By Steve Elder and Nancy Varekamp | CNA Media Team

This neighborhood picked up its moniker from the school that opened its doors here in 1905. Although the institution matured from parochial school to university status, the name Concordia persisted.

Now the site in northwest Concordia neighborhood is vacant. Should neighborhood association retain its name?

That was the question posed to more than 30 participants in November’s Concordia Neighborhood Association annual meeting. Concordian Dan Werle offered a presentation outlining what factors should be considered.

Why should the name change? What people and businesses might be impacted? Would it be helpful, problematic or not make a difference? What would the new name be?

Former neighborhood names have included Irvington Park, Town of Creighton, Heidelberg Addition and Foxchase Addition.

“My intent isn’t to slam the [Lutheran] church or the university,” Dan explained “It’s a pivotal time in our world, nation, city and neighborhood,” he added, pointing to the Movement For Black Lives; online, verbal and physical attacks and threats toward women; and more racial, social and economic challenges.

“Names matter. Buildings, streets and neighborhoods reflect our values, and they improve our sense of history and our relationship with community,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to honor an individual who has – or people who have – lived in the neighborhood or contributed to the neighborhood.”

It could pay tribute to a marginalized or under-represented individual or group, increase community involvement and/or inspire and reflect inclusiveness.

Considering the possibility of a name change was greeted with interest at the meeting.

One participant commented, “Your initial thought about changing the name is ‘no,’ but, when you get the context, it softens things a lot.”

“I really appreciate the thought,” reported another. “Makes sense to me to cut the tie with Concordia University and come up with a name that reflects our values.

“Love the idea to honoring a BIPOC who made an influence,” she added. “An idea is looking into what the Indigenous folks called this place in the past.”

Another offered his opinion on a new name. “I’d vote for an Indigenous person,” he said. “They’re even ahead of my own race – African American – in being persecuted.”

Chair Astrid Furstner appointed Dan to chair an ad hoc committee to engage in research and community involvement.

Other committee members are: Mary Barrett, Ike Harris, John McSherry, Elaine Oliver, Brittany Taylor and Addie Virta.

View the PowerPoint presentation here, To contact the committee, email Chair@ConcordiaPDX.org.

By Sharon Kelly | CNA Media Team

Near Fernhill Park, at the border of Cully and Concordia neighborhoods, Portland’s mutual aid movement blossoms.

A donated refrigerator, an old cabinet and an outlet in a lamp post have been transformed into an ultra-local, 24-hour, no-questions-asked, neighborhood food pantry for anybody in need of the ingredients for a meal.

“We were looking for ways to contribute in a time when there were a lot of different fronts that needed people to fight for climate justice, social justice, racial justice, and especially culminating with the impacts of the coronavirus,” said Ruth Rodgers.

The Cully resident and PDX Free Fridge host added, “We knew we weren’t people who had a lot of money to contribute or time to volunteer. So, when we saw on Instagram that PDX Free Fridge was looking for hosts and volunteers, we jumped on it.”

Ruth and her husband Sean were busy adapting their northeast Portland business, a small independent gym, to the ever-changing climate of COVID-19.

They were also supporting their two children with distance-learning at home, but their concern for their community was growing.

PDX Free Fridge organizers had seen free community fridges working in New York City and many other major cities since the pandemic hit. They thought it could work here too.

Their call for support was met with a resounding response from Portlanders like Ruth, and now a network of 15-plus mini-food pantries spread from Beaverton to Troutdale. Each is hosted and maintained by local volunteers.

Backyard chicken eggs, cheeses, milk, bags of freshly harvested basil, salad greens, frozen organic chicken, individually-packed prepared meals, canned goods, masks, hand-sanitizer and other essentials. Those are just some examples of what you might find in the Simpson Court free fridge on any given day.

Organizers network with local farmers, grocery workers and food bank groups for donations of healthy, fresh food items. Volunteers visit the fridges every day or two to clean, sanitize, restock and snap pictures to post on Instagram. Those are tagged @pdxfreefridge to let followers know what’s in each fridge that day.

For details about the Free Fridge program, visit Instagram.com/pdxfreefridge and Linktr.ee/pdxfreefridge.

“It creates a sense of solidarity every time somebody opens the fridge and it’s stocked,” Ruth said. “When someone comes to drop something off, they feel that they can be part of something that’s bigger than themselves.

“We get a front row seat to mutual aid and how beautiful it is.”

Sharon Kelly uses her outreach and coordination skills to support trees, farmers, small businesses, and engage people to create more healthy, equitable, sustainable communities. She’s best known locally as market manager for Cully and Woodlawn farmers markets and as web manager for Trees for Life Oregon. Contact her at NaturalFarmerPDX@gmail.com.

By Nancy Varekamp | CNews Editor

Last month CNews published a letter drafted by the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) board for membership review, comment and action. It’s available at Concordiapdx.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/draft-letter.pdf.

Concordians responded with written comments via email and then verbal ones at the CNA general meeting. Opinions were mixed, and they were constructive.

Many liked the letter, some offered improvements and rewording. Some disagreed with the letter’s intent, others with some of its wording and others with the suggestions for how to make changes to the Portland Police Bureau.

“Blaming and divisive and likely to add to digging in of heels,” was one Concordian’s description of the draft letter.

“It takes courage to speak out. Thanks,” remarked one attendee at the Oct. 7 virtual meeting.

Another believed the letter’s call to end the use of tear gas didn’t go far enough, that the environmental aspects be raised. That would include information about the chemicals draining into the Willamette River.

“This stuff doesn’t disappear,” that participant explained. “These things have adverse, long-term impacts, and we’re going to live with them.”

Many weighed in on the word “defund.”

“Defund or dissolve allows too much interpretation,” noted one Concordian who suggested the term “demilitarize.” “That suits our interest more.”

One point of consensus was that many of the calls to which police respond –mental health and homelessness issues – could be better handled by non-police representatives.

One meeting participant explained that Portland should have a “public safety” organization rather than a “police department,” complete with non-lawenforcement officers – “someone they will call who really can help them instead of just make matters worse.”

Regardless of the final wording of any letter from Concordians to city leaders, one thing is clear, according to one attendee.

That Concordian called for a letter that doesn’t hamstring the city council with specifics. Instead, it should “Tell them what we want the outcome to be.”

Letter is online

Since the Oct. 7 general meeting, members of the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors redrafted the letter to reflect the input received.

That final version of the letter was posted to Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX in midOctober. And Concordians were offered the opportunity to sign it by sending permission to use their names to the CNA chair.

The CNA board did not endorse the letter, since it does not represent the unanimous opinion of all who live and work in Concordia. Rather, the board served in the role of facilitator to help those Concordians who wanted to voice their opinions and suggestions in a unified manner.

View the final letter here.

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

By Maquette Reeverts | Alberta Art Works

All rise in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was the second woman to hold an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Graduating first in her class she was inducted to the court in 1993 and has been a champion for gender equality and women’s rights.

That earned her a multitude of awards and achievements and placed her firmly in the Women’s Hall of Fame.

A group of neighbors got together and, with the help of an artist, created a street mural to honor the late judge. With some pre-planning, the “All Rise” design was drawn in chalk and labeled to allow for everyone to jump in and paint.

Together the work was completed in one long day. As the light waned, cars were positioned for their headlights to illuminate the intersection of Bryce Street and 27th Avenue to complete the mural.

The justice is depicted wearing an earring with an image of the scales of justice, her favorite collar that came from Cape Town, South Africa, and boxing gloves ready to spar.

“You know, the standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show, and the tie,” she once said. “So Sandra Day O’Connor and I thought it would be appropriate if we included as part of our robe something typical of a woman.”

Street murals use special zone marking paint that will adhere to the asphalt and will stand up to weather and constant traffic. They beautify and energize, allowing residents to have ownership of their shared space.

Why not plan one for your neighborhood? The city provides the information you need to work to create your artistic masterpiece for your street. Visit PortlandOregon.gov/transportation/67083.

Michel Reeverts, aka Maquette , holds a master of arts degree in art education, serves Alberta Art Works as director and Alberta Street Gallery as a board member. She is also a practicing artist. Contact her at Maquette@AlbertaArtWorks.org

CNA respects the views and beliefs of all Concordians, and their cultures and faiths. The views expressed by this writer do not necessarily reflect the views of CNA.

By Michael French | CNA Media Team

André Middleton, executive director of Friends of Noise, is a man on the move. You might find the 53-year-old community leader, activist and youth mentor talking up his nonprofit, transporting a sound system to a fundraiser or protest, or supporting youth performers and musicians as they gear up for an all-ages show.

A native New Yorker who moved to Oregon for college, André earned a degree in film and video production from Marylhurst University.

He has spent the following two decades immersed in the Portland-area arts scene, working with the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Open Signal, among others. Today André sits on boards of multiple arts organizations.

He saw a need for all-age musical events when he found few performances his then 13-year-old daughter could attend. The void led André to start Friends of Noise in 2016 to provide all-age concerts, sound system training and paying jobs for youth.

“We produce concerts that are run and produced by the teens we work with. We work with young people who are performers as well,” André said. “We book kids to perform.”

Friends of Noise also produces a youth-DJ-run show on XRAY.fm and hopes to secure a permanent location for all-age performances in the next two to three years. For details and/or to support the organization, visit FriendsOfNoise. org.

After attending a local rally shortly after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, André realized speakers’ voices couldn’t carry over the crowd. The message was getting lost.

So André and a friend developed a battery-powered mobile sound system that’s since been used at more than 20 protests.

“My ability to amplify the voices of protesters became a salve for me. It allowed me to get out of the house. It allowed me to contribute to a movement that I believe in and support,” he said.

André said he sees signs of change. “I think the growing pains that Portland is going through hopefully will result in a stronger, broader, more diverse community.

“African Americans – through a lot of hard work and community building, despite gentrification – are rising to positions of power. Look at Cameron Whitten and the Black Resilience Fund. Look at Jo Ann Hardesty on city council, former police chief Danielle Outlaw and current fire chief Sara Boone.”

André appreciates what his Cully neighborhood has to offer. “It’s a beautiful area. I love the diversity, a lot of Asian Americans, African Americans – older, younger, families – it’s nice to see how diverse and broad the community is.”

Michael French is grateful to live on 28th Avenue in Concordia, a place where neighbors talk to each other and he can get most places on foot, by bike or transit. Contact him at MFrench96@gmail.com.