Spring 2015
When I was in middle school (it was called “junior high” then), all of the eighth-graders got to participate in a weekly after-school program called BLAST. It was an acronym for something that I can’t recall now, but I remember it being a lot of fun. We could pick from a variety of activities, ranging from recreation to drama to arts and crafts. We rotated among them so we got to do several over the course of a few months. The activity I remember best was the one in which I designed and made a down vest and some ski mittens. Of course, the days of school budgets like that are long over. That’s why we’re fortunate to have an organization like Arts in Education of the Gorge. Serving four counties in the Columbia Gorge (Hood River, Wasco and Sherman in Oregon and Klickitat in Washington), AIEG hosts a variety of arts programming in K-12 schools, including in-school arts residencies and after-school programs. We chronicle one such program at Wy’east Middle School in the Hood River Valley where kids learn science and math concepts while designing and building skateboards (page 48).
Speaking of all things wheeled, the Gorge is well known as a mecca for biking—both road and mountain. Now there’s one more subset of the two-wheeled world that’s finding perfection here: gravel grinding. Part mountain biking, part cyclo-cross, gravel grinder rides feature a mix of paved and gravel roads, preferably rural in nature. Writer Christopher Van Tilburg cycles us through the intricacies of gravel grinding in the Gorge, beginning on page 43.
Other stories in this spring issue include a profile of Mark Neary of Dufur, who has spent a lifetime working on, selling parts for, and restoring Pontiac GTOs (page 52); a look at Mya-Moe Ukuleles near White Salmon, makers of professional-grade, custom ukuleles (page 58); and a tour of the seven disc golf courses in the Gorge (page 56). There’s more in here, too. Take a gander, and welcome to springtime in the Gorge.
Janet Cook, editor
