Wet but fun:
Blossom Encounters


Photo by Christian Knight
Llamas surveyed the scene at Cascade Alpacas of Oregon and Foothills Yarn, near Odell, over
Blossom Weekend.

Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
At the Hood River Antique Expo Saturday, Kathryn Baker, right, buying for a fund-raiser at Bend’s High Desert Museum, finds just the right Western-themed items
with the help of Sue Johnson of Benton City, Wash.,
who operates a booth with her husband, Phil. The
Expo Center drew hundreds of visitors, buying
everything from postcards to flintlock rifles.

Photo by Adam Lapierre
Floral glory:
pears in the making on Eastside Road, April 16.

Photo by RaeLynn Ricarte
At Columbia Gorge Hotel, Mandy, a Carolina dog breed, above assists hotel owner Halla Graves during Saturday’s estate sale to benefit PROD – Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs.

Photo by Janet Cook
At Apple Valley Store on Tucker Road, Amy Besch
peels apples while Marcia Spooner also works on the
pie-making crew at the rural store known for its
desserts, jams, and other goodies.

Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
Parkdale Grange’s Blossom Dinner gives Tommy Elliot, right, a chance to catch up with fellow Parkdale
resident Ivan Hardman on Saturday. The all-you-can
eat lunch is a Blossom tradition, attended by residents and visitors of all ages. Elliott said she was serving at
her 56th straight Grange dinner. Hardman has lived
on Cooper Spur Road all his life.

April 19, 2006

Thanks to late blooms and unfavorable weather, this won’t go down as one of the best Blossom Festival weekends ever, but it wasn’t completely dismal, either, according to Melanie Gillette of the Chamber of Commerce.

“The people I’ve talked to so far have been pleasantly surprised,” she said Monday. “Everyone was cold and it was kind of soggy, but the turnout was good.”

She said that a couple of the participating blossom sites reported that “their numbers were down,” but there were also several who said their numbers were up this year.

“All in all we did pretty good; the weekend went well,” she said. “And there were a few blossoms open, too, so that was a bonus!”
— Esther K. Smith

*****
The annual Regional Wine Tasting event at the Columbia Gorge Hotel drew many visitors from throughout the Northwest. Tracy Dobbins and Bruce Kidd drove down from Tacoma, Wash., after seeing the event posted on the Internet.

After the couple learned about all of the other activities associated with Blossom Fest they decided to attend other functions. Tracy said she did not even mind the heavy cloud cover and intermittent squalls because the scenic beauty of the Gorge could not be dimmed by the weather.

In the basement of the hotel another event was taking place: Visitors were invited to pay $5 and browse through furniture, bedding, Christmas décor and much more — and their entry fee not only applied to their purchase but was donated to PROD (Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs).

“We do this every year and it’s just great fun,” said Halla Graves, owner of the hotel.
— RaeLynn Ricarte

*****
The bikers didn’t make Blossom dinner because of the wet roads, but that did not keep the Grange hall volunteers from serving up heaping servings of ham, Salisbury steak, potatoes, salads, and pies, nor the girls of Girl Scout Troop 1784 and Brownie Troop 159 from belting out songs for the diners.

Tommy Elliott of Parkdale was busy serving ham, saying this is her 56th year at the spring and Blossom dinners.
“I really love it. Just meeting all the people. I just love it.”
— Kirby Neumann-Rea

Hood River News and Columbia Gorge Press
are subsidiaries of Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
Copyright 2005 * Hood River, Oregon