Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

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Social Column – CNA invites neighbors to party

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

The holidays are here, and we’d like to invite all of our neighbors to Concordia’s holiday party! This year we are having our holiday party from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, at Teote Alberta, 2700 NE Alberta St. CNA will provide a buffet-style dinner, and the bar will be open for adult beverages.

In addition, we are lucky to have Robin Jackson and Lewis Childs performing holiday music for us from 5 p.m. onward. We will have some candy and prizes for children attending.

We plan to have a silent auction to raise funds for CNA, including art and gift certificates donated by our local businesses. Thank you, Astrid Furstner, for all your help and collaboration getting this silent auction ready and organized.

Vaccination cards are not required this year, but vaccines are heavily encouraged. Please RSVP at Social@ConcordiaPDX.org for a head count, as we would like to make sure we have enough food for everyone.

Alberta Gnome

CNA would like to thank Maquette Reeverts, local artist and CNews contributing writer, as well as her team, for putting together this year’s Alberta “Gnome for the Holidays.” This is a fun free event for an opportunity to win prizes.

Grab a “Gnome Card” at Frock Boutique, 1439 NE Alberta St., Mimosa Pottery Studios, 1718 NE Alberta St. or Alberta Street Gallery, 1829 NE Alberta St. and hunt for gnomes. From Dec. 2–26, walk Northeast Alberta from NE 13th to NE 30th avenues and look for hidden gnomes at participant businesses listed on the Gnome Cards. Each gnome has a letter next to it, so write down the letter on the corresponding business square and reveal a hidden message.

Return your completed gnome card to any of the drop-off locations, including any of the locations mentioned above, and enter for an opportunity to win. You do not need to find them all to participate in the raffle, which takes place Dec. 27.

Last Thursday on Alberta

It was brought to my attention that Last Thursdays on Alberta are year-round affairs among our artists and galleries and do not take place only during the summer months.

Share the Road

On a more serious note, we’d like to remind our drivers to please follow the speed limits on our streets. Remember that Alberta Street and 42nd Street are our commercial areas, and we have a lot of pedestrians walking those streets. We have seen some drivers in a rush and/ or at high speed at Prescott and Killingsworth unnecessarily putting in danger the lives of our neighbors. Slow down, and let’s share our streets with bikers and pedestrians alike.

As we wrap up this year, we’d like to thank all the people who made this year a success for our neighborhood. CNA hosted Bi-Monthly neighborhood pickups, and we picked up over 15 tons of trash from our street. We brought back our Annual Easter Egg Hunt, Concerts in the park, National Night Out, Annual Yard Sales and other fun events.

Thank you to our Social Committee volunteers and businesses who have made 2022 a success, and Happy New Year!

Javier Puga-Phillips holds the Southwest 1 position on the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors, manages rentals of the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room and chairs the CNA Social Committee. He is a real estate professional locally, and he is a published author and motivational speaker in Latin America and Spain.

Concordia poet inspired by area sights

Posted on by Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News
Carey Lee Taylor

Our neighborhood is home to Carey Lee Taylor, an accomplished poet and photographer whose inspirational sources include what she sees in Concordia. Take her poem “A Woman on 22nd and Killingsworth.” Taylor explains how she came to write it after a walk in Concordia.

“‘A Woman on 22nd and Killingsworth’ was inspired when walking home from Alberta Park one winter morning at the beginning of the pandemic,” she says. “The image of this couple stayed with me all day, and the poem, I hope, gave them a chance to be seen with the dignity they deserved.”

Taylor is the author of The Lure of Impermanence (Cirque Press 2018). She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of the 2022 Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize. Her work has been published in Ireland and the United States, and she holds a master of arts degree in school counseling. She has lived in the Concordia neighborhood for four years. You can learn more about her at careyleetaylor.com.

A Woman on 22nd and Killingsworth

sits in a wheelchair
outside Cornerstone
Community Church —

foam curlers in her
hair, she pulls a tube
of lipstick from her purse.

At the curb
an orange extension cord
snakes from the open door

of a duct-taped camper
to an electrical outlet
beside her.

An unshaven man steps
from the camper, moves
towards her, bends

down, and kisses
all that pink—bedded in her hair
like Magnolia blossoms,

clasped
to her head
like a crown.

 

Concordia Neighborhood #3

It makes no difference to the sky
what happened here,

or the east wind taking its
much-needed break.

Even St. Michael
was taking vacation

from shattered glass
and squeal of tire

seated at the bar of some
scuzzy seaside honky-tonk,

on the ebb tide
of his third beer.

Social Column – Last Thursday ends; new restaurant opens

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses, Volunteer Opportunities

Hello Concordia! We’d like to start our social column thanking all the businesses, neighbors and participants in “Last Thursday” on Alberta this year. We had a lot of fun helping bring this event back, and we would love to hear your feedback.

Also, we’d like to welcome Abyssinian Kitchen to Concordia. Located on the corner of Northeast Alberta Street and Northeast 30th Ave., this new Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant has opened its doors, adding more flavors to our neighborhood. Kuflom Abbay, the owner of the restaurant, is usually there to greet customers and answer any questions regarding the menu.

Litter Pickup set Dec. 3

Volunteers with SOLVE, an Oregon community group, participate in the Oct. 1 Concordia
litter pickup. Photo by Gina Levine.

Another successful neighborhood litter pickup took place on Oct. 1. Thank you to all the volunteers who participated. Special thanks to our neighbor Sigrid Casey, who drove her own truck and helped pick up large items left on the streets. At this point, we have picked up around 15 tons of trash from Concordia’s streets.

On a side note, since the weather has changed, we’d like to kindly ask neighbors to refrain from leaving “Free” piles of items on the streets. Many of these items get wet and damaged, potentially becoming debris. We suggest taking those items in good condition to your favorite charity or offering them to neighbors on such social media sites as OfferUp, Nextdoor, or Facebook Marketplace instead.

Our final litter pickup of 2022 is at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Alberta Park.  Let’s close this year with a cleaner neighborhood.

Hearty Halloween

We’d like to thank Bar Cala, 2703 NE Alberta St., for hosting this year’s Halloween Party! We had a lot of fun, and it was a success all around. We gave candy to the kids and some prizes for the best costumes. Thank you for everyone who participated and helped, and special thank you to those in Concordia who supported this event. You’ll find pictures on our website or social channels.

Scavenger hunt

This month, Clary Sage Herbarium, in cooperation with other businesses on Alberta, and CNA will be hosting the annual Scavenger Hunt Nov. 25–27. This is a great way to get social and visit different businesses in our neighborhood. It is easy to participate. Just stop by Clary Sage, 2901 NE Alberta St., to pick up your “passport” with the different businesses on Alberta Street, and begin the scavenger hunt by collecting stamps from the participating businesses. Once you have collected all the stamps, bring the completed passport to Clary Sage, and we’ll enter you in a raffle to win prizes.

Room ready

We’d also like to remind everyone that CNA is mainly funded by the rentals of the Community Room at Kennedy School. The room is available to be rented by the hour with special rates for nonprofit organizations. On this note, please be advised that we are changing the rental rates to $40 per hour and $25 for nonprofits.

We currently need volunteers. Please reach out to me at 503.343.5561 or Social@ConcordiaPDX.org for volunteer opportunities.

Follow us in Instagram at @CNAPDX and use #SocialConcordiaPDX for shoutouts. We also have a Facebook group page, @ConcordiaPDX, for updates.

Javier Puga-Phillips holds the At Large 4 position on the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors, manages rentals of the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room and chairs the CNA Social Committee. He is a real estate professional locally, and he is a published author and motivational speaker in Latin America and Spain.

UO officials invite input from neighbors

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News
University of Oregon Interim President Patrick Phillips addresses Concordia neighbors Oct. 12. Photo by Brittany van der Salm

With fall sun streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, about 60 neighbors nibbled on duck-shaped sugar cookies, as they learned Oct. 12 about what’s next for the 19-acre campus at the north end of Concordia neighborhood.

In June, the University of Oregon acquired the former Concordia University campus, which had been shuttered since 2020. The recent public meeting took place in the library of the new UO campus. At the gathering, community members mingled with a dozen UO staff and listened to remarks from Interim President Patrick Phillips about the University’s intentions.

The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health is seeking to train more professionals in emotional wellness and will occupy the top floor of the library building, he said.

The institute will offer a new degree for undergraduates and aims to ready 200 graduates per year for jobs in schools and healthcare settings. Students participating in that program will occupy two of the campus’ residence halls starting in Fall 2023.

Some UO officials have already started moving into Concordia campus offices and Phillips said that they are keen to get the library building’s first-floor coffee shop up and running.

In order to create a “campus feel,” Phillips said UO has decided to move all of its Portland programs, currently housed in Old Town’s White Stag building, to the new campus. Those programs include graduate level offerings in business administration, architecture, historical preservation, journalism and law.

The “Innovation Space,” a research and maker lab used by several UO Portland graduate programs, is slated to take over what was Luther Hall, the large brick building and adjoining chapel on Holman Street and NE 28th Avenue.

UO Portland Provost Jane Gordon said the university wants to turn the former Concordia University chapel into a commons, an open space for exhibits and gatherings. The building will require significant renovations, and the university is in the process of selecting an architect to assist in the design phase, she said.

Gordon said she is most excited about the on-campus housing UO will now be able to offer UO Portland students, something it can’t in its Old Town site. She said UO intends to use 400 of the 500 current on-campus beds for students.

Gordon said neighbors will be welcome to use the campus in a variety of ways. “We want to be a community-centered campus,” Gordon said. “We will do events that people will be invited to, whether they’re a lecture, conference, music or things the community puts on. We’re open to various ideas.”

Ideas being considered include a weekly farmer’s market, concerts on the lawn and a food cart pod. Gordon says she wants to collaborate with Concordia residents on how to use the campus.

To share your ideas, contact UO by emailing pdxinfo@uoregon.edu.

For more information, visit pdx.uoregon.edu/northeast-pdx-campus

Readers Write! Tell us how you think the Concordia community should interact with, as well as utilize, the University of Oregon’s new campus. We’ll publish your thoughts in an upcoming issue. Email CNews Editor Rob Cullivan at CNewsEditor@ConcordiaPDX.org.

St. Charles Church – Catholic parish welcomes pastoral administrator

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News
Father Tony Galati. Contributed photo

St. Charles Catholic Church, 5310 NE 42nd Ave., welcomed a new Pastoral Administrator, Father Tony Galati, this summer.

Galati officially took his position in July and is no stranger to the Concordia neighborhood. He grew up in the Piedmont neighborhood and attended Holy Redeemer Grade School, Central Catholic High School and the University of Portland.

When he was a child, his family would occasionally attend Mass at St. Charles, something he remembers fondly as well as the friendships he made with St. Charles parishioners through the years.

Following graduation from college, he began a 28-year career in international shipping and then served as executive director of Portland’s Catholic Radio station, KBVM, now Mater Dei Radio. Galati noted he became interested in the radio station during his commutes. “I would time my drive so I could pick up certain programs during my workday,” he said.

He eventually joined the station’s board in 2002 and was hired as director in 2005, a position he held till 2014. During his tenure at KBVM, he helped to solidify its financial support and expanded its reach in Oregon, extending the station’s broadcast reach by purchasing two transmitters in the Eugene area.

Previously married, Father Galati has two grown sons and three grandchildren. His marriage was annulled, a Catholic process by which a marriage is considered invalid because it lacks at least one essential element to make it a binding union. Because of this, Galati was able to become an ordained minister in the church.

About a decade ago, he said he felt God’s call to the priesthood and was encouraged by others, including a priest friend, to consider joining the clergy.

“It took me a while to discern, and I did, and I haven’t looked back since,” he said. Galati decided to enter Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict and was accepted in 2016 and ordained in 2021.

Now at age 65, he is new to the priesthood but grateful for his life experiences, which he feels will help him to better do the things a priest is consecrated to do. He noted his age and life story enabled him to give spiritual counsel grounded in the practical challenges all people face.

“Had I not been married and had kids, I could not do this job,” he said. “I come with an instinctive desire to be a spiritual father to people.”

His priorities will be administering the sacraments, serving as celebrant for weekend and daily Masses, visiting the sick and homebound and presiding at funerals and weddings.

“I love it all,” he said when asked what he enjoys about being a priest. “Whether it’s celebrating Mass or anointing the sick or hearing confession or baptisms, for me it’s been wonderful. I feel duty-bound in being generous in offering the sacraments.”

In his first Sunday homily, he told the congregation: “It’s a privilege and blessing for me to be here with you. May God bless you and let’s pray for each other that we may be Christ to one another.”

This story contains additional reporting by Rob Cullivan.

Concordia Tree – Team Tree Team helps keep Concordia green

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Trees

By Jim Gersbach and Ric Vetter | Concordia Tree Team

Jim Gersbach leading a tree walk along Ainsworth arboretum. Photo by Ric Vette

Did you enjoy the shade and coolness of neighborhood trees this summer? Many of those street and school trees in Concordia have been cared for by a dedicated group of neighbors who make up the Concordia Tree Team.

Our activities include pruning small street trees in the spring and fall, watering through the summer and occasionally working with other organizations such as Trees for Life Oregon, distributing watering buckets in various neighborhoods, and Portland Parks and Recreation, which works on tree planting.

Each autumn, we select a different area of Concordia to prune small street trees with the permission of the homeowner. Residents can consent to our services by following guidance on hangtags we leave on doors or by signing consent forms when our volunteers canvas the streets that will be covered this year.

If we prune your trees, please feel welcome to watch us work, ask questions and provide comments. The Concordia Tree Team has been involved in creating each of the neighborhood’s three arboretums, or tree museums.

The Ainsworth Linear Arboretum was established in 2005 at the request of Concordia neighborhood Tree Steward Jim Gersbach with support from volunteers from the Vernon and Woodlawn neighborhoods. The arboretum consists of the median and planting strip rows on 31 blocks of Ainsworth Street, from Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. to 37th Avenue.

You can learn more about the arboretum at AinsworthLinearArboretum.org.

Sixty years ago, the median was strongly dominated by Norway Maples, a tree that is now considered a nuisance species and can no longer be planted on city property. For the past 17 years, Gersbach has worked with Portland Parks and Recreation to select trees that are relatively rare in Portland to diversify the genetic mix along Ainsworth, as well as species that may thrive here as the climate changes. As old trees die, the maple monoculture is gradually giving way to a much more diverse treescape representing dozens of species and different genera.

The arboretum at Alliance High School at Meek Campus, 4039 NE Alberta Ct., was established in 2010 to form a learning landscape where students could learn about trees and biodiversity. Trees were selected from the currently successful and diverse oak genus and other genera that contain few members—or only one.

The Cully-Concordia International Grove, our third arboretum, is a collaborative project with the Cully neighborhood. Planted in March 2011, it is our youngest arboretum. The Bureau of Environmental Services funded the original planting after securing permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation, which owns the land. The goal was to slow stormwater runoff into the Columbia Slough, and to trial diverse species, including those that might be more climate resilient.

Trees were selected to represent every continent where they grow. Among them are Oregon myrtle; Mediterranean cork and holly oaks; a Mexican pine; an evergreen silverleaf oak from the U.S. Southwest; North African Atlas cedar; Chinese Pistache; Australian snow gums; giant sequoia and two Portland natives, Oregon white oak and Willamette Valley ponderosa pine.

Unfortunately, the neighborhood has learned that the Portland Bureau of Transportation intends to remove 14 of the 60-plus trees of the International Grove during construction to replace the bridge over Lombard at 42nd Avenue.

The young trees in all these tree museums require summer watering by our tree-team volunteers, who can be seen working on various nights and weekends at Meek and along Ainsworth.

The Concordia Tree Team was instrumental in securing Concordia’s first heritage tree, an American persimmon, as well as getting heritage status for one of the natural-form European hornbeams in Fernhill Park. We also provide water for park trees that appear to be struggling during our increasingly hot and dry summers.

The Tree Team was honored with a citation from Portland Parks and Recreation for meritorious work in organizing and executing the Fernhill Park tree inventory in 2018. This spring, with the help of many helpful Concordians, we pruned many small trees along Alberta Street in concert with other Earth Day volunteer activities.

Concordia was the first neighborhood in Portland to have its street trees inventoried in 2010. Tree Team members participated in that census. This summer, Concordia was again first in the city to have its street trees re-inventoried with help from the Tree Team. We look forward to sharing the results once they are tabulated by the City’s Urban Forestry staff.

If you’d like to be part of a fun, active group of Concordians and aren’t afraid of rolling up your sleeves to better the neighborhood, consider joining the Concordia Tree Team. We can be reached through the “Talk To Us” page on the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum Website, AinsworthLinearArboretum.org/talkto-us.

 

Social Column – Yard sales a success, Halloween bash set

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events, Volunteer Opportunities
Concordia residents shopped at several homes Sept. 2 to 4 during the neighborhood’s annual yard sales event. Photos by Javier Puga-Phillips

Thank you very much for all your support and help bringing events back to Concordia. I am happy to report that the annual yard sales event, Sept. 2 to 4, was a success. We had 34 official addresses on the roster this year, plus a few neighbors who decided to jump in and hold their yard sales lastminute.

During the yard sales, I had the opportunity to meet many neighbors who happily shared different businesses in Concordia and adjacent neighborhoods in Northeast Portland that they feel are worth giving a shout out here.

Mis Tacones, 1670 NE Killingsworth St., was brought up several times as a great option for vegan food. Green Bean Books, 1600 NE Alberta St., was also mentioned a few times as a great option for our younger readers. Thank you to those businesses for being an important part of our neighborhood, and thank you to the residents who took time to talk to me and share their experiences and feedback.

I’d also like to thank Jessica Chace and Michelle Fitzgerald who helped me put this event together. Thank you to Andrea Boyd, a graphic designer who came up with the map and made it easier for us to locate the participants’ homes and, of course, thank you to all the participants and/or residents and shoppers who were key to the success of this event.

A special thank you to Madeleine Chace, who shared her art work with our neighbors and elevated our yard sales to a walk of art.

Up Next

Moving on with our agenda, our next neighborhood Litter Pickup is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. We are meeting at Alberta Park, at the corner of Northeast Ainsworth and Northeast 22nd Avenue.

These events are in coordination with SOLVE as well as our neighbors. At this point, we have picked up over 12 tons of trash from the streets of Concordia. Thank you to Gina Levine, our neighbor who has helped with this project for a year.

Halloween Treats

Our next party event is our Halloween Party, Monday, Oct. 31. We’d like to extend a special thank you to Bar Cala, 2703 NE Alberta St., which is hosting our festivities.

This year’s theme is “Masquerade,” and we will be at Bar Cala passing candy out to the neighborhood kids and will have prizes for the children. The party will be held from 5–8 p.m. Stop by to celebrate with us and wear your best costume. We will be having a costume contest.

Room for Rent

We also like to remind everyone that Concordia Neighborhood Association is funded mainly by the rentals of the community room at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave.

The room is available to be rented by the hour with special rates for nonprofit organizations. All proceeds from the room are used to keep funding more events, Concordia News and other important projects for Concordia.

We currently need volunteers. Please reach out to me at 503.343.5561 or Social@ConcordiaPDX.org for volunteer opportunities.

Follow us in Instagram @CNAPDX and use #SocialConcordiaPDX for shoutouts. We also have a Facebook page @ConcordiaPDX for updates.

Javier Puga-Phillips holds the At Large 4 position on the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors, manages rentals of the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room and chairs the CNA Social Committee. He is a real estate professional locally, and he is a published author and motivational speaker in Latin America and Spain.

Concordia Conversations – Area gardener ‘paints with plants’

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Gardening
Garden designer Wesley Younie notes many clients are looking to replace their lawns with more interesting landscapes. Photo by Michael French

Wesley Younie is a painter and trendsetting garden designer leaving his mark all over Portland. Through his business, Wesley Younie Creative, his calendar is packed with eager clients seeking drought-tolerant and aesthetically pleasing flower-filled landscapes.

Past clients include Sequitur Wine in Newburg, Union Wine in Tualatin and dozens of private residences, including many here in Concordia.

Ready to take the plunge and pull out your lawn? Younie recommends starting with the parking strip. “You want it to be low maintenance,” he said. “Why not fill it with plants and shrubs that thrive in the Pacific Northwest?”

Visit WesleyYounie.com to see more of his work or get in touch.

The following interview took place in late summer, in Younie’s stunning home garden in Concordia.

Shelton: Looking at your paintings, I’m noticing an interest in nature. Also, a lot of small details. How does your painting interact with your garden design?

Wesley Younie is an accomplished painter,
whose art is inspired by his gardening. This
work is titled “Dark Garden.” Contributed
photo

Younie: “Well, it’s all the same elements. I say, ‘I’m painting with plants.’ Kind of cheesy to say, but true. It’s the same formula if you’re painting a landscape, except you’re doing it in 3D. And color is huge in my gardens. There are colors I don’t like using. There are colors that are favorites, and those that are really easy to blend together—purple, blue, pink, white, dark red. If I like a bright color, it’s usually orange.”

Your personal garden is packed full of plants. And when I walk down the long sidewalk in front of your house, nestled between the parking strip and the rock retaining wall that lines your lot, I instantly feel transported. Not sure I can pinpoint what that feeling is though. What is it about for you?

“To me, it’s the same thing as art. It’s all about creating a feeling. I once wrote in an artist statement, ‘I want my work to transport you to another world.’ It’s the same in gardens. I like different themes and playing with mixing themes. Parts of my garden are Japanese, parts are tropical and other parts are really arid, natural California desert–looking. It’s so important to have the big picture, then the details. I think that’s what a lot of homeowners can’t figure out. What’s the big picture of my garden or landscape?”

When you set out to design a garden for a client, what are your priorities?

“I really want the client to love the garden. And making sure they are set up for success. Like, don’t let them put a vegetable garden in the shade.”

What’s going on in our gardens in October? What should we be doing?

“Fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs because it’s starting to rain and you can have them watered for free. You can start planting fall edible plants too, as well as bulbs.”

Can we plant flowers for spring?

“Perennials, yes, because then they go dormant, then they come back and they look great. It’s a great time to add color to your garden.”

Where do you buy plants?

“My favorite nursery in town, Xera Plants at 1114 SE Clay St. I like to promote them because they’re local, they have good prices and all their plants do great in our climate.”

Wesley Younie works in his home garden. Photo by Michael French

Speaking of climate, how do we plant for a warming one?

“What I’ve been into, and I’m seeing with clients, is a huge push for pollinating flowers that help the ecosystem by attracting bees and other insects. I went to a big nursery conference, and they said pollinators are the number one thing people are asking for. That makes me happy that people are thinking about this.

“And with the fires and climate change— Oregon is getting hotter—there are so many plants that are going to look green, are drought tolerant and are going to look way better than a dead lawn. I love taking out a lawn. And a lot of the gardens in the neighborhood that I’ve done are that. How much better for the ecosystem is a pollinator garden that’s creating habitat than a dead lawn?”

Leigh Shelton is the new lead ad representative for CNews. She loves raising her three children in Concordia and doing yoga nidra. For advertisement inquiries, contact Leigh at CNewsBusiness@ ConcordiaPDX.org.

Stumptown Scholar – Jefferson High valedictorian wins scholarship

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

By Rob Cullivan | CNews Editor

A fan of anthropology and history, Rowan Dodero is a valedictorian of the Class of 2022 and says she’s fascinated by how folks lived in the past.

Rowan Dodero, 18, a graduate of Faubion Elementary School as well as Jefferson High, can speak Spanish, paint murals and talk fashion—Roman fashion, from back when the Caesars were emperors, not salads.

A fan of anthropology and history, Dodero is a valedictorian of the Class of 2022 and says she’s fascinated by how folks lived in the past. “I’m interested in the people,” she says. “I really like looking at what they wore and learning about what they believed and why and what they did.”

In addition to the aforementioned subjects, Dodero has also learned about biotechnology as an intern at her high school’s OHSU program, and she enjoys writing as well. The stellar student earned 40 college credits while in high school by attending Portland Community College classes through its Cascadia campus, graduated with a 4.2 weighted GPA and is enrolled at the University of Oregon.

She earned a Pathways Scholarship to the home of the Ducks, which she says will cover her tuition, and plans to pay her housing bill with the help of a $1,000 Stumptown Scholarship. Dodero was one of 16 East Portland high school graduates who won such a grant. Stumptown Scholars are primarily funded by retailer Mattress Lot and local donors. Scholarship awards are based on an essay, academic performance, community leadership and financial need.

For her Stumptown essay, Dodero was asked how she would teach young people 20 years from now about what it was like to be a student during the Covid lockdowns.

“I would start by delving into the effects that quarantine, masking and social distancing had on people,” she wrote. “I would focus on youth because I have first-hand experience being a high schooler during the pandemic, and I could relate it to my students. I would look into the long-term effects this had on my generation, how school etiquette and social skills were hindered.”

“Our scholarship committee was super impressed by Rowan’s essay,” Michael Hanna, a Stumptown spokesperson, said. “Rowan is a creative and thoughtful writer. She writes clearly, in an organized manner. We liked her description of life during the pandemic for high school students and her description of how the pandemic changed our culture and society for years to come.”

Dodero credited her parents, Calley Dodero and Stephen Phillips, for supporting her academic journey, and added that her interests are varied, ranging from volunteering on behalf of the Oregon Food Bank to serving as a Portland Parks and Recreation camp counselor this summer, as well as an art camp counselor the previous three years.

Although she would love to study Spanish abroad, Dodero said she has not yet made up her mind what she wants to pursue as a career after university. “I’m just trying to learn a bunch of stuff and see what I like.”

CNews Editor Rob Cullivan is a veteran journalist, publicist and grant writer who has written about everything from rock ‘n’ roll to religion. He possesses a deep affection for writers and photographers who hit deadline.

News from the NET – How to Start Preparing For Potential Disasters

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

If you haven’t started setting aside supplies for a disaster, or done any other kind of planning, where is the best place to start? This is a common question, and while there’s no one right answer, I’ll give you my priorities to use as a guideline in case you need it.

Remember that you don’t have to tackle everything at once, and I highly advise taking it in small doses. A small amount of planning is better than no planning.

It is important to make sure that everyone in your family knows what your reunification plan is. To learn how to make a plan, visit ConcordiaPDX.org, click on “Concordia News” and read the NET columns in the Oct. and Nov. 2021 editions. A reunification plan doesn’t require any supplies, just thinking and talking things through with your family.

For supplies, I suggest starting with a three-day go-bag for each member of the family, including children, and I’ll cover what you should put in it in next month’s NET column. These are supplies you can use in your home or take with you, depending on the situation.

Once you’ve got that in place, it’s time to start thinking about larger quantities of water, a subject I covered in the July and Aug. 2022 NET columns. You will also need food supplies for a longer period of time. It’s a good idea to have at least two weeks of food and water supplies on hand. If it’s too much to buy all of that at once, add to your supplies gradually—it’s not an all-or-nothing rule. Some is always better than none!

If you feel like you have enough supplies for your family for a couple of weeks or more after a disaster, it’s time to get involved in your community if you haven’t already. Find out about joining your Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) at Portland.gov/pbem/ neighborhood-emergency-teams, or your BEECN (Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication Node) team at Portland.gov/pbem/about-beecn (and see Concordia News August 2021). Or connect with neighbors to share preparedness duties and develop a disaster response plan for the block on which you live.

A community that plans together survives better and recovers faster from disasters!

Erin E. Cooper is a marine biologist living in Woodlawn. She spends a lot of time thinking about disasters and has been a NET member for many years. Contact her at OceanListener@gmail. com.