Umpqua Discovery Center won't be the same without her.Byline: PROFILE by The Register-Guard Name: Portia Harris, 57, Reedsport Claim to fame: On her watch, visitorship at the Umpqua Discovery Center has soared from 10,000 each year to 25,000, and memberships have doubled, too. Volunteer Eddy Wanner says, "She's done a tremendous amount of good for this community. The discovery center wouldn't be what it was without her." No, they didn't all come just to see Portia: But the director of the Reedsport museum has worked tirelessly tire·less adj. Not yielding to fatigue; untiring or indefatigable. tire  less·ly adv. since she arrived a year
after its 1993 inception to show people how the Umpqua River's
"tidewater tidewater, in U.S. history, that part of the Atlantic coastal plain between the shoreline and the farthest upstream points in rivers reached by oceanic tides. In many cases the fall line is given as the western boundary. community" links land, water and people. She's
constantly looking for Looking forIn the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. new ways to demonstrate those connections, by talking up old-timers for artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. , convincing volunteers that some time at the discovery center will look good on a resume, commissioning colorful murals or raising money for new exhibits. New exhibits, you say? Indeed. Work on "Pathways to Discovery - Exploring Tidewater Country" will be completed next month, if all goes as planned, and will lead visitors through a series of linked ecosystems, including a bear cave, the Oregon dunes and a weather station overlooking the river. "Rumpies," or River Umpqua Elves Elves A slang term for guests appearing on the PBS television show "Wall Street Week." Notes: These technical analysts attempt to predict the direction of the market in the coming months. , will serve as tour guides. What in the world is a River Umpqua Elf elf, in Germanic mythology, a type of fairy. Usually represented as tiny people, elves are said to dwell in forests, in the sea, and in the air. Although they can be friendly to man, they are more frequently vengeful and mischievous. ? You'll have to ask Harris herself. From October to May, the center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. For more info, call Harris at (541) 271-4816. But let's get back to Harris: Grant writing is one of her most important functions. The last exhibit to open at the museum, "Tidewaters and Time," cost $700,000 to build. Harris raised $600,000 of that in grants. For the new exhibit, she found more than $1 million in grants to cover its $1.25 million cost. You could say she has a knack for dealing with the government: Well, she did work for it for more than 25 years (as she does at the museum) as a district engineer for the U.S. Forest Service, where she met her husband, David, who grew up in Reedsport. Mostly, the pair worked in Oakridge, Lowell and Eugene for the Willamette National Forest The Willamette National Forest is a National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of Oregon, US.[1] It contains 1,675,407 acres (2,618 mi², 6,780 km²) making it one of the largest national forests. until they both took buyouts in 1994 during a period of downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing . She plans to retire again in May: Once the new exhibit is open, Harris looks forward to doing little else but camp, hike, travel, shop and cook. Relatives are surely looking forward to the many truffles she'll make this Christmas. - Winston Ross CAPTION(S): Portia Harris, director of the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport, has worked tirelessly promoting the center since taking over in 1994. Her work shows in the increase in visitors. |
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