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LOCKS ENABLE WILSONVILLE COMPANY TO MOBILIZE FOR PORT OF PORTLAND JOB.
A foggy November 1st saw Wilsonville Concrete Products' tugs and barges out in full force, moving down river to start a dredging contract with the Port at Terminal 6. Here are the Princess B, the Duchess B, and the Rainbow B, headed back up through Willamette Falls Locks to pick up another trio of barges. We are thankful that the Corps of Army Engineers allowed this maintenance day activity.
Unfortunately, the Corps has now closed the canal for repairs to the gudgeon arms and anchors on Gates 2, 3, and 4, as well as other yet-to-be-described issues that will require a sizable maintenance investment. Corps managers are attempting to reach past marine businesses that have used the canal to let them know of the closure. We urge river users to contact their local elected officials, to let them know the importance of maintaining the option of marine freight and recreation through our locks, and what financial effects a closure of any length may impose upon their businesses, workers and customers in the communities along the river. Public support for expedited repairs and reopening needs to be rallied and expressed to our congressional representatives.
AUTHOR APPEARANCE AND BOOK SIGNINGS---
$1.09 an hour and glad to have it--
Conversations with 17 mid-20th Century Crown Zellerbach millworkers
2012-- March 7 we'll be appearing as the "First Wednesday" program at the Oswego Heritage Council's "First Wednesday" lecture series at the Heritage House. We thank the Tigard Public Library for inviting us as a "Book Talk" guest speaker in January,
We survived the 11 day run-up to Labor Day at the Oregon Authors' Table at the State Fair, where we placed about 30 books in the hands of history-loving Oregonians from Woodburn, Gladstone, Salem, Rhododenron, Happy Valley, Damascus, Canby, Eugene, Oregon City, McMinnville, North Bend, West Linn, Portland, Silverton, Wilsonville, and Shedd, raising nearly $900 for the work of the Foundation. Favorite buyer in October? Wisconsin Historical Society! Favorite sale of the winter: 22 books to The Book House, also in Wisconsin.
We're now receiving orders and mailing books from our fourth print run (100 books per printing). The book, which is featured in the October Senior and Boomer News, is now available to library patrons at West Linn, Milwaukie, Gladstone, Lake Oswego, Sandy, Oregon City and Canby libraries, the State Library, and the Clackamas County Family History Center at the Museum of the Oregon Territory.
Orders can now be made here on the website, by PayPal, or by calling 503-650-9570 and leaving a message, then sending a check to "Book, PO Box 635, West Linn, OR 97068". The price is $35. If you need us to package and mail it to you, please include $5 for shipping and handling.
All proceeds from sales go back into the project, which was grant-funded by the Kinsman Foundation and the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition. Thanks to all of you who have called and ordered and shared your mill family stories, papers and connections.
New Office OPEN HOUSE:
About a dozen friends dropped by on Friday, July 29, to see our new space, chat and buy books. We're in Suite 101 of the Promenade Building, 421 High Street, just off the Promenade path. (Call ahead, 503-650-9570, as we're only in the office part time.)
Oregon City Mill Silent and up for bids--
It is with great sadness that we witnessed the February closure of the Blue Heron paper company and the loss of so many well-paid jobs in Oregon City on this historic industrial site. (NOTE: Although many confuse the two mills at Willamette Falls, the closure of Blue Heron has nothing to do with the West Linn Paper Company mill in West Linn, which has different ownership and produces high-quality coated papers, rather than recycled products.) Blue Heron had kindly allowed us to operate in rent-free office space at the OC mill since 2006.
As Oregon City and the region look at the now-silent mill complex and consider its future, we trust people will remember what the great floods are capable of doing to that site--a recurring situation that the mill has been able to adapt to, but that might not be as amenable to other, less sturdy uses. In the not-too-distant past, the Oregon City mill built its own temporary dam at the south end of Main Street (which runs through the property and ends near the boat basin spillway), to protect Oregon City's downtown from disastrous flooding. With several National Register-eligible historic resources on the Oregon City property, we hope to see a thoughtful long-term adaptive reuse of the site, incorporating some kind of new industry, increased public access to falls viewing, and on-site heritage interpretation.
The rich history of the Oregon City mill site may be found by going to:
http://www.blueheronpaper.com/about_hist.html.
Here is a beautiful image of Blue Heron painted by Phil Juttelstad for our "Art Contemplates Industry: Hawley Powerhouse" exhibit in 2008. 