Ambling in April

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 In the last several posts, I’ve highlighted a few breweries (Baerlic, Ferment and Thunder Island) and two great bars (Holmans’ Bar and the Hi-Top Tavern).  This edition of Thebeerchaser will just take a miscellaneous stroll through some random musings and relate a great week-long trip to Kauai in late February.

Upon returning, my wife and I decided that for the rest of March and April, we wouldn’t drink alcoholic beverages except on weekends (Friday and Saturday). This may not seem like much of a sacrifice, but I often enjoy a gin martini on weeknights while watching the Portland Trailblazers. (There were times when it assuaged the pain…).

And I have to say, besides ingesting fewer calories, the few non-alcoholic beers I’ve had are pretty good.  It’s a trend.  According to an article last month in The Beer Connoisseur:

“Non-alcoholic beer is booming as more consumers seek flavorful, alcohol-free options for social drinking and wellness.”

External photo attribution at the end of the post (#1)

Adapting with the times…..
“Sure Buddy”

I wondered what the reaction would be in the first dive bar I requested one and thought the conversation might go like this:

Beerchaser:  “I’d like a pint of your best non-alcoholic beer.”

Bartender:      “Sure buddy.  You want to show me some fake ID?”

And Speaking of Kaui….

Kauai is our favorite Hawaiin Island and we had perfect weather.  Besides just relaxing on the beach, we explored the island.

And speaking of relaxing, one of the best methods was on the beach – with a cold brew or an exotic drink with a little umbrella in it – reading a good novel.  And that raises a good news – bad news situation.

The good news was that I got immersed in Warren Easley’s, last novel Deadly Redemption – a great read. The bad news is that I finished it and have now enjoyed all ten of his books. There aren’t currently any new Cal Claxton novels to read.

Friends had recommended an interesting and unique way to see the sunset on the north part of the island.  We would certainly recommend the two-hour sunset golf tour on the Princeville Makai Golf Course. It was well worth the $60 per person fee.

There were about nine golf carts – each seating two – and the charismatic golf pro led the entourage with about six stops where he related the history of the island and other great anecdotes. 

We saw amazing natural habitat including several fascinating albatross families and just reveled at what is a beautiful (and incredibly challenging) golf course.

“The final stop on the tour is truly one of the most stunning locations in the world to witness a sunset… our signature par 3, seventh hole on Princeville Makai that makes for the perfect viewing spot….”. 

And we learned, among other facts, the wild chicken population – an estimated 450,000 compared to 80,000 people residing on Kauai, evidently dates back to Polynesian settlers in 1200 AD.  Although strikingly colorful and perhaps keeping the bug population down, the constant crowing of these scavengers is annoying. 

The golf pro also told us about a more recent infestation of large green parakeets when we saw one in one of the trees by the golf course. There are no natural predators.  

“Along Kauai’s resort-studded south shore, thousands of wild rose-ringed parakeets with bright green feathers and brilliant red beaks obliterate hotel parking lots and vehicles daily with their poop. Full of seeds, the bird dung attracts rats. If not quickly removed, it can ruin car paint.

Transported to the Garden Isle as pets and then either intentionally or mistakenly released into the wild in the 1960s, the birds now number at least 11,000 on Kauai, according to the scientists who study them.”  Honolulu Civic Beat – 6/2/21

Given this bleak history of infestations, it made me wonder if the Kauai Legislature might start restricting lawyers from visiting the Garden Isle. (#2 – #4)

Invasive Species???

And on the way back from the golf course…..

Some friends told us about a relatively new brewery we should check out for dinner and beer when returning.  It was a good tip (although how often does Thebeerchaser not have that assessment when it involves a watering hole…).

NaPali Brewing opened in 2023 and is a family enterprise – the dream of Blake and Kati Conant.

“Our journey to create this space has been one of passion, dedication, and a deep love for the island we call home. We started this brewery with a dream to share the flavors and spirit of Wailua with every person who walks through our doors.”

It has an expansive floor plan, good live music and food you’ll enjoy. Janet and I sat at the bar and our bartender, Quade, was very personable and told us the story of the brewery.  I still salivate when thinking about the Poke Bowl I had that night. (#5)

Leaving the Island

As we parked at our hotel on the return from the golf cart tour and brewery visit, we were approached by a couple who I initially thought was just trying to avoid one of the chickens roosting by the cars. 

They stated, however, that they had been staying with some friends who stocked up on “salty snacks” and they were leaving for the airport for their night flight home.  “Did we want them – otherwise they were going to have to throw them away?”

Janet puts rigorous rations on my consumption of these, but I quietly whispered to her that it would be rude to refuse their kind offer.  Did we want to add to the Kauai landfill?  And we were not leaving for another day and one-half.

Chipping in…..The goldfish were for the granddaughters at home.

Since we didn’t order a meal on the six-hour flight home, I enjoyed some Doritos and Lays Barbecue Chips.  They paired well with one creative offering of Alaska Airlines – it’s new Cloud Cruiser Beer.

“(It’s) created exclusively for the airline through its partnership with Seattle-based brewery Fremont Brewing….this exclusive India pale ale (IPA) has been brewed specifically to taste great at high altitudes. It’s served in cans designed with bright and colorful artwork that pays homage to the Pacific Northwest region.” (emphasis supplied)

The statement “brewed specifically to taste great at high altitudes” may mean the intoxicating effect of a 6.5% ABV at 30,000 feet, but I took one can home and really enjoyed the beer just as much at our residence in West Linn, Oregon which is just 105 feet above sea level.

As we got home and reflected on the superb weather we had, I skimmed the Darwin Theory Winter Newsletter named appropriately, “Monkey Business,” which had arrived in the mail. No it’s not a recap of the Scopes Trial.  Darwin’s Theory is one of my favorite dive bars – in Anchorage, Alaska. We visited it when we were on an Alaska cruise in 2014.

Talk about a contrast.  The newsletter told the tale of the weather conditions they faced at the beginning of the year:

“One of the worst snowstorms ever, and there have been many, came through the first week of January. Solid hard rain for two days, winds that reached 100 miles per hour (that’s Hurricane level) followed by a cold front that froze the standing water.  

Darwin’s did something that it has never done in the 45 years of operation, that’s closed its doors for the safety of its staff and customers, the glare ice was incredulous.  Best never to see the likes of this storm for another 50 years.”

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Bartender – Malmö-1992.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  John Leffmann – 1992.

#2.  NaPali Brewing Website (Napali One Year Anniversary -capturedbyjolie-05-3aef4a24.jpg (1920×1280)).

#3.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Green Parrot Cairns-1and (4197620649).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Sheba_Also – 13 December 2009.

#4.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Red Junglefowl by Tisha Mukherjee 06.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Tisha_Mukherjee  – 21 March 2025.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Martin Lipton, McGraw Hill lawyer, cropped.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  This work is from the Bernard Gotfryd collection at the Library of Congress. According to the library, there are no known copyright restrictions on the use of this work. Author: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer – 1979.

Being Thankful

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The beautiful Columbia River Gorge

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

In this time of turmoil – not only in the US, but throughout the world – we have to work to gain perspective at times and reflect on our many blessings.  One of my blessings is my wife, Janet – we had our 45th anniversary on March 29th.  

Janet and I met in early 1979 at an evening Oregon City Planning Commission meeting when I was Chair of the Commission and she was a newly-hired Planning Department staffer.  We started dating and got engaged at the Top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco in September.  

Shortly after getting married, we even decided to attend graduate school together – my last two classes and her first two – Data Analysis for the Masters in Public Administration program at Portland State University.

It was in the early days of PCs so we had to drive in to Portland and wait with other students (sometime for 45 – 60 minutes) to have our punch cards run on the mainframe to produce a printout which we analyzed.

It was our first negotiation of the marriage – the winner would clean our bathrooms and the loser would go down and stand in line at Shattuck Hall….

March 29, 1980

I’m always thankful for the courage Duane (FDW) and Frannie (my parents) had in 1961. After visiting Oregon on a vacation the summer before, they decided we would move to Oregon with four kids – ages 8 to 14 – and without FDW having a job – to have a better life than in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Whenever I drive up the Columbia Gorge past Multnomah Falls and see majestic Mount Hood, I think of the sacrifices they made to make that move as well as remember the first time my family viewed those sights driving west on Interstate 84 to Portland when I was twelve.

So, on our anniversary, Janet and I decided to take a trip up the Gorge to the picturesque burg of Hood River – population of about 9,000 right on the banks of the Columbia River and with grand views of Mt. Hood in the background. Of course, on the way, there was a short stop for a beer and a tasty order of sweet potato fries at Thunder Island Brewing in Cascade Locks.

 Thunder Island Brewing Co.

We’ d been to Thunder Island several years ago, when it was in a rather ramshackle structure with a few picnic tables adjacent to the parking lot and the offerings were sparse.  Oh, has that changed, although unfortunately, their website doesn’t really relate the history except through several news articles in The Oregonian and Brew Public in 2021 – 2. 

The owners’ account is almost always more meaningful and personal – especially when it’s the journey of former homebrewers who followed their dream such as Thunder Island’s husband and wife ownership team of Dave and Caroline Lipps Park.

That said, the 2021 Oregonian article by former Beer Writer, Andre Meunier – updated in 2023 – does a superb job of relating the 2013 origin, the relocation and their current operations. 

Similarly, the September 2020 Columbia Gorge News story by its Editor and my friend, Kirby Neuman-Rhea provides great perspective:

“Owners Dave and Caroline Lipp embarked on a new building project and started a family all within the same year, operating their popular riverside brewery and pub under COVID-19 conditions as they prepared in late August to move from the original riverfront location 100 yards up to 601 N.W. WaNaPa Ave.”

The Lipps had to deal with high winds and the wildfires that swept the Gorge and caused the closure of all establishments relying on outdoor seating.  But the new facility is very impressive – two stories with multiple bars, several dining areas and an expansive patio. (Right after the relocation, the patio was the only area open but was well received.)

Thunder Island takes its beer seriously as documented in Andre Meunier’s aforementioned article:

“Of all the changes, the most important might be the hiring of head brewer Jen House in February of 2021. Formerly of heralded Russian River Brewing, the California maker of popular Pliny the Younger and Pliny the Elder beers, House most recently brewed at Hood River’s Double Mountain Brewery.

She also holds a master’s degree from University of California at Davis fermentation program, and she has brought that expertise to Cascade Locks, along with consistent quality to Thunder Island’s beers.”  (#2 – #3)

How’s that for a resume!

I’m sure the Brewery has won multiple beer awards, but again, their website surprisingly doesn’t mention these.  I did find this after a search on the web – from 2022:

“We are thrilled to announce that we took home our first Oregon Beer Award with a bronze medal for our Mrs. Pierce’s Porter. We’re honored to be amongst so many amazing breweries and medal winners. Shout out to Jen for brewing such stellar beers.”

Our server, Helmit, was great and we tasted several beers and decided to go with a sampler with these four:

(YaYa Juicy IPA, Hatchery Hazy IPA, 140 IPA and Vertical Limit Amber Ale) 

Helmit – a good guy

All were good, but the YaYa – their flagship – was our favorite.  Thunder Island also has a great pub menu.  We ate a shared order of delicious sweet potato waffle fries for $9 and we took a good part of it to go.

On to Hood River

We’ve made a number of trips to Hood River previously and always enjoy the quaint, but bustling, downtown area with great shops, two breweries (Pfriem and Ferment) and especially the walk along the Columbia River. It is outstanding – especially on a warm sunny day when the forecast had been cold and cloudy.  (#4)

We love both of these breweries, but with time constraints, chose Ferment on this trip. It’s a multi-storied building with a large deck on the second-floor sporting plenty of tables.  The expansive open area with a nice lawn in back of the brewery, also with picnic tables, provides additional space including an area for dogs (and kids) to roam, play frisbee, etc.

And the interior is spacious and classy with great views of the River and exposed brewing equipment. We just had time to split a beer and chose the Nelson IPA which rivaled the Thunder Island IPA. (# 5 – #6)

We had ninety minutes before our dinner reservations, so we parked a few blocks from Celilo Restuarant and strolled through downtown Hood River – a bunch of small shops – cycling, windsurfing, outdoor gear, galleries and a classic bookstore. (Janet persuaded me – with some effort – to avoid the temptation to hit the Oak Street Pub based on the Yelp review):

“While walking around Hood River I was looking for a local beer and something to snack on. I stumbled upon this place and decided to drop in. I was surprised to see they had fried Cheese Curds on the menu which was awesome! I was torn between those curds and the nachos.

I went with the curds because, when will I find curds again.The curds were just perfect. The beer selection could’ve been a bit more diverse but it was ok. Support local!”

Janet didn’t accept my contention that dining on cheese curds would significantly reduce our dinner expense. While she looked at some boutiques, I spent almost thirty minutes browsing in the Waucoma Book Store – also on Oak Street – and a very pleasurable experience. 

And I was glad, although not surprised, when viewing the Staff Recommendations section to see nine of the ten novels (all of which I’ve devoured) written by my Beerchasing friend, author Warren Easley – the most recent Beerchasing Notable. (Only Matters of Doubt was missing – the first in the Cal Claxton series and a great read.)  (#7 – #10)

Dinner

As we were waiting for Celilo to open at 5:00, I was preparing to get a photo of Janet in front of the restaurant and then a nice couple offered to take our picture.  The manager was just opening the door and heard me say that it was our 45th anniversary.

And what a classy establishment – sparkling interior, great bar, friendly and knowledgeable servers and outstanding food based on our one visit. Janet wasn’t extremely hungry and wanted the salmon burger and I gave her a few bites of my New York Strip Steak – perfectly cooked medium rare with “Rosemary and garlic roasted red potatoes, Oak Rose kale, radish and blue cheese salad, horseradish cream, red wine sauce.”

My yearning for cheese curds was quickly forgotten and we took enough home for dinner the next night (we supplemented with our remaining waffle fries from Thunder Island). (#11 – #13)

And as I suspected, the establishment, opened in 1995, is locally owned and operated – the chef and managing partner, is Ben Stenn (photo above) and they have a great philosophy:

“…..the foundation of Celilo Restaurant when it opened in 2005 (is) Ben’s philosophy, ‘Know the source, Know your people, Know your food.’”

We waited to order our drinks until after the server took our menu choices and I was ready to order a dry gin martini (up with olives) when the bar manager appeared with two flutes of champagne and said, “Happy Anniversary.”  Our experience at Celilo was a superb way to end a wonderful trip.

Thanks Celilo!

And to Close on the Thankful Theme….

On March 29, 1980, Janet and I were married in the Oregon City First Presbyterian Church.  It’s been a whirlwind forty-five years and I thank God every day for Janet who has been a wonderful wife, mom to our two daughters and grandmother to our four wonderful granddaughters.  And she’s also a wonderful Beerchasing companion (except to dive bars!)

Blessings and Cheers

Internal Photo Attribution

#1.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons File:Cape Horn, Columbia River Gorge NSA.jpg – Wikimedia Commons.  This image is a work of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.  Author:
Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region – 9 September 1992.

#2, Wikimedia Commons (File:Panorama of Columbia River Shore – Hood River – Oregon – USA.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Adam Jone Ph.D. – 29 September 2012.

#3.  Thunder Island Brewing Facebook Page.(https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1935141349959870&set=a.260315430775812).

#4. Thunder Island Brewing Facebook Page.   (https://www.facebook.com/ThunderIslandBrewing/posts/%EF%B8%8Fhead-brewer-jen-house-says-come-grab-a-pint-of-brave-noise-pale-ale-this-4-abv-/2203374693136533/).

#5. Ferment Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1212973380836468&set=pb.100063714512945.-2207520000&type=3).

#6.  Ferment Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1078275794306228&set=pb.100063714512945.-2207520000&type=3).

#7.  Waucoma Bookstore Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1059900462830808&set=pb.100064325935808.-2207520000&type=3).

#8.  Waucoma Bookstore Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/HoodRiverChamber/photos/t.100064325935808/1372035909517338/?type=3).

#9 – #10. Warren Easley Website ((https://www.warreneasley.com/).

#11 – #13. Celilo Restaurant Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=490672409735957&set=a.490672376402627).

Baerlic Brewing – It’s Not Just the Barley!

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Welcome to Thebeerchaser. If you’re 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. (External photo attribution at the end of the post – #1 – #2)

I loved Baerlic Beer Compnay

During my fourteen years of Beerchasing, I have visited a lot more bars than breweries.  Many of the newer brewpubs don’t reflect the character of a dive bar or neighborhood tavern.  Baerlic Beer Company’s Ranch which houses its brewery and taproom is an exception.

Baerlic has a great story – founded 2014 by Ben Parsons and Richard Hall – two home brewers who became entrepreneurs and have won numerous beer awards. 

They’ve expanded their operations to three locations, contribute to the community, successfully self-distribute and have shown creativity throughout their eleven years. The slogan of Baerlic reflects the owners’ enthusiasm for their craft:

“The Beer Here is Near and Dear“

What the Heck is Baerlic?

I’m always interested in the derivation of a brewery’s name and Baerlic’s website states it clearly:

“First things first, where does the name of this Oregon brewery come from? Baerlic (bear-lick) is an old-English adjective meaning ‘of barley.'”

I’ll tell you below about some of their awards, but it takes more than good beer to make my list of favorites and Baerlic hits the mark on all the criteria.  That said, my assessment is just based on visiting The Ranch – the original brewery and taproom.

It will take return trips to experience the other two locations – the Barley Pod in NE Portland and the Northeast Alberta Taproom both of which look great. (#3 – #4)

Barley Pod
Alberta Taproom

The Space

The Ranch is not overly impressive from the outside, but the interior is laid out in a long and interesting manner.  There are different sections – some with booths, individual picnic tables (also on their attractive patio in the front) and an expansive area with community tables around an inviting woodstove surrounded by stools after you pass a long and attractive bar.

Upon entering you see an area of individual picnic tables in front of a giant mural which appears to be an aerial shot of Portland International Airport. The style is basic – exposed ceilings, ventilation and rafters with bulb lighting and concrete floors and it fits the ambiance quite well.

The Beer

Ambiance and character are meaningful, but of paramount importance is the beer – and Baerlic doesn’t disappoint.  It was identified as one of the best Portland breweries in The Oregonian’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards which stated: 

“Baerlic offers well-crafted beers that effortlessly span styles….Readers love their IPAs as well as the variety of styles Baerlic offers while delivering consistently high quality brews.

Or take the opinion of Northwest writer, Jeff Alworth in his Beervana Blog – one of the most respected national resources on beer in a 2023 article on Portland’s Best Breweries

“Baerlic is one of the most reliable breweries in Portland, and they always have an interesting selection….their IPA game is one of the best in the city—and I consider their Helles Chill, to be a true Portland classic.”

The Ranch had sixteen beers on tap plus their “On Cask Rotating Tap” and their “On Nitro Night Howler Imperial Stout.”  They also have cider and wine on tap plus Kombucha and a “Mela Watermelon Water” which one of our party tried and said was “ripe for the sipping.” 

Some of Portland’s Best Beers

And Doug, our friendly and helpful bartender, was very accommodating while informing us about the options and letting us sample them. Three of us rated the Pioneer Pale Ale as a great pour and another companion had a good reaction to the Noble Stout.

Baerlic is a repeat winner in major beer competitions such as the Oregon Beer Awards and the World Beer Cup – the Olympics of Beer – in 2024 its Night Howler Imperial Stout won a silver medal in the WBC and they also brought home a silver in the Oregon Beer Awards for its Fresh Hop Splishy IPA.

Beerchasing Companions

While I try not to let who joins me at a particular watering hole overly influence my opinion, I admit to a slight bias.  You will note below that five of the eight people in the photo from 2025 on the right (wife Janet, David and Kate Dickson, Roy Lambert and Mary Maxwell) also joined me at Wayfinder (a favorite listed above) in 2023. Doug Blomgren and Chris Hamm were great additions.

Creativity, Confidence and Innovation

Many hospitality businesses didn’t survive the pandemic, but Baerlic came through and the example below from a 2020 Willamette Week article shows why they are still thriving:

“Baerlic Brewing was among that inspired group of entrepreneurs that looked at the cracked, gray parking lot behind its building and somehow saw a socially distanced party.

Although it took several days of cleanup and construction, the crew managed to turn the 6,000-square-foot space into the Bavarian-inspired drinking lawn the owners envisioned—despite the fact that the only original vegetation were weeds filling in the cracks in the pavement.

‘We really wanted to create a beer garden,’ says Baerlic’s co-founder, Ben Parsons, ‘so we had to bring in the green.'”

It’s gone now, but they use the moniker for the event space adjacent to the taproom. (#5)

Where else in a Portland beer place can you walk up to a vending machine and get Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood for $5, a plastic mustache $3, a mystery pack entitled “Find Your Inner Animal” $3, fake dentures $8 or “mystery socks” $8.  (I may have to return to find out what was in empty bins A5 $7and D2 $5.)

Find your Inner Animal!

And if you want to add to your vinyl collection, you can do that in another little nook below some items such as a Rubik’s Cube or The Mummy’s Hand by Weirdest – an action figure – (“The severed hand of horror, long detached from its hideous host, single-handedly searches for someone to gratify its evil grip.”)

If your tastes are more refined and want to buy a classic album, pick up a platter by such groups as The Linda Linda’s – an all-female LA rock group formed in 2018, whose 2021 hit, “Racist, Sexist Boy” went viral (although unfortunately, I missed it…) (#6)

The Lindas

Smart, Adaptive and Customer Oriented Owners

Their space, their beer selection and quality as well as the trappings are refreshing and almost a bit irreverent – refreshing in these days of somewhat sleek, modern and formulaic brewpubs and taphouses. 

It bespeaks confidence in their mission, staff, product and business approach.  I loved the example from Yelp, where I was impressed because co-owner, Ben Parsons takes the time to politely respond to reviews which are critical or find fault with some aspect of service.

One doesn’t often find this approach – in part because some Yelp reviewers have the common sense of a new college grad who decides that importing/exporting is a good career option.

 Ben’s reply to a woman named Lisa R from Anaheim California was admirable – the best I’ve ever seen.  It’s rather lengthy, but worth reading:

Original Response from Ben: “Hey Lisa R., thanks for your feedback! We take all reviews seriously so that we can take the appropriate steps to rectify issues as they arise.

Just so you know, as a business that serves alcohol, we are required to be licensed with the Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission (OLCC) and must comply with their rules or risk fines and/or suspension of our license and our ability to operate. And one of the OLCC’s top concerns is serving alcohol to intoxicated persons…cause you know…liability.
 
….To claim that you were discriminated against is not only a red herring, but also patently untrue…as outlined above. Falsely accusing our staff of discrimination is not only dangerous, it’s also not fair given your actions when you visited.

The good news is that the OLCC has no specific rules against serving idiots. (emphasis added by Thebeerchaser)  So had you come in and just been an idiot—and not proclaimed that you were drunk after admitting you were tipsy—then we could have served you no problem and I’m sure you would have had a great time with your friends, you know cause…that’s what drinking at a brewery is for. Cheers!  (#7)

Ben Parson’s and Rik Hall – Creative Management

UPDATE 3/17/25: Your crew came in and you announced that you were drunk when attempting to order an alcoholic beverage. This is what you removed from your original review: ‘ALTHOUGH I told the girl … I was drunk.’

Then when my bar staff stated that they were not comfortable serving you based on state laws, you go online and falsely claim racial discrimination—which you conveniently forgot to mention in your follow-up. That is completely unfair and frankly, idiotic to claim. If you decide to own your mistakes—and apologize for falsely claiming racial discrimination—then we’d love to have you back! Cheers!  Ben”

A Community

We enjoyed the comradery – not only of our own group, but that permeating the space.  There were families and groups sitting at community tables, people at the bar chatting with Doug the bartender and even a couple sitting at the woodstove – she reading a novel and he doing a Rubik’s cube.  

Drink and Draw – I even talked to a great guy who was set up in the space near the entrance with Wacom – evidently a corporation that sells digital art supplies which had a Drink and Draw event at Baerlic – and you could even bring your kids until 9:00. 

“Join us for the first Drink & Draw of 2025! We’re partnering up with our friends, the Digital Dabblers, for a fun night of doodles, sketches, and community. So, dust off that sketchbook — traditional or digital! — grab a friend, and let’s get creative.”  (#8)

Woodworker Holiday Market – A very successful annual event and brilliantly tied into their business is summarized in the following paragraphs:

“A few times a year, we design and brew beers destined to lead double lives—first as a brewery fresh beer and second as a beer that will age in oak barrels for months or years at a time. This working of the wood, the evolution of liquid and solid, is the foundation for our ongoing WoodWorker Beer Series and the inspiration for The WoodWorker Holiday Market.

The WoodWorker Holiday Market is a celebration of all things inspired, made and evolving from nature’s most honest material—wood. From furniture to housewares; syrups to aged cheeses; jewelry to pizza; coffee to beer, wood has inspired scores of artisan makers in and around Portland. This is a celebration of them.” (#9 – #10)

A popular December event.

Dream Vest Friday – “We don’t know about you, but on Fridays our crew hangs tuff and gets all fancied up in our favorite Denim Vests to celebrate DENIM VEST FRIDAY!! 

The Food

I’ll close with the food, which although limited to pizza at Baerlic’s Ranch, is a real plus.  It’s an arrangement with Ranch Pizza – another progressive Oregon company which has grown substantially since its inception – “We’ve been cutting corners since 2017.”

They are known for coating their pizza with Ranch Dressing and you could get a side of Ranch for $1.50 or a pint for $9.50, but we were content to get their sausage and ricotta cheese which was thick and delicious.

At the Barley Pod, they have multiple and varied food trucks including Flew the Coop Fried Chicken, which beckons me to visit.  At the Northeast Alberta Taproom, they have two food carts.

After visiting over four hundred establishments in my almost fourteen years of Beerchasing, I don’t often get overly enthusiastic about a new one, but “Bear”lic sank its claws into me….

The Bear at Baerlic

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Baerlic Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/baerlicbrewing/photos/pb.100063710403867.-2207520000/1456263527900039/?type=3)

#2. Baerlic Brewing Facebook Page ((https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=481975337269476&set=a.481975310602812).

#3. Baerlic Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/baerlicbrewing/photos/pb.100063710403867.-2207520000/1867794323413622/?type=3)

#4. Baerlic Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/baerlicbrewing/photos/pb.100063710403867.-2207520000/1734435746749481/?type=3.

#5. Willamette Week ((The First Rule of Baerlic’s Hidden Beer Patio Is Please Talk About Baerlic’s Hidden Beer Patio).

#6.  Wikimedia Commons (File:The Linda Lindas – First Avenue – 7-11-2022 – 011.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license – Author: erintheredmc – 11 July 2022.

#7. (StarChefs.com website (StarChefs – Brewers Ben Parsons and Richard Hall of Baerlic Brewing Co. | Portland, OR).

#8. Wacom.com (Drink & Draw With The Digital Dabblers – Wacom Events).

#9.  BrewPublic.com (Baerlic Brewing 2018 WoodWorker Holiday Market).

#10. Baerlic Brewing Website (WoodWorker Holiday Market — Baerlic Beer Co).

Try the Hi-Top Tavern – It’s a “Shoe*-in”

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With so many watering holes to explore just in Portland – other than the standard two visits I try to make as part of my Beerchasing protocol – I usually don’t return to an establishment I’ve reviewed.  There’s just too many great bars and breweries I still need to experience and too little time to accomplish this sudsy journey. (I decided not to quote Robert Frost…)

From 2011 until the pandemic in 2020, which caused a temporary hiatus in my pursuit, I had visited and reviewed 366 bars of which 119 were in Portland.  From that time onward, I’ve added about another fifty of which thirty are in the Portland area.

Although admitting, my post-pandemic count is not as precise, I believe that since starting this journey in fall of 2011, I’ve shown my face in 416 watering holes with 139 or 33% in the Rose City.

And my “return” to the Hi-top Tavern has to be qualified, because my first visit there was in the summer of 2012 when it was named Bottles.  https://thebeerchaser.com/2012/07/06/bottles-the-preferred-alternative-to-a-glass-ceiling/    

Bottles – originally a small Turkish import store – was a nice bar to sample the esoteric inventory of beers and wines which graced its shelves (between 450 and 500 different bottle beers with eight on tap), but it closed sometime in 2019.

Resurrection of the building came with the Hi-top in July 2019 by the Three on a Match Bar Group under the guidance of its principal, Ezra Ace Caraeff. 

I wrote about these bar revivalists in my recent review of the outstanding Holy Ghost Bar – one of five they own and operate besides the Hi-top, the others are the Old Gold, Paydirt and Tough Luck – all of which I still have to explore. (#1)

Bar Revivalists

Bar Revivalists

Memories

Before describing the visit to Hi-top, it gladdens my heart to remember the Beerchasing event at Bottles and County Cork, another Fremont Street bar, on the same day in July, thirteen years ago with colleagues from the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt Environmental and Natural Resources Group.

Brien Flanagan, is still at Schwabe and a leader in that group. Patty Dost, Laura Maffei and Cheryl Rath, who now practice with other firms, also raised a mug at both of these bars – with dinner at Bottles after toasting Brien’s Notre Dame undergrad alma mater at the Irish Bar.

 All have had distinguished legal careers since that day and their expertise in air, water, hazardous waste and other environmental issues is notable. We’ve Beerchased on occasion since that day including a great reunion at Old Town Pizza in   with a number of other alumni of that group.

Bottles in 2012
Old Town Pizza in 2024

I was always happy that they indulged me when I would spout environmental stories and jokes from bar visits such as the old guy sitting next to me at a dive bar who asserted:

“You know it’s not pollution or industry that is harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water.”

I also remember conveying the contemporary version of an old adage about personal development which got shrugs and moans from my friends:

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach him how to fish and he will be dead of mercury poison in three years.” 

The Bar

Hi-top is not going to wow you with its layout or features.  It’s pretty generic although there are some neat smaller spaces, an expansive patio and a long bar with an impressive display of liquor bottles backing it. As stated in a Willamette Week article:

“The first thing you’ll notice in the old Bottles space is its bunkerlike atmosphere, which is both its biggest hindrance and its most admirable quirk. The ceilings are low and the floor plan is segmented into a variety of nooks and crannies, with garage doors and a vast expanse of whiskeys on offer.”

And while you may not come for a unique ambiance, the draw is the superb cocktail choices and an opportunity to taste Single Barrel Bourbon, evidently hand-selected by the staff and flown in from Kentucky.

You won’t see many beers on tap although I liked the concept in their bottled beers including four PBR Tallboys in a shiny bucket for $12 or a Miller High Life Bucket – four in a golden bucket for $12.

The food is also a plus with an excellent sandwich menu and quite a few small-bite and salad options – all at reasonable prices.  You might not be able to resist the $5 Chocolate Chunk Cookie (Brown Butter, Bourbon, Maldon Sea Salt).  I understand it pairs quite well with a PBR Tallboy

* You might wonder about the title of this post and the asterisk after the word “shoe.”  Two reasons – first, I’m doing a lot of reminiscing in this narrative.  And the last and one of the only times I’ve seen “Hi-top” used is in reference to the beloved Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars. (You can pick up a new pair for only $64.99.) (#2)

A Classic Shoe

A Classic Shoe

As I’ve mentioned in the blog several times, my 1966 Oregon City High School TYV League Championship Team wore those sneakers with pride into the State Tournament where, although decimated in the first round by Lincoln of Portland, we made it to the consolation semi-finals where we lost by one point in overtime to Thurston.

My long-time friend and former teammate, John Davidson (#30) who went on to have an excellent run in hoops after high school at Grays Habor Junior College ,and I reunited last fall when he flew up from San Diego to have a free-throw contest at a local grade school. (None of the kids wanted to scrimmage with us.)

It was followed by Spanish coffees at Hubers’ Restuarant and an outstanding steak and martini dinner at Portland’s legendary Ring Side Steakhouse, where John worked part-time when he was a junior-high teacher years ago.

And to conclude on a Hi note, I have to mention my Beerchasing companion at the Hi-top – another long-time friend dating back to the 80’s (I think) when she was a research intern for the City Club of Portland and I was on the Research Board.

Hillary Barbour is one of the smartest and most industrious people I know, having graduated from Reed College, working for many years on the staff of Congressman Earl Blumenauer and then as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Burgerville.

She is now

Hillary is a Beerchasing regular, having visited the Sandy Jug, the Jolly Roger, the Vern and Mad Hanna on previous Beerchasing experiences. (It was a coincidence that the first two initials of her first name are the same as that of the bar….)

Going to the Hi-top was actually inadvertent in that I thought we were going to another bar – the Top of the Hill Tavern – a classic dive on NE Glisan only 3.6 miles or eleven minutes away. 

I’d driven by this bar a number of times and thought it would be a great place to add to my list but got confused with the name and address and gave Hillary the NE Fremont address of the Hi-top instead. (We agreed to a future visit to Glisan Street.) (#3)

Hilltop Tavern – A future visit awaits….

In Conclusion

While the Hi-top was an okay neighborhood bar and evoked a lot of great memories, rather than return, I’ll try Three-on-a-Matches’ two other bars – the Old Gold and Pay Dirt – to see how they compare.

And in a final tribute to my Beerchasing colleagues – a bar joke:

“An environmental lawyer and a non-renewable resource walk into a bar and sit down for a couple of pints. After a while, the non-renewable resource orders two more beers. The bartender turns to the lawyer and says, ‘I’ll serve you, but not your friend, he’s getting wasted'”

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Three-on-a-Match Bar Group (https://www.threeonamatchbars.com/).

#2. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons  (File:A classic Black pair of Converse All Stars resting on the Black & White Ed. Shoebox (1998-2002).JPG – Wikimedia Commons).  I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Hadley1978 at English Wikipedia – 18 November 2006.

#3.  Yelp site for Top of the Hill Tavern – (Photos for Top of the Hill Tavern – Yelp). Photo by Mark S. – July 28, 2008.

Holman’s for History

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In a recent post, I used the term “bar revivalists” to describe the Three-on-a-Match Bar Group which totally refurbished the wonderful Holy Ghost Bar after the ignominious 2017 termination of the Pub at the End of the Universe in the same location.

And that group under the leadership of Ezra Ace Caraeff has done an outstanding job resurrecting, if you will, four other Portland dives: The Old Gold, Paydirt, Tough Luck and Hi-Top Tavern.

That said, the Match Group doesn’t match the premier Portland bar revivalists – Warren Boothby and Marcus Archambeault (hereafter B & A), whose efforts have breathed new life into numerous Portland watering holes and which I’ve loved reviewing.

They include the Vern, the Double Barrel, the Sandy Jug, the Bantam Tavern, the Alibi, the Lay Low Tavern, the Elvis Room, Gold Dust Meridian and the infamous Sandy Hut (known to regulars as the “Handy Slut”). You can read Beerchaser reviews on the ones above with the blue links. (Marcus Archambeault confirmed that they no longer operate the Bantam.)

Most of these would be just a memory if it were not for this entrepreneurial pair. The photos below might beckon you and they are all gems. Gold Dust Meridian was a little bland on the exterior, but the artwork, amazing cocktails and outstanding happy hour were a great combination.

Thanks to their foresight and capital the “Slut” celebrated its 100th birthday in August 2023 with a block party including a mechanical bull and purple gorilla. May the taps continue to flow at the Sandy Hut for another 100 years!

Oh the History

Holman’s rich history permeates the expansive quarters and imbues it with great character.  As described in an excerpt from their website and a news article:

“Welcome to Holman’s where good food has been served for more than 80 years. Originally a small lunch counter, legend says that during Prohibition was a bootlegger’s saloon. Then, after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, it became the “Hello Inn”.

“Holman’s was first opened by the family behind the Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard funeral home of the same name way back in 1933.  Oregon Live 4/21/23 (#1)

The Hello Inn

Now if it weren’t for the bar entrepreneurs (B & A) Holman’s might have met the same fate as many other Portland bars and restaurants after it closed when the pandemic hit.

Rather than a permanent closure, however, a refurbished Holman’s reopened on July 31, 2023, after a three-year closure. The establishment even has its own Wikipedia page.

The categories below will tell you why after three visits checking it out, I would suggest Boothby and Archambeault have scored again. 

The Staff

Ordering of both food and drinks at Holman’s is done at the bar, so during rush times, the bartenders can be a bit harried, but my experience at lunch and mid-afternoon echoes this 11/24 Yelp review:

“Fun atmosphere and the staff/service is outstanding. some of the nicest and best bartenders in the whole dang town.”

Both Zoe and Adam, when I presented my blog card and asked them a slew of questions, were friendly and helpful.  

The Story

As I’ve related in numerous posts, I love bars and breweries housed in buildings with a history – previous other uses and expansion from the original space. Part of the charm of this watering hole is the partitioning into different sections – each with its own history and ambiance – from the bar itself to the lunchroom, to the game room, to the patio. 

Bill and Judy Chase, the owners for many years before the transition in 2023, state on the website:

“When we bought Holman’s in the 70’s, seating was limited to less than a dozen people. Through the years we have expanded by adding the North Dining Room (formerly a part of a Rexall Drug Store), the Game Room (formerly a bicycle and lawnmower repair shop), and our Garden Patio (which was converted from an old used appliance graveyard).”

And where else in Portland (or any city) will you see a mural of the Last Supper in the lone bathroom for the bar – with minimal damage from graffiti.

The Museum Effect

A trip to Holman’s is tantamount to a museum visit.  Of course, there is some of the typical dive-bar bric-a-bric which always enhances the environment, but the stuff on the walls at Holman’s transcends that.  I would love (when I had about two days) to quiz the owners on the origin of each piece. 

Take these two examples of great bars which are now gone, but their legacy, preserved in part at Holman’s will continue their place in the legacy of Portland bar annals. First, the Club 21 (formerly owned by B & A) which was housed in a former orthodox church closed on January 15, 2017.

In spite of the name – not a strip club – just a great dive bar.

One can see the historic Club 21 sign in the game room at Holman’s as well as a number of the mounted wildlife trophies and orthodox church icons which grace the walls.  Evidently, some of it is also at the Lay Low Tavern.

I think the old-fashioned pinball machines, now in the game room, as well as picture with the pup eating the clam chowder, may have also emanated from the demise of Club 21.

But two even more dramatic examples came from a wonderful family bar named Sloans Tavern.  Sloan’s closed in December, 2022.

Take a look below at the cab of the Freightliner Truck, once at Sloans, (left photo below) which is now on the south exterior wall at Holman’s along with the sign and the original awning. It may be one of the only such displays in the country.  From the 2015 Beerchaser review:

“The bar was opened by Bob Sloan and his wife, Shirley in 1979.  The Sloans owned and operated a custom auto body and paint shop next door – started in 1954 and still operating – they specialized in Freightliner trucks. 

As evidenced by the amazing pictures in the bar, Bob Sloan also did skilled body and restorative work on classic autos.  When a café next door to the body shop run by an elderly lady closed, they bought the property and opened the bar. (The entire property was originally a creamery that opened in 1926.)

Now at Holman's

And in what was described in 2012 by Willamette Week as:

“….the best juke box in Portland… you can watch a Chicago Coin’s Animatronic Big Band Box go into action while one of your favorite oldies is played.  It’s one of about ten still working in the US and was manufactured in the 1950’s.  As described in the “WW 2008 Bar Guide”

“The true gem of the place is the jukebox—an ancient machine, it’s capped with a glass dome containing a miniature (eight-piece) plastic band (and singer) that moves in time to the music (mostly oldies).”  (2008 Willamette Week Bar Guide)

While it may not still work and be synched with the juke box, the classic animatronic band at least is preserved at Holman’s.

Preserved from the ’50’s

“Both businesses (tavern and auto shop) closed for good Dec. 30 following Sloan’s sale of the property to developers—they plan to build a seven-story apartment building on the land, and (Shirley) Sloan will settle into a well-earned retirement.” Willamette Week 1/3/22

One of the treats of frequenting an historic dive is also the old beer signs and Holman’s does not disappoint.

Old Guys at Home in an Old Bar

A favorite Beerchasing group of mine comprises seven male friends I’ve known for years.  We first connected as a group in 2023 at the Basement Pub and then a year later at the renovated Sandy Jug (formerly a strip club called Pirates’ Cove).

It seemed appropriate to convene at Holman’s even though none of the group was alive and kicking in 1933 although we’re all at least still breathing in 2025.

At Holman’s in mid-January, two of the group (both retired lawyers) were traveling, but we there were still three attorneys in our group in mid-January. One of the group, Dr. Doug Walta is a retired physician.

Wanting to make my late ninth-grade algebra teacher (Don Gribble) proud, I figured the equation was balanced as one physician is the equivalent of three lawyers.

Another repeat attender was Tom Kelly, who serves as a role model for all of us based on his long career as the President of the Neil Kelly Company and his years of service in public and non-profit causes.  Jim Westwood and John Kelly were also there.

A new addition to our group, who I invited after only recently meeting him, was another retired lawyer – Doug Blomgren, who after graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, had a distinguished legal career in the areas of tax, real estate, construction and development and litigation.

For many years in the Midwest and then in Portland, he represented for-profit and non-profit housing developers and housing authorities.  Doug was also immersed for years in the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPS) litigation when he worked for the Department of Justice.

The main requirement for admittance to this group, however, is a robust (and perhaps cynical) sense of humor and you can see from the photo below (he’s on the left), the initial reaction was positive.

The caption for the photo above should be “organ recital.”  That’s because given our collective longevity, the first thirty minutes is spent updating each other on health and anatomical issues.

When I returned to Holman’s, it was for lunch with one of my favorite people (okay, he’s also a lawyer) who’s a former Intellectual Property partner at the Schwabe firm and now works as an Assistant County Counsel for Washington County. 

John Mansfied has Beerchased at numerous public houses ranging from the aforementioned Sandy Hut, to the Slammer, Mock Crest Tavern and the Tabor Tavern (right photo below)

John had a French dip and I had a chicken sandwich.  They were okay, but not the highlight of my visits and a bit spendy. although the free parking in their lot mitigated it. That said, I plan to return for one of their excellent breakfasts.

Holman’s has created a community and has live music every Thursday, its patio is always filled to capacity during the good weather and some holdovers from when the Crane’s owned it such as Bloody Mary Sunday’s, a Whiskey Club and the “Holman’s famous ‘Meal Wheel’ ….After enjoying your meal, just give the wheel a spin and if you match up the two Red Arrows… your food is FREE!”

One issue that seems incongruous given the business acumen of B & A, is why the Holman’s website is out-of-date and has some erroneous information – most notably operating hours – which are noon to 2:30 AM on weekdays and 10 to 2:30 on weekends. It’s posted by their front door, but wrong on the website. Their Facebook page is also not very current.

Given how many I still have to explore, Holman’s is one of the few bars to which I will keep returning – if only to say hello to Adam and Zoe and Adam.  It’s a Portland treasure. (#2)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Holman’s Bar and Grill Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=670812105094710&set=a.454208363421753).

#2. Holman’s Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=718330103676243&set=pb.100064977793901.-2207520000).

January Jammin…….

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Happy New Year (and) Birthday!

Now I’m not trying to start the year off on a negative tone, but I thought this observation from my file collection reeked with wisdom:

“Denny’s has a slogan, ‘If it’s your birthday, the meal is on us.’ If you’re in Denny’s and it’s your birthday, the chances are excellent that your life sucks!”

Bar Profitability (#2)

I recently read a short article by a guy (probably an Economics major at an SEC school) that stated, “After pouring one shot of liquor, the income from the rest of the bottle is pure profit….”  He should try telling that to one of the hundreds (or thousands) of bar owners who have gone out of business since the pandemic.

To lend credence in refuting this idiot’s assertion, I came across the following which itemizes the actual cost of a martini in five cities.  https://vinepair.com/articles/martini-cost-breakdown/ For context, I mentioned martinis in my last post about the great bar – The Holy Ghost in Portland, Oregon – where we had martinis which cost $14 each.

The article gives the price for the patron at classy bars in five US cities – New York City $20, Charleston $14, Los Angeles $16, Phoenix $15 and Chicago $16. (#3)

More overhead than just the gin and olive!

It then gives an overhead calculation for each city.  To illustrate, let’s just take the operating costs for the Chicago martini at the classy Club Lucky with the price of $16.

Ingredients: $3.23
Labor: $4.64
Mortgage: $0.86
Food: $4.16
Supplies: $0.49
Miscellaneous costs: $0.93
Total Cost: $14.31
Profit: $1.69  (#4)

So, for the guys who slowly nurse their drinks over conversation about the plight of the Chicago Bears, it takes a lot of customers to keep this establishment afloat.

A poignant quote about economists is from John Kenneth Galbraith:

  “Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” (#5)

But if you want to know about economic viability, I advise that listening to a financial expert rather than some guy who probably played linebacker at the University of Alabama is wise.

College Memories and the King of Cool

Followers of this blog may remember a number of posts where I’ve related fond memories of my SAE fraternity days at Oregon State University.  The bonds established during those four years have continued over more than fifty years (gads, am I that old…?).  

Whether it was learning how to study (which I largely ignored in high school) by having mandatory study tables from 7 to 10 each night as a freshman (unless achieving over a 3.0 GPA), we learned about accountability as a “rook” by getting up each morning at 6:30 AM with members of our class when we cleaned the heads or helped cook breakfast.

We learned to adapt by slumbering in one of four twenty-five bed sleeping porches.  The lessons ingrained were not imparted in classes in Western Civ or Intro to Sociology.

And there were lasting memories such as football games including the incredible upset over the #1 rated USC Trojans led by OJ Simpson in 1967 – the year of the OSU Giant Killers.

We can’t forget concerts by entertainers such as Three-Dog Night, Petula Clark and Lou Rawls, house dances with pre-functions, the Inter-fraternity Sing, intramural championships and the Civil War game.  Comraderie with my fellow NROTC midshipmen and even second-term Calculus (not!) are part of the recollection. (#6 – #7)

I even learned from my room-head when I was a freshman that it was cool to blow your nose in a dirty undershirt (he maintained that no-one would ever know) – a practice I sustained for years until the first time I tried it after getting married.  Janet informed me that if I ever did that again, I would do all the family’s laundry forever.

And these friendships have been sustained throughout the years including some great Beerchasing events, attending football games in Corvallis and sadly, memorial services including the last two years for SAE Brothers Duane “Thumper” Barton and Charlie “Buck” Adams where we serenaded the departed bros with the SAE song.

Now, some might say, “Dirt (that was my college nickname), you are living in the past;” however, I would remind them of Helen Keller’s statement:

“So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.”

Now as an example, take my fraternity brother, Craig (The Dude) Hanneman (a former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, who I first met when he came to the SAE house as a freshman on a football scholarship in 1967.  He was involved in football and I in NROTC and with the normal college schedules, we didn’t get to know each other well until winter term of 1968.

Each class slept on sleeping porches with bunks – and we also had four-person study rooms with a desk and closet for each guy.  There was a bench-couch and table at the end under a window where we put the hi-fi so we could play vinyl tunes.

We were assigned these rooms each term by the House Manager and Hanneman was the youngster in the room and I was one class ahead as a sophomore.  I knew he was a guy (with a rural background) from Turner which I originally thought was a truck-stop somewhere in Eastern Oregon or Idaho.

My 33LPs were of popular groups like the Four Seasons, the Mamas and Papas and The Temptations.  I assumed Craig would favor country-western icons like George Jones or Merle Haggard, but on the first days I came back from class, he was playing Dean Martin.

When I questioned him, he pointed out that Dino was known as “The King of Cool” and maintained that I too would learn to love him.  Well, that didn’t prove to be the case, except for one song, which I played over and over while we both sang along – Thirty More Miles to San Diego…(#8)

The King of Cool

I subsequently learned that the song was track 10 on the album “Happiness is Dean Martin” – a title that didn’t comport with my perceptions.  That said, I also liked the song “Open Up the Door – Let the Good Times In” which we adopted as our motto in Room 2 although it had a negative impact on our GPAs.

I also pointed out to Craig that thirty miles north of San Diego – besides being the location of Legoland – was a drive of 16 hours or 989 miles from Corvallis, so the likelihood of us having a beer there rather than Price’s Tavern in downtown Corvallis was minimal.

While his taste in music was questionable, I immediately learned that the Hanneman’s sense of humor was robust.  As I mentioned above, freshman (rooks) at the house could garner demerits from the House Manager for missing or showing up to morning work or study tables late. 

Upper classmen told us that these demerits would be recorded on our college transcripts and could keep us from getting a job or into grad school and eventually heaven.

I still have in my files, the most cherished demerit from those years that was authored by Craig Hanneman during an all-house work party to get the house in shape for homecoming weekend.  It speaks for itself.   

Joel McDonald, the House Manager, was a wonderful guy and after college became a minister.  We were glad to know that this demerit didn’t keep him for gaining admission to seminary…..

None of us knew at that time that Dude would go on to become an All-American defensive tackle and then play for the NFL – first with the Pittsburgh Steeler’s including the playoff game with the Immaculate Reception – which has a Craig Hanneman element in itself https://www.steelers.com/news/a-mistake-that-turned-out-to-be-immaculate

Or upon retirement from the NFL because of injury, own and manage a 200-acre farm and forest operation for seven years before being elected County Commissioner of Polk County, Oregon in 1985.

He followed with a career as a corporate executive at Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser and at the Oregon Foresty Industry Council for a combined twenty-two years. Now, I will probably be admonished for the preceding by my old friend because he’s very modest and tries to avoid accolades, but he was also a great family man.

And while his career achievements are admirable, what endears him to his friends is his sense of adventure and expanding his horizons – that and his loyalty to friends.  Dude and his football teammates ran with the bulls in Pamplona (picture below) has ridden his Harley thousands of miles on road trips on multiple continents and rafted serious rivers.

Oh yeah, there was also his summit of Mount Everest in 2012 – one of the Seven Summits which he completed in 2019.  In fact, he is one of the few members of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame to be inducted for two sports – football and mountain climbing.

I stay in touch with Dude and we have periodic Beerchasings – with the SAEs including the one below from the Gemini pub in Lake Oswego.  

And, of course, Dino and our favorite song comes up.  For example, this e-mail after I congratulated him on the Mount Everest climb:

“Okay, I’ll admit it, all those late-night sessions playing “flinchies” (that’s another story…..) really hardened me up to climb Everest!   And to prove some things never change, you’ll be pleased to know I had plenty of Dean Martin tunes on my iPod Nano to help drown out the noisy wind at night.”        

Flash Forward

On the afternoon of October 31, 2024, I was trying to figure out how to surreptitiously transfer to my desk drawer, some of the Snickers candy bars we had for youngsters coming to our house on Halloween.

While I was in my office trying to keep Janet from seeing my clandestine depletion of what I thought was detrimental to youngsters’ dental health, a text popped up on my phone with the following two photos:

I was aware from an e-mail two days before from Dude telling me that he was departing on an adventure that would take him through Southern California and stating:

“Dirt, I’m driving through San Diego tomorrow night….and leaving tugged a tad at my heart thinking of the good memories of our time in Room 2 listening to Dean Martin and only thirty miles to go.  If I see a road sign that says SD thirty miles, trust me, I’m taking a picture.”

Well, the picture on the above left is not of a road sign, but of Craig’s GPS, which caused him to bring up the golden oldie on the right.  Go figure!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sjrVIU1u1LU

With my elevated mood, I was much more generous with the candy that night than usual.

Cheers and Happy New Year (#9)

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birthday_cake.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author: Fir0002.

#2.Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bright-Field_Lighting.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Kyle May – 17 November 2007.

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dry_Martini-2.jpg) This work has been released into the public domain by its author. This applies worldwide. Author: Dry_Martini.jpg: Original uploader was Hayford Peirce at en.wikipedia. 8 September 2009.

#4.  USARestuarants.info     (https://cdn.usarestaurants.info/assets/uploads/c9924fee793df3d25760cdeea8a7102c_-united-states-illinois-cook-county-chicago-691299-club-luckyhtm.jpg)

#5. 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.

#6. Albany Democrat Herald (https://democratherald.com/news/local/anniversary-of-the-giant-killers-famed-osu-team-beat-usc/article_b8be0757-0fcb-5091-a984-72075eb7d5ca.html)

#7.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Union_at_Oregon_State_University.jpg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: user:Owen – May 2005.

#8. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dean_Martin_-_publicity.JPG)  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Source: Original studio publicity photo of Dean Martin for the film Bells Are Ringing (1960).

#9. Image courtesy of Pam Williams.

The Holy Ghost Bar – A Spiritual Progression

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Welcome 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. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1 – #2)

I’ve been to a slew of bars and breweries in fourteen years of Beerchasing in which the establishment had a previous life – something distinctly different from a watering hole.

These have included automotive shops and garages, drycleaners and laundromats, printing shops and even lawyer offices and houses of ill repute (in one case, reportedly in the same quarters…)  In many cases, the bar or brewery was initially another drinking establishment that went out of business or changed ownership.

Such is the case of The Holy Ghost – opened in November 2022 in Southeast Portland at the busy intersection of 28th and Gladstone.  For decades, it was a funky dive bar – Pub at the End of the Universe – operated by the McCormick family – notable Portland restauranters. It closed in 2017.

“(The developer) has been researching the building and says it seems to have been built in the 1920s or earlier and played home to four or so tenants over the years. It was once a pharmacy with a tavern alongside, and before it was named Pub at the End of the Universe…”  Portland Eater 12/15/17 (#3)

“A haven for all vibration”

“Pub at the End of the Universe has been established for over 30 years by the McCormick family. A haven for all vibration that liked to chill out and be treated like family. The Pub has a unique atmosphere with multi levels and full bar, pool and darts.

The music scene dates back to late 80’s with rock and roll and metal bands opening up the ears and eyes of the Pub….We were creating a place where folks can get together and be creative with the Universe.”  Reverbnation.com

Why the Holy Ghost?

In 2024, I had two informal gatherings with colleagues involved with the Abbey Foundation of Oregon (I serve as VP of the Board).  I was looking for a new Beerchasing venue and thought a religious theme would be appropriate.  

Having already been to the wonderful Church Bar in 2013, I ruled that one out – maybe a good choice because in November, a patron was stabbed to death in the bar (The Oregonian.) https://thebeerchaser.com/2013/12/11/church-eat-drink-pray-repent/so

I also thought that the venerable Bar of the Gods – one of the first bars I visited early in 2012 – only six months after I started this hobby – would be inappropriate so I narrowed it down. (Notice the prices on the BOG menu….)

The Bible Club and The Holy Ghost both get great reviews and had convenient locations, but the latter got the edge because of its martinis.  I met my former law firm colleague, Margaret Hoffman there and it was a good choice. 

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

The Holy Ghost has a bright and attractive interior that has been totally refurbished since the Pub at the End of the Universe days.  The only reference to elements of the trinity in the former were vodka, wine and beer. 

Sid Chi, the friendly Bar Manager, since it opened in 2022, said the bar was named “after some song the owners liked.” Subsequent research revealed that it emanated from The Bar- Kays:

“The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including ‘Soul Finger’ (US Billboard Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, ‘Son of Shaft’ (R&B number 10) in 1972, and ‘Boogie Body Land’ (R&B number 7) in 1980.”  (Wikipedia) (#4)

The_Bar-Kays_1968_press_photo

(In 1978, they had a hit single “The Holy Ghost” that rose to #9 on the US Rhythm and Blue Chart.)

“Your love is like the Holy Ghostshakin’ all in my bonesI never felt such a feelin’In all the days I been round, yeahWhenever I feel the pressure(Jah!) I can’t seem to hypnotize my mind(Well!) Your love is like the Holy GhostAnd I feel like I’ve been born a second time.”  (Genius.com)

Margaret and I are both martini drinkers (me with gin and her with vodka) so we didn’t take advantage of their extensive cocktail/mocktail selection which draws rave reviews.  And the Holy Ghost Gin Fizz may be worth returning:

“We’re really into the idea of the gin fizz. It’s a great drink but no one wants to make it because it takes so long to shake,” Caraeff says, describing the five-minute shaking process it takes to mix a proper version of the New Orleans classic.

So, the team purchased a number of bubble tea shaking machines to do the work for them. It still takes a solid five minutes to make, a fact that is outlined on the menu, but that’s just part of the charm.”  (Portland Eater)

Cocktail “Heaven”

But the gin fizz is not the only innovative concoction as evidenced by this excerpt from Wikipedia:

“Among cocktails on the mezcal and tequila-focused drink menu is a ranch water with infused tequila, a mezcal old fashioned with Cazadores Reposado, and an Altos Plata Aperol spritz. Holy Ghost also serves a drink with bubblegum-infused vodka.

The bar has a 400-bottle agave collection and also serves beer, wine (including sparkling varieties), and low-ABV and non-alcoholic drinks made with drinking vinegars, Seedlip, and syrups. One mocktail has gin, ginger, hibiscus, and raspberry, and another is a whiskey chai.”

Quite often in these posts, I go into a detailed description of the bar, but in this case the photos below convey it better than a narrative.  Evidently, the total refurbishing of the bar was done through a collaboration between Three-on-a-Match Bar Group and Guerilla Development Co. both of which are very innovative firms. 

A principal in the Match Group is Ezra Ace Caraeff – a well-known figure in Portland and former Music Editor for the Portland Mercury.

I always try to visit an establishment twice before doing my review and in November, I returned – again with Abbey Foundation Board members, John Meek, John Limb and Gene Dieringer.

Both Meek and Limb are recent Board Presidents and we affectionately refer to them as First and Second John, although I avoided my inclination of an initial toast of:

“In the beginning was the Word…..”

While the Holy Ghost doesn’t serve food, it shares part of the building with The Electric – a pizzeria and 28 Tigers – a dumpling and noodle shop. There is a nice patio with a fire pit that is very popular with patrons and the social media reviews of the offerings are quite positive.

There’s good street parking available and the only real complaint is that the acoustics aren’t great and carrying a conversation can be a problem, although we didn’t experience that. It’s also sometimes challenging to find a seat.

Portland is fortunate to have the Three on a Match Bar Group which appears to have the same mission as Portland entrepreneurs and “bar revivalists” Marcus Archambeault and Warren Boothby.

The other Three on a Match bars are 

The Old Gold
 

Paydirt

Tough Luck

Hi-Top Tavern

Stay tuned for a review of the Hi-Top which I visited late in 2024 and is another quality Portland neighborhood bar.

Another good Portland watering hole

Cheers and Happy New Year

External Photo Attribution

#1. – #2. Holy Ghost Bar Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/holyghostbar/photos).

#3.  Pub at the End of the Universe Facebook Page (PUB at the END of the Universe | Portland, OR | Shows, Schedules, and Directions | ReverbNation).

#4.  Public Domain – Wikipedia Commons (File:The Bar-Kays 1968 press photo.jpg – Wikimedia Commons).  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Author: Distributed by Stax Records. The Bar-Kays in a press photo from the late 1960s.  – 1968.

Hail to the Ale (and Cider House)

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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 above 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)

West Linn is a suburb of Portland, Oregon – about twelve miles south – a wonderful community as I related in my last blog post – “Thanksgiving Thoughts.”  We’ve lived here for the last forty-two years.

With a population of 28,000, it’s an ideal place to reside. I’d never have believed that when I played sports at Oregon City High School in the mid-60’s, that West Linn (our arch cross-town rival) would become my home for most of my life.

In fact, as reported in Oregon Live, the rivalry has a rich history

“The (West Linn) Lions and (Oregon City) Pioneers will try to win the ‘Battle for the Bridge,’ a rivalry that started in 1921. The game is billed as the longest continuously played high school football rivalry west of the Mississippi River.” 

“With an all-time series deadlocked at 50-50-1 after 101 historic meetings, anticipation is at fever pitch. ”  (Greatamericanrivalry.com) November 2024

(Last year West Linn won 52 to 13 and in 2024, it was a 63 to 0 shellacking in 2024.)

Some high school seniors used to walk across the arch on the historic bridge on the day of the game. (Perhaps some of the Pioneer footballers are now tempted to jump……#3)

The Oregon City Bridge, also known as the Arch Bridge, over the Willamette River.

Now, when I was in high school, the two schools were fairly evenly matched.  The highlight for me came in my senior year at OCHS.  When our basketball team played West Linn at home, we were leading the TYV League, but West Linn had a very good team.   

As we took the court for warm-ups in our cracker-box gym, the Pioneer’s five-person Pep Band, perched on a precarious platform off the balcony, blared out “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (No.1 by The Tokens in 1961).  The crowd went wild.  

We went on to soundly beat the Lions and won the 1966 League Championship – the first time in twenty-one years and went on to the State Tournament. In the last ten years, however, West Linn has become an Oregon sports powerhouse. 

Take a look at their record of Oregon State Championships.

  • Baseball: 1978, 1982, 2022, 2023, 2024
  • Boys Basketball: 1997 (4A), 1997 (3A), 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • Boys Swimming; 1948
  • Boys Track and Field: 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Boys Tennis: 2003, 2004, 2023
  • Choir: 2019, 2022
  • Dance/Drill: 1989, 1991
  • Football: 2016, 2022, 2024
  • Girls Golf: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016
  • Girls Swimming: 1950, 1951
  • Volleyball: 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2021
  • Wrestling: 2023

Those who follow professional sports will recognize the names of these WLHS Alums all within the last ten years:

Payton Pritchard (Celtics – NBA), Alex Forsyth (Denver Broncos – NFL), Jayden Grant (Las Vegas Raiders – NFL) and  Elijah Molden (LA Chargers – NFL) – all WLHS alums – Clockwise below: – Pritchard, Forsyth, Grant and Molden. (#4 – #7)

But I Digress…

While most of the bars and breweries I’ve reviewed are in Portland or throughout Oregon, I have a few West Linn favorites including the Salty Rhino and the Nineteen 33 Taproom.

I revisited an establishment just last week, however, in the heart of the historic district of Willamette which merged with the City of West Linn in 1923. 

I made my first trip to the Ale and Cider House in 2018 and returned on a recent Saturday night to hear our friend of many years, Charlie Rose, and his group, Parkwood play some great tunes. (more about Charlie below)

As described in the City of West Linn’s website:

“This district stands out due to its exceptional collection of Victorian and early-twentieth-century American architectural styles, which have remained largely intact. Its period of significance extends from 1895, when the first residences were erected, to 1929 when construction activity declined significantly, mainly attributed to the onset of the Great Depression and a dwindling supply of available building lots.” (#8 – #9)

The establishment opened in early 2018.  As stated in their website:

“The Ale and Cider House (A&CH) blends the charm of a traditional English-style public house with modern amenities. Originally established in 1915, the building underwent a complete rebuild and remodeling in 2018.

The warm and inviting atmosphere of A&CH….makes it the perfect backdrop for creating nostalgic memories with your loved ones.”

And it has an appealing ambiance with a number of nooks and crannies, a great long bar and a small area for bands and entertainers. Behind the taproom is an event center and also an expansive beer garden – the entire operation is 16,500 square feet.  It’s an amazing part of this community.

They have a robust selection of beers, ciders and wine Their website states:

“Our e-commerce platform allows for our customers to order bottles from our International bottle shop and 32 oz crowlers or 32/64 oz growlers from our 42 taps of craft beer and cider to-go.“

An expansive selection of drafts

Enhancing this establishment is the fact that it is a local family-owned business (7Bev Corp). I talked to General Manager Toney Chay, son of his co-parent owners (Ann and JC) and they’ve thrived since inception in 2015 with exciting plans for the future:

“7Bev is a vertically integrated beverage company engaged in real estate development, farming, production, and self-distributed sales and marketing of alcoholic beverages.”  (#10 – #12)

The Chay family supports the West Linn and surrounding communities and the Ale and Cider House has become a local hub and gathering place. The A&CH doesn’t brew its own beer (although that’s planned in the next year) but their flagship brew is Queen Orchard Base Brut French Dry Cider.

“….with a light, refreshing taste that’s perfect for solo sipping or creating delicious cocktails. Its delicate flavor, reminiscent of Brut Champagne, makes it ideal for any occasion – from special celebrations to casual gatherings.” (#13)

Events

20210519-155204_orig

With their spacious facilities, they can host both large and small groups and enthusiastically support non-profit groups.  The reviews are great as evidenced by these two from Yelp on 6/11/24 and 1/21/23 respectively:

“The team at the A+CH helped us organize and execute a truly special night for our 2024 WLHS graduates. They talked us through food and beverage options and were so easy to work with! We had approximately 200 people celebrating- we had music and games and everyone loved the fun casual atmosphere. The location is truly special with a beautiful outdoor area and minors are welcome.”

20191214-173758_1

“I found this gem of a place in West Linn. Wow, what a great place to hold a company party, a family gathering or other events. This is a fantastic venue for any party!

Food

Rotating food trucks are adjacent with NW local vendors including Bellagio’s Pizza, Kelly’s Tacos and Cousins Maine Lobster.

Entertainment

The A&CH has live entertainment on most Fridays through Sundays ranging from rock, jazz, R & B, country western and folk music.  Every Thursday is an Open-Mic night.

We loved listening to Charlie Rose and Tim Walker’s group Parkwood on a Saturday night.  Their rendition of “Into the Mystic” was the best I’ve heard other than Van Morrison himself.  Their tunes range from Chicago to the Eagles and even the Judds.  Great sounds and they return on December 20th. (#14 – #16)

With the Melnichuks in 1980

A Rose is a Rose…

Now this is not only a blog about bars and breweries, but also about people – interesting and talented ones and that’s why I’m finishing with a profile of Charles Rose II. 

I can make the case that Charlie is a Northwest version of the Renaissance Man although he doesn’t paint and have as full a beard as Leonardo Di Vinci.

He studied Mechanical Engineering at Portland State University and worked for PacifiCorp for four years before opening his own firm – Rose Technical Graphics where he and his team have produced computer-aided design services (two and three-dimensional technical graphics) for thirty-eight years. (#17)

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Design services since 1987

Charlie was a high school athlete, and besides his musical talent, is the type of guy who can build and fix anything from woodwork to video technology.  For many years, while his sons attended West Linn High School, Charlie filmed and edited the WLHS football games video for post-game analysis by the coaches.

But where I most saw Charlie shine was in the outdoors – years of Father/Daughter backpack trips.  Mr. Rose always shouldered the heaviest pack because he carried all the maps as well as the tools to accommodate and dispose of our waste needs environmentally in the National Forests where we adventured.

One of the most memorable treks was our 1997 climb of the South Sister – at 10,358 feet, Oregon’s third highest peak.  The daughters and their dads camped at Green Lakes, before reaching the summit the next day and walking five miles out to our cars by flashlight that night.

I still have memories of the rich, dark coffee that Charlie brewed for us that evening at Green Lakes – also lying awake in the tent we shared until 2:30 AM because of the resultant caffeine high.

These annual hikes had a lasting impact both on the fathers and daughters.

In closing, I might add that those remarkable girls – all WLHS graduates and now in their late thirties – continued their ascents – academically and professionally: 

Their careers include an athletic trainer, a pediatric emergency department nurse, a teacher including a stint in Teach for America, a speech therapist who opened her own clinic, a surgeon and a marketing professional who formed and eventually sold her nutrition-focused company.

One month ago, they held their 20th WLHS reunion where they and their classmates enjoyed the festivities at the Ale and Cider House event center.  Go figure!  (#18)

External Photo Attribution 

#1. -#2. Facebook Page Willamette Cider and Ale House (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=761397615314774&set=a.761397571981445).

#3.  Oregon City High School Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/oregoncityhighschool/posts/the-104th-football-game-oc-vs-west-linnfriday-november-1-at-700pmpioneer-memoria/1147621267371819/)

#4.  Wikimedia Commons (Payton Pritchard Celtics – Payton Pritchard – Wikipedia)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Erik Drost – 15 November 2021.

#5.   Public Domain – Wikipedia Commons (File:Alex Forsyth.webp – Wikimedia Commons) 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.  Author: Petty Officer 2nd Class Joel Mundo – 26 December 2022.

#6.  BeaversEdge.com (Oregon State DB Jaydon Grant Announces His Return For 2022 – BeaversEdge: Oregon State Beavers Football & Basketball Recruiting).   Author: Brenden Slaughter – 2 January 2022.

#7.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Elijah Molden 2021 09-19.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Chipermc – 19 September 2021.

#8. # Historic Willamette.com (Historic Willamette Main Street).

#9. Facebook Page Historic Willamette (https://www.facebook.com/HistoricWillamette).

#10.  Queen Orchard Cider Website (https://www.queenorchard.com/).

11. Ale and Cider House Website (https://www.aleandcider.com/making-of-ach.html).

#12.  7Bev Website (https://www.7bev.com/about.html).

#13.  Ale and Cider House Website (https://www.aleandcider.com/event-venue.html).

#14. Facebook Page Ale and Cider House (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1299189848202212&set=pb.100043336284735.-2207520000&type=3).

#15.  Linked in ((13) Charlie Rose | LinkedIn)

#16.  Courtesy of Charlie Rose

#17.  Crunchbase.com (Rose Technical Graphics).

#18.  Ale and Cider House Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/aleandciderhouse/photos/pb.100043336284735.-2207520000/2205293556449079/?type=3).

Thanksgiving Thoughts

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From the Benedictine Brewery

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. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

What a year it’s been, and the post below is an amalgamation of a bunch of random thoughts and clips I’ve collected.  Although a time of upheaval, we have much about which to be thankful. 

As the photo (above right) suggests, why not raise a mug of my favorite Benedictine Brewery beer – Hairshirt IPA.  Perhaps it can also help allay your guilt while you enjoy a great beer.

Here’s to Our First Responders and Health Care Professionals

I’m extremely thankful for both first responders and health care professionals – not only at this time of year, but every day.  I admit a bias, because both of our daughters are registered nurses (Lisa – radiation/oncology clinic and Laura – hospital pediatric emergency department) and I am proud and amazed at their dedication and expertise. 

I could go on, but these two photos (both from the archives) express it more aptly:

Oregon Health Sciences University is a large organization and gets a lot of bad press, but the patient care we have gotten there from every provider and all staff has been outstanding. 

Dr. Laura Byerley, our primary care physician in the Department of Internal Medicine, who is also an assistant professor at the Medical School is the most notable example.  She is an outstanding doctor and we are grateful for her. (#2 – #4)

The City of West Linn is a suburb twelve miles south of Portland, where we’ve made our home for the last forty-two years.  With a population of 28,000, it’s an ideal place to reside. 

The City Government is effective and services including the Police Department are excellent. It’s across the Willamette River from historic Oregon City, where I lived from the time I moved to Oregon in 1959 and graduated from high school. (#5 – #7)

I met Janet, my wife of forty-four years, at an Oregon City Planning Commission meeting in 1979 and she subsequently became the Assistant City Manager of West Linn, before working in the private sector. 

I’d been impressed with the West Linn Police Department and after we both retired, I decided to try to support them and find out a little bit more. So in 2022, I took advantage of the program entitled “Meet the Chief” and had a wonderful chat with him over coffee.

Chief Peter Mahuna is a native of Maui and a former college athlete (basketball) at Pacific University where he graduated with a BS in Social Work.  He has extensive law enforcement credentials and has been Chief since November 2021. (#8 – #9)

wlpd_photo_102024

I’d always wanted to schedule a “Ride-along” with a police officer and based on the positive experience with the Chief signed up in the winter of 2023:

“(The goal is to) provide an opportunity for the community to see first-hand, the day-to-day workings of law enforcement, including familiarizing the public with the complex and unpredictable nature of police work.”

I rode along with Officer Matthew Goode on a Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  He introduced himself and gave me a tour of the Police Station which is a nice facility.  During that period, we only encountered traffic violations, but I had a chance to have a great conversation.

Officer Goode earned a BS in Finance and then graduated from the Oregon Police Academy before becoming a WLPD officer in 2019.  Chief Mahuna is a big man, but Matthew is  significantly taller as you can see from the photos. 

He’s a fine representative of the Police Dept. and loves his job although he was candid about the frustrations and challenges in serving, given perceptions of the police by many citizens.

For example, our last stop occurred after we followed a car for about a mile that was weaving and crossing the yellow line in a sparsely populated area of the City.  It certainly appeared as if the driver was intoxicated. 

When he could safely pull the car over, it was in the driveway of the owner.  Rather than being intoxicated, the young woman, aged 16, had just obtained her driver’s license and had not driven at night previously.

Mathew cautioned her and didn’t issue a citation, but the girl’s young neighbor came out of her house and chastised him for making the stop in the driveway with his red-lights flashing – go figure! 

He also told me that for every encounter or call, they have to enter in the car’s computer, the gender, race and age of the person stopped which goes to the State of Oregon.   Each department’s statistics are analyzed to determine if there is a preponderance of race from the people stopped.

I was impressed with Officer Goode and it did not surprise me last week to see that he and a fellow West Linn officer received lifesaving awards for separate incidents. Goode, in response to a call on Sept. 11 helped save the life of an unconscious 2-year-old who had stopped breathing.  Chief Mahuna stated:

“You immediately began administering CPR, checked the child’s pulse and began chest compressions. TVF&R arrived and you continued chest compressions working alongside TVF&R in your attempt at saving this child’s life.

After many minutes the child began breathing again. The child was then rushed to the hospital and the following day the child’s vital signs had finally been stabilized.” (#10)

Officers receive award

Life in West Linn

West Linn is an upscale community and has a lower crime rate than many cities. Recent statistics from one data source based on 11/23 figures show:

  • There were 310 total crimes committed in West Linn the last reporting year.
  • On a rate basis, there were 1,154.9 total crimes per 100K people in West Linn.
  • The overall crime rate in West Linn is -50.31% below the national average.
  • West Linn ranks #11 safest out of 103 cities in Oregon.
  • West Linn ranks #4,253 safest out of 9,869 cities in the United States.

I assume that one frustration for officers is the volume of mundane and frivolous calls to which they have to respond.  The West Linn Tidings reports these each week and I’ve been saving some of the best which are somewhat humorous. 

That said, I’m well aware that a police officer never knows when a routine call might be hazardous or involve saving a life. As unbelievable as it sounds, none of these are made up. Heres’ some from the last several years.

10/13/ – 4:55 pm – A woman said a man was sitting outside a church and followed her, so she had to run inside and lock the door.  Police contacted the man who was a volunteer at the church and had arrived a bit early for an event that evening. (#11)

Bank security issues?

6/13/ – 4:22 pm – A caller expressed concern about a bank on Hood Street closing early.

4/10 – 9:54 am – An employee of a bank on Salamo Road called police because of suspicious circumstances.  An occupied vehicle had been in the parking lot outside the bank for a half-hour and another vehicle showed up fifteen minutes later. An officer contacted the vehicles’ occupants who were just waiting for the bank to open. (#12 – #13)

Musical Instruments

7/11/ – 5:44 pm – Police received a complaint about people playing bagpipes on Willamette Drive.

8/4 – 2:41 pm – A woman complained about a husband and wife playing the accordion on Hood Street.

Children and Young People (#14 – #16)

7/25 – 2:04 pm – A missing child was found in a garage.  Apparently he hid there after he was scared by a shadow in the backyard.

3/15 – 12:09 am – Girls buying two cases of toilet paper at Walmart claimed it was for a “school project.”

8/7 – 8:12 pm – A caller said a staff member at an undisclosed location grabbed a child’s tongue and yanked it.

1/28 – 11:48 am – Police received a call about a sixteen year-old who was expressing sexual frustration about his mother during therapy.

But the most bizarre incident has to be demonstrated with the headline from the West Linn Tidings and the news clip.

And just so you don’t think my former residence and crosstown high school rival isn’t squeaky clean, I leave you with this one from the City of Oregon City Police Log:

6/18 – An unconfirmed report of marijuana plants growing in the Senior Citizens’ Gardens remains a mystery. (#17)

The above incidents were culled from hundreds contained in the clippings I’ve saved and I have many more which I may post in the future.  My wife will at least be thankful that I’m finally recycling these!

Happy Thanksgiving!

External Photo Attribution

 #1.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:2010.08.22.150922 Umzug Bierfass Kirwa Sulzbach-Rosenberg.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.   Author:  Hermann Luyken – 22 August 2010.

#2.  OHSU Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=651984720287167&set=a.352160336936275).

#3.  OHSU Website (Laura K. Byerly MD | Health care provider | OHSU).

#4.   Wikimedia Commons (File:Oregon Heath and Science University, Marquam Hill, Portland – DPLA – 6e01f529e825c50a836d4955c257acca.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by Oregon State Archives as part of a cooperation project.  Source: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives – 31 October 2019.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Willamette Falls, Willamette River, Oregon City and West Linn – DPLA – 0649218212d8dc8ee462ef1911a3b29c.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.  Source: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives – 15 March 2021.

#6.  Wikipedia (File:WL flag.jpg – 

#7. Wikimedia Commons (File:Oregon City Bridge, Arch Bridge, Willamette River, Oregon City, West Linn – DPLA – b22b1b5705bedfad1bdb35b488a24655.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Source: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives – 20 March 2019.

#8.   City of West Linn Website (Police Home | City of West Linn Oregon Official Website).

#9 – #10.  City of West Linn Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/@WestLinnPD/).

#11. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Chase Bank branch in Palatine, IL.jpg – Wikimedia Commons).   Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Mysterymanblue / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain.

#12.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Gaita seivane brocada.JPG – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Susana Seivane.

#13. Wikimedia Commons (File:Scandalli Extreme Diva 1.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.   Author:
Zygmusc – 3 December 2022.

#14.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Shadow 2 – panoramio.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  marco mini – 15 April 2007.

#15.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Toiletpapier (Gobran111).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) L licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.  Author:  Brandon Blinkenberg – 9 September 2004.

#16. Wikimedia Commons (File:زبان tongue.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.   Author: Mahdiabbasinv – 12 March 2016.

#17. Wikimedia Commons (File:Cannabis sativa (marijuana plants) (Manhattan, Kansas, USA) 14 (48971448801).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  James St. John – 18 July 2015.