Linda first came to Forest Grove in the late ‘70’s as a VISTA volunteer. She then moved to Colombia, Portland, Berkeley for grad school, and Salem, but for more than 20 years has lived on what is now the Green Grove property. Her interests include reading, travel, the arts, history, and social justice. Among her favorite things are N.P.R., coffee ice cream, Mexican folk art and food, contemporary folk music, Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, British mysteries, creating mixed-media and fabric art, and going places on foot. She is a member of the Forest Grove Public Arts Commission, and the founder of a small arts and literacy organization, All Together Now. As a former librarian at the Forest Grove City Library, she specialized in children’s services and Latino outreach. She sees Green Grove as an opportunity to live more sustainably, and have fun, too. Her eldest daughter says of Linda, “She can’t always figure out the TV remote, but she makes a killer crudite platter.”
Brad is a river otter at heart, who grew up outside of Chicago. He always dreamed of moving to the Northwest, and after attending U.C. Berkeley, came to Oregon in the ‘70’s. A sustainable hatcheries initiative at ODFW led him to build, then operate a salmon hatchery on Nehalem Bay for 15 years, while pursuing a career as a private investor. Marriage to Linda drew him out of “The Bog” to Portland, and ultimately to five acres on the outskirts of Forest Grove. His skills as a woodworker and all-around handy person lend themselves to property improvements and landscaping, as well as his elaborate N-scale model railroad layout. He likes reading travel, historical, science fiction and seafaring tales. Terry Pratchett and Monty Python appeal to his keen sense of the absurd. Classical and Celtic music appeal to his appreciation for the sublime. Brad has served as a Tualatin River Keeper, and dedicated nearly two decades to helping establish a permanent home for Swallowtail School, the nearby Waldorf school his girls attended. He has traveled extensively, and is always eager to “dabble his toes” in a new waterway. Nothing delights Brad more than floating down a river in an inflatable kayak on a beautiful sunny day.