Your Drink Runneth Over at the Bible Club

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Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (# External photo attribution at the end of the post #1.)

Although I’ve visited and reviewed about 150 Portland area watering holes since starting this hobby in 2011, there’s still no shortage of interesting establishments which beckon. Such was the case with the Bible Club, which I recently visited with a former Schwabe law firm colleague, Margaret Hoffmann.

And I would suggest that the Bible Club is unique in the truest sense of that word and not the overused expression which people use to convey something that is very unusual. First, it’s a speakeasy – I’ll address those characteristics below – but there are only a few of these in Portland which merit the label. (#2)

Yes, this is a speakeasy.

But what really distinguishes the Bible Club? It’s the trappings and resulting ambiance when one walks into this historic home in a neighborhood setting. As stated in a 2016 article in the Portland Mercury shortly after it’s opening:

“Despite its unadorned facade on SE 16th, just barely off Westmoreland’s main drag, Bible Club is one of the most aggressively beautiful bars in Portland. It’s just so full of stuff. It demands to be slowly explored, visually and tactilely. Virtually everything in the bar—from the tools the bartenders use, to the glassware patrons drink from—is American made pre-1930.“

Now before telling you more about the bar – a little bit more about Margaret Hoffmann. She’s a Beerchasing regular going back to 2016 when she, Brian (Brain) King and I made a foray to one of my favorite bars – Mummy’s Bar and Grill – unfortunately now gone but not forgotten.

We met at Margaret’s office and ambled the block and one-half from the PacWest Center to this underground treasure. The picture on the right below, shows, Mounir Ghobrial one of the brothers who co-owned the bar and restaurant for many years serving our drinks.

Interestingly enough, after graduating from the University of Alexandria in Egypt with a Masters Degree, he worked as a chemist for ten years before co-founding the restaurant with his brother in 1980.)

In 2025 Margaret and I had a great visit to another “spiritual” bar when we visited a classy establishment. The Holy Ghost, one of the bars owned and operated by Portland’s Three-on-a-Match Bar Group.

Marget is now retired and besides having been honored in her profession as a top product liability litigator (Oregon Super Lawyer and named as one of the Best Lawyers in America), she is also skilled at fly fishing and in her “spare time” spends additional court-time playing pickle-ball and traveling the world.

We agreed to meet at 4:00 when the bar opens, but I got a call at 4:10 and Margaret informed me that she got mixed up and was at the Holy Ghost instead. The fact that she made the drive to the Bible Club in fifteen minutes at rush hour, is a “testament” to her fortitude.

Is it Really a Speakeasy?

The only other Portland so-called speakeasy I’ve visited was in 2017 – a classic – Gil’s Speakeasy, where they were true to their motto: “We’re the nicest assholes in town!” Unlike the Bible Club, Gil’s is a great dive and makes no pretense otherwise.

Gil’s Speakeasy

The historical definition of a speakeasy originated during Prohibition. It was not illegal to drink alcohol during Prohibition. The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act specifically banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors, but they intentionally omitted actual consumption or private possession of alcohol.

These havens provided illicit drinks – usually bootlegged cocktails – in a space where the entrance was disguised and required a password or code and one could partake while socializing with others.

Contemporary speakeasys are now legal – noted for their “intimate, vintage-inspired décor, creative, craft cocktails and maintain the mysterious, exclusive atmosphere of their historical roots.”

The Bible Club fits these criteria to a T.

Walking into the Bible Club is like stepping into the 1920’s. It is totally upscale and almost like a museum. Nicholas, our friendly server, explained that before it opened in 2015, the owners had furnishings and embellishments – even the wooden floor – flown in from all over the country.

Affirming this premise is another article published shortly after the opening. Willamette Week gushes:

“This Sellwood side-road speakeasy is a Prohibition-themed bar so oddly sincere and unhip in its dedication that it utterly flips the script on authenticity Almost every item in the bar is over a century old, from great-grandma crystal glasses to the huge ‘Bible Club’ meeting sign behind the bar to a sewing pinking device used to pretty up orange-peel fronds.”

True to the genre, the Bible Club has no external signage or indication of the business or the upscale character that greets you when you walk in. As one 2024 Yelp review aptly described:

“The atmosphere makes you feel like many people probably felt back during the Prohibition. Sneaking into an illicit drinking establishment, grabbing a drink and hoping you don’t get caught. Accompanying this whole vibe is live jazz music. Could not ask for a better environment to imbibe.“

I’m not going to attempt to describe all the memorabilia and accoutrements, but these pictures give you a very good idea.

The Drinks

The Bible Club also comports with a speakeasy’s renown for esoteric and upscale (expensive) cocktails crafted by skilled bartenders. (#3)

Margaret and I eschewed these, however, for our standard “Beerchasing” beverage – martinis – up and with olives although Margaret opts for vodka and I elect gin. (And one of those in the picture of me below was Margaret’s!)

We didn’t eat and although its food offerings are limited to reasonably-priced sharables such as a Charcuterie board, stuffed mushrooms, baked meatballs and a Ceasar salad option supplemented by a few dessert choices, the chef gets very good reviews.

There is also an appropriately named, “Revival Patio” – not for religious ceremonies – but where live jazz draws good weekend crowds (it seats about eighty) for a minimal $6 cover charge. The no-smoking requirement is a plus. (#4 – 6)

We were sold on the Bible Club although our time there was short. About the only negative I can cite is the wooden chairs were pretty uncomfortable – a comment made in at least one review – and the couch is reserved for parties of at least six.

Consistent with the low-key speakeasy theme, I only found two newspaper reviews of the Bible Club both of which were cited above – written ten years ago shortly after the opening.

Rather than believe me, take a look at some of the Yelp or Trip Advisor reviews and you will see this is a place you should visit. Just remember, they don’t take reservations – the seating is pretty limited and they have a loyal clientele.

Restuarantji.com – April 2016: “Bible club gives you the feeling you’ve found a hidden gem without doing anything more than walking up to what looks like a house and intruding to be offered some of the best drinks in the city crafted by excellent mixologists.”

Yelp.com – July 2025: “This place is so much fun! The environment is classy low key with amazing signature cocktails. All the cocktails are twists on classics that are just phenomenal to look at, let alone, delicious to drink. The food is good, but the drinks are really what it’s about.

The waitstaff are engaging and seem to enjoy their job as they never stopped looking after their guests with a smile.” (#6)

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

#1. The Bible Club Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=998729678926193&set=pb.100063675094960.-2207520000&type=3).

#2. Yelp.com (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/bible-club-portland?select=hE5MxBy8SvVFFQFbyDQoVw).

#3. The Bible Club Facebook Page    (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=767575455374951&set=pb.100063675094960.-2207520000&type=3).

#4.  The Bible Club Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=546150357517463&set=pb.100063675094960.-2207520000&type=3).

#5. The Bible Club Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=861056589360170&set=pb.100063675094960.-2207520000&type=3).

#6. Yelp.com (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/bible-club-portland?select=DdbMEKM5CwhTWGKcMTyqwQ). #7. The Bible Club Facebook Page Profile Picture (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=707033701429127&set=a.490803056385527

Beerchaser Notables – An Excellent Public Servant and Three Outstanding Entrepreneurs – Part I

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Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. This is a long post. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.

Followers of Thebeerchaser.com know that periodically, I depart from my joyful journey of expounding on the ambiance, history and staff involved with bars and breweries. I caption these side trips “Beerchasing Notables.”

They are individuals or groups, who may or may not have anything to do with bars or beers (one of them in these two posts is a great young man who isn’t even old enough to legally raise a mug…). But they have interesting stories worth sharing.

Past recipients of this “honor” – most of whom I’ve known – have included, war heroes, authors, athletes, academicians – even my graduate school professor of Public Finance (Dr. John Walker) and the crew of the USS Constitution to name just a few.

To get the entire list, hit the tab “Beerchaser Notable” in the header for some examples. (# (External photo attribution at the end of the post – #1)

Four All-Stars

So stay tuned for narratives and photos of Oddis Rollins, West Linn Chief of Police; Scott Andersson, founder and owner of Ace Computer Repair LLC in West Linn; Elliot Schwartz, a new graduate of Lakeridge High School, owner and founder of PaneCrime Window Cleaning; and Don Fuchs, lawyer and CEO of Harris Thermal Transfer Products.

Police Chief Oddis Rollins

In the title of this post, I used the term, “public servant.” Some may conclude that the description is demeaning or negative; however, I would strongly counter that assertion. (#2)

To me, it implies a person who is “dedicated, committed and essential to community wellbeing, emphasizing their role in delivering services, maintaining systems, and acting in the public good.” www.publicservants.com.

I might be biased because my wife, Janet and I, met in 1979, while both working in local government and went on to earn graduate degrees in Public Administration. Our combined service in governmental organizations was just over twenty years. (You can tell from the newspaper photos below that this was a long time ago….)

In fact, Janet served for several years as the Assistant City Manager in West Linn. We ended our careers in non-profit education administration and legal management respectively. We valued our time and greatly respected our colleagues in the public realm. (#3 – #4)

I first had contact with Captain Oddis Rollins before he was Chief, when I worked for several years trying to get a signaled crosswalk in what was a very hazardous West Linn intersection near our home – obviously not a high priority for an Assistant Chief.

He did a wonderful job keeping me informed and helping to push it through the City bureaucracy as well as promoting enforcement of speed limits and the plans for a new motorcycle traffic officer who would include that area in his patrols. I’m convinced that the end result, shown below, saved some lives.

The Police Department has a good record of community outreach with programs such as “Coffee with the Chief” and Patrol Ride-alongs.

In 2022, I had a forty-minute chat with Rollins’ predecessor, Chief Peter Mahuna in his office over coffee. Since I both enjoyed and learned lot from my coffee with Chief Mahuna, I repeated the experience with the new Chief earlier this year. (#5)

“Join us for Coffee with the Chief – a relaxed, come-as-you-are chance to connect over a cup of coffee.

Whether you’re curious about community outreach, crime trends, neighborhood concerns, or just want to chat about sports or whatever’s on your mind, the Chief is happy to talk. No agenda, no speeches – just good conversation, good coffee, and a chance to get to know each other.”

It was no surprise that Oddis Rollins, after serving as Interim Chief, was promoted after an extensive recruitment for the Police Chief position in February 2026.

He had served ten years as a police officer and detective with the Tigard Police Department, sergeant at West (WLPD) since January 2015 and WLPD captain since August 2018.

Chief Mahuna

Both guys were athletes in college – Mahuna at Pacific University and Rollins at Gonzaga and as you can tell from the pictures above, both have impressive physical bearings which are matched by their personalities and command presence.

Oddis Rollins told me that he originally was a pre-med major but in an Emergency Room internship, a guy came in with a compound fracture. “I looked at the bone sticking through the skin and took a header!”

He graduated in Exercise Science, but then was not enamored with physical therapy as a profession, so six years later began his law enforcement career. (#6)

Rollins appointed as Chief

West Linn is a dynamic suburban community of 28,000 residents twelve miles south of Portland. Serving as Police Chief is a challenge as one has multiple and demanding constituencies ranging from the citizens, the City Manager, to the City Council and the Police Department personnel – often with competing priorities.

I was extremely impressed with the Chief’s philosophy and what I have seen in social and print media. For example, each week he does a video entitled “One Minute with the Chief.” They are varied and well done as you can see from the following example which I think is outstanding: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1294436402900614

I think Oddis Rollins will have a very successful tenure in position and my community is fortunate to have him. (#7 – #11)

Ace in the “Whole...”

How many times have you called a large corporation such as an airline to make a reservation or clarify an issue. Or maybe it’s just to have a simple question answered which their AI chat feature doesn’t get right.

The last time I called Alaska Airlines to check on how to use a companion fare, the cheerful automated persona (who would not make a good companion for anyone…) cheerfully stated, “Our attendants are all currently busy. Your waiting time is thee hours and seventeen minutes.”

Three-hours and seventeen minutes?!

Of course, they always give you the option to hang-up, and they’ll put you in a return-call queue. But I’ve found the probability of that happening is only slightly better than me being able to read every chapter in War and Peace during the wait-time. (#12)

Last year, I had a problem with my Windows desktop, so I accessed the Microsoft chat feature. The conversation began: “You are chatting with Ibrahim Abdulla. Your case number is 102,577,875,296 – 04/16/2025 2:26 PM.”

Shortly after I ended the chat, I realized that I forgot to ask Ibrahim one question, so I initiated another dialogue – this time the response – only five minutes later was, “You are chatting with Juliana Elizabeth. Your case number is 102,577,877,834 – 04/16/2025 2:31 PM.”

It made me wonder how many techies were handling these calls and where they were located, since in that five-minute span “they” collectively handled over 2,500 additional inquiries. For the most part, I solved my problem, but since then I decided to get smarter.

The solution was only three miles from my house. That would be Scott Andersson and his son, Sean, at Ace Computer Repair LLC!

From my several long conversations with him in his shop and a house call where he “saved my bacon” on a printer/scanner problem for which no one else seemed to have the solution, I’ve concluded that Scott is an entrepreneurial genius who eschewed the corporate route.

Since founding his shop in 1980 (the oldest computer shop in West Linn) he, along with his son, Sean, have built their shop’s reputation as one of the best technical problems solvers in Oregon – with no advertising – just referrals. “My customers work for me and hand out about 1,000 business cards per year.”

A California native, he went to Troy High School, where he played tight-end on the football team and took classes at Cal State-Fullerton before graduating and moving to Oregon in 1976.

Rather than go the traditional college route, he started taking classes at Portland Community College and transferred to the Engineering program at Portland State. This was after he got distracted by a “beautiful lady named Sally” to whom he’s now been married for forty-six years. (Sally had a successful heart transplant thirty-two months ago at Oregon Health Sciences Center.)

I’ve been amazed at the clients who drop in when I’ve visited him. They range from old guys like me who are marginally conversant with technology and have laptop or desktop issues, to young computer jocks or small businesspeople who have esoteric software or network challenges.

Scott handles everything (virus removal, hardware repair, network design, hard disc replacement, etc.) except cell phones and video games although he does do a lot of flight simulator work. And don’t forget global ham radio which is a story in itself.

The picture was snapped when he made a house call to fix my printer/scanner and I persuaded him to have a Benedictine Black Habit (check out his right hand) so I could interview him for the blog. (That was only part of his tip because his charge was so reasonable.)

About 40% of his clients are remote, so if you are in Keokuk, Iowa or Santa Fe, he can help you. Alternatively, people like me who are within about ten miles can get Support on Site (SOS), and Scott says he was the first in Oregon to offer SOS at a flat fee.

Another factor which sold me on Ace is Scott’s commitment to recycling. Not only have I taken old computer hardware there, but other things which I don’t want to end in the landfill. He works with a non-profit to repurpose these items.

Being from a Navy family, Scott has a heart for veterans (“I take care of my veterans…”) and I’ve seen a number who are not only there to get a laptop fixed, but to just share a story. And Scott is very good at that.

In Closing

My crosstown high school rival – West Linn – is a great community as evidenced by the Beerchaser Notables you’ve met in this post – Chief Oddis Rollins and Scott Anderson. Stay tuned for Part II where you will meet two additional entrepreneurs who have great stories.

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_flag_with_white_star_in_centre_1x2.png) This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain. Author: CentreLeftRight – 30 January 2020.

#2. City of West Linn Website (City of West Linn Appoints Oddis Rollins as Chief of Police | City of West Linn Oregon Official Website).

#3 – #4. The Enterprise Courier photo archives.

#5. Wikimedia Commons (File: Coffee cup and saucer.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author:  Navaneeth Krishnan S – 31 July2023.

#6 – #11 West Linn Police Department Facebook Photos (https://www.facebook.com/WestLinnPD).

#12.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Clock-pendulum.gif – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author:  ЮК  26 February 2009.

Happy Memorial Day!

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Before I cover some other topics in this post, it’s fitting on this 2026 Memorial Day to pay tribute to the sacrifices of U.S. military members who lost their lives in service to the country, both in wartime and peacetime. And a salute to those who have served or are serving now as well.

One of those most meaningful to me is my namesake, Captain Don Wilburn. I relate the story of this SAE fraternity brother of my dad at George Washington University. After college, Don was a World War II flyer – an officer in the US Army Air Corps.

External Photo Attribution at the end of the post. (#1 – #3)

Through the tireless efforts of his late brother, Gene, (shown above), Jason and Laura Garver and Sue Froehlich in May 2025, Don was finally awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross for his outstanding and heroic achievement on a 1942 top secret flight – one of a number as part of Operation Rusty over North Africa.

The second of two blog posts on this remarkable story is below: https://thebeerchaser.com/2025/07/24/beerchaser-notables-captain-don-wilburn-us-army-air-corps-part-ii/

Literally and Figuratively

Lawyers are trained to understand and focus on the nuances of the English language – to look at the different ways a word or phrase can be interpreted. Many times this means taking a literal meaning when it is counterintuitive.

As one attorney friend analogized, stating, “It’s hard to explain things to a kleptomaniac because they always take thing literally.”

Although not a lawyer, having worked around them for over thirty years – the last twelve as the COO of a large Northwest regional law firm with multiple offices, I acclimated to this pattern and really enjoyed the ongoing cerebral stimulation.

This linguistic practice isn’t just taught in law school. I call it a factor in the “lawyer mentality” and some future lawyers acquire it while still very young. I love the story of the troubled parent who posted:

“This morning my kid said his ear hurt and I said, ‘On the outside or inside?’ He walked out the door, came back in and said, ‘Both.'”

“Sorry I asked..!” (#4)

Or take the female lawyer, who was out running through downtown Portland after work and was jogging in place waiting for a light to change (lawyers are rule-oriented). A big dog on a leash is waiting next to her. A guy walks up to her and says, “I love German Shepherds. Does your dog bite?”

She replies, “No,” whereupon the guy leans down and pets the dog only to receive a bite on the hand from the canine. The guy angrily says, “I thought you said your dog doesn’t bite?” As she jogs off, she replies, “I did.That’s not my dog.”

And I swear, these next two actually happened and reflect the great organizational sense of humor of the Schwabe firm where I worked for twenty-five years. Schwabe for many years did pro-bono work for low-income people needing legal services.

One of my favorite lawyers sent an e-mail to firm lawyers stating: “Hey, I’m working for the Legal Clinic and my client is Hispanic. I haven’t taken Spanish since high school. Can someone help me call the client?” Less than a minute later, the reply came back, “Yes, just dial 9 and the client’s number.” (#5)

On the day before holidays, we would often (but not automatically) close early. The day before one Thanksgiving, our Director of Support Services sent the following email: “Since we will be closing early today, for the rest of the day, please let me know the timing and extent of your Support Service needs ASAP.”

The immediate reply was, “Could you define ‘early’ for me? Does it mean, ‘Now’?”

I Could Go On….

And possibly will in a future post because I have many examples I saved in my files which my wife of forty-six years reminds me I should have recycled when we moved into our new house two years ago.

Now that I’m retired, I love surfing the web for information and subscribe to electronic newsletters on everything from health tips, to home “hacks” to travel suggestions – even to law firm trends when I want to reaffirm how happy I am that I retired before the pandemic and the advent of AI.

Anticipating this blog post, I took a couple of these and applied the “literal” paradigm to them. For example, HouseOutlook.com suggested recently, “Skip the Pesticides — Try Beer Instead.” They described how to make a beer trap:

“Bury a shallow container so the rim sits about an inch above the soil; then, fill it with an inch of cheap lager. This height…allows slugs — who are expert climbers — to scale the lip and perish in the pool of alcohol below.

They have little chance of escaping because the mucus they rely on for movement and grip becomes ineffective and begins to break down once they’re submerged in the beer.“

After just reading the headline, I envisioned my own solution to implement this tip. Janet suggested that it might have worked as she only saw one slug in the garden….

Admittedly just reading the captions before attempting a “home hack” is not a good habit. For example, this one – “The Surprising Reason To Put Flour in Your Kitchen Sink.”

If I had read further, I would have found, “…We love this hack because it makes a stainless steel sink sparkle in seconds for just pennies. The secret ingredient is all-purpose flour.” (emphasis added). That makes a lot more sense than: (#8)

Now pardon the repetition, but the one tip for seniors I highlighted in an August 2025 blog post that the physical therapist who was advising me on balance issues, suggested.

He advised on the benefit of a bar in the shower that could definitely help prevent falls. This seemed a little counterintuitive, however, but perhaps only if one includes hard liquor. (#9)

And since I may be wearing out this theme, I’ll leave you with my favorite example. Those of you who have ever tried to hang a painting or photo will understand my interpretation of this advice from Home Outlook – “Your Utensil Drawer Holds the Secret to Perfectly Hung Pictures.”

It seemed pretty easy, “Once you decide where you want to hang your picture frame and hammer the nail in place, reach inside your utensil drawer and grab a fork.” Perhaps the implementation left something to be desired! (#10)

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Arlington House – Arlington National Cemetery – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.  Source: Protoant  11/6/05.

#2- #3 Jason Garver Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jason.garver.94)

#4. Wikimedia Commons (Pastor aleman a – German Shepherd Dog – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author:  Erick Drumss Hernández – 2 June 2016.

#5. Wikimedia Commons (File:Landline Telephone Set.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Janak_Bhatta – 4 December 2025.

#6 -#7 AI Image Generator.

#8.  Flower in Kitchen Sink Photo – Google Gemini

#9. AI Microsoft Image Generator.

#10. DaVinci – AI Art Generator

Running and Jumping in May

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Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. This is a long post. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1 – #2)

May is a great month for Thebeerchaser although my birthday reminded me not only of how long I have been pursuing this hobby (since 2011) but more importantly, how many times the earth has rotated on its axis with me on it (in contrast to making trips around the sun) – that would be 28,490. (You can calculate how old that makes me and don’t forget leap years…)

In terms of hours that would be 683,760 on my birthday, although I think the time in sophomore geometry at Oregon City High School should add an additional increment for each period.

What’s in a Name?

My retired journalist friend, Kirby Neuman Rhea, who you may have read about in my post in June 2025 is an original and creative thinker.

In a conversation we had when Beerchasing in McMinnville a few years ago with my fraternity brother, Craig (The Dude) Hanneman, I mentioned as we were raising a mug, that breweries were running out of names for new beers.

Hanneman, Rhea

The Dude in the center and Kirby on the right.

I’d read an article and then saw a newsletter from an Intellectual Property law firm entitled, “Craft Beer Names Worth Protecting” which said, in part:

“A recent search of the records of the US Trademark Office revealed over 63,000 active registrations and published applications for beer names alone.

This number is up from the 22,000 we found in 2015. Registration of your brewery and beer names is vital to protecting your brand and to prevent others from using the same or similar names in a way that may confuse your customers.“

Kirby, in a moment of inspiration, then suggested that brewers should use the names of racehorses for their new brews. Although we’d each only had one brewski, we unanimously affirmed the creativity and brilliance of that idea.

I decided to test that hypothesis using a number of the entrants in the 2026 Kentucky Derby and with the on-line help of an expert on beer styles and characteristics. Rich Carbonara. He has an outstanding website and business in Munich, Germany. (#3 – #5)

Rich Carbonara

Beerwanderers.com is a site for lovers of new beers in Franconia, largely a region in northern Bavaria where close to 300 breweries are densely dotted across a timeless landscape. Since 1997, Rich has been leading tourists on hikes and visits to the breweries.

He is also the author of an excellent book Beerhiking Bavaria. (Here’s hoping he’ll forgive me for this sacrilege in describing beers!).

See if you think these hypothetical beers with the actual names of seven horses in this year’s Derby would make the tap list in your favorite bar:

“Renegade” IPA – A strong contender out of the gate which maintains flavor throughout the entire race (mug). From wire-to-wire this horse sets a comfortable tempo, though there are consequences if you drink too fast too early.

“Commandment” Helles – This thoroughbred is versatile, possessing enough speed and taste to keep up with the front-runners but able to save energy to take the lead with the final mug

“Right to Party” Bock – A steed which can be considered a “closer” to the last brew. May remain at the rear of the field in the early stages, saving energy for a “closing kick” or strong finish for the final furlong or stein.

“Golden Tempo” Pilsner – (The Winner!) – A champion mount with a commanding head and a golden yellow hue. Comes out of the tap with unbridled enthusiasm and positions in the middle of the pack, staying just off the pace, monitoring the front-runners until it crosses the finish line as the winner. (#6)

Golden Tempo – Winner of the 2026 Kentucky Derby

“Pavllovian” Porter – After this bangtail fell out of flavor with its stablemates, it has had a bit of a resurgence. Gallops rather than competing with noble hops to a semi-dry, semi-bitter, but impressive finish notwithstanding the handicappers.

“Litmus Test” Lager – An unfiltered chestnut filly with a light roast in the nose. Fairly balanced in a malty way but it’s a little thin on flavor and energy overall. Meanders a bit in finishing but not sticky.

“Great While” Ale – This mare has made strides with its spicey character and interesting complexity. A strong competitor, but doesn’t overpower in the final stretch.

This Book is Definitely Not a Flop!

Oregon State University alums bemoan the demise of the Pac 12 and the current state of athletics in Corvallis. Beaver teams have a rich legacy from the 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team to three NCAA Titles in Baseball (2006, 2007 and 2018), the 1980-81 Orange Express Basketball Team which went 26 and 0 and had a #1 rating, to the 2001 Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame to name just a few.

Individual OSU athletes have made their mark in both college and professional sports from 1962 Heisman Trophy Winner Terry Baker, to NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton, to Gold Medal Olympic gymnast Jade Carey, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and NFL lineman and then mountaineer (Seven Summits) Craig Hanneman.

I would suggest, however, that none brought the notoriety and lasting impact on his or her sport than the late Dick Fosbury – the originator of the Fosbury Flop. (#7 – #8)

Since I met Foz at OSU in 1967, I knew about his accomplishments, but gained new insight earlier this year when my former Schwabe law firm colleague, Brian (Brain) King gave me the book The Wizard of FOZ – co-authorized by Foz and author, columnist and teacher, Bob Welch.

And what an excellent read! I couldn’t stop, although it may have been more meaningful to me, because I was at OSU during the time the legendary high jumper was and actually met him on the track – and not because I was an athlete….

Dick was one year ahead of me – he started undergrad school in 1965. The book talks about how he struggled mightily with the concurrent demands of track and being an engineering major, although his fraternity activities didn’t help in the equation.

The authors talk about how in 1967, to keep from flunking out (and then being drafted and headed for Viet Nam), Foz was forced to work out on the OSU track (Bell Field) at night to fit the engineering labs and studies in during afternoons. (#9)

My sophomore year was not a good time in my life. I was struggling with second term calculus and physics required for my NROTC scholarship and longer-term, trying to figure out what a Political Science major was going to do with that degree after my naval service.

My counselor told me: “Shape up and get some exercise – every day! With classes, my Navy drills and fraternity obligations, the only time I could really do this was at night. Bell Field was less than a mile from the SAE house, so I would jog down and then put in a couple of miles around the track.

Usually, the only other guy there was a high jumper practicing. I marveled at his grace in clearing the bar with his unique style. Dick Fosbury already had some notoriety, but was not an Olympian until 1968. One night, I went up to him and introduced myself and complimented him on his success to this point.

He was extremely humble and friendly and we often had quick chats during our mutual routines. (#10)

At the Olympic Trials in 1968

The book also captivated me because I knew or know a number of people who are quoted or mentioned multiple time in the story of this Medford, Oregon native. Steve Davis, who was a primary competitor of Foz at Medford High School and lettered in both track and football at OSU, was an SAE fraternity brother:

“At sixteen. Dick had no illusions of athletic grandeur. He knew he was no Steve Davis, a fellow sophomore who had already cleared 6’0″.”

“Steve Davis, Fosbury’s high jump rival at Medford High School became a special agent with the US Secret Service with responsibilities for protecting presidents, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He lives in San Diego, California.”

Fred Spiegelberg was the coach of the legendary Medord Black Tornado Football Team for over thirty years starting in 1952. He was a decorated WW II hero and played college football at Washington State in addition to being a nationally ranked intercollege light-heavyweight boxer. In 1979 he was named to the High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. (#11)

“At forty-three, Spiegelberg had the presence of General Patton and the looks of Charlton Heston. He was tough but fair…Nobody in Medford was more revered than Fred Spiegelberg.

Though autumn was his season in the sun, he played a far less visible, and prestigious role in the Medford High School athletics come spring: assistant track coach…He was the high jump coach.” Page 42 – The Wizard of Foz

Thus, “Spieg” was Dick’s coach and they debated the traditional straddle style verses the flop, which no one else in Oregon – or the country was using.

“…but Spiegelberg thought Fosbury’s method was flat out crazy, akin to kicking a field goal backward with your heel….’he’s never going to be a jumper unless he gives up this god-awful whatever you call it. If we teach him to straddle maybe he can score for us at district.'” Page 52

He had the same friction with Berny Wagner during his years at Oregon State although both coaches ultimately acquiesced when they saw his determination and ultimate success with his “invention.” And Fosbury respected both men which made it more difficult for him to persevere.

Scott Spiegelberg, like his dad, Fred, and Dick Fosbury, is a member of the Medford High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He played quarterback for Medford and earned All-State and even All-American honors for his accomplishments on the high school gridiron. (#12 – #13)

Upon graduation, he went to OSU and played two years for Coach Dee Andros becoming the Beavers’ starting quarterback in his sophomore year.

His memory of Dick Fosbury’s ill-fated high school football career in a practice involving future NFL star, Bill Enyart, when Scott was a sophomore and Foz was a senior at Medford is quoted in the book:

“The quarterback faked a handoff to (Bill ‘Earthquake’) Enyart meaning Wild Bill would be blocking. He rumbled in Dick’s (playing defensive end) direction like a runaway boulder down Mt. Ashland.

‘Broke his helmet in four places,’ remembered Scott Spiegelberg. Three of Dick’s teeth were chipped’…Fosbury never played another down of football.” Page 45

Scott has had a wonderful professional career in both the private sector and primarily in various positions for Oregon State University both in the Business School and the Athletic Department. He pledged SAE in 1971, after I had graduated; however, I’ve gotten to know him through alumni functions.

He has remained active in fraternity and civic affairs ever since graduation including assisting students at Corvallis High School and serving as President of the SAE Housing Corporation for over fifteen years. He believes in giving back to the community.

I told him at the SAE Founders’ Day Dinner celebrating the fraternity’s 170th anniversary in March, that I enjoyed reading about his dad and his interactions with Dick Fosbury in the book. (I also told him that unlike his dad, he didn’t resemble Charlton Heston.)

It was a great dinner and there was a national officer who flew to Portland to address the assembled group of 88 ranging back to the sixties and fourteen brothers from the class of ’76 receiving their fifty-year certificates.

Unfortunately, Dick Fosbury passed away from lymphoma in 2023, after first being diagnosed in 2008. Although the book talks about how challenging the goal was for him, he graduated from OSU in 1972 with his civil engineering degree. He moved to Ketchum, Idaho in 1977 and became co-owner of Galena Engineering.

He was elected to public office and received numerous awards and honors, both for his athletic and humanitarian activities. He leaves a great legacy, and his name will always be associated with the predominant high jumping style used throughout the globe.

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Kentucky Derby race, Louisville, Kentucky.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Milk’s Favorite Cookie. Author: The original uploader was Sayeth at English Wikipedia.  31 March 2005.

#2. Image courtesy of Pam Williams

#3. Chat Gpt (https://chatgpt.com/c/69febe61-efc4-83ea-8e99-c2b85b50ce7c).

#4 – #6. Beerwanderers (Franconian Beer Breweries Trails).

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Dick Fosbury 1968.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This work is in the public domain in the United States.  Author: Unknown – 1968.

#8. Wikimedia Commons (File:FosburyFlop.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: 
Respublika Narodnaya – 31 August 2017.

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Bell Field (6443605231).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on 5 September 2013 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date.  Author: OSU Special Collections & Archives : Commons – 27 April 2005.

#10. Wikimedia Commons (Dick Fosbury at the 1968 Olympic trials – Category:Dick Fosbury – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Source: https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0002vq8n  Author: The Los Angeles Times – 1 July 1968.

#11.  Medford Athletic Hall of Fame (Fred “Spieg” Spiegelberg: 1985 Medford Sports Hall of Fame Inductee).

#12.  Medford Athletic Hall of Fame (Scott Fredric Spiegelberg: 1990 Medford Sports Hall of Fame Inductee).

#13.  Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-spiegelberg-a565b234/)

#14.  Oregon Alpha Chapter of SAE Newsletter (https://saeoregonstate.com/).

Go East to Peter’s Bar and Grill

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Bernie Stea at Peter’s

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. This is a long post. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #)

One of the joys of my Beerchasing hobby – started in 2011 – has been the adventure of discovering new establishments. Many of them have been around for a long time with great ambiance, food, staff and regulars – consistent with the definition of a great watering hole.

Regardless of these attributes, they may have a low profile and are often off the mainstream. Such is the case with Peter’s Bar and Grill as you will see below – established in 2003 or 2004 – with a couple changes of ownership. In 2011, the ownership was assumed by four individuals who made this bar its own community. In 2025, Peter Goforth became the owner.

Like many establishments, it had challenges with the pandemic but Peter’s has come roaring back. This June 2021 Facebook post by one of the co-owners, shows the welcoming mindset:

“A few minutes ago, Tasha unlocked the door and for the first time since March 16th, 2020, welcomed everyone in without a mask. I’m excited for this next step in getting through the pandemic and getting Peter’s back to all it’s glory! If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, please do!  We know not everyone is vaccinated.

We appreciate your patience and understanding…We are still a bit understaffed. and a bit rusty…But we’ll do our best to put out a good product. So, let’s just enjoy and appreciate our time together! I look forward to seeing everyone’s faces again!” (#1)

EGG Hatches…

A related delight of my Beerchasing hobby is reconnecting with indidivudals from work, civic activities or just friends I don’t often see given the hectic nature of life – even in retirement.

In early 2023, I asked five essentially retired guy friends to join me at the Basement Pub on Portland’s near east side. Click the link above to go to one of the three posts I did on this wonderful pub and you’ll read about this group shown in the photo below (l to r – Tom Kelly, Thebeerchaser, Jim Westwood, Doug Walta, Larry Frank, John Kelly)

We had a great time and at each of the ensuing four gatherings, the group has grown and inexplicably, it seems that the ratio of lawyers to others (1 to 1) in the original group has also increased. The ratio of attorneys to others grew to 1.5 to 1.0 at Peter’s, which some might want to suggest is based on an algorithm, but we shall refrain otherwise I’d be forced to reveal my vast repertoire of lawyer jokes.

Check out the following posts to see this esteemed group at the Sandy Jug, Holman’s, the Tulip Tavern and now Peter’s Bar and Grill on March 31st.

I’m not sure why this collection of “Old Guys” has grown, since the stories are pretty much the same and we often ask the guy next to us, “Repeat that” because of hearing issues, but most of my companions leave asking when the next assemblage will take place.

And I decided rather than continue the label “Old Guys”, I’d name it “EGG” for “Entertaining Group of Guys.” That label would open it for younger fellows to absorb our collective wisdom. I could also recruit new folks with the acronym by citing Mathew 11:30 – “The yoke is easy and the burden light.”

This is the photo at Peter’s and for some insight on a great friendship between two of these guys check the end of the post. (From left to right) Doug Walta, Steve Schell, Bernie Stea, Don Williams, John Limb, Tom Kelly, Jim Westwood, Don Bourgeois, Larry Frank and Doug Blomgren)

Why Peter’s Bar and Grill?

In surveying my bar escapades over the last fifteen years, I discovered that most of my Portland visits were downtown, the northwest or the inner east side. I needed to expand my horizons farther on the east side in Portland. After all, I had great experiences at three bars in this general area – the Sandy Jug, the Hi Top Tavern and the Top of the Hill Tavern.

I’d heard some time ago about an interesting bar named Peter’s Bar and Grill. In researching, I came across other bars with the same name which were east – but too far east (the guys would not be up for an extended road trip) including Peter’s Grill and Bar in Woodhaven, New York; Pete’s Bar and Grill in Albers, Illinois and J Peters Grill and Bar with six locations in South Carolina and one in Lavonia, Georgia….

And then I thought back to my bachelor days in the ’70’s when I used to take dates to Peter’s Inn, owned by the amazing Frank the Flake Peters right in downtown before he went to prison.

Frank was an outstanding two-sport athlete at Oregon State and after graduation “he bounced around minor-league baseball, dated gorgeous women, drove Cadillacs, and dabbled in politics.”

When he was released from his thirty-month prison sentence (“…a perfect sentence –  ‘Just enough time to get into shape,’ he grins. ‘But not too much to lose my edge.'”,) he eventually managed the notable Grand Cafe before it closed in 2014. 

The Grand was one of my more memorable Beerchasing expeditions (2013) and included a personal tour by Frank – one of the most charismatic characters I’ve met on this journey. We also got a group cha-cha dance lesson.

“(The Grand is) a bar/dancehall at the east end of the Morrison Bridge that Peters was affiliated with for more than 20 years, and where he served everything from reindeer to rodent while presiding over events such as strip karaoke and lesbian dance party.”)  Willamette Week 

But I digress…..

Before I invited the EGG group, I needed to check it out myself – ambiance, tap list, location and a few print and social media reviews – always a good way to discern issues – if one ignores the crazy Yelp people….And overall, they looked good with these two setting the tone:

We weren’t going to eat, but food is a good overall barometer to The Beerchaser:

“Incredible food and service, the fish & chips, little leaguer hamburger and clam chowder were outstanding. Hard to beat this establishment. Ambience was great as well.” Yelp 2/7/25

More edifying was this from Lizzie Acker an Oregonian reporter in a 3/13/2025 column:

“The service was great and the decor and whole scene made me consider giving up my current life and attempting to become a regular there and live out some sort of “Cheers-like, alcohol-soaked sitcom.”  (#2)

And a site in the Cully neighborhood was promising – a community-oriented neighborhood in NE Portland with a diverse mix of Latino, Somali, Asian and Brazilian communities and recognized for its strong community engagement. It’s known for parks, local businesses and strong neighborhood identity.

The location was applauded by one of the invitees. I’ve known Mark O’Donnell for almost fifty years. He’s an outstanding attorney and philanthropist and we initially met at a Clackamas County Commission meeting when I served on the staff and he was representing a client at a land use hearing. (#3 – #4)

“As a 1961 Madison graduate, I spent time at the drugstore on the NE corner of 57th and Fremont. The premises housed a pinball machine…I assume the bar is the former Piggly Wiggly grocery store situated at the Southwest corner of 57 and Fremont.

It will be quite different for this blue-collar neighborhood to host white, resident elitists from the West side that only a Don Williams type would do. Blessings to all!”

I pointed out to Mark that he would have graduated from Jesuit – an elite private Catholic school on the west side – if he hadn’t been expelled and then transferred to Madison – a story he’s revealed many times.

While Portland did have many Piggly Wiggly stores through the mid-60’s, according to a data base of groceries I checked, there was none at the site of Peter’s.

Go Trent!

The clincher, however, was Trent, the afternoon bartender/manager. When I visited and told him about our plans – most notably the need for a large table and no music of the volume that would drown out conversations, he assured me they could accommodate us and he’d be there for the first hour of our visit.

Trent, who’d work there eighteen months was one of the most personable and effective server/bartenders I’ve encountered since I started chasing beer. We couldn’t have asked for a more considerate and hospitable rep for Peter’s.

I love bar idiosyncrasies such as memorabilia, signs, alcoves and restrooms and Peter’s didn’t disappoint. Check out this sign at the entrance to the gender-neutral heads:

And the six lawyers in the group were captivated by the fact that a health-sign in the restroom was humorously redacted. (They assured me none of them had done it…)

I Shall Return

Perhaps it was because my Ancestry Brewing Irish Red Ale was so good, the service from Trent, the plaudits I got from those in EGG or just looking at the photos of their burger, grilled-cheese sandwich and tacos, but I’ll make another visit to Peter’s Bar and Grill – probably during their Happy Hour from 3 to 6 each day (#5 – #7)

One Final Note

Two of the guys in EGG have been good friends for years. They are great human beings and each time we gather, I learn from these guys. 

Dr. Doug Walta, is founder of the Oregon Clinic and retired CEO of Clinical Services for Providence Health and Services in Oregon.  He had a distinguished career as an gastroenterologist and served on the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners. He is also an avid hiker, outdoors-man, skier and international traveler.

I got to know Steve Schell when we were on the City Club of Portland Board years ago. He is a retired attorney at Black Helterline LLP. and focused on land use, environmental, energy, and construction law with for over 40 years of experience serving clients before local, state, and federal agencies. (#8 – #9)

Doug Walta
Steve Schell

Active in the community, Steve was a key figure in Oregon’s land use planning program in the 1970’s and was a member and vice-chair of the first appointed Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (1973-76).

The two met when they partnered with Catholic Charities of Oregon in 2006 and authored with two others (John Wiley Gould and Tuck Wilson) an amazing 94-page treatise “The Challenge of Homelessness in Portland.”

Doug and Steve became good friends and started traveling together (extended road trips with their dogs – usually camping). The first was through the Channeled Scablands in Eastern Washington:

“a relatively barren and soil-free region of interconnected relict and dry flood channels, coulees and cataracts and the typically flat-lying basalt flows that remain after cataclysmic floods located in the southeastern part of Washington state.”

The visit included a thorough tour and then camping at Grand Coulee Dam where in a severe storm, their tent blew down in the middle of the night. (#10)

This trip is where Doug learned that Steve liked to chat and “..could even enjoy talking to a rock.”  Doug also learned about Steve’s unusual fascination with dams.

Road Trip Friends….

There was speculation on the origin and furtherance of Steve’s intrigue with dams. Research revealed that it was reinforced during his law firm days. (#11)

  • Many people refer to lawyers as “Sharks.”  Steve was labeled “Salmon.”
  • Hard chargers such as Portland Trailblazer, Deni Avdija, are sometimes nicknamed “Turbo.”  As a take-no-prisoners negotiator, Steve’s moniker was “Turbine.”
  • When he’d remark, “That’s a lock!’, he wasn’t referencing a final settlement, but a water-filled chamber with gates on both ends that allows boats to move between different water levels caused by a dam.  (Sorry for that one…)
  • He once advised a client by quoting Proverbs 17:14: “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out”

Retirement Goals

Goals are important to maintain an active retirement. My goal in starting Thebeerchaser was to visit every bar and brewery in Portland. I have another retired journalist friend who vowed to visit a game at every Major League Baseball stadium – he only has two left. Another couple has visited every National Park in their Sprinter van.

It wouldn’t surprise me that Steve, after consulting the National Inventory of Dams (next to the old law books in his library) that he’s aware that according to the Army Corps of Engineers, the US has 91,804 dams across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Doug and Steve’s next road trip starts on June 1st, through California and they could hit some of the state’s 1534 dams. I don’t know if he’ll hit all 92,000, but I do know that Steve will make a dam good effort! (#12)

Mount Shasta Dam

Pay a visit to Peter’s and say “hello” to Trent.

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Peter’s Bar and Grill Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1446116564180719&set=pcb.1446117644180611).

#2.  Peter’s Bar and Grill Website (https://www.petersbarandgrill.com/)

#3 – #4.  Mark O’Donnell Law Firm Website (Lake Oswego Law Firm, O’Donnell Law Firm LLC | Mark O’Donnell – Beyond The Briefcase).

#5 – #7.  Peters Bar and Grill Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/petersbarandgrill/photos).

#8. Linked-in (Douglas Walta, MD, FACG | LinkedIn).

#9.  Linked-in (Steven Schell | LinkedIn).

#10.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Coulee_Dam.jpg) This image contains material based on a work of a Bureau of Reclamation employee, created as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, such work is in the public domain in the United States.  Author: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation – August 1986.

#11.  Chatgpt Image Generator (https://chatgpt.com/c/69f2ddf7-4b38-83ea-beda-1a6734a9247b.

#12.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Water released from Shasta Dam (2017).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Bureau of Reclamation – 12 February 2017.

Don’t Scotch That Thought!

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“Scotch Whisky is about the only thing left that is guaranteed to bring comfort to mankind.“ Baron Boothby

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1)

Based on the name of this blog, one would think that it is primarily about beer and breweries, however, I regularly venture into other territory as you will see below.

For example, in February, my post was a farewell tribute to lawyer and civic leader, Steve Griffith, who died at 80 while ascending 20,540 Chimborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador.

“It’s a new world, but it’s the same Constitution” (2)

US Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts, made this terse retort to Solicitor General John Sauer, in the April 1st birthright citizenship case. That statement, which will be quoted for years, would have had great meaning to Steve and Jim Westwood – both former partners at the Portland law firm Stoel Rives.

That’s because both spent many years as unpaid dedicated coaches teaching high school students the history and principles of the Constitution for the national We the People Competition which culminates with simulated congressional hearings where students testify before a panel of judges acting as members of Congress in the National Finals each year in Washington DC. (#3 – #4)

Jim Westwood

Westwood’s Grant High School Team won the National Championship in 2013 and 2015. The 1783 tattoo you see below was a result of the promise he made to his team if they won in DC. It was followed by two more – one in 2018 and even though he retired from full-time coaching in 2019, he got a third inking in 2024. The legacy continues as Grant High will compete in the National Finals this month although Jim will be cheering from a distance.

Jim Westwood

Griffith’s teams from cross-town rival Lincoln High School have a similar penchant for the Nationals.

“Under his guidance, Lincoln High’s Constitution team achieved significant success. The program has won the national ‘We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution’ competition multiple times, including three national titles in the past decade.”

In these times where there appears to be a disdain for the Rule-of-Law by political leaders, I salute the efforts of these two attorneys in trying to preserve it during their careers.

Celebrating Rabbie Burns

The aforementioned Jim Westwood and I go back many years – both Oregon City High School grads as well as professional and civic relationships. Even though our politics diverge, he has been my most frequent Beerchasing companion during the last fifteen years as you can see from just a few of these prior exploits.

Robert Burns’ Night

The esteemed counselor and I also have an affinity for whiskey and have occasionally downed a shot of Scotch while Beerchasing. (It’s a generic term…) So, I was honored when Jim extended an invitation in January to attend the Robert Burns Supper at the University Club – one of the premier venues for dinners and events in Portland. (#5)

“Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide…as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism.

Burns Night, in effect a second national day, is celebrated on Burns’s birthday, 25 January with Burns suppers around the world…” (Robert Burns – Wikipedia).

A Wee Bit of Trepidation…

Before the dinner, I did a little research to make sure I could wax eloquently about the liquid which was a focus of the evening. I found out through AI that: (#6)

“Whiskey is a broad category of distilled spirits made from fermented grains such as barley, corn, rye or wheat and aged in wooden barrels. Scotch, on the other hand, is a type of whiskey produced exclusively in Scotland, following strict rules regarding ingredients, distillation, and aging…Traditional Scotch is made primarily from malted barley, though some variations use malted wheat or rye. 

Scotch must be aged for at least three years in oak casks, sometimes previously used for wine or other spirits. Whiskey is typically aged in charred white oak barrels, with aging requirements varying by type and region…To be labeled Scotch, a spirit must be distilled and matured in Scotland, contain  only water and caramel coloring as additives, and be bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV.”

After I eagerly accepted the invitation, however, I reflected on my last major encounter with Scotch since at the dinner, we would be sampling eleven different types of this whiskey. I retired in 2011 after working my last twenty-five years at the Schwabe firm – a NW regional law firm based in Portland.

The last twelve I was the Chief Operating Officer when the firm had grown to about 150 lawyers in five offices. I loved both the firm and my job, although the demands of the job were daunting. When I retired, the firm was extremely generous in sending me off to a “life of leisure” and what would soon include my new hobby — Beerchasing.

Two of the gifts they presented at my retirement party were bottles of Herding Cats wine and a wonderful bottle of 15-year Balvenie Scotch. (The wine label was supposed to be a reference to my job description at the firm and I readily accepted the fact that the 50-year Balvenie – now listed at $49,999 – would be too extravagant even fifteen years ago.)

Well, a month later, my wonderful brother-in-law, Dave Booher, and I embarked on a two-day camping trip (we didn’t even have to do it on a weekend…) to the San Juan Islands. Dave is a wonderful cook and grilled steaks while I sat back aside our Strait of Juan de Fuca campsite and initiated my bottle of Balvenie while smoking a cheap cigar.

Fully realizing that I didn’t have to get back to work after this trip ended, I still tried to pack as much into that wonderful evening as I could. To make a long story short, I didn’t touch Scotch again for years afterwards.

“Scotch Whisky is about the only thing left that is guaranteed to bring comfort to mankind.” Baron Boothby

The fact that I learned my lesson in 2011 and the eleven tastes of Scotch (which would include three Balvenie vintages) at the Robert Burns dinner would just be sample sips and done over a three-hour dinner/ceremony, mitigated my concern about another major excursion with Scotch

The dinner was wonderful – the company, the Scotch, the food and the ambiance. Rabbie Burns would have been proud. We followed the standard format of this event celebrated all over the world: (#7)

“Burns Night (dating back to 1802) in effect a second national day, is celebrated on Burns’s birthday, 25 January, with Burns suppers around the world, and is more widely observed in Scotland than the official national day, St. Andrew’s Day

The format of Burns suppers has changed little since. The basic format starts with a general welcome and announcements, followed with the Selkirk Grace. After the grace comes the piping and cutting of the haggis, when Burns’s famous ‘Address to a Haggis’ is read and the haggis is cut open.

The event usually allows for people to start eating just after the haggis is presented. At the end of the meal, a series of toasts, often including a ‘Toast to the Lassies’, and replies are made… The event usually concludes with the singing of ‘Auld Lang Syne'”.

Even after listening to the news that day, I left the UC with an air of optimism embracing the assertion of David Daiches Scottish historian and literary critic:

“The proper drinking of Scotch whisky is more than indulgence: it is a toast to civilization, a tribute to the continuity of culture, a manifesto of man’s determination to use the resources of nature to refresh mind and body and enjoy to the full the senses with which he has been endowed.”

It was a night to be remembered and Jim’s generosity will be toasted with a good IPA at our next Beerchasing although I’m ready for another robust Balvenie experience. As we departed, I reminded Jim of one apt Burns’ quote:

“Here’s to us. Who’s like us? Damn few, and they’re all dead.”

Scotch and Moda….

In my recent Beerchaser post, I restated my annual gripe about Moda Health and the Portland Trailblazers purported “generous” contributions to build community playgrounds in Oregon – a combined $20 for every assist in a Blazer game which has averaged slightly less than $40,000 per season – the same amount since it was initiated in 2013 notwithstanding inflation.

The irony is that the Trailblazers were groveling at the 2026 Oregon Legislature for a combined contribution of about $870 million from the State, Multnomah County and the City of Portland to renovate Moda Center for the next twenty years.

Well, they were successful and the funds will be forthcoming from the citizens of Oregon. I guess this begs the question: “Will they raise the $20 next year?” Want to make a bet!

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (File:Whiskyhogmanay2010.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Guinnog – 31 December 2010.

#2. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Official roberts CJ – John Roberts – Wikipedia ) United States Department of Justice. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Federal Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. Author: Steve Petteway – 2005.

#3. Fordham Institute (https://fordhaminstitute.org/about/fordham-staff/stephen-griffith).

#4. Multnomah Bar Association.

# 5. University Club Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1491130319685543&set=pcb.1491130373018871).

#6.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Auchentoshan04.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: User:Nicor – 16 February 2006.

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (PG 1063Burns Naysmith – Robert Burns – Wikipedia) Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840).  National Gallery of Art – Scotland – 1787. The author died in 1840, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. Painter: Alex

A February Farewell

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Steve Griffith – admired attorney and civic leader

External Photo Attribution at the end of the Post (#1)

You would think that a person who is a graduate of Harvard College, the University of Oxford and Stanford Law School, might tend to be a bit bookish or cerebral in their activities and dealings with others.

Notwithstanding his academic pedigree, Steve Griffith was the polar opposite. Besides his distinction as a litigator with a wide-ranging practice for thirty-seven years at Stoel Rives – one of the Northwest’s most prestigious law firms, he was esteemed for his reputation as a civic leader, friend and family man.

Steve was a very giving person demonstrating throughout his life that he should share his natural gifts with others. He taught school and coached for two years in Liberia as a Peace Corps volunteer and in 2015, he and his wife, Chris started a preschool in Gbarnga – the same town in which he served years earlier.

Steve was known for his athletic and musical talent (piano and vocal – singing with the Portland Opera and in the choir of his Presbyterian church). His interests, as reflected in his wonderful home library, ranged from art history, philosophy, architecture, environmental advocacy and outdoor adventure, to wit: mountain climbing.(Oregon Live)

Although he served several terms on the Portland School Board, he was known primarily as the unpaid and beloved teacher and coach of the Lincoln High School Constitution Team.

You will see from the photos below that he conveyed energy and joy when he taught and his legacy from that endeavor will live on as multiple news stories highlight. (#2 – #4)

“Griffith’s constitutional law class, which had about 36 students, was especially popular with the children of lawyers, and students often gained a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution than their parents. His approach emphasized civil discourse, decency, and the power of reasoned argument, and his students frequently volunteered for free citizenship and naturalization classes.

Under his guidance, Lincoln High’s Constitution team achieved significant success. The program has won the national “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” competition multiple times, including three national titles in the past decade.”

I first encountered Steve and his perpetual smile as part of a City Club of Portland research committee in about 2010. City Club is known nationally for its volunteer research efforts and before a report is published, it goes through a rigorous protocol and several comprehensive editorial reviews.

Our study was entitled, “Educating Citizens: Improving Civics Education in Portland’s High Schools,” and was motivated by our concern that the government and civics curriculum – not only in Portland – but across the country was neglected and even largely ignored.

We were inspired by the work of US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. When she retired, she told the National School Boards Association in 2008,“I will make it my primary focus now to work on civics education in America,”….We have some work to do.” (#5)

Justice O’Connor

In 2008, she founded the non-profit iCivics with the mission to “ensure every student receives a high-quality civic education and becomes engaged in – and beyond – the classroom.” Of all her accomplishments, Justice O’Connor considered iCivics to be her most important work and greatest legacy.

We had an outstanding nine-person committee and labored for almost eighteen months before issuing our final report and recommendations in 2012 – with Steve Griffith as our primary writer (while he was concurrently managing a busy law practice and coaching the Lincoln Con Team).

One of our ideas was to collaborate with the Multnomah County Bar Association – which proved to be fruitful.

(Steve at top right in photo below and me at bottom right) (#6)

Pamela Hubbs, the Multnomah Bar Association Office and Foundation Administrator wrote to City Club upon hearing of Steve’s passing:

“I had the good fortune to meet Steve when City Club was developing the Civic Scholars program. Steve and Don Williams were exploring funding opportunities and partnerships to launch the program and arranged to meet with representatives from the Multnomah Bar Foundation.

Steve’s dedication, enthusiasm, and passion for the program and its goals was evident and contagious….(and it) was awarded funding through the Multnomah Bar Foundation’s Civic Education Grants program.”

We hadn’t seen each other in years and I raised a mug and reconnected last year after I sent Steve an e-mail complimenting him for a letter-to-the-editor he wrote. (He apologized for the delay in responding because he’d been on a backpacking trip!).

And I’m deeply thankful that a few months ago I attended a small City Club reception at his home where after reviewing some of the latest reads in his library, we had a great chat while strolling through his beautiful and expansive garden. His sudden death reaffirmed the importance of treasuring each interaction with old friends.

The wonderful video, below was produced in 2023, when he received the Sidwell Friends Distinguished Alumni Award and sums up his inspired life. Sidwell is a Quaker School in Bethesda, Maryland he attended.

Steve was climbing Chimborazo when he reportedly fell during the ascent.

“It’s the highest mountain in Ecuador and the 39th-highest peak in the entire Andes. The summit is the farthest point on Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center due to its location along the planet’s equatorial bulge. Chimborazo’s height from sea level is 6,263 m (20,548 ft).”  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimborazo

You might ask why an eighty-year-old guy was climbing a mountain in Ecuador. Steve would respond, “Because I can!”  His philosophy is reaffirmed in the above video where he stated:

“I think it’s a beautiful thing to be up on the side of a mountain and look around and say, ‘How did I deserve this?'”

 

Chimborazo – 20,458 feet (#7)

My friend and fraternity brother, Craig Hanneman, in 2019 finished climbing the Seven Summits – the highest mountain peak on each of the continents.

In response to my request, he sent me this picture of Steve, Craig and their three climbing companions in 2008 at the summit of Mt. Vinson (16,050 feet) in Antarctica – one of those seven. (#8 – #9)

Left to right – Todd Passey, David Markwell, Steve Griffith., Mark Morford and Craig Hanneman (Photo by Jim Walkley)

Steve on the ascent

We will all miss Steve Griffith, but he would not want us to be maudlin.  He would admonish us to remember that “In the heights of adventure, we find both glory and grief.”  Steve would consider it a glorious remembrance if his friends gathered, raised mugs and reflected on John Locke’s quotes such as:

“With books we stand on the shoulders of giants.“

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Fordham Institute (https://fordhaminstitute.org/about/fordham-staff/stephen-griffith)

#2. Civics Learning Process Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1269747468143956&set=a.459287845856593).

#3.  Lincoln High School Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1206886881317347&set=pcb.1206887684650600).

#4. Lincoln High School Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=744190267587013&set=pcb.744192527586787).

#5. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor#/media/File:Sandra_Day_O’Connor.jpg) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Federal Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. Author: Library of Congress  – 29 January 2011.

#6. City Club of Portland Member Bulletin (City Club of Portland).

#7. Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimborazo#/media/File:Chimborazo,_aspecto_norte,_Ecuador._(26354503702).jpg) licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author:  Dick Culbert – 28 January 2012.

#8.  Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinson_Massif#/media/File:Mount_Vinson_from_NW_at_Vinson_Plateau_by_Christian_Stangl_(flickr).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.Author: Christian Stangl – 8 December 2009.

#9. Photo by Jim Walkley – Courtesy of Craig Hanneman.

February Figuring – Part III

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When is an Assist not Really That Helpful?

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1)

Since 2013, the Portland Trailblazers NBA team and Moda Health Systems have promoted their Assist Program: “…using on-court assists to raise money for all-abilities playgrounds in Oregon where every BODY can play.”

It works like this. Each time a Trailblazer player records an assist, Moda and the Blazers each pony up a $10 donation to help a community in Oregon build a playground.

That goal sounds laudable, but I question whether our superb TV announcers, Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd, should be so effusive when they espouse it several times each game. (#2)

Kevin and Lamar

In my last blog post, I mentioned how two junior high teachers gave me a foundation to analyze figures. Earl Gipe in eighth-grade math and Don Gribble in ninth-grade algebra, taught me to dig below the surface when assessing numbers. Working with lawyers for thirty-five years also taught me to question assumptions.

Looking at NBA team statistics, the Blazers don’t fare well in assists. They ranked 27th out of 30 NBA teams in 2025 and have averaged just 25.4 assists per game over the last six seasons – 24.7 in 2025. If we assume 80 regular-season games, that accrues to a donation of $39,520 by the two corporations last year. (#3)

But what really irritates me is that the combined donation of $20 hasn’t risen since 2013. Let’s look at one inflation calculator:

“…$1 in 2013 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.39 today (2026), an increase of $0.39 over 13 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.57% per year between 2013 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 39.13%.

This means that today’s prices are 1.39 times as high as average prices since 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 71.942% of what it could buy back then.”

When I first expressed my gripe in a Beerchaser post in 2021, being naïve, I suspected with inflationary trends, Moda and the Blazers would up the ante for the 2021-2 NBA season to at least $15 or $20 each per assist.  

No way! Evidently Moda’s slogan of “Be Better,” doesn’t spill over to its charitable endeavors even five years later. (#4 – #5)

Do you want this?
Or this?

Without trying to belabor the point, let’s look at the current cost of commercial playground equipment. According to Recreational.com, Large playgrounds – city parks, HOAs, rec centers – (the intent of the Moda and the Blazer program) cost: $90,000 – $150,000+. This includes essential play equipment, site prep, surface material and professional installation.

Other relevant statistics I found:

Recent Inflation Spikes: The highest inflationary pressure for playground equipment occurred recently, with year-over-year price changes of 3.47% in 2021, 10.86% in 2022, and 7.42% in 2023.

Key Cost Drivers: Prices have been driven up by tariffs (20–25%) on raw materials like steel, vinyl, and PVC, alongside increased demand post-pandemic.

So the Moda/Blazer annual donation of not quite $40,000 is not very praiseworthy. Perhaps they should have indexed the amount per assist to the increase in the cost of popcorn and other concession products from 2013…(#6)

One Final Irony

The Blazers have a new owner in 2026 and there is high-level and informed concern that he will move the team to Seattle or another city that could be more financially attractive. Billionaire Tom Dundon has leverage because the Moda Center is thirty years old.

Estimates for improvements to make it last structurally and be competitive with the amenities of other modern arenas for the next twenty years are at least $600 million.

The State of Oregon, City of Portland and Multnomah County realize that losing the Blazers would be another blow to the economics and credibility of Portland and the State. It would eliminate thousands of job and millions in loss revenue from taxes on player salaries, lodging and hospitality establishments, etc.

It’s been reported that discussions have tentatively developed a collective amount of $510 million in public funding. There is proposed State legislation to create “a new Oregon Arena Fund and give the state joint ownership of the building with the city of Portland.” (#7)

You’re talking about a BIG Assist!

It’s ironic and almost comical to me that while the Blazers have gone cheap on the Moda Assist Program that they come to the Oregon Legislature “hat-in-hand” for over 1/2 billion dollars. Many taxpayers are not happy as there are many other critical priorities. (#8)

And I would love it if one of our Legislators would respond:

“Let’s see, Mr. Dundon, you’re asking for and are likely to receive about $510,000,000 of the 600 million it’s going to cost to retrofit and upgrade the Moda Center for the Blazers over the next twenty years of a lease.

Currently, you and Moda contribute $20 per assist for community playgrounds. Let’s make a comparison and see how our potential taxpayer largesse amortizes for your “playground” from 2030 to 2050.

Using the Blazer average of 25 assists per game over the 80 game NBA regular season for twenty years, that equates to about 40,000 assists.

If you divide $510 million by 40,000, it results in a payout of $12,750 per assist or 637.5 times the amount you and Moda have given since 2013. Maybe you should go back and rethink this!”

 

Ending on a More Positive Note

We love Lake Grove Presbyterian Church where we worship each Sunday.”

Our communities, nation and the world are going through some very challenging times that have a tendency to divide us. While it would be easy to refrain from addressing current events, the wonderful pastoral staff conveyed to the congregation about one month ago that bears repeating (even on a blog primarily about bars and breweries!).

Regardless of your faith or philosophy, the conceptual message is worth remembering and affirming. (#9 – #10)

“We worship today again with a lot on our hearts and minds. The events in the world around us, including the actions of some of our own governmental leaders, often leave us befuddled.

We recognize the cloud of confusion that the actions in Venezuela stir up. We are also aware of the need to begin this new year at LGPC in a strong and positive fashion. We have not had time to shape a well-thought-out response.

We can say this: We plead with leaders, especially those who claim to be Christians, to follow the teachings and example of Jesus, the Prince of peace, and to refrain from the use of violence to accomplish political goals—in this, and in every case.”

Cheers and Blessings

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (File:Moda Center at night.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Parker Knight – Portland, Oregon, USA  – 11 November 2016.

#2. Lamar Hurd Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102602558498898&set=pb.19706263.-2207520000&type=3) (cropped)

#3. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isolated_basketball.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Photography by User: MrX – 26 September 2004.

#4. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playground_Square_Albert_Thomas_-_Talence_France_-_22_August_2020.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Such0012  22 August 2020.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childrens_Game_Park_01621.jpg) Lhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en.  Author: Nevit 2008.

#6. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Popcorn_in_bucket.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Corn cheese – 20 January 2023.

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons  (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollar_sign_capitalism_logo.svg) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: OwcaGierka – 13 November 2022.

#8.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Salem, OR – State Capitol State Park – Capitol Building (4).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Jrozwado – 2 September 2016.

#9.  Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=791647823001675&set=a.572288721604254).

#10.  Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=624641723035620&set=pb.100064693928590.-2207520000&type=3).

February Figuring – Part II

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Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1)

As I contemplated the title of these February posts, it harkened me back to my math courses in school – from junior high through college at Oregon State University where I had math courses. I struggled with two terms of calculus in college – required as part of my NROTC curriculum – but the foundation actually laid in junior high saved me and also helped me immensely in a career which involved a lot of budgeting and finance.

At Oregon City High School, my instructors were not notable except Catherine Westwood – my Latin teacher for two years and the mom of my good friend and fellow OCHS grad, Jim Westwood – also Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter in 2013.

She taught us a lot besides Latin and I remember being in her class my sophomore year when the announcement on President Kennedy’s assassination came over the PA system and stunned us into silence.

And I never forgot “pulchra puella” although I didn’t ever use the term as a pick-up line.

Thora B. Gardiner Junior High School

But it was from 7th through 9th grade where I had the most outstanding teachers. Their skill and dedication as educators (those shown below) prepared me for the future not only in math, but science and language arts (called English class in the ’60’s). And I also had one notable Band instructor who laid the foundation for one of my retirement hobbies over fifty years later.

I want to recognize them and although all but one is now deceased, their lessons remain with me. Cheers to Earl Gipe, Don Gribble, Eli Jimenez, Noel Jordan and Erv Lesser shown from left to right below from the ninth grade yearbook:

Earl Gipe

Mr. Gipe was a tall, imposing figure who had a strong command in the classroom of eighth- grade math students, which reflected his military service and was evident from the first day. One of his favorite expressions when an arithmetic problem on the board was erroneous was “Something’s fishy in Denmark!”

We had heard an unconfirmed rumor that he was once a Navy Frogman, but that just enhanced our respect and trepidation if we didn’t complete homework or stepped out of line in class.

I hadn’t even thought of Mr. Gipe until 2022, when six-time Oregon Sportswriter of the Year and author of twelve books, Kerry Eggers, wrote a blog post in 2022 paying tribute to Frank Cutsforth – a businessman (Cutsforth Market) in Canby, Oregon.

Canby is a small city of around 20,000 in the Willamette Valley named after a Union General killed in the Civil War. Midway through his narrative, he quoted Frank talking about childhood sports. Evidently, Earl Gipe had the same impact as he did on me:

“I had a Little League coach when I was 12, Earl Gipe, who was a taskmaster. He had been a frogman in the Navy. He was a tough guy, but he made good players out of us. He made us do stuff the right way. We learned discipline. That carried over for me. You have to have discipline in your life to get where you want to go.”

Fast forward four years when I did a little more research on Earl Gipe for this blog post. I was astounded by what I found – and from the Library of Congress Archives no less. Take a look at this excerpt from The frogmen of World War II : an oral history of the U.S. Navy’s underwater demolition teams by Chet Cunningham.

And the picture below is from the Seal Museum Association. LTJG Earl Gipe (left) performing beach master duties on Morotai. The officer to the right is Lt. Bob Eiring, the Commander of a UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) (#2)

“Before the Navy SEALs, there were the Underwater Demolition Teams. Before them came the Scouts & Raiders, and before them were the Navy Combat Demolition Units. But there was another group even before the NCDUs. It was called the Naval Special Services Unit No. 1, also known as the Amphibious Scouts.

A lot of military historians know little about Special Services Unit No. 1 because it was a top-secret group in the U.S. Navy created for a special purpose.”

“There would be three hundred U.S. 6th Army Rangers involved. One hundred would land on Dinagat with Lt. Root, Dougherty, and me. One hundred would land with Lt. Gipe. The other one hundred Rangers would be in reserve. Three APDs would be used to transport the Rangers and us

Around 2100 on the night of October 19-20, 1944, we turned on Dinagat’s Desolation Point light. Sometime around midnight we could hear some of the ships in the invasion fleet as they passed by. The invasion was a complete success, partly due to the navigation lights that we installed.”

In 1998, Earl Gipe passed away at 86 in Kansas. I wish I could have thanked him for his service and for his impact on me as a student.

Don Gribble

I got an excellent math foundation with Earl Gipe. It was with some trepidation, I then started a year of Algebra with Mr. Gribble – also the assistant football coach of the junior high team. That concern dissipated because he was patient, methodical and a great communicator.

Don Gribble, an Army veteran, passed away in 2018 at 97. He taught many years at a junior high in the Oregon City School District where he graduated from OCHS.

Eli Jimenez

My morning ninth-grade Algebra class was followed by Physical Science – taught by a young teacher new to the District. Eli Jimenez got authorization to teach our class an experimental curriculum for advanced students and was he tough. He used his prior military experience and time as an engineer at NASA to enhance his lessons. We bemoaned the homework and his difficult (and frequent) tests, but again, we learned a ton.

My parents also knew Eli and his wonderful family from church and my dad (FDW) absolutely loved this guy and what he was teaching us. Dad would sometimes encounter Eli on the way home from work to the frustration of Frannie – my mom – because they would have animated chats for an hour by the side of their two cars about the environment, public policy, education, etc. and he would miss dinner!

I still remember two projects in Eli’s class which imparted major lessons for my future education. The first was a science experiment in which he allowed me to do an ammonia fountain – something typically done in high school chemistry and ammonia – a colorless gas – wasn’t something for casual classroom exercises.

While gently encouraging me to be learn to take risks, he warned me that ammonia fountains often didn’t work, but if carefully conducted the result would be impressive. To this day, I can still visualize the astonishment of my class (and me) when as the ammonia vapor rose, it created a vacuum that pulled rose colored liquid ammonia from a large beaker, creating a spectacular fountain effect. (#3)

Ignore the script – you get the idea….

We griped when he assigned us a research project including a written paper with exhibits which typically wasn’t part of a ninth-grade science program – Eli smiled at our grousing. I was interested in the desalinization of seawater and water shortages in the West and with FDW’s help, wrote to some corporations who were pioneers with the concept.

The display (FDW constructed and helped me design it) that went with the paper is shown below and I relished Mr. Jimenez’s comments for months (and still have in my files) which included, “…The oral report was well-received by the class. The bright spots in a teacher’s life are, in part, due to students like you. God Bless You.”

I hadn’t had any contact with Eli for decades after he moved away, but he returned to the area and one Sunday morning in a church service about five + years ago, I looked across the aisle and said to Janet, “That’s my ninth-grade science teacher!” He saw me and we both ended up hugging with tears in our eyes and subsequently had lunch at an Oregon City bistro.

He moved back to New Mexico, but this guy – now in his nineties – is a Renaissance Man. He plays the bass in a combo, runs miles every day, volunteers and is a wonderful grandfather. Eli’s beautiful wife, Tijla, died when she was young and he didn’t remarry.

Eli Jimenez was a wonderful teacher and is a great human being! Just as my dad did, I love this guy! (#4 – #7)

Noel Jordan

In our first seventh-grade English class, we kids were taken aback when this young enthusiastic guy who was starting his first year as a teacher, told us what he planned. We were going to learn new vocabulary words, do innovative book reports and write creatively.

And we did in what was a wonderful classroom environment. I loved the new vocabulary words we had to memorize each week and it helped me immensely over the years – for the College Boards and even writing papers in grad school. They were not seventh-grade vocabulary, but words such as “alacrity,” “belies,” “anachronistic,” “garner,” “vernacular,” etc.

In fact, one word that I used in a 1975 grad school paper, which became a running joke for years with my brother-in-law, Dave Booher, a former English teacher, who edited my term papers was “garner.” (I learned it in Noel Jordan’s class.) He stated,” Don, that’s ridiculous. Garner is so anachronistic. Don’t ever use that word again.”

That started my collection of “Garner” files which I supplemented for years and still have. Included are clippings, obituaries, sports stories, etc. Whenever I saw the word, I would send (or personally deliver) Dave a photo of the clipping or reference which over the years included press releases for Jennifer Garner and James Garner.

Also the official logos of the Town of Garner, North Carolina and the City of Garner, Iowa (The Jewel in the Crown of Iowa). (#8) I even took a picture over some dead guy’s named Garner’s grave to prove my point that “Garner – the word -is not dead.” (see below)

Noel Jordan taught in Oregon City until he retired in1993 and then tutored and was an active volunteer in many non-profit organizations. I decided to try to find him to reunite in the 1990’s. I figured he would love the garner joke and wanted to express my appreciation for his impact on my education.

We had a few lunches and great discussions. He passed away at 77 in 2012 and I sent a letter to his sister expressing my condolences along with the Opinion Piece above I wrote for the West Linn Tidings. (#9)

Ervin Lesser

Mr. Lesser, the Band Instructor, had less influence ultimately than the aforementioned teachers, but this professional trumpeter did teach me how to play the oboe from the seventh to ninth grade.

I gave it up in high school for athletics, but achieved one of my retirement bucket-list items when I “relearned” it and took lessons for six years. Mr. Lesser was a stern perfectionist and I remember the intense anxiety I had for an opening solo for three nights of his Annual Stage Show in 1963, which was for both the junior high and high school and drew a lot of people.

I didn’t mess it up and garnered compliments for the opening bars of “Polovtsian Dances” (from the opera Prince Igor – better known as the song “Stranger in Paradise).

The culmination of my “oboe career” was performances for three years (2016-19) at Portland’s Pittock Mansion where volunteer musicians play in a side room during the Christmas season while people tour the beautiful, historic dwelling. Kelly Gronli, my oboe instructor – a professional musician, Sarah Rose (flute), Faith Carter (piano) and I played for one of the two-hour sessions during those three years.

Mr. Lesser planted the seed for this in 1960 when he said he needed an oboe player for our band and it was a better challenge then the clarinet….

Thanks for bearing with me as I reminisced and tried to honor these great educators. I would recommend that you also reach out and take one of your memorable teachers to lunch (or to raise a mug.) You will be enriched by the experience and they will appreciate it.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arithmetic_symbols.svg) The copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.  Author: This vector image was created with Inkscape by Elembis, and then manually replaced.  26 May 2007.

#2.  (2003.0018.4 – B&W photo of Amphibious Scouts team leader LTjg Earl Gipe (left) performing beach master duties on Morotai. The officer to the right is Lt. Bob Eiring, the Commander of an UDT. | UDT-SEAL Museum Association.

#3. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ammonia_fountain#/media/File:Fountain_of_ammonia_2.svg/2) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: apple502j_sub – 1October 2017.  By apple502j_sub, CC BY-SA 2.0, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63264629).

#4. Eli Jimenez Facebook site  (red) (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=234235316750013&set=a.234235310083347).

#5. Eli Jimenez Facebook site (family) (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2938306672921514&set=t.100004906392356&type=3).

#6. Eli Jimenez Facebook site (vest) (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100375548070596&set=t.100004906392356&type=3).

#7.  Eli Jimenez Facebook site (coffee) (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100255028807166&set=t.100004906392356&type=3).

#8.  Wikipedia – Fair Use –  (GarnerNCseal – Garner, North Carolina – Wikipedia) By https://nextdoor.com/agency-detail/nc/garner/town-of-garner/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80935385). This logo is an official seal of a governmental entity and qualifies as fair use under the Copyright law of the United States.

#9. FindaGrave.com (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86845380/noel-andrew-jordan).

February Figuring – Part I

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9

I Want My Mummy(s)

In 2016, Thebeerchaser hit the depths and regaled you with the story of one of my favorite downtown Portland haunts – that being the now gone-but not forgotten, Mummy’s Bar and Grill – only one and one-half blocks from the Schwabe law firm’s offices in the PacWest Center. https://thebeerchaser.com/2016/12/06/mummys-a-buried-portland-treasure/

I told you about the co-owners – Phillip and Ghobvial Moumir – two wonderful gentlemen who emigrated from Egypt and started the restaurant sometime around the mid-80’s in a confined, dark, idiosyncratic subterranean space across from what was then The Oregonian building – offices and printing presses.

My two law firm colleagues on one of my visits, Margaret Hoffmann and Brian (Brain) King – did not hesitate to join me for drinks even though they were both Super Lawyers and it was with somebody from firm Management.

I look back fondly on those pre-retirement days and was thus heartened by a post in a blog I follow. Writer John Chilson, a content strategist and writer for architects, developers and urbanists, also has a fascinating blog – Lost Oregon. One of John’s laudable missions is to save historic building in the State.

“‘Lost Oregon’ aims to document the history of architecture of Oregon, some buildings lost to time, others being repurposed, recast, and reused, others rising anew. Oregon has a ton of great old commercial buildings with great bones. Let’s be creative with them instead of tearing them down.”

John did a great narrative with pictures in a post entitled, “The Mummy’s Mystery.” I was flattered that he included a link to my post on Thebeerchaser, but what made it even better was a comment from another noted Northwest writer, photographer and architect – Harley Cowan. (see below)

Harley, like John, has an incredibly interesting background and we’re fortunate to have both of them in Portland

External Photo Attribution at the end of the Post (#1 – #2)

Harley Cowan
John Chilson

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Harley’s comment on the Lost Oregon blog post was great:

“While working at Yost Grube Hall Architecture in the nearby PacWest Building, we would occasionally take an office happy hour at Mummy’s and take over the place–which wasn’t hard because it wasn’t big–because Joachim Grube enjoyed it so much. It reminded him of his time in Sudan in the 1960s. The two Egyptian guys who owned it were real characters–very friendly, talkative, and funny as hell if you were paying attention. They called Joachim ‘The Big Boss.’

My understanding was that Oregonian staff were regulars before the paper moved. We would joke that the atmosphere at Mummy’s was dead, but when it filled up, it was fun, authentic, and strange. You really felt like you weren’t in Portland anymore. The owners, always found sitting at their same places at the bar, would criticize us on entry for not coming back sooner. We need more places like this. It’s a loss for sure. A relic from another time.”

What I loved about this comment was that Yost Grube Hall was my law firm’s primary architects (we went through many remodels and expansions with them) and I knew Joachim (who passed away in 2022) and others in the firm well, although never aware of their affinity for Mummy’s.

Check into the Lost Oregon website. John is a talented writer and conveys his expertise well. https://lostoregon.org/2026/01/19/the-golden-nugget-milwaukies-almost-hidden-gem/

It’s obvious to me that although Mummy’s no longer serves great gin martinis or the best falafel sandwich in Portland in what some fondly described as a “tomb experience”, it’s legacy will never be buried.

How Dare You Discriminate!

The NCAA College Football Playoffs are now history and pigskin fans wait with anticipation for the Super Bowl on February 8. That said, a recent Substack column by my friend and former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter – Dwight (The Godfather) Jaynes – longtime broadcaster and journalist caught my attention and brought to light a grievous situation. (#4)

“They have changed team nicknames everywhere, but there’s one that should be cancelled now!”

Take a look at this excerpt and you will see why I thought the post was excellent. (#5)

OK, I understand the new world order. I get it that we all have to look for new ways not to offend people. We must work at simply being nicer. I get it. My former high school changed its nickname from Indians to Warriors decades ago…The Redskins are gone and the MLB Indians have turned into Guardians…

I’m not fighting any of those changes. What bothers me, though, is that not all the offensive nicknames have been changed. There are some nasty ones still out there. And we’re seeing it right now in the College Football Playoffs.

There is one school out there torturing a group of people who are largely unable to defend themselves. It isn’t fair and I guess I’m going to have to step up and call attention to this terrible injustice…Mississippi and its fans are nasty. Unaware, perhaps, of what they’re doing.

‘Ole Miss.’

Come on now. One of the first rules I learned as a kid was ‘Respect your elders.’ It has to stop…This is blatant sexism, which hurts even more because of the blatant ageism…

Although I haven’t used AI for any writing, a few images for the blog have been fun to employ so I had it create the following and asked The Godfather for permission to cite his column. I thought this image nailed it! (#6)

While my high school alma mater Oregon City didn’t need to change our mascot name from “Pioneers,” there was for a time, some ill-advised clamor about “Pioneer Pete’s” appearance.

When my class graduated in 1966, our parting gift was a massive plywood rendering of Pioneer Pete (replete with musket and bowie knife) to hang at the entrance to the gym which it did for years until a new school was built in 2003. 

Fortunately, in 2001 when a few activists wanted to “emasculate” our mascot by “photo-shopping” out his musket or trashing existing images, the ill-conceived move was ultimately resisted – overcome by objections from a broad swath of alumni.

One suggestion was to replace the musket with a flagpole. (It might have been hard for pioneers to kill game with a flagpole…. #7)

I recounted this story in a 2012 Beerchaser post, because it was quite interesting as reported in this excerpt from the December 12, 2001 story in The Oregonian:

” A burly guy with a coonskin cap, Pioneer Pete stands like a sentinel throughout Oregon City High School. He stares from hallway murals, the backs of varsity jackets and walls in the gymnasium and football stadium.

A musket in his grip and a knife slung off his hip, Pioneer Pete is catching some flak these days. Some students and administrators say his weapon-toting ways break rules that apply to students. He’s even been booted off the cover of a brochure advertising the search for a new superintendent.”

For Better or Worse? (#8)

Creativity in masking

The pandemic brought global and national changes from its declaration in March 2020 to May 2023, when it was officially announced as ended by the World Health Organization. That said, many of the adjustments we made as individuals during that difficult period linger or have become permanent parts of our daily lives.

It changed our routines in working, shopping, traveling and socializing. A Pew Research study from just a year after the pandemic started revealed:

“The vast majority of Americans (89%) mentioned at least one negative change in their own lives, while a smaller share (though still a 73% majority) mentioned at least one unexpected upside. Two-thirds (67%) of Americans mentioned at least one negative and at least one positive change since the pandemic began.“

One old guy’s (not me….) response was pretty representative –“The destruction of our routines has been disorienting.”

It was very difficult for quite a while, to see our four granddaughters exclusively and then primarily by FaceTime. Trips to the gym stopped and ZOOM became an ongoing occurrence in everything from attending church, non-profit board meetings and Happy Hour and social gatherings.

I had visited and reviewed almost 400 bars and breweries from the start of Thebeerchaser.com in 2011 until the pandemic and in the next three years, the additions numbered only about twenty until I could hit new establishments with abandon again.

Since travel was largely restricted, it did, however, motivate me to reconnect with some of my former college and work associates I hadn’t seen in years by ZOOM.

Mulvey, Palmer and Williams
NROTC Class of 1970

For example, Jerry (Rodent) Mulvey, Bill Palmer and I started a quarterly ZOOM meeting which has continued and provides an opportunity to recount stories from our midshipman summer training cruises and college pranks. (Usually, they’re the same ones we related one quarter before, but forgot…)

Janet and I initiated one hobby in 2020 which has continued and we really enjoy – jigsaw puzzling. Maybe it was Deepak Chopra’s quote that started it although it was probably more due to boredom and trying to divert our minds from the news and figure out what was happening.

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.” 

We started with 300-piece, graduated to 500-piece and now only do 1,000 piece. Since 2020, we have done at least 100 puzzles of all different brands and images. You can see a few of our favorites below:

And the experts have supposedly asserted that tackling these challenges is good for the brain:

“Studies have shown that doing jigsaw puzzles can improve cognition and visual-spatial reasoning. The act of putting the pieces of a puzzle together requires concentration and improves short-term memory and problem solving.” (https://blogs.bcm.edu/2020/10/29/a-perfect-match-the-health-benefits-of-jigsaw-puzzles/)

I would suggest, however, that the concussive ramifications of knocking one’s head against the wall when stumped may refute that theory. And oh, are they addictive – “I’m just going to get one more piece or make this connection before I go to bed….”

Janet and I are both grateful to my former legal management colleague, Linda Lehmann (see photo below) for her encouragement and generosity in helping us get started and continuing in this healthy activity. (#9)

And finally, after the pandemic, puzzles have been a good family activity (albeit sometimes competitive) especially on beach trips – and the granddaughters participate.

So try it – although with the focus it requires, I recommend saving your brewski until afterwards.

Cheers and Go Seahawks

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Harley Cowan website  (https://www.harleycowan.com/contact).

#2.  Linked-in site for John Chilson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmchilson/In)

#3. Oregon Live obituaries (Joachim Grube Obituary (1932 – 2022) – Portland, OR – The Oregonian)

#4.  Dwight Jaynes Facebook site ((1) Facebohttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=753233004833086&set=t.728951893&type=3ok)

#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_Mississippi_water_tower.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Fredlyfish4 –  17 November 2018.

#6. AI Image Generator

#7. Oregon City High School website (https://www.ochspioneers.org).

#8. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikiproject_COVID-19_-_logo.svg#/media/File:Wikiproject_COVID-19_-_logo.svg). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Ederporto – 14 April 2020.

#9. Linda Lehmann Facebook site.