By Kathy Crabtree | Contributing Writer

The title, This Rough Magic, at Home on the Columbia Slough is immediately intriguing. The book was published in August and is about the preservation and restoration of the Columbia Slough Watershed, a natural swamp containing over 20 miles of channels that flow from Fairview to the Willamette River in Portland. Authors and partners Bruce Campbell and Nancy Henry explain that the title describes how the slough transforms the “roughness” of industry degradation into the “serendipitous magic of the natural world”. The publisher, Aristata, is a woman-owned non-profit organization that was founded in 2020.

Since 2008, Campbell and Henry have lived in Sunderland, just north of North Colombia Blvd. Their log cabin sits on the slough which has provided an opportunity to observe the slough’s capability to withstand the damages caused by the modern world. That was the inspiration to write about its history, the settlements of the indigenous tribes and the arrival of the Euro-Americans to it, as well as the negative environmental impacts on it, in their new book.

The authors traverse the slough via foot, kayak, and bike and pass establishments such as shopping centers, highways, fruit orchards and tent camps. Among the people, buildings, and neighborhoods they encounter, there are also moments of serene beauty. The slough’s tributaries and vast wetlands are home to a myriad of creatures such as bald eagles, river otters and painted turtles, who continue to need the support of humans to survive.

The couple describes Rough Magic as a labor of love; they wrote alternate chapters and edited each other’s work. Campbell’s contribution focuses on restoration; the “re-wild-ing” of the area bordering the Buffalo slough, an arm of the Columbia slough that’s between 8 and 9 miles from its mouth. Rewilding is an unusual term but according to Campbell, it is exactly descriptive of the process needed to restore and preserve nature. Henry’s chapters are devoted to the creative efforts it took to build a life on the slough and restore their log cabin.

As a whole, the book seeks to celebrate the many people and efforts that exist to revitalize and clean up the Columbia slough, and Campbell and Henry also hope to influence others to advocate for it. One such organization is the Columbia Watershed Council, a non-profit founded in 2002 whose mission is to “enhance the gem of the Columbia slough.”

Campbell and Henry hope that Rough Magic will help them make new contacts who value increasing wilderness within city limits and they encourage others to take advantage of the accessibility of the sights and sounds of the slough. For those wanting to learn more about the Columbia Slough Watershed Council (CSWC), contact: Heather King, Executive Director at Heather. King@ColumbiaSlough.org, or Amanda Gallegos, Outreach and Event Director at Amanda.Gallegos@ColumbiaSlough. org. To learn more about the slough watershed and how Concordia residents can support environmental restoration projects in their own neighborhood, visit ColumbiaSlough.org.

Kathryn Crabtree is a retired Nursing Educator and author of books that celebrate women of a certain age- invisible to many, who use their deductive reasoning to solve mysteries. The bad guys never see them coming.

The first skateboards in the U.S. were started in the late 1940s using wooden boxes, or boards, with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, having a wooden crate attached to the front of the board which was formed with rudimentary handlebars. Soon the boxes turned into planks, similar to the skateboard decks of today.

And now our neighborhood has a new skatepark located near NE Killingsworth and 30th St and adjacent to Jet Black Coffee (5308 NE 30th Ave). Curated and designed lovingly by property owner Thomas Grace and his family, the park design follows the waves and curves influenced by water and their love of nature.

Grace’s friends at Collective Concrete helped him design and create a half pipe four years ago on his 50’ x 100’ vacant lot. After selling his house in 2022, he had the funds to add a wave inspired sculpture to the space. The park and the sculpture will be lovingly dedicated to Grace’s deceased wife, Rachel. She unfortunately passed in 2022 during a recreational water incident. After the dedication, the park will be called the “Rachel Grace Memorial Skate Plaza”. Her memory will live on.

Grace remembers that, “There was nothing that Rachel embarked on that she did not master. She cherished her family above all else and made everyone around her feel they were a part of hers. Rachel brought joy and light to everyone who knew her. She was the embodiment of unconditional love.”

Though the park is on private property, Grace allows the public to respectfully use the park. He lives next door to the park and above the coffee shop which he and Rachel once owned. Grace is a local chiropractor and owner of Natural Pain Solutions, adjacent to the building at 3007 NE Emerson St.

The park can be enjoyed by people aged 5 to 65, including Grace’s four sons and stepsons who are 15 to 21 years old. Enjoy your skating but please; no later than 10PM. Have fun!

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.

Last Thursday is a community grown event; free for all artists and art vendors, musicians, performers and visitors.

Photos by Jordana Leeb

By Kepper Petzing | Contributing Writer

Pandemic Puzzle Passion

The daughter of a professional chess player, Sonya Kaidanov has always known that playing games are in her genes. When the pandemic began, she found it was jigsaw puzzles that became her passion. “Puzzles helped me thrive while inside. I would do eight puzzles monthly.”

Tired of spending money on new puzzles and wanting to share her puzzle joy, she was inspired to begin a puzzle library exchange in August 2022. She found a free cabinet at Rerun Thrift Store on Fremont Street and installed the puzzle library on her porch. Visitors borrow and return her puzzles like they would books at a library, and sometimes leave their puzzles for others to try. Her puzzle library has at least two visitors each day, sometimes more. She encourages people to come as often as they can.

Kaidanov estimates she owns 100 puzzles. With so many puzzles, she is happy for people to take multiple puzzles, even if they don’t have one to give in return. Although her sign says, “Puzzle Swap”, Kaidanov clarifies; “I want people to take more puzzles. Sometimes people look, don’t take anything, and it bums me out.”

Her passion is working with kids, so Kaidanov wants the puzzle library to cater to them. Easier puzzles for children occupy the right side of her cabinet while more complex puzzles are on the left. Visitors of all ages and puzzle abilities are welcome to come and look over the offerings. “I put in new puzzles almost daily.”

A few months ago, she was googling Portland puzzle meet-ups and made an amazing discovery: an official Portland Puzzle Exchange. The Portland, Oregon Jigsaw Puzzle Trading Cooperative started in 2006 and now meets monthly to puzzle and trade on the first Saturday of the month from 11–1 at the Matt Dishman Community Center, 77 NE Knott St. More information about the Portland Puzzle Exchange can be found at portlandpuzzles.org.

About Sonya

Kaidanov is completing her Masters in School Counseling. “In my future office, I will have a puzzle out on my puzzle board for kids and then one for me to do on my lunch break.” When we get overwhelmed, she says, puzzles require a focus that can help reduce stress and anxiety. It’s a brain workout that is self-competitive, not competitive with others. Plus, it’s fun. She appreciates the satisfaction and pride that comes from completing a challenge and “seeing what I can do alone.”

In addition to the puzzle library, Kaidanov has a TikTok account at @ThePuzzleAddict and an Instagram account @TheAddictedPuzzler, with hopes of getting free puzzles!

Kaidanov hails from Lexington, Kentucky, moved to Portland in 2013 and has lived in Concordia for five years. Her other hobbies include dogs, chess, piano, gardening and embroidery. She is a native Russian speaker and would love to meet neighbors to speak Russian with. You can visit her puzzle swap at 3031 NE Rosa Parks Way.

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.