Category Archives: Portland, Or, Oregon

Elinar Arnold Skovbo (1924 – 2014)

Elinar Arnold Skovbo (1924 – 2014)

Einar Arnold Skovbo passed away January 4, 2014; one day after his 90th birthday. He was born January 3, 1924 in Eugene Oregon to Peter and Hannah (Andreasen) Skovbo and resided in Junction City his entire life except for military service in World War II.

He married the girl of his dreams, Marilyn, in 1947 and they had 66 years together raising a family of three sons, who joined them in the founding and operation of Viking trailer sales in Junction City.

Einar was a happy Dane! God blessed him with many talents which he shared enthusiastically with many. In retirement he was a woodcarver, daffodil hybridizer, wooden boat builder, community worker, philanthropist, volunteer at the Eugene Air and Space Museum, and sports fan. He was a man of great faith. Dancing through life with Marilyn was his great joy.

Einar is survived by his wife and sons David (Doneta), Brad, Greg (Brenda), three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

His was a life well lived and lived to the fullest.

A Celebration of Life will happen at a later date.

Memorials may be sent to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 29357 Lingo Lane, Junction City, OR 97448.

Published in Eugene Register-Guard on Jan. 10, 2014

Portland Roasting picked as official Academy Awards coffee

The 85th annual Academy Awards won’t begin until Feb. 24 this year, but we already have our first winner.

Celebs up at zero dark thirty for pre-Oscars hair and makeup will perk up with java from Portland Roasting Coffee, selected as the official backstage coffee of this year’s awards show.

The Southeast Portland coffee roaster, founded in 1996, will offer their (organic) Tanager’s Song and (decaf) Vienna blends to winners, presenters and media in the show’s green room.

Portland Roasting enters the retail coffee scene with Oregon Convention Center shops

(Taken from OregonLive.com: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/post_62.html)

A longtime local roaster will open its first coffee shop Sunday in a spot that carried Starbucks’ logo for a decade.

It’s Portland Roasting’s first step in taking on its biggest retail competitors by selling itself as a green alternative. The company will compost its cups, deliver coffee beans by bike and sell nearly all local products at a pair of Oregon Convention Center coffee shops that it won away from Starbucks during a bidding process earlier this year.

Portland Roasting spent 15 years quietly building a $6 million business by buying coffee direct from growers and selling to wholesalers and restaurants. Now it’s targeting licensed stores — the small shops and kiosks that already brew coffee under a different name — to build its brand without adding hefty operating costs.
“In order for our brand to grow, we need to have some store presence,” said managing partner Mark Stell. “The opportunity for us is to go after Starbucks.”

After almost a year of planning, Portland Roasting’s first licensed store opens in days, introducing convention goers from around the world to its sustainable mission.
“It’s opening a door where there has never been before,” Stell said.
The coffee industry is already taking note. One of its top trade magazines, locally based Roast, named Portland Roasting its large roaster of the year last week.

Licensed stores like the convention center outlets also allow the company to build its brand without assuming the biggest risks of brick and mortar businesses. The local roaster pitched the idea earlier this year to Aramark, the convention center’s food vendor, and Metro, the regional government that operates the convention center. Stell and others spent months lining up local vendors, such as Umpqua Oats, to showcase in the store.
The second store will open in December.

Portland Roasting will control the concept and products, down to the coffee beans delivered by bike from its Southeast headquarters. But it won’t own the store itself, and Aramark will employ the workers and handle operations. Other bidders couldn’t beat Portland Roasting’s focus on local products and its sustainable practices, said Teri Dresler,  general manager for Metro’s visitor venues including the convention center.

“It’s exciting to have a home-grown business that we’re doing a big business with at the convention center,” Dresler said. “National conventioneers will be here and be able to taste Portland, literally.”
Although Aramark operates the stores, Metro helps manage the partnership. Dealing with a local business made sense from a financial perspective, she said.
Aramark will pay Portland Roasting $300,000 to operate the stores over the five year contract, Metro spokeswoman Stephanie Soden said.

The food vendor had already budgeted $150,000 worth of coffee shop upgrades as part of its agreement with Starbucks, but it spent the money transforming the spots into Portland Roasting cafes instead. Aramark stands to save $150,000 during the new five-year contract, Dresler said, because Portland Roasting doesn’t charge certain annual fees that Starbucks does.
Together, the two stores generate about $450,000 every year in sales, Soden said.

Still, Portland Roasting’s retail share will remain relatively small. The 26-person company earns about 40 percent of its revenue from wholesale customers. It also has strong office distribution and institutional sales, such as hotel chains.

It’s high volume sales are rooted in its founding. Portland Roasting became one of the first coffee roasters to buy direct from buyers, giving Stell and other a chance to check fair practices first hand. But that meant the company had to buy large amounts of beans to make the process pencil out.
This year, the company expects to roast 840,000 pounds of coffee, Stell said. The Convention Center stores likely won’t drive up the volume by a noticeable amount.

The real value is in the branding opportunity. About half of the Convention Center’s foot traffic is from out of town. And the company plans to model future shops after the convention center stores. In addition to regional stores, Stell is discussing licensing opportunities in Saudi Arabia and Japan, where it already has a big exporting business.
“What we focus on is great coffee and selling that message,” Stell said.

Portland Roasting
Headquarters:
340 S.E. 7th Ave., Portland
Employees: 26
Founded: 1996
Revenue: $6 million expected in 2011, an 11 percent increase from 2010.
What they do: Distribute coffee beans that they buy from growers and roast in house. They also sell other coffee related products, such as flavored syrups.

Doe on the Springwater Corridor

This morning on my bicycle ride to work on the Springwater Corridor just north of Oaks Bottom, I stopped to watch this doe, chewing on the ripening blackberries.

Don’t know how he got to this spot, as its bordered by the Willamette, and heavily trafficked Mcloughlin Blvd.
But the little guy did look hungry, and perhaps not as afraid of people as he should be if he is to survive this far in to the urban environments.

Doe on the Springwater Corridor

 

UPDATE:

Now its 4 days later, and riding at the same stretch of the bike path and theres the doe again, though this time there are three of them. I was able to get a shot of the last, and smallist deer as they headed back into the bushes.  They must be bedding down in this spot right off the trail.

Another but smaller Doe on the Springwater Corridor

Leverage is filming on NW 3rd Street

Wandering around on my lunch hour I came across the set of Leverage filming some shots on NW 3rd Street.
Christian Kane and Beth Riesgraf were hanging out between short takes. I watched him go over the same outburst of indignation 4 times.  Cranes and tents and cameras and cables, chairs with actors names on them,  and lots of people on headsets.  They even had a couple of bicyclists hired to ride back and forth on the street during each take, although none of them had helmets!
Interestingly each biker went back and forth about 3 times during each take, so wonder how thats going to work?
I only managed to take a few shots before they ran me off.

Portland Parks & Recreation Summer Concert Series

Portland Parks & Rec staff work with each neighborhood to discover the music they would like featured in their local park, then area businesses lend sponsor support to make the concerts possible.

These concerts are a perfect place to stop and relax in the middle of the bike ride home from work.

2011 Summer Concerts in the Parks Schedule

MONDAYS

SELLWOOD RIVERFRONT PARK 6:30 pm
July 11 – TooLoose Cajun/Zydeco Band
July 18 – La Descarga Cubana
July 25 – Soul Vaccination
August 1 – The Strange Tones

TUESDAYS

MOUNT TABOR 6:30 pm
July 12 – 3 Leg Torso
July 19 – Jujuba
July 26 – Kevin Selfe & the Tornadoes

KENTON PARK 6:00 pm
August 16 – Norman Sylvester Band
August 23 – Rob Stroup & the Blame

WEDNESDAYS

DAWSON PARK: 6:30 pm
July 6 – Obo Addy & Okropong
July 13 – Hillstomp
July 20 – Dirty Syncopators
July 27 – Lisa Mann and Her Really Good Band

WILLAMETTE PARK: 6:30 pm

July 6 – Tony Furtado
July 13 – Linda Hornbuckle Band
July 20 – Vagabond Opera
July 27 – Malea & the Sapphire Band

VENTURA PARK: 6:00 pm
August 17 – Chata Addy & Susuma
August 24 – David Correa & Cascada
August 31 – The Midnight Serenaders

THURSDAYS

WALLACE PARK: 6:30 pm
July 7 – Padam Padam
July 14 – Stringed Migration
July 21 – Shelly Rudolph
July 28 – Signatures

COUCH PARK: 6:00 pm
August 11 – Conjunto Alegre
August 18 – Rich Layton & the Troublemakers
Bonus Concert for Kids: August 4, Mister Ben

FRIDAYS

FERNHILL PARK: 6:30 pm
July 8 – The Stolen Sweets
July 15 – The Quadraphonnes
July 22 – Melao de Cuba
July 29 – Lisa & Her Kin
National Night Out Concert: Tuesday, August 2, Ty Curtis Band

ELIZABETH CARUTHERS PARK: 6:00 pm
August 19 – Water Tower Bucket Boys
August 26 – Blue Cranes

SATURDAYS

POWELL BUTTE NATURE PARK: 7:00 pm
July 30 – Toque Libre
August 6 – Rich Halley

SUNDAYS

McCOY PARK: 6:00 pm
July 10 – Cool Breeze
July 17 – Tezeta Band
July 24 – Connie Bieberach & Armonia Latina
National Night Out Concert: Tuesday, August 2, Home Brew

Panera lets people pay what they can

 “I don’t think there are any other restaurants where you can say, ‘I’ll pay part of it,’ ” Kelly says.
David Milholland, president of the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission, has taken a loaf of bread to go and paid a dollar less than retail.
“I’m quite aware that I didn’t pay full price,” Milholland says. “I don’t think I ripped the system off by doing it one time.”
Milholland says someday when he’s feeling flush, he will likely put that extra dollar back in.

Neighborhood resident Milholland calls the Panera concept “a noble experiment,” especially for a large corporation. He hopes it succeeds. But he’s not sure.
“It’s a pretty loony thing to do,” he says.

Thomas Doyle is bussing tables and sweeping up. Doyle, 19, is a Vancouver resident who works at a standard Panera there, for pay, and comes to the Hollywood nonprofit Panera on his days off.
He volunteers for an hour, and eats.
“For some reason something just draws me down here to help out,” Doyle says.
Ready for the student rush

The café has been busy all afternoon, but past 3 p.m. it gets crowded as students from nearby Grant High School arrive. As many as 25 or 30 descend on the café for drinks and snacks. Few pay full price, many opting to donate a dollar or two for tabs that can run as much as $8 or $9 retail.
Staff at the restaurant prepare themselves, from the cashiers who take credit cards to the greeter near the entryway who explains the café’s concept to newcomers. The question of whether the Panera Cares experiment is going to succeed has met its biggest challenge.
According to Kate Anonacci, Panera Bread’s national spokeswoman, the chain’s nonprofit cafe in St. Louis, which opened in May 2010, takes in about 80 percent to 85 percent of retail, serving close to 4,000 customers a week. At that rate, the café’s revenue exceeds its costs. The surplus income funds a job training program for local youth.
The second nonprofit Panera opened in Detroit last November with similar sustainable results.

Portland being Portland, the Hollywood Panera is bringing in more customers who are paying more than retail than the cafés in St. Louis and Detroit, according to General Manager Michelle Singler.

But the Hollywood Panera, which opened Jan. 16, is serving more people who cannot or do not pay than the St. Louis and Detroit cafes. The bulk of those people, says Singler, are not homeless, but high school kids.
Overall, receipts at the Hollywood Panera are about 65 percent of retail, much lower than in Detroit or St. Louis.

Singler has talked to administrators at Grant about the situation. Customers who have overheard kids bragging about the sandwich they bought for 10 cents wrote to the high school. E-mails have gone out to Grant families.

Singler and her staff are searching for a solution, looking for the right words the greeter can offer the kids to help them understand what the café is about, and how what they do affects other customers, especially those in need of meals. But, the general manager says, part of the idea behind the nonprofit Panera is to treat everyone equally. And that includes kids.

“You don’t want to assume someone is homeless or assume someone can afford to pay extra. We really can’t judge,” she says.
Also, Singler says it would be a mistake to judge the Hollywood Panera by its 65 percent of retail revenue.
“I don’t think it’s a failure that we’re in the 60s,” she says. “It’s not a failure, it’s a success.”

It’s also a challenge. From Panera’s Boston corporate offices Antonacci says, “We’re saying, ‘OK, Portland, Hollywood community, you want us to stay here and view us as an asset to your community. You have to step up and do the right thing. And the right thing for each person is different.’ ”

Filming of Leverage in Portland

This morning I saw TNT’s  Leverage signs, directing people under the Sellwood Bridge, where they were going to be filming an outdoor scene.
This one apparently was to be on a railroad track, and they needed to used the paved area of the Springwater Corridor for their equipment.
On this particular morning, we were driving so it didnt matter much to us,  but I am sure the temporary closing of the path will be affecting many cyclists.

This reminded me that a few weekends ago, Honey and I took a ride out in Clackamas.  I picked the route on this day since I wanted to go by the warehouses that are used for the indoor filming of Leverage.

Their filming location is no great secret  in fact you can find them at 12438-12442 and 12458-12460 S.E. Capps Road.
They even put up little yellow signs helping people find them.
But otherwise, it is a pretty non-descript setting.

On this day there was no one around.
We know this because we found the back parking lot where all the extras have to park. It was empty.

No stars about either. Their parking lot is also empty. But it has nice plants and in a slightly nicer location.  Even their signs were better.

OS Beaver Baseball

I have become a Beaver baseball fan.
For the last few years, I have listened to nearly every single game, via the Internet, and I track their record and opponents. I even keep a schedule highlighted in color codes for wins/losses.

So, early this morning, I found myself in a very long/slow moving security line at the Portland airport as I kept my honey company prior to her departure. During our conversation about how we would miss each other and all that other feelings talk you have to do, I looked up to see a young kid in a OS Baseball sweat suit in front of me. As I looked around, I noticed that there were like 20 such kids in front and behind me and I slowly realized we were in the middle of the whole team. Honey no doubt noticed that my attention had drifted from her in mid sentence, but she seemed OK with that as I turned to one of them to wish them a good trip down to USC as they start a 3 game set on Thursday. I think he was  a little taken aback that I would know that, but he politely agreed it should be nice.
Anyway, it was a good part of the day.
Well, honey has left  for 6 days in Kentucky where she points out, while it will be raining here on Saturday, it will be 81 degrees in Louisville, so its not all good.

On top of this, this morning it was announce that 5 games will be televised. 
(Tivo is good….Tivo is good….Tivo is good
)

OS Beaver Schedule Continue reading

Cutting our Christmas Tree at Victorhill

Victorhill Farm.



This is where we have cut our Christmas tree for the last 4 years.  We found it because it opened earlier than most, which allowed us to prepare for a Christmas party. Once there, Honey has discovered that her taste matches that of Blenda the artist/owner. She loves the stuff they sell in their barn, and we spend as much time looking at the wreaths and decorations as we do the tree.
And they have a lot of very good u-cut trees.