Introduction to Northeast Village PDX
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Saturday, May 13th from 10:30 to noon at the Hollywood Library, 4040 NE Tillamook
Come and learn about the Village movement in general, and the Northeast Village in particular.
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Help Needed Establishing NE Village Presence at Neighborhood Fairs
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Want to help spread the word about NE Village and the benefits of membership? Your support is needed to staff a table at a neighborhood fair this summer and give out public information. NE Village is looking for volunteers for 1½-2 hour shifts on the following Saturdays:
- June 24, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm - Taste of Parkrose
- August 5, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Fremont Fest
- August 12, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm - Alberta Street Fair
NE Village also needs a manager of volunteer staffing at neighborhood festivals and fairs. If you want to help out in any of these roles, contact Marcia Tate at meptate@comcast.net or call the office.
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Volunteers Needed for Irvington Home Tour May 21
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Have you ever wished you could peer inside some of those stately old Irvington homes? How many ornate mahogany built-ins do they have, how much architectural eye candy?
If you sign up for a morning or afternoon shift as an Irvington Home Tour docent by contacting
volunteer@irvingtonhometour.com, you'll get to see the other six homes on the May 21 tour for free, a $25.00 value.
The Irvington Community Association gave NE Village a substantial grant in 2016 to help cover village start-up costs, for which we are grateful. Proceeds from the annual Irvington home tour help fund grants for local nonprofits like NE Village, as well as for schools, beautification projects, and neighborhood events. For more information, see
www.irvingtonhometour.com.
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Membership has grown to 107 members. There is an increase in Full Service members, which is keeping our volunteers busy and happy.
We have sent an electronic Satisfaction Survey to all members.
Please complete the survey (it only takes 3 minutes or so). The heading on your email will read Todd ....survey. It is from the Village and we hope to gather as much feedback as we can.
A goal is 107 completed surveys! Thanks for your support as members, volunteers and friends!
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NEW EVENTS
Members Only
GATHERING FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS (VIPs)
Northeast Villagers with early or advanced visual impairments are invited to meet each other and share their personal stories about challenges, successes, and resources.
Those interested in learning what it is like to deal with loss of vision are also encouraged to attend. Out of this gathering, we may identify and plan future activities to support the VIPs in our community.
Wednesday May 24, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Help spruce up children's books for donation
The Children's Book Bank is a non-profit that repairs and touches up children's books and donates them to local elementary schools, Little Free Libraries, and area social agencies - more than 82,000 in the 2015-16 school year!
We will meet at their office: 1915 NE 7th Ave (on the max line or #6 bus). If you would like to join Eastside Village members on May 22 at 12:30, please call the NE Village office at 503-895-2750 to say you are coming. NE Village members are welcome.
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EVENTS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Open to All
NORTHEAST VILLAGE COFFEE
Friday May 5, 10:00am
Members and Volunteers Only
NEIGHBORHOOD BIKE RIDE
Sunday May 7, 2:00 pm
Open to All
NEIGHBORHOOD WALK: Nob Hill Loop
Monday May 8, 10:00 am
Members and Volunteers Only
LUNCH AT LUCCA
Friday May 12, 12:00 pm
Open to All
HAPPY HOUR at Alameda Brewhouse
Monday May 15, 4:00-6:00pm
Open to All
COFFEE WITH EASTSIDE VILLAGE
Tuesday May 23, 9:30 am
Members Only
SINGING GROUP
Wednesday May 24, 1:30 pm
Open to All
NEWCOMERS GATHERING
Tuesday May 30, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
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McMenamins Benefit Raises More than $3,000 for NE Village
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The "Friends and Family Night" benefit held at McMenamins Kennedy School the evening of April 11 was a huge success. McMenamins is donating 50% of all food and beverage sales in the Courtyard Restaurant to NE Village PDX.
The village has received a check for $3,154.95. That's significantly more than usual for a Tuesday night. So many people showed up, there was a wait list to be seated.
McMenamins hosts these benefits for a variety of nonprofit organizations on a regular basis. Thanks to all who dined in the Courtyard Restaurant that night - and thanks most of all to McMenamins for investing in the vitality of the community. What a savory way to raise money for a good cause.
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Village Member to Speak May 11 at Chinese Garden
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Suzanne Silverstein at the Chinese Garden - second from right
As part of a series of storytelling events called "Stories of Asian Heritage" to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, NE Village member Suzanne Silverstein will talk about her father's life after he landed in New York City at the age of 20.
He came from China in 1928, when U.S. immigration law barred most Chinese from entering the country. Did he come for the freedom and modernity of life in America, or was he fleeing turmoil in China? Why was he allowed to enter the U.S. when most Chinese were not?
Silverstein, who volunteers for the village Membership and Program committees as well as for the Lan Su Chinese Garden, will tell her story May 11 at 2:00 pm. The garden is at 239 NW Everett St. in downtown Portland (admission $9.00 for age 62+).
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Trash or Treasure? Neighborhood Clean Ups Call for Donations, Volunteers
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Do you have too much stuff - but you don't know what to do with it? It won't fit in your trash can, and besides, someone else might want to use it.
Maybe you're in the market for some gently used garden tools, toys for your kids or grandkids, a bookcase that doesn't cost a fortune. Maybe you'd like to volunteer at a community event and meet some of your neighbors.
On
Saturday, May 6, 9 am to 3 pm, the annual
Rose City Park/Hollywood Clean Up will find a good home for that stuff that's been piling up in your basement or garage. On the following Saturday, May 13, the Sullivan's Gulch Clean Up will do the same.
These annual Clean Ups are totally dependent on volunteers. Even an hour or two of your time can make a difference. To volunteer for the May 6 Rose City Park/Hollywood clean up, contact Richard Crockett at cleanup@rcpna.org.
If you have items in good shape to give away, bring them early in the day to the Rose City Park/Hollywood rummage sale so there will be time to sell them. Proceeds will support the ongoing series of summer concerts in Rose City Park.
Trash can be unloaded at the parking lot of St. Rose of Lima School and Church (corner of Northeast 54th and Stanton). Even bulky items like furniture, mattresses and appliances are acceptable. You'll be asked for a small donation.
Here's what NOT to bring: yard debris:
construction materials, and hazardous substances. Check the Rose City Park website (
http://www.rcpna.org
) for more information.
To volunteer for the
May 13 Sullivan's Gulch clean up
, contact Dave Brook at dbrookportland@gmail.com.
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Village Offers Guidance on Emergency Preparedness
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In April, NE Village held information sessions for members on how to survive under extreme conditions, galvanized by Village member Walt Quade.
Merilee Dea, a Multnomah County nurse practitioner who went to Haiti in 2010, described the likely aftermath of a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake. Marissa Bevington, a Red Cross teacher and NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) member, talked about emergency communication and preparation of supply kits.
They also talked about how to survive the big one. Don't bolt out of the house (or other building). Get under a table or piece of furniture away from windows if you can, and hang on until the shaking stops. Cover your head. If driving, pull over, stay in your seatbelt and wait. If in bed, put pillows over your head and stay there. People who move around while an earthquake is in progress are the ones most likely to get hurt. If outside, stay as far as possible from trees and utility poles.
That - of course - just scratches the surface. Preparation involves acquiring a long list of supplies which can take months, as well as organizing in neighborhood emergency teams (NET). There will be more to come on this in future Village newsletters.
To learn more about emergency preparedness, visit the following websites:
Here are links to suppliers of emergency products:
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On the Nightstand: A Readers' Forum
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"Behold the Dreamers" by Imbolo Mbue, Random House, 2016.
This strong first novel by Imbolo Mbue, a native of Cameroon, portrays the lives of Jende and Neni Jonga, a Cameroonian couple who come to New York City seeking a better life for themselves and their young son.
From page 1, it's a page turner. Hired as chauffeur for a senior executive at Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2007, Jende is happy with his new life in America. He has a cousin sponsoring him and good employment; the family's future seems assured. Soon Neni lands a temporary job at the executive's summer home in the Hamptons. Well-compensated work for a wealthy American couple has placed the young immigrants on a stable path to U.S. citizenship.
Then the financial crisis hits, triggering a cascade of personal crises in both families, rich and poor. This book is about many things, among them the complex barriers immigrants face on the path to U.S. citizenship; the role luck plays in the course our lives take; the grueling toil and choices faced by workers in low-paying positions; and the strict role culture plays in how family decisions get made.
Personally, I can't think of a more relevant time for a story like this, with a local DACA applicant recently detained in a federal immigration center where he was not allowed a wheelchair to get to the nurses' station for medication, although he is healing from two broken legs and has bipolar disorder (he has since been released). Imbolo Mbue's insightful book will touch your heart as it informs.
--Pat Vivian
CALL FOR REVIEWS
Have you read a book - or seen a movie - you'd like to share with fellow villagers? Visited a restaurant with a menu that's to die for? Write up your thoughts (it needn't be long; 150-500 words is plenty) and send them to
info@nevillagepdx.org. Reviews of all types are encouraged.
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HELP WANTED - PROGRAM COMMITTEE
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The Program Committee seeks Villagers (members or volunteers) to help with summer events.
Can you facilitate a Coffee Hour or Happy Hour? We can suggest dates and places - or you can! As a facilitator, you would simply attend the event, enjoy the company of other Villagers, and let us know how it turned out.
We are also looking for "gatherers" to help out at various cultural events this summer. We'd like to encourage Villagers attending these events to connect and converse with each other. The gatherer would choose an event to attend (for example Shakespeare in the Park or a free rehearsal of a Chamber Music NW program) and place a sign so that other Villagers attending can find each other, chat, and perhaps sit together as a group. (And picnic beforehand? It's up to you!)
OR, would you be willing to lead a local hike (place and date of your choice) in July? We have leaders for June and August, but would love to include a July hike for Villagers as well.
If you can be a facilitator, a gatherer, or a hike leader,
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Newsletter Deadline for Submissions
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Please submit any articles for the June Newsletter to
Pat Vivian by
May 15.
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