Veterans
pay tribute
to the 'forgotten war'
Photo by Curt Kipp
Korean War veteran William Pulver of Canby salutes the U.S. Marine Color Guard at last week's groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial in Wilsonville.
By Linda McDonnell
for the Herald
Korean-born Americans and
proud veterans mingled in morning drizzle May 4 during groundbreaking ceremonies for the
Oregon Korean War Veterans Memorial in Wilsonville.
Canby veterans William Pulver, Mike Breshears and Bob Root were on hand for the emotional
ceremony.
A "thank-you" in the form of $100,000 from Korean families in Oregon helped fill
the pot that will pay for the $450,000 project in Town Center Park.
"We wanted to show our appreciation for the sacrifices made by American soldiers not
just in words, but in deeds," said Sam Kwak, chairman of the Korean Memorial Fund
Raising Committee. The committee was formed by the Korean community to help with the
memorial effort, which was spearheaded by the Oregon Korean War Veterans Association.
A crowd of about 200 people gathered for the groundbreaking, which featured KOIN-TV News
Anchor Mike Donahue as master of ceremonies. The memorial will include the names of the
287 Oregonians killed in the war.
"They gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom," said Korean-born state Sen. John
Lim of Gresham.
Without American action, he said, "I would not have been able to come to this
country; I would have been forced to live under communism."
Clackamas County Tourism Development Council Executive Director Linda Bell recognized Lim
as the one who "opened the door" for the project to move ahead.
Colonel Randall S. Hledik, chief of staff for logistics for the 104th Division of the U.S.
Army Reserves, said the soldiers who died in what is often called the "forgotten
war" believed in "duty, honor, country . . . and integrity."
"They died for a generation of people they would never know," Hledik said.
"They proved the truth that freedom is not free."
Korean Consul General Byung rok Moon traveled from Seattle to present $50,000 for the
memorial fund from the Korean government. The Korean corporation Hyundai, which has a
manufacturing plant in Eugene, made a major contribution of $100,000.
The memorial will comprise a 94-foot long "Wall of Honor" of carnelian granite
engraved with the names of Oregon servicemen killed in the war.
A 12-foot-wide brick terrace with the names of hundreds of individual memorial donors will
run the length of the wall.
A 30-foot flagpole extending from the terrace will fly the flags of the United States,
Republic of Korea, United Nations and state of Oregon.
In addition to the Korean community and Hyundai, major donations have come from the
Clackamas County Tourism Develop-ment Council, the city of Wilsonville and a
city/Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce funding partnership.
Wilsonville Mayor Charlotte Lehan pointed to the cooperation between city and county
agencies that helped make the memorial possible.
The city of Wilsonville and Town Center Park provide a highly accessible location for the
memorial, which is expected to attract numerous visitors, said Don Barton, secretary of
the Oregon Korean War Memorial fund. The fund is the memorial fundraising arm of the
Korean War Veterans Association.
The Korean war, fought from 1950 to 1953, left 54,246 dead and 103,000 wounded. Another
8,000 were missing in action and 7,000 were held as prisoners of war. Of those held in
prison camps, over 50 percent died.
"Soon we will have a striking but somber tribute to the forgotten soldiers of the
forgotten war," said Doug Dusenbery, administrator for the Oregon Department of
Veterans' Affairs.
For many, the memorial is a way of ensuring that the soldiers who died in the Korean War
will never be forgotten.
Planning
director
search nears end
By David Howell
of the Herald
Three candidates for the vacant Canby Planning
Department director position will be interviewed by a three-member panel tomorrow.
The trio were chosen from 26 original applicants - eight of whom have planning experience
in Oregon - seeking to replace Jason Kruckeberg, who returned to work in his native
southern California just before Christmas.
Canby Utility General Manager Dirk Borges, Canby Community Development Director Jerry
Pineau and Bob Hoffman, a city of Wilsonville senior planner and former Canby planning
director, will conduct the May 11 interviews.
John Williams, an associate planner who has acted as Canby's interim planning director the
past five months, is one of the three finalists.
Williams has earned master's degrees in public administration and geology, and a
bachelor's degree in geological science from three different universities. He has four
years' experience in the public planning sector, and is a former transportation planner
for the state of Oregon.
The other two finalists have yet to be named because they are currently employed in
similar positions in nearby Oregon cities.
One candidate holds a master's degree in urban planning and community development and a
bachelor's degree in geography, both awarded by Portland State University.
She is currently a senior associate with a private company who has previously held
planning manager, planning director and annexation assistant posts in three cities in
Oregon. She has 12 years experience in the public planning sector.
The other candidate also earned a master's degree in urban planning and community
development from PSU. He is currently an associate planner with a city in Oregon, and has
held the position of acting planning director with the same city. He has 14 years
experience in the public planning sector.
The planning director job in Canby pays a minimum of $45,300 and a maximum of $55,000 per
year. The job vacancy has been advertised since January, and city officials hope the
successful applicant will begin work in June.
Driver in fatal automobile
crash leaves hospital
By David Howell
of the Herald
PORTLAND - The teen-age driver of a car involved in a two-vehicle
collision that killed a 17-year-old Molalla woman has been discharged from a Portland
hospital.
Jared Donald Parsons of Oregon City was rushed to Oregon Health Sciences University
Hospital after the April 28 accident on Highway 170 near Molalla.
The 18-year-old suffered a punctured lung, a broken bone in an arm and internal injuries
in the crash. He immediately underwent surgery to mend the internal wounds and abdominal
trauma.
After nine days of treatment and recuperation, Parsons was discharged Saturday, an OHSU
spokeswoman said Monday.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office reported that Parsons was driving a Mitsubishi
Mirage southbound on Highway 170 when it collided with a Toyota pickup truck at about 5:31
p.m.
Deputies said he was attempting to pass in a No Passing Zone when his car struck the
pickup driven by a Canby man, who suffered minor injuries.
Parsons' passenger, Harlynn Margaret Hansen, a Molalla High School junior who had turned
17 less than two weeks earlier, died in the collision.
Margaret, as the friendly and well-liked young woman was known to her friends, teachers
and coworkers, was remembered at a ceremony in Woodburn on May 1. A large number of family
members and friends paid their respects at the moving memorial service for the
California-born, Oregon-raised woman.
She was buried May 1 at Adams Cemetery in Molalla, the city her family moved to in 1993.
The victim of another fatal traffic accident, which occurred on the same day within one
hour and 3 miles of the 170 collision, was buried in Oregon City last week.
LaVerne Delores Johnson, 76, of Canby died in a two-car crash on Highway 211, between
Highway 170 and Dryland Road.
A Woodburn woman's minivan veered across the center line, and struck Johnson's car. The
mother and her 7-year-old son suffered severe internal injuries.
North Dakota-born Johnson, who enjoyed bowling and spending time with friends at the Canby
American Legion Post 122 Auxiliary, worked at a paper mill during World War II. Her
husband and two sons preceded her in death, and she is survived by two sons, a daughter,
two sisters, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
As the 170 crash investigation continues, deputies maintain Parsons had been driving
erratically prior to the accident.
At least one motorist on the road at the time said he was driving dangerously, a CCSO
incident report states.
Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputy Angie Blanchard said her office has sent a vial of
Parsons' blood and a vial of his urine to be analyzed by the Oregon State Crime Lab.
The tests for intoxicants can take up to three weeks. No charges will be filed until the
lab analysis is completed, but charges are still likely.
"Anytime you pass in a No Passing Zone, and someone then dies in a traffic crash, you
are responsible for your driving behavior," Blanchard said. "We have to put it
all together before we can charge him with a particular crime."
She said Parsons has yet to be interviewed by the sheriff office's assigned investigator.
He will be expected to make a statement on how the collision happened.
"We don't have clue where they were coming from or where they were going to,"
Blanchard said.
In addition, investigators from CCSO's Collision Reconstruction and Forensics Team still
do not know if the victim was wearing a seat belt because the Mirage's "door post was
sheared off in the collision," she said.
Parsons and the driver of the pickup were wearing their seat belts, according to a CCSO
incident report.
A trust fund has been set up at Washington Mutual Bank branches to help Hansen's family
defray funeral and burial expenses.
Remembrances in honor of Johnson may be made to the Canby Volunteer Fire Department or the
American Diabetes Association. Any donations are greatly appreciated in both tragic cases.
Rotarians set sights
on Nothing But Net
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
Get out those high tops, inflate those dusty balls and starting limbering
up: The ultimate community-oriented basketball event is coming your way.
On the weekend of July 22-23, the streets will echo with the sounds of balls bouncing,
rims rattling and crowds cheering when the inaugural Nothing But Net 3-on-3 tournament
takes over the streets of downtown Canby.
The tourney, put on by the Canby Rotary Club and backed by corporate sponsor Webster.com
and several local businesses, promises to draw dozens of players from all over the region
for two days of games, contests and activities.
Action will unfold on the streets surrounding Wait Park, where 21 courts will be marked
out in duct tape. And play will be open to people of all ages, ranging from an 8- to
10-year-old division through an over-25 bracket.
The tourney will feature male, female and coed classifications.
"Our goal is to turn this into an annual event that brings the community
together," said event manager Tom Nolan. "We (the Rotary) had no idea how hot
this was until we started investigating it and getting it organized.
Apparently, this is huge in the Midwest and continues to gain in popularity.
''Initially, we're hoping for 100 teams. I've been told we should have no trouble getting
(that many).''
The idea for the tourney was formulated last year, when Nolan set up a committee to
discuss the possibility of putting on an event that would serve as a fund-raiser and a
community-oriented activity.
Together with fellow Rotarians Roger Reif, Dan Wilcox, Glenda Michael, Kathy Henderson,
Steve Van Gordon, Norm Trotter and Chris Stutes, Nolan came up with a proposal to host a
3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Then came the hard part.
"The truth is, none of us had any idea of how to go about this," Nolan admitted.
"We loved the idea, but none of us had ever taken on something like this. That's when
it was time to make some calls."
Nolan eventually got a hold of Jerry Moss, the special events coordinator for the Portland
Trail Blazers. Moss liked the idea and agreed to help promote it, in part because he
himself lives in Canby.
"It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack and discovering the needle was
right in front of us," Nolan said of finding Moss.
Moss presented the idea at a Rotary function, and members unanimously agreed to go ahead
with the plan. Before long, Webster.com, a branch of the Canby Telephone Association, was
secured as a corporate sponsor and several court sponsors were lined up.
The event also got the support of the Portland Trail Blazers.
"We figured we'd get many of our sponsors from out of town, but it turned out the
vast majority of them are from right here in Canby," Nolan said.
"People loved the idea of doing something like this. And Canby Telephone, which had
run the Communication Classic running event for years, liked the idea of getting behind a
community-oriented event.
''To them, it was a natural - 'Nothing But Net' ties in with Webster and the Internet.''
The tournament itself will run all day both days, although specific times have yet to be
determined. It will take place rain or shine.
The games themselves will be played on Grant and Holly Streets between Third and Fourth
Avenues and on Third Street between Holly and Grant. They will last 20 minutes each or
until one team scores 11 points and wins by two.
Each team will be guaranteed three games and the format will be double elimination. There
will be referees for the youngest age group and arbitrators at all the other courts.
The cost to enter is $110 per team if postmarked by June 30. Entries after June 30 through
July 7 are $130. There will be no entries taken after July 7.
In conjunction with the weekend, Cutsforth's Thriftway will be hosting its annual Cruise
In classic cars event, and the Blazers will be represented by an acrobat team. There will
also be food vendors, and after the tournament, a street dance featuring live music.
In terms of contests, players may engage in slam-dunk and/or three-point shooting
challenges.
"We've purchased the backboards, which was quite an investment, so we're committed to
this," Nolan said. "So far, the response has been very positive."
Nolan also wished to acknowledge Barry Johnson, a Canby resident who moved to this area
from Michigan, where 3-on-3 tournaments are wildly popular. He has served as a consultant
for organizers.
Registration forms are available at local schools and businesses. Entries may be faxed to
503-266-8555. Players may also call 263-5480 for more information.
