Wednesday, June 8, 2016

100th Celebration of the Historic Columbia River Highway

Hello!  Well, the "Big Event" went well yesterday.  The DAR Centennial Chorus arrived early and had breakfast in the Lodge alongside the 5 flower girls and their mothers.  Then we all went down to the "Green Room" - the Visitors Center was closed for the event - and the chorus rehearsed the National Anthem and Roll On Columbia - and a song about Oregon.  People would come to the door to listen to us.  :-)  Then we headed up to the falls to find the chairs reserved for us.  We passed this old bike and posed for a photo.  From left is Janet, Teresa, Roberta, Ruth, Nancy and Becky.


Dayle took several photos for us by the grand piano to be used during the event - then we had to take our seats as things were beginning to get rolling.  I took a quick look at the photos and was horrified to see all the "noise" in each and every photo.  Come to find out there was dust and mist landing on the lens and Dayle was shooting into the sun.  But I decided to tell you that it's "bokeh" and we did it on purpose to be artsy.  :-)


How cool is it that they brought a real grand piano and set it up right in front of the falls?  Thomas Lauderdale from the band "Pink Martini" was to play "Roll On Columbia" for a group sing.


OK, we're ready.. :-)


Former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts came by to chat with us.  She is just a doll and very charming.  To the right is Jeanette Kloos who is the President of the Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway and spearheaded this event.  

Some of the dignitaries that would speak at the event.  The man in period dress, Tom Burns, played Sam Hill and was the Master of Ceremonies of the event.  The man on the left is Wayne Stewart, Chair of the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee, then Barbara Roberts and Former Governor Ted Kulongoski.



Ted K. came over to chat with the DAR Chorus and spent at least 20 minutes asking us about DAR and telling us he was a past Marine.  What a neat man!


Roberta told him about our Dad who was a Marine who went in on the first wave at Iwo Jima.  He asked about our ancestors that we used to join the Daughters of the American Revolution and how far back we knew of our patriots.  


The ceremony began with a blessing chant from Chief Delvis Heath, Sr. and Jefferson Greebe from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.  When they both began to loudly chant in their Native tongue, I got chills and my heart filled as I have Native blood in me.  You could hear a pin drop as they chanted to us and the waterfall.



Then the DAR Chorus went up on the steps to the microphone and sang the National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.  It was wonderful.  It is hard to look good while singing.. :-)



Dayle was standing next to the television cameras snapping away, the flower girls came next with their baskets of rose petals, tossing them along the way.  My friend Keturah organized 5 little local girls with long-time Corbett families.  They wore matching lace dresses, white tights and shoes.  All had pretty hair all fixed up for the event.  They were wonderful!  Then the Queen of Rosaria from the Portland Rose Festival was led up to the dais.



The girls stood together and then sat together on the steps during the entire event.  So cute!


We had a nice contingent of the Royal Rosarians, the ambassadors for the Portland Rose Festival there.  I know several of the RR personally, and they are wonderful representatives of our city and state.  


We heard speeches from all the dignitaries which were great, then three trumpeters played a celebratory tune and the flag was dropped from the bridge.


The DAR Centennial Chorus also sang Roll On Columbia with accompaniment by Thomas Lauderdale on the grand piano, then sang "This State is Your State" to the tune of "This Land is Your Land".  Everyone joined in and it was quite wonderful.



The event came to an end and it was a great day.



As we strolled down from the falls we saw the flower girls posing with the Royal Rosarian Prime Minister Rick Saturn and his wife, so we joined in for a group photo.



As we all got to my car to head home, Dayle snapped some photos of the vintage cars - 30-40 of them participated in the event.



A photo of Dayle, our official photographer for the day.  :-)



This photo is by my sister Roberta using her iPhone - there were two Monarch butterflies circling the area in front of us and between the dignitaries, then one landed on the microphone.  What a neat memory.


Keturah snapped this neat photo of the flower girls around the piano. Her daughter actually played an amazing tune on the piano, Keturah video'ed it, but I can't share it as it's on my phone and I can't send it to myself for some reason.


The event actually started in Troutdale, then on to Vista House where a biplane flew around the building and a cannon was fired.  Then the dignitaries got into the vintage cars for a trip on to the last event at Multnomah Falls.  Karen Hawley took all these VH photos and allowed me to share them with you.





There are more photos to be found HERE.  What a great day.  I hope you enjoyed the images and story.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

25 comments:

  1. Wow A HUGE SUCCESS. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE AMAZING PHOTOS I love the spirit of the butterfly and I love the Native American participation. Now to the beach to rest!

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  2. Wow, what an amazing day, I'm so glad it all went well. You all look fantastic and the photos are brilliant. What wonderful memories you must all have had. The girls look gorgeous round the piano, and what a brilliant backdrop the falls must have been. I so enjoyed this post Teresa. CJ xx

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  3. Fabulous Teresa and Dayle is a great photographer......special day 💖

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  4. What a lovely day you had to celebrate this historic occasion. I love your dress and seeing all the photos, too! Pat :)

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  5. It looks like the day was a big success. Congratulations! I really enjoyed sharing in the celebration through your post.

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  6. What a special day. I really love the 'bokeh' in the photos! I thought you'd put that in there until you mentioned it may have been dust :) I do love the way you tell a story from beginning to end. You've got a 'warm' voice! What a wonderful day!

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  7. Oh Teresa - what a wonderful occasion and a perfect day for all of it. Thanks so much for sharing it all with us. You look darling in your outfit.

    Judy

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  8. Thank you for throwing that biplane photo in. ;-)
    What an awesome showing of our Royal Rosarian and other dignataries.
    I sm so glad the weather cooperated!

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  9. I'm glad it all went well. I thought of you while I was at work. It would have been fun to be there. Columbia river hwy is such a nice way to travel thru that beautiful area that God has blessed our state with. Thanks for singing and sharing your day in photos. And enjoy your visit with your granddaughters. :-} xxx

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  10. Great "artsy" photos and story Teresa! Thanks for posting.

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  11. Sounds like a fabulous day. Loved reading all about it and almost felt like I was there. Thanks for sharing. xox

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  12. Oh Teresa, this was wonderful! I would have loved to be there an pad experience this with you. I love Multnomah Falls. Such a nice celebration for a beautiful spot here in the northwest. Thank you SO much for sharing your day with us.

    Now I wish you a wonderfully relaxing g time with your girls at the coast. Glad you must be feeling better.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  13. What a wonderful day Teresa,it all went so well and you looked gorgeous. A lot of effort obviously went into all the preparation and it really paid off.Thanks for sharing the day with all those lovely photos. Enjoy your mini break with the girls xx

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  14. Its lovely to see such a ceremony taking place. You should be very proud of the part you played in it. Thank you and Dayle for taking the time to record and share it x

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  15. Congratulations, it was a real thrill to be able to share such a momentous occasion. Wonderful photos. Have a great break at the beach with your family. Take care.

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  16. Such a great post, and what beautiful photos!

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  17. What a wonderful day, I enjoyed your photos so much and am so glad it all went well for you! I wish I could hear the singing, I am sure I would have enjoyed that very much too!
    Helen xox

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  18. How wonderful!!! I am so glad for you that it was such a great success!! Everyone must have had a wonderful time and really enjoyed their day. What great memories. Thank you for sharing it with us!!

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  19. What an amazing day! I know just where that is...one of our favorite spots to visit in Oregon. The vintage photos are so beautiful. Wish we could transform our modern photos to look as lovely as those. Something special about them...

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  20. This post was wonderful and brought me such feelings of nostalgia! I grew up in SE Portland and drove the old Col. River Hwy with my parents in their old car, before there ever WAS a freeway! We would go out to Crown Point (as it was called then) and walk around and go inside and stand at the railings to enjoy the panoramic views. I remember it all... plus of course, going to Multnomah Falls. As a child, it was so huge to me! of course it still is. I so wish I could have been there and I'm so glad to see so many people there enjoying the history. Oh... and my family used to be a neighbor of Dorothy Roberts in SE Portland, long before she was governor! My mom and her were friends.. it was so nice to see photos of her!

    The entire ceremony was beautiful and looks so well planned and thought out. When you mentioned the Native Americans singing in their native tongue, it brought tears to my eyes... just knowing and seeing the history of that area. Thank you so much for sharing all of the wonderful photos.. and for YOUR work in helping this to come about!

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  21. Thank you for sharing this historic day in photos and prose. I feel like I was there myself.

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  22. It looks like it was a wonderful day Teresa, thank you so much for sharing it with us.
    Meredith

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  23. Extra-great-fabulous ! thank you so much. You look all splendids and "sunny".
    So much smiles, a magic day made with love.
    Julie

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  24. So glad that it all went so well. It looked and sounds wonderful. Hope you felt really eell . Did you wear your shawl? Hugs Anne x

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  25. All the planning was worth it! Thanks for your part in helping it be so special, Teresa. The photos, including the artsy ones really capture the event beautifully...and the butterfly visit...amazing! Thanks for posting! xxxxxxx

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