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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| The Gateway Area Business Association announced the cancellation of the Fun-O-Rama Parade. The annual event also included a community fair and golf tournament held in May. The David Douglas Scots High School marching band performs in the 2002 parade. |
| MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN |
“At this time in the economy, (the parade is) not the right thing to do,” Prasad said. “The last thing we want to do is call people and ask for money and harass them to sponsor the parade.” It usually costs between 13 and 14 thousand dollars a year to put on the parade, fair and tournament.
“We want to do something, but not on as big a scale this year,” Prasad said. So, this year, in partnership with Oregon Baptist Retirement Homes and its National Night Out events, GABA will produce National Night Out: Fun-O-Rama 2009. The event takes place Sunday, August 2 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at OBRH, 1825 N.E. 108th Ave. Anticipated activities include: 50-60 classic car entries, vendor and member booths, and mounted police and canine units. The Portland Fire Bureau will also be on site, and GABA hopes to have a children’s playland, McDonald’s actors, putt-putt golf, two live bands, a flag-raising ceremony and as many as 60 business sponsors taking part. Volunteers, as always, are welcome and needed.
Founded in 1952 by the Gateway Boosters, the Fun-O-Rama carnival began mid-week every May (just before Rose Festival kicked off its yearly festivities, with the Gateway Parade capping the celebration on the same Saturday) for 42 years. Losing the carnival site at the old Gateway Shopping Center in 1993 precipitated the cancellation of the parade, for the first time, in 1995.
Revenue generated by the carnival funded, among other activities and events, the parade, an annual Easter egg hunt, Little League and various youth athletic sponsorships, and an annual Gateway Boosters membership directory. It also funded the Keystone Kops, a comedy performance group made up of Booster members that traveled around in a custom-painted and outfitted UPS delivery van. The Keystone Kops performed in parades and at community events locally and around the Northwest.
In 1996, Fun-O-Rama was known as Gateway Daze, and the Gateway Boosters changed its name in 1993 to Gateway Area Business Association — found a new site for the moneymaking carnival at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where it produced a fledgling community fair with entertainment. However, the site didn’t enjoy the successes of its predecessor, and GABA abruptly ceased all events in 1998.
Revived in 2002, this version of Fun-O-Rama boasted a carnival, a revived parade and a community fair. Held the same Saturday as the parade, events now centered at 111th Square on Northeast Halsey Street, owned by Fred Sanchez, GABA president from 2002-06; his son Alan took over as president in 2006. The carnival lasted one year only, but the parade and fair (a golf tournament was added to the Fun-O-Rama mixture in 2003), carried on until last year.
Taking over the reins as GABA president in 2009, Prasad, who manages the Gateway Branch of Columbia State Bank, said, “Everyone is watching their dollars, but next year we expect to go back and do the Fun-O-Rama on an even bigger scale.”
The new president is also facing other challenges in keeping the group together.
After losing the groups regular monthly meeting site with the closure of J. J. North’s Buffet last year as well as its current site at Midland Library due to Health Department regulations, the association has finally landed at Oregon Baptist Retirement Homes for its monthly get-together.
Despite these and other obstacles, Prasad said, “I’ll be on the board for at least another three or four years, so I plan on being around to help make the group successful.”
Prasad thinks changes are in order at GABA. As a Columbia State Bank vice president, he knows that if bank employees aren’t happy, then customers won’t be happy, which means the bank won’t be happy, either. The new leader of GABA is committed to meeting the needs of members. To volunteer, join, or learn more about the 2009 version of Fun-O-Rama, visit www.gabanet.com.
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