While it’s been a few weeks since the Portland Festival in early June, you can’t help but still feel the buzz of energy and excitement, the result of an amazing community coming together. And while I did make a brief appearance at the event a couple years ago, this was the first time the Portland Museum and Portland Anchor set up a booth, and it was a wild whirlwind I won’t soon forget, and can’t wait to experience again next year.
I had planned on finishing my work week at the rejuvenated and revelatory Portland Library, right in the middle of all of it, which was somewhat appropriate. You can complain about how the city or developers can screw up a project and blow millions of dollars in this town all day, but they somehow got it right with the Portland Library. It gives me hope, and especially when it’s such a valuable resource for people of all ages. Go check it out if you haven’t already!
But things were well underway that Friday afternoon, as I looked out the window. The stage was already up and vendors and organizations – up to 150 I heard – were pouring in. I had to run down to the museum to meet executive assistant and festival team leader William Smith, to load up the tent (on loan from our friends and neighbors at Squallis Puppeteers!) and table and get back up to the festival and find our spot. After an early mixup we lucked out and scored a spot on the main drag near the stage. It was pretty hot all weekend so it was kind of a grind running stuff back and forth, but we were ready to sell our special $5 surplus t-shirts and get more Anchors out in the world.
Before we fully settled in though, we had built into our plan a quick stop at the High Street Pub on the corner, which is only open on Fridays (although it was open Saturday as well for the fest), so I wasn’t going to let an opportunity to stop in pass. They had some tantalizing food options but it was just the beer today, and they have a great selection, including the beloved Shippingport Eddy Kolsh. My lovely wife and mother in law visiting from Chicago met us there briefly before we headed back to the fest, but I can’t say enough about how cool it is to sit in High Street and literally soak up the history and think about the many lives that building has had, and dream about looking down 33rd and seeing many city blocks and ultimately, the mighty Ohio River itself, without the floodwall (which is much needed of course!) and interstate. And we love the warm hospitality thanks to Jared, Brianne, Lee and their whole formidable gang!
There’s not enough time to go into to everything I saw at the festival, but I and most people I talked to could not believe how big it was and how much ground it covered. There was every possible food you could think of. There were serious carnival rides. And perhaps most important, there was an army of volunteers with the festival crew selflessly giving their time to do their best to maintain order and keep the grounds clean. For a fest that seemed to be on life support within the past couple years, this was a remarkable turnaround.
Turns out that people really like $5 t-shirts, so we took every opportunity to spread the gospel of the museum and Anchor and preserving and supporting the neighborhood and its history. Many people were surprised the museum was still open. Most had no idea about the AHOY project next door. A few signed up for Anchor subscriptions!
I wasn’t able to stay the entire night, but William held it down and I was ready to hit it again on Saturday. But first a quick shoutout to the Ventura Band, who set the tone with two hours of great tunes, including “Boogie Shoes” and “All About that Bass”, which I did not see coming.
I was rested up and ready for day two, but on my way realized I basically had a flat tire. It had been an issue for a while and I keep a portable air compressor in my little Honda Fit to air it up. Which really shouldn’t be normal, as I’d find out later. But I got over to the museum and met up with William and our newest team member Cole, who stepped right in and put together a great video of the event. I got to catch up with the Squallis crew, preparing for the parade, and hang with Art Baltes and his wonderful family. Art is the owner of the cool shantyboat that lives in the museum’s backyard, and was pulling it in the parade. There’s a whole universe of shantyboat history I need to further explore.
Cars were loaded to head up to the festival grounds, set up and run back to the parade. Easy. Except right as we were getting to take off, the usually sure-handed William, with dozens of items to pack in multiple cars and a million things on his mind, locked his keys in the trunk! But instead of the doomsday scenario of busting out his own window (no way a locksmith would get there quick enough), his girlfriend Sophia became the MVP of the day, locating an extra key and getting it to the museum within the hour, and aside from a tense drive back up the festival grounds – since Portland Avenue was obviously closed and Bank Street is one way – we were able to drop stuff off and get back down to the museum, soaking with sweat but in time for the parade.
We pulled out behind the shantyboat onto the steamy pavement of Portland Avenue and started the nearly one-mile march up to 33rd Street. We quickly handed out all our candy to kids up and down the street, who were repeatedly awestruck and delighted by the Squallis creations. We didn’t get to see many other floats since we were near the front, but everyone seemed to be impressed with the turnout, and pockets of people were out and in full force the entire distance. Walking in the middle of a street like that is a great way to experience the atmosphere and architecture of a neighborhood, and I noticed many buildings and structures that I’d never seen before.
At the end of the parade we sprung back into action to get the booth set up, and it was another fantastic day of interacting with a lot of cool and interesting people (and selling $5 t-shirts!). Speaking of cool people, we ran into the Portland Anchorman himself, Charlie Frick, who was making the scene. The crowd was even thicker on day two as people kept flowing in. As my shift was winding down I gave Charlie a ride back to his car at the Family Health Center (after I pumped up my tires again…turns out I needed four new tires!), where the parade started hours before.
The Portland Festival created and sustained a lot of goodwill and momentum for the neighborhood, not only for the block around the library and High Street, but the museum and the AHOY project, as well as other traffic improvements that may be on the way. Thanks again to the festival committee and countless volunteers who made it happen, and I hope the entire community felt some pride in how much positivity was in the air.
