Local businesses are the lifeblood of our community. The Mid-county Memo offers this section to our business neighbors for news, advancements, promotions, expansions and other noteworthy events to be shared with the community at-large. Business Memo submissions for the January issue are due by Monday, Dec.15. For best results, email Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230. To leave a phone message, dial 503-287-8904. The Mid-county Memo fax number is 503-249-7672.

 

After 35 years of operation in the Hazelwood neighborhood, Jody’s Bar & Grill, east Portland's oldest, continually operating strip club in east Portland closed May 31. Memo photo/Tim Curran

After 35 years of operation in the Hazelwood neighborhood, Jody’s Bar & Grill, east Portland’s oldest, continually operating strip club closed May 31.
Memo photo/Tim Curran

Stripped of lottery, liquor restrictions kill Jody’s

After 35 years of operation in the Hazelwood neighborhood, Jody’s Bar & Grill, the oldest, continually operating strip club in east Portland closed May 31.

Don’t celebrate too soon, because it looks like another ecdysiast club with new ownership will take its place next year.

When Joseph Tanner opened Jody’s at 12035 N.E. Glisan St. in 1979 it was a country-western bar with live music; however, in the mid 80s, the format changed to a strip club and stayed that way until its closing. After losing the Oregon lottery due to a second DUII arrest in 2012, and fighting liquor license restrictions resulting from a shooting incident in the bar’s parking lot, Tanner called it quits.

He said he is getting used to not going into work and enjoys a stress-free life puttering around his house. “I can’t believe it’s over; it was a great run,” says Tanner in a telephone interview. “I had a very enjoyable 36 years; met a lot of people, enjoyed going to work every day and visiting with everybody and dealing with all the different authorities over the years. Unfortunately, it all came to an end; I’ve got a lot of memories.”

Despite trying to purchase the building from his landlord for decades, Tanner did not own the property.

In June, according to county records, the building and property sold for $860,000 to Tiper Limited Liability Corporation. Tim and Rebeckah Lyons are listed as the LLC’s members, and attorney Michael Gottlieb the registered agent, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Phone calls to Gottlieb’s office were not returned. However, many of Gottlieb’s clients listed on his website are strip clubs. In addition, according to secretary of state offices, Tim Lyons owns a strip club in Fairbanks, Alaska and Renton, Washington.

 

Parkrose School District board of education member MaryLu Baetkey poses with, from back to front, Parkrose High School Seniors Jon Boland, Tyrell Lee and A.J. Blake at Pacific NW Federal Credit Union’s Financial Reality Fair. Baetkey volunteered at a booth selling simulated entertainment options to kids. COURTESY JULIA ANDERSON

Parkrose School District board of education member MaryLu Baetkey poses with, from back to front, Parkrose High School Seniors Jon Boland, Tyrell Lee and A.J. Blake at Pacific NW Federal Credit Union’s Financial Reality Fair. Baetkey volunteered at a booth selling simulated entertainment options to kids.
COURTESY JULIA ANDERSON

Financial Reality Fair volunteers help students become smart consumers

“I learned that saving is very important. You should start at a very early age. To be honest, a lot of the life decisions you make now can really affect you in the future.” That’s how one Parkrose High School student summed up his experience at the Northwest Credit Union Foundation’s Financial Reality Fair, sponsored by Pacific NW Federal Credit Union last month. “It’s really important to keep track of your expenses, so that way you can budget everything in,” said another. True enough, and proof that the NWCUF’s immersive Reality Fairs really are giving young people a taste of the real world and providing them with the skills they’ll need to be smart financial consumers.

PNWFCU’s Financial Reality Fair benefited 90 Parkrose High School seniors by helping satisfy an essential financial education requirement needed for graduation. The fair was also meant to help simulate the financial decisions students will likely face in their daily lives. Each student received a packet that included a randomly assigned job, annual salary, student loan debt and other information. The students’ objective was to visit different booths (manned by PNWFCU employees and local community volunteers) and complete their packet, while maintaining their savings goal. Booths included expenses, such as housing, loans, transportation, clothing, lifestyle, cell phone, etc. Booth volunteers from throughout the community were encouraged to up sell students, pressuring them to buy more expensive options, much as salespeople in the real world would.

“The Financial Reality Fair is a great opportunity for these students to gain experience with real-life scenarios in a safe learning environment,” said Tom Griffith, chief executive officer of PNWFCU. “We’re hoping students walk away with a better understanding of how to manage their finances going forward. We’re very excited to be able to offer this to students within our local community and hope that this exercise helps plant the seeds of a successful financial future for these kids.”

If you are interested in volunteering at future reality fairs, please contact marketing@pnwfcu.org.

 

Grant writer Fred Kramer, left, with wife Eunice and daughter Debbie after hearing announcement of a $10,000 grant for Trinity Lutheran Church’s food pantry. COURTESY LISA NOREEN

Grant writer Fred Kramer, left, with wife Eunice and daughter Debbie after hearing announcement of a $10,000 grant for Trinity Lutheran Church’s food pantry.
COURTESY LISA NOREEN

Food pantry bolstered by grant

Trust Management Services awarded Trinity Lutheran Church, 5520 N.E. Killingsworth St., $10,000 last month to assist the church in providing food to needy neighborhood families. Fred Kramer wrote the grant request.

In 2013, the Church distributed slightly more than 34 tons of food to needy families. The facility for dispensing the food is located at the edge of the parking lot. The food pantry is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons, from 4 to 5 p.m. Families whose income falls below the federal poverty level are eligible.

Trinity Church also serves its neighbors with free English as a second language classes Thursday nights, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. September through May. While parents study English, Bible story classes are offered to school-age children. Childcare is available for younger children.

Spanish worship services are Sundays at 5 p.m. A Spanish-speaking pastor is available for consultation, by appointment.

During the growing season, gardening plots are available in a community garden on church property. Trinity Lutheran Church is at 5520 N.E. Killingsworth St.

For information on these and other programs, call Angelica Ek Juarez, Latino outreach coordinator, at 503-288-1055.