Alpenrose Dairy facts for kids
Alpenrose Dairy is a company that makes and delivers dairy products to homes. It is located in the Hayhurst neighborhood of southwest Portland, Oregon. The company has been there since 1916. The Cadonau family owned it for many years. In August 2019, it was sold to Smith Brothers Farms, another family-owned dairy in Washington state.
The company's name, Alpenrose, comes from the alpine rose flower (Rosa pendulina). The wife of one of the early owners, who was from Switzerland, chose the name. Alpenrose provides dairy products to stores, businesses, and other food makers across the Northwest. In 2020, more people wanted groceries delivered. So, Alpenrose started "Alpenrose Home Delivery." This service delivers Alpenrose dairy products and other local groceries every week. The company has its own team of milkmen and milkwomen who deliver groceries to different neighborhoods.
The Alpenrose property covers about 52 acres (21 hectares). It includes several interesting places:
- Circuit d'Alpenrose: This is a special track for bicycle racing called a velodrome. It is one of only 25 such tracks in the United States. The track was built in 1967 for a national championship race. It is 268.43 meters (about 880 feet) long. Its turns are very steep, banking at 43 degrees. Alpenrose is known for hosting the only North American Six-day race. Bicycle races happen there all summer. The "Alpenrose Challenge" in mid-July brings the biggest crowd to any velodrome in North America.
- Alpenrose Field: This field was used for baseball and softball games. It even hosted Little League Softball World Series games from 1956 to 2019.
- Dairyville: This is a pretend old western town. It has fake storefronts, a doll museum, and an ice cream parlor. There's also a store for horse gear, a music shop, and a large opera house. The opera house can seat 600 people and has a huge pipe organ with 4000 pipes!
- A track for quarter-midget racing. These are small race cars for kids.
Alpenrose makes many products. These include milk, ice cream, eggs, and different kinds of cultured dairy products like yogurt.
Dairyville: A Step Back in Time
Dairyville was added to the Alpenrose property sometime in the 1960s. As mentioned, this pretend frontier town has streets with old-fashioned shops. It also features a doll museum, an ice cream parlor, and a music shop. The 600-seat opera house is a highlight. Its large pipe organ was saved from the Portland Civic Auditorium. Dairyville was usually open to the public on holidays and during the summer.
For many years, Dairyville hosted a special holiday event called "Christmas in Dairyville." This event had a gift shop and a house where kids could meet Santa Claus. There was also "Storybook Lane," a detailed walk-through attraction. Visitors could walk through a snowy, pretend village with farm animals. Displays showed scenes from Mother Goose's fables. The attraction also had a tiny fire station for kids to play in. Outside, school choirs would perform. The opera house in Dairyville showed old comedy films. These included shorts with The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. It also showed newer movies like The Polar Express (2004). The annual event stopped in 2005 but returned for the 2011 Christmas season.
In 2020, many items from Dairyville were sold in an auction. Some of these items can still be seen by the public. For example, some red and gold carriages used in parades were bought and fixed up. They are now part of the annual Starlight Parade. Several rows of seats and film reels from the theater are also available to the public. You can enjoy short films from Shirley Temple or The Three Stooges at the Nob Hill storage facility during Christmas. The Calliope (a musical instrument) that clown Rusty Nails used in parades was bought by the son of the person who first built the wagons. In 2021, it was sold to a local collector. This person plans to keep it safe and display it locally. The small houses from Storybook Lane were bought by two different groups. One was a private collector in Sandy, Oregon, and the other was the Nob Hill Christmas Historical Society.
Changes at Alpenrose
On March 4, 2019, a disagreement among some family members who owned Alpenrose Dairy led to a legal filing. The family members later worked out their differences. The legal filing was then dropped. In February 2021, the property was no longer used for public events.
Future Plans
A company called Lennar Northwest, Inc. has shared ideas for developing the Alpenrose property. They are working with Westlake Consultants, Inc. Their plan suggests dividing the land into 193 lots for single-family homes.
The proposal includes:
- A summary of the project.
- Questions from the company about dividing the land (from May 18, 2021).
- A map showing the idea for dividing the land.
- An early application for assistance.
- A notice about a meeting held on June 17, 2021.
- A report from that meeting, dated August 4, 2021.
