A “Presidential” Taproom

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. This is a long post. If you are receiving it through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top and to see all the photos the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened.

Followers of Thebeerchaser know that Oregon City – the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains – became my family’s home when we moved to Oregon from Ohio in 1960 when I was just starting junior high. (# External photo attribution at the end of the post – #1)

My paper route for the Oregon Journal took me throughout the historic McLoughlin Neighborhood and on Main Street in Oregon City. I took care of the historic McLoughlin House lawn in the summer and graduated from Oregon City High in 1966 after spending countless hours (okay – one afternoon) at the Oregon City Carnegie Library…

After the Navy, I returned to Oregon City, worked for Clackamas County in the Courthouse on Main Street for six years, bought my first house and was appointed to the City Planning Commission. (#2 – #5)

(# External photo attribution at the end of the post #3 – #5) (Clockwise left to right – Oregon City Municipal Elevator, Clackamas County Courthouse (2 photos), Oregon City High School, Oregon City Carnegie Library, John McLoughlin House.)

It was at a Planning Commission meeting where I first laid eyes on the young woman who was to become my wife (now 46 years) after she had just been hired as the City’s first Citizen Involvement Coordinator in 1979. We were married in the Oregon City First Presbyterian Church on March 29th 1980. (#6)

Oregon City Watering Holes

This historic city has some great establishments which I’ve covered in previous blog posts. Those I’ve chronicled include the Falls View Tavern, Howells’s Lounge, the Highland Still House and Corner 14. (#7)

Now perhaps an Oregon City dive was not the first saloon in Oregon – that evidently was the Pioneer Saloon and Restaurant – dating back to April 1883 – which still operates in the tiny berg of Paisley in south central Oregon. Paisley has a current population of 250. (Determining how many residents are regulars of the saloon is beyond the scope of this post.)

There are still a number of breweries and bars in Oregon City I haven’t visited.Thus, I was excited about the tip of my personal computer expert in nearby West Linn, Scott Andersson of Ace Computer Repair LLC. who I recently featured in Thebeerchaser and I highly recommend.

Knowing my affinity for public houses of all kinds, he told me after a brilliant fix on a PC problem, “Don, you have to visit the Madison Taproom in Oregon. Jeff, the owner, is a great guy and they have what is probably the best collection of old pinball machines in the State.”

The Madison Taproom – What’s in a Name?

This little “hole-in-the-wall” has great character although I wouldn’t label it “presidential.” It’s not stately, bold or commanding, and besides, from a national perspective, those synonyms are currently woefully inaccurate. The rationale for the name is that it’s on the corner of Madison and Seventh Streets on Oregon City’s second level. The streets have past US Presidents’ names and numerical designations in a grid.

It brought back memories of the other bar on Madison Street (in Portland) I visited in 2016 – Mad Sons Pub – now gone but not forgotten.

The Madison Taproom is located across the street from the former A and W Drive-in (now Mike’s Drive-in) where roller-skating car hops brought us burgers and root-beer on dates when I was in high school. It’s also three blocks from the aforementioned library in which I spent so many hours..?..

The former OCHS campus I attended is within seven blocks and three blocks away is the former residence of my favorite science teacher – Eli Jimenez – a Renaissance Man and former NASA engineer before he started teaching.

My rationale for that description is described in detail in Thebeerchaser post (February Figuring – Part II | Thebeerchaser). Now in his nineties, besides still being a musician, Eli is also the most physically fit men I’ve known. I reconnected with Eli several years ago and he now lives in New Mexico.

Moreover, I used to deliver the Oregon Journal to this little building when it was the Carpenters’ Union headquarters and its head – one Dick LaManna – used to greet me every day. (#8)

Walking into the Taproom is like a trip back to the 50’s – or at least the 60’s. There’s two old-fashioned pinball machines squeezed into the small foyer. Entering the main room, there is a nice bar with all kinds of memorabilia on the backbar and classic beer signs on the walls.

There’s even a small Zoltar fortune-telling robot machine sitting on the bar – the first I’ve seen in over 400 establishments I’ve visited. Some of the bigger antique life-size Zoltars sell for over $10,000.

But the big attraction is the pinball machines – the pride and joy of owner, Jeffrey Hogan and his wife, Chris Gassert, who opened the bar in 2019. Jeff is also the owner of Cash Box Enterprises, a corporation based in Oregon City which sells and maintains juke boxes and other coin-operated amusement devices such as pinball machines throughout the state.

I chatted with Jeff for about twenty minutes over a beer and his eyes light up when he talks about his machines. When I left, he was hard at it, playing at a Star Wars pinball – one of the nine or so in his taproom which also has a Pac-Man machine.

Jeff has created a nice community-oriented ambiance in the place. His bartender, Tai, was a jovial and articulate guy who told me while I was talking with Jeff that he plans to buy the bar when Jeff retires.

They also have a robust tap list (13 beers, a hard seltzer and a hard cider) although no hard liquor. I had one of my favorite beers – the Irish Red from Ancestry Brewing. When one of the women sitting next to me at the bar (strangely) asked for a Mai Tai, he answered, “I’m the only Tai in this establishment.”

The food is limited to very reasonably-priced snacks like pizza, pretzels and breadsticks which people enjoy during good weather on the nice patio.

Jeff and Tai try to reinforce the “community” feeling with trivia nights on Wednesday and cribbage every Sunday afternoon. The 22-foot-long shuffleboard – a rarity these days – also promotes some good competition among regulars. As you might expect, the vintage juke box plays a great line-up of tunes and occasionally they have local musical acts perform. (#9)

As one recent review stated:

“Love the staff and owner. If you stop by they will make you feel like family.”

“This place is a sweet little hole in the wall. The staff were so great. Came in during trivia night on Wednesdays and we felt so welcome. Loved it.” (Yelp)

Regulars affectionally call this place “Mad-Tap.” It’s open seven days a week, but the hours are abbreviated from 3:00 to 8:00 PM except on Friday and Saturday when they close at 11:00.

I’ll undoubtedly go back, but on that day I had to make a difficult decision – to either hit the Historic Midway Public House – a dive one block away I’ve never visited or go back to see if they still have a card catalogue at the OC Library. (Eli, by the way, the next time you come to Oregon City, I’ll buy you a beer at Mad-Tap.)

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

#1. Linked-in ((21) City of Oregon City: Overview | LinkedIn).

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Clackamas County Courthouse, Oregon City – DPLA – eac6d13ccde3d205f7c31d6b3fb04cfc.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Author: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives / Cc-by-4.0 – 6 August 2013.

#3. Wikimedia Commons). File:Clackamas County Courthouse, Oregon City – DPLA – 996e5aa7a8821ad111f89e8a4338bcad.jpg – Wikimedia Commons Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Author: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives / Cc-by-4.0 – 26 September 2006.

#4. Carnegie Library Oregon City – Wikimedia Commons – Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Srandjlsims 29 May 2012 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OREGON_CITY_OREGON_CARNEGIE_LIBRARY_copy.jpg

#5. Wikimedia Commons (File:McLoughlin House, Oregon City – DPLA – 955ec47bc35ab38851cee84bb2f4500c.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Author: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives / Cc-by-4.0 – 5 October 2006.

#6. First Presbyterian Church of Oregon City Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1472816884870805&set=pb.100064275236319.-2207520000&type=3).

#7 Highland Still House Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1606880631446789&set=pb.100063746012983.-2207520000&type=3).

# 8. Mike’s Drive-in Oregon City Website (Mike’s Drive-In Oregon City | Burgers, Shakes & Fries – Mike’s Drive-In). #9. Yelp.com (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/madison-taproom-oregon-city-3?select=iXPGUhg5RKDjNiADRr3lSQ).

February Figuring – Part II

Posted on February 12, 2026 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 at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1)

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

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

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

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

Thora B. Gardiner Junior High School

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

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

Earl Gipe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don Gribble

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

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

Eli Jimenez

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

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

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

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

Ignore the script – you get the idea….

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

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

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

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

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

Noel Jordan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ervin Lesser

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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