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Last week's story took a look at Hood River's background and used the story of Jeff Hughes,owner of Big Winds windsurfing shop, to exemplify the changes wrought in the community by the advent of windsurfing. This week's story begins with Hughes' partner at Big Winds, Steve Gates, and introduces other people with different perspectives on the community.
Steve Gates is Jeff Hughes' partner at Big Winds. Gates and Hughes built the Big Winds center, they coach the Cooper Spur race team and teach windsurfing. One could safely say that windsurfing consumes them.
Gates moved to Hood River from Alaska in 1987. "At that time," he explained, "the town was basically for sale. Every other house had a 'for sale' sign; everything was cheap."
Then windsurfing hit town. "Lots of people who wanted to leave here for years were able to sell their houses," Gates said, and people who wanted to move in did."
So while the population didn't dramatically increase, it did abruptly change.
In 1992, Gates, a windsurfer was appointed the city's first windsurfing mayor. "When I became mayor," Gates said, "there were still people suspicious of windsurfing." But Gates proved himself, handling an immediate water crisis upon appointment. Then he helped mediate opposition to Hood River's changing populace.
"I decided to hire kids from the community and teach them to...