In this edition: upcoming the August 24 Recreation Center Mini-Market, September 9 Show & Tell, photos of the June 10 Nordia House event, and recollections about a favorite teacher, Virgil Pearce.
Welcome to our website about historic Garden Home. In the People and Places pages, you’ll find almost two hundred stories, and over fifteen hundred photos of vintage Garden Home and residents attending our events. Contact us at GardenHomeHistory@gmail.com.
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We recently received an email from Randy DeHaan remembering Virgil Pearce, one of his favorite teachers at Garden Home School in the 1970s.
I just wanted to give you a quick little bit of possibly interesting Garden Home Elementary history. I don’t know if Mr. Virgil Pearce (6th grade teacher 1972/73 and following) is still around, but I thought y’all might want to know what an impact he made. I’m sure many of my classmates would agree. Mr. Pearce was a new 6th grade teacher and he really had us interacting with math/logic/outdoors. I remember we played a lot of chess, many many math quizes, his well trained Golden Retriever came for a visit, etc.
We love hearing your memories about Garden Home! Let us know yours. You can contact us at gardenhomehistory@gmail.com
On Monday, June 10, 2019, we helped sponsor an event at the Nordia House at 8800 SW Oleson Rd learning about the Swedish immigrant experience in Oregon 1850-1950. Attendees reviewed the new displays at Nordia House, enjoyed a slide show presentation by Ann Stoller, toured Ross Fogelquist’s “Fogelbo” home full of Scandinavian history, and shared cookies on the deck.
On April 8, we hosted a presentation by John K. Lim and Jenny Kim of the Korean Society of Oregon. They presented the story of the very busy Korean Society of Oregon. This Society purchased the former Garden Home United Methodist Church property on SW 81st avenue off of SW Garden Home Road, after the Church closed in 1994. Several groups who use the building include the Society, the Korean language school for children on Fridays and Saturdays and the older Koreans for social and cultural activities. These groups are identified in the Korean language at the front door. They gifted us with a wonderful book relating the 50 years of the Korean Society of Oregon. This book will be on display in our historical display in the new Library expansion this spring. John K. Lim served for 5 terms in the Oregon Legislature, both as a Representative and a Senator.
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Historic Garden Home street sign
Historic Garden Home street signs: We currently have about 35 of the Historic Garden Home street sign toppers in our community. Each sign was purchased by a friend or family member to honor their loved one. Click here to view photos of the signs and for information about sponsoring a sign.
Our generous donors permit us to print and mail this newsletter ($140) for our non-e-mail people and for the Garden Home Recreation Center. We also replace the Historic Garden Home street signs once for signs that disappear, current cost for each sign, $60. With our latest order, we’ll have about 35 signs out in our neighborhoods. We also have website costs, printing, paper, plaques and many other costs of an organization. Donor names are listed on our History Bulletin Board at the Recreation Center. Thank you to all of our donors and to all of our volunteers for their time and skills.
Garden Home History Project 