Portland Japanese Garden
Drake Snodgrass is a distinguished leader with extensive experience in various organizations. Currently serving as CEO of Drake's 7 Dees Landscaping since 1974, Snodgrass has held multiple leadership roles, including Past President of the Portland Executives Association and Immediate Past President of the Board of Trustees at the Portland Japanese Garden. Additional contributions include serving as Past Board President of Good News Community Health Center, Past President of the Portland Metro Advisory Board for the Salvation Army, and Past President of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce. Snodgrass was also a former Co-chair of the Mt Hood Jazz Festival and held the position of Past Board President for the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association until October 2024.
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Portland Japanese Garden
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When His Excellency Nobuo Matsunaga, the former Ambassador of Japan to the United States, visited the Portland Japanese Garden, he proclaimed it to be “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan.” The Garden sits nestled in the West Hills of Washington Park overlooking the city and providing a tranquil, urban oasis for locals and travelers alike. Designed in 1963, it encompasses 12 acres with eight separate garden styles, and includes an authentic Japanese Tea House, meandering streams, intimate walkways, and a spectacular view of Mt. Hood. Japanese gardens have an ancient history influenced by Shinto, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies. Upon entering a Japanese garden the hope is to realize a sense of peace, harmony, and tranquility. Three primary elements are used in every Japanese garden design: stone, the “bones” of the landscape; water, the life-giving force; and plants, the tapestry of the four seasons. The gardens are each asymmetrical in design and reflect nature in idealized form. Human scale is maintained throughout so that the visitor always feels part of the environment rather than being overpowered by it. This is a place to discard worldly thoughts and concerns and see oneself as a small but integral part of the universe.