Now Playing! April 2024

Madeleine Criglow
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Now Playing! April 2024

No matter how many new movies come out each year, sometimes you just want something familiar. When skimming streaming options this past month, I stumbled upon one of my favorites: the 1994 cult classic Clerks. Directed by Kevin Smith, this sharply written comedy captures a day in the life of Dante (Brian O’Holloran), a clerk covering a shift at a New Jersey convenience store. The movie is a relatable tale for anyone who has pondered life’s meaning and goofed off with coworkers to make the minutes go by at work. The black and white, low-budget film also had a huge impact on independent cinema, encouraging aspiring filmmakers to realize they didn’t need a massive budget and big stars to create a masterpiece. Stream the film on Amazon Prime now, and check out my picks for the latest contemporary films to stream and see in theaters. 

Dune: Part Two

2024, Dir. Denis Villeneuve – PG-13 – Sci-Fi/Action – In Theaters Now and Streaming Soon on Max 

Denis Villeneuve’s massively successful sequel is expansive and otherworldly. The adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel continues right where the first left off, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) forging ties with the Fremen people. Travelling through the vast desert of Arrakis and befriending Chani (Zendaya), Paul must reconcile his own feelings and fears with what will be best for the universe. The film is comprised of a superstar ensemble cast, including Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Josh Brolin in supporting roles. Though the film’s pace may be a little slow, its dedication to the source material and immersive world-building is captivating. 

Poor Things 

2023, Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos – Rated R – Comedy/Horror – Hulu

Poor Things is cult film director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest surreal and mind-bending work. Based loosely on Frankenstein, the story follows a young woman named Bella (Emma Stone) who is brought back to life by the scientist Godwin Baxter (a wonderful Willem Dafoe). Though Godwin tries to keep her safe from the world’s dangers, Bella is too curious to be confined. The story is hilarious, poignant, and strangely subversive. Emma Stone gives a career- defining performance as her eccentric and courageous character. As you watch her break the rules and question the society around her, you can’t help but be a little amazed by Bella Baxter.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

2023, Dir. Wes Anderson – PG – Fantasy –  Netflix 

Wes Anderson’s recent films have leaned in to his particular style that film-lovers have come to recognize well. Scenes are meticulously storyboarded, and each characters’ emotion seems curated to its finest detail. As a fan of horror, thrillers, and action, I must admit his latest films have felt a little still. Yet there were moments of his Oscar-winning short that reminded me of Anderson’s earlier works, and why I consider them some of my favorites. The film’s protaganist Henry Sugar is an unimaginably rich man with a scheme to get even richer. When he meets a man who can see without using his eyes (Ben Kingsley), Henry Sugar’s life gains new meaning and changes forever. The cast, which includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, and Ralph Fiennes, play their characters with sincerity and excitement to be in Wes Anderson’s world.

Anatomy of a Fall

2023, Dir. Justine Triet – Rated R – Thriller – Hulu

2023’s winner for Best Original Screenplay is an intense, existential thriller. When Samuel Maleski is found dead by his young son, the cause of his death is unclear. Though his wife Sandra (Sandra Hüller) tells authorities that the man must have fallen by accident, the circumstances leading up to his death make her the prime suspect for murder. This grim yet riveting tale investigates every aspect of the days leading up to Maleski’s death. As each detail is revealed, you’ll find yourself more uncertain of who or what may be responsible. It’s this willingness to experiment with ambiguity that makes the movie standout as a fresh, exciting film.

Judith Ann Holmes

Tualatin Life
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Judith Ann Holmes

In loving memory of Judith “Judy” Ann Holmes, who passed away peacefully at Meridian Park Hospital on January 28, 2024, in Tualatin, Oregon. She was 77 years old. Judy was a devoted mother and grandmother, known for her kindness and generosity. She was tightly connected to her family and could light up any room by recounting family anecdotes and fun memories. She was born in Corvallis, Oregon and enjoyed visiting the coast with loved ones. She thoughtfully traced her family’s genealogy through generations all the way back to the American Revolutionary War and was passionate about helping other people research their ancestry.

Judy was a caring friend and enjoyed regular chats with those who knew her best. She was a respected resident of King City and a devoted member of her book club. She was an avid reader, often with her Kindle close at hand, and she dedicated her time to helping people of all ages learn about the wider world through books and literacy. Judy had a fulfilling career in accounting and worked for many years reviewing and preparing bids for large water construction projects. 

Judy is survived by her three children, four grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and her sister. Judy chose not to have a memorial service. The family expresses gratitude and appreciation for all the kind wishes from her friends and the community.

Tualatin’s Winona Grange Hosts Seeds & Bees Fair April 27

Tualatin Life
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Tualatin’s Winona Grange Hosts Seeds & Bees Fair April 27

Free vegetable and flower seeds and takeaways to welcome pollinators will highlight an afternoon of free family fun on Saturday, April 27, at Winona Grange in Tualatin, 1-4 pm. The goal is to celebrate the role pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds play in our lives.

Adults will hear expert speakers discuss the diversity and preferred habitats of pollinators. Kids will create a piece of seed art and listen to enchanting storytellers. All ages will enjoy the free ice cream social!

Participants will leave with seedlings preferred by pollinators and a mason bee house to attract very efficient and non-stinging native bees to home gardens. 4H Beekeeping Club information will be available.

A big attraction is free vegetable, herb and flower seeds. Winona Grange also provides free seeds at Tualatin Library this spring while supplies last. Thanks to donations of “expired” 2023 seed packets from Bi-Mart,  Winona Grange volunteers shipped over 100 boxes around the NW region. Serious gardeners know most seeds don’t know about expiration dates! 

Donations from several organizations help underwrite the costs of this popular spring event: Lee H and Marion B Thompson Foundation, Wilco, Al’s Garden Center, Home Depot/Sherwood and Builders Material Resource.

The Winona Grange 271 has had 129 years of uninterrupted community service, including hundreds of events and thousands of hours of educational activities. In addition, the Grange Hall is rented by dozens of organizations each year.

Winona Grange is located at 8340 SW Seneca in Tualatin. For more information, see our website winonagrange271.org or email info@winonagrange271.org.

Mayor’s Corner April 2024

Frank Bubenik
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Mayor’s Corner April 2024

Tolling in Oregon

The cities of West Linn, Oregon City, Tualatin, and Wilsonville, along with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555, sponsored an independent survey of voters in the Portland metro region (Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties) from February 7 to 13, 2024, to assess public attitudes about ODOT’s tolling proposals.

The following are the key findings. The margin of error is +/- 4.0%. 

Voters are concerned about major roads and highways in the region. 

74% of voters region-wide say they are concerned about the quality of major roads in the region, and 81% are concerned about traffic congestion. 

Voters are opposed to the concept of tolling in the Portland Metro region. 

Overall, 76% of voters oppose tolling. Opposition to tolling is highest in Clackamas County, at 91%, followed by Washington County, at 76% opposed, and Multnomah County, at 69% opposed. 

Voters also specifically oppose ODOT’s Regional Mobility Pricing Project (RMPP) and the I-205 Toll Project. 

After being provided a description of the tolling projects, 71% oppose Regional Mobility Pricing, and 64% oppose the I-205 Toll Project. Only 8% of voters strongly support the RMPP, and only 11% of voters strongly support tolling at the Abernethy Bridge. 

Opposition to tolling in Multnomah and Washington County corresponds to voters’ proximity to potential tolls, highlighting that more voters oppose tolls proposed to be nearer to them. 

When presented with the I-205 Abernethy Bridge Toll Project in Clackamas County, 53% of Multnomah County voters and 64% of Washington County voters were in opposition. After being presented with the tolling concepts on Highways 217 and 26 being studied by ODOT, 70% of Multnomah County voters and 80% of Washington County voters opposed those tolls. 

Voters say they are opposed to tolling because of costs and affordability, indicating that they do not believe that tolling is equitable. 

When asked why, voters most often cited affordability, including the perception of already paying high taxes (41%) and the belief that tolls would disproportionately burden low-income drivers (19%). 83% of voters agreed that tolls would place an unfair burden on people who don’t have options to shift travel patterns. 82% of voters say public transit would not provide a viable alternative to avoid tolls. 80% of respondents cited increased traffic congestion and safety issues on local roads as concerns. 

Most voters in the region report being aware of ODOT’s tolling proposals, but few have engaged in the decision-making process.

 61% of voters have heard about ODOT’s tolling proposals, but only 6% have attended any public meetings about the proposals, and 13% have provided ODOT with any feedback about them. 

To pay for transportation improvements in the region, voters support increasing registration fees on electric vehicles but oppose other methods. 

61% support increasing registration fees for electric vehicles; 36% support increasing registration fees for all vehicles; 33% support increasing gas taxes; 24% support a pay-per-mile system that would charge drivers a few cents per mile. 

In summary, the poll results show that residents, workers, and businesses have real concerns about the region’s transportation system and that tolling is perceived by a large majority of voters across the region as harmful and inequitable. When combined with the significant startup and administrative overhead costs that tolling requires, these poll results indicate that other revenue approaches would not only be fairer with less negative impacts to communities, but also would be more popular and more efficient with community tax dollars. 

Based on the poll’s findings, I applaud Governor Kotek’s decision to cancel one component of tolling for I-5 and I-205, specifically the Regional Mobility Pricing Project (RMPP), which would have charged drivers a “per mile” toll. This would have been in addition to bridge tolls for crossing the Abernethy Bridge. 

The tolling of the Interstate Bridge and the Abernathy Bridge is still in play as the Abernathy Bridge construction project has a $400 million shortfall, and the Interstate Bridge is a multi-billion dollar effort.  

The City of Tualatin, as well as other cities along I-205, look forward to continued conversations with our communities, ODOT, and the state legislature to find fair and equitable solutions to funding transportation projects in the region.

National Day of Prayer Eventset for King City on May 2

Paul Hailey
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National Day of Prayer Eventset for King City on May 2

Members of several local churches will again be sponsoring a National Day of Prayer event in the King City Clubhouse on Thursday, May 2, from 4 to 5 p.m. The public is invited.

The program will include singing patriotic songs and prayers on topics of national concern such as government, education, military, and family. The event will conclude with more patriotic songs and refreshments.

The practice of National Days of Prayer has been part of American life from the beginning and was codified by a decree from President Lincoln, who realized that our nation needs the hand of God for guidance.

For more information, call Paul Hailey at 503-620-2161.

Pacific Northwest comes beautifully into Focus in Kid Poet’s Collection

Holly Goodman
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Pacific Northwest comes beautifully into Focus in Kid Poet’s Collection

When Abigail Strauss says she just published her first book of poetry, she doesn’t mean she simply penned the poems in the collection.

Abigail Strauss

The poised and exuberant 11-year-old means she tended to every detail, bringing her beautiful cycle of seasonal nature poems and photography, “Poetry in Focus”, to vibrant life on the page. 

From writing and editing to marketing and promotions, Abigail has handled – and continues to handle – all aspects of her 116-page debut.

“It was a passion project that I started a little over a year ago,” she said. “I started writing poems and taking pictures of nature. Eventually, I amassed a little collection.”

The poems are written across a variety of forms such as haiku, sonnet, and monorhyme – some well-known, others more obscure –
that Abigail discovered while taking a deep dive into the subject as part of her “unschooling” studies.

She and her younger brothers, Evan, 9, and Isaac, 7, learn at home with a student-led homeschool style that uses each kid’s particular interests as a platform for weaving foundational material like math, science, and language arts and uses the whole world as a boundless classroom. 

Abigail is the age of an average 5th grader. Each poem in her book includes the style she followed, making it a lesson in poetic forms for other young (and not so young) readers.

While she grouped her poems by the cycle of the seasons – Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter – she also learned the life cycle of a book.

“I started off writing poems and then taking photos came in, then matching those up. Writing more, taking more (pictures), editing, working, and finally,” she says, holding up the book with a smile, “this…You go full circle with all the poems (through the seasons beginning and ending in Spring). I enjoyed using that format because I feel like there’s rhyme and reason to it.”

Along the way, the project became a lesson in editing, photography, layout and design, proofreading, self-publishing, marketing, and promotions, all of which she took the lead on.  

“The amount that she’s learned in the process is just insane,” says her mom, Rachel Strauss. “Looking up pricing of certain types of prints, and the sheets and the backing and the paper. Investing your money into a business and how to market it. That’s the stuff we really love in our type of homeschooling. We have the time and space to support (our kids) in these interests that they have.”

Abigail self-published “Poetry in Focus” using KDP, Amazon’s publishing service, with guidance from Rachel, who’s been through the process a few times herself and also has a traditionally published book.

“It was really helpful because she knows a lot of tricks to help the process go faster,” Abigail said. 

But the true muse was the natural world with a bit of inspiration from a favorite poet Abigail sees as a kindred spirit, Emily Dickinson.

“I like her poems because some of them describe small things, things that you hardly even notice,” she said of Dickinson. “That’s sort of what poetry is, changing your perspective and making you see the same thing you’ve seen before, but in a different way.”

Those sometimes easily missed, wonderous little details are precisely where Abigail loves to linger. From the mushrooms and moss to the sky and stars, her poems are a love letter to the wider world around her.

When the family of five relocated to Tualatin from the Bay area two years ago, they collectively fell head over heels for their new Pacific Northwest home, especially the acres of nature just outside their door.

“The book would not exist if we hadn’t moved from the Bay Area to here,” Rachel said. “It’s the nature of the Pacific Northwest that really pulled it out of her.” 

That, and her mom and dad’s enthusiastic encouragement.

Abigail selected pieces for the book from her entire body of work, more than 100 poems, culling those that didn’t quite fit the theme. 

Like all good writers, she held on to the cut file, giving her the strong start of a second collection. 

The follow-up to “Poetry in Focus” could be centered on emotion, the topic that’s presently captivating her, she said. 

While she’s not 100 percent certain of the theme, she’s positive that writing will be central to her life for many years to come.

 “I really like seeing people’s reactions when I show them how I see things as a poet,” she said. “It’s really cool because it opens a window into my world.” 

Poetry in Focus is available at Tualatin Public Library, or you can order a copy online on amazon.com.

You can visit Abigail Strauss’ website at www.abigailstrauss.com.

Tualatin Chamber part of the “Squeaky Wheel” that encouraged the stop on tolling

Anneleah Jaxen
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Tualatin Chamber part of the “Squeaky Wheel” that encouraged the stop on tolling

Enter a time machine for a minute: It’s September 22, 2022, the Tualatin Chamber of Commerce Business Advocacy Council has invited  110 Business professionals to the Key Leaders Breakfast to hear Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers and Clackamas County Commissioner Paul Savas speak on the facts of the Tolling system that was being built on I -205 and I -5. The presentation at that breakfast was named “Oregon Tolling Updates.”

We planned the Commissioners informative presentation because we continually heard from our business leaders when asked about tolling that: 

  • There is no such thing as tolling in Oregon.
  • Our government in Oregon will never allow tolling on our freeways.
  • “They” will only toll the Bridge over the Columbia and stop the toll when it is paid for.
  • What tolling plan?

Since I was hired, our businesses were telling us that they were having trouble recruiting enough staff to run at full capacity. If the cost of commuting to work significantly increased, it would create an even more difficult situation for recruiting and retaining staff. Commuting is a big deal for Tualatin because 26 thousand people commute into Tualatin to work each day, and 11 thousand commute out to work. Clearly, Tualatin Businesses would be hit hard, and they were woefully uninformed about the iceberg they would encounter. One of the Tualatin Chamber of Commerce’s core competencies and most meaningful goals is representing business interests with government. Our dedicated Council, “The Business Advocacy Council,” specifically watches all government issues for our Tualatin Business’ best interests. So, at the end of that breakfast in 2022, 110 business professionals were shocked and upset with these new facts. As the CEO of the Chamber, I could not become a lobbyist…but I knew we could and should educate and inform our businesses and citizens because it was apparent ODOT was not going to. And so I gathered Susan Noack, Daniel Lacy, and Evan Olson together, and we created the website www.oregontollingupdates.com. It was launched for the first time on October 24, 2022, and we have never missed a Monday since. In a short amount of time, Daniel Lacy not only became a remarkable Editor in Chief, but he added an excellent short podcast. Daniel has a gift, and we are lucky to have his talent.

Through the past seventeen months, I, personally, and the Tualatin Chamber generally have taken a lot of flak for being so bold. I tried for a year to influence other Chambers, various businesses, agencies, alliances, and elected officials to join us. I was turned away…sometimes not so nicely. However, we persisted with consistent, accurate information. We delivered it with the highest standards of excellence in journalism and now and then with humor (listen to the December commercial on our podcast page). Despite opposition, we knew we had to keep doing what we believed was correct. We just wanted to educate, inform and state the facts.

March 11, 2024, was the day the Governor wrote a letter stopping the current tolling plans for I-205 and I-5. I received many phone calls and emails congratulating The Tualatin Chamber for persevering and standing our ground. I was actually shocked by the responses. Even some of my biggest opponents wrote lovely notes of gratitude. We are not finished! We will keep going with www.oregontollingupdates.com as we follow how this will change going forward.

It took many different people and groups to make up the “squeaky wheel” that accomplished this stop: our Mayor Frank Bubenik and his fellow elected officials, the food service union, The Clackamas County Commissioners, and West Linn’s Mayor Rory Bialostosky, to name a few…To quote Margaret Thatcher, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

51st Annual Tualatin Lions Easter Egg Hunt, March 30, 2024

Brad King
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51st Annual Tualatin Lions Easter Egg Hunt, March 30, 2024

On Saturday, March 30, 2024, at 1:00PM, the Tualatin Lions Club will hold their 51st annual Easter Egg Hunt at the lush, green Tualatin Community Park, 8515 SW Tualatin Road, Tualatin, Oregon. The Easter Bunny has already been talking to the Tualatin Lions, making arrangements to be there early for photos with all of the Easter Egg Hunters and their families.

As always, there will be separate hunts for different age groups. Toddlers to 2-year-olds will be in the play area east of the central picnic shelter; 3 and 4-year-olds will be in the field south of the picnic shelter; 5 and 6-year-olds will hunt in deep left field of the softball field and 7 and 8-year-olds will hunt in shallow left field.

A very special addition again this year will be a hunt for visually impaired hunters up to age 8. The Tualatin Lions are partnering with their special friend, Ady Alvarez, and her family to provide beeping Easter Eggs and are looking forward to this great feature as a part of its annual gift to the children of the region.

Every hunter will receive a bag of Easter candy from the Scouts of Troop 530 and 2 hunters from each age group will receive big “special prizes” in return for finding “special eggs”. Troop 530 Scouts and Tualatin Lions can identify those “special eggs”.

The Tualatin Lions will sell fresh popcorn, soda and water. Everything is just $1 and all funds raised go to Lions charitable community projects including school vision screening in the Tigard-Tualatin and Sherwood Schools, eyeglasses and hearing aids for neighbors in need and more. The Lions will also happily accept donations of non-perishable food and cash that will directly go to the Tualatin Schoolhouse Pantry.

This year the Tualatin Lions will be collecting food and cash to support their “Backpack Buddies” program that helps underserved and vulnerable student get nutritious lunches and weekend meals and snacks. The Lions are asking for easy to prepare proteins, like canned spaghetti products, tuna and peanut butter, and easy student snacks like small package crackers and cheese, pretzels, etc. Any cash donations will gladly be accepted.

Families from all over the region are welcome beginning at noon on Saturday, March 30th for photos with the Easter Bunny and fresh popcorn. Egg hunts begin at 1:00PM and everything will go off, regardless of the weather. The Tualatin Lions can be reached at tualatinlions@gmail.com.

Tualatin junior overcomes stabbing, surgery to win school’s first wrestling title

Adam Littman
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Tualatin junior overcomes stabbing, surgery to win school’s first wrestling title

Where would Logan Sunnell be without wrestling?

Tualatin junior Logan Sunnell celebrates after winning a state championship, the first in Tualatin High School history. Adam Littman/Tualatin Life

His drive for greatness on the wrestling mat has kept him going after multiple knee surgeries, and it was a wrestling technique – a mat return – that helped him take down his assailant after he was stabbed in the chest nearly two years ago. 

The Tualatin junior said he didn’t even realize he was stabbed at first. He didn’t feel a thing. He just got up off the person who attacked him, saw a bunch of blood pouring out of his chest, and heard the group of friends he was with start freaking out. 

“I was the only who stayed calm, which I think I can contribute to wrestling,” he said. “It has taught me how to keep my cool in pretty heated situations.”

Things weren’t as heated on Feb. 24 for Sunnell, as he calmly and cooly cruised to a 12-5 decision in the 190-pound Oregon state championship match. 

“The day before the tournament, I felt the most ready I’ve ever felt for anything,” he said. “I felt like I was about to go ace a test and that’s what I did.”

The state title win capped off a hectic last two years for Sunnell. He’s the first wrestler from Tualatin High School to win a state championship.

“Nobody has faced the adversity he has faced,” Tualatin wrestling coach Matt Hamilton said. “Nobody has worked as hard to get to where he is at.”

Stabbed in the park

Tualatin’s Logan Sunnell was in control early in his state championship match on Feb. 24. Adam Littman/Tualatin Life

It was toward the end of Sunnell’s freshman year and he was dating a girl. A student from another high school was interested in that girl and didn’t like Sunnell because of his relationship with that girl. That other student said he’d fight Sunnell if they ever crossed paths. 

Sunnell was with friends at Cook Park in Tigard one day and that other student was there. Sunnell’s friends said it would be funny if while walking by the other student, Sunnell asked why he didn’t fight him yet, so he did. The other student didn’t say anything, so Sunnell and his friends kept on walking. 

“He comes in this forest riding this bike and he hops off the bike,” Sunnell said. “He’s holding his hand super close to his hip. He’s holding a knife in his hand, but I didn’t see the knife. She saw the knife and kind of pushed him away and then he pushed her back, stabbed me in the chest, and after that I rushed him.”

Sunnell said he was stabbed in the chest with a fishing knife. He and his friends walked back to the park where they saw an adult there who helped him. A friend wrapped something around his chest and another called an ambulance, although Sunnell said some of it is hard to remember because he was in and out of consciousness. 

In the hospital, Sunnell had a chest tube placed in his lung to keep it inflated. He stayed there about three days. About three weeks after that, he was back at football practice. 

The hospital gave him a device to help build back up his lung capacity that he said was hard to do. He also started getting back to his regular regime of cardio training with running, boxing, jumping jacks, and burpees. He said it took him about two and a half months to get back to his regular mile time of six minutes. 

“My lungs have never been the same since,” he said. “I just haven’t been able to breathe as well.” 

Sunnell said football was tough his sophomore season, but he really felt how far he still had to recover during that wrestling season. 

“I was just dead after every single match,” he said. “My energy was low. I was always getting headaches from how bad my lungs were. I couldn’t breathe. It definitely affected my ability to finish matches in the third round.”

Even recovering from the stabbing, Sunnell finished third in the state tournament that year. Another setback was just a few days away, however.

Knee surgeries

Tualatin junior Logan Sunnell celebrates with wrestling coach Matt Hamilton after winning a state title. Adam Littman/Tualatin Life

Three days after the high school season finished, Sunnell was training for the freestyle and Greco-Roman club season when he hurt his knee. He had a bucket handle meniscus tear, which lead to meniscus repair surgery. 

Sunnell was out three to four months after the surgery. He came back in time for football, but messed up his knee a bit during the season. Early in his junior wrestling season, he hurt that knee even more. 

In late January, he had another knee surgery, this one removing all the cartilage from that knee. A week later he started doing some light drills, and a week after that, he was back to practice gearing up for the state tournament. 

“They said I could try to ease back into wrestling, but obviously I couldn’t ease back into it,” Sunnell said. “I had to do all I could to get that state championship. I had to practice hard those last few weeks.”

Hamilton said Sunnell’s calm demeanor and competitive spirit helped him bounce back from his injury in time to win the state title. 

“He just refused to let that be something that is going to hold him back,” he said. “He deserved it. Nobody was going to take this from him.”

Family affair

Another thing that helped Sunnell come back so quickly from his injury was his family. His dad, Gabe Sunnell, is coach of the Tualatin Wolfpack youth club, and has coached Logan since he was in fifth grade. 

“He’s really been my only drill partner for the last two years,” Logan Sunnell said. “I owe everything to him.”

Sunnell’s dad finished third in the state tournament as a wrestler back when he was at Seaside High School, and his uncle, Toby Sunnell, won a state title in 1999. Sunnell said his uncle was the first state champion from Seaside High School. 

Logan Sunnell thinks he might not be the last state champion from the Sunnell family. He is the oldest of five boys. Anthony Sunnell, the youngest of the five, recently won a state title in the 71-pound weight class for the 14 and under division at the Oregon Wrestling Association Kids Folkstyle State Championships.

He also said Hamilton has been a great coach and mentor for him since he got to high school.

“He’s helped me through a lot, and he’s been there every step of the way,” Sunnell said. “He went to court with us after the stabbing. He’s part of the family.”

Sunnell said he was thrilled for his coach to bring him a state title, and his goal is to do so again next year. Sunnell wants to be a two-time state champ and get to 100 career wins; he’s at around 80 right now. He also wants to get a district title as a team. 

If Sunnell has shown one thing these last few years, it’s that he’s willing to work through any setback to get to where he wants to go. 

“I look at my goal and see what I need to do to get there,” he said. “That’s what takes over everything. When I have a setback, I just remember my goal and what I need to get there.”

The sounds of  ‘60s rock bands and beyond were amplified by Sunn

Barbara Sherman
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The sounds of  ‘60s rock bands and beyond were amplified by Sunn

Don Rogers is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about 1950s and ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll bands in the Pacific Northwest. But he’s not a dry-statistics kind of guy, he’s more of an “Entertainment Tonight”-style purveyor of that era with countless stories of personal encounters with the famous and the back stories of many late-and-great bands.

“I’ve always been a rock ‘n’ roller and keep on being that way,” he said.

The Kingsmen in 1963: Norm Sundholm (left, kneeling), Don Gallucci, Mike Mitchell, Lynn Easton (standing, left), and Gary Abbott. Photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society Research Library, Oregonian collection, Gene Rossi.

Rogers, 73, will be spilling the tea at the Tualatin Historical Society’s March 6 event (See sidebar) when he will share some of his anecdotes and adventures with audience members.

Rogers, who grew up in rural Washington County before his family moved to Canby when he was 13, started going to teen dances at grange halls, armories and teen fairs when he was 14, which was a popular activity at the time. Some of his favorite spots included the Headless Horseman, a teen night club, and the D Street Corral.

“I was in a couple little bands of my own,” said Rogers, who played the guitar and provided vocals in the Poorboys, the Derelicts and the Vanguard. “We had one or two guitars, drums and a keyboard. We had fun.”

But even more, Rogers liked going to rock ‘n’ roll shows. “We would go down to the Salem Armory and see Steppenwolf and the Beach Boys,” he said. “We also saw Don and the Goodtimes, and the Raiders.” Once Rogers and a friend got to the Salem Armory early for a dance featuring the Don and the Goodtimes and got “hired” as roadies to move equipment to get into the dance for free.

“Everyone thinks the Kingsmen were a one-hit wonder (for “Louie Louie”), but they had a lot of other hits like ‘Death of an Angel’ and ‘Money,’” he added. “‘Louie Louie’ was an audition tape and was never supposed to be released to the public.”

Don Rogers wrote articles about musicians and rock bands for numerous magazines back in the day. Barbara Sherman/Tualatin Life

Around this time, when bands like the Kingsmen, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were moving up from playing small venues to larger ones nationwide, their amplification systems weren’t up to the task, and audiences couldn’t hear the music.

So Kingsmen bassist Norm Sundholm and his brother Conrad designed a high-powered bass amplifier and founded the Sunn Musical Equipment Company in Tualatin, with their equipment being sold all over the world.

In the mid ‘60s, Rogers paid “a buck fifty” to see the Doors and $6 for a ticket to see the Beatles at the Coliseum. “They liked the Portland crowd so well they played three extra songs,” he said. “Their plane into Portland lost an engine, and their limo driver almost hit one of the columns at the Coliseum. They were lucky to get out of Portland alive.

“In 1966 I met John DuVal, the Tikis and Fabulons lead guitar player, at Sherman and Clay (a music store) in downtown Portland. I was skipping school, and he was between classes at Portland State. It was great to jam with someone who was recording for the Tower label. This 15-year-old kid was walking on air when I left that store. John and I would meet again when I was writing my book (on the history of Northwest rock ‘n’ roll) in the early 1980s.”


Jimi Hendrix featured in early advertisements for Sunn Amplifiers.

Rogers enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Vietnam War and afterwards went back to school to study broadcasting. “That’s a quick way to starve to death,” he said.

His biggest literary accomplishment was writing “Dance Halls, Armories and Teen Fairs: A History and Discography of Pacific Northwest Rock and Pop Recording Artists of the Fifties and Sixties – Volume One,” a copy of which is in the archives at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

“I tracked down every person in it,” Rogers said. “It was a lot of fun to do.” (The book, which was never re-published, cost $9.95 originally, and now used copies sell for $50 to $200.)

“This led to doing articles on acts and people,” added Rogers, who became a stringer for several music-related magazines, including “R.P.M.,” “Goldmine,” “’60s Beat,” “The Milkshake Man,” “Milkshake Mademoiselle” and “The Willamette Valley Entertainment and Dining Guide.”

John Entwistle of The Who featured in early advertisements for Sunn Amplifiers.

“I interviewed the Supremes, Johnny Rivers and musicians from all over the U.S.,” he said. “I got to meet a lot of my favorite artists.”

Other favorite groups of Rogers’ at that time were the Beau Brummels and the Rolling Stones, and he saw Johnny Rivers, whose hits included “The Seventh Son” and “Secret Angel Man,” perform at the Coliseum in 1983.

“Most of the people I’ve met were beautiful, and only a few were idiots,” Rogers said. “I’ve been in the houses of the rich and famous.”

At one point, Rogers made a list of all the acts he had seen and artists he had met and/or interviewed, and it filled a spiral-bound notebook.

But Rogers’ most lasting legacy may as the founder of Oregon’s oldest vinyl record show, the Record Collectors Show, that includes buying, selling and trading records (LPs, 45s and 78s), CDs, tapes, sheet music, books, posters, photographs and memorabilia. It is held every September at Ackerman School in Canby, where Rogers still lives with his wife Jeannie.

“We sell 70 tables – the show at Los Angeles has 90 tables – and we have been doing it for 42 years,” Rogers said. “We get dealers from four states, and we get people from Boston, Cleveland, Dubai. This is a passion of mine. I started buying records when I was a kid.

“I tell people that when the record show is no longer fun, I will not do it. The rare things are the most valuable, but I can sell an original Beatles album for $25 to $30 because they pressed millions of copies.”

And as a side note, Rogers spend 25 years working in Tualatin at Kambara USA running a matting machine, one of only two in the United States.

So how many records does Rogers own? The answer is that he has a “large” number of them. And he still gets calls from people needing to dispose of their collections, so the treasure hunt goes on.

When the “Sunn” shined in Tualatin

Don Rogers will present “When the ‘Sunn’ shined in Tualatin” at the Tualatin Heritage Center. All are invited.
When: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 1:00 PM  2:00 PM
Where: Tualatin Historical Society, 8700 SW Sweek
For more information, visit tualatinhistory.org/events/when-the-sunn-shinned-in-tualatin

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