Event adds options for teens

Former Blazer Brian Grant teamed with police to offer an option for youths

By Kara Hansen

The West Linn Tidings, Aug 6, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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West Linn police are used to the calls for help in dealing with youths, whether a few unruly pre-teens are stirring up trouble or well-behaved groups are simply gathering in a local park.

“Kids in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades are old enough to be out a little later than some of the younger kids, but they have no transportation,” explained Sgt. Neil Hennelly. “They get stuck in town and there’s not a lot for them to do. It generates a lot of 9-1-1 calls.”

The situations are often tough to resolve in a city without dedicated youth hangout spots.

“The patrol guys get frustrated,” Hennelly said. “We’re trying to point them in a direction, but there’s nowhere to point them to.”

But that’s about to change.

A new program caters to seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders. 789 Jam on the Hill will host its first event this month: a dance party with a DJ and former Trail Blazer Brian Grant.

Grant will help host the event. Food will be available from Pizza Schmizza and Willamette Coffee House. Those who attend have a chance to win an iPod Touch.

A partnership between the West Linn Police Department, the city Parks and Recreation Department, Willamette Christian Church and Grant, 789 Jam on the Hill will first target local students, but it could grow.

Organizers have given much credit for the idea to Grant. Although police have pondered offering youth-oriented events for the past five or six years, it finally gained traction when Grant approached Hennelly in a local coffee shop, the police officer said.

Grant lived in West Linn from 1998 to 2000, during his three-year stint with the Blazers, and moved back after his retirement from the NBA about a year ago. He has two sons, one who attended Willamette Primary last year and will be a sixth-grader this fall, and another entering eighth grade at Athey Creek Middle School.

“I’m used to taking my oldest boy to dances at The Hoop in Beaverton,” Grant said. “I thought, wouldn’t it be neat if there was something closer ... a dance, maybe every other Friday, for kids to look forward to and go to in a good environment.”

The company handling the music and lights for 789 Jam is the same one used at The Hoop, a facility popular for its weekend dances in Beaverton.

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