Clyde List Editorial: The Middle East

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR AMERICA: NO MORE CRUSADES!

"This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile." --George W. Bush in 2001

"President Bush's use of the word 'crusade' was most unfortunate" --Soheib Bensheikh, Grand Mufti of the mosque in Marseille, France.

To this very day, moslems freak when they hear a Western leader say the word 'crusade.' When my German ancestors watched the First Crusade romp through their barley fields in 1099, they felt no different. The First Crusade was basically a motley procession of people on foot-- not only soldiers, but also country people, women and kids. It was obvious to anyone that these crusaders "...had altogether lost their wits."

But Germany's reluctance to (ta-da!)"Join the Crusade" did not last long. They soon helped lead the procession. I can just see an 11th Century Collin Powell (i.e. Peter the Hermit) going to a 11th Century united nations with the kind of evidence that was considered incontrovertible back then. It was reported that ...a woman after two years gestation finally gave birth to a boy who was able to talk; and that a child with a double set of limbs, another with two heads, and some lambs with two heads were also born; and that colts came into the world with great teeth, which we ordinarily call horses' teeth and which nature only grants to three-year old horses.... through these and similar signs the whole creation seemed to offer its services to the Creator. --Medieval Source Book

Oh! There you go! Even a glued to the party line semi-amusing milk-toast like Rush Limbaugh would agree. Case closed! Middle East, here we come. Grab your hat and staff and off the deep end we go!

:

Request for Information

JayCee--
Mention has been made several times about the Long Acre Store that was at the intersection of Brookman and Old Hwy 99. It seems to come up starting in the 1930s. Who owned it? Who worked there? What do we know about it? Could you set that on the blog to see if we get any info?? I'd like to find an old photo of it as well.
                        --Lilly

Oh Wow!

Click the photos to get a better close up. A rare gust of snow has made Old Sherwood Town even more spectacular than usual. A rare guest from the University of Oregon has also left her calling card (Right Photo), as though an angel had crashed to the ground. Below/Right, is a photo we took on the way home from the Heritage Center on the 20th. These guys on their hands and knees are building an igloo. They said they learned how twenty years ago, the last time it really snowed in Sherwood! How those guys on the Left climbed up to finish that snowman is anybody's guess! The ice-encased apples are left over from the Christmas party.

The Weary Children of Sherwood Oregon USA!

All summer long they ran along the trails at the Wildlife Refuge and the Cedar Creek green way searching for Robin Hood. And now it's winter and everyone says forget about Robin Hood. Go look for Santa Claus instead of Robin Hood. And so now the weary children of Sherwood leave the shady greenwood behind and search the lighted pathways of Old Sherwood Town instead. They arrive, breathless and worn, at the Sherwood Heritage Center in search of an Enhanced Understanding of the Present built upon Links to the Past (per our Mission Statement, above) only to be met at the door by Esmerelda. The Christmas Cow. Oh boy!



Once kids figured out that Esmerelda the Christmas Cow (Top, Middle) was nothing more than Sherwood Historical Society Past President June Reynolds Acting Weird Again, they got onto what was happening inside Morback House. The Model Train exhibit (Below) was a hit for sure!

Favorite Comment Heard in the Train Room: "You know what the Trail Guide said this summer? He said it was so quiet here that people thought they could hear the water falls at Oregon City!"

Christmas Parade Upstaged by the Almighty

Tonight's tree lighting ceremony was a pretty pathetic affair
compared to the spectacle overhead.
God often has a way of spoiling our best laid plans.

Railroad Street viewed from the Library.

Message from Historical Society President!

Hi JayCee,

Would you please put an article about what's happening at
the Morback House on Saturday on the blog? (Okay!)
The Tualatin Brass will perform on the porch, (Okay!)
The Sherwood Renaissance Singers will have a sing-a-long, (Okay!)and The Decorated Tree Raffle drawing will be at 5:30 p.m. (Okay!)
--Thanks, Polly


(Woah! There goes the tree! It was the winners'
first Christmas in Sherwood. How cool!)

Meet Real Indians!

PRESS RELEASE from TUALATIN-- Eirik Thorsgard, MAIS, Cultural Protection Coordinator of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon will be at the Tualatin Historical Society on December 3, 2008, 1:15 PM. The presentation will be at the Tualatin Heritage Center.

Thorsgard will discuss recent discoveries at Wapato Lake (near Gaston). The lake was the base home for Ki-a-Kuts, headman of the Atfalati (or, "Tualatin") Band of the Kalapuyan Tribe. Ki-a-Kuts negotiated and reluctantly signed the 1855 treaty with the United States which relocated the Kalapuyans to the Grand Ronde reservation. In 2007, the Tualatin Historical Society successfully proposed the name of "Ki-a-Kuts" for a pedestrian bridge over the Tualatin River.

For more information contact The Tualatin Historical Society.

"We're Going to the Governor's Ball!"

Lilly Morgan to JayCee: "Guess what! Guess what! We just got invited to the Governor of Oregon's Ball February 14, which is the day of the year that Oregon was accepted into the Union. I'm serious! We have to be in the Salem Conference Center for the Governor's Ball to celebrate Oregon's birthday!"

Stay tuned.

At the Ory-Gone Historical Society

Lilly said: "Wow!! I'm pumped! I think I'm ready to go to the Oregon Historical Society today! I will have all my stuff at the [Sherwood] high school. Pick me up in front of the school at 3:45. We will proceed to OHS and hope to be there for a meeting at 4:30. I think that we will be able to set up our stuff in the main hallway of the place, off to the side of the main desk. I think we are to be at our posts at 5:00. Dress in your Trail Guide outfit, JayCee. Bring yer banjo, but only if you feel like it. I have no idea where to park. Maybe we can dump our stuff off at OHS and then park"

Photos taken Yesterday Evening in the Lobby of the Oregon Historical Society. JayCee says "I'm Still Not Sure Just What we was up to but We Met Some Real Nice People for Sure!"

Parrett Mountain Farm Archeaology

The Parrett Mountain Farm 10500 NE Parrett Mt Rd., Newberg OR 97132 and the Oregon Archeology Society celebrated Oregon Archeology Month with a presentation by Dr. Cameron Smith, Adjunct Associate Professor at Portland State University. His topic was: “Archaeological Exploration of the Parrett Mountain Farm” Thursday October 16th.

"Don't Say Nothin'!"

Not very competent bank robber interrupts the Sherwood Heritage Trail Festival by ordering everyone not to look at him or say anything. But never fear. A spook from the F.B.I. quickly arrives to gather clues. This was one of a dozen actual historical scenes depicted during the Festival this week-end. SEE MORE AT OUR NEW HERITAGE TRAIL BLOG!

Actors of all ages turned out to make the two day event a success.

Preservation Bookstore opens in Portland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 16, 2008
Contact: Tim Cannan (503) 223-4939

Portland, Oregon – PreservationDirectory.com, the leading online resource for historic and cultural resource preservation based in Portland, Oregon, is pleased to announce the launch of the comprehensive “Preservation Bookstore.” The bookstore features a broad array of titles about: building restoration; architectural history and design; downtown, Main Street, and urban revitalization; historic preservation funding sources, laws and policy; historic real estate; architectural tours and heritage tourism; identifying architectural styles; researching house history; endangered history; museum management; and roadside attractions.

The Preservation Bookstore works in partnership with Powell's City of Books.

Clyde List Editorial: Hello China!

If the Sherwood Historical Society wants to live forever, she needs to do what businesses do, and "think global." Making friends with Edogawa, Japan was a good start. We also have a person named "Jessica" who is anxious to build bridges with China. I discovered China already, without Jessica. It happened many many years ago when I was a college student. I hated school. To this day, if I "take a course" in something it means I would have been better off reading a book.

Ah, what a library full of books my college had. Four stories tall and four stories deep. I worked out a system. Every Friday I would toss my course materials aside and march into the library. I would pick a number. One to Four. I would rise that many stories and then I'd toss an imaginary coin and turn left or right as I Ieft the elevator. After another series of randomized steps and turns I would arrive somewhere deep inside the stacks. On the countdown, I would shove out either my left or right arm and grab whatever book my fingers touched. If the book was at all readable, I would check it out and take it home with me and read it.

That is how I discovered Li Po (701–762). Li Po (pronounced "Li Bai") was a man of many talents, including writing poetry. He was obscure enough not to have a course taught about him at my college (thank God), but famous enough to receive one full column in my trusty old Brittanica. His biography reads like a comedy. He used to make little boats out of his poems and cast them adrift on a stream. He could have been an important member of the Emperor's court except that he would not stop composing poems about the Empress's nose! And so he wound up kissing his reflection in a pool and forgot to hang on to the guard rail, and he drowned. And so (life is strange) I became a friend of Li Po, who died many centuries before I lived, by a channel no mortal could predict.

But only in translation. I have been searching for some thirty years for someone who can read Li Po to me in Chinese. Jessica says she has waited over a thousand years to perform this honor. Ooooh! The word 'inscrutable' comes to mind....!

New Old Benches for Smock House

Eagle Scout Nathanael Haggard gets his receipt for a job well done from Sherwood Historical Society President Polly. Thanks to Nathan, the musicians now have benches to sit upon as they perform from the front and/or back porches of Smock House.

Sherwood at Champoeg

The Sherwood Historical Society's Clyde List represented Sherwood at the Champoeg Pioneer Farmstead Day event this year. The event was well attended, although Clyde was outclassed by a violinist from Newberg who had been practicing since the age of five. "She played while I plunked. That's about the size of it." he said ruefully.

All such kibitzing aside, the event hosts all manner of demonstrations designed to make you wonder if Oregon will ever be part of the United States someday, or will remain a disputed territory forever. Thank God we've got President Polk to iron things out.

Class of 1954 Where Are You?

Does anyone possibly know the date for the Sherwood High School reunion for the Class of 1954? Sylvia's mother says it's to be at Snyder Park, but she has misplaced the announcement.

"do not take undue advantage of the trust I have bestowed in you."

FROM: MR SULE MOHAMED.
AUDITING / ACCOUNTING DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AFRICA(BOA)
BURKINA-FASO WEST AFRICA.

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furnishing me with the following;
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2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers.

These requirements will enable me file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can be made. I shall be compensating you with $4.6 Million Dollars on final conclusion of this project, while the rest $6.9Million shall be for me. Your share stays with you while the rest shall be for me for investment purposes in your country. If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of the trust I have bestowed in you, I await your urgent email.Please reply in this my alternative email address onlysule_mohamed007@yahoo.com for confidential reasons.

Regards,Your;s faithfully,
MR SULE MOHAMED

Black Powder Show at Parrett Mountain Farm

Black powder experts from all over the Pacific Northwest are making a weekend of it at Parrett Mountain Farm this weekend. 1840's costumes will be the rule, along with the antique weaponry. The event is co-sponsored by the Forest Hills Black Powder Brigade.

The event is free to the public.

Chestnut Tree Coming Down.

Odge asked me to go over and look at the Middleton Chestnut which is sort of across from the old Middleton School site. I guess she got phone calls that the city was going to take it down. It is listed in my book. Here are some pieces of info:
The tree is probably around 98 years old. In 1999, when the development was put in, the base of the tree was scarred. I looked at it on Monday and the scar had healed remarkably well. It looked like the neighbors on the corner had done some work to make the tree grow better. I believe that the tree (being a chestnut) was probably planted as a border marker, maybe marking the corner itself. One side was probably the Olds property the other side the Middleton Friends Church property I showed a power point of the tree on Tuesday to the Parks people, but they decided they are going to cut it down and even grind the stump. Evidently because it is a "safety Hazard....." My recommendation was to prune the tree back, as it does need it badly. It is not a totally dying tree, but it is doomed now...
Lilly

Morback House Poetry Festival

Look carefully at these faces. Somewhere in there is tomorrow's Poet Laureate. A Nobel Laureate perhaps. The occasion was a fund raiser for Colony House, a famous retreat for Oregon writers. This was the first time we ever did a poetry event. We raised some bucks! And for such a noble cause! Organizer Reynolds is right to call it a success.

News from Nottingham

Search for "Sherwood Oregon" at www.thisisnottingham.co.uk and see what happens. The British are writing articles about us. The person called "Leslie Rhodes" in the article is really Leslie Joyce, daughter of the editor of the late lamented Sherwood Scroll newspaper. Here she is seen during a recent visit to Nottingham, with Major Oak in the background.

Another Visit from Edogawa

Our friends from Japan are here again. In spite of the language barrier we communicated pretty well today. These kids are polite!

We found that one way to connect with these kids is to mention a famous folk hero, Tora San. Tora San videos with English subtitles are starting to be seen on YouTube. The shows are always about every day life in Japan. They prove how the same things make us laugh or cry the world over. Tora San means "Mr. Tiger."

Clyde List Editorial on The System

When J.C. Smock (our town founder) came here by covered wagon, everyone told the time by merely looking at the Sun. The evidence for it being 12:00 or 9:00 or 6:00 was clear and obvious. So obvious that only a crazy person would disagree. If the depot agent at Seattle looked up at the sky and decided it was exactly Noon, then it must be Noon everywhere. Who could argue?

Then we invented trains.

Trains were constantly bumping into each other because they could not agree on what time it was. And so the train depot at Buffalo New York was built so that it had room for three clocks instead of one. Each one was off by a matter of minutes from the others. Boston, Atlanta, or Portland would agree about who was right... except that the trains kept bumping into each other anyway. Salvidor Dali (1904-1989), who was widely believed to be crazy as a hatter, could only look at the conclusion these cities had arrived at and wonder: Why only three clocks? Why not one for every person on the planet? His famous melting clocks painting makes the point.

104 Head-On Collisions in One Year!

In 1875 alone, 104 head-on train wrecks were reported, due to America's failure to agree about what time it was. In another part of the world, there was a person who was a child about then. He received a toy compass for his birthday. He spent the whole day walking around with it, fascinated. "I realized then that there is more to the world than meets the eye." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) later confessed. Einstein's theory about clocks, space and time, was the result. (If you can explain it to me, let me know.)

Today, the world desperately needs to see behind the blank wall we keep bumping into. In the 19th Century it was the Space-Time Continuum. But what is this thing right now that keeps getting in our way? On Mondays, leading experts express confidence in the economy. On Tuesday, the same experts express astonishment at how "we haven't found the bottom yet." Kaiser Wilhelm saw into a pit as bottomless as this when he ordered a train to appear and was told he --even He, the Emporer of Germany-- could not make it happen. Ronald Reagan thought he could fix the economy by making equally bold pronouncements about what life is all about. These leaders may as well have been the Persian Emporer Xerxes flogging the sea with heavy chains in order to make it behave the way he wanted it to.

The sea we flog today is different. The dragons and whales have disappeared and the possibility that the world is flat instead of round and that we might drop off the edge no longer frightens us. Instead, we have the back of our folding money to inspect-- a sea of mysterious symbols and patterns and images which every citizen today has forgotten the purpose of....

Meanwhile, on a cheerier note: Before you leave, Check Out Sherwood's Railroad Story!

On the Oregon Trail

The Sherwood Historical Society and the Oregon Trail Travelers were together once again at Emigrant Springs. An Old Time Fiddlers convention was going on at the same time so we got acquainted with them as well. As you can see from the photo, June's EZ yet Old-Fashinoned knitting tool was a hit with the kids. (These are from Pocatello.) This photograph of "The Folks" in concert pretty well proves who was in charge.

Hillsboro Judges Just Don't Understand

The Robin Hood Festival float and its crew never looked more splendid than today in the July 4th Parade in Hillsboro. Alas, this year (unlike previous years) we didn't win any ribbons. Most obvious reason: We failed to explain the connection between Robin Hood and George Washington. Friar Tuck did his best. Several times along the parade route he shouted "Robin Hood was George Washington's hero. He was Benjamin Franklin's hero! They had heroes too!" ...but most of the crowd couldn't get it. There truly is an important message to get out there. Next year.

Old Town Philosophy

Peter Chausse included Sherwood in his educational walking tour again this year. Historian-Philosophers June Reynolds and Clyde List joined the discussion with Chausse and his students. We discussed "The New Urbanism" at Rudy Olsen Memorial Gas Pump Park, Einstein's Theory of Relativity at the Model Train Exhibit, American Literature ("Mainstreet" by Sinclair Lewis), and horticulture (i.e., Chausse pointing out the amazing variety of trees along the way). Most of the visitors were school teachers interested in the Sherwood Historical Society's success with youth involvement.

Reaching into the Past

Today's game of "Red Rover" at the Heritage Center reminded us of "Snap the Whip," a famous painting by Winslow Homer. Poet Carl Sandburg would no doubt add his famous line: "To a man across a thousand years I offer a handshake. I say to him, 'Brother, make the story short, for the stretch of a thousand years is short!'"

History Camp Photo pieced with SNAP THE WHIP by WINSLOW HOMER   - 1872 Homer Painting Courtesy Butler Institute of American Art

Winslow Homer would not have to clean his paint brushes to get the colors right at Parrett Mountain Farm. The following photos were taken on the first day of History School.(The "Culturally Modified Tree" is believed to be a trail marker created by Indians. Archeologists from Grande Ronde reservation have been combing Parrett Mountain Farm for similar artifacts. )

Civil War comes to Parrett Mountain!

For the first time this year, History Camp included a face to face with active duty Union soldiers from the Civil War. Sherwood town founder J. C. Smock might not have been so sure about seeing blue coats this close to home. We know for certain that J. C.'s Uncle A. Z. Hall cheered for the rebel cause all through the war.

This video was made at Sherwood City Hall during History Camp. The students are presenting research they've doing on Sherwood history. They are also getting themselves ready for the day when they will enter a room such as this one and notice that there is no elder-- no teacher or youth councilor or parent-- up front calling the meeting to order. They will look at each other and realize: "It's OUR turn to run the world!!"

Old Town Building gets Face Lift

When these workmen climb down from their scaffold for the last time, the Roellich Building is going to look closer to the way it did in 1914. The building has been owned by Cash's Reality for many years. A facade grant from the federal government pays for about half of the restoration.

Visitors from Tigard

These are the ladies that finished a quilt owned by a prominent Sherwood figure, Alan Ware. They are the Tigard Quilters and they meet at the Tigard Senior Center. They have been quilting for 30 years now. Contact Krista at 503-620-2999 to add your face to the picture.

On the Front Porch of Smock House.

Sherwood residents Dale and Linda assist Lilly Morgan in a folk sonata. We might be in the 1890s, except that the annual "Cruisin' Sherwood" car show is visible through the open doors and windows of Smock House. Cruisin' organizers like to photograph their vehicles with Old Town in the background: Makes 'em feel like 25 Cent gas all over again.

Wandering 4th Graders find Refuge at the Heritage Center

Sherwood Historical Society Treasurer Irene demonstrates the art of pie-making to Sherwood fourth graders.

Clothes washing and ironing, butter making, typewriters and wood working were taught. Not shown here: Logging (supervised by an honest-to-God "HoDad!"), the Heritage Center's nifty HO Scale model train, and don't forget the full-scale outhouse. ("I don't want to hear what they used the corn cobs for." one 4th Grader commented.)

"We're Making Butter!"

Lilly Morgan leading a group of Sherwood Fourth Graders around the Heritage Center campus.

Memorial Day at Gibbs Cemetary

The Schmeltzer family decorates the grave of their ancestor, Conrad K. Schmeltzer. Conrad was a cook in the Union Army during the Civil War. Yes, believe it or not, we have a few-- but very few-- Civil War veterans entombed in the Sherwood area. Above photo was taken at Gibbs Cemetary atop Chehalem Mountain during a cermony conducted by the American Legion.

'The Folks' at Quailhurst Vinyard

Lilly Morgan and Clyde List entertain a little girl at Quailhurst Vinyard Sunday afternoon. She was definitely more curious about the horses outside than the music inside. The two day wine tasting party left everyone feeling much cozier and warmer than Old Man Weather would have liked.

KIDS! LET'S GO to HISTORY CAMP!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP NOW!

What You Missed Last Year at Parrett Mountain Farm.

Another June Reynolds Idea on Wings

Today, our History Workshop welcomed a lot of people, including a Sherwood High Student [at right] who never believed Sherwood history could be this interesting. She and fellow scholars were kept busy all day today interviewing historically significant people and cataloging their artifacts. Don't pass up a chance to record your memories. The next History Workshop is, um, I forgot. What did you say June?

Fresh New Faces for Our Oldest Festival!

The Sherwood Robin Hood Festival selected a new cast tonight. They'll be in the July Fourth Celebration in Hillsboro for real. Our job there will be to explain that even heroes have heroes. George Washington for example. Who did George Washington yearn to be like when he was a lad? Robin Hood of course. (It's true!)

Wait till you see the spectacular photographs that Diana Sell took!