Warner Pacific alumni fall picnic

Above photo courtesy of Warner Pacific College's Facebook page

Garth, Lena, and Cha-Cha the Clown

Warner Pacific College people:  It was great to see so many of you at our WP alumni fall picnic last month!

As president of the WP Alumni Association, it warmed my heart to see how many of you alumni showed up for a good time.  Even though Portland’s rainy climate persuaded us to move our fall picnic into CC Perry Gym this time, the picnic proved once again to be an event that keeps growing in popularity each year!  And it’s easy to see why.

Reconnecting with former classmates and making new friends is the main reason why many of us get together for WP alumni activities.  But it didn’t hurt that our WP Alumni Council also threw quite a party for us to enjoy together!  Here are some of the festivities from that evening, from an admittedly Hamilton family-centric perspective:

Bouncy houses

Balloon twisting by Cha-Cha the Clown

Beanbag throw and other games

Door prizes

Lively music

Delicious sides and food from the grill…

Our newest Alumni Council member Cal Fowler, my terrific dad Doug Hamilton, and LaMont Shaindlin grill the hot dogs and burgers.

…And chowing down on all that delicious food together!

From my Twitter feed: Alumni begin to show up at the beginning of the picnic.

Later that evening, the Portland fire department parked a fire truck in the lower WP campus parking lot.  The little ones got to try their hands at spraying the fire hose!

Even with our record setting picnic numbers this year, we hope to bring in even more of you WP alumni and family to our fall picnic next year.  And don't forget, Homecoming 2014 is only four months away!

Sincerely,

Garth Hamilton

WP Alumni Council President

Coming Sunday night on Garth’s Blog…

My brief, mini-visiting spree in Europe is coming to a close.  I’ll be posting Part 1 of the 3 (so far) blog posts that I wrote here in northern Italy!

Lovin' an Elevator: A Tale of Entrapment

Being trapped inside a malfunctioning elevator is no laughing matter...unless it's happening to someone else.

Call it bad timing. My quick lunch break errand at PDX airport last Tuesday turned into quite the rescue effort.

Swiping my ID badge had originally opened the elevator door without a hitch. I stepped inside and pulled an oversized load of food inside for delivery to the Delta Sky Club on the third floor. I never made it off the ground.

Right as the doors closed, the elevator lost all power. The thick walls blocked my cellphone reception. Darwin, my coworker, eventually came looking for me after wondering why I was taking so long to return.

"Are you okay in there?"

That question was repeated by several people, heard faintly through the closed elevator doors, throughout my relatively brief ordeal. Also among the concerned people who stopped by: the operations coordinator, two Delta supervisors, maintenance personnel, firefighters (per the dispatcher on the red emergency phone), and some paramedics who rolled up in an ambulance. Why paramedics? Just in case I had a panic attack?

Trapped inside the elevator with more than my bodyweight's worth of food supplies, at least I wasn't worried about starving to death. The forbidden food taunted me as I powered my cellphone back on to read a portion of my daily Bible passage: Matthew 4. You know, the story where a fasting, ravenous Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness to munch on stones that he could turn into delicious homemade bread?  Nice.

Happy ending: The clamoring outside the elevator doors grew louder. I smiled at the sounds of jangling keys, unfamiliar voices, and metal tools as the steel doors were slowly pried open.  Free at last!

I'll say it again~ Being trapped inside a malfunctioning elevator is no laughing matter...unless you happen to work with some really creative coworkers. Check out my quick cell pic of this hilarious sign, created and posted by Delta station trainer Richard Porter in the midst of my "rescue operation":

Not to mention being serenaded by Delta coworkers throughout the remainder of my workweek with screeching renditions of "Love In an El-ah-vay-TAH."

Steven Tyler would be so ashamed.

Coming Wednesday on BlogSpot...

A look back at our celebration of baby Lena's 1st birthday!