Yachats Oregon Writer Rick Schultze

Every year there are certain things or events that trigger memories.

The holidays, birthdays, concerts, elections, sporting events, graduations, vacations and other memorable occasions. For me this year has already stirred some great memories and it’s hardly started! I can’t wait to see how it ends up.

Since I’m a native Oregonian born in Portland, I remember coming over to the coast at many times of the year since both of my parents were Oregonians and loved coming to the beach. We took pride in being amongst the first of what they now call “Storm Watchers” and if my Dad had a hint that there was going to be some wild weather blasting the coast we’d jump in the trusty Buick and head west. Those were fun visits but cabin fever would usually set in rather quickly since there were three young boys who got bored staying inside even though it was raining and blowing like crazy outside.

However, on the flip side if my Dad got wind of a stretch of good coastal weather like we’ve experienced recently we’d hit the road and those tips are fond memories of walking the deserted beaches in February enjoying the warm sunshine and watching the blue Pacific sparkle and shine!

This last weekend during the Super Bowl I experienced another event that really sparked a memory. The airing of a commercial NBC right before halftime in 3D! I had gone to the market in Yachats prior to the game and was given two pair of 3D glasses and excitedly took them home and prepared them so my girlfriend and I could see the commercial. Now as I mentioned I was a kid in Portland and in the fifties when what was called the “Golden Era of 3D” occurred and my middle brother and I were right in the middle of it. I was eleven and he was nine. Since we were city kids and rode the city buses from Northeast Portland to downtown Portland to go swimming at the Y.M.C.A. we knew our way around and during summer vacation the Paramount Theater on Broadway had afternoon matinees featuring 3D westerns like Hondo and other epic pictures. Well we’d saved up our pennies made shoveling snow and cleaning sidewalks during the winter and with our parents permission religiously attended as many as we could, sometimes sitting through two showings! I can still remember dodging arrows flying at us from the Indians chasing the cowboys and seeing the smoke from the pistols and divots of dirt kicked up by the bullets coming our direction and ducking! What a sensation for us, we didn’t even have a TV at home.

So when I fit my 3D glasses on during the Super Bowl the memories came back in glorious 3D!

I hope you all have some good memories, they are fun to recall!

To reach Rick Schultze email yarick@pioneer.net