Portland Sports Arena: Home to Portland Wrestling Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

grateful cacher: Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome, time for this one to come home. Landscaping and tree trimming makes it so I can't replace. Previous DNF's can revise their logs to show a find since they were in the right area.

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Hidden : 4/16/2011
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is dedicated to the former Portland Sports Arena, home of Portland Wrestling for almost 25 years.

Growing up in Medford, it was kind of a backwoods town in the 1960's. There were only two television channels to watch (strange as that seems today), so when we got cable television, and the channel lineup went to a full 12 channels, we were in hog heaven.

One program that caught my attention was on Saturday nights on KPTV Channel 12. At 8:30pm, they showed Portland Wrestling, "Live from the Portland Sports Arena on North Chataqua Blvd.". Pro wrestling, in the years before the WWE and TNA and whatever other form it's taking these days, was mostly a regional sports entertainment event. It has been around for over 100 years, and got it's start in Portland in the 1920's. With the advent of television, it's popularity grew by leaps and bounds, and made stars out of participants. Portland was one of the largest and most developed markets in the 1960's and '70's, where many of the big names got their start on illustrious careers.


Lonnie Mayne, "Tough" Tony Borne, "the Sensation of the Nation" Beauregard, The Von Steigers (Kurt and Karl), Jesse "The Body" Ventura, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Stan "The Man" Stasiak, Dutch Savage, Haru Sasaki, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Playboy Buddy Rose, the list of wrestlers who appeared in Portland is seemingly endless. But one thing that was in common to all of them was where they wrestled at. A former bowling alley in north Portland was taken over by promoter Don Owens in the late 1960's after having to move out of the National Guard Armory in NW Portland. He rechristened it the Portland Sports Arena. For almost a quarter of a century this building hosted regular Saturday night matches and occassional mid-week events. On television, it was hosted for almost 20 years by Frank Bonnema from the crow's nest, and after his death in 1982, by Don Coss.


The impact that Portland Wrestling had on sports entertainment was incredible. You can't talk to anyone who has lived in Portland that has not, at one time or another (whether they'll admit it or not) watched it. Not just the wrestlers were memorable, but the sponsors as well. Remember Tom Peterson's, and his "Wake up, wake up to a happy day" promos (along with wrist watches, alarm clocks, and free Tom Peterson-style haircuts) or telling us "Free is a very good price"? Or Friendly Chevrolet, "out Lake Oswego way", where they invited you to "come in and kick a salesman or two"?


On weekends, the Sports Arena also doubled as Sandy Barr's Flea Market (at least up until match time). It was one of the iconic flea markets on the west coast, and was run by former wrestler turned referee Sandy Barr. So this building has had some rather eclectic identities since it was built.


This cache is one that is familiar to geocachers, both young and old, and is in a spot that cachers are familiar with. Please use extreme stealth as you never know who is watching. On street parking available and please read and heed any parking signs in the area. No need to trespass or violate any property ordinances to acquire the smiley for this cache. Cache is log only, so bring the writing instrument of your choice. And if you're here on a Saturday night, listen carefully, and you might just hear the roaring of the crowd, the slamming of bodies on the matt, and the cries of Ringside Rosie yelling to the wrestlers. Like Lonnie Mayne used to say, "There's excitement in the air".



Congratulations to OrthodoxGeocachers for a very quick First To Find.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

P'zba, lbh ernyyl fubhyqa'g arrq bar, ohg nal QAS'f jvyy trg na rznvy jvgu fbzr uryc.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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