What you need to know to behave
like a native Oregonian

1. It's pronounced ORE-a-gun, not Ore-a-gone.
2. The Willamette (Wi-LAM-et) River is one of the few rivers in the United States that flow south to north.
3. There's NO sales tax. Don't act surprised.
4. You cannot pump your own gas. Don't even try, you'll get yelled at.
5. We have 10-digit dialing: all phone calls made from the Portland area require dialing area codes.
6. The state flower is the Oregon Grape.
7. The state bird is the Western Meadowlark, which is only found in Eastern Oregon.
8. The state animal is the American Beaver.
9. The state fish is the Chinook Salmon. Fun catching, good eating!
10. The state insect is the Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly.
11. The state tree is the Douglas Fir.
12. The state nut is the Hazelnut, also called a filbert. Oregon grows 99 percent of the commercial hazelnut crop produced in the US.
13. The state rock is the Thunderegg, also called a geode.
14. The state beverage is milk. Should be Pinot Noir, but it's milk.
15. Oregon's deepest lake is Crater Lake. It's the deepest lake in the US.
16. The lowest elevation is sea level, the Pacific Ocean. The highest elevation is Mt. Hood, 11,240 feet.
17. The state song is not "Louie, Louie", but it should be. Officially, it's "Oregon, My Oregon".
18. Two-thirds of Oregon's land is in National, State, County or City public lands, and that's a good thing.
19. You cannot own a beach in Oregon, thank you Gov. Tom McCall. Everyone has access to Oregon beaches, except where the Snowy Plover is nesting.
20. People will wear shorts whenever the sun comes out, regardless of the temperature.
21. Many companies have "casual Friday" every day.
22. Blue jeans and boots go with a sports coat and tie.
23. When you go to get your driver's license, study the book. Seriously, study the book! Do you know how many feet a log can hang out the back of a truck before you have to tie a red flag on it? Study the book.
24. We live and die with the Portland Trail Blazers. Hate them or love them, they're all we've got.
25. When it snows 2 to 3 inches, schools will close and freeways will shut down. Don't fight it, take a holiday. It's probably going to melt by tomorrow.