Grant's Getaways Special 2024
[Music] Oregon a land of adventure and a a treasure that was a great take Majestic and hidden a state that calls out for exploration and experience the Journey of Discovery begins now from KGW you this is Grant's getaways hi there I'm Grant mccom your host for KGW grants getaways and welcome to the grants getaways holiday special where we celebrate some of our favorite times and travels across Oregon we visit a wildlife artist whose backyard birding and creative Artistry lends a magical touch to Tiny hummingbirds and Oregon's Coastal scenery might lead you to believe that all is calm and Serene but for those who work in the ocean it's risk and danger crossing the bar at tiok Bay and we journey to the high desert where Down Home Comfort and giant beef steaks are the reward for travel to the Cowboy dinner tree we also visit Oregon history where a century old catastrophic fire provides the backdrop for a new tourist draw along astoria's Waterfront It's a Wonderful celebration of Oregon and some of our favorite people places and outdoor activities so let's get started along the Columbia River a place marked by big water miles of Sandy Shore and thousands of salmon it's Shoreline salmon fishing on the Columbia [Music] River the buyent salmon fishery is the Region's biggest Outdoor Show as hundreds of boats carry thousands of Anglers to catch salm it is a huge destination fishery probably the best chance you have of catching a Columbia River bright big shinook plus a lot of silvers and you don't need a boat to join the fun if I was going to buy my dad a salmon reel it be that one right there how's that Mark arroll at England Marine and asoria can set you straight on Shoreline fishing tackle and gear englands offers rods reels and the right lures for a big catch this started five or six years ago got super popular just throwing a MPS or some other spinner usually in pink or chartreuse this one's 78 of an ounce makes it probably the most popular one we sell pink pink or pink is my favorite personal preference but if you look at 60% of the guys out there they'll have some kind of pink on there mark adds that the turn of the tide to incoming is the time to be there and the technique is simple you want to cast as far as you can let it kind of swing with the current you want a rod you can feel that blade make its thumb you'll notice a lot of the fish are hooked Within 10 to 25 ft of the bank right there at your feet Shoreline salmon fishing sites are easy to find along clat of spit near Fort Steven State Park fishing off the beach is a casual thing to do I can do it after work I can do it before work it's just fun isn't that the one you had the bite on yesterday uh yeah that's basically what we're using but everybody on this beach will use something different you ask one guy he'll like green you'll ask one guy he'll like orange you'll ask one guy he'll like pink I like them all Scott McGregor likes to show newcomers how it's done today his good friend Gordon Thompson and his son Sam have joined Scott and the daylight crowd at low tide for Shoreline salmon you could spend under $100 for everything buy a few Spinners and it's about the most affordable fishery there is to catch a salmon I'm putting on this old crusty Blue Fox with an old red hoochie on it this is one of my favorites I've caught quite a few fish down here on this one that one's got experience McGregor has a lifetime of Shoreline salmon experience and the clippings to prove it 40 years ago this week it's sort of place that helps McGregor hold on to Memories right here on this beach and that's what it looked like when a lot of people are on the beach this has been a popular spot for a long time over that was when I first got married I'm 60 I'll be 63 in a month and my wife and I got married that year and we used to come down here after work and with all of our friends that's what we did after work it never gets old nor does this there we go fish feels awesome it's a chinook Hatchery salmon but an inch shy of the 24in legal size so back to the river there he is it was fin clip but it still didn't make length yeah you're always happy this is relaxing this you're not out there getting bounced around with all these boats I don't do a lot of Beach fishing um Scotty has kind of introduced us to this beach fishery something that I can see us you know starting to get more and more into as he's getting a little bit older oh baby there we go oh that might be a king oh boy that is a Dandy that's a beauty that is a chomer it's a wild salmon and it goes back in the river there we go we've got to net a fish for somebody 40 years later that was cool that was really fun young Sam is having a blast he's caught steelhead trout and even sturgeon with his dad so Shoreline salmon fishing is right up his alley his biggest to date is 25 lb it's just like very involved like you're not just sitting in a boat waiting to get a bite you know you're always like casting you're reeling in you know it's just a great time yeah it's really fun I like the ease of it just being able to come out here and you know park the truck and we're not messing with bait you know we're just throwing Spinners and stuff so there's a convenience factor to it that's pretty cool and down here if you want to stop fishing for a while and go have a couple coffee stop fishing and go have a cup of coffee never get tired of it never here's a fishing Adventure that provides memories to last a lifetime for kids and dads alike in the Columbia River Gorge where 6 million feisty 5B fish called Shad migrate through each June if there is a better dad's dream day than this I don't know where or when they all have fish on that's pretty cool oh even he has a fish on neither does fishing guide Bill Monroe catching Shad with the small fry in the sprawling and scening Columbia Gorge we're fishing in the middle of a mountain range we're right smack dab in the middle of the Cascades you don't see that everywhere it's pretty unique I love it I just love it let's get this Rod out Bill cherishes his time with the youngsters when millions of 5B Shad distant cousins to Herring make their annual run up the Columbia River you'll see all of a sudden they'll have a fish on then they'll have a fish on and then all of us will have a fish on and it'll just go like that for the whole day just on and off his boys Billy and Grayson and their cousin Amelia with her dad Jared like that too they almost look like oversized hering yeah kind of actually yeah ohia got one pulling really hard his invitation to non-stop catching has a certain Casino like appeal they're everywhere gambling on who can lift the fish straight to the cooler no Nets allowed so we call it Shad roulette yeah here's how it works this is called Fair Chase Shad fishing we don't need to net it okay Amelia go ahead and lift a little bit you ready if we get it we get it oh we got it there he is well it's a fish the cooler is open Shad roulette is upon us will we get it three two one and take nice directly in there nice meanwhile the kid's Granddad is having a dream day too so many fish so much laughter and smiles as wide as the river people want to fish for something and and they're going to and Chad happened to be abundant and easy to fish for and of course great for kids it's a natural for youngsters is are the good old days for Shad it seem like it's just about every year but millions of fish millions of millions of fish in hundreds of years Shad have been labeled the founding fish historians say Shad saved the American troops from certain starvation at Valley Forge in 1777 the East Coast transplant was brought out west in the 1870s the table fair is fine cooked grinded and pickled or even smoked so if you were to smoke a Chad or two or three or four how how would you go about it i' grind it up put it in a pipe and light it okay tackle is simple enough small Spinners with just enough lead to get the rig down to the bottom they like this so much because it does this just crazy type of like swimming action in the water and they love it the color seem to matter yeah Shad really like this chartreuse type stuff uh this guy over here next to us is using a red white spoon that works pretty good too it's just like that excitement when the fish gets on the hook and you're like with everybody else and everybody's excited for you well what I like about it is that there's always something happening yeah you know there's always something going on yeah it's like one fish there and another fish there this is actually such a plentiful resource it's very underutilized the kids can come out here they have non-stop action it's consistent enough to keep them entertained and get them like into the outdoors I like that [Music] stay with us a century old catastrophic fire is the backdrop for a new tourist draw along astoria's Waterfront when the grant getaways holiday special continues [Music] Astor's early days come alive when you step aboard old 300 for just a buck enjoy a three mile out and back along the town's Waterfront sort of trip that puts you in touch with history a century ago this building between third and fourth made history when a gigantic fire tore through Oregon's oldest city it was nicknamed the big fire of 1922 gets under the dock and then it starts burning and then it spreads it's just like building a campire they wiped all the businesses out the banks the infrastructure the fire jumped from building to building and in hours entire blocks turned to Ash the big fire consumed 30 blocks of Astor's business district displaced 3,000 people until it reached this building the city was built over water and everything was wood except for like this building so it didn't really affect this building lifelong Astorian Steve Fick admired the warf and Warehouse brick building for its endurance and its lasting mark on Oregon History built in 1892 it is the state's oldest Riverfront Warehouse so he bought the building and he's giving it new life fresh cut timber and Myrtlewood tables copper sheeting for interior walls he hired an artist to capture a time before Outboards when fishermen rode boats to catch giant Columbia River Salmon called June Hogs it's a guy that's uh working with his hands those are huge fish it's all homage to the brick buildings ties with salmon fishing back when Salmon canaries Were King and the warehouse stored all the tin used to make the cans filled with Fish And shipped around the world these days the centerpiece of Pacific Distillery hearkens to a time when alcohol production was common place okay well we're putting the mash in the uh tank so that we can get her heated up and start making some whiskey this is a uh corn Rye Mash 80 corn 20 malted Rye a copper still produces bottles of whiskey Jin and vodka a kitchen produces menu Staples including shrimp and crab and chowder and the diners feel right at home the chowder was the best I've ever had it was it it is the best it was the best I have ever had MH I could have had more you're in historic building it's it's creating its own unique Wares and when you come in here you can ask questions and you can learn something about history of Astor and that's the big part built on the ground where the river meets the shore the lasting qualities of the old brick building offer new life that make Pacific Distillery worth a visit that's what we are we're we're an Timber Community that's where our pass is hopefully where our future goes it may be the smallest of shellfish but Oregon's pink shrimp is hugely popular at an Oregon Heritage Pub whose name hearkens to a story is 1800s it's a short live from the boat to the dock for thousands of pounds of of Oregon pink shrimp also called Bay shrimp or cocktail shrimp it is Oregon's second most valuable seafood mahy dogenous crab last year the Oregon pink shrimp Harvest was 44 million pounds a seafood worth more than $20 million to Coastal communities we're something to be proud of when people care about what they put in themselves and what they eat and they consume they generally want local wild sustainable good for the planet good for their body and we have that story pink shrimp are high protein low calorie and just the sort of product that Chef Matt McClure loves to serve in new recipes at the asoria Brewing Company one of the town's Heritage pubs it was established in 97 but celebrates the same name link with the first Brewery in town established in 1872 18 hundreds people were making beer there's multiple breweries uh prohibition takes over and shuts all that down uh nobody really did anything for a lot of years at some point they decided that somebody needed to start making some beer and and it's helped out Town immensely beer tourism is amazing McClure loves to take advantage of fresh seafood in his kitchen and pink shrimp are the perfect menu item it's definitely something that we sell a lot of um on a daily basis trying to get the people what they want recipe number one is a shrimp Bluey dressing 3 cups of mayo 2 tablespoons of ketchup a half a cup of sour cream build a base to which he will add other ingredients including the juice from one whole lemon that's the thing that brings the whole room together this is one version of a Louie that is kind of a traditional salad that people have done over the years then we go shrimp it's a whole big old pile of it he adds three lbs of Oregon pink shrimp we got a little mixed green we got some avocado and egg and it's like you got a built-in dressing right in there along with all your shrimp recipe number two is a sandwich called the shrimp pooy large prawns replace the pink shrimp and are double dredged in rice flour and then into a beer batter of rice flour before a quick trip into a 350° fryer uh let's take about 3 and 1/2 4 minutes the large crunchy shrimp rest at top sour dough rolls and are topped with a nice not too spicy remelon a Savory and flavorful sauce it's sweet it's spicy it's the perfect seafood sauce especially for shrimp diners dig in and then weigh in on their lunch this is an incredible sandwich I I like the kick in it just a little bit not too hot the roll was exceptionally good fresh ingredients yeah I I thought it was excellent the sandwich I've never had a shrimp porite before and and it was absolutely fantastic I I I I'm assuming that this has become one of their best sellers because it's very good I would go out of my way to order a sandwich like this you should go out of your way to make atoria brewing a getaway stop for the food the beer and a stunning view to the Broad Columbia River we got a great view right here on the water got an outdoor day really easy system set up so that when you're coming in town you can eat drink and have a good time stay with us we journey to the high desert where Down Home Comfort and giant beef steaks are the reward for travel to the Cowboy dinner tree when Grant getaways holiday special continues [Music] when Oregon's Outback calls leave The Tall Timber and Cascade waterfalls behind and dive into a vast desert of sage and Juniper near Silver Lake where the most entertaining Chuck Wagon minus the wheels preps for dinner guests we're like the gateway to Southeast Oregon if you take the state of Oregon on a map and fold it in half we're right in a crease some people pull up and go I'm not sure that's a restaurant you know but that's what we want people to think CU it's a shack and it's really cool a giant Juniper and then a fence rail lined with saddles hints at what the sign confirms you've arrived at the Cowboy dinner tree where there are no strangers just folks that owners Angel and Jamie Rosco haven't met yet how's it going guys it's the whole experience it's not only the amount of food that we serve but it's the quality of it the atmosphere of the restaurant and the experience the amount of food sets the dinner tree apart from just about anywhere else take a gander at the giant barbecue that right-hand man Brian Baker tends if they've been here they know if they don't know then they're whoa that's that's I have to eat all that 30 Oz top sirloin steaks cooked to medium rare one of two Entre you can choose chickens are right behind you just about everywhere you turn it's right out of the old west and simply comfortable everything is homemade you get your salad and your soup and homemade rolls you get a homemade dessert they like that it's simple and easy and they know what they're getting pink lemonade served in the courtyard they love to see their guests look on their face when we plop that big hunk of meat down and they're like oh my gosh how am I going to eat this Chris and I wondered the same my gosh it's a big dinner if you leave here hungry it's your fault not mine the dinner Tree is open year round by reservation only and yet they'll serve 500 steak dinners on a summer weekend every time is wonderful got to come back got to keep coming back the people serving you are just awesome just makes you feel at home it does all that and more you'll be coming back for more at a place that may take some time to reach after they've spent an hour and a half here and kind of hung out around the property maybe thrown some horseshoes or a rope and washed the sunset and smell the Sage Brush a lot of them kind of learned to appreciate a little bit the sunsets out here they're like nothing you've ever seen it's just breathtaking out here the desert is Tru beautiful to [Music] us stay with us Oregon's Coastal scenery might lead you to believe that all is calm and Serene but for those who work in the ocean each winter it's risk and danger crossing the bar at tmok Bay when the grants getaways holiday special continues [Music] good morning friends how are you guys good morning On Any Given weekday the youngsters step aboard vran's number 9002 bus you guys all excited and ride to school all right friends let's find a seat quick please good job actor Tran calls route 160 a dream job in the Beaverton School District let's use our library voices please in the back considers himself a teacher aboard a rolling classroom I treat him like they're my own kids a lot is what I do because I would do anything to protect him if I'm on a school bus it is also the best work he's ever had because it gives back to his community we're a gateway to their success we're sometimes the first adult they see and the last adult they see and what we say to them can set a tone for their day and how we end their day can set their tone when they're at home with Mom and Dad have a good morning friends bye bye friends bye have a good morning I'll see you guys in the afternoon okay setting the tone is important to a man whose childhood was filled with uncertainty a refugee family who fled their Homeland and landed in Oregon in 79 to escape from the communism during the war they they they were bounced around everywhere during the war in Vietnam my mom's family lost like their family business lost everything just needed to get out with communist yep took over lost everything Vu credits his mom and dad for keeping everything together for the large family they work several jobs at once to find and build their American Dream beginning with education River's looking great should be fantastic fantastic Buu found something else along the way a passion for the Oregon Outdoors oh I like that one right there especially new home Waters and the secrets they hold oh there's a fish he hanging out in that soft water over there nice Rosy fish little spent another wild still head this time of the year you're going to find a lot of wild fish top Corner lip there we go and there he goes to go off and make more babies Vu was bit by the fishing bug as a kid thanks to an uncle who took him trout fishing at Lost Lake near Spruce Run campground and then Vu discovered bigger fish that live in his new home Waters they're called the fish of a thousand cast and I found out pretty early in my career that it it takes a lot to get a steel head to bite sometimes it's a lot of work angling success led to Obsession Vu is addicted to steel head his pictures from the last 20 years prove it how can you not smile when you're out here fishing you can come down highway six and there's five different rivers to fish I can go down Highway 26 and pick four or five different R we have so many choices you can't put a price on that for our main speaker tonight my name is vran I've been fishing for still about 15 years nor price on an earned reputation as one of the Region's finest Anglers and respected teachers this is one of the most popular methods here is float fishing Vu speaks about fishing every chance he gets and his enthusiastic lectures find few empty seats tonight the Tolan chapter of Northwest steel headers the next thing I'm going to ask you guys is why do you fish love being outdoors right there that's me I love being outdoors right it's about seeing the colors being in God's country that's what it's about for me when I first came here in America people helped our family through everything getting on our feet finding our first apartment to me it's giving back to the community helping out people seeing people smile you can't put a price on that when you see somebody smiling it just looks really fishy in there today oh there's a fish I thought it was bottom V's Journey has not been easy there have been many twists and turns along his Trail to reach new whole Waters but he insists one thing is certain there were a lot of American soldiers who sacrific their life a lot of people who sacrific their life to try to bring freedom to the Vietnamese community and the refugees I don't want to let them down the men and women who sacrifice for my roots because I was given the opportunity to have the American dream and I'm going to seize it and I'm going to make sure that I make everyone proud see we can pop him off here get him out oh there he goes that was a wild steel head there want to let that one go luckily it popped off there and uh he'll swim off to go make some babies Oregon's Coastal scenery might lead you to believe that all is calm and Serene but each winter for those folks who work in the ocean it's all risk and danger crossing the bar at telok Bay some times the best scenery is hiding in plain sight well the view you have from here is pretty amazing this over-the-shoulder scene is lost to most folks driving up the new mile and a half Cape mir's Loop Road pretty amazing view it's one of the better ones on the coast I think but Don Bachman knew it was a keeper shortly after the road reopened after a decade long closure last fall pretty cool shot he promised us the best was yet to come he was right holy cow look at that that's a million doll shot huh it's gorgeous you would not ever have seen that view cuz this is the only place you're going to see it from you can see it from this new Scenic Overlook created by till County Road planners the view to Three Arch rocks is unique and stunning when you discovered this view shot for the first time what what were you thinking it's amazing view it really is it's you know I've hiked most of the Oregon coast on the Oregon coast Trails I've seen the views and it Stacks fed up there with any of them that contrast between the white water and the dark Rock it's just beautiful Bachman's Beauty shots are easy to come by in his corner of the state the lifelong local and retired teacher makes the most of his gorgeous outdoor neighborhoods in TI County with eagles and herons and egrets Galore not bad for a fell gifted with an eye for the wild who was hooked with his first camera at age 12 it's like a whole new world it's like whoa what is this you know and and we were you could go out and take an image and you could develop it and watch it develop in the old in the old dark room and you could see that come to life on your on your prince when you make prins and stuff it was just a way to tell a story it was really a lot of fun DA's latest storytelling challenge takes him where wind and rain and towering surf are Fierce a top the jetty rocks at barw when the hardcore Fishers go to work if you watch them go in and out and how they read the water and how they're picking their way it's amazing their skill and for just somebody watching it it's amazing that they could do what they're do Don does what few photographers try up to two dozen Oregon dungeon as crab boats crossing the tiok bar day and night from January through spring I tell my crew that you know there's some days you just don't tell your wife or your mother about what we did today and Bob Brown in is a longtime Fisher and a skipper there he is at the wheel of his boat the lady Lee crossing the bar everyday is different every swell is a different direction a different period length there's times where you have to make your decision to keep going or to turn around and you only have a split second to do it and then you're either safe or you're not Browning says the trips are never twice the same and you better know the way he adds backman's photos get it right he knows the right minute to hit the hit the button I mean he catches he doesn't just catch you in in the action he catches you at the peak of the action like the spray coming off of the boat when a wave hits us and things like that Don captures the fisherman's wild and dangerous commute because it's important to share the story of Oregon men and women who put the food on our tables they go out and they're working and they think nothing of it it's just what they do but when you watch him go out or come in when it's nasty it's it just kind of gives you some awe you know stay with us Washington County History reaches back 90 years to come alive in faboard Oregon each fall its Heritage shared by many friends and families through sausage for the soul when the grants getaways holiday special continues [Music] in faboard Oregon fixing one dinner is Monumental work it's not easy making sausage and all the fixings to feed 8,000 people but it's work that feeds the soul not far away another group enjoys the sole satisfying rewards from seasonal hunting trips in the Oregon Outdoors this is just general verb sausage like they make at the verb sausage feed and so I put the sausage in here and I'm putting just just to kind of cover the bottom Roger and Janet van dijk's family and friends connect with the vort sauage story in historic fashion Roger's Grandmother Had the original recipe for the verb sausage dinner that was 1934 when the first verb dinner was reserved 100 meals back then and grandmother Maggie van DJ managed it all these days the van Dy kitchen is in constant motion as the diners pitch in to offer their versions of sausage that they made from their deer and Elk Harvest throwing it in the cast iron and then we're going to add some beer it's going to boil for a little while and then uh once it's reduced a little bit we'll add some sauerkraut the fiber is a nice little touch right because we go pretty heavy on the meat and proteins we're going to mix some chizo in there with the onions with some cream cheese that will be the verb sausage with potatoes and gravy very traditional as Roger's favorite meal a lot of hard work that goes into everything that we do getting all the way up to Camp hours that we put in on the ground finding animals bringing them back home processing them but what a sweet treat right he's right the family and friends hunt together for deer and Elk each fall their camping Adventures provide plenty of stories to fuel strong memories long after rifles and boots are stored a couple of winters ago we saw the van Dykes in sausage making action four days of work to process more than 400 lbs of Venison and Elk turning the Wild game Bounty into half a dozen different recipes based on grandmother Maggie's original which is one of the reasons we're running multiple Grinders because the sooner we can get it processed the healthier it is for the meat because it's the only way you can get verb sausage everyone we serve it to says it's it's the best they've ever had and and and they can't get it anywhere else so we make it for our family and for some friends and why not it's a lot like a holiday I mean it's kind of work but it's a reason for everybody to get together and do something productive Roger and Janet's daughter Aaron grew up making the bued recipes and she was a Mainstay of the op operation a longtime teacher and Coach she led a local high school Equestrian Team to multiple state championships and she loved the Oregon outdoor life sadly Aaron passed last year following a long battle with cancer still the family continues their Traditions it's what their daughter wanted they call it a Hunting Party well this is a sausage making party so here we are so what's in here this is the summer sausage a 50/50 elk and pork what do you like about this recipe you know it's it's a meal ready to eat anytime Roger's pride and joy is his handbuilt Vine Maple burning smok house where he watches for just the right amount of smoke I think I was 11 the first time we killed an elk and we did sausage then and they put you to work as a kid would you consider that work doing this I don't it's fun it's Pride this is probably my favorite recipe yeah it's quick and easy quick and easy that's right back at dinner family and friends and the recipes come together keeping tradition alive and sharing the season cuz we love it almost like a family or a group event that we just do and it's fun stay with us we visit a wildlife artist whose backyard birding and creative Artistry lends a magical touch to Tiny hummingbirds when the grants getaways holiday special continues [Music] if a Region's wealth can be measured by its wildness Oregon is one of the richest places around there's Wildlife at every turn a solitary Eagle perched on watch or v-shaped water foul flly box winging from this place to that I enjoy going waterfoul season down here at the local Island and just driving along the road and identifying them and just how beautiful uh they are atorian Rick pass has enjoyed the waterfoul world since a boy even captured local ducks with his camera they're just beautiful we go down here here they are swimming around there's a cinnamon teal greenwing teal malard isn't it amazing how far those birds actually fly now I can't tell you the thousands of miles what a journey that is the retired school superintendent has been on a New Journey the past 20 years I'm going to cut out the top view the decoy on the band saw and then we're going to turn it to the side and we'll cut on a side view and then what we'll end up is a a three-dimensional decoy that we're ready to start carving on creates Nature's creatures from a block of wood ducks geese and other water foul that recall youthful Outdoor Adventures with his dad from six decades ago started young just something about being with dad being out on the water Treasured Memories that I'll have forever these days he tries to imagine the wildlife in a wood block called Tupelo a prized soft wood that Carvers prefer but where one mistake can really cost you that's my middle name is mistakes mistakes never end and in fact every time we make a mistake we learn from it and so hopefully the next bird we do is a better bird than this one his wood decoys are among the best in the region Mac you ready to do some painting Rick's not alone his good friend Mack Brown was bit by The Carving bug a decade ago there's nothing that I would rather do now the two compete at decoy art shows AC acoss the country I like to carve and Rick is the same way my retirement hobby so to speak is is doing these birds Browns carvings are Whimsical efforts called chunkies carvings that just make you feel good this is a caricature I guess you would say this is not a subtle Rubin kids like them they just have so much fun with them grandkids Ben Blair and Brin are just getting started put just a little bit right there and that's the beauty of the craft insists their granddad Rick anyone can learn at any age and discover the Wonder of wildlife from a block of wood that's the key there it's the best that I can do it may not be the best at the show but that's a winner for me it's time to visit a wildlife artist whose backyard birding and creative Artistry lends a magical touch to Tiny hummingbirds the sunny warm days are fading fast so Dean krower finds magic in the moment they're magical it's true just watching them the way they move krower is an artist who admits he's making up for lost time his focus is wild life they're fascinating and you could sit there all day okay let's see here krower has spent decades traveling across Oregon corner to corner and he owns a reputation as one of the Region's finest Wildlife artists his work reflects the adventure inspiration and wild moments that he's found along the way from the largest to the smallest of Critters especially fish and he credits his parents who guided the way in my life kind of two of the constants have been my art and fishing my whole life I have a picture of me standing there with my dad and my brothers on a creek I'm probably 3 years old sitting on a rock casting out a worm and I feel so fortunate to have something that I care about to this day my mom's my biggest fan I could never make anything that wasn't beautiful and she was a a very good artist herself we've enjoyed outdoor time with Dean before one winter at the jewel Elk Refuge with an invitation to see the wildlife artist at work it's pretty neat just watch their mannerisms in their feeding and in their hierarchy of who's pushing who around anybody would love to go out and see that kower had many interests in his life and set many records too like the NCAA track and field championships he won in 1982 at the University of Oregon where he still holds school records in shot and discus he enjoys a family of successful athletes too son Sam was an outstanding Olympian daughter Haley top of her sport too and then there's nephew Ryan krower a world champion who continues to break shotput records wherever he competes hear a lot of birds don't you there's a lot of stuff here recently we joined the Oregon native in a wildlife Mecca you may have missed Kelling wetlands in Washington County kower finds it flush with waterfoul this time of year so his artists eyes turned to the birds looks like a little maybe a hen Mard or something she's having fun but it's not a passion for ducks or geese that Thrills him most rather the tiniest and most graceful those hummingbirds they're so tiny their color their movement their shape everything let me get some paint going here krower captures hummingbirds in a way no one has tried before he doesn't paint every feather but suggests what could be and that sets him a apart from everyone else I'm just trying to get something fun to happen here where you try to work kind of fast and it almost didn't happen a number of years ago he was thinking of throwing in the towel the elk the trout the scenery just wasn't working harder still to sell but his wife Molly had another idea and Molly said well why don't you paint something other than a fish and I remember my quote was what else is there that's why said well what else is there and she was out in the garden and in a flower patch and a little hummingbird was coming in right there in front of her and she said paint me a hummingbird and then make some prints and take it to your next show if they sell they sell if they don't they don't it doesn't really matter she said do it for me so I did and that's when it happened he sold all the prints and the original before the show even opened it absolutely changed everything the direction today his prints and assorted hummingbird gifts are found in Galleries and shops everywhere and now there's even more a book he calls his original children's story Wonder soaring and sailing way up high in the sky if a bear could have feathers would he be able to fly it's almost like everything can be explained iPhones and the internet and let me explain to you how this works and it seems to me that the the sense of wonder it almost seems like it's fading away with this technology he penned the pros and all the artwork and his book was published last summer and I took my paintbrush and I Big Blob on a piece of paper and that's what it looked like this month we got a test run of Wonder with a classroom of second graders at Banks Elementary you guys want to hear it do you want to hear it you do okay it's a story about a little bear full of Wonder for all that is wild outdoors with Grace and with power the Rapids Flow Free if a bear had a boat could he float to the Sea Dean credits his family for encouragement and inspiration to find the Wonder in life could a bear have a friend that's as small as a mouse you think he could yeah I kind of do too he asks youngsters to do the same people talk about dreams coming true but in order to have a dream at all you have to think about it and in order to think about it you have to wonder about it it's the greatest gift there is is the just wondering about the world the end thank you that was [Applause] fun Dean is a big believer that we make a living by what we earn but we make a Life by what we give he plans to give a lot more for all of us to enjoy athletic ability doesn't go on forever but I feel like with my painting I can get better at it if I can use it to do something new like a book that would be that would be a cool thing I think it's so simple it might be good I don't know we have all the details directions and contact information for all the segments in this year's holiday special on the KGW website so be sure to to check it out finally I am a big believer in the adage it is the journey that supports the destination I have found that to be oh so true in my travels and times across Oregon I hope you do too so until next time do get out here and enjoy the Oregon Outdoors let grants getaways be your guide for KGW I'm Grant [Music] mccom grants getaways on KGW is sponsored by asoria Brewing Company England Marine and Industrial Supply and fish hwk Fisheries [Music]
2025-01-02 05:59
