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Hood River

Steve Gates Remembrance Fund Established

Watersports pioneer Steve Gates

The Port of Hood River is working in collaboration with a local group of volunteers to honor the memory of the Steve Gates, a long-time Hood River community member whose influence on the Hood River waterfront, the wind and water sports industry, and our community will be felt for generations. The group is raising money to fund the construction of a memorial space near Frog Beach. The information provided below is from the project website – https://charitysmith.org/memorial-funds/steve-gates-remembrance-fund/. We encourage you to visit the website to learn more and contribute to the memorial.

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The intent of the Steve Gates Remembrance Fund is to raise money for the design and construction of a public space located at Frog Beach along the Hood River waterfront. The space will bring people together in celebration of water sports and community, two areas where Steve devoted much of his time and energy throughout his life. Steve Gates, founder of Big Winds, was highly involved in the community of Hood River, by way of coaching and mentoring youth and his involvement in city politics (even serving as Mayor of Hood River). The idea for this space was conceived by a diverse group of Steve’s friends meeting for the last several years of Steve’s life as the Friday Lunch Club. Steve said he felt “honored and humbled” when told of their plans before he died. This project is being organized by the Friday Lunch Club members, in partnership with the Port of Hood River. There is broad support from the Port, the Gorge community, and Steve’s family and friends. The proposed space depicts a shaded area overlooking Frog Beach. The design of the space will encompass Steve’s energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to community through the pursuit of water sports activities in the Columbia River Gorge.

Steve was a champion of the Hood River Waterfront Park development, with a desire to make the waterfront family-friendly and accessible to everyone. Steve also spread his love of activity through coaching and recreation. He helped start the Dynamos Soccer Club and coached his daughters and their friends on the Cooper Spur Race Team, and started the JET standup paddleboarding team for youth that continues to this day with great success. In recent years, he became active with the HR Outrigger Canoe Club, where he formed watertight friendships, and also established a love for mountain biking in Post Canyon throughout his cancer treatment.

Steve was passionate about every project he took on, and yet his driving motivation was always the relationships he formed along the way. Steve went out of his way to connect with those around him, never too busy for a smile and chat with friends, customers, colleagues and family alike.

The goal of this project is to enhance Frog Beach and the Hood River Waterfront by providing additional seating and a shaded area for rest, reflection, and appreciation for our community and the people and places that inspire us. Excess funds will be donated to the Steve Gates Memorial Scholarship Fund (https://hrcef.org/steve-gates-memorial-scholarship-established/) established with the Hood River County Educational Foundation.  Donate

Donations

CharitySmith accepts donations in two ways:

By Mail:Steve Gates Remembrance FundCharitySmith Nonprofit Foundation13100 Filly LaneTruckee, CA 96161

Online:Use credit card by clicking here.

The above Memorial Fund is established as a division of Charitysmith Nonprofit Foundation (EIN 87-0636433). All donations are tax deductible in accordance with federal tax law. Receipts for tax purposes are sent via US Mail within two weeks of donation. Please consider asking if your employer participates in a gift-matching program. If so, your donation may be matched by your employer.

For questions regarding your donation or this memorial fund please contact CharitySmith.

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PORT OF HOOD RIVER AND KLICKITAT COUNTY AWARDED $5M FEDERAL BUILD GRANT

Transportation planning grant enables preconstruction Phase 2

HOOD RIVER, ORE. – On September 10 Klickitat County and the Port of Hood River received notification from their congressional delegation of approval of a $5 million grant award from the federal BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grant program (“Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development”) to fund Phase 2 of the ongoing effort to replace the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge. The funds will be used to advance engineering efforts and carry out important organizational and financial planning tasks.

The Port submitted the joint application with Klickitat County earlier this year and the project received unanimous support from the congressional delegation of both states. “Klickitat County appreciates the advocacy of Rep. Herrera-Beutler’s office with the US Dept. of Transportation to make this funding a reality,” Klickitat County Commissioner David Sauter said.

 “We are so grateful to Rep. Walden, Senators Wyden and Merkley in Oregon and Rep. Herrera-Beutler and Senators Murry and Cantwell in Washington for their advocacy of this important project. This bi-state support was key to success.  We so very much appreciate the strong, ongoing support of these elected representatives.” said Port of Hood River President John Everitt.

The $5 million grant will be matched with $1.25 million from the Port of Hood River, for a total project budget of $6.25 million. Klickitat County will coordinate the review process for selecting the engineering firm and lead the technical advisory committee moving forward. Port Director Michael McElwee applauded the work of Port staff, government affairs consultants and local government officials on both side of the river in guiding the application through to approval, and noted that the effort to replace the bridge began in 1999 with the launch of the first formal feasibility study by the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council. “The bi-state collaboration for this project has been sort of a relay race for many years. I think the recent efforts of local governments on both sides of the river working together in tandem for the first-time meeting regularly to map a pathway forward to a new bridge has been key. This grant approval is a big win for that approach and a sign of project success,” McElwee said.

The grant will fund project management, future bridge governance evaluation, traffic/toll revenue estimates, 15% engineering design, geotechnical borings, and legal expenses and the grant’s project completion is expected in May 2022. “The bridge replacement project is really 20 years old now, and has several stops and starts due to funding,” said Bridge Replacement Project Director Kevin Greenwood. “The Oregon legislature provided $5 million in funding in 2017 for completion of the NEPA process, and now this BUILD grant funding will enable us to continue our work without a pause between those two phases. This is very good news as it will move the project from a concept into the design phase.”

For more information about the project, contact Kevin Greenwood at kgreenwood@portofhoodriver.com.

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Hood River Waterfront Evacuation Sites for Wildfire Evacuees

The Port of Hood River offers these sites for evacuees affected by the Clackamas County and other regional wildfires September 2020.

LOT 1 – Large vehicles and RVs ok.

Event Site – Smaller vehicles and small trailers ok.

Marina Boat Launch Parking Lot – Large vehicles and RVs ok, smaller vehicles please use smaller spots.

DMV Gravel Parking Lot – Best for small/mid size vehicles and trailers.

Overnight parking is allowed until further notice for evacuees only. There is no charge for parking.

Garbage, water, and restroom services may be limited.

Pets are ok, but dogs must be on leash at all times. Livestock should be taken to other sites.

Please visit this page for capacity updates, changes, and other announcements.

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Port of Hood River
1000 E. Port Marina Drive,
Hood River,  OR  97031
Phone: (541) 386-1645