Every summer, the Grant Magazine staff holds a journalism camp for rising seventh through ninth graders. Their stories are posted here, on the Grant Magazine website.
In the fall, winter and spring, Grant Park is most often used by high school students who are studying, training or eating lunch in between classes. The days are short, the skies are cloudy and the pool is closed.
In the summer, the park transforms into a different place altogether. Everything takes on a more vibrant color and and community members of all different backgrounds are drawn to the bustling hub for different reasons.
Grant Magazine’s Summer Academy journalists spent the week talking to a portion of the park’s many visitors about what the community hotspot means to them. These are some of their stories.
Nathan Marquez
While the soft bubbling of the fountain hums in the background, Nathan Marquez sits engrossed in his book. He comes to the park for a different reason that most.
Years ago, Marquez lived on the tiny Micronesian island of Guam. Because it was such a small region, he was short of any maintained parks to spend leisurely time in. “I moved to Washington about a year ago, so everything’s kind of new to me,” explains Marquez.
Since moving to the states, Marquez says he’s been learning about life in the city and is now visiting Portland with his family. “I’ve had lunch and I’m enjoying the little fountain,” he says after a pleasant picnic with his lively group of family members.
While the group converses at a distant picnic table, Marquez seems to be in a state of peace next to the steady flow of the water amidst the trees. As he observes the young community around him, Marquez says, “I’m jealous that I didn’t have this growing up.”
Chris Stilwell, 41
While most kids in the park were running around happily, Chris Stilwell’s youngest son was happily running away. Caught in his traitorous moment, the boy is forced to sit in timeout on the other side of a tree as his father and brother hope he’s learned his lesson.
This lesson is not the only one that Stilwell has taught. “I teach high school history in Oregon City and I also work as a special education case manager,” he says. “I’m a very social person. I don’t like working with things; I like to work with people. So teaching is a very rewarding experience in that sense.”
Born in Philadelphia, Stilwell moved to Portland at age 30 to pursue college and to explore a new area of the country. After earning his bachelors degree at Portland State University, he pushed further to earn a masters in education. “I like to think of it more as like a mountain that you build, rather than a mountain that you create,” he says, referring to the work he put in as a college student. “You just do a little bit here and a little bit there… By the time it gets done, you have a mountain.”
Ever since his years in high school, Stilwell has known that he wanted to be a teacher. He explains that this notion came from understanding his own personality and strengths. “I work politically well with people; I’m not gonna be your best friend, but I’m gonna be pretty honest with you and you know what you get. I think people appreciate that in a lot of professional environments.”
Stilwell says what others tend to think is most interesting about him is his ability to interact. “I always leave good first impressions,” he says. “I don’t always leave the best last impression, but you’ll at least like me in the beginning.”
With his two sons at his side now that the timeout is over, Stilwell says: “Be yourself no matter what, ‘cause teaching is a really hard profession…It can be very stressful, really a lot of work. If you’re not yourself, then you’re doing the wrong thing.”
Logan Gilley & Payson Siegel, both 14
As Logan Gilley shoots for the back of the soccer net, he thinks about the turf field he practices on with his friends almost every day. Gilley and his friend, Payson Siegel, play soccer frequently and are members of the Portland City United classic team. “The beauty of the game, that’s what I like about soccer,” Gilley says thoughtfully.
The two teenagers have been playing soccer since a young age and have selected the Grant turf field as their favorite place to practice. Before the renovation, the field was made of muddy grass, making it harder to run and train on. But in 2013, the “Grant Bowl” was revitalized with a colorful turf covering, complete with a brand new track for running.
Now, Siegel and his friends enjoy playing and hanging out in the park, feeling secure in the friendly atmosphere. “There’s a lot of nice people here,” says Siegel, thinking back on his many experiences at the park. “You can just walk up and say ‘Hi.’”
Zach Walker, 24
Portland native and Summer Swim League Coach Zach Walker hovers over his 9 a.m. class of swimmers, explaining the next exercise. “Essentially, my job is to design workouts that will improve their stroke, their endurance, and allow them to become better swimmers,” he says.
Walker started club swimming at 10 and continued for 13 years. “I took lessons here,” he says, gesturing to the pool. “And I couldn’t make it past the Polar Bear level because I couldn’t float.”
After swimming with the Portland Aquatic Club and graduating from Grant High School in 2009, Walker attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. This was his only time living outside of the Portland area. He explains that swimming competitively for such a large portion of his life “segued into becoming a coach.”
While he may not have put much thought into it beforehand, Walker admits that having had swimming click for him as a kid inspired his passion for coaching. “I definitely had coaches, growing up, that really were patient and had so many different ways of explaining things and allowing me to really understand what I was supposed to be doing,” he shares.
But not everyone is so fortunate. “There’s definitely swimmers that, no matter what you do, it just doesn’t quite click with them — especially at a young age. A lot of [younger] swimmers have trouble with their body-awareness…I think that’s the most challenging part.”
The challenges that Walker has faced as an instructor are not discouraging him from pursuing a career even more demanding; he is currently working toward leading larger athletic organizations. “This is kind of a step in the direction I want to go. I’m looking at getting into sports management,” he says. Coaching is “allowing me to step into a leadership role or a management role that will give me some experience for what I really want to do.”
Today, Walker proudly coaches the Grant Summer Swim Team and the Portland Aquatic Club Team that he grew up swimming on. “It’s pretty rewarding,” he says, “being able to see swimmers improve in their races; their swimming; increase in confidence. A lot of swimmers will come in, and they’re pretty nervous about swimming… But once you kind of give them that little push and show them that they can actually do… what they set their mind to — it clicks. You can see their faces light up.”
Ann Blume, 66, and Ed Murczek, 72
Neither Ann Blume nor Ed Murczek grew up with a park to visit. And yet, as the couple sit on a bench under the afternoon sun with the familiar sound of dogs barking in the background, they understand how valuable it would have been. “It’s nice to come down under the taller trees and shade that does develop as the day goes on,” Murczek mentions, adding that he and Blume are frequent visitors to Grant Park.
It’s the perfect place to take their golden retriever, Chester, and their mixed-breed dog, Brumley, who enjoy chasing squirrels, laying in the sunshine and playing with other dogs.
“It’s been extremely warm,” says Murczek, sun beaming down on the side of his face. “We usually come down later in the day when it’s cooler.”
Murczek says that he and Blume have gotten to know some of the park’s other dog-loving frequents. It’s this sense of community that makes Murczek proud to live in the Grant neighborhood.
