All remaining stops on the Trail Blazers Summer Tour have been canceled
Kia Motors Presents: Summer Tour Leg 3 map
In 1970, Harry Glickman sent Bill Schonely on the road with the following marching orders – ‘Put a radio network together!’
The Schonz put on his sales hat and recruited 13 affiliates that year and the Trail Blazers Broadcast Network was born. Now at 20 stations, including new Portland flagship, “The Game,” the Network also includes Comcast Sports Net NW and network television affiliates in Portland, Medford and Eugene.
In homage to Schonely, the Trail Blazers will renew a summer tradition by visiting each out of market affiliate during a four-week summer-long journey throughout Oregon and Southwestern Washington.
The Trail Blazers “Make It Better” Statewide Summer Tour, presented by Kia Motors, will visit 19 communities throughout Oregon & Washington, covering more than 2,000 miles in a 2008 Kia Sedona to host free kids’ basketball clinics and visit with fans, broadcast affiliates and corporate partners.
Also supported by Providence Health & Services and Nike, the tour will feature visits from Trail Blazers broadcasters Mike Barrett, Mike Rice and Antonio Harvey as well as senior executives, Trail Blazers alumni and Blaze the Trail Cat. The Trail Blazers and Kia will partner with local service organizations at each locale to provide free basketball clinics for as many of 5,000 kids, ages 7-13, during the tour. Providence Health & Services, one of the Trail Blazers’ newest corporate partners, will talk to kids at each clinic about guidelines for healthy living.
The Statewide Summer Tour is part of the Trail Blazers continued commitment to “Make It Better.” Under the “Make It Better” umbrella, Trail Blazers community outreach programs touched more than 93,000 people in Oregon and SW Washington during the 2007-08 season.
At every stop on the tour, visit here for updates, photos and highlights from what is sure to be a wild ride.
The third leg of the Kia “Make it Better” Statewide Summer Tour started off much like the first two excursions: In the loading dock of the Rose Garden. The Kia Sedona, already a seasoned veteran of the Summer Tour, idled quietly as we loaded all the gear necessary for a day trip to Marion County.
First stop: KYKN Radio in Keizer. A venerable caravan of Trail Blazers luminaries, including Team President Larry Miller, former player Michael Harper, legendary broadcaster Bill Schonley, voice of the Blazers Brian Wheeler, Vice President of Broadcasting Dick Vardanega, Community Programs Director Alissa Moore, Community Programs Coordinator Brittany Davidson and interns Jordan Davidson (Duke) and Andy Scott (Notre Dame) descended on Salem’s next door neighbor to talk shop at the station that provides the AM signal for the inhabitants of the state capital. Miller, Schonely and Wheeler hopped on air to discuss Portland’s basketball past, present and future with KYKN’s morning crew. I say Portland, but on these trips you quickly learn that while the Blazers may call the Rose Garden home, they are truly Oregon’s team. >>>continue
The third leg of the “Make it Better” Summer Tour presented by Kia started off in earnest with a day trip to the Salem/Keizer area, but on Tuesday we kicked off the overnight portion of the trip. It was off to Albany, after which we’d traverse the Santiam Pass, ending the day in Sun River.
We had a full day of activities in “Hub City” before taking our tour eastside. VP of Community Relations Traci Rose and VP of Broadcasting Dick Vardanega swung by my place in North Portland bright and early in the burgundy Kia Sedona. After a quick rally at the Rose Garden, it was onto I-5 to visit KLOO AM, our Albany affiliate. Having arrived a little bit early, Vardanega and radio analyst Antonio Harvey had a chance to make an unannounced visit to the KRKT studio to say hello to an old friend who sometimes fills in for Jay Allen on post-game radio show. After some ribbing and reminiscing, Harvey walked a door over to the KLOO studio to pay thanks to the station and its listeners for being such great supporters of the team.>>>continue
The Sunriver Resort, our gracious hosts for the last two days of the third leg of the “Make it Better” Summer Tour presented by Kia Motors, is a beautiful place to kick back and relax. From golf to swimming to tennis to bike riding, there’s no shortage of options when it comes to recreational activities in the dry, high desert air. But the Summer Tour isn’t about sunning by the pool or finding the fairway. It’s about getting out into the communities that have supported the Trail Blazers despite being hundreds of miles away. With that in mind, we rolled out of our rooms extra early with a full schedule of community meet and greets ahead of us.
That’s not to say we didn’t have a great time. In fact, quite the opposite is true. We were lucky enough to be joined the night before by Team President Larry Miller, Director of Player Programs Chris Bowles and Sponsorship Service Manager Kilynn Honiotes, so we rolled nine deep into the first stop of the day, a breakfast with Wells Fargo employees at the Deschutes Brewery.>>>continue
With no early morning activities scheduled for the last day of the third leg of the “Make it Better” Summer Tour Presented by Kia Motors, we had a chance to relax a bit before shoving off to Prineville. We checked out of the hotel and packed all of our gear into the Sedona with time to spare. After perusing the daily newspaper for a few minutes, it was back on the road for our final day in Central Oregon.
The view from atop Prineville is stunning. The entirety of the town, which sits in a canyon, can be surveyed from a viewpoint just southwest of the city, allowing you to take in a bird’s eye of this tight knit community. >>>continue
