A Christmas Message From Your Fellow Worker
YOU ARE INVITED to my house, tomorrow, December 23rd, at 11:00 AM for a little Christmas Cheer and to appreciate your hard work and the hard work of your fellow team members before we head into the long weekend.
MCCULLOCH RESIDENCE
1729 NE Siskiyou St
Portland, OR 97212
YOU ARE ALSO INVITED to the Union Gospel Mission, tomorrow, December 23rd from 1:00 – 4:00PM to donate canned goods and warm clothes to people in need. If you would like to give a little and contribute with some canned goods, or warm clothing, please do. Let’s talk to some folks, pass out our donations, and be a joyful presence! The address for the Union Gospel is below.
UNION GOSPEL MISSION
3 NW 3rd St
Portland, OR 97209
A LETTER FROM JOHN
Last night I finished a long day by unloading weightlifting equipment for Harder’s garage before I came home and continued on with our painting for the web site, showing some of our 1,000+ projects. Our drive to build and create is sustainable because these are Passion Projects.
We are happy to have worthy projects every day. We help clients live better lives. For those who feel lost, the idea is to search for something meaningful. However, we are fortunate to have that already – we are part of something bigger than ourselves and we touch a staggering number of lives with the work we do!!
Portland is better because of us. We have been the biggest force for saving historic homes in this city. We have added more beauty to this city than any other company. We have elevated the lives of the thousands of people who live in the homes we have made beautiful. And we have raised more than 38 million for charities and non-profits while providing affordable housing and a helping hand to a few dozen folks.
In an age of corporate speed in the service of greed, we have a name for quality craftsmanship and unbeatable, thoughtful, design. We do work that lasts, so that our grandchildren can see the work we have done.
It is Christmas, a celebration moved to December by clever early Christians who took over pagan parties from the mid-winter, close to solstice, the darkest day of the year. Amid the gloom we eat, sing and celebrate while we can, because winter is traditionally when the weakest may pass away.
We have been through the pandemic, which has caused more death than any war we have been through. The masks have hidden us from each other, and social isolation (while it does fight disease) also erodes mental health. History will record this event as among the biggest in American history, and we have gone through this historic time together.
We also have gone through a time when Americans, for the first time in our history, have attacked and vandalized their own Capital. We have seen a president who has denounced every leader of his own party, has been in a legal action two to three times per week for the last thirty years, and who attacked every living former president and presidential candidate, from his own party. For the first time in our history we had a president who feuded with musicians, actors, athletes, comedians, journalists and the head of his own party while in office. Like him or not, the idea of what it is to be President, to be a Republican, and even an American, has changed.
In a time when “disruption” has been spread as a corporate good and a goal, when we are all addicted to our phones, and when our city feels more like a ghost town due to social distancing and regular remote work, we can all feel a little less personally connected.
This feeling of confusion has led to the year of the “Great Resignation” in which those who are perhaps less happy have quit in search of a better product to help make, or a different service to render.
But the fewer of us who are left, the greater our share of honor in the worthwhile things we are doing. We happy few are the creators of the Harder Garage, Mt. Lodge, Stanton English Cottage, and other projects which are becoming truly remarkable as we continue to work. The Lovells’ view home with its ultra-modern lines; Beautifully Colonial (Fairview I) and the new house (Fairview II) we will build next door; and come spring we will be continuing with the most complex house built in Oregon in our lifetimes, the Mountain Lodge. We will also be building the sweet and beautiful Irwin house from the ground up in the country on a creek near Milwaukie.
We continue on, despite the winter, with good cheer. The little construction company that somehow manages to make a big lasting impact, by rendering a great value. We have a team that can do anything construction-wise and who are guided by doing the right thing (always) and by superior design skills.
Sincerely,
John McCulloch