Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

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Board member on Juneteenth

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

By Kepper Petzing | Contributing writer

On June 19, 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed people in Confederate territories from slavery, Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas. He read out General Order Number 3, informing everyone that the Union had won the Civil War, and slavery was abolished in the United States. This date is now celebrated as Juneteenth.

Juneteenth in Portland
Oregon was the only state to enter the Union with a clause excluding Blacks in its constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment, which made exclusion illegal, was passed in 1868. Understandably, few Black people moved to Oregon until their labor was needed in the Portland shipyards during World War II.

Clara Peoples was one such person. She moved here from Muskogee, OK, and was surprised to learn that Juneteenth was not celebrated here. In 1945 she led her fellow workers in the Kaiser shipyards in the first Juneteenth celebration in Oregon.

Peoples continued to work for official recognition of Juneteenth but she and her family were displaced by the 1948 Vanport flood, and moved to 1406 NE Ainsworth St., a redlined restricted area. In 1972, she helped organize Portland’s first official Juneteenth celebration, enjoyed annually ever since. It earned Peoples the nickname, “Mother of Juneteenth.”

Peoples died in 2015, the annual parade was named the Clara Peoples Freedom Trail Parade and Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Board member’s thoughts
“Growing up in Mississippi, Juneteenth was never heard of,” Isham “Ike” Harris, Concordia Neighborhood Association board member said. “AfroAmerican history is a very rich history. It is a oneness with American history, but it isn’t taught that way.

“I applaud the people who are making a special effort to get the 1619 Project taught,” Harris added, referring to a journalistic endeavor to revise American history to include Blacks that were enslaved in the Virginia colony as early as the year 1619. “There are voices [today] trying to shut that history down, which is really a bad thing because life is generational. You don’t want the next generation coming up behind you to be ignorant of their own history.”

Reparations
“The fact that Juneteenth is a paid holiday; a federal holiday today – that is a good thing,” Harris said, “but as far as I’m concerned it is unfinished business… All those hundreds of years of slavery represent economic deprivation. People were working for free. Until America reparates Afro-Americans with dollars and cents, [there is no closure].

“We should not see ourselves as people who are satisfied with just having a holiday picnic,” Harris said. “I’m also calling out my own people. There should be more protests for reparation payments. Picnics and fairs are good, but it doesn’t pay for free labor. And when you keep that history away from the younger generation, they don’t know that their great foreparents built this country for free.”

Our newest holiday
Juneteenth has been called America’s second Independence Day. Every year the Juneteenth Oregon organization leads us in celebration, with a parade down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., live music performances, vendors, educational booths, community resources, and a Miss Juneteenth pageant.

Join in this free festival at Lillis-Albina Park on June 17-18 and look for events around the city. Info: Facebook.com/juneteenthoregon15.

Kepper Petzing has lived in Concordia for 40 years, where, with their partner Lowen, they raised two children. They are nonbinary. They love community and are grateful for Concordia News.

Social column – Summer fun, fall events in Concordia

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events, Volunteer Opportunities

Hey there, Concordia! It’s already June, and I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who came out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with us at Chilango PDX. Thank you, Wilder, for the gift certificates. We had a blast, and it was great to see so many familiar faces and meet some new ones too!

Social committee meetings
Speaking of community events, I want to give a big shoutout to everyone who attended our first in-person Social Committee meeting of the year. Your presence and input were greatly appreciated. Social Committee meetings are generally scheduled for the first Friday of each month, sometimes online and sometimes in person. Business owners, please reach out to Social@ConcordiaPDX.org if you are interested in hosting a Social Committee meeting.

Upcoming events
We’ve got some exciting events lined up for the rest of the year, and I wanted to share them with you all. First up, on Saturday, June 3, we’re having a neighborhood litter pickup event at Alberta Park, 1905 N.E. Killingsworth St. Volunteers will be meeting bright and early at 9 a.m., so bring your best trash-picking-up skills. It’s a great opportunity to get some exercise, meet your neighbors, and make our community a better place.

In June, we’ve got two big events happening. Concordia’s very first gay pride event will be held at the wine bar, Bonne Chance, 2209 N.E. Alberta St., on Thursday, June 15! The event starts at 3 p.m., so come out and show your support for our LGBTQ+ community members.

Then, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29, we’re having a concert in Alberta Park. We’re asking neighbors to gather at 5:30 p.m. This year, there will be a salsa band playing and we’re moving the stage to the front of the park to create more shaded areas for our neighbors. It’s going to be a blast, so mark your calendars!

In August, Concordia will celebrate National Night Out, an event to raise police awareness, and details are being finalized, so stay tuned for more information on that one. I

n late summer, the Social Committee is hosting another neighborhood cleanup at Alberta Park on Saturday, Sept. 2, and then a yard sale over Labor Day weekend.

Volunteering
In October, the committee is planning a Halloween party, but it needs your help to make it happen. If you’re interested in volunteering, planning, or coordinating, please let us know; we’d love to have you on board. Finally, in December, we’re looking at having our holiday party at Teote Mezcaleria, 2700 N.E. Alberta St. More information will be coming soon.

Last but not least, the social committee needs your help with its Labor Day Yard Sale. It was a huge success last year, and we’re hoping to make it even bigger and better this year. If you’re interested in participating or volunteering, contact Social@ConcordiaPDX.org. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions to make this year’s event even fun and inclusive.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep an eye out for more updates and events coming your way, and stay safe and healthy.

Javier Puga-Phillips has served on the Southwest 1 position on the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors, managed rentals of the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room and has chaired 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.

Prescott Street – Meeting to address speeding, crashes

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Rob Cullivan and Kepper Petzing

Neighbors living along Northeast Prescott Street have one message for drivers: SLOW DOWN!!

Fed up with hundreds of vehicles daily speeding – and sometimes crashing on their street, residents are working together to ask the city of Portland to address traffic safety issues.

Traffic safety advocates will discuss their concerns at the General Membership Meeting of the Concordia Neighborhood Association at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, in the Community Room at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33 rd Ave. The Prescott issue is planned to be addressed at 7:30 p.m.

Sabin leader
 Kathleen McConnell, chair of the Sabin Community Association’s Land Use and Transportation Committee, said she wants to rally residents of five neighborhoods through which Prescott runs to put an end to vehicular speeding on her street. McConnell said residents of the Concordia, Sabin, King, Vernon and Alameda neighborhoods need to raise their voices about the issue.

“Visually, Prescott looks like a speedway,” she says, noting its posted limit is 25 mph, but hundreds of cars daily exceed the limit. “It invites people to speed through it.”

She and other residents would like to see the Portland Bureau of Transportation install speed bumps aka cushions as well as more stop signs on Prescott. She noted that one concerned resident has even started an Instagram page, “@slowdownonprescott” to collect photos and data on crashes.

Tiffany Allmandinger lives near the intersection of Prescott and 24 th streets. Had she known Prescott would be overrun by speeders, she would have never bought her house there five years ago, she says.

An astronautics engineer who’s also an amateur auto racer and semi-pro cyclist, Allmandinger says she’s familiar with how vehicles sound when they speed and estimates that only 10 percent of drivers on Prescott observe the 25-mph speed limit.

Every night, vehicle after vehicle drives anywhere from 45 to 90 mph past her house, she says. Her corner was the site of a fatal accident in 2020 when a speeding drunk driver was killed after crashing into a tree at 90 mph.

“At night it’s basically a racetrack,” Allmandinger says, adding that cars routinely recklessly pass each other. A cat she owned was killed by a driver, she says, and a neighbor’s dog was injured after a hit and run. There are almost no stop signs or signals for much of Prescott in her area, she adds.

“I want the city to make it physically impossible for people to speed on Prescott,” she said. “You can’t get people to change their behavior, you have to encourage them to change behavior. I would be happy to see a stop sign on every other block.”

PBOT response
Since learning of the residents’ concerns in 2018, PBOT has responded with some measures over the past few years to mitigate the traffic issues. Prescott’s speed limit was reduced from 30 mph to 25, and the city pruned tree limbs as well as prohibited parking within 20 feet of intersections to increase pedestrian visibility, among other measures.

However, in a Jan. letter PBOT sent to the Sabin LUTC, an official noted that, as bad as Prescott is when it comes to crashes, it’s not as bad as other Portland streets. Due to budget constraints, among other factors, PBOT prioritizes addressing traffic safety issues in what is called the High Crash Network. The HCN is made up of 30 streets with the highest number of serious crashes in Portland. The HCN makes up 8% of Portland’s streets, and yet they account for 60% of fatal crashes.

“NE Prescott Street is not part of Portland’s High Crash Network,” PBOT told the Sabin LUTC.

PBOT has stated it plans to install at least two Speed Reader Boards, electronic signs that use radar to detect the speed of an approaching vehicle and display them, on Prescott. Dylan Rivera, PBOT public information officer, said his bureau is gathering information to further address neighbors’ concerns.

“We plan to take a closer look at the area later this year to see what we might be able to do to address safety concerns with signs and markings,” he says.

Hunt for Eggs!

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

On April 8, hundreds of children gathered for Concordia’s annual Spring Egg Hunt in Fern Hill Park.

  • Photo by Gina Levine

Social column – Hunt a success; Cinco de Mayo event set

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who lent their time and support to Concordia’s Spring Egg Hunt.

On April 8, the Concordia Neighborhood Association hosted a double event, a neighborhood clean-up followed by our annual egg hunt, and I am happy to report that both events were a resounding success!

I want to give a special shout-out to all those who helped fill the eggs. Your hard work and dedication brought smiles and happiness to hundreds of local kids.

I want to especially thank James, our youngest volunteer, 5 years old, who coordinated with his parents and showed up at 10 a.m. sharp to help hide the eggs. He was more interested in setting up for other kids than he was in finding eggs, and for that, he earned one of the gift cards from Gabbiano’s and a special thank you from the neighborhood.

Another big thank you to Darcy Gabriel and her husband Sam, who showed up and helped during setup. They earned the second gift card from Gabbiano’s.

I also want to recognize Gina Levine, who helped with the neighborhood cleanup and made sure that Concordia is a bit cleaner. Levine also helped stuff thousands of eggs with her children and other young volunteers, earning her a gift card from The Knock Back for her time and efforts. The second Knock Back gift card was earned by Sigrid Casey, who donated her time and truck to pick up large items of trash from our streets.

We hid around 6,000 eggs and gave away around 10,000 pieces of candy and an assortment of prizes. Thank you to POP Cart, who was there with music and helping us direct the event.

Thank you to Flour Market for the delicious pastries for our volunteers, and to Kiss Coffee for their donation of coffee for the clean-up and 100 hot chocolate coupons for the egg hunt!

I also want to give a big shoutout to the board members who helped so much. Brittany Van Der Salm, our vice chair, and her husband Paul were instrumental in taking charge of the lost and found, bringing a lot of peace of mind to our neighbors. Rich Bruton, chair of our Land Use and Transportation Committee (LUTC), helped set up the borders of the hunt according to ages. Astrid Fustner, our board member for East 2, and her family took charge of the prize booth. Megan Gobble, our board member for SW2, gathered her family and made sure the park was ready and clean for the event. Patricia McMahon, AL2, was there setting up and laying eggs, and helping with the pickup. John McSherry, AL3, helped with release forms and picking up. Heather Pashley, our treasurer, helped with the cleanup. Kieran Lee, our chair, brought tables to set up.

To all of the other volunteers, too many of you to name here, my most heartfelt thanks for your time and effort.

First Fridays

On a separate note, I want to share when the social committee will be meeting and how you can get involved. Starting in May, we will be meeting on the first Friday of each month, and we will be rotating locations. Please email me at Social@ConcordiaPDX.org or call/ text me at 503-343-5561 for locations.

Our first meeting takes place at 2 p.m. Friday, May 5, at Chilango, 2217 NE Alberta St. Members of the social committee will each get a free taco. Speaking of Cinco de Mayo, Concordia residents are in for a treat: Chilango, a vegan Mexican restaurant, will be hosting a special party that day from 3–7 p.m. The party will kick off after the social committee meeting. Attendees can indulge in the restaurant’s delicious tacos while enjoying live entertainment. Chilango [See related feature Pag

e 5] has been a part of the community for many years, and this event is an excellent opportunity for residents to celebrate the culture and diversity of their neighborhood. Don’t miss out on the fun and festivities!

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 Tree Team – New trees replacing median’s dying ones

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Trees

By Jim Gersbach | Concordia Tree Team

The city of Portland is working to replace invasive maple trees in Concordia and other areas with California interior live oaks, like the one pictured here. Photo by Jim Gersbach

I am often asked by property owners and passersby between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Fernhill Park when a tree that has died or blown down in a storm will be replaced.

Although a different Portland city bureau actually owns the land in the Ainsworth median, Portland’s Urban Forestry section with the Parks and Recreation Bureau has been kind enough to handle removals and pay for replacement trees.

In the past couple of years, two old Norway maples that were in slow decline finally blew over—one in the middle of the block between Northeast 16th and 17th avenues, and another further east around Northeast 26th. A third tree on the east end of the intersection at Northeast 33rd was struck by a car, revealing serious inner rot. That tree was cut down as a precaution against falling into traffic.

In order to replant, the city must first grind out the stump. With many trees downed in the late April snowstorm of 2022, Portland cleanup crews had their hands full grinding stumps all over town.

At the start of this year, they were finally able to grind the stump between Northeast 16th and 17th. That allowed for the planting of a replacement tree this winter. Urban Forestry plans to stump grind the remaining two downed trees by this end of this year, permitting planting of their replacements in 2024.

Because maples—especially the invasive Norway maple that has dominated the median since the post-World War II years—are seriously overplanted in Portland, Portland Urban Forestry picked a species that was added to the approved street tree list only in the past decade and has not been readily available in a size large enough to plant. That tree is a California interior live oak, Quercus wislizeni. This evergreen oak has small, leathery leaves that are dark green above and toothed somewhat like a holly. New leaves emerge a bronze to reddish color.

Hardy enough to survive a typical Portland winter, California interior live oak grows between the borders of Oregon and Mexico, in both the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada, where it can be found at elevations up to 6,500 feet.

Interior live oak is quite tolerant of drought and heat, as one would expect of a tree from inland California. It should fare well in future extreme hot-weather events. Interior live oak can grow as tall as 60 to 75 feet in good soils with adequate moisture. Its acorns take two years to mature, providing food for squirrels and birds when they do.

The odd-sounding botanical name honors German-born army surgeon, explorer, botanist, and plant collector Frederick Adolf Wislizeni [1810–1889]. Wislizeni opposed monarchical government and eventually had to flee to Switzerland before emigrating in his early 20s in 1834 to the United States. He traveled widely in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico, where he was imprisoned for a time during the Mexican-American War.

Jim Gersbach has been a volunteer tree planter and tree pruner for more than 30 years with Friends of Trees. He has worked for Portland Urban Forestry and as a member of the Concordia Tree Team, has helped inventory the neighborhood’s street trees and advises homeowners on site-appropriate tree options.

Day Center – HIV shelter offers respite

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Uncategorized

By Jordan Bowen | Social Work Intern – HIV Day Center

Long-Term Survivors Coordinator Julie Galstad (center) and Food Program Coordinator Johnny Lamb (right) prepare and serve breakfast to EMO Day Center members with help from a volunteer. Photo by Jordan Bowen

On an unseasonably cold morning, a well-tailored man entered the basement of Ainsworth United Church of Christ, 2941 NE Ainsworth St. He asks to be called Jon and is one of dozens of members of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Day Center. The drop-in shelter has served people living with HIV since 1990.

The organization says it is the country’s oldest standalone, communitybased center of its kind. When the Day Center is open, Jon drops in between errands around the city. Unlike many center members, Jon has secured affordable housing. The stability allows him to advocate for others and be involved in the community.

Jon takes the bus from downtown Portland to the Concordia center multiple times a week. “I make friends here,” he says. “I do like it here. I enjoy the place. My friends come here. And the food is decent.”

The Day Center serves as a kind of post office, dining hall, laundromat, pop-up health clinic, and social club. Surrounded by the quiet, tree-lined streets of Concordia, it is a refuge from Portland’s bleaker scenes. The walls are lined with comfortable chairs where some members can take a much-needed nap after a hard night on the street. One morning, waves of laughter could be heard through the basement as the movie Death Becomes Her played on a screen.

Intern’s tale

I first met Jon through my internship at Portland State University’s Master of Social Work program. He has a quick wit, is far more fastidious about his clothing than I am, and often gives me nutrition advice.

Others at the center need more help than Jon does to navigate life with HIV. Together with staff, interns and local volunteers serve meals, coordinate laundry and showers, show movies, and sometimes go on outings to art museums. We help people get IDs, groceries, or a bus pass, or connect them with housing services like the Cascade AIDS Project.

Recently, I sat in on a support group for long-term survivors who wrestle with the weight of surviving the AIDS era and aging with the virus. Project Coordinator Chautauqua Cabine, who grew up in northeast Portland and went to Concordia University, lost a cousin to AIDS more than 20 years ago. Her job goes far beyond paperwork and case management. People sit by her desk in her small, shared office, sometimes only to talk and be comforted.

“Everybody ha s different needs,” Cabine says. It’s kind of like a friendship. There’s trust.”

The center helps bolster members’ selfworth, she says. “When they’re not here, they tell me they don’t feel seen. When they’re here, they feel like they’re part of society. They don’t feel invisible.”

Rising costs

Activities and Events Coordinator Connor Feliu with an EMO Day Center member’s dog in the basement of the Ainsworth United Church of Christ. Photo by Jordan Bowen

The Day Center largely depends on federal grants to operate, but Program Manager Taylor Silvey says inflation has outpaced funding, especially when it comes to the cost of food. The Day Center must stretch its limited resources to meet needs. In January, the organization had to begin closing an hour early, close altogether on Wednesdays and lay off two part-time staff to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, more Portlanders with HIV need help with finding food, work and shelter. According to the CDC, BIPOC and low-income people are now significantly more likely to be diagnosed with HIV, and many who come to the Day Center have lost jobs or housing since COVID-19.

This summer, the annual Dining Out for Life fundraising event will encourage Portlanders to pitch in at restaurants, bars, and cafes. From June 20–22, participating venues choose to donate 10% of proceeds or $500 to the Day Center and OHSU’s Partnership Project. McMenamins locations such as the Kennedy School in Concordia are participating, along with other venues around the city.

“HIV is still prevalent in our community, and unfortunately there’s still stigma associated with it,” says Silvey. “Dining Out for Life gives us a chance to talk about HIV, support people living with the virus and have some fun over a shared meal.”

The EMO Day Center is always grateful for volunteers and donations of food and clothing. It also encourages more local restaurants and bars to participate in this year’s Dining Out for Life. Please visit HIVDayCenter.org or email hivcenter@emoregon.org to help your neighbors who are living with HIV.

Jordan Bowen is a freelance writer and former broadcast news producer who is pursuing a Master in Social Work at Portland State University

Area resident is accomplished poet

Posted on by Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News, Uncategorized

Nancy Flynn grew up on the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania, spent many years on a downtown creek in Ithaca, N.Y., and has lived near the mighty Columbia River in Northeast Portland since 2007.

She attended Oberlin College and Cornell University and has a master’s degree in English from SUNY/Binghamton. She is a former university administrator, and her writing has received an Oregon Literary Fellowship and the James Jones First Novel Fellowship. Flynn’s recent publications include the poetry collection Every Door Recklessly Ajar.

Flynn says she loves living with her retired forest pathologist husband, John Laurence, “in a village of awesome neighbors down the street from Alberta Park.” She is especially proud of their platinum-level Backyard Habitat, which now boasts a wild beehive in a bigleaf maple. “And she grows way too many dahlias in their front yard for her beloved pollinators,” her biography states.

CNews is sharing an example of her most recent work, inspired by Portland’s wintry weather. To learn more about her work, visit NancyFlynn.com.

===================================

Record-breaking Winter Storm Tableau

late February 2023
Portland, Oregon
By Nancy Flynn

It bore the ice, later snow,
that terracotta table of stone.
Became perch for chickadees,
bushtits and meadowlarks before
their launch to suet, to safflower seed.
Even the hummingbirds gave up
their rivalries, took civilized turns
sipping at the iridescent ruby
bottle I took in after dark
so it wouldn’t freeze then break.
The previously perky hellebores
collapsed under eight inches
of weight. One afternoon, sleet
fell slick, thickly dimensional,
bouncing from the wind chimes,
from lustrous camellia leaves.
Now finally today—
a temporary melt, no trace, no figment
of the thing that dazzled yesterday.
The neighborhood murder of crows
is back from what seemed like days
in their downtown overnight roost.
There’s a junco spilling the birdbath,
a plash of oars, a gaiety and every tulip
has emerged, doubled in height
despite an unseasonable, lingering
chill. Inside, I raise the thermostat
one more degree, study the fleeting
return of the sun. The world it glares,
for a moment all shimmer and drip,
while waiting for the next inevitable
cloudburst to thunder down from
a heaven like a tent. We are blanketed
by our selfishness, our apathy, our sin.
We are footprints in our downfall—
watch them drift.

The italicized lines in this poem are from Emily Dickinson’s poem #257, “I’ve known a Heaven, like a Tent” written in 1861.

Paige Wright – Local artist offers classes

Posted on by Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News

By Kathy Crabtree | Contributing writer

If you are looking for a creative solution for a curious student who is struggling in a mainstream learning environment, Paige Wright, a local clay and ceramic artist, might have a suggestion for you.

Wright admits that she was not stellar at academics but found success and a tool to express herself in clay. That experience built confidence in her ability to become better at reading and writing skills, as well as a reason to study them.

Her sculptures are eclectic collectives of creativity. She has an appreciation of multi-faceted incongruent busts. Her “kiss-kiss” bust consists of a male head encased in a helmet covered with flowers. Her works have been professionally showcased at various venues in the Portland area.

Inspired as a 9-year-old art student of Margarita Leon, a noted art educator in Northwest Portland, Paige continued her ceramic studies in high school, mentored by Cindy Irby. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Montana, followed by a two-year residency at the University of Washington, and earned a master’s degree with an emphasis in ceramics.

“My mission is to make space so that people can build a relationship with their creative practice,” she said. “It takes time to see what is inside one’s head and to react to what one can create from that.”

She offers art lessons for students between the ages of 7 and 16 who desire a greater art experience than their current school offers. Adult classes will be offered for those seeking to refresh their creative practice by expanding their ideas with exposure to clay and three-dimensional building. Small group classes are scheduled weekly, and private lessons and special project sessions can be arranged. Group parties are ideal for birthdays or corporate team building.

Along with her classroom offerings, Paige is a full-time multi-disciplinary artist, currently available for commissions ranging from portraits in ceramics, house-number tiles, drawings and paintings with experience in production pottery and large-scale murals. Consultation in ceramic professional practices, glaze formation, documentation photography and technical envelopment are also available.

Interested students can find her Lil Studio Classroom, 3522 NE Liberty St., adjacent to her home. “The studio-classroom designation offers a two-fold purpose,” Wright said. “A studio calls to action the art of creating while a classroom offers a space for growth.”

She also plans “U-paint” group fun creative classes, summer art camps and figure-in-clay workshops with dates to be announced.

Classes are forming now and are two hours long and sold in 10-class bundles on a rolling basis, ongoing so a student can re-register.

Kids (7-16) Art Lessons: Sundays, 1–3 p.m. or Tuesdays, 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Adult Art Lessons: Mondays 1–3 p.m.

Registration applications can be found at paige@thewrightclay.com. For information, call Paige Wright at 406-544-7472. Kathy is a recent transplant from the Midwest and, as she reports in CNews, things are a lot different here.

Social Column – Volunteers needed for April 8 Egg Hunt

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events, Volunteer Opportunities

Greetings to all Concordia residents! We want to start by expressing our gratitude for the amazing feedback we have received. It is always our pleasure to hear from you and learn how we can make our community better. We value your input and look forward to continuing to serve you.

As we move forward, we have some exciting events planned for the coming weeks.

Eggzitement!

We are thrilled to announce that the Spring Egg Hunt is finally here! On Saturday, April 1, at 10 a.m., we will meet in the community room at Kennedy School for the “fill the eggs” event. We are looking for volunteers to help us with this fun-filled event. It’s going to be a blast, so bring your friends and family along! Then on Saturday, April 8, we will host the neighborhood clean-up in partnership with SOLVE and the actual egg hunt.

The clean-up will run from 9 a.m. to noon at Fernhill Park, and we will be setting up in the area by the track. Please make sure to register for this event at SolveOregon.org.

We are looking for volunteers, preferably with a truck, to help take the supplies from the community room to Fernhill Park by 9:30 a.m. We also need help setting up the eggs, starting around 10 a.m., and assisting with picking up after the event.

After the clean-up, we’ll be kicking off the Easter weekend with an exciting egg hunt at noon. Don’t forget to bring your baskets!

Our proposed schedule for the egg hunt on April 8 is as follows: We will meet between 9:30 to 10 a.m., set up the eggs from 10 a.m. to noon, and the egg hunt will begin at noon. It’s going to be a fantastic day, and we can’t wait to see you all there!

Walking club

Speaking of community involvement, we want to give a special shoutout to Megan Gobble, our SW1 representative and the head of our official walking club. Megan is a passionate walker and a member of the Columbia River Volkssports Club (CRVC). We’re thrilled to have the CRVC as one of our community partners, and we encourage everyone to check them out at Walking4Fun.org.

Cinco de Mayo

Finally, mark your calendars for our upcoming Cinco de Mayo party at Chilango’s, 2217 N.E. Alberta St. Our newest vegan restaurant, which is Latino-owned, will be hosting this year’s celebration from 2–7 p.m. Friday, May 5. Come join us for delicious $3 tacos and entertainment as we celebrate our community’s diversity.

Thank you for being part of our community and supporting our events. We look forward to seeing you soon! Please stay in touch, follow us in Instagram & Facebook @CNAPDX.