Wilsonville, OR

In 1965, author Walt Morey, who lived in Wilsonville, wrote the young adult novel "Gentle Ben," the story of a bear and his human pal in Alaska. Walt Disney bought the rights, moved the story to Florida, and turned Gentle Ben into a late 1960s TV series. When Morey died, his family donated land for a small park in his hometown. Its centerpiece is an eight-foot-tall, carved wood statue of Gentle Ben. The 500-pound bear sculpture was stolen by some teenage morons in 2012, but Ben was found in a ditch and quickly returned to the park.