USS Ranger Foundation

More than 50 people showed up to officially open the Foundation Office at 21935 N.E. Halsey, Suite 300 in Fairview on May 11th. The Gresham Chamber of Commerce hosted the event since the office is now staffed Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. by volunteers.

Foundation CEO Peter Ogle and Senator Anderson cut the blue ribbon to launch the USS Ranger Foundation office.

Using a supercarrier set of scissors, Foundation CEO Peter Ogle and Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson made quick work of the ribbon to invite all the guests into the office.

The guests checked out the office space which includes military and USS Ranger memorabilia in a donated display case, the Ship’s Store, the Team Ranger meeting area/workroom and the administrative office.

The packed crowd enjoyed hot coffee donated by Caffeinated Culture Coffee and fresh baked scones provided by Bumper’s Restaurant next door which were brought fresh from the ovens by smart looking bakers. The sunny weather added to the festive party environment.

The Foundation would like to thank all who attended the ribbon cutting for their support and good wishes. A community heritage center can only happen when area citizens support the project. Team Ranger staff, volunteers and board members appreciate the day-to-day encouragement we get from area businesses and residents.

Keep up with us as we move the project along by checking out our new Google Calendar on the events web page which highlights all the activities on schedule for this summer. We expect big things this summer for Ranger, Fairview and Oregon.

The Foundation’s busy schedule means we are trying to catch up on reporting about all our recent events. Wanted to let people know we raised more than $2,200 at the Top Gun showing at the Mt. Hood Theater from ticket sales, the raffle and silent auction items, plus outright donations. A busy and fun day, we wanted to give folks a taste of the event with this video recap.

We’ve included the credits of the showing to let everyone see how fabulous Top Gun looked on the big screen. We also learned from AC2 Scott Wells, who served aboard Ranger from 1985 to 1988, that the location used on Ranger for the radar scenes was  incorrect in a previous post. We thought the CIC didn’t look quite right. Wells told us the Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC) was used since the radar displays in the CATCC were “large and fairly brightly lit which makes them much more photogenic than the CIC scopes” they were standing in for. The movie Top Gun is copyrighted by Paramount Pictures.

At the end of the film the audience clapped and hollered. We look forward to playing Top Gun on Ranger’s flightdeck when she gets to Fairview and really making some noise. Enjoy the video!

The Foundation is very busy here in Ranger’s new home port of Fairview. Not only did the Ranger Burger launch May 4th, but the Top Gun fundraiser on Sunday at the Mt. Hood Theatre was great fun. But we’re not done! Tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. the Gresham Chamber of Commerce will host the ribbon cutting at the USS Ranger Foundation Office at 21935 N.E. Halsey, Suite 300 in Fairview. Come by and say hi.

The Foundation cannot thank the local community enough for all their support. Bringing Ranger to Fairview, East County and Oregon is a huge project. We would not be where we are today without the cooperation of all our partners.  We would like to thank all the supporters who helped with the Top Gun event in Gresham. Watch for the video wrap up soon.

Big thanks to our special guest Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson for her welcome to the crowd. The succesful silent auction was possible due to the generous support of our donors; Best Burger, Creative Visions Landscapes, Dana Fuller, Embassy Suites-Airport, First Aid Only, Gresham Barlow Education Foundation, Gresham Ford, Honest 1 Auto Care, Kimberly Cook, Renny Price-Hammerhead Aerobatics, Southwick Specialty Advertising, Susan’s Alterations, US Bank, USS Ranger Foundation,United Rentals, and the Victorian House.

Our fabulous vendors helped out by being present for the movie goers and we appreciate Best Burger, HF Video, Susan’s Alterations, Night Owl Custom Apparel, Take Shape for Life, Thirty One Gifts, and First Aid Only for their time and effort.

It takes people power to pull off this type of event and we have that with our dedicated support team of  Team Ranger staff and volunteers, including the Fairview VFW, Jay with JBL Productions and the wonderful Mt. Hood Theatre and their staff. A special word to the great movie technicians who made Top Gun look and sound fabulous on the big screen. Ranger looked amazing! The actors didn’t look too bad either. A big Ranger thank you to all our ticket buyers. Including the mate in Australia!