Author Archives: Web Manager

By Carrie Wenninger | CNA Media Team

Sleuthing out life, health and self-affirming news these days is more challenging than simply flipping on the television or visiting your favorite online news aggregator.

These familiar places are, predictably, where you’ll find more of the same, often anxiety-provoking and fear-based reporting that many have come to regard as the new normal.

That, combined with social distancing, has many people hungry for community, connection and a heaping helping of positive news – but unsure how or where to find it.

Happily, Concordia resident and longtime healing arts practitioner Lori Reising is offering an easy and cost-free way to tap into and top up on that very stuff.

A health educator, retreat leader, the owner of Beginning Within massage therapy and hypnotherapy, Lori is a newly minted podcast host. She has expanded her primarily one-on-one therapy practice with the intent of reaching and supporting more people.

Her newest offering, The Raw and Wild Hearts Podcast, launched in November and is her way of serving up content that is inspiring, actionable, empowering and accessible to all.

The podcast offers a virtual place to talk, laugh, lean on and learn from each other.

“Humans are made to connect and thrive together, it’s how we operate,” she asserted. And right now finding the positive means making intentional – and intentionally – different choices. That said, it’s not all unicorns and cupcakes at The Raw and Wild Hearts.

“Acknowledging the places where we struggle is a big part of what helps us transform ourselves,” Lori said.

The most recent episode is “Empower Your Health During Coronavirus and Always” with Peter Borten, doctor of acupuncture & oriental medicine. It showcases a powerful conversation on breaking down fear and providing practical information to support immunity and long-term health.

“When we are offered concrete suggestions such as choosing meditation, nourishing foods, and fresh air and movement, we are given ways to lessen fear and increase self-actualization,” Lori pointed out. “This can help diminish stress and anxiety. Everything we do is a choice.

“Community is much more powerful than currency,” she enthused. The free podcast offers topics that can help you find strength in yourself, connect you to a larger community, and give you the tools and support to assist yourself spiritually, emotionally and physically – today and well into the future.

To tune in to this ongoing twice-monthly show and learn more about Lori, visit TheRawAndWildHearts.com.

Carrie Wenninger lives on 29th Avenue in Concordia. She is a freelance writer, a mom, a world traveler and a small business marketing consultant. Contact her at WurdGurl@gmail.com.

By Tamara Fowler | CNA Media Team

When Ted Snider first moved to Portland by way of Portland, Maine, farmers markets served the communities of Beaverton, Gresham and Hillsboro. It was 1975, and there were none within Portland city limits.

Ted got a few friends together to start Portland Farmers Market, and he managed that downtown event for its first five years.

That effort – and the farm store he opened in Cully neighborhood four years ago – earned him the title “Farmer Ted.”

In 2008, a scrappy little fruit and vegetable market popped up in the Hacienda Community Development Corporation (CDC) parking lot. It was an early predecessor of Cully Farmers Market.

The following spring, the space behind Trinity Lutheran Church became available and a tiny farmers market, full of earnest community spirit, replaced the one at the CDC.

“Everything came from the neighborhood farms and backyard gardens,” Ted recalled. “My favorite memory is when three young Somali girls wheeled in a red wagon filled with cabbages they grew at the Rigler garden. They sold out quickly, and the girls were beaming with pride.”

When Old Salt opened on 42nd Avenue in 2013, the owners started a small farmers market on Thursdays to highlight their farm-to-table connection. The next year the two markets merged. The social and entertainment aspects really started growing with the newly dubbed Cully Farmers Market (CFM).

It connects the diverse populations of the Cully, Concordia and Beaumont neighborhoods. And it brings people together to embrace the common need for eating food that is fresh, vibrant and organic.

Ted sees this as his mission in life.

However, staging a weekly melting pot in the community is just too risky in these unknown times of pandemic. With all the quarantining and social distancing of today, CFM is closed for this season.

“I have not missed a single market in 12 years, and now I’m going to miss them all season,” he lamented. So he’s looking forward to the market returning next summer.

In the meantime?

“Each of us can be a mini farmers market for our block and build those connections with each other,” Ted remarked. “The joy of growing food and feeding other people is contagious.

“So I expect that when we are able to return to our farmers market – whether for a one-time harvest festival this September or a full season next year – many people who have learned this joy of growing and sharing will have a supportive place to build connections with our wonderful community.”

Ted added, with an encouraging smile, “Keep on growing.”

Tamara Anne Fowler is Edit Kitten, a writer with 20-plus years of experience offering a sof ter, gentler approach to editing and coaching. Her personal editors — Armani, Max Factor and Spicey’D — are also her cats. Visit her at EditKitten.com or contact her at Tamara@EditKitten. com.

By Astrid Furstner | CNA Chair

The Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors continues to overcome the challenges the pandemic has thrown on us. We met May 6 for our second virtual meeting, and we accomplished plenty of business.

Four letters were approved and sent to:

• Oregon Cultural Trust in support of Alberta Main Street’s request for a grant to develop a district guidelines and streetscape design plan
• Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) to request open dialogue regarding the sale of the Concordia University property
• City of Portland in support of the Slow Streets Plan to slow or stop traffic temporarily on some city streets to allow for more physical distancing by pedestrians and bicyclists
• City of Portland in support of growing out our urban forest in the form of a revision to the Portland Tree Code

We also discussed a few ideas for the social committee to consider, such as a potential neighborhood scavenger hunt to bring us together, yet distanced. If you have ideas, let us know. Send them to my email address below for ways to keep socializing and getting to know each other, albeit while respecting physical distance.

Additionally we considered a few requests from businesses and organizations for our support regarding their proposed use of Concordia University property and facilities. We determined CNA is not the proper venue for individuals to request use of the land. The university property is privately owned. Any specific requests regarding leasing the buildings or use of the facilities should go directly to the owner of the property, LCMS.

What CNA can do, however, is present our neighbors’ concerns in a unified fashion to university representatives. If you have any concerns you wish to have addressed, please send them to me, again at the email address below, so we can continue to provide that input to LCMS.

The quarantine has not reduced our workload. We can always use assistance. Join us at our next board meeting – details are to the right. If you are interested in what goes on with the Land Use Transportation Committee, that information is in the same column. If you are interested in writing for the paper, contact CNewsEditor@ConcordiaPDX.

If you are interested in helping lead or participate in social functions – even physically distanced ones – contact SoniaGF419@gmail.com. If you have ideas for something new or any concerns, send them to me at Chair@ConcordiaPDX.org.

We are listening and we are here for our neighborhood!

Astrid Furstner is a mother, a wife, an immigrant, a local artist and an artisan. She lives with her luthier husband, Brent, and her artist-in-the-making daughter, Luciana. Together, they call Concordia their home.

By Astrid Furstner | CNA Chair

Changes can be difficult and stressful. Concordia is not alone in going through changes. We are all facing the new challenges and changes that come with dealing with COVID-19.

On April 1, the CNA Board of Directors conducted its first remote meeting. By now, I’m sure we have all held a meeting – work, neighborhood or family – using a social platform. It’s been an interesting experience.

The board was able to address a few things, while others items were postponed. We discussed the cancellation of our neighborhood’s beloved Spring Egg Hunt. We were sad to cancel the event – so was my daughter – and I understand the frustration you may have felt too. Given the circumstances, we felt it was the safest action for our community.

Unfortunately, the city has advised us it has canceled this summer’s concerts and movies in Fernhill Park. It also canceled the annual neighborhood cleanup event planned for May 30.

While all of this is frustrating and sad – and provided that next year we are pandemic free – we are planning on continuing with these popular events.

A few other items that have been postponed for now are three suggestions submitted to me:

• Potential summer block party
• Potential summer cookout
• Formation of a committee to assist our senior residents in need.

As much as we would like to move forward with these, we are unable currently to do so with respect to social distancing. However, we will not be restricted forever. When the time comes again to be able to gather, I think a block party would be a great beginning to reconnecting.

Then we can also move forward putting together a group of volunteers to help neighbors who need assistance. Feel free to email me at Chair@ ConcordiaPDX.org with ideas about the events and/or your interest in volunteering.

Finally, the board discussed working with The Street Trust to host a free legal clinic regarding the rules of the road. When we are able to all be in a room together, we hope to be able to provide something like that to all of you.

Again, if you have ideas, topics, discussions or questions for CNA to address, please email me – or join the board at our May 6 meeting. Information is in the right column of this page for you to learn how to join in.

Stay safe and healthy. Wishing you all well.

Astrid Furstner is a mother, a wife, an immigrant, a local artist and an artisan. She lives with her luthier husband, Brent, and her artist-in-the-making daughter, Luciana. Together, they call Concordia their home

By Marsha Sandman | CNA Media Team

Some older adults and people with disabilities need in-home support and/or transportation to live their lives gracefully. Not everyone has a family support system.

Through Project Linkage and Ride Connection, volunteers offer transport to make it possible for those in need to exist with dignity in their own homes, and to feel connected to their community.

Ride Connection is part of Metropolitan Family Service, a private nonprofit organization.

Full-time employees and volunteers provide rides to and from grocery stores, medical appointments and other destinations, using personal or agency vehicles.

“When people are no longer isolated, it’s easier to access healthy food, get to medical appointments and stay connected with their communities,” the 30-year-old organization’s website reported. “With the help of others, life is a little easier and a lot more fulfilling.”

Neighbors who serve as volunteers are rewarded with the satisfaction of seeing their time and energy make a real difference in a real way, according to Greg McAllister.

The local volunteer has a passion for giving and helping that began when, as a junior in high school, he joined the seminary. After nine years, he realized he had lost his belief in organized religion. So he left the seminary and moved to San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury.

As Greg moved around the country, he wore many hats. Among other jobs, he’s been a truck driver, bar tender, career adviser, editor, author, film maker and college professor.

Also along the way, he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in creative arts interdisciplinary studies.

After retiring, Greg and wife Linda moved to Vermont, where they both volunteered in hospice care for 10 years. Now in Portland, he cultivates his passions and enjoys his children and grandchildren.

“People are my passion and always have been,” Greg said. Does he walk that talk? Find out how at GregoryMcAllister.com.

As COVID-19 moves safely to the rearview mirror – and if you or someone you know is in need of transportation assistance – contact Ride Connection at 503. 226.0700 to register and request rides. You just might find Greg behind the wheel.

After living east, south, north and west, Marsha Sandman is home at last. And she wants to hear your story. Contact her at MarshaJSandman@gmail.com.