* Special Note: This months Business Forum Lunch will be held in a different location. It will be hosted in the City of Hoquiam, at the Historical Masonic Lodge.

Historic Preservation is a way to honor the past and create a better future. Join us for a very special presentation by McMenamins historian Tim Hills. McMenamins is an eclectic resort, food, spirits and retail chain that has made its mark in the Pacific Northwest. Tim will speak to us about community building through historic preservation and future projects of the McMenamins company.

Tim has been the historian for McMenamins Pubs for the past 20 years. The first McMenamins project he worked on was the Crystal Ballroom in Downtown Portland, for which he did interviews and research ranging from “floating” dance floors to James Brown. And since then, he’s been having a ball digging into such far-flung projects as a 1905 World’s Fair pavilion that screened one of the first-seen motion pictures, to the hiding place of the last great train robber, to the late residence of Frankie of Frankie & Johnny fame, and even the gathering spot of accused anarchists plotting to overthrow the US government. Fun, fun, fun!

Tim was born and raised in Vermont, went to college in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, and then came West with his sweetheart/soon-to-be wife, Andrea, for grad school at Washington State in Pullman, he for Public History and she, American Studies. From there to Portland, where she quickly found work teaching English at Portland Community College, and he eventually an historical research and writing position with an archaeological firm. After a few years, as the archaeological contracts dried up, Tim was able to shift gears and join McMenamins.

Tim, his wife, and their two daughters, live east of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge.