Monday, May 7, 2018

Vista House Centennial Celebration 5/5/18

On Saturday, May 5, 2018, a celebration was held to honor 100 years of the Vista House at Crown Point State Park.  Antique cars arrived and circled the building, chairs were set up for the audience of Vista House volunteers and others, the Royal Rosarians were there, a blessing was given by a married couple of Wasco Warm Springs Native Americans, speeches were given and voices raised in song, compliments of the Daughters of the American Revolution "Centennial Chorus".  And grand day!


I am the Chorus Director and we rehearsed inside the building before the event began.  We gathered at my house 4 miles to the west before car-pooling to the Vista House and practiced more.  This photo courtesy of Kelly Ann Wiggins, member of the Royal Rosarians.


This is a photo from our seats in front of the building as people are gathering for the event to begin.



The DAR Centennial Chorus from left - Teresa, Roberta Mills, my elder sister (both from Portland Chapter), Ruth Takahashi (Oregon Trail Chapter), Janet Apostalon (Beaver Chapter) and Nancy Slagle and Ellen Hopkins (Celilo Chapter).



We also did more warming up on the north side of the building while waiting for the event to begin.  :-)  This photo also was compliments of Kelly Ann Wiggin, Royal Rosarians.


This is the only photo I took, using my iPhone, of the audience.  All the others from my camera were taken by my husband Dayle Kasner, the Centennial Chorus "handler", chauffeur, sherpa, and all-around-nice-guy.  :-)


This beautiful American flag was used at the original dedication of the Columbia River Highway in 1916 and again at the dedication of Vista House in 1918.  Notice there are only 48 stars on this flag, today there are 50.



Dayle climbed the stairs to the upper observation area and snapped this image from high.


While things were going on outside the caterer, Sal from Ristorante Pompello in Troutdale and his crew were setting up a delightful Italian buffet for after the ceremony.  Note the beautiful Alaskan Tokeen marble floors.



And the beautiful ceiling with these arching beams and the carved Kasota limestone panels depicting 8 of the names of pioneer families of note from the area.



Dayle walked around the upper outdoor observation deck to snap images of the Columbia River view to the west and Portland, Oregon and the antique cars and owners below.


And the cars and view of the Columbia River Gorge to the East.


My friend Sally King in the audience.  She served as the Volunteer Coordinator for 30 years and I hired her as the Assistant Manager of the Vista House Gallery when I served as Executive Director of the Friends of Vista House from 1982 to 1997.  


The Royal Rosarians line up as the event began, a welcome speech by the current Executive Director of the FOVH, Bob Woody, the Chorus began the event by singing Oregon My Oregon and then This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie - then the flag was raised as we sang the Star Spangled Banner - our National Anthem.  A very moving experience for us all.


The Royal Rosarians in fine form.


The beautiful flag of our country.


A special part of the day was Dayle's cousin, Terry, far right, is a Royal Rosarian and we enjoyed talking to her during the event.  She introduced her cousin to many of the Rosarians.



The DAR Chorus singing their hearts out.


Lisa Sumption, the Director of Oregon Parks & Recreation Department spoke.


A view from by the flag pole.


Speeches were given by Kevin Price, recently retired from OPRD, Fred and Olivia Wallutatum from the Wasco Confederated Tribes, Warm Springs and Bob Woody, FOVH Executive Director.  Not pictured is Jagit Nagra who read a statement from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley which had been entered into the Congressional Record.


Fred and Olivia Wallutatum gave a moving tribal blessing.  They told of how young men from times past would come to this place for their vision quests.  Fred is a Wasco Chief.



Kevin's story was amazing and wonderful and had the entire audience in stitches.  It was about his love affair with Vista House.  :-)


The DAR Chorus ended the ceremony by singing Roll On Columbia by Woody Guthrie.  The audience joined in and it was lovely.  



Dayle walked around the circle taking photos of the wonderful historic cars.






Another wonderful part of the day was the unveiling of the book put together by my friends Gary Law and Ken Manske.  Gary is on the board of directors of the FOVH and one of the founders of the group, as I was, and Ken is the current President of the FOVH.  I am so impressed by the book!!


This book was made to memorialize the PEOPLE to have saved the Vista House and brought it to life.  I am very pleased to have been a part of the group of people who take care of this wonderful historic building.  In this part of the book you can see me at my desk when I was given the keys to the building when I was hired to be the first executive director in 1982.  On the right is Sally, my trusty assistant.


My calligraphy and drawing skills came in handy when I drew up this certificate award to honor all the volunteers who helped to clean up and give life to the building.


This part of the book shows the lower level when we began to fix it up and bring it back to life.  Also, the infamous photo of all the people who worked together to make it happen.


They even added photos and the story of the Historic Columbia River Highway sign I drew up and testified for it's approval to the Multnomah County Commission, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Commission.  It was approved and produced by ODOT and placed along the road from Troutdale to The Dalles.  :-)


And that is the story of our big day.  I hope you enjoyed reading about it all and learned something new.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

13 comments:

  1. Teresa, this was an amazing post today. I poured over every word and picture. I, too, love visiting the Vista house. It’s location is unparalleled. The scenery from the Vista house is unbelievable, as you show in the pictures on your blogs to everyone. What an honor to be part of such a special celebration. The book is amazing too and I enjoyed seeing the parts that featured you and your contributions. Thank you for sharing it with us. Will the book be for sale at Multnomah Falls? I hope you’re having a wonderful day. We’re waiting for the sun to come out here.
    Blessings, Betsy

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  2. Oh you look marvelous! I bet you sounded wonderful! Were you nervous?
    I love the Native Americans blessing! Kevin's story would be fun to hear, I love when a speaker makes you laugh! Great photos. Great work thank you for saving and enhancing this American Treasure

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  3. What a grand recognition for you. Thank you.

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  4. My goodness Teresa, what a beautiful meaningful day! How lovely to a part of such a wonderful place. My hat is off to you and your friends for restoring and keeping the Vista house for generations to come! I absolutely love the views from this venue! Well done, my friend. ♥

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  5. Happy to know about the historical building. You have done a great job! Happy to know that you are part of the team to maintain this building.
    Enjoyed seeing the antique cars. They stand awesome!
    Amazing shots of the events and the building:)

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  6. I'm so glad you documented your view of this celebration, Teresa. I enjoyed the photos and the narrative, and feel that I know you and Dayle and Vista House even better now. Thanks for another beautiful post :-) xx

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  7. Great photos! And those cars!!!!! Wow! You do the neatest things! Love the newspaper clip too!!
    XO Kris

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  8. Love this place! So glad to see it restored, it's a beautiful buildings. Thank you for all that you have done for our beautiful Gorge.

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  9. What a fab day Teresa.You have been such a key player in keeping that beautiful building for everyone to enjoy. Well done! xxx

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  10. What a joy and indeed an honour to visit your blog today and share such a special celebration with you. A delight to admire the beautiful cars, the event and stunning views. A wonderful post.

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  11. What an amazing day of celebration, I loved to read about it. The centenary fell on my Birthday, surely a sign of good luck to come :-) I would have loved to listen to your group singing. Thanks for sharing this important milestone with us. xx

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  12. Hello Teresa- WOW, WOW and WOW. Vista House is fabulous. What a view. The celebrations sound and looked wonderful. So glad it all went well and congratulations to all involved. Anne x

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