Sherwood Community Advantage Magazine May 2023

ADMINISTRATION

Matthew Nelson, Publisher

Catrina Nelson, CFO

Tara Weidman, Executive Assistant

Donovan Darling, Content Manager

PRODUCTION

Jeremy Okai Davis, Art Director

Hilary Berg, Sr. Graphic Designer

Brittany Jungenberg, Sr. Graphic Designer

Morgan King, Sr. Graphic Designer

Shawn Schmidt, Sr. Graphic Designer

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

David Bates Patti Jo Brooks

Tyler Francke Olive Gallagher

Angie Helvey Robert Matsumura

Dennis McNabb Kelly Romo

Alice Wiliams

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Laurel Bice Carly Carpenter

Tyler Francke Angie Helvey

Malaina Kinne Lisa Kuhlman

Kara Langley Tayler Lundquist

Andrew Sambuceto Henry Schifter

Hayley Starkey Brittney Waterman

ADVERTISING SPECIALISTS

Don Ormsby Bill Kistler

Stephanie Baker Jim Belan

Peggy Jacobs David Long

Chris O’Brien John Zobrist

Brad Marti Shelley Zeman

Tina Toney Darren Dwyer

Ashley Berotte Mary Kay Wiens

Looking to reach local consumers?

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Pop Art to Wildlife

Local artist overflowing with creativity

BY DENNIS MCNABB, STAFF WRITER

Covering subjects across the board: from pop culture to wildlife stills to portraiture and beyond, local artist Araceli Teichman produces some of the most beautiful, eye-catching, true-to-life paintings imaginable!

Growing up in a family that valued artistic expression, Araceli was encouraged and began drawing at an early age. Although she had an innate talent and passion for it, it wasn’t until middle school that she found a mentor who significantly helped her to develop that talent. She opened Araceli’s eyes to the wider spectrum of creative possibilities by taking her to museums, presenting her with a variety of additional mediums to explore, and offering her space in her own art studio for her to work in. It was just 4 years ago, though, when Araceli’s older sister introduced her to rock painting, and she discovered her niche. She is still willing and capable of producing work on other surfaces–she has done charcoal and graphite drawings on paper and paintings on agates and other types of rock–but the majority of her output comes in the form of acrylic paintings on white stone tiles. And they are incredible!

Exquisite, freehand paintings of album covers (from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Queen, and The Scorpions), famous movie characters (like Frankenstein’s monster, Pennywise, and Jason Voorhees), and wildlife in action (hummingbirds in flight, lions on the prowl, velociraptors stocking their prey); there is virtually nothing she can’t reproduce. And she welcomes every

new challenge, portraits in particular! The images she creates leap from the page—or in this case, the tile—and come alive in ways other artist’s struggle to capture.

Araceli is an artist in the truest sense of the word. Humble and introverted by nature, she is much more comfortable letting her paintings do the “talking.” That said, she is happy to work with any businesses or clients interested in displaying or commissioning her art, and she is always seeking ways to broaden her horizons as both a person and an artist; to learn and to grow. If you have a photo or an idea, she welcomes your requests!

Araceli Teichman is a local untapped source for incredibly life-like paintings of a variety of subjects! Contact her via email at ateichmanart@ gmail.com or follow her on Facebook or Instagram at A. Teichman Art for requests, updates, or photos of her latest pieces. Don’t miss out on this rare talent!

Clementine Avocado Salad with Honey-Ginger Poppyseed Dressing

Fresh, healthy and loaded with fabulous flavor

SERVINGS: 6

Dressing Ingredients

⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil

⅓ cup white balsamic vinegar

2½ tablespoons honey

1½ tablespoons poppy seeds

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger or ginger paste

1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, finely minced

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad Ingredients

8 cups spring mix (or favorite leafy greens)

6 medium clementines peeled, halved and cut in ¼-inch slices

1 medium ripe avocado cored, halved, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch slices

½ cup walnuts, toasted

½ cup English peas, sliced in half

Directions

Make the dressing: Combine all ingredients in jar and shake until well combined. Assemble the salad: Place lettuce in large bowl. Top with clementines, avocados and English peas. Drizzle lightly with 2 to 3 tablespoons of dressing and toss gently. Top with walnuts. Be sure to pass extra dressing around the table.

BY DONOVAN DARLING, STAFF WRITER

Dating back to 1947, there’s a long history of documented UFO sightings in the Pacific Northwest. Historically discredited as a ‘conspiracy theory’ believed by ‘kookie’ people in tinfoil hats, in June 2021 the US Government publicly acknowledged the existence of “strange aerial sightings” that can’t be explained. Indeed, there are countless videos and accounts of Unidentified Flying Objects which government and aeronautics experts cannot explain away as weather balloons, swamp gas, or ‘training exercises’. Interestingly, Oregon ranks second in the country for most reported UFO sightings, and Washington ranks third.

You’ve heard of the Roswell Incident of 1947. But have you heard of Washington 1947? Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot, saw nine “saucer-like aircraft flying in formation” in Washington between Mount Adams and Mount Rainier. He estimated the flying objects traveled around 1,200 miles per hour. Interestingly, in 1947 Chuck Yeager broke the Sound Barrier in his experimental X-1 jet which exceeded 662 miles per hour. As the speed of these aircrafts were nearly double that of the X-1, which was still a prototype in 1947, it’s only logical to assume that the objects which Arnold witnessed were not publicly known, or more seriously, not manufactured on Earth.

Probably the most famous UFO report in the Pacific Northwest happened in McMinnville, Oregon in 1950. On May 11, near 7:30 p.m., farmers Evelyn and Paul Trent witnessed a

disc-shaped object hovering in the sky. According to the couple, Paul ran inside the house for a camera and took what became the much-debated and historic Trent UFO photographs. The photos were famously printed in Life magazine and newspapers nationwide, and are considered some of the most famous UFO photos ever taken. This 1950 sighting eventually led to the creation of the UFO Festival in McMinnville, the country’s second largest, held every May to commemorate the sighting.

Later in 1959, a police officer named Robert Dickerson was driving in Redmond when he saw a bright, large object descend, abruptly stop, and hover at 200 feet. The nearby treetops glowed because the object was low enough, he said. A Redmond Airport administrator also witnessed the UFO and filed an official report with the FAA.

And the unexplained sightings continued as recently as 2004 and 2015, when in 2019 the Navy and Pentagon confirmed videos taken by Navy pilots that showed UFOs, moving at incredible speeds, which could not be explained. Commander David Fravor, a former US Navy Pilot, explained one of the videos was “something I had never seen in my life” and discredited the idea of a weather balloon or explainable object. In 2019, a US Navy official said that the Navy does not believe aliens have been flying in US airspace. However, the US Government admitted the existence of UFOs in 2021. If UFOs aren’t aliens, then how can they be explained?

Hopefully one day the existence of UFOs will indeed be identified and explained. Meanwhile, we ponder grand questions, such as: Are we alone in the universe? Are aliens friendly? And will we ever travel the stars?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

One of the funniest sciencefiction movies ever made, it’s based on Douglas Adams’ legendary 1979 novel. Like the book, the movie is a hilarious satire teeming with razor sharp humor and slapstick comedy. The story follows British selfdeprecating Arthur Dent, who’s making a cup of tea when the government condemns his home to make way for the construction of a new bypass. But it turns out, on a larger scale, the Vogons have also condemned Earth to make way for an intergalactic bypass, thus ending the world for all humans and species therewithin. Thankfully, Arthur meets Ford Prefect, a galactic hitchhiker, who helps him abscond into space. There are supercomputers who tell the meaning of life, intelligent mice, thought-punishing shovels, two-headed presidents, a religious sect who worships a giant nose, and a depressed robot. That’s the tip of the cosmic iceberg as far as Arthur’s adventures go–and there’s a whole series of novels if you like where the story is going. Starring Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, Alan Rickman, and more. Rated PG.

In an alternate timeline 1980s, a massive spaceship shows up on Earth flying over the city of Johannesburg in South Africa. After months of hanging in the sky, humans investigate and find a million half-starved aliens inside, who are relocated to a camp called District 9. Years later the camp has become a dangerous slum, with local humans having nothing good to say about the aliens. 28 years later, the government hires a weapons manufacturer to relocate the aliens to a new camp outside the city, and as you might imagine, everything falls apart from there. With obvious parallels to immigration, citizenship, and human rights, and based on the apartheid of South Africa, it’s a fascinating if too-close-for-comfort social commentary. It’s exciting, dramatic, heartbreaking, and a visual spectacle. Produced by Peter Jackson. Rated R.

This hits the nostalgia button pretty firmly for those of us who watched Space Jam as kids. In the style of “Who Killed Roger Rabbit,” this is one of the earlier mashups of cartoon animation and live-action movies. Aliens running a theme park called Moron Mountain across the universe decide to kidnap Bugs Bunny for their new attraction, and he cleverly challenges the aliens to a basketball game to decide his fate and the fate of Earth. Enlisting the help of NBA players and celebrities, including Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bill Murray, and Danny DeVito, and more, the Looney Tunes assemble an all-star team of athletes and prankster comedians. The aliens, however, steal the powers of other NBA players to become the equally talented Monstars. What follows is a hilarious romp of slapstick and silly jokes good for the whole family. Rated PG.

Stream these movies where available, or rent from your local movie store, library, or rental kiosk.

District 9 (2009)

Space Jam (1996)

From Dough to Take-Home Delight

BY DENNIS MCNABB, CONTRIBUTING WRITER PHOTOS BY MALAINA KINNE

Take ‘N’ Bake pizza is really the best of both worlds, isn’t it? All of the benefits—fresh dough made from scratch every day, freshly cut vegetables, 100% mozzarella cheese shredded from blocks (not poured from a bag)— consumed at will, piping hot in the comfort of your own home, and none of the detriments. Eating at a pizza parlor can be noisy and uncomfortable. Getting it delivered, the crust is often rubbery and lukewarm at best. Buying it frozen isn’t even in the same ballpark. Take ‘N’ Bake is the only way to go when it comes to great pizza, and Papa Murphy’s is the preeminent purveyor.

It all began back in 1994 with the merger of two highly successful Take ‘N’ Bake chains: Papa Aldo’s, founded right here in Hillsboro, Oregon in 1981, and Murphy’s, founded in Petaluma, California in 1984. Together they formed Papa Murphy’s and have since gone on to win numerous accolades and become the largest Take ‘N’ Bake pizza brand in the country. Their core mission is simple: Take

the hard work out of mealtime so you can focus on more important things like family and friends. It’s easy to understand why this has proven to be such a winning formula.

The Sherwood location has been here since 1999 and was initially owned by corporate. That all changed, however, when it was purchased by local couple Jerry and Patricia Kenney in 2008. Jerry had been with Papa Murphy’s for almost 20 years at the corporate level when he was looking to slow down and move towards semiretirement. He stepped down as Senior Vice President of Operations to become a franchisee, purchasing 4 locations in that first year alone (and 3 more since!). It makes you wonder what he would have done if he wasn’t “slowing down”!

At that same time their daughter, Allison, decided to change careers and join the family business. It was a matter of the stars aligning, and when she discovered they were building a family legacy,

she wanted to be a part of it. She now co-owns all 7 locations with her folks. Allison’s brother, Sean, is also an integral part of their operations, and her son just started with some part-time summer work. This truly is a family affair and a legacy to be proud of!

Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because Papa Murphy’s is a nationwide chain that they are all corporately-owned! Many franchisees are small “mom and

pop” teams; local citizens who live in and care passionately for their communities. Allison and her family are incredibly generous and dedicated members of the community. They donate a lot of time, effort, and money towards supporting all of the communities they serve. They work constantly

and very closely with Our Giving Table, local schools, and local sport clubs (like Sherwood Youth Cheer) to help raise funds. This is the key difference between corporate-owned chain restaurants and a locally, privately-owned “mom and pop” restaurant like Sherwood Papa Murphy’s;

the Kenneys live in, work in, and support their local community!

Fresh ingredients prepared fresh daily—they don’t even have freezers on site! It doesn’t get any better than this!

Papa Murphy’s always works towards accommodating food sensitivities whenever possible, such as gluten-free crusts, dairyfree cheese, crustless Keto pizzas, and are always testing new products to better serve their customers. The current favorite is the Stuffed to the Taco Grande Pizza. This is one instance where it’s too good but also true!

Bring this article in with you and receive 25% off your purchase of $25 or more. Or, get the same discount by ordering online using code: N5051.

Papa Murphy’s Sherwood is locally-owned and operated. They’re located at 16180 SW Langer Drive in Sherwood. You can order via phone at 503-625-7878, or online at order.papamurphys.com.

How long have you been part of Clark Lumber?

I am a little unclear of my start date...I thought I went to work part time at Clark Lumber during the winter right around Christmas time, so that would be a start date of 1986.

What is your favorite part of working in a building & hardware environment?

I'm a wood guy and I love old hardware stores. I grew up going to the local lumber yards & hardware stores for my projects. I helped build a log cabin one summer. In high school I took all the woodworking classes I could, even if for non-credit. I did finish carpentry for a side-job when not in school and did a stint of cedar shake roofing.

These experiences help me help our customers! What I really like is being independent. We are part of the Do It Best Hardware co-op, but we still have a say in what we stock and how we conduct business.

What is something you wish more people knew about small business?

These are some of our unwritten guidelines; these are how we do business!

Learn and call your customers by name. They will appreciate it. Be a good listener and try to understand the project that you are helping with. Listen to what customers want. That's the beauty of being independent. We can stock what people want, not what the big box wants to sell you. Say thank you. We really do appreciate your business!

When you're not busy being the best manager ever, how do you like to spend your free time?

I love spending time with family. I also like to be involved at church. Faith is very important to me and has formed the basis for how I should treat customers. I enjoy woodworking, fishing, and old trains and cars. But the hobby that outshines them all is toy trains. I enjoy collecting and operating old toy trains. Any brand, any size. The older the better. I also enjoy friends in this hobby that share the same passion. I even do toy train repair, so access to a good hardware store is handy!

Clarks Clarks ccreative reative ccorner orner

DIY Mother's Day Planter

The perfect diy to do together or gift to your loved one!

STEP TWO

Using wood screws, attach the boards to the 4x4s at each corner forming a rectangle.

Do hardware stores intimidate you? don't think you're the diy type? don't fret!

we are here to show you some easy diys and unique ways to use everyday items you can find at clarks!

STEP ONE

Visit Clark Lumber Hardware for great service and custom cut lumber.

Supplies

For one 4'x8' box, but easily customizable to any size!

Four 4"x4" cedar boards

Two 2x12' cedar boards, cut to size.

24 - 3" wood screws Power Drill

Optional - paint or stain for a custom look!

PROTIP:

STEP THREE

Fill your DIY planter box with soil and whatever flowers or veggies you'd like!

Bonus! Customize your planter boxes with paint from our new paint center!

Lay some landscape fabric beneath to protect from weeds and pests!

Chase Willcuts, a native of Newberg, descends from a long and proud family heritage of farmers, educators, and realtors!

Chase’s number one goal is to bring that sense of home into the lives of all of the clients that he looks forward to journeying with.

CELL: 503.550.0013

NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO PURCHASE OR SELL A HOME

Real estate interest in Western Oregon is growing. Rents are only going up –it will be important to own a home in the coming decade.

YOUR HOMETOWN REAL ESTATE EXPERT Chase Willcuts

CHALLENGES TO HOMEBUYERS

Competing with multiple offers. Working with mortgage brokers. Understanding local market conditions.

HOW I CAN HELP

I aid in the process of writing a competitive offer. I provide expert market knowledge.

CELL: 503.550.0013

OFFICE: 503.538.8311

Close Encounters on Third Street

Celebrating 23 years of out-of-this-world fun

BY DAVID BATES, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In Yamhill County, the town of McMinnville lays claim to one of the most celebrated UFO sightings in modern history: The Trent family farm photos which were snapped when Paul Trent saw a disc flying over his property in 1950.

Even the Condon Report–which was commissioned nearly two decades later to give the U.S. Air Force an excuse for closing Project Blue Book, their UFO investigation office–had to admit: The UFO captured by the McMinnville farmer appeared “to be consistent with the assertion that an extraordinary flying object…flew within sight of two witnesses.”

For more than 20 years, McMinnville has celebrated UFOs and aliens with the second-largest festival in the country: McMenamins’ 23rd Annual UFO Festival will be held in downtown McMinnville at the Oregon Hotel May 19–20. It’s got something for everyone: UFO experts and abductee speakers, live

the admission that they’d been investigating UFOs. A growing number of government officials and U.S. Navy pilots went on the record: UFOs are real, and they really don’t know what they are.

This year’s UFO Festival in McMinnville will play out against a backdrop of heightened interest in Congress and the media, and the creation of a new office to investigate UFOs, the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

There’s no better time, or place, to check out the UFO scene.

music, a costume contest and alien merch, vendor booths, and, best of all, a parade that proves Portland isn’t the only city that knows how to be weird. The festival was conceived in 1999 to mark the 50-year anniversary of the Trent sighting, and from humble beginnings it has since grown into a significant cultural event appealing to those with a casual or passing interest in UFOs, but also to the more serious researchers and students of the phenomenon. And thanks to developments in the last few years, the latter group is growing.

The Pentagon came clean with The New York Times and also 60 Minutes (news magazine) on CBS a few years ago with

This year’s speakers include Earl Grey Anderson from the Mutual UFO Network, who will give a presentation on some of the most baffling cases he’s investigated; Experiencer, speaker and spiritual counselor Sev Tok; Travis Walton, who claims he was taken aboard a UFO in 1975 and whose story is the subject of a documentary by Jennifer Stein, who will also attend. Finally, the research team of Cheryl and Linda Costa will talk about “A New Approach to Ufology,” with a special focus on UFOs spotted over Oregon.

Ground Zero for the festival is McMenamins Hotel Oregon, 310 NE Evans Street in McMinnville, while speakers will appear at the Community Center a couple blocks north, 600 NE Evans St. Panels and lectures are ticketed, but the pet costume party, parade and other events are free.

For more information, visit www.UFOFest.com.

Honoring Thy Mother

Celebrating Mom goes back generations

BY DONOVAN DARLING, STAFF WRITER

Mother’s Day is a holiday which honors mothers and is celebrated throughout the entire world. The modern form of the holiday started in the United States, where we observe it on the second Sunday in May. Many countries across the globe celebrate Mother’s Day on this same day, while others celebrate throughout the year at various times. During the Middle Ages, the custom developed from allowing people who had moved away to visit their home parish and their mothers on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. This would become Mothering Sunday in Britain, where it continued into modern times until it was replaced by Mother’s Day. This year Mother’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, May 14.

Festivals which honor mothers and mother goddesses date back to ancient times. The Phrygians hosted a festival for Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods, and the Greeks did also for the goddess Rhea.

Similarly, the Romans adapted the practice to their own liking. Some countries have continued to observe ancient festivals. For example, Durga-puja, honoring the goddess Durga, remains an important festival in India.

Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, whose mother organized women’s groups to promote health and friendship, founded Mother’s Day. On May 12, 1907, she hosted a memorial service at her late mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia.

In five years almost every state observed the holiday, and in 1914 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday. Although Anna Jarvis originally promoted white carnations as a tribute to mothers, another custom developed instead: wearing a red or pink carnation for living mothers and a white carnation for mothers who were deceased. Over the years the holiday expanded to include others such as grandmothers and aunts who served in roles of motherhood. Much to Jarvis’s frustration, what originally started as a day of honor would become a day of sending greeting cards and gifts. In protest of the holiday’s commercialization and seeming frivolousness, Jarvis spent her final years trying to abolish the holiday she had brought into being. What a twist!

me out but couldn’t get rid of me. I was no longer their favorite boy, though.”

Rick Gano, an Air Force military policeman who guarded bases in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, had his own run-ins with local wildlife. “I was on duty one night and felt something on my left,” he recalled. “I glanced over and it was the biggest rat I’d ever seen. They’ve got rats the size of cats over there. I drop-kicked that son of a gun so hard. I’d never kicked anything so hard in my life.”

The vets also shared more poignant stories and memories. Larry Littrell, who served as a medic on an armored personnel carrier in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, recalled his

Honoring the Brave

Local vets commemorate 50th anniversary

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TYLER FRANCKE

On March 29, 2023, a small group of Vietnam War veterans and friends gathered at the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Memorial in Canby to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. The solemn ceremony was a poignant reminder of the challenges and sacrifices made by these veterans in service to their country.

Among the veterans were Steve Fisher, Larry Littrell, Rick Gano, Pat Schauer and Mike Zagyva. Each of them shared their personal experiences of serving in Vietnam, which included stories of bravery, loss, and sacrifice.

The veterans stood in silence at the memorial, paying tribute to those who never made it home, before taking pictures to commemorate the moment. Afterward, they walked next door to Burgerville, where staff had reserved and decorated several tables in their honor, to enjoy a meal, share stories and reminisce about their time in Vietnam.

After much cajoling, Pat Schauer, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam from November 1970 to April 1972, finally agreed to tell about the night he investigated a suspicious noise outside the perimeter of the base, only to find himself face to face with a 1000 pound water buffalo.

He used some of the post’s explosive mortars to scare the beast off, which worked — but Pat’s supervisors didn’t find it amusing.

“They didn’t laugh,” he said with a chuckle. “You weren’t supposed to do that without permission. They tried to kick

fallen friend, Calvin William “Bill” Kolb, of Hubbard, whom he credits with saving his life. On March 14, 1970, their troop was on patrol in Binh Duong Province in South Vietnam. Larry was walking with Kolb and another soldier, when Kolb noticed that they were bunched too close together and ordered them to keep their distance.

“We were supposed to have 15 feet between us, so he told us to stop and back up,” he remembered. “He turned around and took two steps and stepped on a mine. If he hadn’t stopped us, it would have gotten all three of us.”

Kolb was laid to rest at Willamette National Cemetery. Larry ensures the site and headstone stay well-tended and visits often.

“On Veterans Day, I take a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon up there, pour a little on his headstone and just sit and talk for a while,” he shared. Asked what he says, his answer is simple: “Thanks for saving my life.”

Irene Breshears, of the Canby and Aurora Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6057 Auxiliary, helped organize the 50th anniversary event. She said it’s important to remember the Vietnam-era generation, not only their wartime service but also the ways they served their fellow veterans and communities in the decades they followed.

“They all gave back in their own, quiet ways but in significant ways,” Irene says. “They’re unsung heroes.”

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From Blimps to Bombers

Tillamook home to world’s largest free-standing, clear-span wooden hangar

Tillamook home to world’s largest free-standing, clear-span wooden hangar

By Robert Matsumura, Contributing Writer

For most Oregonians the name “Tillamook” evokes both cheese and the beach. The famous Tillamook Cheese Factory is the source of our visions of tasty blocks of cheddar, and likewise, the town’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean makes it a popular coastal destination. History buffs, however, also associate Tillamook with World War II due to Naval Air Station Tillamook, and the Tillamook Air Museum.

Unbeknownst to many, Tillamook is home to the largest free-standing, clear-span wooden structure in the world. Over seven acres in size, the building is 1,072 feet long and 296 feet wide, and rises more than 15 stories in the air. Commissioned and constructed by the U.S. Navy in 1943, Hangar A and B of Naval Air Station (NAS) Tillamook housed blimps for antisubmarine and convoy escort. Together the two hangars had the capacity to house eight K-class blimps stretching 252 feet in length. By comparison, the Goodyear Blimp is 190 feet long. The K-class blimps contained 425,000 cubic feet of helium, and had a lift capacity of 7,700 pounds.

Equally impressive as the blimps themselves were the hangars. More than 2 million board feet of lumber was needed to construct each hangar. The majority of the wood was sourced right here in Oregon, and required 50 different lumber companies to produce all the wood for the massive project. Due to wartime mandates to conserve metal, even the gutters and downspouts were fashioned from wood. Constructing the hangars primarily of wood saved more

than 2,000 tons of steel per hangar. A mind-boggling fact in the construction of these gigantic wooden edifices is that hangar A was completed in a mere 27 days!

With the completion of the hangars in 1943, NAS Tillamook operated blimps from this location from 1943-45. The blimps belonged to Squadron ZP-33, patrolling ports in both Oregon and Washington, and shipping lanes from the San Juan Islands to California, covering a 500-mile radius. The Lighter-than-Air ships (LTA) could remain aloft for 48 hours with a cruise speed of 50-67 knots, and cover 13,000 square miles of ocean per day.

At the time, the Japanese threat to the Pacific coast and American shipping was quite real. The Japanese had deployed long-range I-class submarines to attack American naval and shipping interests along the West Coast. Japanese naval command deployed the I-25 and I-26 submarines to the Pacific Northwest to seek and destroy U.S. naval vessels headed to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. In the course of their deployment, Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast was shelled by I-25, which was the only shelling of a military base on the U.S. mainland during World War II, and the first since the War of 1812.

On September 15, 1945, just weeks after the Japanese surrender—and thus, the elimination of the Japanese submarine threat—NAS Tillamook was reduced to functional status. By October the last two blimps departed for California, and by mid-1946 the Navy had decommissioned all of their LTA units.

From 1945-1982, three separate lumber companies in the Tillamook area—Diamond Lumber, Angel Lumber, and Rosenberg—ran their operations from the hangars. In 1984, Wren Aircraft leased hangar A for the production of Cessna 182 Skylanes. In the wake of a fire that devastated hangar A in 1992, Tillamook farmers were still able to use it for hay storage.

Hangar B, evolving through multiple uses over the years, finally returned to its original purpose— housing aircraft. In 1992, the Port of Tillamook Bay established the Tillamook Air Museum in Hangar B and over the years have acquired

numerous World War I and World War II planes. The museum collection has included a Bf-109 Messerschmitt, A-4B Skyhawk, P-38 Lightning, and a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber among others. On a more modern note, the museum also houses an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, the same model of jet featured in the original “Top Gun” movie starring Tom Cruise.

In addition to the aircraft collection, the museum also features wartime artifacts and photographs from World War I to the present, most notably parts from Germany’s tragic Hindenburg blimp. Along with the planes and artifacts, the Tillamook

Air Museum offers exhibits that strive to bring the wartime experience from years past to current generations. One can explore first-hand what it was like to climb into and hunker down in a British World War II air raid shelter while the Germans “blitzed” the skies over England during the famous Battle of Britain. One can also sit in the cockpit of the museum’s aircraft trainers and imagine life as a jet pilot, and wander the bulbous interior of a Mini-Guppy transport plane to learn about the amazing variety of cargo it once carried. The Tillamook Air Museum is visited by approximately 80,000 people per year, and is open daily, year-round.

If you happen to visit Tillamook anytime in the near future, be sure to visit historic Hangar B and the Tillamook Air Museum for a fun and immersive view of life during an epic period in history, and experience in person this impressive and unique piece of Oregon’s World War II heritage.