Let’s Get Civil……..

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

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

History, Semantics, Sensitivity and Common Sense

On Saturday, November 27th, the Oregon State University Beaver Football Team will square off against the nationally-ranked Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. As stated at the beginning of a wonderful book by the five-time winner of the Oregon Sportswriter of the Year Award, Kerry Eggers entitled, The Civil War Rivalry – Oregon vs Oregon State:

“Thirty-five years after Oregon reached statehood and fewer than 30 years after the end of the Great War between the Union and Confederate States, the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) met on the gridiron on a sawdust field in front of 500 curious observers….The Farmers beat the Lemon-Yellows 16 to 0…that cold, wet November day in 1894.”

It’s one of the nation’s oldest football rivalries and only three current competitions have lasted as long on the West Coast. It ranks fifth nationally with the most games played. Now, since I started this blog in 2011, I have carefully stayed away from political topics other than during the pandemic, strongly supporting vaccines and mask wearing – although I consider these to be public health issues rather than in the political realm.

That said, and at the risk of alienating and possibly losing some Beerchaser followers, I’m going to make a case for possibly an unpopular position on the nomenclature for this rivalry.

As reported by ESPN on 7/26/20 in an article “Oregon, Oregon State dropping ‘Civil War’ name for rivalry games.”

“Changing this name is overdue as it represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery,’ Oregon State president Ed Ray said in a statement. ‘While not intended as reference to the actual Civil War, OSU sports competition should not provide any misconstrued reference to this divisive episode in American history.” (emphasis added)

It should be noted, that a new name has not since been adopted and the primary suggestion to this point is “The Platypus Bowl.” (Yeah Right!). As Oregonian Columnist, John Canzano stated in his piece on 11/22/21 entitled, “Ducks-Beavers rivalry game doesn’t just need name — it needs a purpose,” “Get right on it. Because this no-name stuff is a no-win thing.”

I’m not sure that I concur with Canzano’s suggestion that the schools sell the naming rights to the clash. (* See external photo attributions at the end of the post.)

The Platypus Bowl?? Give me a break! *1

Now, I personally, would not suggest for a second that equating a football game between two State schools to the tragedy of the War Between the States would be appropriate. And other than some frothy and probably suds-induced rhetoric years ago at the start of the rivalry making the comparison, I don’t believe that analogy holds.

It’s antiquated and the controversy arose in 2020 because of divisions in the US. The discord has even caused rioters in Portland to topple an historic downtown statue of Abraham Lincoln – it hasn’t been restored to this date.

The State of Oregon has a troubled past when it comes to race, and the issues fomenting the riots (at least initially) are serious and compelling. By acquiescing, however, and renaming a “gridiron battle” as a symbolic gesture, do we exacerbate the split rather than putting this contest in perspective for what it is – a fun and exciting intrastate rivalry?

Can one really compare an annual football game between Beavers and Ducks from Corvallis and Eugene to the epic and tragic Battles of Antietam, Shiloh, Bull Run or Chancellorsville? It can also be asserted that “civil war” is a generic term referring to two or more fighting armies or competing entities from within the same country or nation.

I would suggest that putting forth this analogy is an inferential leap that if pursued further might suggest that the Apple Cup in Washington between the University of Washington and Washington State – a rivalry dating back to 1900 – be renamed because of inappropriate religious implications – The Garden of Eden and forbidden fruit:

“The (forbidden) fruit has commonly been represented as an apple due to wordplay of the Latin word for apple, malus, which can mean both ‘evil’ and ‘apple’….The term can also refer to something illegal or immoral to do.”

Tailgating in the Garden of Eden prior to the Apple Cup *4

Ironically, that Biblical inference may be appropriate this year since both Jimmy Lake, the UW Football Coach and Nick Rolovich from WSU have both been fired since the season started. They may be using their resumes in lieu of fig leaves to cover their (employment) nakedness.

Of course, the trend in purifying semantics could go further – along the lines of school mascots – as has been the case recently throughout the country. While Ducks other than their obnoxious quacks are non-controversial, Beaver are not sacrosanct as documented in a Wildlife Services Fact Sheet:

“Beaver cut down trees for food and for building materials. On large trees, beaver will feed by removing all the bark within easy reach around the tree. This prevents moisture and nutrients from moving from roots to leaves and causes the tree to die. Other trees are lost due to rising water levels behind the beaver dam.”

Questionable Analogies Continued…..

As Eggers writes in his fascinating history of the historic contest, former Oregon Coach, John “Cap” McEwan, who had been an All-American as a West Point cadet and went on to become head coach at the USMA is the source of the appellation:

“(McEwan) was the one who first labeled the Oregon – Oregon State football game as ‘the great Civil War’ in the lead up to the 1929 game in Eugene.”

And it’s understandable how athletic coaches in pre-game speeches, use battle metaphors to motivate their players – especially in football. But let’s examine the thought process to see if the connection deserves some scrutiny in the case at point – especially for those who are literalists.

Take this excerpt from a wonderful and scholarly blog (“Skulking in the Holes”) in a post entitled “That Old Sports as War Metaphor” published by Dr. Jamel Ostwald, a Professor of History at Eastern Connecticut State University. He is qualified to opine on the topic since his teaching interests include Early Modern European History, History of Religion, and War Military History. He also has several books to his credit.

Interestingly enough, although the Eastern Connecticut Warriors (hmm..) have a robust athletic program, it doesn’t include football although students can join the Football Club.

Eastern Connecticut – Football Club but no Football Team *7

Rumor has it, however, that Dr. Ostwald’s undergraduate and graduate alma mater, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Early Modern European History, does have a football program —The Ohio State University!

“The angle I’ll talk about today is one that appears again and again – the comparison of football (or sport more generally) to war. Given the physical and mental damage caused by throwing bodies around after a pigskin, it’s no surprise that football players and coaches will, in unguarded moments, refer to their contest as ‘war,’ with the linesmen ‘fighting it out in the trenches,’ with the need to ‘defend this house’ [from assault apparently], and so on.”

Taking this approach a little bit further, from the site UKEssays in an essay entitled “Similarities Between Sports and War”:

“War is phenomenon which is essentially coupled with destruction, devastation and sorrow and there exist no exception. It is often considered evil and gloomy, too. On the contrary, sport is usually perceived as something that builds character and that it keeps one healthy and is a grand source of positive energies.”

Note: The excerpt above is from a 4,678 word -19 page essay published on May 1, 2017 and seemed to add to the discussion. I can’t cite the author, however, because upon further investigating, I discovered that the site is an “essay mill” – a hot topic in England. These are sites where one can purchase college papers and even dissertations from professional writers.

This topic could be a blog post in itself, and the internet reviews and articles on the various options available to British university students were fascinating (and troubling). At least there’s a thread of connection since we are talking about colleges…….

Futhermore…..

Before abandoning the war vs sports topic and continuing to justify my position about why the comparison between the US Civil War and the Oregon vs. Oregon State game is not intellectually valid and abandoning the traditional title is misguided, I want to further my point a bit more.

After college and the Navy, my employer was Clackamas County for seven years. I worked closely with County Counsel who were my legal advisors when I worked for the Elections Department and then the County Commissioners. I was about the only OSU grad, since most of the lawyers went to the University of Oregon for undergrad or law school or both.

Each year I had a bet on the Oregon vs OSU game with the late Mike Montgomery, who was the Chief Deputy DA. The loser had to wear a tie to work and buy the winner lunch the Monday after the game and be the brunt of sarcastic comments from co-workers. I still have the tie – probably because I was the one who usually had to wear it……

For the last twenty-five years of my career, I worked in an outstanding large law firm (Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt) and two of our five offices were in Portland and Seattle. Since both UW and U of O have law schools, the Washington Husky vs Duck rivalry was almost as heated as OSU vs Oregon.

Before the rivalry games, many lawyers who had onerous production goals would temporarily abandon the billable hour to research and e-mail stupid jokes, make individual wagers and organize firm betting pools (of course, without violating any statutory prohibitions…).

Each year, one would see the same inane jokes such as the following:

Q: What do you call a Duck Fan with half a brain?

A: Talented and gifted.

Q: How do you keep Beavers from infesting your yard?

A: Put up goal posts.

Q: What is the difference between an Oregon State football player and a dollar?

A: You can get four quarters out of a dollar.

The e-mail traffic would be frenetic reaching a crescendo until some of the lawyers who went to Ivy League Schools and were above the fray, would admonish their colleagues to return to more cerebral (and profitable…) topics such as the Rule Against Perpetuities or drafting Daubert motions. (Besides, who can get pumped up about the Harvard vs Yale rivalry.) This type of revelry is typical of companies throughout the entire State of Oregon in the week preceding the game.

So viewing the above pictures of the school mascots and the vacuous dialogue in the examples, go ahead and argue that continuing the name “Civil War” has broader social implications or invites inappropriate recollections of the Monitor and the Merrimack at the Battle at Hampton Roads or is any way equivalent symbolically or otherwise to Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Since I was in legal management and responding to 150 lawyers who taught me to anticipate questions, I would also suggest that in the future when contemplating such actions, the decision-makers carefully consider the following rather than reacting more viscerally:

What problem will the proposed solution attempt to solve?
What individuals and/or groups will be affected by the proposed solution?
Will it have just a short-term impact or effectively accomplish the intended goal for the long term.
What, if any, will be the unintended consequences?

Family “Skirmishes”

In my own family, the emotions over the rivalry are present since I’m a Beav, my wife of forty-one years is a Duck and our older daughter, Lisa and her husband, Jamie, are both Huskies – they met at UW. In fact, Jamie is a third-generation Husky whose grandfather had season tickets for sixty-two years.

His dad, Jon Magnusson, the former CEO and Chair of the Magnusson Klemencic Associates firm in Seattle did the structural engineering for Husky Stadium, the resurrected Hayward Field in Eugene, Martin Stadium at WSU and will be involved with the $325 million renovation of Reser Stadium in Corvallis starting next month.

The picture below is from Beerchasing two years ago where we traded Beaver-Husky barbs while drinking cheap beer at The Caroline a great Seattle dive bar. (In the picture, I had just asked “How many Huskies does it take to change a tire?” Answer: “Two. One to hold the wine spritzers and one to call Dad.”)

Three Huskies and a Beav (Jamie, Jon, Don and Rob)

Jamie traveled from Seattle to Corvallis to watch my reaction in 2015 when the Huskies trounced the Beavs 52 to 7. He agreed that we should leave in the fourth quarter.

In Conclusion

I’m concerned about our country (and the world) and pray about topics ranging from climate change, social justice and discrimination, poverty and economic inequality, drug addiction, homelessness, access to health-care, voting rights, educational policy, the plight of refugees and other seemingly insurmountable issues we face.

But I would suggest that each of us do something tangible about the above crises by contributing our time and money, further educating ourselves about the causes and having a constructive (and civil) dialogue with others who have different opinions. These are more constructive than symbolic gestures of questionable effectiveness.

However, this Saturday – one of the few where the Duck I love will allow me to have Reser’s Chips and Creamy Ranch Dip while drinking a PBR Tallboy, I’ll be watching the civil war game (where the Beavs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2013) and celebrating the joy of intrastate athletic competition.

Cheers, Have a Wonderful and Safe Thanksgiving and Go Beavs!

External Photo Attribution

*1 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platypus-sketch.jpg 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. Author: John Gould – 1864.

*2 Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Abraham_Lincoln_(Portland,_Oregon)#/media/File:Abraham_Lincoln,_South_Park_Blocks,_Portland,_Oregon_(2013).JPG) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Another Believer – 27 September, 2013.

*3 (https://www.opb.org/article/2020/12/28/portland-oregon-statues-protest-black-lives-matter-elk/) Author: Sergio Olmos.

*4 Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden n 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. Author: Peter Paul Rubens – circa 1615.

*5 (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/11962755238966344/) Fernanda Gomes saved to Christmas – http://pbs.twimg.com)

*6 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McEwan#/media/File:John_McEwan.jpg) This media file is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Brown Brothers – Photographer – 1916.

*7 Eastern Connecticut State University Website (https://gowarriorathletics.com/index.aspx)

*8 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BennyBeaverPhoto.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Flickr user “VRC Jeremy” – 2 March 2008.

*9 Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Duck#/media/File:The_Oregon_Duck_in_2011.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Ray Terrill – 19 November 2011.

*10 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads#/media/File:Battle_of_Hampton_Roads_3g01752u.jpg) Artisit: Kurz & Allison.

*11 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman%27s_March_to_the_Sea#/media/File:F.O.C._Darley_and_Alexander_Hay_Ritchie_-_Sherman’s_March_to_the_Sea.jpg) Artist: F.O.C. [Felix Octavius Carr] Darley, (1822-1888).

FDW — Beerchaser of the Quarter – Part II

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

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

Besides reviews of bars and breweries, each quarter I select an individual or group as my Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter. This “honoree” may or may not have anything to do with bars or beer, but have an interesting story. Past designees have included war heroes, academicians, athletes, lawyers, musicians, media personalities and two Catholic priests. My Dad, F. Duane Williams, is my latest Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter.

For a complete list from the ten years of this blog see: https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/

In the first post about my dad, Duane Williams (FDW) and his wife Frannie, I related how they met while working for American Airlines in New York City, got married, lived in Merrick, Long Island, New York and welcomed their first two children – Lynne and Don (now known as Thebeerchaser) before moving to a suburb of Philadelphia where their third child, Garry, was born.

On my forth birthday, we moved to Madeira, Ohio – a suburb of Cincinnati – where two years later, the fourth child, Rick, was born. Thus began the ten-year Ohio chronicle of an active, middle-class family with the dad working as a salesman for Bigelow Carpets and the mom, working at home to raise four active kids.

A Strong Foundation

While we were young, our parents strived and sacrificed to both ground us and educate us to the world around us. Tommy, a beautiful collie was our first dog, who eventually went to a farm – a real one not the proverbial one in the sky – because he chased cars down Miami Ave on which we lived.

We went to church at the Madeira First Presbyterian Church – only about five blocks away where I also went to kindergarten. (The Church still sponsors a Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop). All of us attended Miami Hills Grade School. The first memory from that period is when I received a misguided accolade from my kindergarten teacher. The conversation at home went like this:

Frannie: Donald, we’re proud of you. Your teacher, Mrs. Colter, told us how polite you are because you always remove your hat before you come into the room with the other children. She said that you are the only boy that does that.

Don: Mom, I hate that dumb hat. The only reason I take it off is because I don’t want anyone else to make fun of me because of the way it looks.

Scouts

A key influence in all four kids’ lives was Scouts – Brownies for Lynne and Cub Scouts for the three boys. And my parents were active participants – most notably, Frannie, who was the epitome of a Cub Scout Den Mother, not one who just babysat while the young kids played games, but a teacher and mentor.

The two photos below from the Oregon City Enterprise Courier were not from Madeira, but after we moved to Oregon and Mom continued her Den Mother tradition – this time with Rick. It shows her taking the den on a tour of the historic McLoughlin House.

America the Beautiful

One strong memory is from one of the quarterly Pack meetings – an evening affair where all the Dens in the Pack – kids and their parents – attended about a ninety minute celebration of Scouting and current activities. At the beginning of each meeting one Den would be responsible for the opening ceremony and they were usually pretty perfunctory.

However, Frannie, going back to her American Airline days, resurrected some large photographic posters from an ad campaign highlighting the beauty of America. As “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” was played, the Cubs from our Den walked out one-by-one in sync with the lyrics, each carrying one of the posters as a large spotlight shined on the expansive sky, the amber grain field, the purple mountains and the alabaster cities, etc.

Even as a seven-year old, I still have a vivid memory of the crowd of about seventy-five sitting in stunned silence until the end of the patriotic song —– then a spontaneous standing ovation broke out and lasted for over a minute!

The Kite Contest

Dad was a very successful sales representative and enjoyed interacting with the people he met. That said, he could have been an outstanding engineer, teacher, lawyer or newspaper reporter given his intellect, creativity and enthusiasm.

The first encounter I had with his engineering prowess was at the Annual Cub Scout Kite Contest. This traditional event was a big deal and a lot of cubs and their dads built home-made kites which were entered in a fly-off at the football field of Madeira High School.

Dad got the butcher paper, string, thin wooden dowels, balsa wood and then we cut a bunch of old sheets for the tail. We were concerned because the day of the contest, there was a pretty strong wind.

No frill – homemade design *5

A whistle started and kites went up (not all of them….) and flew for fifteen minutes to see which one could fly the highest – they marked the string at the end whistle and measured once they were back in.

Well, my kite took off like a bat from hell (even though I didn’t know what that expression meant at that age.) It quickly soared yards ahead of any of the others and a small crowd gathered around to watch. Dad stood beside me with a big smile on his face!

The fruits of my first victory in life.

In light of what they saw, the leaders decided that they did not need to measure – the winner was obvious and at the next Pack meeting I was presented with a baseball bat – the first place prize.

Thrilled with the result of the first contest, Dad decided that we would go bigger the next year and we built a “super-kite” in the garage that was at least four times bigger than the kite shown in the picture above. The wooden cross-bracings on the back of the kite were elaborate and probably stuck out two-feet from the horizonal and vertical axis of the kite.

We did not have the chance for a test flight and the kite was so big, we could not transport it in the car, so on the day of the contest, so we walked it about a mile down Miami Avenue to the football field. It caused some major gawking along the way.

A Grand Experiment in Aeronautical Engineering…*6

A majority of the spectators gathered around our end of the contestants to see if this contraption would even get off the ground. Well, it did and gained altitude very quickly. Like the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, however, it was short-lived, although lasting about ten times longer than the 3.5 first flight of the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk. Our kite had a catastrophic end.

When it was about fifty yards up, a large wind gust blew in and the kite with a loud and sudden snap -clearly audible on the ground – folded in two (vertically) and nose dived into the end-zone of the Madeira Mustangs.

I looked over at FDW and he had the same smile as he did the year before when we won first place.

The VW Microbus

In subsequent posts, I will relate what an integral part the Volkswagen Micro-bus was to FDW’s work and recreation, but the story started in about 1953. As related in History.com:

“In the 1950s, the Volkswagen arrived in the U.S., where the initial reception was tepid, due in part to the car’s historic Nazi connection…The micro-bus, with its boxy, utilitarian shape and rear engine, went into production. .”

Dad saw how the new vehicle could accommodate his carpet samples, his four kids, save a lot of money on gas and he loved the design including the engine in the rear. It was only 36 horsepower and had no gas gauge. (You flipped a lever to access a one-gallon reserve tank). I remember discussing the VW with him years later and the conversation went like this:

FDW: VW busses are so much safer with the rear engine. If you get hit head on, you don’t have your engine pushing through into the passenger compartment.

Don: “Yeah right, Dad. If you get hit head on, it’s the other vehicle’s engine that’s going to be in your lap.”

Our red VW bus was one of the initial five in Cincinnati, Ohio and definitely the first one to have passenger seat belts. American automakers didn’t begin including seat belts in their cars until 1960 and in 1968 the federal government mandated that all new cars include seat belts at all seating positions. (https://itstillruns.com/history-seat-belts-5110697.html).

But as an example of Dad’s creativity and concern for the safety of his family, he contacted one of his former colleagues at American Airlines, purchased eight seat belts and installed the airplane restraints on our VW bus!

Activities as a Kid

Although I now realize the benefit, I sometimes would get mad about some of the efforts to expose us to culture. For example, the three oldest all went to tap dance lessons which unfortunately had an annual recital. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but they made us put on lipstick to look better in the bright lights. I revolted in third grade and my dance career ended.

Garry looks a lot happier in the photo below at this recital where they danced to “Me and My Teddy Bear.”

Party Wagon (what a dumb title!) was much better, but still very mundane. Fifth and sixth graders could sign up for this weekend class where we were taught how to dance, the waltz, fox-trot, cha-cha-cha and jitterbug. We would line up across from the girls and walk across the room and inquire “May I have this dance?”

I do have to admit that some of that stuck with me and made my two daughters a lot less embarrassed than they otherwise would have been at the traditional Father/Bride dance at their weddings.

Another example was art school at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Mom or Dad would drive us the 45-minutes into Cincinnati for this three-hour Saturday morning event. Half of it would be painting or doing elementary art work and the other half would be watching movies about famous art notables.

I hated the art part because my artistic talent is about as good as my current skill on home improvement projects. While the six months of this enlightening activity did not improve my ability to draw, it did teach me to be innovative (and possibly deceptive…).

They divided each class in half and the first group would go to the basement auditorium to see the movies while the second group undertook the creative pursuits. I would leave my group after we saw the movie and hit the restroom. As the other group walked to the auditorium I joined the tail end of that group and saw the movies again – thus avoiding watercolors and chalk.

Cincinnati Art Museum – Scene of the First Great Deception…*10

I guess I also learned a lot (and retained more than the other kids) about Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Picasso…..At the end of the six-month classes, I felt a little guilty and told Dad what I had done. I can still remember the smile on his face as he asked me if I thought that was the right thing to do.

Upon Refection….

Perhaps we don’t fully realize the time and effort our parents spent on our behalf until we have our own kids. Shuffling them to church choir practice, soccer games, scout meetings and engaging them about their experiences in these activities to see how things are going. Even with four kids, my parents were always fully engaged in this regard.

I’ll cover some of the highlights and why FDR and Frannie were such a great duo in future posts.

Cheers!

********

External Photo Attribution

*1 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_view_of_plane_propeller_and_clouds_from_window.jpg). Llicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

*2 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grain-field.jpg) L Author: Go2anna.

**3 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocky_Mountains.jpg Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: T Voelker – Winter 1994.

*4 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SanFrancisco_from_TwinPeaks_dusk_MC.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. Author: Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl – 27 October , 2006.

*5 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Origami_kite_base.svg) Author: Ftiercel.

*6 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fier_Drake_(1634_kite_woodcut).png

* 7 *6 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kombi_(4300860191).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Diogo Rodrigues Gonçalves from São Bernardo do Campo, Brasil – 24 January, 2010.

*8 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airplane_seat_belt_2.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Daniel Schwen – 2 August, 2007.

*9 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phenakistoscope_3g07690d.gif) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Eadweard Muybridge’s Phenakistoscope: Urheber: Eadweard Muybridge, 1830-1904

*10 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_Art_Museum,_Eden_Park.jpg) Llicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Greg Hume (Greg5030) – 21 January, 2008

Facebook Page – Madeira Silverwood Church (https://www.madeirachurch.org/community)

Autumn Oscillations

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

Oscillation is defined as the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation besides the old-fashioned fan above, include a swinging pendulum and alternating current. Wikipedia

And at least for Thebeerchaser that seems to describe events over the last ten months after we survived 2020 – a year we all want to forget. The swings in COVID statistics at one point in 2021 appeared to be more optimistic only to repeatedly regress.

Even my Oregon State Beavers and the Portland Trailblazers seem to vary from strong and compelling performances one week to lackluster and somewhat uninspired play the next. (The Beavs were on a roll after a great victory over Utah, but then shot themselves in their digitized front paws in Berkley on Saturday in a bad loss to California.)

Beavs shoot themsleves *2

My heart goes out to the small business owners – most notably in the hospitality industry, who have optimistically reopened only to be repeatedly shut down again or living with restrictions that affect profitability while they try to hire enough help to stay open and cope with diminished supply chains.

Regardless of whether its politics, the weather, educational or public health policy or my inclination to exercise on a regular basis and have a reasonable diet, it seems that issues have swung from one pole to the other.

The exception may be the stock market and my desire to Beerchase at new watering holes once again.

But at least for this blog post, I’m going to shift back and forth – oscillate if you will, from bars and breweries to corporate myopia, etc. I will start with some positives such as the suggestion by author Colson Whitehead in his novel, The Noble Hustle that we “drink hormone-free, humanely slaughtered beer. Eat micro chicken. Compare sadnesses. Things of that sort.”

The Evolution of Darwin’s…

And I was pleased to see that in spite of the pandemic, adverse weather (It’s been raining since the 4th of July…”) and other challenges, one of my favorite dive bars is back in operation and thriving. Darwin’s Theory in Anchorage Alaska that we visited in 2014 is a watering hole with tradition and class:

“(Darwin’s celebrated its 40th year of existence. It was exactly forty years since the doors opened on Thursday, September 10, 1981. Darwin (an Oregon State grad) was 37 years old at the time and has been the only male Bartender since.”

Farewell Henry…!

Contrasting the good news from Alaska, is the bad news from Oregon: “Legendary Weinhard’s Beer to be Discontinued.”

“Henry’s Private Reserve, once the pride of Northwest beer drinkers and hailed by many as Oregon’s first craft beer is being discontinued by current owner Molson Coors.”

How Molson Coors rather than the Blitz Weinhard Brewery came to be the decision maker is another sad story and trend in beer production.

Blitz Weinhard was one of our favorite college beers in the late sixties and early seventies and then the Wessinger Brothers, great-great grandsons of the founder of the Portland brewery, sold it to Pabst in 1979. It subsequently was sold to Strohs before being acquired by Molson Coors. (This paragraph provides a story in itself of a sad trend in independent brewing.)

According to one beer expert and author:

“….after production was moved elsewhere, (Henry’s) had not been what it was at one time. The quality rally deteriorated. It’s a common story when these popular brands get bought; they find a way to cut corners. We still see it when craft beers today get bought by big beer.”

Moda Health – “Be Better” – Maybe Next Year?

Earlier this year in a March blog post, I expressed my chagrin at the frothy rhetoric of Portland Trailblazers and Moda Health for their ongoing campaign called “Moda Assist”. The Blazers and the health-care corporate giant (in the case of Moda, a “non-profit” corporate giant….)” magnanimously” each contribute $10 for every assist the Trailblazers make in the regular season.

In 2019, the Blazers finished last in the NBA with this statistic and in 2020, 29th of the thirty NBA teams, averaging 20.4 and 21.4 per game respectively. For you math wizards, that means the two corporations combined shelled out about $32,000 for a regular eighty-game season (although the last 2020-1 season was shortened because of COVID).

I reminded readers that the arena naming rights for the former Portland Rose Garden, according to a 2012 Lund Report, “Moda expects to pay out $40 million for those naming rights. Moda paid the Blazers approximately $40 million over a ten-year period for the naming rights.“ The story was covered locally in Oregon LIve.

$40 Million for Naming Rights to the Blazers *6

Well, with the economy chugging away again, I was not surprised to see a recent headline entitled, “Moda Health Signals Its Financial Woes Are Behind It.” The Oregonian article states:

“Thanks, in part, to the proceeds of Moda’s $250 million US Supreme Court victory (in 2020) over the federal government, the company closed a deal to buy back the equity stake it had sold to a California dental company.”

So 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.

“Be better” – as long as it does not affect profitability….. *7

Perhaps restating some of the info from Gametime.com. a supplier which advises communities on playgrounds, may reinforce my feeling of righteous indignation about this program:

“You should budget around $1,000 per child. That makes the average cost of playground equipment between $15,000 and $50,000. If you are looking for a larger play structure with inclusive (accessible) features or a custom design, set a budget closer to $150,000.” (Emphasis provided – Mar 12, 2020).

Accolades to Oregon City Brewing

Since Oregon City was my home for almost twenty years and I still live right across the Willamette River, I was pleased to see that Oregon City Brewing Company in September ranked seventh among the nation’s top ten breweries at the 2021 US Open Beer Championship.

According to a September 6) press release: “

“Breweries from Antioquia, Columbia to Columbia, South Carolina sent more than 8000 beers representing over 140 different styles to the 2021 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Today, the U.S. Open Beer Championship announces the medal winners and Grand National Champion.”

It has been a few years since I’ve been at OC Brewing although in the last year, I’ve made four visits to a great new bar with food courts right across the street – Corner 14, which I reviewed a few months ago.

Last time I was there, OC Brewing, which opened in 2014, did not have it’s own food – it was a cooperative arrangement for a few items from Olympic Provisions, there was minimal space inside and the outside patio was not impressive. That said, we loved the Elevator IPA which was then their flagship beer.

The Elevator goes up AND down. Let it push your buttons. *12

This family-owned brewery with a great story has since made impressive strides, however, and has improved their outside seating, developed a good menu and has a very robust tap list. According to Willamette Week:

“….their new beer garden and food cart pod should begin operating in late November (2021). Earlier this year, the business began converting three 7,000-square-foot gravel parking lots surrounding the taproom.”

They now have about forty beers on tap including their five medal winners from the US Open Beer Championship – Desideratum (gold) – Beast of Burton (gold) – Very A Gris able (silver) – Coming to Fruition Marionberry (silver) and Coming to Fruition Cherry (bronze).

Creative expansion is also planned for a location in Canby – about nine miles south according to a a September 9th New School Beer post. Following the example of Steeplejack Brewing in Portland which restored an historic church, OC Brewing will

“…be officially taking over the former Canby Public Library, vacant since 2016, renaming it The Canby Beer Library, and expanding its brand with a taproom serving 40+ beers, a space for a barrel-aging program, a cidery, as well as spaces for other tenants, including restaurants, to fill the huge space.”

Now the top-ten ranking in the Beer Championship is evidently focused strictly on beer quality rather than the overall ambiance of the establishment because the Brewery still has a way to go including making some improvements in its website. That said, it’s a great sucess story to this point for its founder, Bryce Morrow and their skilled Brewmaster, David Vohden.

I will be looking forward to visiting and will report…….

Leaving on a Positive Swing of the Pendulum

Since I took a shot at two corporations above (Trailblazers and Moda Health), I will wind down with a shout out to an Oregon corporation which brings good cheer to countless travelers along Oregon Highway 18 each fall. From a blog “Unusual Places“:

“In 2011, two Hampton Lumber employees decided to create an arboreal design that would evoke joy in every person who saw it. Dennis Creel and David Hampton designed a smiley face similar to an emoji that would greet motorists as they drove through rural Oregon.

Creel and Hampton created the smiley face by planting a mixture of larch—which is a type of fir tree that turns yellow in the fall—and evergreen Douglas fir trees. Larch trees form a circular face, and Douglas fir trees form wide, happy eyes and a smiling mouth.

Raise a mug to Hampton Lumber. We love seeing the pumpkin when we drive to the beach in Lincoln City.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

*1 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric_Oscillating_Table_Fan_by_Emer) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926.

*2 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver#/media/File:Picture_Natural_History_-_No_40_41_42_-_Beaver_feet_and_tail.png) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926. Author: Mary E. C. Boutell 1869.

*3 (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Oscillating_pendulum.gif) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Ruryk 19 April 2011.

*4 Wikimedia Commons: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Brewing_process_chart_%28no_text%29.svg) Lhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en. Author: Amitchell125 21 July 2019.

*5 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weinhard%27s_Brewery_(Clohessy_and_Strengele,_1890).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 Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17. Author: Clohessy & Strengele 1890.

*6 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moda_Center_at_night.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Parker Knight from Portland, Oregon, USA 11 November 2016.

*7 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basketball_02.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:James_Moore200 3 February 2021.

*8 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.

*9 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.

*10 – 12 Oregon City Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/oregoncitybrewing/photos/4192492017466267) Oregon City Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/oregoncitybrewing/photos/a.721502207898616/1328526310529533)

*13 -14 Unusual Places: (https://unusualplaces.org/smiley-face-forest-oregon/)