Milkawukie Plaza

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Milwaukie-plaza.jpg

A small retail and services plaza just off of Milwaukie Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Though the center is itself rather old, it is filled with active businesses, and that's more than many such places in the area can claim.

Monkey Wrench Auto Repair

An auto repair garage, owned by Harry Olson. It is a small start-up garage, with room for four vehicles in its garage space.

It consists of a front desk with receptionist, plus a waiting room with only slightly uncomfortable plastic chairs, with two restrooms intended for the use of clients. A mechanics lounge is off of the waiting room, with a fridge and seats for mechanics on break, and employee-only restrooms. An exit leads out to the employees corridor out of the building.

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Lisa Mae Crawford
Receptionist
Constantly chewing gum, Lisa Mae's sweet Southern accent and sunny disposition are unforgettable. She moved cross-country from Tennessee with her high school sweetheart right after they married so he could work in the logging industry. But after she caught him cheating on her, she divorced him and has set herself up all on her lonesome, despite her family wanting her to come back home.
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Tony Hanson
Mechanic
Quiet and good at his craft, Tony is the only one of the Monkey Wrench mechanics to work full time. A Vietnam vet, Tony did repair work in the Army's motor pool service.

Rhythm Dance Academy

A small two-studio dance instruction business, owned by Lucas Beloi, where he teaches salsa dancing classes and also rents out his studios to other dance instructors (plus a few others who use the space, including Otherworldly Experiences, a support group for alien abduction survivors).

The reception lobby has a desk and restrooms for clients. The studios both have mirrored walls on one end, and glass walls (with blinds) where the doors are. Further back is an office for Lucas, a restroom and locker room for instructors, plus an exit into the employees corridor.

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Haywood Mane
Manager
Generally in-studio in the mornings, Haywood takes care of the administrative parts of running the studio...to the best of his ability. He is definitely still learning the ropes, but he is focused on getting it right. He is a Vietnam vet that walks with a distinctive limp, due to the prosthetic leg he has, and sometimes lingers to watch the dancers wistfully.
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Effie Peterson
Tap and Ballet Instructor
A former dancer in the Seattle Ballet Company, Effie injured herself several years ago. Moving back to her family home in Portland, she has taken up teaching, first as an aide to other ballet instructors and most recently starting her own business here. Her classes are mostly mornings and afternoons (after school, specifically).
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Kenny Mann
Modern Dance Instructor
For a long time, Kenny has taught swing and other modern dancing, but with the disco era in full effect, he only has time for those classes, which are fuller than any he's taught in a long time. He holds classes in afternoons and evenings.

Other Businesses

  • Lobby & Restrooms: This lobby has a desk manned by a courtesy clerk during business hours and a rent-a-cop security guard at night. Large bathrooms for men and women are off the main lobby.
  • The Chuck Wagon: Diner A cheesy diner with a cowboy-on-the-range theme, all wagon wheels, lariats, and bull skulls. They make a decent steak and have an award-winning chili, but the rest of their fare is mediocre greasy spoon diner grub. On the plus side, they are open 24 hours a day.
  • Sanders Pets: Pet Shop A small family-owned pet shop that mostly specializes in kittens and puppies, with a few cages of hamsters and gerbils, some parakeets, and a short wall of fish aquaria.
  • Okinawan Karate School: Karate School A small school run by a retired Navy serviceman and his Okinawan wife, with classes for kids, adults, and women-only. Just inside their front door are the trophies won by their students at competitions.
  • Cherri's: Beauty Salon Though its amenities are all from the last decade or so, Cherri's still does a brisk business. Many starting cosmotologists rent chairs from Cherri's, and many neighborhood locals are loyal to the establishment rather than individual stylists, given the turn-over.
  • Wulfrick Dental: Dentist The tiny office of one Dr. Leonard Wulfrick.
  • The Toy Chest: Hobby Shop A shop that sells baseball cards, games, model kits, train kits, kites, and a few old-fashioned toys, owned by sweet Mrs. Nanette "Aunt Nan" Harcourt, a widow who seems to know all the local kids.