Greetings
As
previously noted in our last edition the 1966 NAIA baseball champions were
acknowledged for their accomplishments on April 16th at Linfield College. As a
result of that recognition I thought it would be interesting to highlight one
of the members of that award winning team - Art Larrance, class of ’66. (See photo)
Art came to Linfield on a baseball
scholarship (he was a catcher) and joined the Deltas in part due to his
friendships with fellow Hillsboro High School grads, Larry Binkard and Jim
Iwasaki. He majored in business and says Dr. Elkington had a profound effect on
his career with the cogent advice, “if you don’t have it, don’t spend it.”
Following graduation, Art
did six-month active duty in Vietnam then completed his service with the
National Guard. He was in real estate until the recession hit in 1981, and then
decided to turn his hobby of homebrewing into a business venture. Art is
considered one of the seven founding fathers of the Oregon craft brewing
industry and co-founded one of the state’s first microbreweries. He also
co-founded the Oregon Brewers Festival, one of the world’s preeminent craft
beer festivals. In 1998 he opened Raccoon Lodge & Brew Pub and Cascade
Brewing and continues to receive awards for his work in the industry.
I asked Art to describe
what he thinks contributed to his success and his reply was “fundamentals,”
something he learned from watching Del Crandall, a catcher with the 1950s era
Milwaukee Braves (Crandall, Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella were considered the
best catchers of their time). Del’s fundamentals focused on how to hold your
glove, how to do foot work, and where to stand so you can make accurate throws
to the bases in the event you need to cut a runner down from steeling. But Art
was able to translate those into solid business practices.
Beyond all his business
success Art feels keenly about contributing to the under privileged or those
who may need help, something he does on a regular basis. Art has a son and a
daughter as well as five grandchildren.
The Deltas gather at the
Raccoon Lodge on the 5th Thursday of a month. If you are in town, come join us
for good food, good beer and good fellowship.
Sports
The NBA play-offs are
finally here. The Golden State Warriors appear to be on their way to winning
their second championship in a row, although their star player, Steph Curry, is
down with a knee injury.
Can you believe that though
the baseball season has just begun we have already witnessed two no-hitters by
pitchers with the Dodgers and the Marlins, although they were pulled by their
managers before they could pitch a full nine innings.
ESPN sure makes a big deal
about the NFL draft! Only time will tell to see which players truly become
stars.
So until next time continue
to be in community with others.
See more Art Larrance stories/photos
at links below:
