PSU Magazine Spring 1996

In the nick oftime On Saturday, May 29, 1948, I removed my family from Vanport to my aunt's residence on Sandy Boulevard. On Sunday I arose early, aware that test week was to begin the following day. I took a bus to Vanport City to pick up my notes and texts. After the bus dropped me off a pickup approached, filled with men, some wet to their waist. I was hailed with: "The dike is going! Get out!" I continued past my apart– ment and toward the dike to observe. Three or more people stood on top of the dike looking at the railroad tracks and down the bank on the Vanport side. A 30-foot-wide stream appeared in their place. The tracks hung, suspended in space. Suddenly, it was a 300-foot– wide falls cascading into Vanport. The track hung, turned slightly, then collapsed into the raging water. The sirens sounded as I ran back toward my apartment. The evacuation was official. Norman Moor, a Vanport College student, suddenly appeared at my apartment. Norm emptied the back of his car to make room for my small trunk of notes and texts.We picked up my mother and Sheila Landricombe, who now is my wife, near the Vanport School, then continued east on Broadacre toward the interstate access. Stuart Miller (near the center in the white T-shirt) lends a hand during the Vanport flood. The interstate was packed with sight– seers. Norman made a new lane on their left, exiting Vanport on the normal entrance ramp from the north. Norman, thank you. Stuart W. Miller (Vanport) Portland, Oregon A funny thing happened I started at Vanport in the fall of 1946 because the U of 0 did not have enough dormitory space. The enroll– ment was about 1,500. This was the start of a great adven– ture for me as it was totally different from any college; we sort of made up what had to be done as we went along. The teachers and professors were young, for the most part, and very informal. I remember with great fondness Dr. Hoffmann, the greatest history teacher I ever had; Dr. Parker, a green pea just out of college; Dr. Epler, an inspiration to the student body; and Jean Black, who established a library out of thin air. Here are two bits of humor from those days. The student government had always planned the assemblies and the entertainment to be provided. The faculty was not satisfied with our efforts, so for the next assembly they hired a group of entertainers from Portland but did not check their resume very closely. It turns out they were from a burlesque theater, and, believe you me, the entertainment was hot and steamy. The faculty never again asked to pick the entertainment for an assembly. The Bachelors Club donated a flag– pole to the school before the flood-a fine flagpole with a gold ball on top. What many people did not know and still don't know is that the gold ball was a brass toilet float painted gold. I am proud to have been at the beginning of a great university and although I got my degrees from the U of 0, I still am a Viking at heart. Jack L. Sollis (Vanport) Salem, Oregon