16 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER February 2021
Boys & Girls Aid
By MARGIE WIESENTHAL and ZOE NIKLAS
With love you can make a difference
Zoe Niklas looks happy in her headshot . The photo was taken at an adoption picnic held by Boys and Girls Aid . Zoe was adopted when she
NIKLAS was 18 by a wonderful family . As a child , Zoe was unhappy because she did not feel valued or loved . The adoptive family taught her to love herself because she was loved by them . As a result , she is a very happy adult and is able to love others .
Zoe has been writing these articles for the Charbonneau Villager for a number of months , but will be taking time off now in order to care for her own family .
Zoe writes the following :
“ I wear on my right hand a blue topaz ring . This ring is a creation made of an old family setting with a true topaz . It is an amalgam of my adoptive family and my biological family . My life is as unique as my ring and I am blessed .”
She knows that this ring represents her biological past and honors her life after her adoption .
Zoe ’ s history is why she was drawn to Boys and Girls Aid . This organization works with foster families and creates the permanent loving families needed by every boy and girl . In honoring a child ’ s past and creating a better daily life Boys and Girls Aid serves many children in the Portland area .
Along with the other women of the Cypress Branch of Boys and Girls Aid in Charbonneau , Zoe contributed toward the Christmas
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Left to right , Mary Frinell , Steph Pump , Terri Royce , Dianne McMichael and Margie Wiesenthal stand with the bags given out this past December . Dianne has been assembling the contents of the bags and overseeing this project for many years .
COURTESY PHOTO
gifts for all the children served by this organization and also to the Sport Bags given to over 30 boys . Why do we do this ? Because we love all the children served by Boys and Girls Aid , we love this organization and we love to contribute our time , resources and energy to it .
To find out more about Boys and Girls Aid go to boysandgirlsaid . org . To find out more about this Cypress Branch in Charbonneau go to www . cypressonline . org .
Charbonneau Tennis Club
By KATHI GRAY
CTC represents a community that cares
Charbonneau Tennis Club , CTC , also stands for a “ Community That Cares .”
The tennis club has always been a close-knit group , but during this pandemic , we also realize how much we care about each other and are really a community . As we work to
GRAY try to provide opportunities for members to stay fit and active , we also realize staying safe is our priority .
Everyone is following the sanitizing rules and social distancing . There are so many smiles just to be out on the courts and hitting the ball !
During this quiet time in activities at the tennis club , it presents an opportunity to highlight our board members ! This month , I would like to focus on one of our longest running board members , Gary McKenzie .
A native Oregonian , Gary was raised in the Jennings Lodge area and graduated from Oregon City High School . After earning a bachelor ’ s degree and master ’ s degree in mechanical engineeringfrom Stanford University in 1973 , Gary worked for companies like Monsanto , Northern Telecom and Hewlett Packard around the country as a design and manufacturing engineer . While Gary and Colleen enjoyed experiencing Florida , California and Idaho , an opportunity to work with a small company in Portland brought them back in 1996 . When that did not work out , Gary decided to fulfill a dream and start his own company . He spent the
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