Last month’s story on strawberries in the Tualatin Valley evoked a plethora of memories from many folks. Besides my story, the Capital Press, Oregon’s agricultural newspaper, as well as Willamette Week recently ran similar stories on the fabled fruit.
Living Legends: Jack Broome & Althea Pratt
Behind the big hedge next to the WES station you can barely see Tualatin’s only building on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1858 Sweek House. John and Maria Sweek and descendants made a permanent mark on early city history. But it is two residents in this remarkable house who this year can celebrate 35 year-old legacies of their own.
Althea Pratt rescued the deteriorating Sweek House in 1955 and gradually made improvements as she raised three daughters, primarily on a teacher’s salary. Her tireless advocacy for environmental issues and historical preservation would later match well with Jack Broome, a founding partner of the Portland architectural firm Broome, Selig, and Oringdulph whose firm was consulting with the City of Tualatin to help create the city’s first urban renewal plan. Jack had been the lead architect for Meridian Park Hospital completed in 1973. He was thus very familiar with Tualatin land use issues. The couple married in 1980. Now in their 90s, they continue to live on and treasure the historic property.
The Wetlands Conservancy is Created in Tualatin
History was not the only passion for Althea. Her commitment to stewardship of wetlands began with concern over encroaching industrial development on the marshes near her beloved home and westward along Hedges Creek. She mobilized other residents to the cause and encouraged children to dress up as wetlands birds and animals to help get signatures on petitions. Boy Scouts built bird boxes. Hundreds attended public meetings and testified before City Council to support protection of the marsh. In 1976, Althea was appointed to serve on Tualatin’s Urban Renewal Committee. At their first meeting, she proposed that wetland preservation should be adopted as an urban development goal. In 1979, the City agreed to set aside 57 acres of Hedges Creek Marsh for education and wildlife protection. A Friends of Tualatin Wetlands organization was formed and other donations of acreage were added to the Hedges footprint.
With the help of regional environmentalists, the Wetlands Conservancy was incorporated as a land trust in 1981 based in Tualatin with Jack serving as its unpaid executive director. Now led by Esther Lev, the Conservancy’s board and staff in Portland today monitor some 1544 acres of wetlands in 32 preserves all around Oregon in partnership with landowners, businesses and other nonprofit organizations.
Says Tualatin resident Ed Casey who has been on the Conservancy board since its founding, “Jack and Althea started out to protect their backyard habitat in Tualatin and ended up creating a national award-winning and respected land trust.”
Willowbrook Summer Arts Camp Takes Birth at Sweek House
Starting in 1978, under the banner of the Center for Development of Human Potential, Althea offered summer coursework at Sweek House for graduate students enrolled in her “Giftedness, Creativity and Human Potential” course at Portland State University. They got practical experience working with children who came to participate in “Saturday School” art classes. The summer camp opened in 1982 as “Adventures in the Arts” with a staff of 10 serving 20 children ages 4-12, focused on nature study and the arts—pottery, fine art, crafts, dance, music, puppetry, and drama, including Shakespeare.
In 1985, “Willowbrook” was officially added to the camp title to honor the name John and Maria Sweek originally gave to their homestead. Still working out of the main house, front porch, big barn and other outbuildings, Althea directed the program, wrote plays, baked treats and did laundry for children who got muddy in the adjacent wetlands. Enrollment began to climb as word spread beyond Tualatin. By the end of the 1980s, ages of students ranged from to 3-18.
In 1991, concerned about growing numbers with the only access across the railroad tracks, the City of Tualatin offered the unimproved Browns Ferry Park site. Willowbrook made the move to the big open field in 1992, using improvised systems of tents, water barrels and RV batteries for electricity to serve the campers attending from one day to all six weeks. Families and the public enjoyed a new major drama performance each week, including a ballet, a Shakespeare production and a full-scale musical on an outdoor stage.
As the 2000’s arrived, offerings had expanded to include fine arts, world cultural arts and crafts, Native American art, calligraphy, drama, stagecraft, weaving, basketry, stained glass, pottery, instrumental and vocal music, many styles of dance, nature, drama, puppetry, creative writing, photography, film making, and more. Enrollment exceeded 1,000 each summer and Althea continued to serve as unpaid Director.
Willowbrook now serves more than 1700 children each year at Browns Ferry Park with a summer staff exceeding 200 and a half-million dollar budget. Althea stepped down in 2007 at age 85 and daughter Rebecca picked up the full-time reins. A volunteer board of directors helps maintain Althea’s original goal of helping youngsters realize their creative potentials. Parent surveys show a big spending impact on Tualatin as families shop for food, gas and other needs as they move to and from Willowbrook during the last week of June through the first week of August.
Today, a number of Willowbrook staff have been teaching for over 20 years, and some were once loyal campers themselves. Thousands of alumni point to their magical days at Willowbrook as important influences on their lives.
Ann Smith, Willowbrook parent and board member from Tualatin, says “In our family Willowbrook is far more than a summer camp, it is a way of life that our girls anticipate all year long. There is something immensely special that comes alive during the six weeks that camp is in session. From the pottery wheels to the drama stage and the weaving tent to the Native American art area, there is something for everyone and no day is ever the same. And perhaps my favorite thing about Willowbrook is that the essence of it – the ability for kids to be themselves, to experience the power of free choice, and to let their creative spirit flow – lives on far beyond camp session. It becomes part of who these kids are and influences how they go through life. I’m proud to have our girls be part of the Willowbrook family, and thankful that such an incredible place exists right here in our backyard.”
From Tualatin to Ethiopia
Jennifer Bridges, a powerful and savvy business woman, boarded an airplane to Ethiopia in 2010, accompanying a friend who was adopting a child. She thought she was just going to be lending her support to this special family in her life; their lives were undoubtedly going to change dramatically. But what she didn’t know is her life was also about to change.
National Night Out – August 2nd, 2016
National Night Out is a program the Tualatin Police Department has supported and participated in for several years. Annually, the first Tuesday in August, people nation-wide are encouraged to turn on their porch lights and go out and meet their neighbors.
Teach Your Child How to be an Upstander
At some point or another, chances are pretty good that your child will be part of a bullying incident. Traditionally, there are three roles in a bullying incident:
July Blog
Tualatin’s Four Sunde Brothers served in three wars, Spanning World War Two, Korean and Vietnam Wars
Yvonne Addington introduced me to a member of one of Tualatin’s early families at the conclusion of our Memorial Day event, Gordon Sunde. Gordon, at 85, is the youngest and only surviving member of four brothers. Very spry for his age, he has an infectious smile that makes you feel happy when you talk to him. The Sunde brothers were next door neighbors and friends of Yvonne’s father Ted Saarinen and his brother Bob. The Sunde’s lived on the SE Corner of Boones Ferry Road and Avery Streets, where Boones Ferry Community church is now located. Two of the Sunde brothers served in WWII, one during Korea and Gordon in both Korea and Vietnam. The oldest, Donald, was working as an airplane mechanic for a company building planes in Southern California when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He joined the Army Air Corps and spent four years on different islands in the South Pacific. Fortunately, he was never wounded but did contract several jungle diseases. The second brother, Carroll, was exempted from WWII service because of a physical disability, an injured knee, but was drafted into Army when Korean war started. He was sent to Germany where he worked as a mechanic for the Army vehicles fleet there. Lawrence, the third oldest, went into the Army near the end of WWII, in 1946. He served as an administrative clerk in a medical headquarters unit. The unit was first located in Paris and then moved to Germany for the Occupation of Germany He was able to tour several nearby countries while in Germany.
Gordon had three years of college when summoned to meet with his local draft board. When they told him was going to drafted, He told them that he had “a better offer, as an Air Force aviation cadet.” By that time, the Army Air Corps had become a separate branch of the U.S. military. After completing flight training, Gordon was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, at age 24, in 1955. Our country was in the “cold war” stage by that time. He was assigned to the Air Defense Force which was designed to provide a defensive air shield against a possible attack by long-range, manned Soviet bombers. Stationed at Stewart Air Force Base in New York. He flew both jets and propeller driven planes, T33 shooting Star, B25, C47 and F86F fighters. These planes provided radar and air weather service information to bomber and fighter squadrons as well as overseeing weather stations. When not flying, he oversaw plane maintenance records. After active duty, Gordon continued as a pilot in the Air Force Reserve where he advanced to the rank of Major. He finished college, graduating with a BS in Psychology from Arizona State University. He did graduate work and then went to work as a Probation/Parole Officer for the Tri-County area. He was temporarily activated many times while in the Reserves; flying a C-141 Starlifter (with four jet engines) for the Military Airlift Command. transporting soldiers, equipment, and supplies from McCord Air Force Base to Vietnam and also between Vietnam bases. He returned with body bags, KIA military.
As the Sunde brothers grew up, they were very popular for their singing and instrument musical abilities. First, Don who was eight years older than Gordon, performed solo with a guitar. Then Carroll made it a duet with a violin playing fiddle music. Lawrence joined with a saxophone and Gordon made it a quartet with guitar and banjo-uke. Known as the Sunde Brothers and wearing cowboy outfits with holstered toy pistols, they won talent shows all over the Northwest. They were included in a movie, Running Wild, shot in Oregon. The main theme was the antics of two hobo’s who were hopping freight trains. Gordon remembers watching the stills in Portland before the film was sent to be edited. He said he doubted that the movie won any awards but it was exciting to be part of it. The boys inherited their musical talent from their mother who was an accomplished violinist. Their father was a carpenter. Their parents emigrated as young adults from Norway in the early 1900s. Gordon said his mother rode the Oregon Electric train from Portland to Tualatin to select the farm site for the family. The Sunde’s ran a family farm with apple and cherry orchards, black raspberries (used to make die), hay crops and cows and chickens. I asked Gordon if he planned to buried in Willamette National Cemetery and he said he is going to join two of his brothers, his parents and an uncle in the Sunde family plots at Winona.
Gordon while serving as a Probation/Parole Officer in the 60’s. Sunde Meadows, one of Tualatin’s first sub developments in the late 70’s. Gordon practicing with brother Lawrence. Gordon gave his 1941 Ford to his mother, Clara, when he went into the service. Pitching hay on family farm. Air Force Lt Gordon Sunde in his office where plane maintenance records were kept. The Sunde brothers with other cast members of the movie “Running Wild.” Gordon first’s first musical instrument was a piano.
June Blog
Sophie Strong
We last wrote to the Tualatin Life back in 2012. We were organizing the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex fundraising walk for families in Oregon living with TSC as well as funding research into cures for other diseases like epilepsy, autism and cancer. In 2008, our little Sophie was diagnosed with TSC at four months old. In her first two years of life she had two brain surgeries at UCLA Medical Center.
Tualatin Mom Turned Author: Dreams Do Come True
In our very own back yard, is a woman with a passion for words. An avid reader, Tualatin resident Cathy LaGrow has more books than shelves. So, it was not surprising to those who know her that she, too, would be an excellent wordsmith. She wrote a story nearly 100 years in the making.