My Page: Tomi Owens

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London, Paris, Hood River

Time to ditch that old fleece and bust out the blingbling because the elite of local fashion are staging their annual haute couture extravaganza to benefit the Hood River County Christmas Project. Twenty local businesses will be participating in this years show to be held on November 16th at 7:30pm at the Hood River Inn's Gorge Room. Trendy boutiques like Parts + Labour, Plenty, and Frolik will be part of the mix as well as Columbia Gorge clothing essentials from Windwear, Doug's Sports, and Mt. Hood Meadows. And artisit Mark Nilsson contributes his own unique flair with hand painted, one of kind apparel.

Originally started in 1923 by Hood River Elks, the Christmas Project provides assistance to low-income families and seniors of Hood River County during the holiday season. Over the years, the fundraiser has morphed into a full-blown fashion 'event' incorporating local boutiques, artists, and who's who of Hood River Glitterati. Last year over 520 families received food and toy baskets and this year the show will be even bigger...

The Gala's organizer, former model and Hood River native Cathy Carter, says she tries to get at many people businesses and volunteers as she can. "Not only is it a really fun night," says Carter, "it promotes and raises money for such a worthwhile cause! I just can't thank all who participate enough." Carter background in modeling, public relations and marketing made her a natural to for her role as event coordinator. The show has sold out year after year and has finally burst is seams out of its original venue and the Hood River Hotel. The show will be followed immediately by a dance party with Gorge mix masters Mike and Tim of AREA 54. And if you haven't boogied with AREA 54, frankly darling, you haven't boogied in the Gorge.
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Season Pass Anxiety

Gorge skiers and Riders gathered last night at the Hood River Middle School auditorium for a showing of Warren Miller’s latest film, “Off The Grid”. The crowd was surprisingly upbeat considering that Mount Hood Meadows is, for the time being, almost totally cut off from the rest of the world and, more importantly, from us. Massive lanslides caused by the recent heavy rains have wiped out sections of Highway 35 on both sides of our local resort and according to the Oregon Department of Transportation our mountain is officially ‘off the grid.’

(I don’t think this is what Warren had in mind.)

The buzz of rumors about just how much damage was done and just how long it will be before Hwy. 35 reopens was incessant before, during and after the slick ski flick. And all the snippets of conversation I overheard were filled with the kind of giddy optimism that Titanic passengers must have felt as they made snowballs from chunks of iceberg. For example... [more]

Oregon Election Retrospective

By Tuesday night, Oregonians statewide will have finished voting for mid-term candidates. Also, we will have answered “Yes or No” on ten measures concerning far ranging issues of tax law, private property, terms of office, medical responsibility for minors and more. The complexity of each measure, compounded by an insistent chorus of interested parties on opposing sides, makes wading through a Voters’ Pamphlet tedious. Why isn’t it simpler?

Consider, for a moment, the simplicity of the Oregon Territory ballot of November 9, 1857. Just three simple Yes or No questions:

Do you vote for the State Constitution?
Do you vote for Slavery?
Should Free Negroes be allowed in Oregon?

Sound straight forward? Hardly. The United States was teetering on the brink of a civil war and, if the Oregon Territory earned statehood, the delicate balance of power in Washington would be upset. If results of the 1857 ballot are shocking to our modern sensibilities, the political conditions that lead up to these three simple measures are even more so… [more]

art and pets and art

The Hood River First Friday Artwalk might be a bit chilly tonight but the subject matter should make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Columbia Center for the Arts has joined with PROD (Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs), to bring to the Gorge a series of art events featuring local pets

Yes—our beloved local pets!

Now, it is no secret that Gorge-folks are gaga about their dogs or that Hood River’s predilection for whimsical, off-beat art consistently sets the tone for local flair. So, it was only a matter of time before someone combined these two fanciful tendencies of Gorge life. And that someone was Judie Hanel, former director of the CCA and now curator of the “Paw Prints” art show, a month long series of events celebrating pets in art and pets at art.
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An online community

We here at New West Columbia Gorge are, for obvious reasons, very keen on the idea of an online community in our region. Although there are numerous websites, Gorge bloggers are still a rare breed. One exception is Arthur Babitz.

I first met Arthur several weeks ago at an impromptu gathering he had organized in our neighborhood as part of his campaign for Hood River City Council. Since then, I have been following his blog, vicariously living the “excitement” of being a first time politician. Arthur is also encouraging current City Council members to create a community forum online in an effort to "improve the quality of the discussion" of issues facing our town.

Today, I asked him a few questions about his blogging experience and to expand on some of his ideas for a City Council blog... [more]

resort town, small town

The Columbia Gorge put the finishing touches on another tourist season last weekend. An estimated 20,000 festival-goers converged at the fruity finale, Harvest Fest, to eat, shop and take in the country air. Although the event is centered at the Expo Center of the Port of Hood River the droves quickly spill over to the downtown, the valley, and all along the Gorge. Day trippers from Portland are the bread and butter of the Gorge tourist economy

I am sure I was first lured to the Gorge by one of the countless festivals. Was it Blossom Fest? Maybe Hood Fest? I can’t remember. As the years go by I notice festivals less and instead find myself irritated by the busy streets, crowded beaches, booked-out restaurants. I used to love being in the middle of such a happening, frenetic hotspot. But lately, I find myself migrating up-hill during the busy season. Yes—despite the all the benefits of this booming economic engine—sometimes it’s hard to share...
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Money and Power

The Dalles Chronicle has recycled a front page story concerning a $5 million promise made twenty years ago to encourage economic growth “in existing urban areas” of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area”. Sue Ryan’s story first ran over the weekend in the Hood River News. But that’s okay, it takes at least two readings to decipher all the acronyms and figure out just exactly who will be administering the (hopefully) forthcoming $1million in government funding.

And...Candidates for Oregon District 26 answer questions about education, health, public saftey and the viability of Measure 37. [more]

A Day In the Life

The Columbia Gorge’s fall charity events began to blip on the radar screen about a month ago for me. Little did I know how they'd all come together.

First, Sharla Weber, a board member of Helping Hands Against Violence, reminded me about their annual Auction Gala benefit on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Not long after, I received an email from do-gooder extraordinaire, Susan Hess, about the Forest Service’s annual “Pick up the Pinchot” scheduled for the morning of Sept. 30.

Also in my mail box was an evite to the Columbia Gorge CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) “Art With A Heart” art sale and benefit. The date was, of course, September 30.

So many worthy causes, so little time!

Happily, the timing worked. At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, I packed three boys (two mine and one borrowed — see photo) in the car and headed across the river to Panther Creek Campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, not far from Carson, Wash. The volunteers — more than 20 of us — were greeted by Forest Service employees Jon Nake, Nancy Ryke and Byron Carlisle and sent out with bags to scour the area for any trash left behind by campers... [more]

biofuels

The October issue of Wired magazine has a run an article written by Vinod Khosla titled “My Big Bet on Biofuels” It reads like an infomercial script. Khosla is a founder of Sun Microsystems. As of late, he has become passionate about clean energy and the techie mag have given him some rhetorical room. Khosla energy pledge begins like this “The road to energy independence starts in a cornfield in Nebraska.”

He continues by describing E3 Biofuels new “$75 million state-of-the-art biorefinery and feedlot capable of producing 25 million gallons of ethanol a year.” What makes this refinery so much better than other biorefineries is that the refining process is fuel by cow manure rather than fossil fuels. Khosla writes that “With better fuels and more-efficient engines improving mileage by about 50 percent, we can safely predict a seven-to-tenfold gain in miles driven per acre of land over the next 25 years.” Could thinking in terms of miles-per-acre rather in miles-per-gallon add an immediate sense of gravity to filling the gas tank?

And, does this new approach pay off in BTUs? Here is where the Big Bet theme of the title figures. The usefulness of E3 Biofuels technology is dependent on “unrealized technology.” ... [more]

Locally Grown

As America’s conscience slowly shifts toward concepts of sustainable agriculture, farmers’ markets are reestablishing themselves in Oregon communities large and small. The Sierra Club’s recent film and lecture series “The True Cost of Food”has been a motivating force nationwide in raising awareness of the hidden costs of massed-produced food and the import/export food industry.  

"True Cost of Food" played a year ago August in Hood River. Part of the diverse group that had gathered were several Columbia Gorge agriculturists who took the message to heart and then took things into their own hands. During the discussion that followed the film, attendees were inspired to create a local organization that would pool resources and, hopefully, make a difference. Gorge Grown Food Network was born on the spot. ...
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