Friends of Timberline auction goes virtual posted on 10/01/2020
The Friends of Timberline (FOT) kick off their annual
auction on Saturday, Oct. 3 following a virtual visit to the lodge and
featuring presentations from guests including United States Senator Ron Wyden,
as well as current news from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Timberline’s
operator, R.L.K. and Company.
The auction will be held online this year from Oct. 3-12
with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the final stages of the Naturalistic
Pools Restoration Project at the lodge.
The auction will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday to coincide
with the virtual lodge visit and will be a multiday event ending at 1 p.m. on
Oct. 12.
“The idea for this year’s auction is to offer up some
unusual things,” said FOT president Brent Dahl. “We’ve never done an online
auction before.”
Advanced preview of the auction items is available after
completing registration to bid. New items will continue to be added daily until
Oct. 2.
The Naturalistic Pools Restoration Project is slated for
completion by Oct. 31. The pools restoration has been an ongoing project of the
FOT since 2016 and will open to the public in 2021. The project is currently “a
little short on funds,” according to Dahl.
“The project will restore the pools back to how they were in
the 1930s” Dahl said. The pools were an original landscape feature on the
initial blueprints for the lodge. The three stacked pools cascade into each
other with the aid of a water pump returning the water uphill, and the largest
pool offers a clear reflection of Mount Hood on its surface.
An update on the project and a video tour of the pools will
be a part of the virtual lodge visit on Oct. 3. The visit will be held on Zoom
from 5-6 p.m.
Wyden is a featured guest for the event.
“He’s a personal fan of the lodge,” Dahl said.
Other guest speakers include Jeff Kohnstamm from R.L.K. and
Company, Todd Davidson from Travel Oregon and an update from the USFS about
current conditions in Mount Hood National Forest.
The lodge visit will be followed by a historic FOT
photography slide show at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The virtual visit is open for attendance by the public on
Oct. 3 via Zoom at http://bit.ly/VirtualLodgeVisitOct3 .
The Zoom meeting ID for the lodge visit is 745 946 8799 and
the passcode is PivotPlan.
Interested community members are invited to register for the
auction at http://bit.ly/FOTauctionsignup or
http://bit.ly/mobileFOTauctionsignup to sign up by mobile phone.
The FOT will also be holding their annual meeting online via
Zoom on Oct. 1 from 6-6:30 p.m. The meeting will feature updates on the
activities of the nonprofit and a vote to elect new board members.
The meeting can be joined at
http://bit.ly/FOT2020annualmeeting. The Zoom meeting ID is 745 946 8799 and the
passcode is PivotPlan.
“The main thing is for FOT to maintain community in this
most unusual of years,” Dahl said about shifting the 45-year-old nonprofit’s
upcoming events to an online format.
The Friends of Timberline Lodge can be reached by email at
info@friendsoftimberline.org or by phone at 503-295-0827.
By Ben Simpson/MT | 
