De Files – De Files — Part II

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Thebeerchaser

(This is a long narrative. 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 at the end of the post and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

In Part I of this Thebeerchaser post, I mentioned how my wife of almost 43 years has understandably insisted that I significantly reduce the myriad files in our garage, my office and scattered throughout filing cabinets we own. (That means recycle most of them especially if they have not been viewed in the last ten to fifteen years.)

In the last post I gave examples of material from my employment at Clackamas County and one undergrad college paper with a cryptic comment from a professor – one I didn’t use for a reference in my graduate school admission process…

I worked with lawyers in a management capacity for over thirty-five years at the Oregon State Bar and the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt firm based in Portland’s PacWest Center. So in my first 2023 post, I’ll begin by giving you some glimpses of the enjoyment I got from the humor surrounding this work.

Was it a stressful environment?

Yes!

But one where the tension was eased by jocularity and people not taking themselves too seriously.

244281611_513523260102754_6302127919311030012_n

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

Schwabe had a wonderful culture, shared by attorneys and staff alike and was a major factor why we regularly landed in the top ranks of Oregon’s Best Employers as rated by the employees themselves. There was an organizational sense of humor.

Lawyers are a competitive group and ensconced within the five floors of the thirty-three story PacWest Center in Portland, there was often a friendly rivalry on who could come up with the wittiest electronic missive or response to an e-mail. The same was true in all the offices whether Seattle, Vancouver or Bend.

I have to admit as the COO, I tended to reinforce this trait by recognition of several “Emails of the Year” at our firm’s annual retreat – I’d present bottles of wine to the winners.

The first one I saved from 1996. (Now you know why Janet is on my case!) It was even authored by a tax lawyer – a group often stereotyped as having senses of humor tantamount to the humor buried in the pages of the Internal Revenue Code on depreciation…… (#3)

A comedian’s source book?

I will generally omit the names of the senders in this post (although I don’t think they would mind and their colleagues would recognize the senders).

The one below was authored by a brilliant tax litigator who would periodically send an e-mail to the entire Firm entitled, “Taxes are Your Friend.” These would include an excerpt from the Code accompanied by a picture of a rabbit with a pancake or waffle on its head.

We also had a “junk-mail” address where people could send questions, advertise items for sale or raise other issues not related to client business. This one started with the following inquiry:

Question: Is anyone familiar with how real estate is transferred in Brazil? (#5 – #6)

Response: The entire town stands along the property lines of the property to be conveyed. A representative of the town recorder called the “Schlimph” garrotes a chicken and the children of the village spread the feathers at the corner of the property.

Then the appointed elders (“drelba”) while chanting ancient real estate incantations, pick up dirt clods and rocks and hurl them in the air. Finally, a small child is selected from the crowd and forced to chug large quantities of Eucalyptus Tea and Tabasco while the rest of the villages shout “Go!” “Go!” “Go”.

If the selected child becomes ill, the transaction is considered “closed” and the buyer and seller exchange twigs from the plants growing on the property and go home. If the child is unaffected by the ordeal, the buyer and the seller are sacrificed to the real estate gods in the “Ritual of the Ostrich” and property eschews to the Schlimph. (I hope this is helpful….)

Impermeable?

The one below was the winner at the 2010 Firm Retreat – written by one of my favorite associates in the Environmental and Natural Resources Group. Notwithstanding his feigned disregard for Mother Earth, he’s now a partner.

The Truth – Sometimes Stranger Than Fiction

Of course, e-mails were also sent to lawyers seeking expert witnesses, referrals, case cites, etc. This one emanated from another Environmental Lawyer in 2005.

Bowler suit 1

Employment and Labor Law generated some of the most interesting and often bizarre situations. While the following matter was not one at Schwabe, I added this 1967 case https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/257/468.html) to my files years afterwards as a keeper when I started collecting these treasures.

I was only a freshman in college when it went to trial, but I’ve kept it all these years. Maybe because it portended some of the recent lawsuits involving education and religion – perhaps it’s surprising it’s not on a current docket. (#7)

The Daily Grind…

Maybe there are days when it’s not the stress of legal work, but just daily life that makes one yearn for a highball at the end of the day. This premise was demonstrated in this 2001 e-mail from one of our Seattle lawyers who inquired of his colleagues at 4:06 in the afternoon:

One difference between Schwabe and many other big firms was the lack of a status difference between attorneys and management. They viewed non-attorney managers as professionals – in fact all staff were treated as professionals which helped the cohesiveness and teamwork at the firm.

And Management was often tasked with having to say “no.” We made ongoing decisions on space planning and who received which office, negotiated on annual billable hour goals and, of course, determined compensation. The list goes on…..

Just as the lawyer above, had a toddy with colleagues at the end of the day, one didn’t necessarily need to leave the firm as the daily grind ended. This was the case when I appreciated the chance to have a single-malt beverage with the partner whose office was next to mine after she sent this e-mail. We enjoyed at least one shot of Balvenie Scotch.

Patty Dost (3)

I mentioned space planning as one of Management’s ongoing challenges. The same was true anytime there was a major remodel or a build-out when the firm expanded to an additional floor.

Gaining anything close to a favorable reaction on carpet, paint color or even design of nameplates was problematic. (I could devote a book chapter on the Firm’s Art Committee alone……)

I’m going to depart from my stated guideline and name the lawyer who authored the next e-mail because he was well known in both legal and local broadcast circles and also served on the firm’s Board for a number of years and was supportive of Management decisions.

Jack Faust – one of my former Beerchasers-of-the-Quarters – moderated an award-winning Portland civic affairs television program (“Town Hall”) for many years and was also one of the most respected practitioners of appellate law in Oregon.

He also loved engaging in the humorous revelry and we still recount these stories on some of the numerous Beerchasing Events we’ve had at various Portland bars since retirement. (The picture on the right below was not on one of those events, but from Jack’s law school years.)

He offered these words of comfort to the Portland office in the midst of a major build-out on two floors in 2003:

Faust - Town Hall 5

Head Shot?

It’s not only the substantive legal issues that complicate lives in a large regional law firm. As the prohibition against lawyer advertising prohibited by most states’ ethics rule was struck down in a 1977 US Supreme Court decision (Bates v. State Bar of Arizona), the practice of law forever changed.

Interestingly, three justices (Warren Burger, Lewis Powell Jr. and William Rehnquist) predicted dire consequences. As Powell stated “…..will effect profound changes in the practice of law, viewed for centuries as a learned profession.”(#8)

…Will effect profound changes in the practice of law……

When I worked at the Oregon State Bar in the late ’70’s, the Board of Governors spent a good part of every meeting discussing how to discipline lawyers who viloated the Ethical Rules by advertising.

That changed and by the mid ’80’s, most large law firms had Marketing Directors (Schwabe used the euphemism “Director of Client Relations.”) If a lawyer wanted to become a partner, he or she had to be effective at bringing in new clients. Professional photographs for resumes and to spiffy up responses to Requests for Proposals became the norm.

The aforementioned tax lawyer (see above) often battled with the Internal Revenue Service and offered this tongue-in-cheek response to the following 2007 e-mail from Client Relations. The advice from the Marketing Assistant is also sanctimonious and I’m sure drew some deserved sarcastic responses:

Marketing Assistant: All Attorneys, Paralegals and Managers – our firm photographer will be in the Portland office. Please dress however, you feel comfortable being represented as a professional – some prefer jacket and tie, others in shirt sleeves, still others in sweaters. – whatever represents who you are.

These are color individual Headshots (emphasis added) so take advantage and put a little color in the clothes you wear (a bright tie, a colored blazer or shirt….)

Tax Lawyer: Please do not use the term “Headshot” with those of us who deal with the IRS on a regular basis. It makes us nervous.

The Oregon State Bar

This is a digression from Schwabe matters because the letter below was received by the Oregon State Bar when I worked there as Business Manager. But it’s part of my collection. (#9)

Before getting into the essence of Ethics Opinion (No. 475) issued in 1982, I have to state that I loved working with lawyers from 1974 until my retirement in 2011.

The overwhelming majority of those I met and with whom I worked were not only skilled and dedicated professionals, but people with whom I would not hesitate to have a beer and enjoyed their company.

Now I realize there are lawyer stereotypes – just like those that characterize sales people, undertakers, actuaries and consultants. And while I disagree with the portrayal of J.W. Reid from Costa Mesa, CA who wrote this letter, I had to laugh at his assertion.

It was written after the Bar issued an opinion (It was modified in 2005 with Opinion 2005-140) that stated except under very limited circumstances, a lawyer may not have a consensual sexual relationship with a client.

The opinion made major headlines and Mr. Reid evidently focused on the limited circumstances allowing sex when he wrote the following:

Now the unnamed gentleman below from Independence, Oregon in his 1981 letter indicates anger and revenge for the Oregon State Bar based on a prior act, but the lack of specificity in his notice of claim indicates that he might need the assistance of a lawyer:

oregon State bar lawsuit 1

Expense Reimbursement and Perks

While working as a lawyer in private practice involves stress and very long hours, it had definite advantages – among them generous compensation and year-end bonuses and good benefits and perks – including travel to conferences and seminars paid by the firm. (#10 – #11)

There were several trends that diminished law firms’ willingness to pay travel and lodging expense at these events. The economics of law grew much tighter with the over-supply of lawyers and increased competition from advertising in the late 1980’s. Clients became more sophisticated and concerned with the escalation of fees and costs.

More importantly, the IRS also modified it rules on the deductibility of meals and entertainment – also spousal travel. Agents also targeted professional service firms because there were often excesses under the guise of marketing. (Maybe taxes aren’t always your friend!”)

Prior to that time, the firm would sometimes pay for senior partners to take their spouses to major events such as the American Bar Association National Convention or other professional association meetings. This included spousal air travel, meals and lodging.

The enhanced IRS enforcement and requirements now meant that among other requirements:

“…… where a taxpayer’s spouse accompanies the taxpayer on a business trip, the travel expenses will not be deductible unless the spouse’s presence on the trip has a bona fide business purpose.” (emphasis added) (#12)

Interpretation of “Bona fide business purpose.”

Of course, garnering agreement on the definition of “bona fide business purpose” generated debate – maybe of a lesser scale, but almost as vociferous – as that resulting from Justice Potter Stewart describing his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio in 1964.

And since I was involved in the final approval of these expenses, I enjoyed many of the esoteric justifications submitted. Perhaps my favorite was the one below which also shows another trait exhibited by many lawyers. While they may be stereotyped as having inflated egos, I always appreciated the self-deprecating humor shown by many as evidenced below:

While we appreciated his witticism, he either paid for his wife’s expenses out of his own pocket, or she stayed in Seattle while he enjoyed Florida’s sunny climate!

And Finally….

You’ve seen a very small sample of the items I’ve saved from my career in legal management and I’ll leave you with this classic. The development of a robust Intellectual Property Practice at Schwabe (Patent, Trademark, Copyright, IP Litigation, etc.) began in 2002 under the late Al AuYueng – a gifted lawyer and manager. It had some interesting implications.

While Schwabe lawyers making the cut to get hired as new associates were very smart and well-educated, the new IP attorneys possessed both of these qualifications, but their educations surpassed that of their colleagues.

Besides undergrad and law school degrees and passage of the Bar, most of them also had masters’ degrees or doctorates in fields such as Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Computer Science. They also had to pass the Patent Bar Exam.

Their high-tech clients had technical and esoteric issues requiring expert legal advice. One of my favorites was this one from Al – his inquiry was serious – but his e-mail drew two great responses from lawyers who couldn’t resist the opportunity:

Al Au Yeung: Does anyone have a recommendation for a carbon dating service?

Lawyer No. I: Match.com?

Lawyer No. 2: That’s the response I sent to Al, but I also warned him that they will often bait and switch. They show photos of really attractive minerals and all you end up with are common minerals such as silicon and iron. You never strike gold!

A Final Comment on Enlightened Management

I worked for two co-managing Partners for most of the years I was the COO. Mark Long and Dave Bartz were not only distinguished lawyers in their specialties, but had remarkable management instincts – and they complemented each other.

The length of their tenure belies the respect of their lawyer colleagues and that of all firm personnel. They are both now honored with Emeritus status. (Long on the left and Bartz on the right).

0315_lil_long_and_bartz1

They were also very approachable and collegial which is why one firm paralegal did not feel threatened sending this e-mail to one of them under his own e-mail address: (you’ll have to guess which one received as I don’t want to get fired retroactively! (In fact, I think the only way I got this e-mail was the recipient laughed about it and forwarded it to me.)

long scan test (2)

Cheers and Happy New Year!

External Photo Attribution

#1. Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=513523270102753&set=pb.100043352539827.-2207520000.&type=3)

#2. (https://www.facebook.com/schwabelegal/photos/pb.

100043352539827.-2207520000./1439037686148006/?type=3)

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internal_Revenue_Code.jpg) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

#5. Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brazil_on_the_globe_

(Brazilian_Antarctica_claims_hatched)_(Chile_centered).svg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: TUBS21 June 2011.

#6. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heres_a_bunny_with_waffle.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Source: File:Oolong the Rabbit’s last performance (2003).jpg: Hironori Akutagawa Derivative work: Yuval Y § Chat §

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HCS_bus49.JPG) This work has been released into the public domain by its author, William Grimes at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide. 19 February 2007.

#8. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court_Justice_Lewis_Powell_-_1976_official_portrait.jpg) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#9.Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sex_education.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Shairyar.khan.7 7 December 2015.

#10. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Bar_Association_3c_1953_issue_U.S._stamp.jpg) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#11. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Flickr user Axwel 12 May 2007.

#12. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue-Eagle%2BIRS.png). This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#13. Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon (https://djcoregon.com/news/2012/03/16/leadership-in-law-mark-long-and-david-bartz/) Author: Rick Arnett in 1535 – March 16, 2012.

De Files – De Files!!

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Thebeerchaser

Many of us Boomers remember hearing the diminutive “Tattoo” played by actor, Herve Villechaize, on the popular television show Fantasy Island (1977-1984) ringing a bell and yelling “De Plane – De Plane” to Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalba’n) as the next group appeared on the horizon.

The series was a Saturday night staple after The Love Boat. The plane always brought “guests” who had either paid or won a chance to live out their fantasies. (# External photo attribution at the end of the post.) #1

Since college graduation (and perhaps a little before that event in 1971) I’ve saved a lot of material – currently stored in numerous file cabinets in our garage, my office, etc. These range from academic papers from undergrad (see end of post) to graduate school, personal mementos – also tax and financial records.

The eclectic collection also includes letters-to-the-editor I’ve written, civic work documents and work stuff from my almost thirty-five year career working with lawyers at Clackamas County, the Oregon State Bar and finally for twenty-five years at the NW Regional Law Firm Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt from which I retired as the Chief Operating Officer in 2011.

But there’s also newspaper clippings and magazine articles on travel and major events. (I have two large boxes of papers and magazines with the front pages or covers ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Moon landing, the turn of the Millennium, etc.). I always thought my grandkids might want to use them in their civic classes…….

My wife of almost 43 years has acquiesced to this idiosyncratic habit because although ubiquitous, they are at least organized and mostly out-of-sight. However, since we will probably be downsizing and in the event of the sudden demise of Thebeerchaser, she has insisted I significantly reduce (that means recycle most of them especially if they have not been viewed in the last ten to fifteen years).

Fortunately, this has been a mission on which we work, in part, together – negotiating and debating the wisdom of a continuing home in my archives for much of the content we review.

She did agree that the news clipping below from the long-gone Oregon City Enterprise Courier in 1980 had merit. (It was not in our wedding album and I uncovered it after a lot of years have gone by).

From the depths of the garage archives…..

However, not willing to encourage me, she asked the following for which I had no satisfactory response and as a result, culled one full file drawer of paper:

“Don, why do you need an outdated newspaper article or map of Sister Bay Wisconsin from 2003 and other places throughout the country when we would get updated information from the internet when we plan a trip?”

Before giving you some examples so you can get a feel for what I value and asking your opinion on their continuing survival, I offer this excerpt from a wonderful tribute my two daughters, Lisa and Laura – now both nurses – presented at my 70th birthday party. It shows that my collection, albeit a family joke, of sorts, also seems to get some tacit approval.

I might add, that one full file drawer is filled with their drawings and academic work from kindergarten through college – I have culled this category twice before deciding to keep the rest and letting them ultimately decide what they want to retain – examples are below:

“The File Guy “

“Dondi loves his files. Just so many files…The garage is full of them. There’s files at the beach house. There’s a file in Seattle. You can always count on him to be reading the newspaper and clipping out articles for us that he thinks we might find important, interesting or relevant.

The lesson here was for us to stay informed and to be engaged in our community, however small or large that meant. If you don’t understand something, ask questions. If you don’t like something, change it….or at least write a Letter-to-the-Editor..”

In the remainder of this post and the next, I’ll give somewhat of a chronology by category to give just a sample of what has survived the most recent purge.

Clackamas County

I worked as the Assistant Supervisor of Elections and then as an Administrative Analyst for the County Commissioners from 1974 through 1979. The last two years, I was one of two staffers for the Commissioners and our boss was the Chief of Staff – a two-martini lunch guy who spent most of his time “lobbying” in Salem. We were the first admin staff hires by the Commission and they named us “The Whiz Kids.”

While the County was pretty dysfunctional, it had great people (especially the lawyers who had sharp intellects and senses of humor) and it was there that I met Bob Elfers, who came in as a consultant and became my future boss for the next eighteen years at both the Oregon State Bar and Schwabe Williamson – a wonderful mentor.

The late Commissioner Robert Schumacher was a superb and sharp elected official and became a good friend who served as an usher in our wedding.

Artwork? – Bob Schumacher graduated from law school and had a better grasp of the Oregon land-use system implemented in 1973 with passage of Senate Bill 100 than almost any elected official in Oregon. Besides that, Schu had a great sense of humor that helped to mitigate the stress of local government work.

When the County decided to have a contest to develop a logo with a $25 savings bond for the winner, Schu submitted the following which I found in my files.

Upper Volta and Oregon? – I discovered another document I hadn’t looked at since 1977, but it evoked the memory of Schu walking into my office and saying, “OK Whiz Kid, you drew the short straw.” The Commissioners had received correspondence from the International Visitor Program associated with the US State Department in Washington D.C.

An official named Idrissa Ouedraogo, who was Counselor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ and Director of Protocol for the African Republic of Upper Volta, was touring various governments in the US and he – fluent in French but spoke little English – and his interpreter would be spending most of the day observing aspects of Clackamas County government.

To make a long story short, I took him to visit the County Extension Service, the Data Center, a court hearing, a Commissioner’s meeting and to see the “famous” Oregon City Municipal Elevator.

Mr. Ouedraogo was a distinguished and polite young gentleman – about my age – and the only stressful thing during our interaction was trying to figure out whether I should look at him or his interpreter when I was talking. They left in the early afternoon for their next destination.

I had completely forgotten about it until I unearthed the missive from the State Department in one of the garage files this month. So before I recycled, I decided to see if through the miracle of the internet, I could find out anything about my former visitor from Ouagadougou – then capital of Upper Volta (which I learned is now Burkina_Faso). (#2)

Well, unfortunately, Idrissa, died in 2018 at the age of 64, but not before he gained fame as a screenwriter, director, and producer.

“He is best known for his feature film Tilaï, which won the Grand Prix at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and Samba Traoré (1993), which was nominated for the Silver Bear award at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.” (Wikipedia)

Urinals, Stools – Average Load and Overlap Time – Perhaps it’s my idiosyncratic sense of humor, but I kept this 1977 letter to then Sheriff John Renfro from the State Workman’s Compensation Board because it seemed bizarrely ludicrous given the language. (My opinion hasn’t changed after 46 years).

It certainly indicates changes in gender roles since that time, for example, the agency is now known as the State Workers’ Compensation Board That said, the ranks of full-time female law enforcement officers nationally is still a low 13.3%.

Ralph Rodia, Assistant Manager of the Occupational Health Section, in this one page correspondence, informed the elected Sheriff in response to his letter about the adequacy of the County’s toilet facilities:

The second paragraph is most notably geeky from a solid waste standpoint and enough to make one flush with chagrin. I loved the letter’s ending sentence where Mr. Rodia admonishes:

“You are advised, however, that you have a marginal situation and if the number of additional men or their overlap time increases, at least one additional facility would be required.”

Linked-in reports only that Ralph Rodia is retired and living in Salem. Unfortunately, the 2021 message below on the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Facebook page indicates that John is no longer with us:

“We’re saddened to announce the Dec. 6 passing of John Renfro, the 27th Sheriff of Clackamas County. He was 85. John Renfro served a four-year term as Clackamas County Sheriff (1977-81). It was one highlight in a lifetime of service.

Renfro served in the U.S. Army for three years, and later joined the Oregon State Police, where he was a trooper from 1960-62. He then joined the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in 1963, serving as a deputy and detective until 1968. He worked as a Juvenile Court counselor and training officer from 1968-76.” (#3)

A career in public service.

I’ll finish my Clackamas County collection and also this post, by including two pictures – one I found in a clipping from early 1979 – again from the Oregon City Enterprise Courier – and one Janet took of me at home during a COVID shutdown period in 2021.

Admittedly, this is primarily for egotistical purposes to provide evidence that Thebeerchaser at one time could grow a decent beard and mustache even though it also shows that my taste in neckties has not improved.

In closing, I hope you’ll indulge me as I unveil some additional relics from my files in the next post. I know at least one person who enjoys this escapade!

Note

I indicated above that one component of my files is papers from undergrad and grad school. I’ve now been persuaded that those have no value to anyone including me; however, I insisted on saving page 12 from this 1968 course at Oregon State on Latin American Political Systems.

I thought I had waxed eloquently about future policy initiatives to mitigate the spread of Communism. I was therefore taken aback with the professor’s comment highlighted in yellow which states:

“This paper is really a mixed bag, fluctuating widely between superficial and pedestrian description and sophisticated analysis.”

I didn’t go to his office afterwards and ask him to break that down into percentages, but he give me a B on the paper so perhaps the high-level intellectual narrative was able to transcend the shallow and cursory BS I wrote while drinking Budweiser.

Big Ed 2 (2)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ricardo_Montalban_Herve_Villechaize_Fantasy_

Island_1977.JPG) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. The photo has no copyright markings on it. Author: ABC Television 27 December 1977.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idrissa_Ouedraogo_,_

Cines_del_Sur_2007_(cropped).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Cines del Sur Granada Film Festival from Spain – 2007.

#3. https://www.facebook.com/clackcosheriff/posts/were-saddened-to-announce-the-dec-6-passing-of-john-renfro-the-27th-sheriff-of-c/208482081472689/

Howell’s Lounge – You CAN Go Back – Part II

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Thebeerchaser

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

As stated in Part I on Howell’s Lounge in Oregon City, unlike Jim Westwood and Pat Green, my companions on the trip, I’d never been to Howell’s before. I didn’t view the bar as having a family-type environment, but Jim’s first visit was when he was six.

Out of curiosity and based on the proximity to my original house in Oregon City, I suggested we Beerchase at Howell’s. Jim and Pat were both “howling:”

“Don, do you really think we can go back?”

We went late on a Thursday afternoon and ordered beers and it was great. Howell’s is the epitome of an old dive bar with a long bar at the front of the bar with stools (the original cast iron for the stools is still in place) and booths across from them when you walk in.

The bar extends towards the back where there are a few tables and then a large room with a step down to the right with a few lottery videos and several tables with the traditional red cushioned benches.

In the first post, I talked about the saga of the bar and how it integrates into the robust history of Oregon City. After we got our beers, I asked to interview the owner.

Fortunately, Karen Beach Farthing, who bought the bar in 2015 after working for the Johnson family (previous owners) for thirty years was there. She lives in rural Mulino and said that the pandemic made it hard to survive, but they pulled through.

“I worked fourteen hour days, seven days per week. Two PPP loans helped us get by.”

Karen was very friendly and spent a lot of time with us at our table. It’s obvious she has pride in the enterprise in which she has invested so many years – both as an employee and now as the owner. She’s in the photo with Pat and Jim below.

Photo Mar 16, 4 25 21 PM

“Both young kids and old people love this bar,” she emphasized, and her clientele used to consist of a lot of mill workers at Publishers Paper and Crown Zellerbach when they got off the swing shift. Both mills shut down a number of years ago.

When I worked for the Clackamas County Commissioners at the Courthouse on Main Street – the lower level of OC by the Willamette River – the Commission Staff and lawyers from County Counsel and the DA’s Office would always head across the street to the beloved McNulty & Barry’s Bar after work. #1 (# External photo attribution at the end of the post.)

Karen said, however, that the Commissioners and judges used to drive up to the second level to Howell’s – probably to get some privacy and not have to be careful about their conversations. One of my favorite Commissioners, Dale Harlan, was elected after I left the County in 1979, and was the epitome of an outstanding elected official.

His wife Estle, when she saw the first post on Howell’s affirmed that premise when she commented in an e-mail, “Dale loved that place when he was a Clackamas County Commissioner!” #2

My late friend, Commissioner Harlan, deserves some additional narrative: Dale served valiantly in the European theater in World War II (Purple Heart after being severely wounded in the Battle of the Bulge).

After attending Stanford Law School where Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist were his classmates (1952), Dale was an excellent lawyer in private practice.

He served two terms in the Oregon Legislature (1965-9) and then two terms as a Clackamas County Commissioner (1983-1990). After his retirement, Dale became a good friend and I loved to hear his stories and about the many books he read. (The 1986 photo on the right below, shows Dale – middle -and fellow Commissioner, Bob Schumacher – left – who was an usher in my wedding in 1980.) #3

The Oregon City High School Connection

When I told Karen that Jim, Pat and I had graduated from Oregon City High School (a long time ago….), she motioned over to another table and said, “Those people also graduated from OCHS.” Since I always like to interview regulars at my bars, I walked over.

Sitting there at table of four were two of my 1966 classmates – husband and wife – Steve Mattesen and Jean Leach – both of whom I hadn’t seen since our 50th class reunion almost six years ago. And standing by the bar was Mike Gholston, who was one year behind us. (The big guy – a football lineman – who has the white beard in the second photo below.)

When

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The Verdict…

We had a great time and the next day, Pat called me (Jim now lives in Portland) and said, “Let’s return to Howell’s and take our wives to dinner!”

We did, which gave Pat and me the opportunity to try Howell’s famous rib-eye steak sandwich with Karen’s homemade potato salad. Our wives opted for a turkey sandwich, and fish and chips. The steak was very good and the potato salad earned its reputation.

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Howell’s is a family/neighborhood bar and known for its great breakfasts – they have an extensive menu at reasonable prices. The bar also has specials almost every holiday:

“Join us for Easter Dinner! Glazed pit ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and a dinner roll for $13.50 – HAPPY EASTER.

July 4th and 5th Special – BBQ Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob – $14.00.”

The bar also hosts events such as karaoke and trivia nights several times per week.

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So if in doubt about returning to an old haunt, take it from the three of us: “You can go back!” If you don’t have your own favorite place from years ago, try Howell’s Lounge in Oregon City.

And Speaking of Verdicts….

Another one of my high school classmates from 1966 is Laraine Aughenbaugh McNiece. Larraine was a good student at OCHS, but one who was independent and not afraid to state her opinion even when it was out of the mainstream. She was selected as one of the Girls-of-the-Month and the caption from the yearbook under the second photo reads:

“Individuality – lost in the world of conformity, characterizes October’s Girl-of-the-Month.” #4

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She was one of the small group from our class that reconnected every ten years to work on our class reunions. She has been a a key contributor to those events over the years. And Laraine has a connection with Howell’s as will be shown below.

Laraine had an outstanding, albeit delayed, legal career as stated in a story in the Portland Tribune dated May 28th 2021 entitled: “Legendary Oregon City municipal judge leaves for South Dakota.”

“McNiece is the immediate past president of the Oregon Municipal Judges Association, but 30 years ago, no one would have predicted her rise to be one of the most respected judges in the state. She started as an attorney in 1990 when she was in her 40s, and worked as a legal secretary before that.”

Judge Laarraine

And Laraine’s connection with Howell’s – not just when she worked as a legal secretary at the Hibbard Caldwell firm across the street? It goes back further as I pointed out when I introduced her along with other members of our Committee at the 50th Reunion. Laraine’s introduction went like this:

“Now many of you don’t know that the only lawyer in our class is Laraine. And not only did Laraine have a good private law practice, but she was appointed Oregon City Municipal Judge and even became the President of the Oregon Municipal Judges Association.

Now there’s a lesson here. When the rest of us were seniors and on Friday nights were going to pep rallies, football games, dances and then eating burgers afterwards, what was Larraine doing?

Well, she was dating older guys and having beers at Howell’s!”

Fortunately, the judge has a great sense of humor and I didn’t have to swear in her courtroom that the above story is true…..

Have a wonderful retirement in South Dakota, Your Honor. You made great friendships in our class and garnered the respect of the Oregon legal community and we all wish you the best. (The photo below was from her City of Oregon City retirement send-off). #5