In this edition: Celebrating Local Olympians, Changes along the Fanno Creek Trail, and Old Market Pub and Brewery Meet and Greet.

Hello to our Garden Home History Friends –  We hope you enjoy the occasional pleasant day and take good care of yourself and your family. We’re all watching the Olympics and remembering our Garden Home athletes who have competed….and their horses! Their stories are listed below and displayed at our Garden Home Library.

Our next UPDATE will feature changes in our local school buildings.

Celebrating local Olympians

As we watch the 2024 Paris Olympics, we celebrate our local Olympians.

Elsie Windes put Oregon women’s water polo on the map at the Olympic level. Elsie and her family lived in Garden Home while she attended Beaverton High School and swam to accolades at THPRD. Her father Doug and sister Lucy also had achieved fame with water polo. Elsie won Silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Gold in the 2012 London Olympics.

Mac Wilkins competed for the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the discus throw, where he won Gold with a distance of 221′ 5″ to defeat Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany by four feet. Wilkins qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. Wilkins won Silver in the discus throw at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. He placed 5th in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.

Magda Skarbonkiewicz competes this year in the 2024 Paris Olympics in saber fencing. This is her first Olympics.

Amy Cragg ran the marathon in the 2012 London Olympics.

Carolyn Wood won Gold in the 4×100 m freestyle relay swimming event at the 1960 Rome Olympics, setting a new world record. Competing at only 14 years old, after the games, she returned to Portland to attend Beaverton High School.

Changes along the Fanno Creek Trail

The controversy regarding the Portland Golf Club’s Fanno Creek dredging project continues. PGC has begun installing privacy fencing along the Fanno Creek Trail and recently completed a mowing project. One of the neighbors posted a complaint about the situation on the fence. Read more at the Neighbors for Wetland Preservation.

Fanno Creek dredging project

Fanno Creek dredging project

Fanno Creek dredging project

Fanno Creek dredging project

Old Market Pub and Brewery Meet and Greet, June 2, 2024

Friends gathered at the Old Market Pub to learn and to share our Garden Home History on June 2. Thanks to our many old and new friends, let’s do it again! Thanks to Susan Houseman for putting this together. Stan Houseman showed his excellent Garden Home history bi-folds.

All ready!  Meet and Greet at Old Market Pub on June 2, 2024

Meet and Greet at Old Market Pub on June 2, 2024

Remember Garden Home!

Kevin Freeman, 1972 Olympic games

Kevin Freeman riding his horse.

Kevin Freeman (left) and 1968 Mexico City Olympic games team mates.

Kevin Freeman, 1972 Olympic games

Kevin Freeman 1968 Olympic riding jacket

Kevin Freeman

Long-time Garden Home resident Kevin Freeman competed in equestrian Eventing in the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympics, winning three team silver medals. Eventing is an action-packed equestrian event where riders compete across the three disciplines of dressage, cross country, and show jumping. Kevin Freeman’s story is currently displayed in our History Case in our Garden Home Community Library along with other local Olympians.

Read the Kevin Freeman obituary.

Discover Garden Home!

Peace Rose Stamp – Rich Baer

Rich and Charold Baer welcome visitors to their renowned rose garden. Cameras are   welcome but no clippers, please! Each rose is waiting for the perfect time for one of Rich’s prize winning photos. They keep a set of small flags that each visitor can take along on their visit to the roses. When you place the flag at your favorite rose, Rich will chart the flags later to find the most favorite roses over the summer.

Read more about the notable Rich and Charold Baer rose garden in Garden Home.

Volunteer and make friends

New people might enjoy research, do interviews, visit special Garden Home sites, write stories for the website, help with the History corner displays, and so much more! Call Patsy VandeVenter at 971-275-0307 or Esta Mapes at 503-246-5758. Board meetings are at 4:30-6:00 pm on the second Monday of the month, and open to the public.

Stay safe and well, from all of our volunteer dedicated Board of Directors: Patsy VandeVenter, Mickey Lindsay, Esta Mapes, Sharon Vedder, John and Marie Pacella, Stan and Susan Houseman, Jan Fredrickson, Kevin Mistler, and Elaine Shreve. Tom Shreve is our webmaster.

– Elaine