Evolution
Fagan died of cancer in 1969, but the park lives on, cared for by others. It was named an official city park in 1976.
The small circle has featured many unusual items through the decades, including a swimming pool for butterflies—complete with diving board, a horseshoe, a fragment of the Journal building, and a miniature Ferris wheel which was delivered by a full size crane. On St. Patrick's Day, 2001, the park was visited by a tiny leprechaun leaning against his pot of gold and children's drawings of four-leaf clovers and leprechauns. The park continues to be the site of St. Patrick's Day festivities. The events held here include concerts by Clan Macleay Pipe Band, picnics, and rose plantings by the Junior Rose Festival Court.
In February 2006, the park was temporarily relocated during road construction to a planter outside the World Trade Center Portland, about 80 feet (24 m) from its permanent location. It was returned to its home—now named SW Naito Parkway—on March 16, 2007 in true St. Patrick's Day style with the Royal Rosarians, bagpipers, and the Fagan family, including Dick's wife Katherine, in attendance. The legend lives on in the Fagan family. One of Fagan's sons, Pat Fagan, lives in Gladstone and has enjoyed sharing the park with his own son. "He loves it", Pat Fagan said. "It's still the largest leprechaun colony west of Ireland."
Read more about this topic: Mill Ends Park
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“The evolution of a highly destined society must be moral; it must run in the grooves of the celestial wheels.”
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“The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.”
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