September 19-21 Portland

Mike Daugherty is a forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Region 6, in Portland. Mike graduated with Rob from the University of Georgia School of Forest Resources forty-one years ago. Mike has worked in the West his entire career; California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and even during the summer while in school.

After three years of preparatory courses, the School of Forest Resources admitted about 45 undergraduate students each year,  divided into two sections. On the first day of school, our group of about 20 or so students all met each other at the same time in the same class. Some had done their preparatory work at UGA and some came from other colleges. This created for us a unique experience within the context of a large state university. We didn’t even have to change classrooms. When one class ended, the professor left and the one for the next subject showed up. We had five or ten minutes between professors to socialize in the hall and the break room downstairs. During longer breaks, we utilized the horseshoe pit outside. There were no lectures or lab work on Wednesdays. Each Wednesday, we all loaded up in university vans and headed out for field trips. For instance, we toured the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Otto, North Carolina.

I mention all this to explain how deep friendships were formed with men and women who did not know each before that first day of forestry school. Then we started spending all day every weekday with our fellow students. And some of us, nights and weekends, too, but no academics were usually involved with that. Another significant bonding experience for the Class of 1976 was the Conclave of Southern Forestry Schools hosted by our school that year. It was a totally student organized and managed event, with hundreds of attendees from Texas to Virginia and participants in multiple physical and academic competitions. There are many stories that were created that April, but their telling must wait for another day.

After graduation, the members of our class dispersed all over the country and even the globe. Some spent their careers as foresters, some as lawyers, doctors, financial consultants, association executives, and airline pilots. But our members come back to Athens for reunions, including our 40th last year. After the event in Athens, Mike came to Atlanta to extend the weekend and stayed at our house along with Sam Dolliver and Sharon Nix Dolliver. Lance “Scribble” Hunt and wife Shirley, from Roanoke, Virginia, parked their RV in front of our house for the night. They had parked in the school forest the previous two nights. Chris and Clair Barneycastle, who live nearby, also joined us for a great evening around the table.

Back in Portland, we set up at the Pheasant Ridge RV Park in the suburb of Wilsonville. We haven’t been able to get in touch with Mike for a long time. We came through Portland to visit with him, but now we are not sure we will see him. We are relieved to get a text saying he will come to our place. We expect a call when he gets to the park. Unexpectedly, at 6:00 pm, we hear a loud knock on the RV and in comes Mike. He just looked for the vehicles that fit our description. We have a beer, then head to a Mexican restaurant. Yes, Sam, Sharon and Lance, it reminded me of our many visits to Manuel’s back in the day.

Mike will come on board with us for a a couple of nights. We made reservations at Crater Lake National Park months ago, but this becomes another gash in our plan — cancelled due to fire. So we plotted a direction on the map from Portland toward the direction of home, and determine we will head out of Portland on Interstate 84 the day after tomorrow. We choose a destination, Emigrant Springs.

The next day, Mike works a half day. We meet him near his office, which is near the food stalls that Portland is famous for. Each of us chooses a different vendor, then sit down together in a nearby park. It’s sunny and pleasant. Next, we walk to Powell’s, a very interesting bookstore. The highlight of the day, though, is Voodoo Donuts.

It’s a good thing we’re in Portland for three days. Remember that salt water taffy from Seaside? Jane has to find a dentist. Fortunately she finds one she is very pleased with. The dentist has the machine that does 3-D imaging and creates caps. She has a new cap in 2.5 hours. The Ford engine that has done so much work to get us this far is badly in need of an oil change, it’s first ever. It’s get fresh oil and a new filter at Pro Auto Care.