By Sonia Fornoni | CNA board member
As a Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) board member, social committee chair and coordinator of McMenamins Kennedy School Community room… I’m loving my involvement in CNA.
I especially enjoy the synergies we’re identifying between the very active social committee and the community room that McMenamins allows us to use, and to rent out for various uses. Both fulfill the CNA mission to connect Concordia residents and businesses:
So I’m reaching out to people willing to give one-time classes, or series of classes.
- Community room rentals raise dollars that we give back to the neighborhood in community-building and fun activities – the holiday party, spring egg hunt, Fernhill Park Concert Series, workshops, community grants and more.
- The social committee creates many of those community building events.
I want to see the community room become more than a money maker – to become a community builder. Many hours the room sits empty when we could book free activities that fill our mission to connect people by engaging adults and/or children.
So I’m reaching out to people willing to give one-time classes, or series of classes. Perhaps new businesses will offer samples of their wares and/or services.
How about a once-a-week session devoted to art – creating it, viewing it or talking about it? What about a seasonal gardening meeting? Celebrations of ethnic traditions?
I’m also looking for morning “motion” classes – yoga, tai chi and others to offer free to adults. Parents of children with autism plan to gather there. You can pop in and see what it’s all about. Foster parent information sessions are starting. So are craft and other creative sessions to strengthen intergenerational relations.
Some of our current, regular renters may want to open their activities to the public. Sacred Harp is one. It’s a group of people who love to sing – using a shape note system – with no auditions, no performing. This form of music-making traces its origins to New England in the late 1700s.
A monthly game night begins Oct. 19 – for children ages 8-12, accompanied by parents or guardians – to play board games. (Electronics are banned!) CNA has already begun conversational Spanish classes there on Thursday evenings. All levels are welcomed.
We are not allowed to give the room free for political and religious events; otherwise, the opportunities are endless.
If something pops into your mind that you – or someone you know – could offer in the community room, please email me at CNARoomKennedy@gmail.com.
I encourage you to check out our Community Room Calendar column on Page 8.
Sonia Fornoni, born in Bariloche, Argentina, moved 1½ years ago to Concordia. After enduring 36 years of hot humid south Florida, she feels at home in Portland. Sonia is passionate about gardening, cooking/ baking, art, meeting new people and sharing time with the people she loves.