September 9th Show & Tell event celebrating old things

We hosted a Show & Tell event on September 9, 2019. People were invited to bring something old to share with the group. Thank you to everyone!

• Louise Cook Jones shared and donated some early Garden Home memorabilia from the 1950s including a wonderful colored Souvenir Program from the Alpenrose Country Fair, June 1966. These will go into our website story of Alpenrose. See our History of Alpenrose for more pictures of the Alpenrose program and gazette from 1966.
• Jan Fredrickson showed us an interesting Pepsi 6 pac of vintage pop bottles, so different from our current cans.
• Kevin Mistler showed the 1942 bus schedule showing 34 stops in Garden Home on a daily basis.
• Virginia Vanture shared the horse saddlebags used by her physician grandfather way back when!
• Stan Houseman brought one of the donated postal box doors with the fanciful brass décor. Thanks to Elizabeth Harding who donated two doors to the Garden Home History Project. They will be displayed in the glass cabinet in the Library. Please contact us if you are interested to purchase any more of these doors.
• Don Krom graduated from BHS in 1961 and Garden Home Grade School in 1957. He shared his wonderful old scrapbook of the school and his memories.
• Ray Heesaker taught at Garden Home School in 1967 under Don Dunbar. He recalled those days as a young teacher and then followed Don on to the next Beaverton school.
• Elaine Shreve brought an original Morning Oregonian door knob and decorative doorplate. The building in Portland was demolished in 1951.

Share your memories of Garden Home

Via NextDoor, Robin Ariss remembers a stuffed elephant in Lamb’s Thriftway:

I am the shorter one my sister is the taller and I think this was taken in 1962 when I was 5.

Stuffed elephant in Lambs Thriftway – Robin Ariss – I am the shorter one my sister is the taller and I think this was taken in 1962 when I was 5

A reader wishing not to be named wrote:

Hello Elaine, I don’t write much, I’ve just lived in the area all my life.

I used to walk to the Post Office/Rexall with my grandmother as a child. We lived on Canby St just inside the Multnomah County line. I went to Maplewood/Wilson schools.

I recall Garden Home as it was back then. In our walks, I remember seeing the ladies with hair nets working a conveyor table of fruit from the south side door of Whitney’s Cannery. Lamb’s had a big Alpenrose milk carton that turned over the main entrance. Lamb’s also had wooden sidewalks on the south side, as well as street parking. As I got older, I would use the “tube tester” (in Lamb’s) when our radio or TV would act up. Also, I would buy my model glue and supplies there too.

There was a cashier named Bob Metcalf. Nice guy. Back then smokers smoked everywhere, even while they worked, even Bob. Irv was the druggist. Nice guy.

My barber was Ray Wilson. He was across the street from Lamb’s in the old BPOE building, and next door was Namitz TV & repair (owned by Harry & Mary Namitz). Now it’s a sports bar (The Dugout).

I liked Terry’s Homemade Ice Cream Parlor/Burger joint. I think a cone was 10c? Burgers maybe 20c? That was a time when Garden Home had three service stations and a school on the corners. I worked for Everett Wright at the Texaco for a while in ‘73, and then in ‘74 went to work for Gray Clark at the Standard station (where DQ is today). He moved his location to Allen & Lombard in Beaverton (ARCO).

I met people in the Garden Home area that I still am connected with today. Like most places today, it’s changed a lot. No more empty lots like there were long ago. None of the apartments were built, and a lot fewer houses when I started to frequent Garden Home. Multnomah Blvd had one house on it and a church. No convalescent home.

I have a cousin that graduated from Garden Home school as well. He is older than I am and still alive. Think he is 70? He grew up on SW 68th by Zolling’s Nursery.

Oh…when I worked at Knauss Chevrolet in Tigard, I used to take care of Bob Lamb’s car. He was getting pretty old and Mrs L would always be the driver. I think she was the accountant/bookkeeper for the store too.

Always nice to remember the past. Hope you enjoy reading my memories of Garden Home.

In an email, Randy DeHaan remembered 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.

On September 2, 2019, in an email, Bill Gellatly remembered teacher Carole Lintner, Bill Winthers and Don Dunbar:

I enjoyed seeing the ’71-‘72 staff picture, and seeing Carole Lintner’s picture with her then appropriate bouffant hair. I think all three of my kids may have had her as their teacher. All of them thought well of her. Bill Winthers had already taken over as principal when Erik started 1^st grade, but I got to know Don Dunbar when I worked on the study group to look at shifting enrollment. He looks energetic as ever!

On September 6, 2019, in a comment on a post, Joyce Economus remembered Alpenrose and the Dignan family:

Our parents John and Eugenia Economus built their home in 1956 on Peyton Road, and our mom continues to live there. We would spend many hours in the Cherry tree orchard that is now Aaronmore neighborhood. When Alpenrose Dairy would have the fireworks for the 4th of July celebration we would all go into that orchard and watch those fireworks. My eldest brother and I attended Garden Home Grade School, and Todd Dignan was in my first grade class and possibly more after that, I just need to take a look at the grade school class pictures. Once think I recall about Todd’s mom was that she was absolutely the most beautiful mom and woman I had ever seen. She had a gracefulness that has never been forgotten. . So much more to write. . . would love to catch up with Todd some day.

We love hearing your memories about Garden Home! Let us know yours. You can contact us at gardenhomehistory@gmail.com

You are invited to our Board meetings which are held the second Monday of most months, 6:30 pm at the Garden Home Recreation Center. We often begin with slide show presentations. All are welcome to attend our meetings. We’re an active and fun group, we have lots of opportunities to get involved!