March 04 2021
First of a three-art series.
If you lived anywhere near Columbia County in the 1970s or '80s, you knew who Ken "Shorty" Ames was.
If you knew anything about big-school Oregon baseball or football back then, you knew who Shorty Ames was.
And if you grew up in St. Helens in the second half of the '70s or the first half of the '80s, Shorty Ames was nothing short of a legend.
Ames, a 1979 graduate of St. Helens High School, was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Lions and St. Helens' best pitcher for all three years of his high school career. He is also a member of St. Helens' athletic Hall of Fame.