due to budget reductions. I then took the job as assistant principal at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Four years later, after adopting my three children (Amber, Shannon and Justin, 4,3 and 10 months at the time), I moved to Briggs Middle School (picture on near right) as the principal. Four years later I moved back to Thurston High (picture on far right) as the principal. During my first stent at Thurston I met another person to whom I owe a lot, Gail Feldman (now Gail Lang). Gail was and is a tremendous source of support, not only through all of the ups and downs of my time in Springfield (all of you know about it and so I am not going to address it here), but particularly in helping cope with raising the children. Much like Sharon, but from a different point of view, she forces me to confront and soften my natural “fact-based” persona with feeling and emotion. “Auntie Gail”, as the kids call her, has helped them a lot more than they know!!! Gail is also the person responsible for me being selected Principal of the Year as she shepherded the qualification process from the beginning (which was good since it was her idea!). I left Springfield in 2000 and returned to Sam Barlow as the principal for four years and then was transferred to Springwater Trail High School, where I finished up my administrative career in 2007.
I only handled retirement for a month when I decided to return to the classroom. Because of a quirk in public employee retirement regulations, I was able to get my pension and still teach as long as I taught in a county with less than 37,000 people (it’s an incentive program that helps remote districts get and keep employees). I got a job teaching math at Cascade Locks High School in the town of Cascade Locks, about 30 miles up the Columbia River Gorge from my house in Fairview. Cascade Locks Community School only had 167 students in grades K-12, and I was THE math teacher for the 47 kids in the high school grades. It was a great experience! On the left is the school, perched on a hillside above the town. On the right is the view from my classroom.
After two years the high school portion of Cascade Locks was closed due to budget reductions and consolidated with Hood River Valley High School, a much larger school of about 1,100 students located in Hood River, about 20 miles further east up the river. Although some HRVHS teachers do commute the 100 mile round trip daily from Portland, I decided not to, especially given the brutal winter weather that sometimes occurs in the Gorge. So, I rented my “penthouse” apartment in Hood River. It was a great place, hiding on the third story of a small commercial building in the Heights . I was on the top floor, a quilt shop (with a VERY noisy quilting group on early Saturday mornings) was at street level, and Robert’s beauty shop was on the lower level. The view from the balcony of Mt. Hood was spectacular and right across the street was Indian Creek Park, scene of many a walk with “Augie the doggie” and I. HRVHS was the first place where I interacted with a significant Hispanic poplulation as the workers in the world famous Hood River Valley apple and pear orchards are mostly from Mexico. I learned the frustration of working with really good kids and families who wanted to learn, but (especially the boys) students frequently missed huge chunks of the school year in the fall and spring to work in the orchards. Then every now and then trips to Mexico were required. HRVHS was a great place for me to transition out of work and into retirement. For two years we lived there, commuting to my house in Fairview on the weekends. Finally in 2011 I retired for good after 35 years in Oregon education.
Since then I acquired the Lunch Box, travelled some, had a series of significant medical issues, and now am taking the next big step, moving to Billings. Many thanks to all of my Oregon friends, it has been an incredible time in my life!
Thanks for indulging me in a bit of nostalgia. The stage is set, now for the journal of heading home…
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