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My father was the State Park ranger in charge of McIver park, and we lived in the park itself. When we were told about this festival, we were told that our family would have to move to a hotel during this time and were led to believe that our home would not be safe. I was very upset as I was only 15 at the time. I called the Governor's office and complained that my fathers safety was at risk along with our home and Governor McCall should do something to stop it. I was a bit of a hippie kid but this was my home and my family. I had not told my parents that I was calling the Governor. Later that day the Governor's office called and asked for me by name and my Mom answsered that is her daughter and what was this all about. Needless to day, I got into trouble with my parents for calling. But the Governor's office wanted to assure me that my home and father would be taken care of and be safe. I was not so sure. We were moved into a hotel for the duration, and our home had all the windows boarded up in case of a riot and there was a 10 foot chain link fence put up all around the home and maintence compound to help protect it. National Guard solders were assigned to guard the fence and property.

My father continued to work there everyday and had no problems at any time with any of the folks attending. So it was a lot of worry for nothing. Governor McCall was very clever to pull this off and provide an outlet for what could have been a bad clash in Portland.

posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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