The Gorge Magazine - Spring 2020

SPRING 2020 thegorgemagazine.com

LIVING AND EXPLORING IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

Art Happens Here Gorge artists welcome visitors

during Open Studios Tour

Go Outside and Play A springtime top 10 list for Gorge kids

Meatless Moment The times have caught up with Tofurky

Extraordinary Extraordinary is is our our ordinary. ordinary.

All Allin, in,for forThe TheGorge Gorge

Photo Photoby byRob RobRadcliffe Radcliffe

WINDERMERE WINDERMEREREAL REALESTATE ESTATECOLUMBIA COLUMBIARIVER RIVERGORGE GORGE The TheDalles Dalles

Hood HoodRiver River

Hood HoodRiver River

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White WhiteSalmon Salmon

Stevenson Stevenson

122 122E E2nd 2ndStSt

106 106WWSteuben Steuben

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Cascade CascadeLocks Locks Property PropertyManagement Management 651 651Wanapa Wanapa

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CONTENTS I FEATURES

52

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL Gorge artists welcome visitors during the annual Open Studios Tour

By Janet Cook

66 TAKE THE BUS As Gorge recreation grows in popularity, so does public transportation

By Ben Mitchell

Michael Peterson

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Photo by Darlisa Black

Discover Your Adventure... Experience Ours KLICKITAT COUNTY ~ THE NORTH SHORE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

MARTIN’S GORGE TOURS Guided tours for individuals, groups, families, or couples. Including waterfalls, wildflowers, wineries, breweries, trail hikes, scenic drives and more. Sit back and relax as we explore the hidden treasures of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

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BEST WESTERN PLUS HOOD RIVER INN The perfect base for exploring the Columbia Gorge. River view guest rooms, dining at Riverside, Cebu Lounge, heated shoreline pool, spas, and sauna. Wine tasting passes, tours and recreation packages.

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CONTENTS I DEPARTMENTS

OUR GORGE 12 16 18 24 28 32 36 38 84 90

PERSON OF INTEREST VENTURES BEST OF THE GORGE HOME + GARDEN LOCAVORE CREATE EXPLORE WINE SPOTLIGHT PARTAKE YOUR GORGE

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Left, by Robin Dickinson and right, by Jurgen Hess

OUTSIDE 72 TIME TO GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY

Spring means it’s time to get the kids out — rain or shine

By Ruth Berkowitz and Lisa Kosglow

ARTS + CULTURE 76 IN THIS TOGETHER

12

An Odell mural celebrates the cultural history

of farming in the Hood River Valley

By Peggy Dills Kelter

WELLNESS 80 HERE’S TO OUR HEALTH

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Top, by Kristie Strasen and bottom, courtesy of Tofurky

A unique initiative promotes Gorge-wide wellness

By Janet Cook

HOME HOME HOME HOME

+ + ++

JEWELRY JEWELRY JEWELRY JEWELRY

SINCE 1994 SINCE SINCE 1994 1994 SINCE 1994

305 OAK STREET 305 STREET 305 OAK OAK HOOD STREETRIVER DOWNTOWN 305 OAK STREETRIVER DOWNTOWN HOOD DOWNTOWN HOOD RIVER 54 1-386-6188 DOWNTOWN HOOD RIVER 54 54 1-386-6188 1-386-6188 54 1-386-6188

EDITOR’S NOTE

W

hen we got married in 1999, my husband’s uncle gave us a watercolor painting of our beloved town by local artist Sally Bills Bailey. It was, and remains, one of my favorite wedding gifts. I love it because it’s cheery and colorful. Its dimensions are whimsically out of proportion, yet everything important is there: the river, the windsurfers, our hillside town, the orchards, the mountain.

I also love it because it feels like a snapshot from that time. In the painting, there are only windsurfers on the river, because that’s all there was back then. The waterfront looks different, too — there was no sandbar, no waterfront park, no development at all where the restaurants and breweries are now.

Of course, the art scene in the Gorge also has changed dramatically since Bailey painted that watercolor.

There were artists here to be sure — some long-time residents and others who were newly discovering that the Gorge and its breathtaking landscapes provided endless inspiration for their work. But galleries and other outlets for local art were few and far between, and arts events rare.

Not anymore. This year marks the 14th annual Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour, which has become one of the most-anticipated regional arts events of the year. Begun in 2006 with the goal of promoting a handful of local artists and their work, the tour has grown to include dozens of artists up and down the Gorge, and from Parkdale, Ore., to Husum, Wash. This year’s tour, April 24-26, features 44 artists.

(Bailey, by the way, is one of them.) It’s fun and inspiring to meet the artists, see their studios and learn how they create their work. We highlight the tour and five of this year’s artists, beginning on page 52.

We have several other stories in this issue featuring art and creativity in the Gorge — of which there is so much. We profile Kristie Strasen, who has had a fascinating career in textile design and is also a talented weaver (page 12), and Donn Hopkins, a native of Hood River who recently returned to his home town and is finding success as a woodturner (page 32). We also take a look at the mural in Odell, painted on the side of a Diamond Fruit Company warehouse, that celebrates the cultural history of farming in the Hood River Valley (page 76).

Other good reads in this issue include a story about the rise of public transportation for recreationists (page 66); a profile of Tofurky, Hood River’s best-known purveyor of plant-based foods (page 28); and a list of fun activities to help you get the kids outside, rain or shine (page 72). We hope you enjoy this issue. Have a great spring.

SPRING 2020 thegorgemagazine.com

—Janet Cook, Editor

LIVING AND EXPLORING IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

About the Cover

Art Happens Here Gorge artists welcome visitors during Open Studios Tour

Go Outside and Play A springtime top 10 list for Gorge kids

Meatless Moment The times have caught up with Tofurky

Hood River artist Cathleen Rehfeld created the painting on our cover, entitled Summer Light on the Gorge. It’s oil paint on a custom cradled wood panel made by woodworker Eli Lewis, from Stevenson, Wash. “I love the view from The Hook, looking west down the Gorge,” Rehfeld said. “Every time I go there to paint en plein air, it’s never the same.” It changes with seasons, sun angles and atmospheric conditions, she said. “This colorful time of year just looks so joyful to me.

Everywhere I look inspires me.” rehfeldart.com Photo by Michael Peterson michaelpetersonphotography.com

When you have read this issue please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

Together we can make a difference in preserving and conserving our resources.

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SPRING 2020 EDITOR Janet Cook

CREATIVE DIRECTOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNER

where the Gorge gets

engaged

Renata Kosina

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Jody Thompson

ADVERTISING SALES Jenna Hallett Chelsea Marr Suzette Gehring Tom Peterson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ruth Berkowitz, Don Campbell, Jurgen Hess, Peggy Dills Kelter, Lisa Kosglow, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell

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CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Paloma Ayala, Robin Dickinson, Jurgen Hess, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell, Michael Peterson

TO ADVERTISE IN THE GORGE MAGAZINE please contact Jody Thompson jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com

VISIT US ON SOCIAL MEDIA facebook.com/thegorgemagazine @thegorgemagazine on Instagram

THE GORGE MAGAZINE thegorgemagazine.com PO Box 390 • 419 State Street Hood River, Oregon 97031 We appreciate your feedback.

Please email comments to: jcook@thegorgemagazine.com The Gorge Magazine is published by Eagle Magazines, Inc., an affiliate of Eagle Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of Eagle Magazines, Inc. Articles and photographs appearing in The Gorge Magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of The Gorge Magazine, Eagle Magazines, Inc., Eagle Newspapers, Inc., or its employees, staff or management. All RIGHTS RESERVED.

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THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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ourGORGE person of interest 12 ventures 16 best of the gorge 18 home + garden 24 locavore 28 create 32 explore 36 wine spotlight 38

28

Tofurky’s Chick’n Crunchwrap is made with one of the Hood River company’s many plant-based products.

Courtesy of Tofurky

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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OUR GORGE I PERSON OF INTEREST

Kristie Strasen A love of color informs a long career in textile design story by JANET COOK | photos by KRISTIE STRASEN and ERICA PLUMMER

he course of Kristie Strasen’s life changed in an unlikely place for a girl from Puget Sound: the west coast of Ireland. She was there doing research for her master’s thesis on folklore, studying the folklore traditions of people who live on islands off the coast of bigger islands.

But as she traveled the narrow roads and villages of coastal Ireland, she found herself increasingly captivated by another tradition: the thriving cottage industry of textiles. The wood-on-wood clacking of handlooms became a familiar sound, steaming vats of dye and drying skeins of hand-spun yarn familiar sights. “I would see someone sitting outside on their porch spinning in this hopelessly beautiful setting,” Strasen said. “I fell in love.” She traveled up the coast of Ireland and on to Scotland, studying textile techniques along the way.

Kristie Strasen, inset, worked as a textile designer and consultant in New York for 35 years before moving to the Gorge two years ago.

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Erica Plummer

T

“I became completely sidetracked,” she said.

Eventually, she packed up her folklore research materials and shipped them home. “I never finished,” she said, with a shrug. On a traveler’s board in Amsterdam, she signed on to share expenses with others in a van heading to Greece.

With her eye on textile traditions along the way, she drove across Europe and on through the Middle East to Central Asia. In Iran, she befriended someone whose mother was a carpet weaver, and spent a few days captivated by her work.

After six months, she returned home and headed to California’s Bay Area, which in the 1970s was the progressive hub of the textile movement. “Textiles were being taken from bedspreads and things like that to a higher level,” she said. “There was an enormous amount of hand weaving going on.” Several Bay Area programs

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After decades working in the commercial textile world, Strasen wanted to create her own work. She now designs and creates her own weaving projects in her artist’s studio in White Salmon.

were on the leading edge of the movement. Strasen spent two years there, taking every class she could.

She returned to the Seattle area and was hired by a commercial textile company as “basically a gopher,” she said. But that job led to another, which led to a job offer from a group of Canadian textile mills to be their textile designer. The caveat? She had to move to New York City. Thrilled by the prospect, she packed her bags.

That move marked the beginning of 35 years in New York. Her job gave her enough experience, confidence and connections to launch her own consulting company in 1986. Over the years, she built a reputation for her ability to work across many disciplines, and for her highly regarded color expertise. Her work ranged from creating yarn palettes and design direction for leading mills in North America and Europe to designing textile and upholstery collections, as well as hard surface finishes, for furniture and interior design companies.

After years of providing expertise to others, Strasen launched her own textile company, Place Textiles, in 2005. With a focus on natural fibers, Place was a small, artisanal company with Strasen’s love for textiles of the world woven into it. “I had the most beautiful fabrics,” she said. Many of them came from intriguing locales, which Strasen incorporated into the textile’s story. “It always revolved around a sense of place,” she said.

Strasen sold Place Textiles in 2015 and returned to consulting. But even with her continued success, she began to feel restless. “All of a sudden, I got this overpowering need to make things, to be more hands-on creative,” she said. As a child, she’d made potholders, then learned how to knit, and eventually had a small frame loom that she used to made rudimentary weaving projects — the beginning of her love for the craft. But since then, she’d poured her knowledge and expertise into commercial endeavors. Now, she felt an urgency to create in her own right.

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Using both a small frame loom and a floor loom, Kristie Strasen creates beautiful woven projects ranging from wall hangings to decorative pillows. She continues to provide consulting expertise in textile color and design.

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She began where it had all started: with a small frame loom. She started to weave small projects, and one day while on Instagram came across the 100-Day Project, a creativity challenge which encourages artists to create one item a day and post it on social media. The idea is to help keep artists creating and accountable, and offer a public space to share their work.

“I decided to take the challenge,” Strasen said. “For 100 days, I wove or planned a piece and posted something.” She called her work “little weavings,” and it rekindled her passion for the craft. It also sparked something else in Strasen: a desire to return to her West Coast roots. She knew she could do her consulting work from anywhere, and a dear friend from her youth lived in Trout Lake, Wash. The thought of living close by was appealing, plus she was familiar with the Gorge from her college days at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash.

“I absolutely loved New York,” she said. “I loved every minute I was there. I knew if I ever left New York, it would have to be for something radically different.” White Salmon turned out to be that place. She found a house with a perfect space to create her studio and moved in 2018.

Since then, she’s dived head first into the Gorge arts scene, joining the board of the White Salmon Arts Council and participating in the Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour. Her “little weavings” turned into the Little Weavings Co., which features small hand-woven pieces ranging from wall hangings to decorative pillows.

She’s still busy consulting, including serving as design director for luxury brand Edelman Leather. “Color consulting is so fun,” said Strasen, who loves everything from the history of colors to what she sees as today’s freedom and experimentation with color. Her move from New York to White Salmon has only enhanced her lifelong study of color.

“I find living here, I have a new rhythm for how I keep up with color,” she said. “In New York, all you have to do is walk around and look in stores and see what people are doing.” She sweeps her hand toward her windows and the view beyond of tree-covered Gorge hillsides, the Columbia and the Hood River Valley. “It’s one thing to keep up with what’s happening with the world of color. It’s another to live in a place and be inspired by your surroundings.”

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OUR GORGE I VENTURES

Getting Back to Nature Returning injured animals to the wild is the goal of Rowena Wildlife Clinic story by DON CAMPBELL | photos by PALOMA AYALA

When there is no sky left big enough to hold that bird, let it die.

Then dig my grave close by.

Condor, by Susan Edwards Richmond, from The Dire Elegies (from the Rowena Wildlife Clinic website)

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W

e are, at our core here in the Gorge, animal lovers. Along the rivers and creeks and lakes, in the crags and on the cliffs of our basalt, in the tall trees and verdant fields and orchards, we are surrounded by a sublime biome of mammal and bird — deer, elk, coyote, bobcat, black bear and cougar; Anna’s hummingbird, songbird, Steller’s jay, chickadee, seagull, hawk and eagle; and our domesticated pals the dog, cat and other pets.

They have all paid a dear price to have us in their midst. Our cars can be lethal, our windows a hard reality, and our lead bullets and fishing sinkers and other poisons deadly to their fragile physiology.

But we, as humans, can also be saviors, helping them when we clash and they are in dire need.

Dr. Jean Cypher is a sprite of a woman who you’d swear is composed entirely of heart. She and her all-volunteer staff run the Rowena Wildlife Clinic from her home-cum-urgent care center just off Highway 30 east of Mosier, where all manner of wild critter and some injured domestic and abandoned animals come to find their way, hopefully, back to health.

The clinic, in operation since 2000, is a sanctuary that serves some five counties in the Gorge area on both sides of the mighty Columbia. It is open to the public (though not in any fashion a tourist destination) where we humans can deliver the injured and sick wildlife we have encountered and carefully rescued, or make arrangements with the clinic to have a volunteer come help. Dr. Cypher, or Jean, as she much prefers to be called, and her team of volunteer veterinarians and staff provide critical care, including delicate surgeries, blood analysis and procedures.

On any given day, Cypher and her crew — including a tiny adorable housedog named Chico — may be watching the progress of a skittish fawn, a great horned owl, a flock of mourning doves, an uppity bald eagle or a red-tailed hawk. On their doorstep have come a semi-paralyzed wild turkey, a wounded and near-death fox, ailing quail, and many others. They see some 300 “patients” a year, with roughly 85 percent of them being birds.

Nature can be a cruel mother, and we can be harsh co-habitants. Most of the injured are young, as might be expected. Birds fly into windows. Mammals fall from precarious positions. Some are prey. The

poisons of ubiquitous lead, pesticides and even a quarter-teaspoon of automobile antifreeze in a mud puddle are a leading cause of illness and death among our animal friends.

Ash Harris, a former professor of composition and rhetoric turned wildlife rehabilitator, found her way to the clinic with an injured quail, and has never left, redirecting her energies to caring for these sick and injured animals as a volunteer. Of Cypher she says, “She would likely never tell you this, but she has a way with animals.

She calms them in a way I’m still learning.”

Dr. Jean Cypher, opposite top, has been nursing injured wildlife back to health in her Rowena clinic for 20 years. The clinic, funded through private Harris walks us through an area inside the donations, grants and fundraisers, has volunteer help as well as paid employees, including Calley Lovett, above. house filled with patients in cages and incubators. From there it’s into an urgent-care and surgery area — “Nothing grand,” says Harris, “but a place to fix broken bones with pins and rods to help them mend” Cypher, Harris and the clinic’s dedicated crew at the little idyll off Highway 30.

— then into the muddy outdoors to a recently expanded raptor aviary that It must be somewhat comforting at night, when things are quiet, to hear conoverlooks a calm pond, with another aviary nearby. The environs are peaceful, tented noises from those under care, who got a little bit lucky to have Cypher and company on their side, to rest easy as rehab brings them back to health. idyllic and serene.

“It’s nice living in the house with them,” Cypher says.

“I didn’t even know this place was here,” says Harris, who now also They would surely agree. works at an area vet clinic, “until I needed it. It was kismet. I felt a real sense, an urge, to be here. I can’t imagine not helping somehow.”

For more information, go to rowenawildlifeclinic.org.

Not knowing about the facility and need is common. The clinic does its work quietly. If they are lucky to work their way back to full rehabili- Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He lives in Mosier and Portland and is a frequent contributor to The tation, those injured animals served by the clinic are released near where Gorge Magazine. they were found, especially raptors, whose release is governed by stringent regulations. It all helps to keep the delicate balance.

The funding of this errand of mercy is accomplished through private donors, grants and fundraisers, including last year’s Festival of Feathers, driven by the musical director of Hood River’s Riverside Church, Diana Beterbide.

Major donors include ongoing support from the Portland-based Kinsman Foundation that began 15 years ago, the estate bequest of an anonymous Seattle donor family, and other sourcing.

Cypher, at 60, has put in significant time on her clinic over the past two decades, and is part of a broad network of wildlife rehabilitation centers that rely on each other. In fact, a new one, Odd Man Inn, has sprung up in Washougal, Wash., that will soon help absorb some of the load of this region.

Stringent regulations on nearly every level must be met regularly to keep the doors open, and that also involves continuing education.

It was Cypher’s husband who helped influence her in the ways of wildlife. He grew up on a farm in Australia and had a natural affinity for animals.

It was he who actually found the house on five acres where the clinic was born. Cypher, who earned her DVM in 1991, worked through the knots of federal regulations and county planning departments to get the respite center up, running and flourishing.

The Gorge Community Foundation helps donors create This summer, Harris will become a full-time employee, to begin taking charitable endowment funds to support the causes you some of the arduous responsibilities off Cypher, because, as the latter says, care about and projects that inspire you.

“I’m getting old.” It will give the clinic more consistency of care and addiSince 2003, the Foundation has made nearly $2 million in grants. tional vision for the place going forward. Cypher had carried on the work of You can start an endowment fund now with a tax-deductible contribution a Tygh Valley rehabilitation center whose director had retired, and after years or include the Gorge Community Foundation in your estate plans. of building up the Rowena clinic — with permitting, site inspections, facilities maintenance and the like — “We were all thinking we needed to have Learn more at gorgecf.org or call 509-250-3525 something that continues after me,” she says. “That’s the phase we’re at.”

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THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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OUR GORGE I BEST OF THE GORGE

GOrge Pass

2

Maryhill Museum

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Maryhill Museum of Art opens for its 80th season March 15 with the exhibition A Particular Beauty: Romanian Folk Clothing, which runs through Nov. 15. It’s drawn almost exclusively from the museum’s collection of Romanian textiles, which has its roots in an early gift from Queen Marie of Romania. The museum’s collection has grown over the years to include more than 450 objects, some of which will be on display for the first time this year.

“This marks the first time that we have mounted an exhibition of this scale of Romanian textiles,” said Steve Grafe, curator of art. The exhibit is accompanied by a 32-page color publication as well as numerous related programs throughout the season, including a documentary film exploring the life and legacy of Queen Marie of Romania. maryhillmuseum.org

Columbia Area Transit (CAT) is offering a new annual pass good for unlimited rides on all fixed route services, including the Columbia Gorge Express (CGE) service to Portland, and the Gorge to Mountain Express that serves Mt. Hood Meadows. The CGE offers eight trips per day on weekdays and six on weekends between Hood River and Portland’s Gateway Transit Center, with stops in Cascade Locks, Multnomah Falls and Troutdale. The annual pass is available for $30 until May 18, and is also good on CAT’s Hood River City Route and Upper Valley Route. ridecatbus.org

Courtesy of Maryhill Museum of Art

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The Goldendale Observatory re-opens this spring after a twoyear renovation. This unique state park now features a larger advanced learning center to go with the iconic main observatory.

The telescope, one of the nation’s largest and most accessible, has also been upgraded. Seating capacity in the observatory has more than tripled and self-guided interpretive exhibits are installed throughout the campus. Admission is free; a Washington State Parks Discover Pass is required to park on-site. goldendaleobservatory.com

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Courtesy of Goldendale Observatory

Goldendale Observatory

Cherry Festival

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The Dalles hosts the 41st annual Northwest Cherry Festival April 24-26, showcasing the area’s deep agricultural heritage and Western roots. The three-day family-friendly event includes the Gorge’s largest parade, a classic car show, a 10k run, a carnival, craft vendors and live music. And of course, there’s lots of cherry sampling courtesy of the Oregon Cherry Growers. thedalleschamber.com

Balch Hotel Getaways

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The Balch Hotel in Dufur offers a weekend getaway, “Wildflowers and Wine,” at the height of the wildflower season, April 17-19. Participants will go on hikes that highlight the spring blooms, interspersed with visits to Gorge wineries for special tastings. If wine tasting by e-bike is more your thing, “Pedaling in the Vines” is June 5-7, featuring e-bike touring with Hood River’s MountNBarreL. balchhotel.com

Trail Skills College

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The Pacific Crest Trail Association hosts its Columbia Cascades Trail Skills College April 24-26 in Cascade Locks. The free weekend event is for volunteers to learn about trail maintenance and stewardship through classes ranging from trail drainage design and rock retaining walls to crew leadership and first aid/CPR. Free camping is available, and meals are provided throughout the weekend at no cost. pcta.org

Mick Mc Bride

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Courtesy of Cycle Oregon

OUR GORGE I BEST OF THE GORGE

Cycle Oregon Gravel Ride

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Cycle Oregon’s GRAVEL ride is back for its third year, May 15-17, based in Tygh Valley, where the high prairie meets White River Canyon and the foothills of Mount Hood. The ride gives cyclists a chance to experience the challenges and scenic beauty of riding roads less traveled — both gravel and paved — while being fully supported, Cycle Oregon-style.

This year’s ride is limited to 500 riders, and offers both long and short routes each day. cycleoregon.com

CGOA Performance

9 Take Me Back to Chicago

8

Chicago co-founding member and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Danny Seraphine headlines the Take Me Back to Chicago Tour, coming to Hood River May 2. The concert is a fundraiser for the Hood River County Education Foundation, with proceeds supporting student college scholarships and activity scholarships to help low-income middle school students participate in sports, music and drama programs. The all-ages concert is at the Hood River Middle School auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The Hood River Lions Club hosts a hospitality garden across the street before the concert, with beer, wine and cider available. tickettomato.com

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SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association presents A Light in the Void May 15 and 17 at the Wy’east Middle School Performing Arts Center. The show is a synthesis of symphonic music, theatre and sciencebased TED Talk-style lectures originally conceived by two entertainment industry professionals. It has been performed only once, in Colorado in 2018. The performance by CGOA is a “test case” for taking it to a wider audience, said Mark Steighner, artistic director for CGOA. The unique show has something for everyone, he added, “from lovers of dramatic music to fans of theatre to those interested in science and technology.” gorgeorchestra.org

Andrea Johnson/Maryhill Winery

Discover Klickitat County Washington the north side of the Columbia River Gorge

STAY PLAY ENJOY 4

4

KLICKITAT COUNTY WASHINGTON Finish a beautiful driving loop tour with a visit to our premium wineries, museums, colorful shops, farmers markets, and festive restaurants. Oh, and meet some of the friendliest folks around.

Join us on the sunny side of the Columbia River Gorge!

Enjoy a scenic whitewater rafting excursion, kiteboarding or windsurfing, world-class fishing, cycling trails, or star-gazing at the Goldendale Observatory…Klickitat County has it all!

Whitewater Rafting

Farmer’s Markets

Maryhill Museum

Maryhill Winery

Dean Davis Photography

MAPS AND ACTIVITY BROCHURES AVAILABLE AT:

MtAdamsChamber.com • 509-493-3630 • Highway 14 at the Hood River Bridge GoldendaleChamber.org • 509-773-3400 • 903 Broadway, Goldendale

Anne Reynolds

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Brokers Not Pictured: Bob

photo by blaine franger

Cody Cornett

Candice Richards Carolyn Layson

McFadden, Bob Smith, Bonnie Long, Chelsea Finson, Chris Schanno, Gary Paasch, Keef Morgan, Marcus Morgan, Ross Henry, Samantha Irwin

Spring is a great time to make your move

Locally owned and serving the Gorge since 2001, Copper West is proud to be your trusted real estate resource for residential, vacation, commercial and investment properties.

Visit our website to contact one of our 30+ professional brokers.

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OUR GORGE I HOME + GARDEN

Creating a Spot of Wilderness A landscape architect espouses the virtues of native plants

story by JURGEN HESS | photos by JURGEN HESS and SUSAN HESS

T

Susan Hess

rue confession: I planted ivy at our first house.

Fresh out of landscape architecture school in 1967, native plants weren’t on the department’s, nor my, radar. We had to learn hundreds of horticultural plant varieties and their scientific names (think Euonymus bungeanus and Parthenocissus tricuspidata). To become a registered Oregon landscape architect, I had to pass a three-day licensing exam. As a part of the exam, we were walked around the Oregon Capitol campus to identify plants. What’s that tree? What’s that shrub? Douglas fir was the only native; if you missed that one, it was over for you with your head hung in shame.

Well, 53 years on, I’ve become a native plant evangelist. How did this evolution happen? Working for the U.S. Forest Service, I rubbed shoulders with plant ecologists, soils scientists, hydrologists and botanists. Their expertise rubbed off on me. Gradually, with new eyes, I looked at forests and wondered, why are those plants there, living in harmony? I learned about plant succession and the effects of time, sun, shade, soil, drainage and fire. Doing consulting on the side, I gradually weaned myself from horticultural

Sunflower 24

SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

Red currant

varieties and focused on native plants. I felt I had to prove to people that native plants were just as beautiful as horticultural varieties.

We moved to Hood River in 1988, to a house where lawn covered 90 percent of the yard. My consulting practice grew and so did my push for natives. I taught native plant classes and gave lectures for the Master Gardeners program. I created a book in 2004 that has been updated

The home features sliding glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows to highlight the views.

Jurgen Hess, opposite, champions native plants in his landscape consulting. Over years, he transformed his own yard into a lawn-free haven filled with native plants and shrubs that requires little water or maintenance, attracts pollinators, and provides cover and food for birds and insects.

seven times. Today, our yard’s lawn is gone, and native plants are so thick that I’m in a thinning mode since I can’t use prescribed fire as nature does in the forest. The yard is a restaurant for birds and insects. It’s our little spot of heavenly wilderness in the city.

My book, Landscaping With Natives, Columbia Gorge: Creating an Earth Friendly Landscape, evolved too. I added a section on plant communities. When you walk in the forest, look around you and ask, why do these plants grow together—in a community? What are similar characteristics about the site?

So, why plant natives? Natives have evolved over thousands of years and are adapted to the weather patterns in the Gorge. They don’t need pesticides or herbicides. They don’t need constant maintenance such as pruning or mowing. They can have beautiful flowers and berries for pollinators and wildlife. Fall colors can be gorgeous. After establishment, they don’t need constant watering. Native plants provide wildlife cover and food.

How do you start? I began by creating a plan. It wasn’t fancy, just tracing paper and colored pencils. Computer programs can help. But really get to know your yard’s environment: soil, moisture, sun, shade, views and underground utilities. Do a soil analysis; is it rocky, clay or loam? You can look these up on Natural Resources Conservation Service soil maps. Then, just like that forest site, analyze your yard to determine the plant community you are in.

However, consider the rights of existing plants too. A non-native 40-foot tall Colorado blue spruce in our front yard provides habitat for owls and hiding cover for small children. Though non-native, I feel it has ownership rights to its little piece of earth.

Put your heartthrob about a plant you love on hold. Planting sagebrush in wet western Oregon doesn’t work, nor does Rhododendron in dry Rowena.

Get knowledge from native plant books, websites and Master Gardeners classes.

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THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

25

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Oregon grape

Remove that lawn. Lawns should be listed as hazardous, only good for little children and dogs. I describe the best way to get rid of lawn in my book.

Smother the grass with newspaper, cover the paper with bark, and in a year plant through the bark and paper. When I started taking out grass, I tried a sod cutter and spading. My back hurt until I discovered the smother method.

Scout out native plant nurseries, like Humble Roots in Mosier, where you can get excellent advice on what plants work where.

As you make a plan, involve your family: who wants a garden or a basketball court? After you’ve made a plan, start with large plants like trees first.

Analyze the mature height and width of plants to space them appropriately.

Consider installing a temporary drip irrigation system to help the plants get a start. Remove the irrigation after three years of watering.

I started small and tackled the front yard first, an area that my family and our friends would notice. By starting with a readily visible area, like the house entry zone, you will get immediate compliments which will inspire you to keep working. If you tackle too much at once, it’s easy to get discouraged and give up.

While we did the work ourselves, it spanned many years. If you want quicker results, as our neighbor did, hire someone to remove the lawn and do the planting.

I love giving guided walks around our yard. But be forewarned, I’m a native plant evangelist.

Jurgen Hess has a degree in landscape architecture and is a member of the Society of Ecological Restoration. His consulting practice focuses on ecological restoration, native plants and visual resources. His book on landscaping with native plants is available at Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River and Klindt’s Booksellers in The Dalles.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE NATIVE PLANTS

Oregon Sunshine with Indian Paintbrush Trees: Oregon white oak and Mountain hemlock Shrubs: Serviceberry, Mock orange, Douglas spirea, Pacific ninebark and Ocean spray Small shrubs: Heartleaf buckwheat, Low Oregon grape and Kinnikinnick Perennial plants: Oregon sunshine, Blanket flower and Lewis’ blue flax 26 SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

THE NEW GOLDENDALE OBSERVATORY

MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART

A unique state park that now offers a much larger advanced learning center as a complement to the iconic main observatory dome and the newly upgraded telescope. Free admission; Discover Pass required for parking.

See American and European painting, a gallery of works by Auguste Rodin, a Native American collection, outdoor sculpture garden, café and museum shop – all in a beautiful setting overlooking the Columbia Gorge.

509-773-3141 • goldendaleobservatory.com 1602 Observatory Dr. • Goldendale

509-773-3733 • maryhillmuseum.org 35 Maryhill Museum Drive • Goldendale

PONDEROSA MOTEL

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We’re located minutes away from the Columbia River Gorge and offer free full breakfast daily. Clean, spacious rooms with phone, free WiFi, Direct TV, coffee maker, microwave, & refrigerator. Kitchens available. Dog friendly!

509-773-5842 ponderosamotelgoldendale.com 775 E .Broadway • Goldendale

Wine Press Northwest’s “2015 Pacific NW Winery of the Year”, 50+ awardwinning wines, Tuscan-style terrace with Mt. Hood views, Bocce, picnicking, live music on summer weekends 1-5pm, tasting room and gift shop.

877-627-9445 • maryhillwinery.com 9774 Hwy 14 • Goldendale

DWINELL COUNTRY ALES

GOLDENDALE GOLF CLUB

Visit our family- and dog-friendly tasting room and beer garden in downtown Goldendale to enjoy a seasonally rotating selection of farmhouse ales, barrel-aged wild beers, unfiltered lagers, natural ciders, fruited meads, and local wines.

A semi-private golf course with great views of mountains and wildlife. Green fees under $45 with cart. Please call for more information or a tee time. Amy Wilson, PGA Professional.

509-773-3138 • countryales.com 206 W. Broadway Street • Goldendale

GOLDENDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Contact us for local knowledge!

Tourism & visitor guides.

Relocation information.

Business Resources.

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GOLDENDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND VISITOR CENTER CONTACT INFO: 903 E. BROADWAY, GOLDENDALE, WA 98620 - 509.773.3400 - www.goldendalechamber.org

OUR GORGE I LOCAVORE

Tofurky’s Time Has Come Hood River’s pioneering plant-based food company basks in the meatless moment story by RUTH BERKOWITZ | photos courtesy of TOFURKY

“

T

his is our Wright Brothers moment,” says Seth Tibbott, founder of Tofurky, a plant-based food company based in Hood River. Reflecting on the rise of vegan diets and the recent craze of the Impossible and Beyond burgers, Tibbott’s eyes twinkle behind his Harry Potter glasses. He has been waiting for this moment for 40 years, since he first wagered that tempeh, a staple food in Indonesia made of fermented soybeans, would become as popular as granola. Success didn’t come overnight.

We talk in his Hood River office — not the swank, LEED platinum-certified building on the waterfront equipped with solar panels, an electric vehicle charging station and an outdoor bocci ball court, but the old brick Graf Building on Industrial Street. I can hear the whir of machines and music playing as the employees make tempeh somewhere beyond Tibbott’s office. He proudly gives me an advance copy of his book, In Search of the Wild Tofurky: How a Business Misfit Pioneered Plant-Based Foods Before They Were Cool.

The book, due out in April, is a blend of memoir and advice to entrepreneurs. He writes about his college days at Wittenberg University in Ohio, where he read Frances Moore Lappe’s

Seth Tibbott and Jaime Athos, at left, on the solar-paneled roof of Tofurky’s headquarters. The holiday roast, top, is the product that changed the company’s fortunes.

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SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

“Celilo’s delicious, local & colorful fare completely wowed our guests and their service was flawless.”

— Marley & Bryan

Savor a taste of place!

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Aubrie LeGault

book, Diet for a Small Planet, and was convinced of the need to forego meat because of the paradox of protein: it takes 10 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat, but half a pound of soybeans doubles to one pound of tempeh.

In 1981, Tibbott invested his life savings of $2,500 into making tempeh, delivering it in his beat-up gray Datsun. His company now has more than 200 employees and produces 35 different vegan, non-GMO products sold all over the world, from Antarctica to India. But he readily admits that his path to success included lots of “stupid mistakes along the way.”

During the first nine years, Tibbott earned a total of $31,000. Desperate to be a better businessman, he enrolled in a free one-day business seminar.

At the beginning of the class, the instructor asked, “Who is here to save the world?” Tibbott recalls being the only one to raise his hand high in the air.

The rest of the group raised their hands to the second question, “Who is here to make money?” Reflecting back, Tibbott feels they were trick questions and he should have said “yes” to both of them. “You can’t save the world without money,” he says.

After a few years making tempeh out of the kitchen of a Forest Grove co-op, Tibbott moved to the Gorge for its clean water. He updated the abandoned Old Husum Schoolhouse and sold tempeh to health food stores and elsewhere, including the Rajneesh commune in Antelope, Ore. Eventually the demand for tempeh outgrew Husum’s water supply, and in 1992 Tibbott moved the operation to a former tortilla factory in downtown Hood River. Still struggling financially, Tibbott’s story pivoted in 1994 when he met up with a friend and chef, Hans Wrobel, who had a vegan solution for Thanksgiving. The two created the tofurky, a tofu-based roast with eight tempeh “drummettes” and a hefty $30 price tag.

Once the media — especially comedians — caught wind of the product, tofurky sales skyrocketed. He knew his bootstrapping days were over when his Aunt Rosie from Minnesota — the same one who had told him in the early ‘80s that selling tempeh wouldn’t work in our “meat-eating country” — was the first person to call and inform him that he was an answer to a question on the TV game show Jeopardy. Since then, more than five million tofurkies have been sold.

BlaineandBethany

Tofurky’s tempeh kimchi fries, above, are one of many recipes available on the company’s website. Opposite inset, Tibbott in 1979 teaching kids in an outdoor education program he and friends founded. Tibbott was inspired in part to start his business so he could support environmental causes like this one.

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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Spring Freshness

ORGANICS PRODUCE DELI & BAKERY MEAT & SEAFOOD WINE & BEER FLORAL

HUCKLEBERRY’S NATURAL MARKET

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Tofurky’s California burger, above, and vegan cheesecake, below, are relatively new products for the company.

Tibbott’s book, opposite, is a blend of memoir and business advice to entrepreneurs and is due out this spring.

SUPERMARKETS

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WINERIES / BREWERIES / DISTILLERIES / CIDERIES

GORGE SIPPING GUIDE A SPECIAL PUBLICATION FROM INSERTED INTO THE 2020 SUMMER ISSUE

RESERVE ADVERTISING SPACE NOW! Ad Space Reservation: March 27 • Ad Approvals: April 10 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Jody Thompson: 425-308-9582 jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com

Jenna Hallett: 503-341-3671 jhallett@thegorgemagazine.com

30 SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

The tofurky roast was one of the first vegan products made to resemble meat in terms of texture. After the tofurky came deli slices, and then a variety of sausages, all of which transformed Tofurky. In 2014, just after the company moved its headquarters to the Hood River waterfront, Tibbott handed over the CEO role to his stepson, Jaime Athos, who has continued to grow the company, making it one of the top five purveyors of plant-based alternative meat.

“We are becoming mainstream,” Tibbott tells me, as he shows me a PowerPoint slideshow of the numerous vegan products now offered. He’s preparing for the natural food industry’s biggest trade show, held in Anaheim, Calif., in March. “I remember when you could walk the show in less than an hour,” he says. “It was just a small basketball court, and now it’s multiple stories and there are thousands of products.” Tofurky will have a booth in the main area and another one in the hot “new product” section, where it will feature its vegan cheese products under the new label “Moocho.” Tofurky’s VP of innovation, Marcia Walker, says they’ve figured out how to get their vegan cheese to melt, which is a gamechanger.

This excites Tibbott, who is on the board of Veganuary, a nonprofit with a mission to disrupt food production and shift from animal farms and slaughterhouses to “a world where food production does not decimate

DISCOVER BEAUTIFUL

Hood River

Oregon

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WAAAM forests, pollute rivers and oceans, exacerbate climate change, and drive wild animal populations to extinction.” The organization promotes its annual event, Veganuary, encouraging people to eat vegan for the first month of the year.

“Where there is a market for meat, there’s a market for alternative meat,” says Tibbott. Many so-called flexitarians — meat eaters who want to reduce meat in their diets — are increasingly concerned with the health and environmental ramifications of eating meat. This growing market segment has given rise to many of the new alternative meat products, like the Beyond Burger, which looks, cooks, smells and tastes like a juicy beef burger.

Tofurky also recently launched its own burger, testing it at a few select Target stores in January.

Unlike Beyond Burger, which uses pea protein as its main ingredient, Tofurky’s new burger contains mostly soy protein.

Tibbott welcomes the competition and is thrilled with all the research and development of new products. “There’s plenty of interest and it’s good to have a healthy alternative to burgers, sausages and chicken,” he says. “It falls within our mission of getting more people to choose a plantbased option.”

In a recent live interview of the popular podcast, How I Built This, Tibbot told Guy Raz that there was no reason to sell his family-owned company. “I feel like I am rich beyond my wildest dreams,” he said. Indeed, Tibbot has come a long way from the days of peddling tempeh from his car.

Visit the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum to see one of the largest collections of still-flying and still-driving antique vehicles in the USA. With over 3.5 acres of indoor display space, our collection is not just full of history, they are full of LIFE! Open daily from 9am-5pm. Special events on Second Saturdays.

1600 Air Museum Road • 541-308-1600 waaamuseum.org

APLAND JEWELERS Designers, goldsmiths, and craftsmen, we make and repair in our state-of-theart workshop. Ken Apland brings 38 years of experience as a goldsmith and gemologist, so whether you need to have old jewelry redesigned, an heirloom restored, or an entirely new design made we can create it using reclaimed metals and responsibly sourced gems.

216 Oak Street • 541-386-3977 info@aplandjewelers.com

TWIGGS Carefully curated home goods and unique jewelry. A fixture in downtown Hood River since 1994.

305 Oak Street • 541-386-6188

For more information, go to tofurky.com.

Ruth Berkowitz is a lawyer, mediator and writer. She lives with her family in Hood River and Portland and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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OUR GORGE I CREATE

Twists and Turns Donn Hopkins finds his way as a woodturner story by JANET COOK | photos by DONN HOPKINS

D

onn Hopkins gathers his treasures from many sources: firewood piles, discards from tree trimming, downed trees, ads for free firewood, surprise wood his mother finds, a cache from a long-deceased woodturner, and friends who offer mystery hunks of wood with the promise that he’ll “do something with it.”

And Hopkins will always do something with it. He’s new to wood turning, but this ancient craft seems to be part of his DNA, as if his life’s journey has finally taken him here, to his woodturning shop, exactly where he belongs.

Hopkins grew up in Hood River, spending as much time as possible skiing and snowboarding on Mount Hood. He gravitated to shop and art classes in middle and high school, then headed to the Art Institute of Portland, where he studied animation. But an arts-related career didn’t resonate with him at the time. He traveled and found work at ski areas and national parks — including Yosemite in California

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SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

and Glacier in Montana. He landed work as a directional driller in Montana, helping to lay the underground network of fiber optic cable that webs across the land. He ended up with his own drilling rig and small crew.

“It was almost too much,” Hopkins says of the pressure and responsibility of it all in his mid20s. “But I got a lot of experience in tinkering.”

Eventually he landed in Whitefish, Mont., where

Courtesy of Clay Commons

Donn Hopkins, opposite inset, began experimenting with wood turning while taking a break from nursing. He launched Twin Oaks Turning last summer, specializing in creating beautiful bowls.

he became a certified nursing assistant working with Alzheimer’s patients.

He returned to Hood River three years ago to help his aging mother.

Hopkins figured he would get back into health care eventually, but while taking a much-needed break, he bought a band saw and made some beehives with an eye toward beekeeping. His enthusiasm was quelled when his first bees died, but his interest in woodworking had been piqued.

He cleaned out his late father’s old shop — where he’d grown up playing and helping his dad with projects — and turned it into his wood shop. He got a small lathe, initially so he could make toys for his grandson. He made some spinning tops, and then began experimenting with flutes, small planters and other knickknacks. “I just really loved it,” Hopkins says. “Once I got it, it just clicked. I understand wood.” He loved the different grains, and seemed to intuitively know how to work with them. He compares wood turning to skiing and snowboarding. “How the bevel runs across the wood, it’s like a snowboard or skis as they ride across the snow making a wake or rooster tail.”

Hopkins started reading everything he could about wood turning. He would take his mom to classes and activities, drop her off and go to the library to research and watch YouTube videos.

Wood turning dates as far back as 1300 B.C. when Egyptians developed a two-person lathe — sometimes called a strap lathe — with one person turning the wood using a rope while the other cut shapes in the wood with tools.

From this primitive lathe came the bow lathe, which could be operated by one person. Then came the pole lathe, which was operated by a treadle thus allowing the woodturner to use both hands to work his tools. These early lathes are thought by many to be the first machine tools.

Today’s lathes are sophisticated — and expensive — power tools. Hopkins saved his money to buy tools for his lathe, and then eventually a bigger lathe. As he got into wood turning, he quit drinking and promised himself he would make one item a day. “Sometimes I make four or five things,” he says. “But always at least one.”

Last summer, Hopkins felt he had sufficient experience — and enough products — to get a booth at the Hood River County Fair. He christened his business Twin Oaks Turning. “I sold a few things, and made a lot of contacts,” he says. He also had a booth at the Saturday Market in Trout Lake, Wash., all summer.

310 Oak Street Downtown Hood River www.chemistryjewelry.com

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SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

Hopkins shapes his bowls and other items on a lathe, using multiple wood turning tools to create different forms and designs. He gets his wood from a variety of sources, including tree trimming discards and ads for free firewood.

Since then, Hopkins’ passion for wood turning has continued to grow, as have the outlets for his work. He’s part of the Made in the Gorge artists’ cooperative, and also sells his wares at The Remains Gallery in Hood River and at Lady Fern in Parkdale. His inventory of equipment and tools has grown, too, as has his supply of wood to work with.

“I love to experiment,” he says. “Every day, I try and learn something. Every day is something new.”

He hopes his love for wood turning — and his determination to make something of it — provides inspiration for his two daughters, who he says are both good artists. “I want to blaze the way for them,” he says.

For Hopkins, many experiences in his life have led him here, to becoming a woodturner. But his work with people at the end of their lives was perhaps the most significant. “No matter what we do in our lives, we all have this ignominious end,” he says. The people who seemed the most at peace, he added, were those who had created something to leave behind.

“I was faced with my own mortality,” he says. “I realized that the only thing we can leave is our deeds, our actions, our works. I wanted to learn to make something to leave.”

For more information, go to twin-oaks-turning@ueniweb.com or @bowlbender on Instagram.

COLUMBIA GORGE INTERPRETIVE CENTER MUSEUM CELEBRATES 25 YEARS The Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum in Stevenson, Wash., celebrates its 25th anniversary May 16 with free admission, activities and demonstrations, and live music. A team of volunteers will be operating some of the historic logging and road-building machines — many of them more than 100 years old. Local traditional hand-crafters also will be hosting demonstrations, working with wool, beadwork and quilts. There will be a food booth on site, and live music will be provided by the Whiskey Flats Band, playing 19th century music. columbiagorge.org

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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OUR GORGE I EXPLORE

All Aboard the Fab Lab A mobile “classroom” aims to bring technology to all students story by JANET COOK | photos provided

I

f your age is beyond 20-something, Tom Dalbey’s fourth grade classroom at May Street Elementary School in Hood River probably doesn’t much resemble the one where you attended fourth grade. A hub of 3D printers sits in a corner, one of them humming quietly as it slowly but efficiently “builds” a nut and bolt. Each student has an iPad

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Courtesy of Fab Lab

on their desk, open to a program called Tinkercad, an app for 3D design and coding. And a couple of high school students are at the front of the class, using math to teach the fourth-graders how to design a 3D heart, which they’ll print for Valentine’s Day. I’m well beyond 20-something, but I can safely say that even for my teenage daughter, who was in fourth grade a mere six years ago, the only thing she was printing for Valentine’s Day that year was the lettering on her two-dimensional construction paper cards.

The printers and the CAD program and the 3D heart project are all happening with the help of a funky former school bus painted sky blue (maybe you’ve seen it driving around the valley, or headed down the Gorge to Cascade Locks) and the guy behind the wheel: Jeff Blackman.

Blackman has been a math and engineering teacher, and the robotics advisor, at Hood River Valley High School for 20 years. This year, he’s teaching part time so he can run the Fab Lab, which is what the blue bus is called.

The idea for the Fab Lab came about a few years ago when Blackman got wind of the Future Bus, a converted school bus in Portland’s Beaverton School District. The bus had been turned into a mobile STEM lab filled with technology and other equipment that traveled to schools around the district — a sort of technology makerspace on wheels.

Over his years of teaching, Blackman has seen a wide disparity in students’ background and comfort level when it comes to technology. “By the time kids get to high school, those who didn’t grow up with technology are afraid of technology,” he said. “They run past my classroom.”

He saw a mobile “classroom” as a way to bridge the gap, to bring cutting edge STEM curriculum and equipment to schools around the district so that every kid would have exposure to technology in elementary and middle school.

A couple of years ago, the school district was taking one of its old buses out of service and offered to donate it to Blackman. The dream and reality came together, and the Fab Lab was born.

Blackman recruited his robotics students to help turn the bus into a mobile STEM workshop,

Aunika Yasui

which could also transport things like 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters, a bevy of robots and a robotics table. Blackman and his students created what they call “the Sistine Chapel of Science” on the ceiling of the bus, with 13 panels depicting important scientific discoveries and advances that “helped humankind,” Blackman said. They range from the agricultural revolution and Henry Ford’s Model T to the first man on the moon and the International Space Station.

Blackman has a scavenger hunt for kids to do on the bus, where they find and identify all the panels. It’s fun for the kids, and helps draw them into what’s important about the bus, which is the technology it carries.

“Kids see the bus pull up and they know it’s a different day,” Blackman said. Likewise, the projects get them working on math and science differently. “When they’re designing and making 3D hearts, they’re not thinking they’re in math class.”

The Fab Lab was launched last year, and Blackman took it to as many classrooms as he could around his busy teaching and robotics schedule. This year, he reduced his teaching schedule to half time so he could devote more time to the Fab Lab. He’s brought the bus to all of the district’s elementary schools — some more than once — as well as the middle schools, usually at the request of teachers.

“I find out what math they’re doing, and I’ll bring math into the curriculum,” Blackman said.

He often brings some of his robotics students with him to help teach the lessons and give tours of the bus. Sometimes, he’ll leave equipment in a class for several weeks so teachers can continue to use it and teach with it.

As much as Blackman loves taking the Fab Lab around to schools, he hopes the bus provides an impetus to permanently get some of the STEM equipment at area schools. That has already begun, with a recent grant he got to buy a 3D printer for every elementary school in the district.

Thanks to the 3D printers that Blackman brought to May Street Elementary, Dalbey’s fourth

Jeff Blackman, above left, and his Hood River Valley High School robotics students have turned a former school bus into a mobile STEM classroom.

Blackman takes the bus to elementary and middle schools around the district, where students can tour the bus and work on technology-related projects.

grade students are already well-versed in the ways of 3D printing. “My kids now are really savvy with Tinkercad and how to create 3D designs,” said Dalbey, who had the printers in his classroom for a couple of months over the winter.

Dalbey, who taught and coached robotics at the elementary school level for years, said that it’s mostly kids from affluent families who participate. The Fab Lab “is the most equitable way to get higher level technology into every student’s hands that I’ve seen in my years of teaching,” he said. “It brings technology to every single kid.”

That is Blackman’s goal. “At this age, to learn this kind of technology is amazing,” he said. He hopes it helps more kids run to his classroom at the high school, instead of past it.

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OUR GORGE I WINE SPOTLIGHT

Tierra de Lobos A winery in The Dalles builds a following through vision, skill and hard work story by DON CAMPBELL | photos courtesy of TIERRA DE LOBOS

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wo sips with Tierra de Lobos Winery winemaker and owner Adolfo Mollinedo and you know you’re in good oenological hands. From their idyllic riverside tasting room on the banks of the Columbia River near The Dalles Dam, he and business partner Gabino Fuentes are becoming another tasty force on the ever-expanding Gorge wine scene, pouring up new offerings of their largely estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, their premium Sangre De Lobo Tempranillo, a steel-caskaged Chardonnay, and extra-special late-harvest Cabernet Franc in all its peaches-and-honey glory.

The two-man operation owns three acres of vineyard and winery, plus an additional nine leased acres, in Dallesport, Wash., directly across the river from the tasting room. Their wines are comprised of some 80-90 percent of their grapes, though they do purchase other grapes as well. Mollinedo has thieved some young offerings, before a tasting of released product, including a Petit Verdot and a Syrah that must sit for the magic to happen. But, like the first notes of a jazz solo, you can sense where the piece is going. Though young, and shall we say a bit rough around the edges, the two wines show great

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promise. Much like Tierra de Lobos (Land of the Wolves, in translation) itself.

The winery is only The Dalles’ third, and is finding an audience the old-fashioned way — through hard work, skill, innovation and having a vision. It nearly begs the question: Why try and compete in a fairly mature and busy wine region?

What new can be brought to the party?

For most winemakers, the reasons are many.

No less so with Mollinedo and Fuentes. Mollinedo, a Guatemalan by way of Portland and Vancouver, Wash., pursued a career in market research and client management, but longed for, as he puts it succinctly, “A slower pace of life, and to get out of the Vancouver weather.” He went looking for a farm and found their current property, which already contained some vines. “We saw the potential for it to be something.”

Mollinedo’s career had taken him to points far and wide and he developed a palate for wine.

“The way I’ve done things in life,” he says, “is to have a vision.” He did some research and decided to throw his wine barrel into the ring. “We got

WA Tasting Room Magazine

Adolfo Mollinedo, above, third from right, and Gabino Fuentes, far right, are co-owners of Tierra de Lobos Winery in The Dalles. The tasting room, inset, is located beside the Columbia River just below The Dalles Dam.

here by ourselves,” he says. They keep overhead and debt low, they do the work themselves, and they compete based on price. They launched in 2012, did some renovating and secured additional licensing on the tasting room in 2013, and off they went.

As everyone surely knows, though the notion of having a vineyard and winery sounds romantic, it is basically farming and hard work. They producede 500 cases in 2019 with plans for more.

“It’s quite a bit for two guys,” the 38-year-old Mollinedo says. Their practices are sustainable and they grow organically (though are not certified, a common practice). “We are as environmentally friendly as we can be,” says Mollinedo.

As he gazes out the tasting room windows, Mollinedo says serenely, “You can’t beat the view.” The tasting room windows look out on the expanse of river below The Dalles Dam. In view are Native American fishing platforms, rugged basalt

Finely crafted, award-winning wines made in limited quantities for the highest quality.

Lasting memories await at our vista tasting room, overlooking the Columbia River & Mt. Hood.

jacobwilliamswinery.com

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541-645-0462

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Wishram, WA

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Come Get Refreshed.

Small craft winery, brewery and cidery Farm-to-table pizza Open daily 12-6 gratefulvineyards.com

The winery’s vineyards include three acres near the tasting room, along with nine additional leased acres across the river in Dallesport, Wash.

Most of Tierra de Lobos’s wines are estate-grown.

cliffs, an open-sky aviary of water fowl, and a dreamy vista downstream. They have ample outdoor seating for warmer seasons, offer some food pairings with plans to expand with an outdoor food cart, and stage live open-mic sessions on Sundays from 3-6 p.m.

He sees wine as sacred. “We want to offer an experience more than just wine tasting,” he says. “The idea of wine, unlike other alcohol choices out there, I feel like wine is a social thing. I want to share a good product with people.”

Mosier, Ore. U.S.A.

We Are Here Idiot s’ Grace C ol

um

bia

Rive r

Organically Grown Estate Wines from the Columbia Gorge AVA 40

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idiotsgrace.com

from vine

d

to bottle Finely crafted wines,

oregon Winery of the year - 2016

mountain & vineyard views,

Wine Press Northwest

and spring blossoms.

Wine tasting daily from 11am to 5pm

The tasting continues. A 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in oak for two years. Their 2017 Sangre De Lobo (Blood of the Wolf ) Tempranillo. A 2017 Chardonnay. There are surprises with every sip — new notes, some fearlessness, experimentation. He offers that if you take care of the wine, you’ll get good wine. “It shouldn’t be handled too much,” he says. “I believe in energy.

What makes a product good is the person who makes it. We’re taking chances with wine.”

We sip the winery’s 2018 Blanco, which is treated more like a red, and served at a slightly warmer temperature. “We’re always trying different things,” he says. Lastly, we sip the Late Harvest Cabernet Franc, which is akin to an ice wine. At nearly 18 percent alcohol, it is the perfect capper on the day.

Here in the land of the wolf, there is a certain nobility, a pride of place, something that comes from deep in the blood, from a well in the heart — and Tierra de Lobos has bottled it nicely.

2882 Van Horn Drive, Hood River info@mthoodwinery.com / 541-386-8333 Photo by Jennifer Gulizia

mthoodwinery.com

For more information, go to tierradelobos.com.

Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He lives in Mosier and Portland and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

Award winning wines, friendly staff, cozy tasting room, picnic & pet friendly! Come see us!

Book your 2020 event with us!

Our tasting room is a great place for rehearsal dinners!

welcoming tasting room & patio 5.5 scenic miles south of hood river on hwy 35 541.386.1277 / wyeastvineyards.com Open weekends 12-5 or so through March.

Open daily 11-5 or so April through October.

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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MORE WINES, MORE WAYS TO ENJOY.

Wine Tasting Tips

You choose from over 25 award-winning options, featuring big, bold reds and delicious whites.

OPEN year round • Daily 11am A real, working vineyard & winery Standard tastings • reserve tastings Barrel Tastings • PRIVATE tastings

4200 Post Canyon Drive, Hood River OR 974 N HWY 99W, Dundee OR

cathedralridgewinery.com / 541.386.2882

CONFIRM HOURS Gorge wineries and tasting rooms vary in their hours and days of operation.

Call ahead or check websites to make sure the tasting rooms you want to visit are open. It’s also a good idea to call ahead if you’re planning to visit with a large group.

DRESS FOR THE WEATHER Dress appropriately, especially if you plan a vineyard picnic or tour. In the Gorge, in summer, that usually means sun and wind. But it can also include light rain, and temperatures can vary depending on where you are in the Gorge.

DON’T WEAR FRAGRANCES Perfume and cologne can interfere with the subtle aromas in wine.

ASK ABOUT FEES Some wineries charge a fee for tastings. Some will waive fees with a purchase, so ask if this is an option.

TASTING TIPS Generally, white wines are tasted first, followed by red wines and then dessert wines. It’s okay to skip any of the wines on a tasting list by politely declining. If you’re genuinely interested in purchasing a particular wine, it’s okay to ask for a second taste.

WHAT TO DO Swirling the wine in your glass helps aerate the wine’s many aromas. When tasting, hold the glass by the stem rather than the bowl as holding it by the bowl can disturb the temperature of the wine. Inhale before taking a sip to appreciate the wine’s aromas. Likewise, swirl the wine around in your mouth once you sip to coat all the surfaces.

HIP TO SPIT You don’t have to drink all the wine in your glass. Toss the unwanted wine into the dump bucket provided for this purpose. You can also spit all or a portion of your tastings into a spittoon or cup.

PACE YOURSELF Don’t try to visit too many wineries in one day. Keep in mind that tasting room samples are usually one-ounce pours, and a typical glass of wine is 4-6 ounces. Know your limit and stop when you reach it.

ASK QUESTIONS Tasting room servers (who are sometimes the winery owners themselves) love to share their knowledge about their wine and the stories of their wineries.

HAVE A DESIGNATED DRIVER This will ensure your wine tasting adventure is fun and safe for you and others.

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WINERY & VINEYARD

We are a family of winemakers from two generations and two hemispheres, with vineyards and wineries in Underwood, Washington, and Nelson, New Zealand. South Hill is located at 1,800 feet on Underwood Mountain, just 20 minutes from Hood River and an hour from Portland. We look forward to sharing our award-winning wines and our story with you in our elegant tasting room. Enjoy the breathtaking views of the Columbia River, Mount Hood and the Hood River Valley from our patio or our picnic area.

Google reviews: • A hidden gem. All 8 of the wines were delicious. How often does that happen?

Incredible panoramic views of Mt. Hood and the Gorge east and west. New facility, family-operated, they know what they’re doing.

• Visiting South Hill is a great experience, from the spectacular views to the worldclass wines. From the first sip you can tell the Jones family has over 30 years experience in the industry!

Tasting room is open Fri-Sun 12-5 April-October

801 Scoggins Rd., Underwood, WA • southhillvineyards.com • 541-380-1438 • southhillwine@gmail.com

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Garden

RESOURCE GUIDE TO THE GORGE SPRING IS HERE, and that means it’s time to turn our attention to our homes and gardens. With nature renewing itself all around us, it seems the perfect time to spruce up our own “nests.” Whether you’re building a new house, planning a full home remodel or just doing a makeover of a room or two, there are many ways to get help with planning and carrying out your vision from architects, interior designers, materials showrooms and home improvement stores right here in the Gorge. And if this is the year to finally create the landscape or garden of your dreams, there are plenty of local landscape designers, garden stores and plant nurseries to help you along the way. We think you’ll find this resource guide helpful, and the advertisers here eager to help you on your home improvement journey. With the milder weather and longer days of spring, it’s the perfect time to get started on your project. Good luck and have fun!

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541.436.0736 curtishomesllc.com BEFORE

12th & Pine Design Home Furnishings

1106 12th Street • Hood River, OR 97031 • 541.645.5953 www.12thandpinedesign.com • assistance@12thandpinedesign.com THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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STUDIO CBC : WINDOWS + DOORS

WINDOW TRENDS – GO BLACK!

DOOR TRENDS – GO BIG!

The use of black has been a steadily growing trend in home design, not only for the exterior but the interior — including windows and doors. We’re seeing black windows used across a spectrum of designs from urban loft to modern farmhouse and even in traditional homes. “At least 60 percent of our window and doors sales currently for the Columbia River Gorge are black-on-black,” says AJ, the sales manager at Studio CBC’s showroom.

It’s part of a minimalist trend toward simple, clean lines and no frills.

How do you minimalize a window? Design largely with fixed windows that have narrow frames, limiting the venting windows that have hardware and screens. Then remove any window frame jambs, return your drywall to the window and use no trim. You can add a simple grid pattern, but keep the grids narrow, giving the window a delicate look. Now choose black frames against a white wall and presto, you have created the look! When done well, black windows look fantastic.

The growing demands and architectural trends for large door systems have skyrocketed in the last few years. No longer are we limited to the standard 6-foot patio slider or French doors that have been used for generations.

Large door systems offer a dynamic lifestyle change, creating innovative open spaces that connect the inside to the outdoors. Imagine opening your living room, kitchen or dining room to the outdoors for pure enjoyment or to entertain your guests!

We’re now seeing 16-foot, 20-foot and 24-foot-wide doors regularly in newly designed homes, and in heights of 8, 10 and 12 feet. They can slide, pocket or fold in almost any configuration you can imagine. They have become a game-changer in creating a seamless space from indoor to outdoor living.

Manufacturers have answered the demand by creating rollers that glide effortlessly and quietly. They have designed sleek hardware, slim frames, and offer doors in almost any exterior color and interior finish. Innovative large door screen systems have also become available for nearly any door size.

A showroom dealer for more than 12 manufacturers, including Andersen, Kolbe and LaCantina, Studio CBC is the window dealer of choice for builders in the Columbia River Gorge.

OUR SHOWROOM at Studio CBC offers the latest trends in windows, including contemporary designs and black-on-black frames.

Visit M-F 8:30-4:30

509-637-2678 312 Depot St., Bingen, WA 98605

studiocbc.com Kolbe’s VistaLuxe Collection windows and doors offer clean lines and the opportunity to create large expanses of glass with multiple units.

46 SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

Custom Ideas.

WA LIC: STAMPEL841KU | OR CCB#:210688

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Visit our online gallery for ideas and BOOK YOUR PROJECT TODAY.

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Solutions.

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CAMP’S PLUMBING LLC

P

at and Cyndi Camp, owners of Camp’s Plumbing LLC, grew up in White Salmon and Underwood, Wash. After graduating from high school, Pat moved to Portland and enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship program, eventually earning his Journeyman Plumber’s Card. He worked for many big plumbing companies in the Portland area and was happy with his career path. After Pat and Cyndi got married, they moved to Troutdale. They both had great jobs but they missed the Gorge and knew that’s where they wanted to start their own plumbing business and raise a family.

In 2007, Camp’s Plumbing LLC opened its doors in The Dalles with just five accounts. Pat was a one-man show, working seven days a week for eight months straight, getting the business established and gaining the trust of builders while doing mainly new construction in Hood River, White Salmon and The Dalles. Now, thanks to all of its loyal builders and customers, the company employs four journeyman plumbers and one apprentice, with Pat still out in the field working and Cyndi running the office.

Camp’s Plumbing LLC is licensed in both Oregon and Washington, serving The Dalles, Mosier, Hood River, Odell, Parkdale, Cascade Locks, North Bonneville, Stevenson, Carson, Mill A, Underwood, Husum, Trout Lake, White Salmon, Bingen, Lyle, Murdock, Goldendale and Arlington.

The Camp’s team is experienced in service plumbing, drain cleaning and camera equipment, backflow testing, water heater installation and repair, sewer line installation and repair, water service installation and repair, gas piping, commercial plumbing, industrial work, new housing, remodels and much more. Customer service and good communication is a priority from start to finish on every project.

Everyone at Camp’s Plumbing LLC takes pride in their work, whether it’s answering the phones, scheduling appointments or going out and completing the job.

Find them at campsplumbing.com, Facebook and Instagram.

1440 Sterling Court, The Dalles OR 97058 541-298-2267 • campsplumbing@gmail.com

Featuring

Visit our Full Service Hood River

We help build better communities.

Hood River 541.386.1001

A division of TAL Holdings LLC

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The Dalles

541.296.5414

Pendleton

541.276.6221

Design Center

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HONKE HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING “Comfort You Can Trust” For more than 50 Years!

Service & Installation of Air Conditioning Ductless Systems • Furnaces • Heat Pumps Gas Fireplaces • Hot Water Heaters

We Service all Makes and Models

We are working with Energy Trust of Oregon to help you reduce energy costs and improve the comfort of your home.

503-666-3725 • 541-386-0018 www.honkeheating.com

Healthy Connections office THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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From New Build To Remodel, We Have You Covered!

Mark Gunter, Owner

541-298-ROCK Let us help you have the

Cell: 541-980-0125 Mark@Gorge Granite.com

3630 Crates Way | The Dalles

SERVING THE GORGE FOR OVER A DECADE!

American Dream

Affordable Financing Plans Available to Customize Your New Home to Your Family!

1320 W 2nd St., The Dalles | 541-296-5141 | www.cgaffordablehomes.com 50 SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

Up Close and THE GORGE ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS TOUR has become an annual spring tradition — and for good reason. For three days in April, Gorge artists invite visitors into their studios for an intimate look at where they create their work. Visitors can learn first-hand from the artists about their methods, tools and creative processes. It’s also a great time to buy art directly from the makers.

This is the 14th year of the free, self-guided tour. It features 44 artists — including seven new to the tour — showcasing a wide range of work in painting, ceramics, glasswork, jewelry, quilting, metalwork, hand-weaving, sculpture, photography and more. Artists’ studios are located throughout the MidColumbia, from Hood River to The Dalles, and from Parkdale to Husum, Wash.

“Participation in the tour has become one of the most rewarding parts of my art practice because it is so personal to me and to studio visitors,” says artist Laurie Balmuth. “The studio space is as much a creation of the artist as the work produced and being in it is a special experience.”

A few of the artists gave us a preview of the tour by offering us early access to their studios. The Q&A’s and photographs of these artists and their studios in the pages that follow offer a taste of what the event is all about, and we hope it inspires you to take part in the tour.

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Personal GORGE ARTISTS WELCOME VISITORS DURING THE ANNUAL OPEN STUDIOS TOUR Story by Janet Cook Artists photos by Michael Peterson

APRIL 24-26, 2020 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

For more information, including a map, go to gorgeartists.org.

Printed guides are also available at area Chambers of Commerce in Hood River, White Salmon and The Dalles, the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River and The Dalles Art Center in The Dalles.

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Nancy

Houfek Brown

PAINTING

nhb-artwork.com

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

I have been drawing and painting since I was a child. Both of my parents were artists, and when they were out painting, they would drop my sister and me off at the children’s classes at The Art Institute of Chicago. Whenever we’d go through the museum as a family, I was taught about perspective, color, value, materials and style.

During the decades I was a professional stage actor, I took classes and made art whenever I could. It wasn’t until the early ‘90s that I finally got some intense formal art training at the University of Minnesota, where I studied with some remarkable artists. When I moved to Boston to teach at Harvard, which I did for 17 years, I worked in watercolor and was a juried member of the Cambridge Artists’ Association.

Here in Hood River, I’ve taken classes with Cathleen Rehfeld and exhibited my work locally and in Portland. I’ve had a dedicated studio space wherever I’ve lived; fortunately, it’s finally a big space for my big paintings.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM?

When I was studying at the University of Minnesota, I was introduced to oil painting, but I was nervous about the toxicity in the materials. So for many years, I made work in water mediums, both watercolor and acrylics. Although acrylic paint has some wonderful advantages, about five years ago I got tired of the “stiffness” of the paint. I’ve been experimenting with oils ever since. I love its malleability and the intensity of the colors. It’s a lot safer now, too.

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Carol@DonNunamaker.com RealEstateinTheGorge.com HoodRiverProperties.com

All artwork photos by Nancy Houfek Brown

ODELL $555,000: Solid ’63 Retro Ranch style 3 BR/2 BA/2568 sqft home w/ full basement on 2.41 acres. Features beautiful cedar ceiling throughout main level, has vaulted and beamed living room, dining area, kitchen granite countertop. Basement is the family room, large BR, BA, laundry and can be accessed by a separate entry.

Buildings garage/horse barn, RV shed & multiple storage sheds.

Irrigation rights. RMLS 20262266

HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

When I’m making a small still life or plein air painting, I paint “alla prima” — trying to finish the work in one sitting. I always start out with a pencil drawing, though. When I’m making a large abstracted landscape painting, I find an image that appeals to me, typically an aerial photograph I’ve taken. I draw several iterations, then take a photo of the final sketch and play with it on my iPad. I’ll make an oil study before drawing the shapes onto the canvas. At this point, the composition often changes, as something small may look really different when you make it big. I apply the paint in thin layers, letting it dry in between applications. As the painting nears completion, I might add texture, using a palette knife or rougher brush. The details come last. These big paintings take me at least a month to make, often longer.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

When I first arrived in the Gorge in the mid-90s, I couldn’t believe how lush and colorful the gardens of Hood River were. I started making big flower paintings in order to bring the brightness of summer indoors as an antidote to the darkness of the Northwest winter. After several years, I began to look to the land itself. Just look around! The drama of the geology, of the water, the orchards and vineyards, the snow-capped mountains and the ever-changing sky blows my mind. The Gorge is truly the most beautiful place I have ever lived.

WHAT IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK?

I love the whole process. I can get lost for hours thinking about a new series. I can mix colors forever.

Putting down a big, fat, juicy brush stroke is a blast. I take great pleasure in seeing an image begin to emerge. And there is a moment when I hang the finished work that I feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I often look at a piece and wonder, “How did I do that?” It’s like seeing the inside of my brain out on the wall. Of course, there’s nothing quite like when a collector loves your work so much they bring it into their own gallery space.

PARKDALE $2,900,000: Rare, pristine farmland and huge Mt. Hood view! 163 +/- acres currently a working hay ranch, previously a working dairy. Land is flat & fully irrigated. Buildings include: hay shed, feeding barn w/loft, 3 cattle sheds, milking shed, chicken coop, large shop w/equipment and grain silo. Property has 3 homes all currently rented. RMLS 20358571

PARKDALE $450,000: Spectacular Mt. Hood view! Unobstructed view as front yard is part of the acreage. Nice level 2.63 acre parcel with irrigation rights. Well maintained 3 BR, 2 BA, 1620 sqft manufactured home. Thoughtful open floor plan, covered front porch and covered back deck. 2 car garage and 2 car carport, lots of parking.

Several outbuildings! RMLS 20536203

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE?

We are surrounded by an infinite variety of things to paint: stunning views, turbulent skies, flowers, water, light, fields. It’s easy to stay inspired. The community of artists here is very special, too. There’s a generosity of spirit here, a willingness to help each other, a joy in painting together, and a celebration of success. The Open Studios Tour is an example of that — how a group of artists came together to create an opportunity for the Gorge to be acknowledged for its amazing art.

541- 490-5099

Oregon & Washington Broker

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Kit

Garoutte PAINTING

kitgaroutte.com

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

My earliest memory of wanting to become an artist was when I was about six years old. I was visiting my grandparents and I remember copying a drawing from “Archy and Mehitabel.” When I was done, my grandma was so effusive in her praise that I decided I wanted to become an artist right then and there. But life, as often as not, turns in a different direction. Mine turned toward music before I could realize that first passion, but the love was still there. I focused on making a career in music, but I kept drawing and creating visual art of all kinds throughout my life. I evolved from copying cartoons to drawing faces, life and figure drawing, and nature and landscapes — mostly focusing on realism.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM?

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I discovered the joys of acrylic painting, and in particular abstract painting. I was joining in an “art day” with my life partner, the incredible artist Ann Fleming, and after a couple of sessions of drawing, she said she had a lot of paint and that I should use it.

What an epiphany that led to! I had so much fun doing abstract painting. It’s so intuitive and feels like I can tap into the essence of creativity and creation. I am free to indulge my imagination, to truly let myself go.

HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

One thing I love about painting is that there are seemingly infinite ways to apply and mix and layer 56

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and otherwise create something from nothing. My process is about starting with an initial idea and responding intuitively and intellectually, trusting a balance between those two to find what I like and don’t like, to follow whatever feels right at the moment.

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I tend to use many layers on my paintings. I start with whatever seems like a fun way to apply paint by dripping, dropping, flowing, throwing, dabbing, brushing, spreading with a stick, or upending containers of varying colors. Then I sit back and ponder it, exploring it to discover what the next step should be — often something as simple as adding a particular color to another color. Then I repeat the pondering stage to “find” the next step, and so on until I am satisfied.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

I’m inspired by universal processes that seem to create everything that exists, real or imaginary. Chaos and order acting upon one another, layering and evolving toward a natural balance, is my most essential inspiration. The way water flows, the interaction of energy and liquid, the blending of colors, the way light affects shape, the similarity between the living arterial system and the branches of a tree, beginnings and endings, and so many other systems and balancing forces.

WHAT IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK?

The processes I explore are immensely enjoyable. I find satisfaction when I can sit and look at a painting and have no second thoughts, whether exploring the complete work or diving into the details to find mini-adventures. I love it when I can revisit a painting over and over and find new scenes and concepts each time. I also get great satisfaction when someone spends time looking at a painting, enjoying those explorations as I do. If they take it home, that’s even better because it means they really like it and want to enjoy it over the years, just as I would.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE?

The Gorge! The physical nature of this area is just incredible and brings no end of ideas and inspiration.

I grew up in a rural community so I am most comfortable in a country life, taking things on the slow side. I also love the cultural aspects of a city, so I enjoyed living in the Portland area for most of my adult life — mostly for the advantages there in the music business. But eventually I moved to the Gorge where I could live in a more natural setting. There are so many practitioners of the creative arts here, amateurs and professionals alike. It’s wonderful to have so many creators and appreciators making for such a vibrant community. I feel like I’ve found the perfect place to be.

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Jo Dean

Sarins JEWELRY

arrayofelegance.com

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

It was a convoluted path. In grade school, in Peoria, Ill., I was told I had no artistic talent. I cannot draw so I knew that was true. So I chose a career in science instead. I got a degree in biology from Eureka College, then later got my master’s degree in environmental biology from Eastern Illinois University. I worked as a laboratory manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, performing analytical work supporting soybean research.

After I graduated, I started taking craft classes that were offered locally. China painting was the first, then folk art (which I taught adult classes for at the local junior college). Eventually, the local art guild offered metalsmithing classes. I took everything they offered, including enameling classes, in the evenings.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM?

I still have my very first enamel piece. It is a mountain scene I set in a sterling bezel and added beads as the chain. Quite frankly, it is not that great. But I was hooked on the process. I could use both my metalsmithing and enameling skills.

I have since joined the Enamelist Society, where I take classes from renowned artists. My art has evolved a lot since my Peoria days.

HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

The process for my jewelry begins with designing a ring, necklace or bracelet using metalsmithing or enameling techniques, then executing it in either silver or gold. I find my favorite enameling process is making cloisonné pieces — drawing 58

SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

Jewelry photos bottom far left, above and below courtesy of Array of Elegance

pictures with fine silver or gold wire and filling in with vitreous enamels (ground glass fused to fine silver, copper or gold). As an aside, I only use recycled gold, silver and copper.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

The inspiration for my art is twofold: I get an idea for a piece of jewelry, or I sit down and draw an idea in my sketchbook. The enamels are inspired by the birds in our area; hummingbirds particularly enthrall me. The animals of the world greatly interest me, many of which I have encountered in my travels. I am currently working on an endangered species enameled series. I love the mountains, the trees and the rivers in our area, which I often incorporate into my enamels and settings. The cultures of other countries also are intriguing; I like exploring their jewelry ideas and techniques, sometimes incorporating these ideas into my own designs.

A Passion for Place

WHAT IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK?

The most satisfying part of making jewelry is seeing the finished result and liking it! It makes me happy to create.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE?

Being an artist in the Gorge is satisfying because the people that see my work are so kind and encouraging in recognizing my artistic endeavors.

Christine Knowles PASTEL PAINTER

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Find Christine’s studio at number 15 on the Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour map.

Or see Christine’s work anytime at 301 Gallery in downtown Hood River.

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Doug

Burke METALWORK

instagram.com/burkewurkes

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

Some of my earliest and fondest memories from childhood are of drawing and creating things, so I guess it started there. I think it was in the fourth grade when our teacher gave us the assignment of drawing a picture of Ichabod Crane, from the description given in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

When she held up my work in praise (not so much for my drawing ability but for my attention to the details of the description), that may have been the spark. I also must give credit to my mom for all of her encouragement, and enrolling me in college level drawing courses while I was still in middle school. My first paid art gig was when I moved to Hood River in 1990, airbrushing sailboards for a short-lived windsurfing company.

That eventually led to designing and building trade show booths and displays for various action sports and snowboarding companies.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM?

For one of the first trade show displays that I worked on, the client requested a rustic metal motif. This brought me to reacquaint myself with the oxyacetylene torch that my dad taught me to use as a teenager. I soon found that I seemed to have a knack for it, and really enjoyed the adrenaline brought on by the intense heat and flying sparks. I also loved the permanence of metal and the powerful feeling of being able to manipulate it.

HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

Most of my work is with re-purposed metals, so the first step is acquiring the materials. I’m often 60

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Artwork photos below and middle far left by Doug Burke

perusing junkyards, thrift stores, garage sales and the like, which can be enjoyable, but time consuming.

Sometimes the metal parts and pieces that I find will sit around my studio for years before their purpose is revealed to me. I do all of my cutting and welding with an oxyacetylene torch. It’s a fairly primitive process. I don’t use any of the electrical welding or plasma cutting tools that most metal artist rely on. This gives my work a rougher edge, and a more organic feel.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

I find inspiration in music, comedy, fantasy, action sports, and the creativity of other artists. Of course, the importance of the beauty of nature that we find all around us here in the Gorge can’t be overstated.

Or can it?

WHAT IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK?

There are many very satisfying aspects to being a working artist, but one of them is when you see that someone is truly appreciating your work. When someone takes a little time with it, and gets up close to really take it in — I love that. Sometimes at an art show or in the gallery I might see someone looking at a piece, with a big smile on their face, and I like the idea that any of the art that I have put out into the world could be making someone, somewhere, smile.

Maybe if I produce and sell enough art I can reach the point where, at any given time of day, someone is smiling at my work. That would be pretty cool.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE?

Being anything in the Gorge is pretty awesome. But it is an especially great place to be an artist. My town of Hood River now has, I believe, eight or nine art galleries, including the co-op downtown where I show my work, Art on Oak. The Hood River Farmers Market is a good place for artists to get a start as well, as it’s inexpensive and the people there are great. One of the very best aspects is the supportive community of artists in the Gorge. The advice and support that I’ve received from other artists in the area over the years has been instrumental in my growth as an artist.

I

work with the ancient medium of encaustic, which comes from the Greek word enkaustikos, which means “to heat or burn in.” It’s beeswax and damar resin and I use it alone as well as with added pigment. I heat it, then paint on wooden substrates and fuse each layer with a torch. I will be giving demonstrations during the Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour, so please check the guide for directions to my Hood River Studio where you can see the magic of beeswax. encausticartbydonnawoods.com THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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Cathleen

Rehfeld PAINTING

rehfeldart.com

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

I have been painting since I was seven years old.

I didn’t know what I was doing, but I visualized the painting, and painted it. I had a feeling that I wanted to convey on paper with paint. That was the process then and it’s still the process for me.

I had been doing graphic design for magazines, ad agencies, newspapers and websites, and wanted to make a switch to illustration or fine art. I debated about it for a while and chose fine art. My husband was very encouraging. He is from Connecticut, which is known as the birthplace of American Impressionism. We went to so many museums on the East Coast when we visited his family — The Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Bennington Center for the Arts, Lyme Art Association, Florence Griswold Museum, and others. I also spent time working in Mexico City when I was younger and visited as many art museums as I could find. I especially loved the Frida Kahlo Museum. The artisans in the markets were also very inspiring to me.

So I decided to just do it. I have a degree in fine art, but I wanted to continue to study, so I started taking workshops with established artists at Art Students League in New York City, Gage Academy in Seattle and elsewhere. These classes and workshops got me started with the actual process of painting.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM?

I was trying several different mediums when I started — watercolor, printmaking, pastels — and the more I learned about the different mediums, the more I felt like oil paint was the right one for me. I found that it maintained the luscious color 62

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All artwork photos courtesy of Cathleen Rehfeld

and texture I was looking for. Oil paint is so rich and holds a brushstroke. Painting edges is just dreamy because you can make them soft or hard. You can paint so many different ways with oil paint — thick or thin — using different tools like brushes, palette knives, rollers and others. Also framing an oil painting really suited me — no glass, just pop a painting into a frame and hang it on the wall.

HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

I have many more ideas than time to paint them! I get inspired by going outside and seeing the landscape. I document what I have seen with photos for reference. If I’m working in the studio on a large painting, I look at a lot of photos. I get the feeling of when I was at that location, and sometimes I even go back just to get the feel of it again. I sketch in the painting with thin oil paint. I make a road map of all the shapes and values. While I’m sketching, I am thinking about composition, how the shapes relate, what’s large, what’s small, what will the color palette be about. I love complementary colors, but also the analogous colors, too. Most of the time I end up using both.

Jo Dean

Sarins

Sometimes I let the beginning sketch dry, sometimes not, and then I just start painting — all the time continuing to think about all the things I mentioned. Sometimes it’s too much to even play music, it feels distracting, like brain overload. Other times, playing music works just fine. I think about the brushstrokes Peggy Olson JEWELRY when arrayofelegance.com I’m painting — is there variety in the brushstrokes, where do I want a soft edge or a hard edge? Not overworking brushstrokes is very important to me — purposely leaving some things undescribed, letting the viewer in and keeping them interested with colors and brushstroke variety. I want to give the viewer something that will allow them to keep making discoveries in the painting for a long time.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

WHAT WAS YOUR ARTISTIC PATH?

pictures with fine silver or gold wire and filling in with vitreous enamels (ground glass fused to fine

silver, copper or gold). As an aside, I only use recycled gold, silver and copper.

Everywhere. Everything is inspiring.

It was a convoluted path. In grade school, in Peoria, Ill., I was told I had no artistic talent. I cannot draw so I knew that was true. So I chose a career in science instead. I got a degree in biology from Eureka College, then later got my master’s degree in environmental biology from Eastern Illinois University. I worked as a laboratory manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, performing analytical work supporting soybean research.

After I graduated, I started taking craft classes that were offered locally. China painting was the first, then folk art (which I taught adult classes for at the local junior college). Eventually, the local art guild offered metalsmithing classes. I took everything they offered, including enameling classes, in the evenings.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ART?

The inspiration for my art is twofold: I get an idea for a piece of jewelry, or I sit down and draw an

idea in my sketchbook. The enamels are inspired by the birds in our area; hummingbirds particularly WHAT IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK? enthrall me. The animals of the world greatly interest me, many of which I have encountered in my

travels. I am currently working on an endangered species enameled series. I love the mountains, the Keeping the tradition of painting going, keeping it relevant now.

Knowing that by doing my work, trees and the rivers in our area, which I often incorporate to into my enamels and settings. The cultures of other countries also are intriguing; I like exploring their jewelry ideas and techniques, sometimes I’m helping other artists to be inspired like I’m inspired by so many artists. Feeling the validation incorporatingjust these ideas into my own designs.

IS MOST SATISFYING ABOUT YOUR WORK? of knowing that people enjoy theWHAT energy that original paintings create in their home, office space or The most satisfying part of making jewelry is seeing the finished result and liking it! It makes me happy to create. public space environment.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE? Stay & Play Being an artist in the Gorge is satisfying because the people that see my work are so kind and encouraging in recognizing my artistic endeavors.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR MEDIUM? in The Dalles WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE GORGE? I still have my very first enamel piece. It is a mountain scene I set in a sterling bezel and added beads as the chain. Quite frankly, it is not that great. But I was hooked on the process. I could use both my metalsmithing and enameling skills.

I have since joined the Enamelist Society, where I take classes from renowned artists. My art has evolved a lot since my Peoria days.

LAURIE BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY

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HOW DOES YOUR PROCESS WORK?

The process for my jewelry begins with designing a ring, necklace or bracelet using metalsmithing or enameling techniques, then executing it in either silver or gold. I find my favorite enameling process is making cloisonné pieces — drawing

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TAKE the Car BUS As Gorge recreation grows in popularity, so does public transportation Story by BEN MITCHELL | Illustrations courtesy of CAT | Photos provided

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As Gorge recreation grows in popularity, so does public transportation

By Ben Mitchell

The Columbia River Gorge, like many other areas of the Pacific Northwest, is a happening place.

More people come here every year, both to visit and to live, and it’s not hard to see why. The natural beauty of the Gorge is jaw-dropping, and the abundance of outdoor activities makes this place a sportsman’s paradise. Good soil, ingredients, water, and climate make for some of the best food, fruit, beer, and bud around. And if that’s not enough, Portland is but an hour away for nights out to see headlining bands and other cultural events.

But the influx of people to the Gorge and the Pacific Northwest in general has created some growing pains, especially in our car-centric society. While Portland is much ballyhooed for its worsening traffic issues, that extends to the Gorge too, particularly when it comes to recreation sites, and especially during the warm months. It’s not uncommon to see trailheads and recreation points of interest overflowing with cars, or overhear the lamentations of locals about hiking trails being much more crowded than they were just a few years ago — whether it be due to social media, tourism promotion, or just the fact that there are simply more people now on the planet than there were a decade ago.

But in the past few years, there’s been an equally noticeable push by local agencies to address these issues and expand public transportation in the Gorge, with routes being designed specifically to serve the hiking crowd, stopping at highly-trafficked recreation sites to serve an ever-growing demand. With more people coming to the Gorge every year, it’s likely that public transportation will continue to play a bigger role in the recreation scene.

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TAKE THE CAR BUS

More than two million people visit Multnomah Falls, above, each year, making it the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest. The parking lot often fills up and is closed by gates, below left.

COLUMBIA GORGE EXPRESS DOG MOUNTAIN SHUTTLE Out of all the many busy roadside attractions on the Oregon side of the Gorge, Multnomah Falls is the undisputed king.

At 620 feet in height and readily accessible off Interstate 84, the waterfall is the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest, seeing more than two million people per year.

The falls got so popular that in 2014, Oregon Department of Transportation had to install Ben Mitchell gates that would close when the parking lot filled — an attempt to curb dangerous traffic backups that were occurring on I-84 from motorists waiting to get into the parking lot.

In 2016, ODOT helped address this demand by starting the Columbia Gorge Express (CGE), shuttling riders on full-size tour buses from Portland to Multnomah Falls. That service has since expanded, including stops in Cascade Locks and Hood River, giving more options for hiking and other recreational activities.

In November, Columbia Area Transit (CAT) became the provider of the CGE service, offering additional connections to The Dalles and expanding the frequency of service. Patty Fink, executive director of CAT, said that even in the off-season, CGE sees an average of 350 riders per week, but expects “those numbers to soar in the spring and summer” this year.

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Dog Mountain, above, east of Stevenson, Wash., is one of the most popular hiking areas in the Columbia Gorge. The parking lot fills quickly, opposite, creating hazards on State Route 14.

If Multnomah Falls is the undisputed king of the Oregon side of the Gorge, that honor surely belongs to Dog Mountain on the Washington side.

Although challenging, Dog Mountain is arguably the most popular hike in the Gorge during the spring, when its southern-facing slopes explode into a golden carpet of balsam root flowers. With only a few weeks of prime wildflower-peeping available and limited parking, in previous years the trailhead would get overrun, with hikers parking along State Route 14, creating a dangerous situation.

Ben Mitchell

Putting up “no parking” signs, lining the parking lot, and increasing enforcement helped the situation, but like Multnomah Falls, that was only part of the solution. To keep up with the ever-increasing number of hikers, Skamania County began a shuttle several years ago under its West End Transit ( WET) service to Dog Mountain, operating from late April through mid June when the balsam root is out. WET’s non-Dog Mountain shuttle also provides service to, among other stops, the Cape Horn Trail, which is another congestion point on the Washington side.

Reliance on the Dog Mountain shuttle ramped up greatly in 2018 when the U.S. Forest Service began requiring permits for the hike during peak weekends. In its first two years of existence, the permit/shuttle combo has proved successful.

“Everyone involved in the partnership…has been very happy with how safety has improved along State Route 14, and we hear from people that they only hiked Dog Mountain after the permit system started, because prior to that, they were intimidated at the thought of jostling to get a parking spot,” said Rachel Pawlitz, spokesperson for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

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TAKE THE CAR BUS

Ben Mitchell

CAT started running multiple daily shuttles from Hood River to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort this year, above, offering employees and skiers an alternative to driving and parking in the often-overcrowded lots.

GORGE TO MOUNTAIN The newest recreation-focused public transportation option in the Gorge is also arguably one of the oldest: catching a bus to Meadows.

Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort has been offering busing options to its slopes for more than 50 years — a convenient option for peak weekend powder days when the resort has been known to park out. But starting at the beginning of this winter recreation season, CAT has partnered with Meadows to create the Gorge to Mountain Express (GTM), offering multiple buses going to and from

the Hood River Valley and Meadows every day through the end of March, with even more routes on weekends, holidays, and school breaks. Before, Meadows operated shuttle buses that brought people to the mountain primarily on the weekends, with expanded service during winter and spring breaks.

Patrons include a mixture of Meadows employees and guests, and ridership has been excellent (full disclosure: in addition to being a freelance journalist, I also work in Meadows’ marketing department and am a frequent rider).

PINK TROLLEY Returns for Summer The Pink Trolley will be back for summer, starting in June. The trolley runs on Saturdays and Sundays, following a loop from the Heights to the Waterfront with nine stops along the way. The trolley is free, with donations accepted which go to a local cause. (Last summer, all onboard donations went to Hood River Shelter Services.) The Pink Trolley runs every 30 minutes from approximately 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ridecatbus.org

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Visit our “The GTM service has exceeded our expectations,” Fink noted. “The service, which began during the winter holiday break, saw over 2,000 riders — 4,000 one-way trips — use the service in the two-week period.”

Tasting Room

Looking toward the future, CAT wants to expand its services even more, and is hoping riders will make use of its recently released GOrge Pass, which offers unlimited rides on CAT fixed routes, including CGE and GTM, for just $30 a year. If enough passes are sold, Fink says CAT will use the money to enhance transit access to other trailheads. The Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area Act constrains how much parking can be developed at trailheads, which means creating public transit options is a key component to keeping up with demand. “With climate change, traffic congestion, and parking concerns increasing at trailheads and communities throughout the Gorge, a strong investment in transit services offers a way forward,” Fink noted.

While public transportation is great, it does bring more people to the trails, and that can be problematic.

Pawlitz says the Forest Service has to balance promoting recreation with protecting sensitive natural resources. Too much love can mean excessive erosion and/or disturbing wildlife. Finding that middle ground between maintaining access to public lands while simultaneously preserving natural resources can be a tricky task.

“We appreciate that transit providers work with us, and I think there will always be some sites without transit — so we can ensure that sites that do have transit have sufficient amenities and services to sustain the environment at the sites that do get large numbers such as Multnomah Falls,” Pawlitz explained.

“We have come a long way in the last four years, and we will continue to learn about how to get the balance right.”

For a comprehensive list of public transit options in the Gorge, go to gorgetranslink.com or call 541-296-2266.

TASTE SHOP ENJOY! OPEN DAILY 12 - 6 304 Oak St., Suite 3, Hood River, OR TastingRoomHRD@hrdspirits.com 541-716-5276

Ben Mitchell is a writer and filmmaker who lives in Hood River. He is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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OUTSIDE

Courtesy of School of Send

Time to Go Outside and Play Spring means it’s time to get the kids out — rain or shine story by RUTH BERKOWITZ and LISA KOSGLOW | photos provided

S

pringtime in the Gorge bursts with rainbows, wildflowers — and muddy trails. But don’t let the rain and mud keep you and your kids inside. Studies have shown that kids who play outside in challenging weather grow up to become more empathetic, more creative and more resilient.

Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature deficit disorder” and is author of Last Child in the Woods, states, “There’s a generation now that didn’t grow up in nature. Some of these adults are parents and they know that nature is good for their kids but they don’t know where to start.”

Fortunately, here in the Gorge we’re surrounded by nature. We’ve compiled a springtime top ten list, full of creative ways to get you and your children outside — rain or shine.

BIKE THE TRAILS

School of Send and the Cooper Spur Mountain Bike Program teach kids basic mountain biking skills as well as more advanced techniques. Both schools train one or two afternoons a week and offer co-ed and girls-only programs.

If riding on dirt isn’t your thing, pedal the Historic Columbia River Highway. We love the 4.5-mile paved trail from Hood River to Mosier, or explore some of the newly built sections of the historic highway — including the 6-mile section from Wyeth to Viento State Park. Or head east to The Dalles and cycle the town’s waterfront.

Don’t have a bike? Check out Anson’s Bike Buddies, a local non-profit that refurbishes used bikes and gives them to kids in need of two wheels. (ansonsbikebuddies.org) schoolofsend.com cooperspurraceteam.org ansonsbikebuddies.org

Courtesy of School of Send

WALK DOGS FOR AN ANIMAL SHELTER

Volunteer at one of our area animal shelters and help walk the dogs. Animal care teaches empathy and responsibility to children, brings joy to the animals and gets everyone outside regardless of the weather. One of our favorite adventures is to bike from the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The 72

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Dalles to Home at Last animal shelter, walk the dogs, and then bike back to the museum.

PLAY IN THE CREEK

Hood River Adopt A Dog (Parkdale): hoodriveradoptadog.org Home At Last Humane Society (The Dalles): homeatlasths.org Multnomah Animal Services (Troutdale): multcopets.org CLIMB A MOUNTAIN

Courtesy of Lisa Kosglow

Courtesy of Brimstone Boulders

Hood River’s new rock climbing gym, Brimstone Boulders, is built inside the Old Asbury Church in Hood River. Even when it’s pouring rain, the gym glows during the day with the magical light seeping through the stained glass windows. The gym offers classes and open bouldering. Kids can climb to the summit of the kids’ area and peer down on parents working on a bouldering problem.

If the new climbing gym inspires you to climb outside, venture east to Horsethief Butte in Dallesport, Wash., or join the Hood River Community Education spring climbing program (April 6 to May 16).

Build a boat and watch it float, or play Poohsticks, at your closest stream. Derived from Winnie the Pooh and his friends in The House at Pooh Corner, each player drops a stick from a bridge into running water below. The stick that emerges from the downstream side of the bridge first wins. Experiment with other natural materials: does a fir cone move faster than a pine bough? How about racing a leaf against an acorn? Hone your engineering skills and build a raft out of sticks and other natural materials.

Don’t forget to pack a clear container and scoop up some water. Look for signs of life: tadpoles, salamanders and insect larvae are plentiful this time of year. Use a magnifying glass for a closer look.

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Earth Day is April 22, but here in the Gorge the entire month of April is dedicated to the environment. Wildlife biologist Bill Weiler teamed with his daughter and son-in-law to create Trees of the Gorge, a group with a goal to plant one million trees in the Gorge. The group meets April 11 to plant native trees at Barrett Park in Hood River, and teams with Columbia Riverkeeper April 25 to help restore native plants at Nichols Basin on the Hood River waterfront.

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SCOUT FOR ANIMAL TRACKS

Grab your rain boots and head to the Sandy River Delta to scout for animal tracks. Do a little prep at home by researching tracks (deer have two toes, coyotes and other canines have four toes with claws). We’ve found raccoon tracks (five toes) and nibbled branches (perhaps insects or maybe deer) at the Sandy River Delta. Spot nests, foot prints, seed husks, scat — anything that shows that another animal (or human animal) was there.

GO BIRDING

Today’s technology makes birding more fun than ever. We use a free app called Merlin Bird ID, which helps kids hone their observation skills, look at behavior patterns, recall details, and then identify birds. We use the app to listen to various owl calls, which help identify which owls are visiting our trees at night. merlin.allaboutbirds.org

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LOOK AT THE STARS

Venture to the Goldendale Observatory where you can gaze at the galaxy through one of our nation’s largest public telescopes. The observatory has recently been renovated with a new learning center and an upgrade to the telescope. Check out the website for moon phase and weather information and call ahead to plan your trip. goldendaleobservatory.com LOOK FOR WILDFLOWERS

Cooper Spur Mountain Resort has been hosting Mt. Hood travelers and their families for generations. Nestled on the north side of Mt. Hood, you’ll be sure to fall in love with the charming tavern and rustic log cabins. Escape to the mountain and enjoy cozy accommodations just 40 minutes from Hood River. � Farm to Table Restaurant and Catering � Historic Lodge � Discount lift tickets to Mt. Hood Meadows with your stay � Just minutes from several Mt. Hood Hikes Happy Hour: All Day Monday & Tuesday-Friday 3:00pm-6:00pm

During the spring, the eastern Gorge is considerably drier and sunnier than the west. This makes Catherine Creek, Rowena Crest and the Klickitat trails less muddy. It’s also where the wildflowers pop up first. Peruse our Kidding Around the Gorge book for kid-friendly hikes, and make sure to bring Russ Jolly’s Wildflowers of the Gorge with you.

PLAY ON THE SNOW

Head up to Mount Hood and play on the granular corn snow. Pocket Creek and Bennett Pass are free and ideal for snowshoeing or cross country skiing; both allow dogs. Or try groomed skate or classic skiing at Teacup Nordic Snow Park. Mt. Hood Meadows has loads of downhill fun and games: have lunch on the deck April 25-26 and watch snowboarders compete in the ReVegetate rail jam, or check out the entertaining Sno-Kona Pondskim on May 2. Have a she shredder in your house? Sisters in Action Sports hosts a community event April 4 at Timberline Lodge. skihood.com timberlinelodge.com For more ideas on getting out in the Gorge, check out Kidding Around the Gorge — the Hood River Area’s Ultimate Guide for Family Fun, by Ruth Berkowitz and Lisa Kosglow.

Kosglow’s new book, Let the Kid Guide — Putting Nature Back into Our Lives, will be on shelves this spring.

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ARTS + CULTURE

In This Together An Odell mural celebrates the cultural history of farming in the Hood River Valley story by PEGGY DILLS KELTER | photos by ROBIN DICKINSON

I

t began with a great idea, a few determined people willing to plan and fundraise, and a mission to tell a compelling story about the local farmers and agricultural workers who have toiled for generations in the Hood River Valley. Add 26 gallons of paint, two borrowed scissor lifts, a 2,990-square-foot blank wall, and two intrepid and talented artists. What do you get? A beautiful, awe inspiring mural that graces one of the Diamond Fruit Company’s warehouse facilities in the heart of Odell, a few miles south of Hood River.

The idea to create a narrative mural celebrating local farming history and the multiple cultures involved was hatched several years ago by locals Patrick Rawson, Maija Yasui and Shelley Toon Lindberg.

“The mural project came out of a brain-storming session when I mentioned the disengagement of the Latino community that we had worked so hard to support,” Yasui says. “It seemed to be unraveling with the political environment at the national, state and local levels…The new cold storage building looked

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like a blank canvas that we could emblazon with a welcome or thank-you card to the diverse people in the community as well as the fruit industry.”

Lindberg adds, “We just started dreaming what was possible, and who the artists might be.

We were determined that we weren’t going to tell

COLUMBIA CENTER for the ARTS Sarah Fox, opposite inset, is host and curator of the Sense of Place lecture series and the Hear in the Gorge podcast. Her guests have included Terrie Brigham, opposite top, owner of Brigham’s Fish Market in Cascade Locks, and Mary Lee Jones, opposite bottom, a Yakama Nation tribal member who promotes traditional foods. At right, Fox teaches Elliot Brigham some interviewing techniques.

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Artists Michelle Yamamoto and Allison Bell Fox, inset, left and right, designed and painted the mural on the side of one of the Diamond Fruit Company’s warehouses in Odell. The mural celebrates local farming history and the multiple cultures involved in three panels. An interpretive kiosk will be added nearby.

just one single story about immigrants. That was really important to all of us.” With fundraising under way, the team set out to do research and to find artists willing to take on the challenge.

Well-known local artists Allison Bell Fox and Michelle Yamamoto eagerly joined the team, and in 2018 began work on the mural’s design. Yamamoto and Yasui went through photo archives, selecting various pictures from throughout the industry’s local history. Yamamoto worked on the design for two months, dividing up the images into a triptych, with each section featuring about 40 years of history.

“It detailed the fruit industry from its beginning with New Yorkers and Western European immigrants arriving, through the Japanese farm workers and orchardists and our most recent Latino workforce,” Yasui explains.

“The first section depicts the arrival of Europeans as they work on scaffolding they invented to make their fruit picking job easier,” Yamamoto says.

“In the middle mural, Japanese immigrants are seen taking the orchard industry’s productivity to the next level before they were interned and had all their possessions seized by the government, a tragedy that my father and his family in Canada experienced. In the third mural, gratitude is being paid to the Hispanic community’s immense hard work.”

The Diamond Fruit Growers board of directors reviewed and approved Yamamoto’s sketches.

Fox, who had been on maternity leave, joined Yamamoto last summer in transferring the smaller sketches to full wall size images with the help of a large-scale digital projector. “Fast forward to the last week of July and it was time to start painting,” Fox says. Just before they were set to begin, however, she sat down to grid out the images on her laptop — only to discover that the original designs were half the width they needed to be. “We were 90 feet short of material.”

Fox, Yamamoto and Yasui gathered for a brainstorming session, and Fox spent a long night expanding the original designs and integrating in more material to make up for the missing space. They were able to re-work the designs in time to start sketching the next evening.

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Allison Bell Fox paints while on a scissor lift. The artists sketched the design onto the building before painting with the help of a large-scale digital projector.

Fox hooked up the projector to her laptop, and the entire three parts of the mural appeared — “with absolute precision,” says Yamamoto — on the side of the building. The artists were determined to get everything sketched while they had the projector rented for the weekend, so they worked late into the night on their lifts tracing projection lines.

The mural was not without other challenges. The artists had to avoid high winds while on the tall lifts, and dodge severe condensation drips from the eaves once the coolers were turned on. The hot midday sun made painting past 1 p.m. impossible, and thunderstorms had to be avoided.

They also needed to synchronize their painting times with the busy activity at the building that began in earnest when harvest got started. “One of the greatest highlights was observing the allencompassing grandeur of harvest take over the valley,” Fox says. “Starting on the front end of harvest in August, it was amazing to watch the fruit finish ripening all around, and the juggle of pickers to truckhaulers to the crazy efficient team on site at Diamond. And the fruit! So much fruit flowing through that

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facility. I loved riding my lift through the towers of fruit being off-loaded and shuffled through the storage rooms.”

As much as the artists enjoyed observing the buzz of the harvest, the curious locals enjoyed watching the mural’s progress. Lindberg says it wasn’t unusual for her to be stopped in the grocery store and handed money for the mural.

People offered positive feedback at coffee shops and restaurants. The artists felt like the community was cheering them on in their endeavors. It seemed everyone enjoyed watching these two diminutive women up on the lifts, hard at work.

The physical mural is finished, and should remain vibrant for 20 to 30 years. Meanwhile, the project continues to be a community work-inprogress. A kiosk is planned near the mural to expand the narrative. Local sculptor and metalsmith MacRae Wylde plans to build an open-air shelter using abandoned metal parts that are stored, and sometimes forgotten, in barns throughout the valley. Wylde’s design for the structure will be determined by the materials he collects.

The vision for the kiosk comes from the initial brainstorming sessions, and from concerns about safety when viewing the large mural. The kiosk will be located where it’s safe to stop and park, walk or bike to view the project. It will house a smaller scale print of the entire mural. Students from Wy’east Middle School will create portraits of agricultural workers and farmers with the guidance of Yamamoto, while other students will create films and interviews with the help of local storyteller and filmmaker, Sean O’Connor. Every image will have an accompanying quick-response, or QR, code, which visitors can scan with a smart phone to learn more about the mural project.

Contributions, both monetary and in-kind, continue to come in, and the project’s donors span the political spectrum, according to Lindberg.

When asked what she attributes the generosity to, she says, “It’s the scale. Seeing it come to life, people were really moved by that.”

Lindberg becomes quiet for a moment before continuing, trying to explain why she’s so passionate about this project. “People fear ‘the other’ but there really is no such thing as ‘the other,’” she says. “We’re all in this together, whether we admit it or not.”

Donations are being accepted for the project through Arts in Education of the Gorge, 1009 Eugene St., Hood River, OR 97031, or at gorgeartisined.org.

Peggy Dills Kelter is an artist and writer who lives in Hood River. She’s a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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14th Annual

GORGE ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS YEAR-ROUND GUIDE TO ART IN THE GORGE

Visit the studios of local artists | April 24, 25 and 26 2020 10am-5pm gorgeartists.org

NANCY HOUFEK BROWN Oil Painting nhb-artwork.com

ANN FLEMING Limited Edition Bronze annfleming.com

BLAINE FRANGER Fine Art Photography blainebethanygallery.com

TRUDI KLINGER Functional Pottery mysticmudstudio.net

JOY KLOMAN Oil Painting joysartstudio.com

JUDY LARSEN Wire & Bead Jewelry wirewoman15@gmail.com

TED OLSON Oil on Panel tedo@olson-design.org

CATHLEEN REHFELD Oil Painting rehfeldart.com

CHARLENE RIVERS Acrylic on Canvas charleneriversstudio@gmail.com

MARY ROLLINS Watercolor maryrollins.com

MS MICHAEL STEWART Carved Fossils & Corals msblackcoral@gmail.com

PENY WALLACE Alginate & 'Terre Blanc' asherart98@gorge.net

Visit gorgeartists.org or facebook.com/gaos.tour. Find tour books for this free event online and area Chambers of Commerce, Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River and The Dalles Art Center.

WELLNESS

Here’s to Our Health

A unique initiative promotes Gorge-wide wellness story by JANET COOK | photos provided

W

hat started as a conversation eight years ago has led to an infusion of more than $11 million dollars into the Gorge for programs aimed at improving health, both for individuals as well as the wider community.

It’s part of the Healthy Gorge Initiative, which started back in 2012 when a few people in healthrelated fields began talking about funding — specifically their frustration watching grant opportunities that could benefit the Gorge community go elsewhere. What was needed, they felt, was an organized effort to throw our collective hat in the ring.

Enter Paul Lindberg, a long-time grant writer in Hood River. After many conversations, and a plan for funding a position (Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital pays for it through a grant administered by United Way of the Columbia Gorge), Lindberg was hired in 2014 as the Collective Impact Health Specialist.

Using a broad definition of “health” — including things like food security, affordable housing, transportation and jobs, as well as physical and mental health — Lindberg was tasked with studying local needs, tracking grant opportunities, and bringing relevant partners together to go after those opportunities.

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Since starting in his role, more than 50 programs — many of them collaborations among several entities working to address health-related issues — have been funded, collectively bringing, at current tally, $11,638,000 into the Gorge.

“It’s been way more successful than any of us could have imagined,” Lindberg said. As impressive as the numbers are, Lindberg thinks a more significant impact is the collaboration that the initiative has brought about. Many entities in the Gorge — often those in different communities — have historically competed with one another, and not always on a friendly basis. “Through this work, it’s the most collaborative I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “Those geographic distinctions just don’t exist as much anymore.” Collaboration also helps organizations develop a better understanding of what others in the field are doing, which leads to greater trust.

Another key to the success of the initiative is community engagement, said Lindberg. “We’ve done an intentional job of engaging community members, those with lived experience,” he said. It makes most sense for those with, say, food insecurity, to identify their most pressing needs so that solutions are effective and dollars are spent wisely.

Going forward, Lindberg hopes the initiative can begin to address not just solutions to immediate problems, but larger policy changes. “We have to serve the people who are standing in line,” he said, “but we have to shorten the line.”

HEALTHY GORGE INITIATIVE

These four projects are some of more than 50 that have been launched through the Healthy Gorge Initiative over the past six years. For more information, including a comprehensive list of projects, go to gorgeimpact.com.

ACTIVE RX

Active Rx is a program administered by the North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) in The Dalles aimed at increasing physical activity for kids.

Through referrals from health Northern Wasco County Parks & Rec Dept. care and dental providers, families receive a three-month family swim pass to either the Northern Wasco County Aquatic Center in The Dalles or the Hood River Aquatic Center at no cost.

“We have found that there is a huge need for this program in our community,” said Kristen Slatt, program coordinator and a community health specialist with NCPHD. Many participants have reported that they wouldn’t have been able to afford to go to the pool without the program, she added.

Active Rx has been running for two years, with 133 families so far redeeming the pool pass in The Dalles and 85 families in Hood River. “In The Dalles, the program went from 44 redemptions in 2018 to 89 in 2019,” Slatt said. In Hood River the number jumped from 10 to 79. ncphd.org

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The Gorge Wellness Alliance (GWA) was launched two years ago by One Community Health with a mission to promote compassion and reduce stigma around mental health. Nearly 40 percent of adults and 25 percent of youth in the Gorge are living with a mental health condition, including substance abuse, according to Colleen Regalbuto, project manager for the alliance.

The GWA’s first initiative was to produce a film, “Cultivate Compassion,” which premiered in October. The film features six Gorge locals speaking about their experience living with mental health problems. “The goal of the campaign is to reduce the stigma surrounding these issues and to encourage compassionate conversations among family, friends and neighbors,” said

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“Responses to the film have been overwhelmingly positive,” Regalbuto said. “I have heard that it has inspired viewers to be more open about their own challenges with mental health problems, and that it has encouraged people to get help.” gorgewellnessalliance.org VEGGIE RX PILOT (HEALTHY MOMS, HEALTHY BABIES)

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A 2015 survey found that one in three residents in the Gorge do not have enough to eat. Likewise, more than half of the 300 women who give birth in Hood River County each year participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) for women, infants and children living below the poverty line. These statistics led Gorge Grown Food Network to launch the program, “Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies,” which is providing 50 low-income pregnant women and their families with fresh, local Courtesy of Gorge Grown fruits and veggies for 15 months.

“Research shows that improving nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life has a lifelong impact on their health,” said Sarah Sullivan, executive director of Gorge Grown. The goals of the program are to address hunger/malnutrition, improve lifelong health outcomes for children, and to expand year-round vegetable production and sales avenues for local farmers.

According to preliminary data, participants are reporting a decrease in food insecurity as a result of the program, as well as a reduction in stress by having fresh fruits and vegetables.

“By the end of the pilot program in December 2020,” she said, “over $80,000 in fruits and vegetables will have been purchased from local farms and provided to the enrolled families.” gorgegrown.com BRIDGES TO HEALTH

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Bridges to Health, a program run by the Columbia Gorge Health Council (CGHC), was launched in 2017, initially to provide help for people experiencing housing challenges. The program has expanded and now serves “people and households that are struggling to access resources on their own, for whatever reason,” said Suzanne Cross, senior project manager for CGHC. The program employs community health workers within several agencies in Hood River and The Dalles to help connect people with services and resources.

“They help break down barriers and address disparities that make it hard for people to understand or know how to navigate inside complicated systems,” Cross said. The program, which has served more than 700 people since its inception, also helps healthcare providers understand how to work more closely with their patients, according to Cross.

“It gives the medical community some extra assistance to offer their patients outside the walls of the clinic,” she said, “ultimately ending in better health and wellness overall.” cghealthcouncil.org

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PARTAKE I COOK WITH US

Buttermilk Champagne Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Recipe and photos by KACIE MCMACKIN

Directions CAKE Sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mix until each egg is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Add half of the flour mixture, mix until just combined. Add the buttermilk, mix until just combined. Add the remainder of the flour, mix until just combined. Add the Champagne, mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides as needed. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying them with non-stick cooking spray and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.

Give the batter one more good mix with a large spatula to ensure it’s well combined. Divide the batter equally between the two pans, smoothing it until even.

Ingredients CAKE

• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

• 2 1/4 cup cake flour

• 1 cup raspberry jam

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon baking powder • 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 2/3 cup Champagne • 2/3 cup buttermilk • 3 large eggs, at room temperature

PAIR WITH

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature • 2 cups granulated sugar • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract FROSTING • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 84

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Phelps Creek Vineyards 2018 Rosé of Pinot Noir Hiyu - Smockshop Band 2017 Columbia Valley Rosé

Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean from the middle and the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center. Let cool for five minutes before turning the cakes out onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING Press the raspberry jam through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.

Cream the butter in the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until glossy and smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, and starting on low, mix together the butter and sugar, slowly increasing the speed to high. Whip until the frosting becomes light (about 5 minutes on high). With the mixer on medium, add the jam a bit at a time, then add the vanilla, cream and salt. Continue to whip, increasing the speed, until the frosting is fluffy and the jam is fully incorporated.

Starting with one cake, layer about 1 cup of frosting on the top. Place the second cake upside down on top of the first one. Apply a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake (this is called a crumb layer), before applying a thicker layer over the entire cake. From here you can either leave the cake as is, or you can fit your piping bag with a rose piping tip and fill with frosting. Decorate the top of the cake with roses!

I recently reread Anne of Green Gables, a novel I’ve read many times over the years, and highly recommend if you haven’t read it. This cake was inspired by the infamous chapter in which Anne, who has a knack for finding herself embroiled in mischief and hilarious misfortune, accidentally intoxicates her friend by serving her currant wine instead of raspberry cordial — ruining their tea and threatening their friendship. In honor of Anne, I created this Buttermilk Champagne Cake with Raspberry Buttercream roses that would have absolutely delighted Anne, and would have resulted in a more successful tea with her friend had she served it. The cake tastes faintly of champagne and strongly of vanilla, and is frosted with sweet and tart buttercream. The base recipe for this cake is adapted from Cupcakes & Parties.

Kacie McMackin is a food blogger, writer and photographer at gorgeinthegorge.com. She is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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PARTAKE I EAT & DRINK

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Backwoods Brewing is family owned and located in Carson, WA. Established in 2012, we offer delicious beers, hand-made pizzas, outdoor seating, and welcome all ages.

Stunning views next to the Bridge of the Gods – Bridgeside (formerly Charburger) still serves tasty char-broiled burgers plus an extensive menu of breakfast items, chowders, fish & chips, fresh salad bar, sandwiches, and desserts.

Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with friendly service and historic charm.

Offering Nordic inspired breakfast and lunch to the gorge. Something new and exciting for the whole family to enjoy. Come try traditional recipes such as aebleskiver (danish pancakes), swedish meatballs, norwegian lefse (potato crepes) and lots more!

Open daily: 11:30am-9pm

CASA EL MIRADOR FAMILY MEXICAN RESTAURANT 541-298-7388 • casaelmirador.com 1424 West 2nd Street • The Dalles

Quality Mexican food prepared with the freshest and finest ingredients. Warm, friendly service and a lively atmosphere. Indulge in generous portions of flavorful sizzling fajitas, fish tacos, savory enchilada dishes and daily specials.

Drink specials & Happy Hour menu from 4-7pm, Mon-Fri. Full service bar, take-out menu, gift certificates and catering services. Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

DOG RIVER COFFEE

Gift shop • Special event room & terrace

We look forward to serving you! #broderost

CELILO RESTAURANT & BAR

CROOKED TREE TAVERN & GRILL

Celilo began with a desire to honor the bounty of this region and a commitment to a healthy and sustainable future. Our ever-changing menu reflects the seasonal highlights of the region’s growers and foragers. We offer the most innovative in fresh, local cuisine as well as an award-winning wine list, full bar, small plate menu, and happy hour daily from 5-6pm.

A scratch-made Northwest kitchen hidden up in the woods at the historic Cooper Spur Mountain Resort. Sourcing local and bringing freshness to the table, from the handmade burgers with house baked buns to the hand-cut steaks. Open for lunch & dinner 7 days a week with daily specials. Happy Hour Monday thru Friday 3-6pm.

541-386-5710 • celilorestaurant.com 16 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

541-352-6692 • cooperspur.com 10755 Cooper Spur Road • Mt Hood/Parkdale

Dinner daily from 5pm

541-386-4502 • dogrivercoffee.net 411 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

541-386-3000 • doppiohoodriver.com 310 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

DOPPIO COFFEE

EL PUERTO DE ANGELES III

Named one of ‘America’s top 10 coffeehouses’ by USA Today

Relax on our patio, right in the heart of downtown…enjoy a hand-crafted espresso drink made with locally roasted, fair trade and organic coffee. Serving breakfast and lunch all day: panini, salads, smoothies, and fresh baked goods (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free options). Local beers on tap, and local wines by the glass or bottle. Free Wi-fi and our patio is dog-friendly. Open daily at 7 am.

Authentic Jalisco Cuisine. We provide a great dining experience and freshly prepared platters delivered to your table with Mexican hospitality by our friendly staff. Enjoy good food, good folks and good times. Offering daily lunch and dinner specials served all day. Happy Hour Mon-Fri 2-5pm.

Enjoy our outdoor patio (open weather permitting).

Full service espresso bar featuring Stumptown coffee Breakfast burritos, pastries and more Caffeinating your adventures since 2004 Open: Mon-Fri, 6am-6pm & Sat-Sun, 7am-6pm

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BRIDGESIDE

509-427-3412 • backwoodsbrewingcompany.com 1162 Wind River Hwy • Carson

SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

541-308-0005 1306 12th Street • Hood River, on the Heights

Sun-Thu 10am-9pm, Fri & Sat 10am-10pm

PARTAKE I EAT & DRINK

F B C

EVERYBODY’S BREWING

FERMENT BREWING COMPANY

A brand new patio, expanded menu, and award-winning beers make Everybody’s Brewing a must-see destination when coming to the Columbia Gorge. Don’t miss the live music and wing specials every Monday night!

Ferment is a modern brewery that fuses traditional farmhouse techniques with a forward-thinking scientific approach. Born out of an appreciation for the art of fermentation, Ferment offers a unique family of beers and kombuchas that tap the wild terrain of the Columbia Gorge for inspiration and forged ingredients.

Authentic Chinese cousine in the Gorge! 41 years of famous flavor prepared with a free scoop of friendly.

Family Friendly •Bottles & Growler fills•Open 11am daily

Closed on Mondays.

509.637.2774 • everybodysbrewing.com 177 E. Jewett Boulevard • White Salmon

Open 11:30am to close 7 days a week.

INDIAN CREEK GOLF COURSE & DIVOTS CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT 541-308-0304 • indiancreekgolf.com 3605 Brookside Drive • Hood River

541-436-3499 • fermentbrewing.com 403 Portway Avenue • Hood River Waterfront

IXTAPA FAMILY MEXICAN RESTAURANT 810 Cherry Heights • The Dalles 2827 W. Cascade Avenue • Hood River 541-386-1168

Located in the heart of the Hood River Valley just minutes from downtown. Breathtaking views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams from our covered patio. Full service bar and fabulous northwest cuisine at a reasonable price.

Your everyday vacation spot! Open to the public.

Authentic, fresh, Mexican food and full bar. Proudly serving the Gorge for over 18 years! Daily lunch and dinner specials. Mexican specialties including fresh seafood and vegetarian entries. Take out and catering available.

Open Daily for Lunch & Dinner. Happy Hour 3-6pm.

New location now open! Open daily.

McMENAMINS EDGEFIELD

PFRIEM FAMILY BREWERS

GRACE SU’S CHINA GORGE RESTAURANT & TIGER LOUNGE 541-386-5331 • chinagorge.com 2680 Old Columbia River Drive • Hood River (Located off I-84 and the base of Hwy 35)

Tiger Lounge Sports Bar Happy Hours: 3-6pm Tuesday-Friday & Sunday Buffet: 11:30am-2pm

KICKSTAND COFFEE & KITCHEN 541-436-0016 • kickstandcoffee.net 1235 State Street • Hood River

Fusion cuisine made from locally sourced ingredients.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Donuts made fresh daily.

House-roasted coffee. Local beer, wine & house-infused cocktails at “The Handlebar”.

Open daily 7am-10pm. Outdoor Patio. Fire Pit. SMORES. Kid Friendly.

Fundraisers & Special events.

PIETRO’S PIZZA

503-669-8610 • mcmenamins.com 2126 SW Halsey Street • Troutdale (off Exit 16)

541-321-0490 • pfriembeer.com 707 Portway Avenue, Suite 101 • Hood River Waterfront

541-386-1606 • pietrosrestaurants.com 107 2nd Street • Hood River

As the weather cools and winter takes hold, you may find yourself in need of a crackling fire or warm cocktail to battle the elements. With a house-made Hot Buttered Rum to sip on, roaring fire pits and nightly live music, we’ve got you covered during this stormy season. Take a bottle home to craft your own.

pFriem artisanal beers are symphonies of flavor and balance, influenced by the great brewers of Europe, but unmistakably true to our homegrown roots in the Pacific Northwest. Although they are served humbly, each glass is overflowing with pride and a relentless aspiration to brew the best beer in the world. We’ll let you decide.

Pietro’s is proud to serve the same famous original thin pizza crust and pizza sauce that has made us a Northwest favorite over the years. We use only the freshest and finest cheese and toppings. Proud to be locally owned and operated with four locations: Hood River, Milwaukie, Beaverton and Salem. Dine in, take out, online or delivery.

Ales, wines and spirits are crafted onsite.

Open Daily: 11:30am - 9pm

Open Daily 11am-10pm

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PARTAKE I EAT & DRINK

REMEDY CAFÉ

541-716-4020 • remedyjuice-cafe.com 112 Third Street • Downtown Hood River Recharge at Remedy Café with organic and satisfying breakfast or lunch bowls, burritos, curry, smoothies, juices, or hot drinks. Vegan and paleo options, created from scratch from the best quality organic and local ingredients.

Kombucha on tap. Locally roasted, organic espresso.

Free WiFi. Open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm Sat & Sun 8am-5pm.

Dine-in or take out. Call in to order ahead!

RIVERSIDE & CEBU LOUNGE

Happy Hour daily, 3-6pm

Diners seek out Riverside for some of the best food and views in the Gorge – and Cebu for great bar food and drinks. Fresh menus change seasonally – plus an award-winning wine list and dozens of beer on tap. Enjoy indoors, on the deck or in our popular Cebu Lounge.

541-296-7870 • rivertap.com 703 East 2nd Street • Downtown The Dalles (I-84, Exit 85) Late Night Happy Hour Friday & Saturday, 10-close Live Music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday

541-386-4410 • riversidehoodriver.com Exit 64 off I-84 • Waterfront Hood River

Cebu Lounge Happy Hours: Mon-Fri 4-6pm

541-436-0800 • solsticewoodfirecafe.com 501 Portway Avenue • Hood River Waterfront

541-386-7423 • sushiokalani@gorge.net 109 First Street • Downtown Hood River

SUSHI OKALANI

TAD’S CHICKEN ‘N DUMPLINS

Family-owned & loved by locals!

One of a kind specialty pizzas, housemade fresh pastas, seasonal small plates & salads, & sublime s’mores.

Inspired cocktails, craft beers, wine, & ciders on tap.

Family dining & kids play area. Vegan & gluten-free options.

Come find us in the basement of the Yasui Building, the local’s favorite spot for fresh fish, Pan-Asian Cuisine, and a rockin’ atmosphere! Lots of rotating specials, creative rolls, and a large sake selection means you’re always trying something new! Private rooms are available for groups up to 20 people. Take-out menu available online. Open for dinner nightly at 5:00, closing hours change seasonally.

We are nestled on the banks of the Sandy River in Troutdale, OR–the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge. We are located halfway between Portland and Multnomah Falls.

Serving exquisite American cuisine since the 1930s.

The menu includes: Seafood specialties as well as traditional steak, chicken, and pasta dishes; a full bar, and our famous home-style chicken ‘n dumplins.

SOLSTICE WOOD FIRE PIZZA

Wood-fired & Gorge-inspired!

gorge in the gorge

A local guide to the best food, drinks, farms, and markets! gorgeinthegorge.com

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RIVERTAP PUB & RESTAURANT

SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

503-666-5337 • tadschicdump.com 1325 East Historic Columbia River Hwy • Troutdale

PARTAKE I EAT & DRINK

SUBSCRIPTION 541-436-4395 • find us on Facebook 1803 12th Street • Hood River

An adventure-based brewery that has been handcrafting creative and innovative beers in the Pacific Northwest since 2013. This Cascade Locks brewery makes crushable beers inspired by a love of outdoor adventures, with a nod to local history and with a respect for all that the Gorge has to offer. In summer 2020 they look forward to opening their new purpose-built brewery and taproom.

Family-friendly sports bar owned and operated by long-time Gorge locals. We offer a casual dining experience with many delicious menu options to keep the whole family happy. And, let’s not forget craft cocktails, local micro brews and your favorite macros all available seven days a week at a price you can’t beat. 15% off on Wed to all season pass holders.

Open Mon-Fri 10am-10pm & Sat-Sun 9am-10pm

om

TILLY JANE’S

971-231-4599 • thunderislandbrewing.com 515 NW Portage Road • Cascade Locks

SPRING 2020 thegor gemagazine.c

THUNDER ISLAND BREWING CO

to the area’s premier lifestyle publication and winner of four awards from the 2019 Pacific NW Magazine Group Contest, including Best Writing.

LIVIN G AND EXPLO

RING IN THE COLUM

BIA RIVER GORG E

Ar t Happens Here Gorge artists welco

me visitors during Open Studi os Tour

Go Outside and Play

A springtime

CAFÉ & GRILL WET PLANET CAFÉ & GRILL 509-493-8989 • wetplanetwhitewater.com 860 Highway 141 • White Salmon (Husum)

top 10 list for Gorge

kids

Meatless Moment

The times have

YOUR PARTAKE LISTING HERE

Contact Jody Thompson for more information: 425-308-9582 • jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com 541-399-6333 • thegorgemagazine.com

Off the beaten track, outside and delicious. From a perfect espresso in the morning with a fresh pastry, to one of the best burgers in the Gorge! Farm-to-Table menu, including freshly caught Salmon. Enjoy great food paired with local brews, cider and wines on our outdoor patio, while watching the rafters and kayakers have fun on the White Salmon River.

The Gorge is a mecca for great food and drink: restaurants, cafés, wineries, breweries, food carts & more.

Help visitors and locals decide where to dine and drink.

They’ll see your ad in print and in the online digital edition of the magazine…for one affordable price!

Open daily 11:30am-6:30pm, May through September

RESERVE A PARTAKE LISTING SPACE TODAY

The area’s premier lifestyle publication

caught up with

Tofurky

Subscribe now for only $19.99 (4 issues) or $29.99 (8 issues) 541.399.6333 thegorgemagazine.com for more information The Gorge Magazine is published quarterly, new subscribers will receive the next available issue. If the post office alerts you that your magazine is undeliverable we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

Reserve Ad Space Now FOR SUMMER 2020!

On Stands June 5 Space reservation by April 17 CONTACT Jody Thompson: 425-308-9582

Be a part of the Gorge community!

Support The Gorge Magazine by advertising and subscribing.

jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com Jenna Hallett: 503-341-3671 jhallett@thegorgemagazine.com For more information, contact Janet Cook jcook@thegorgemagazine.com or 541-399-6333

THE GORGE MAGAZINE II SPRING 2020

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OUR GORGE I YOUR GORGE

Artist Ellen Vorster created this acrylic painting of her daughter windsurfing near Swell City, on the Washington side of the Columbia River. “It captivated me because you could see the sun in the spray,” said Vorster, who has been watching her husband and daughter windsurf for years. “It captured everything I love about doing a windsurfing painting. It showed the energy, the swell.” After reflecting for a moment, she added, “Perhaps I like to paint the wind.

By using the water, you can show the wind.”

The Artist ELLEN VORSTER was born and raised in South Africa. She began painting about 25 years ago, squeezing it in between work as a pharmacist and raising her daughter. Her husband is “windsurfing obsessed,” she said, and she often tagged along with him, painting the ocean, waves and water scenes along the way. She and her family moved to Oregon 14 years ago. When they settled in Hood River she decided to stay home with their daughter, and she started painting more. “It gave me the opportunity to make painting a new career for myself,” she said. She still tags along when her husband goes windsurfing, bringing her plein air painting supplies to Maryhill, Arlington or wherever he happens to be chasing wind. “I am fascinated by water,” she said, adding that she paints a lot of ocean wave scenes.

“I like the moodiness and the force and the energy.” Vorster is part of the Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour April 24-26 (gorgeartists.org), and her work can also be seen at The Frame Gallery in Hood River.

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SPRING 2020 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE

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