USS Ranger Foundation

When the Foundation selected Fairview as Ranger’s new home, many details were involved in the decision. Besides a mooring area large enough for a supercarrier with property to support guest services and parking, a supportive community was critical.

Fairview embraced the Ranger project with open arms and the passion of dreamers. One of those supporters was Fairview Councilor Larry Cooper. Team Ranger staff members enjoyed his
enthusiasm and upbeat support for Ranger from the start. When Larry passed away unexpectedly in December, not only did his family and community grieve, but the Foundation lost a very good friend.

Recently the Fairview City Council selected his son, Brian Cooper, to fill his father’s position on the council. Brian was sworn in February 15. Cooper’s father had encouraged him to try for City
Council. They talked about Fairview issues working together every day in the family business, Cooper Tractor & Equipment, where Brian is the operations manager.

Brian Cooper told the Gresham Outlook newspaper he was “looking forward to the USS Ranger being docked at Chinook Landing.” Cooper feels Ranger “will attract more business and visitors to the city.” Cooper is committed to civic service and wants to take on this challenge to “honor his father’s memory.”

In the military true leaders lead by example. It’s not the big events which define a person and a community, but day to day actions which tell the true story of a city and its people. The Foundation recognizes the Cooper family’s commitment to Fairview, Ranger and their community and thanks them for their past and future support.

It’s never the size of a community that matters when reaching for a dream, it’s their hearts. The Cooper family’s and Fairview’s are supercarrier size.

Plans for the Foundation’s upcoming event season are gearing up. Plan ahead and put us on your calendar for these dates.

Friday, March 16 at 6:30 am is the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce AM, hosted by the Foundation at Fairview City Hall. Come meet Team Ranger staff and hear the latest update on our project.  

Print this page and take it to the restaurant to help raise money for Ranger. The flyer must be used for the Foundation to get credit. Thank you!

Saturday, March 17 is a fund raiser at The Rock, Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits at 22401 NE Glisan Street in Wood Village. Print this page or get a flyer by signing up for our email list at the bottom right of this web site. Take this page or the flyer to the restaurant to make sure the Foundation gets 20% of your bill! Printable Flyer

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to midnight to help raise some green for Ranger on Saint Patrick’s Day. Get out there and lift a pint to Ranger and help us eat our way to put more coin in Ranger’s coffers.

Saturday, April 7 , at the Fairview Easter Egg Hunt, four Ranger Sailor Teddy Bears will report for duty to the special gift table. If you can’t wait for a Ranger Sailor Teddy Bear, stop by our store and pick up one of your own. The big hunt starts at 10 a.m. for 1 -4 year old hunters, 10:30 a.m. for the 5 to 8 year olds, 11 a.m. to noon for the 9 to 12 year olds.

The Top Gun movie showing has been rescheduled to May. Stay tuned for more details about this fun event where you can see Ranger on the big screen and raise funds for her move to Fairview. We “feel the need, the need for speed!”

Courtyard Fountains Wine & Cheese Event is in June so we can fill the outside courtyard with party goers and good weather. We are going to need room to hold a supercarrier sized crowd for this event.

We have more events coming online, so watch our web site and check our Event tab or follow us on Facebook. Sign up for our email notifications on the bottom right of this web site. Don’t miss any news. We hope to see you at our events. Help us move Ranger to Fairview.

It takes many volunteers playing important roles to keep the Ranger project moving forward. One of our dedicated recruits is Betty, our chief receptionist, who monitors the Ranger message phone. A former World War II Marine, she likes to keep busy. Betty checks the phone messages and dispatches the requests to the proper staff member.

Betty waves from "Top Gun Beach" at Chinook Landing Marine Park. The Marines have landed.

“She is a big help to the Foundation,” says Shannon Chisom, Development Director. “There is so much interest in this project; we even get calls from around the world. The message traffic is amazing. I couldn’t get any work done for Ranger if Betty wasn’t handling the main line.”

Betty’s interests include Starbucks mochas, genealogy, and her Kindle Fire ereader. She makes frequent visits to the Chinook Landing Marine Park with Jim, her Army Air Corps husband, to watch the river traffic. Betty keeps a watchful eye on the future Ranger site and reports back to staff. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

The Foundation sends a big thank you out to Betty and all our great Team Ranger volunteers who are helping move Ranger toward Fairview.  In any large project like this, we never know what seemingly small effort can turn into a big win for Ranger.    

There is a major amount of paperwork, site work and legal work planning being completed right now on the project while we get ready to head into another event season.  To all our volunteers and community members who support us every day, thank you for going the distance with us.  We’ve got the Marines doing communications and keeping an eye on the beachhead, plus Army and Navy veterans staffing the office and store. We’re good to go. Stay tuned!