Author Archives: Javier Puga-Phillips

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.

Get ready for an exciting year filled with community events and initiatives! We are continuing last year’s efforts to keep Concordia clean. The neighborhood cleanups are back. This year we have scheduled three cleanups, on March 4, June 3 and Oct 7. We are meeting at Alberta Park each date at 9 a.m. sharp. The committee invites all community members to join in and help keep our neighborhood clean.

Makers Market

On Saturday, March 18, the community room at Kennedy School will host the Makers Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a great opportunity for local artists and the public to connect. The gathering features local residents showcasing and selling their handmade items such as music instruments, wood art, glass art, and more. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to participate.

Coming up

The Concordia Neighborhood Association will also host a range of exciting events, including the annual Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8, at 10 a.m. (location to be determined).

We are coming together as a neighborhood to fill the eggs at 4 p.m. Friday, April 7, in the community room at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. The committee invites all community members and local businesses to participate or donate.

Year ahead

For the first time ever, CNA will host an official Pride event in June at Bonne Chance, 2209 NE Alberta St. More details to follow in the upcoming months. The committee is also bringing back National Night Out, Yard Sale (likely over Labor Day weekend), Halloween and a Holiday Party. We do need volunteers for all of these events.

The new initiative “Partners in Concordia” aims to bring volunteers and community members together to tackle small tasks such as gardening, painting fences and changing bulbs. The committee is collecting names of volunteers and tasks they prefer to do and hopes to match them up with community members in need of help. The date for this initiative is set for some time in the summer.

Sabin meeting

On Feb. 8, the Sabin Community Association invited CNA board members as well as Concordia neighbors to attend one of their meetings at Sabin Elementary School, where Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) representatives addressed a recent fatal crash involving a single vehicle, on Dec. 5, that drove into a utility pole. The automobile was speeding on Prescott at 90 mph at the corner of NE 14th Avenue and Prescott Street, lost control and crashed. The meeting was an opportunity for the community to voice their concerns and thoughts on the issue of traffic safety in the neighborhood.

During the meeting, a large number of neighbors shared their concerns about the use of Prescott as a “speed track” and how drivers, even though it’s a two-way street, illegally pass cars. It was brought to our attention that the speed limit on Prescott is 25 mph, but some drivers ignore this, putting themselves and others in danger.

In light of these concerns, PBOT shared that the more letters the community sends the bureau, the faster it can respond to the issue. I would like to invite all Concordia neighbors to write a letter addressing any and all concerns about traffic safety in the neighborhood. These letters can be sent to me at Social@ConcordiaPDX.org or to our Land Use and Transportation Committee at LandUse@ConcordiaPDX.org.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Rachel Lee, the chair of Sabin Land Use and Transportation Committee, for the invitation to the meeting and for her efforts in ensuring that the community’s voice is heard.

Let’s work together to make Concordia a safer and more peaceful place for all, let’s come together and make Concordia a stronger and more vibrant community! If you own a business in Concordia or want to give a shoutout, please tag us @CNAPDX and use #SocialConcordiaPDX.

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.

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.