13 May 2021

A Scene From The Elephant's Graveyard, 146th and SE Stark

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By elephants, of course, I mean trucks. 

There is a boneyard of sorts behind a large yellow building just west of the Franz Bread Thrift Store at SE 146th and Stark. It wasn't always that way; better part of a decade ago, that building was a Hotel/Motel furniture clearance store, and the lot on the left and behind of it were just blacktop.

That store has been closed a long time, and the lot behind and to its right now collects orphaned and wrecked trucks. It's not chaotic; they're stored back there neatly, with some care. Presumably it's a way station enroute to whatever alphabet heaven these spent pachyderms-of-the-road are bound. 

But a truck graveyard it indeed seems to be. 

A month ago we stopped by for our supply of baked, sliced, and wrapped carbohydrates and I spotted this retiree eking out its twilight days. The name caught my eye especially. Peter Corvallis Productions is a event planning and production service that's been powering trade shows, weddings, and just about anything you'll find on a fairground around Portland since 1959. There really was a man named Peter Corvallis, which I enjoy because twice in my life I've lived in a city called Corvallis and it makes a last name which scans, I think, rather pleasantly. A visit to the PCP website tells us what Mr. Corvallis passed away, however, in 2016, and also however, the company soldiers on, helmed by his daughters Maria, Athena, and Demetria.

I don't know from their service, but the Corvallis family has some of the coolest names I think I've ever heard. 

For the sake of curiosity: Here's Peter Corvallis Productions.

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