Trail Blazers, Moda Health visit The Dalles for annual RIP City Rally

THE DALLES — The Portland Trail Blazers and Moda Health made a stop in The Dalles on Sept. 18 as part of their annual Rip City Rally. The partnership held a community fair at Riverfront Park in The Dalles.

The event provided the opportunity for community members to interact with Trail Blazers personalities — Trail Blazers Broadcasters Lamar Hurd, Brooke Olzendam and Michael Holton, Trail Blazers Radio Voice Travis Demers, Trail Blazers In-Arena Host Todd Bosma, Trail Blazers mascots Blaze the Trail Cat and Douglas Fur, and members of the BlazerDancers, and Moda representatives — see the 1977 NBA Championship trophy, and win game tickets and other prizes.

The Rip City Rally tour kicked off on Monday in Ontario (Sept. 15), followed by Pendleton on Sept. 17, The Dalles on Sept. 18, and finished in Gresham on Sept. 19.

Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, the vice president of DEI and Community Initiatives for Moda Health, spoke with Columbia Gorge News at The Dalles event.

“This is the 11th year we have been doing this, so we’ve been doing this since close to the very beginning of our partnership with the Blazers,” Stoudamire-Phillips said. “It started in 2013, and it was just one year later that we started this. Our goal was to spread the message of building healthier communities.”

Representatives from the Trail Blazers and Moda also visited Chenowith Elementary School, The Dalles Middle School, and The Dalles High School, where they held school assemblies, P.E. activities, and career panels for the youth of The Dalles.

At the fair, Moda held a raffle at its booth for fans to have a chance to win signed Trail Blazers gear and participate in healthy activities.

“It’s really fun,” said Olzendam, who serves as the Blazers’ sideline reporter. “It’s just great to interact with fans of all ages. I’ve run into so many people every year who were fans of the team when they started. They were at the championship game in ‘77. They have so much memorabilia from back then, and their kids, of course, were fans. Now the grandkids are fans, and so it’s generational, and it’s really neat to hear their story. So it’s fun for us. We look forward to it. It’s kind of the kickoff of our season. Right after this, we kind of get into training camp and then preseason. So it’s kind of like kicking off the season for us.”

Moda also donated playground balls to every elementary school in The Dalles and water bottles to participants in a P.E. takeover class that Moda led to encourage outdoor play at The Dalles Middle School.

Additionally, Moda showcased The Dalles nonprofit, YouthThink, at the fair and gave a monetary donation to the group.

Stoudamire-Phillips also gave Columbia Gorge News additional information on the donation.

“Every city that we’re in, we choose a nonprofit,” said Stoudamire-Phillips. “Moda chooses a nonprofit organization, and we make a check presentation to them. They get $1,500, and then they’re also here tabling with us, so they can share with the community about the work that they do.”

The Portland Trail Blazers kick off their preseason with a game against the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.