It is the stories the intrigue me most as I reflect on last month’s West
Linn Book Publication Celebration at the West Linn Public Library.
Harold Gross, fresh from his 96th birthday party, who was wheel chaired
in by his daughter and caregiver, shared how he transported children to and from
school after taking over his father’s West Linn public
school bus service.
As Harold shared school bus stories, somebody spoke up from the crowd
gathered during the Program part of the evening where several special guests joined me near the framed photograph
display set up to represent the eight chapters of my just-published West Linn history
book, Images of America: WEST LINN.
“I rode on Harold’s bus,” Leroy Lundy, a Milwaukie resident, said
from the crowd as all eyes turned to him. “And Harold ordered me to get off his bus one day and walk home because I was throwing chestnuts on the bus,” Lundy shared of his younger years, as everyone gathered in the Community Room of the library broke out in laughter.
The West Linn Library, which co-sponsored the West Linn Book Publication
Celebration held Jan. 26, invited the entire community to come share the evening.
And they came. And invited their friends and neighbors. And old friends were
reunited and new friends were made. People from all walks of life came and it felt
like one big West Linn party. Celebrating what is good about our City. The
amazing giving people. And preserving our history.
Bill Hughes, grandson of Ellis Hughes who discovered West Linn’s famous rock – the Willamette Meteorite -- in 1902, came from Eastern Oregon as did his granddaughter and other family members.
“I remember my grandfather, and the house we lived in. He lived in real poverty; in those days they did not have food
stamps or social security,” Hughes noted. “It was like, when you get an idea and
you try to generate some interest in it, and you try to raise four kids and a
wife. They were poor people in those days. My grandfather was trying to provide
for his family.”
Everyone clapped for Hughes.
We invited Kernan Bagley and LaVerne Bagley Brown to come up to the front as
well as HJ Belton Hamilton and his wife Midori. Part of my Famous People
chapter.
HJ Belton Hamilton was Stanford’s first black graduate and Oregon’s first black
assistant attorney general; Kernan Bagley was Oregon’s first African American US
Marshal under Ronald Reagan and LaVerne Bagley Brown was West Linn High’s first African American woman graduate.
The gathered crowd applauded. Hamilton has been slowed by several
strokes but his spirit and life and legacy live on.
We acknowledged others who have lived in West Linn for
80, 70, 50, 40 years. More stories were shared, old friendships rekindled and memories recalled.
As I recognized various folks and thanked the many who shared their photographs,
stories and time, I felt a sense of overwhelming gratitude for the privilege of
getting to meet so many wonderful people this past year while working on the
book.
And as I thought about the variety of people who came, including those who attended
the pre-event such as the mayor and former mayor, a city councilor and city
staff, and then as others who began streaming in such as the Clackamas County Historical Museum president, as well as West Linn neighborhood association
presidents, historic board members, firemen, chamber members, community leaders,
students, teachers, long time West Linn families and new community members, and old friends of mine and my family, I
mused on how amazing it was – over 200 people in an evening, connecting together
to celebrate something we can agree upon. Preserving our history and celebrating this amazing community. And its wonderful people.
The West Book Publication Celebration exceeded my wildest expectations, and I am
extremely grateful to community members for their support.
And for sharing their stories.
[A version of this appeared as a column in 2-19-09 West Linn Tidings sans the photo. The photo is of Judge Hamilton and his wife Midori, as well as LaVerne Bagley Brown and her brother Kernan Bagley along with me and my son Wesley and other community members at the Jan. 26 Book Celebration. Photograph courtesy of Mike Anderson]
