I’ve had many fun times at the Helvetia Tavern. I first visited that place back in 1983 when I was in the area visiting my uncle and he took me there. Then after moving to Portland with my family years later, we would go there and our young son always enjoyed checking out the farm animals that were out and about across the road. Based on your pics, it really doesn’t appear that place has changed much over the years.
I had an internship with Tektronix out in Beaverton back in the summer of ‘85. One day I rode my bicycle out to the Helvetia Tavern (it wasn’t too far from Hillsboro where I was staying). I was just hanging out by myself when I met this guy who was a professional jet ski racer and his girlfriend. Those two were fun, but absolutely crazy. After a few pitchers of beer, the afternoon ended with them doing wheelies on his motorcycle (she was riding pillion) on the road out in front of the tavern before we went our separate ways. On the way back home I wound up getting a flat tire. While I managed to successfully patch the hole in the inner tube, I wound up pinching the tube when reinstalling it resulting in a now non-repairable flat. What had been a nice bike ride turned into a long walk back while pushing a bike. Served me right. 😂
