Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Category Archives: Concordia News

Eat, drink, dance and repeat at block party

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

By Marsha Sandman | CNA Media Team

Businesses planning their annual block party on 30th Avenue expect this year’s attendance to exceed the 1,000 neighbors who came last year. Photo by Josh Chang

Get ready to put your food, drink and dance on. Local businesses invite you to their 10th annual block party on 30th Avenue between Emerson and Jarrett streets.

Both 30th Avenue blocks will be closed to vehicles Sunday, Sept. 8, from 3 to 9 p.m.

This area is also known as Foxchase.

Curious? That’s what the recorded plat said in 1889 when Alberta Street was a dirt track. Read some interesting and unusual facts about Foxchase, here.

The event is sponsored by the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) and Dayna McErlean, with additional support and involvement from the other local vendors.

Dayna is a longtime Concordian and a well-known Portland restaurateur. She is the developer and owner of Yakuza Izakaya, D.O.C. and Nonna Tavern, all on 30th between Emerson and Jarrett.

“This celebration is all about community – building it, nurturing it, promoting it,” Dayna explained. She is a creative visionary dedicated to bringing interesting and inspiring businesses to her neighborhood.

The festive block party started 10 years ago as customer appreciation with about 200 people in attendance. Dayna estimated there were 1,000 people there last year and expects even more this year.

It’s an opportunity for folks to sample and learn more about the goods and services offered by the local businesses. There will be complimentary tastes and product samples.

There will also be a variety of musical entertainment curated by Brent Folis, a drummer with Pink Martini. Be prepared to boogey.

All businesses in the two-block radius are invited to participate.

John McSherry, CNA board member, is involved with preparations. He promises a day of kid-friendly fun with a children’s play area and games at Yakuza’s backyard patio.

The block party will be a great chance to mingle with your neighbors and taste all this area has to offer.

A night of food, music, dance, drink and friends. Does it get any better?

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.

CNA Voices – Love is the greatest

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

By Ike Harris | CNA Board Member

Remember Muhammad Ali, the greatest heavy weight boxer of all time? I do. Those quick hands and feet.

Once upon a time he made this statement. He said to his audience and followers and fans, “I wish you would love everybody the way you show affection for me.”

If we are to be truly great – here at home, across the country and throughout the world – we need to love. I can identify six types of love:

  • Eros: romantic love
  • Philos: affectionate love
  • Philautia: self love
  • Storage: familiar love
  • Pragma: enduring lovetake
  • Agape: unconditional love

That latter – unconditional love – is the greatest. It was important 2,000 years ago and it’s important to achieve today. Look what was said in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, New English Version:

What if I could speak all languages of humans and angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
What if I could prophecy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing unless I loved others.
What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing unless I loved others.
Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud or rude.
Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep record of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil.
Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful and trusting.
Love never fails.
For now there are faith, hope and love, but of these three the greatest is love.

If everyone loved one another with this kind of unconditional love, we would all be the greatest!

Isham “Ike” Harris has served on the Concordia Neighborhood Association Board of Directors for countless years. Husband for 43 years, father of three and grandfather of four, he is a retired postal carrier and a pastor for Upper Room Church.

Editor’s note: CNA respects the views and beliefs of all cultures and faiths. The views expressed by this writer do not necessarily reflect the views of CNA.

Madison project sends students to Marshall

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Schools

By Nancy Varekamp | CNews Editor

Madison High School’s entrance will take on a new look when the school reopens in 2021. While a workforce peaking at 300 transforms the
campus, students will attend classes in the Marshall High School building 3.8 miles to the south. Art courtesy of Portland Public Schools

In a few weeks Madison High School students will pack their schoolbags and head to classes – at Marshall High School. In the meantime, the Madison building is two months into 24 months of renovation and modernization.

The $201.5 million for the project was approved by voters in 2017, along with funds for projects at Kellogg Middle School, and Lincoln and Benson high schools.

“Madison’s proposed modernization will completely reconfigure and update learning spaces with a focus on indoor environmental quality, sustainability and historic preservation,” reported Harry Esteve, Portland Public Schools communications director.

Major items in the project are:

  • Cafeteria, commons and an atrium will connect all major wings and three classroom levels to the main entrance.
  • Science labs will consolidate near the front of the school.
  • Performing arts will move into a stateof-the-art music and theater facility.
  • Community resources will continue to include a child care center, clinic and food pantry.
  • Athletics facilities will feature an entirely new gym building with a 1,700-seat main gym, auxiliary gym, weight room, wrestling/dance room and a new softball field.
  • Career technical education specialty labs – for digital design, engineering, robotics, digital art, biomedical, sculpture, construction and sustainable agriculture – will adjoin new maker space.

Square footage of the school buildings will be 292,000, an increase of 170,000 square feet to accommodate 1,700 students. Enrollment in the 2017-18 school year was 1,146.

General contractor is Fortis Construction Inc., a local, employee-owned firm. Fifty subcontractors and many more second-tier subcontractors will provide a workforce expected to peak at 300.

As for the students during the next two years, assistant vice principal Lajena Broadous said only the Marshall building will be different.

“The same great Madison teachers, staff and programs will be there. There’s even a new turf field and track.”

Depending on where they live, students will use private and/or public transit to commute to Marshall, 3.8 miles south of the Madison campus.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Oakshire brings its brews to 42nd Avenue

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Steve Elder | CNA Media Team

Fans of Oakshire Brewing no longer need travel to Eugene. Oakshire Beer Hall will offer as many as two dozen beers in Concordia, thanks to
efforts by, among others, (left to right) Hannah Child, Kyler Dressel and Jeff Althouse. Photo by Chris Baker

Northeast 42nd Avenue is becoming a corridor for food and drink in the Concordia and Cully neighborhoods.

Oakshire Brewing is opening Oakshire Beer Hall, featuring a wide range of beverages, including as many as two dozen beers from its original Eugene location.

The beer hall is in the former location of Old Salt Marketplace at 5027 N.E. 42nd Avenue.

“Oakshire will be a neighborhood place with reasonably priced food and drink,” said Hanna Child, Oakshire retail operations director.

It will expand outside the original Old Salt to create a patio area for seating and food carts. There will be no pool table and just one television in the back room.

The kitchen will turn out fresh, savory and spicy Chamorro cuisine under the sure hand of Ed Sablan of Biba, founder of the PDX671 food cart.

Chamorro people are from the Mariana Islands. They took their delicious food to Guam, where it incorporated flavors from the Philippines, China, Japan and the Americas.

“People will increase their visits to taprooms and brewpubs, and will favor those providing the best combination of service, environment and high quality fresh beer,” said Jeff Althouse, Oakshire Brewing founder and CEO.

The beer hall will eventually have rotating food carts on the outdoor patio, in addition to the kitchen providing offerings directly to guests. The restaurateurs operating at Oakshire will use real plates, bowls and silverware, avoiding wasteful single-use service items.

The location also features a 500-square-foot space for pop-ups, seated private events, Oakshire beer dinners and tastings. The space will also be available to the food cart and kitchen operators to host their own dinners.

Oakshire plans to collaborate with the food cart partners for the beer dinners.

“The kitchen is really a work of art,” Hannah added. “It features a well-appointed back line that will be used to service the event space and serve as a commissary kitchen for the food carts.”

Dan Russo is Oakshire Brewing operations director. “In 2018 our brewing team released a dizzying number of beers under our Pilot and Vintage programs,” he said. “That’s 38 new beers in total, and nearly all out of our Public House in Eugene.

“Our Portland beer hall will pour draft wine, cider and kombucha, just as it does in Eugene.

Steve Elder, East2@ ConcordiaPDX.org, is an inactive lawyer, a developer, activist and old grouch.

BUF improves educational paths

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

By Vanessa Miali | CNA Media Team

LM Alaiyo Foster displays kente cloths – cotton-and-silk stoles that symbolize ethnic pride – like the ones awarded to Black United Fund scholarship recipients. African American students wear them at commencement to demonstrate academic resiliency and maturity.
Photo by Lloyd Kimeldorf

Since its inception in 1983, the nonprofit organization Black United Fund of Oregon (BUF) has been pursuing its mission “to assist in the social and economic development of Oregon’s low-income communities and to contribute to a broader understanding of ethnic and culturally diverse groups.”

Headquartered at 2828 N.E. Alberta St. and founded by local leaders in north and northeast Portland, BUF has responded to the decades of underfunded programs within the African American community.

It has created its own philanthropic programs and partnerships to channel charitable funds to underserved areas.

A recent report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy found that the population of Oregon is 23 percent people of color. However, the largest charitable organization in the state gave only 3.6 percent of its grant dollars to nonprofits that empower L communities of color and other marginalized groups.

For 28 years BUF has been establishing an educational support system and pathway for at-risk and disadvantaged high school students in Oregon to receive academic scholarships and attend college.

Promoting educational opportunities such as mentoring, coaching and workshops on writing are at the core of its scholarship programs. From academic tutoring, career exploration, counseling and guidance throughout the college admission and attendance process, students gain a wealth of knowledge and individual support to help turn their college dreams into reality.

In May, BUF hosted its yearly scholarship awards luncheon, at which 24 students of color were awarded scholarships totaling $332,000 for attendance at universities locally and nationally.

BUF has established itself as one of Oregon’s leading social entrepreneurial programs to increase educational access, encourage small business development, enhance financial literacy among women and foster philanthropy within the black community.

BUF executive director LM Alaiyo Foster, Ed.D., was born and raised in Portland, received her bachelor’s degree from Portland State University and her doctorate from Lewis & Clark College.

A BUF volunteer from the age of 10, Alaiyo logged more than 1,000 hours by the time she turned 18. She believes that, through philanthropic alignment, the nonprofit can grow exponentially.

“I love what this organization stands for and the commitment from our fourperson staff and over 700 volunteers,” she explained.

“The work we do is so important and I am excited about its growth and continuation of this amazing legacy.”

Stay tuned at BUFOR.org for fundraising events, continued scholarships and expansion of the headquarters. Call 503.282.7973 for information on volunteering and details on scholarships.

Vanessa Miali has lived in Concordia for 18 years. She is a former public relations professional with two kids who cooks every day and gardens occasionally

EcoVibe offers same ‘vibe’ with home decor

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Nancy Varekamp | CNews Editor

Len and Dre Allen now own and operate two shops on Alberta Street. Six blocks east of EcoVibe Apparel is Ecovibe Home. It’s more about
decorating the home than dressing the person. Photo courtesy of EcoVibe Home.

There’s a second EcoVibe on Alberta Street. But don’t plan to shop for your wardrobe here, unless you’re in the market for garden togs. You’ll find some of the signature apparel pieces here, but you’ll discover so much more.

EcoVibe Home opened in June at 1906 N.E. Alberta St. It has the same owners and the same environmental, ethical, sustainable vibe, if you will, as EcoVibe Apparel.

Like that 2½-year-old store six blocks west, EcoVibe Home donates to nonprofit organizations that create positive environmental impact, and it stocks products that are environmentally conscious and ethically produced.

When Andrea “Dre” and Leonard “Len” Allen closed their flagship EcoVibe Apparel store on northwest 23rd Avenue at the end of 2018, they planned to concentrate on the Alberta Street apparel store, close to their home and the neighborhood where Len’s family has lived for generations.

But sometimes opportunities just arise,” Dre pointed out. They had mentioned to their Alberta Street landlord Brad Fowler that – because they’ve enjoyed their local retail experience – they’d like to someday expand that apparel store.

Brad said space was available in his new 1930 Alberta building. It wasn’t large enough for an expanded version of EcoVibe Apparel, but it appealed to the Allens.

The large corner windows and the greenery and animals of the mural on the west wall exterior made Dre think of a garden and home décor store.

She originally suggested that her sister and brother-in-law open a plant and home décor store there, similar to DIG Gardens, the store they operate in Santa Cruz, California.

“I don’t want to do that, but you should,” Dre’s sister replied.

The more the Portland couple thought about the idea, the closer it moved to possibility, then reality. Dre comes from a family of gardeners and has a background in botanical medicine.

“She’s my botanical queen,” Len declared.

The products are a different challenge, but not daunting, Dre said. “There’s dirt everywhere, and the pots are bulky and heavy. It’s not like just pulling clothes out of the box and putting them on hangers. “There is more involved, but we love it.”

Her sense of style also serves them well at the new store, according to Len. “The design, the décor here in the store – it all looks like what you’d see walking into our home.”

Len credits Dre’s talents for the new store’s success. “From the day I met her, she’s had an earthy side, and it just had to come out. Here she’s blossomed.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Set your sights Aug. 10 for Alberta street fair

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Events

By Paloma Wykhuis | CNews Special Writer

The 2019 Alberta Street Fair kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, with a parade. Festivities continue until 6 p.m., with the beer garden remaining open until 9:30 p.m. Photo provided by Paloma Wykhuis

The Alberta Street Fair is my absolute favorite place to spend a hot summer day!

From food, to art, to fabulous costumes and even live music, (not to mention the parade) the Alberta Street Fair is truly a magical tradition.

Every summer I look forward to going. My mother owns the store Frock on Alberta Street, so I get to proudly represent the store in the parade each year.

I help throw candy and hold Frock’s banner. I have been in the parade since I was a one-year-old, and Aug. 10 will be my 15th Alberta Street Fair. Many of my favorite childhood memories are being pulled in a wagon in the parade and around the fair when I was small.

The Alberta Street Fair is interesting because everyone dresses up in the most silly and unique costumes. Ignoring the usually humid weather, parade participants dress in full costume.

You will see people dressed as elephants and other animals mingling with clowns and fairy princesses, and you will always see the neighborhood Hello Kitty walking past the booths lining the street.

It has always been a special tradition for my family to participate every year and it’s always fun to take a day off of the usual hustle and bustle of normal life to be silly and have fun dressing up.

The fair also has amazing shows that you can watch while viewing the booths or grabbing a bite to eat. Kids put on a talent show at the end of the parade. Additionally, there are two other stages on either end of the street where local bands provide entertainment.

After the parade, I like to visit the art booths. The art booths capture my imagination because they are all unique and each has something beautiful, different and interesting to offer.

I love making art, and it inspires me to see the incredible art that Portland artists bring to the street fair. It’s always fun to buy the art and support local artists.

The fair makes you feel like a real part of the Alberta community. You get to see old friends, and you get to meet new people who are a part of the community.

Of all the street fairs I have been to, the Alberta Street Fair is my favorite. It really brings out the fun and excitement of Alberta.

I hope to see you there!

Paloma Wykhuis is a 15-year-old sophomore at Jefferson High School. In addition to attending the annual street fair, she enjoys writing and making art.

You can find Foxchase, but not on a map

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, History

By Doug Decker | Historian

This photo looks west on Killingsworth Street at 30th Avenue in 1954. The Alberta Streetcar that traveled up and down 30th to Ainsworth Street had been gone six years but, as the stop sign denotes, the “through street” mentality was still more with 30th than with Killingsworth. Photo courtesy of City of Portland Archives

If someone asked you to find Foxchase on a map, could you? Here’s a clue: it was one of a dozen different subdivisions created more than 100 years ago which, taken together today, make up what we think of as the Concordia neighborhood. (For a visual clue, check out the 1954 photo on this page.)

Foxchase (not Fox Chase) was a subdivision platted in 1889 by J. Carroll McCaffrey that contains 15 square blocks, from Alberta to Killingsworth streets between 29th and 33rd avenues. Today, some might refer to the 30th-Killingsworth intersection as Foxchase, but it’s actually a much larger chunk of the neighborhood.

McCaffrey was a Georgetown-educated attorney, born and raised in Philadelphia, who kept a small practice there as well as here in Portland. He and wife Eugenie were busy on the social scene in both communities and frequent travelers back and forth.

Speculating in property was his specialty and he was getting ready for Portland’s boom times by buying up nearby open lands.

At that point in our history, there wasn’t much up here on these gentle slopes of the Columbia Slough and the Columbia River beyond. Fields, forests, a few dairies here and there, Homestead Act claims from the 1860s held by a couple dozen families.

Alberta was a dirt track meandering 10 blocks between what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Union Avenue then) and what is today’s 15th Avenue.

McCaffrey sold lots in Foxchase and used that money to buy up other open land for the eventual grids of streets and lots that would follow.

Fox Chase is the name of a comfortable neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia, named for an 18th century inn. During McCaffrey’s timeframe of reference – the 1870s-1880s – Philadelphia’s rich and famous were building their mansions in Fox Chase. He and Eugenie were trying to call that to mind.

McCaffrey turned out to be a scoundrel who was arrested and imprisoned for land fraud. Homebuilding in the Foxchase plat didn’t really take off until after the turn of the century, years after his departure from Portland and his death.

But the name stuck and seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance at the moment. For more on McCaffrey and a look at the Foxchase plat, visit AlamedaHistory.org and enter “Foxchase” in the search box.

Doug Decker is taking a breather during the August and September CNews issues. But don’t let that discourage you from sending in questions about the history of the neighborhood and its buildings. Drop a line to CNewsEditor@ConcordiaPDX.org. CNews will save them for when Doug resumes and ask him to do some digging.

Doug Decker initiated his blog AlamedaHistory.org in 2007 to collect and share knowledge about the life of old houses, buildings and neighborhoods in northeast Portland. His basic notion is that insight to the past adds new meaning to the present.

Bond could fund Coast to the Gorge Trail

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

By Garlynn Woodsong | CNA Board Member, SW1 CNA LUTC Chair

For years, neighbors in Concordia have joined with folks in other northeast Portland neighborhoods to advocate for the construction of more regional bicycle and pedestrian trail connections.

One trail in particular has captured the imagination of many: a trail connecting downtown Portland, through northeast Portland east to the Rocky Butte area and beyond, ultimately to the Columbia River Gorge to connect up with the historic highway state trail there.

This was called the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail Project when Portland City Council voted in 2012 in favor of it. It has since evolved to become known as the Rose Quarter to the Gorge Trail Project, and now the Coast to the Gorge Trail.

Indeed, Metro has previously discussed a concept known as the Infinity Loop for multi-day excursions. It would involve multiple trails heading out of Portland in all directions, connecting with one another at their ends to loop back and return to Portland without needing to retrace steps.

All of these visions for greater bicycle and pedestrian network connectivity could soon take one step closer to reality.

In June the Metro Council voted to send a ballot measure to voters to renew the parks and nature bond. If voters approve the bond measure in November, it would maintain the current tax rate of 19.cents per $1,000 of assessed value (about $4 a month for a home assessed at $250,000).

Among many other worthy funding categories – such as the purchase and restoration of new land from willing sellers to improve water, fish and wildlife habitat – the bond would include $40 million in funding for walking and biking trails. Metro would secure rights to build new trails and construct missing trail sections to complete projects identified in Metro’s regional plan for a network of walking and biking paths.

The Coast to the Gorge Trail would fall entirely on trail sections identified in Metro’s regional trail plan, so this funding could be applied to begin acquiring rights of way and engaging in trail planning if the bond passes.

Voters approved Metro parks and nature bond measures in 1995 and 2006, and local-option levies in 2013 and 2016, to protect and care for land, improve water quality and increase access to nature for people close to home.

As with those measures, all spending of a potential 2019 bond would be monitored by a community oversight committee and subject to annual audits.

Garlynn Woodsong lives on 29th Avenue, serves on the CNA board and is an avid bicyclist. He also is a dad who is passionate about the city his son will inherit. He is the planning + development partner with Cascadia Partners LLC, a local urban planning firm. Contact him at LandUse@ConcordiaPDX.org.

Jezebel’s brews java, community

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Carrie Wenninger | CNA Media Team

Erin Katchuk was one of three Motivasi Coffee Shop employees when its owner announced it would close. She stepped up, bought the shop and made it her own – complete with the new name Jezebel’s Last Standing Merrygoround Café. Photo by Carrie Wenninger

Erin Katchuk, wearing a blackand-white polkadot dress with candy red buttons, her dark hair in pigtails, sits at the table nearest the door in the coffee shop formerly known as Motivasi.

She sips an Americano in the bright June sunshine and talks about art, coffee, cats, insomnia and the benefits of daily planners. In a word: life.

Employed at Motivasi since 2013, first as a barista then moving into managerial duties, Erin had been looking for a business to start in Portland. In January, opportunity came knocking. Loudly.

Motivasi owner Joshua Wilson had other projects to attend to and the coffee shop at 4502 N.E. 42nd Ave., he informed his three employees, would be closing.

With 15 years’ experience in the coffee biz, Erin smelled a freshly brewing beginning rather than a bittersweet ending, and consulted with Michael DeMarco of Our 42nd Avenue Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative. He helped her evaluate the business opportunity.

Things looked even more promising when she began talking to her regulars about becoming the shop’s new owner, and a longtime customer offered her a low-interest loan.

“Suddenly, doors were flying open, and it became something I couldn’t refuse,” she said. Jezebel’s Last Standing Merrygoround Café officially opened with Erin at the helm March 6.

If you’re curious about the name, there’s a story – as well as an ideology – to share. Jezebel was a dearly loved cat of Erin’s. Now deceased, her name lives on in her caretaker’s business. As for the merry-go-round, it’s an ode to the classic children’s playground ride, yes. But there’s more to it.

While living in Seattle, Erin noticed the city removing an entire merrygo-round of old spinning ponies and replacing it with modern, slanting and rotating rings that seemed difficult to balance on.

“Merry-go-rounds represent community to me,” she shared. “There’s artistic expression and beauty there. There’s balance and a sense of people helping each other out. One person steps up to give another person some time away, and the ride continues on…

“We want to reclaim the concept of the coffee shop as a place of community, a place for neighbors to get to know each other, learn from each other, support each other. We want to be a space where conversations about art and life happen.

“It’s less about making money and more about a present you give to the community.”

Your present – and your cuppa – await.

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.