In this edition: Remembering Gerry Frank, March 2022 Gazette, and Ace Hardware grand opening.
May 14 Fanno Creek Trail history walk
Fanno Creek Trail History Walking Tour May 14, 2022
We will be conducting a history walk on the Fanno Creek Trail in conjunction with the Garden Home Library on Saturday, May 14 at 10 AM. Limited to 12 persons.
Please register through the library’s website.
Remembering Gerry Frank
September 21, 1923 to March 13, 2022
We were sorry to learn of Gerry Frank’s passing on March 13, 2022, aged 98. Gerry was born on September 21, 1923 in Portland to Aaron and Ruth Frank. They lived in SW Portland and Gerry attended Ainsworth and Lincoln High School. In the 1920s, his parents bought the Frank Farm property here in Garden Home (now the Frank Estate condos) so that they could send their show horses to events around the nation. Aaron Frank had a siding developed beside the railroad tracks, near the Firlock Station train stop, now SW 78th Avenue. They could then load the horses into the special cars to travel to California or New York’s Madison Square Garden and elsewhere. The Frank Farm was part of the “horse culture” in Garden Home, along with the Hunt Club, and the two riding academies, all along SW Oleson Road, south of the school.
Our first interview with Gerry was in 2010 when Virginia Vanture and I met with Gerry in his two-room office in Salem. His walls were covered with photos of him meeting with various world leaders, part of his role as Chief of Staff for our U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield for twenty years. His family began the Meier & Frank Department store and he was the Manager of the first store in Salem. He served in Patton’s Third Army during WWII, and helped liberate the first concentration camp in Ohrduff, Germany.
Our Gerry Frank story tells the incredible story of Gerry’s life and his commitment to Oregon and to our nation. See our display memorializing Gerry in the Garden Home Community Library. He has honored us with the gift of 50 special horse photographs and the guest book with hundreds of names from the notable Frank Farm stables here in Garden Home.
March 2022 Newsletter
The March 2022 Gazette (PDF) is now available. If you have not been receiving the printed Gazette via USPS and would like to receive it for free, please send us your mailing address. You can email us at GardenHomeHistory@gmail.com or call Elaine Shreve at 503-246-5879. We do appreciate all donations.
Opening Ace Hardware in Garden Home
Ace Hardware Opens! Owner Terry Cain and manager Ben Peck tell us that “Ace Hardware Garden Home will have a staff of helpful hardware folks, all cultivated from the Garden Home community they serve, willing and ready to help with all DIY needs. Supported by the best power tool names in the business, like Craftsman, Milwaukee, DeWalt, and Black and Decker we will have the power you need to get the job done. When it comes time to dust off the cold and snow and get outside, we will have you covered there as well with names like EGO, Husqvarna, Toro, and John Deere. And as we move into Spring, those long trips to find seed, fertilizers, soils, and mulches are over. Ace Garden Home will have a huge supply of everything.” Other supplies include paints, keys, and a several brands of BBQs which feature “free assembly and delivery, a hallmark of Ace service.”
Fastener aisle – Ace Hardware opening 2022
Tools – Ace Hardware opening 2022
Drawer hardware – Ace Hardware opening 2022
Kitchen goods – Ace Hardware opening 2022
Paint – Ace Hardware opening 2022
Remember!
President Biden writes that “March, Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to honor the generations of trailblazing women and girls who have built our Nation, shaped our progress, and strengthened our character as a people.”
Take a moment to remember the women in your life.
Discover Garden Home!
Our history displays in the Garden Home Community Library. You’ll enjoy and learn about our history, our collections, and retell your own stories.
2022-03 Display cabinet – Jerry Frank
Calendar exhibit – Library display case January 2022
Cooking display cabinet in the Garden Home Community Library
Display case at Garden Home Library – vintage toys
Get Involved
Historic Garden Home street sign
Historic Garden Home street signs: We currently have about over 40 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 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. 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 
Elaine and Tom Very nice. Thanks Stanley E Houseman 503 679-3691 Community Connections and Consultant
“We are more fulfilled when we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.”
– John Glenn
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I am Vlasta Barber niece and I wanted to let you know she passed away last week. She is at Young funeral home no service