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Introduction to NE Village
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An "Introduction to Northeast Village PDX" session will be held on
Tuesday, May 15, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the
Hollywood Senior Center, 1820 NE 40
th Avenue.
The June "Introduction to the
Village" will be at
Gregory Heights Library
, 7921 NE Sandy Blvd. at from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on
Saturday, June 9th
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An
yone interested in learning about the Village movement in general, and the Northeast Village PDX in particular is urged to attend. No reservations are necessary.
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HELP WANTED:
The Program Committee Needs You!
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The Program Committee is looking for new members to help plan and run Village events and activities. Now that NE Village membership is growing, the committee needs to grow, too, in order to keep up with demand.
The Committee is also seeking
one-time volunteers
(no long-term commitment involved!) to:
- host a morning coffee, afternoon tea, or happy hour at a local venue
- lead a walk, bike ride or other summer outing
- organize a game night or afternoon
- plan a theater or movie outing
- suggest a book on aging (or related topic) and lead a group discussion
- host a handwork gathering (knit, stitch, crochet and chat) on comfy sofas at the NEV office
If you'd like to meet other Village volunteers, work together to organize interesting activities - and have fun doing it - please contact Susan Bach (
susanbach@comcast.net) or Leanne Logan (
leanne.logan@gmail.com) for more information.
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Gather to Commemorate "The Longest Day" on June 20
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Northeast Villagers, volunteers, friends and family are invited to participate in "The Longest Day" observance at the Portland Memory Garden on Wednesday, June 20.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Portland Memory Garden in partnership with the Alzheimer's Association, "The Longest Day" is an event to raise awareness about Alzheimer's and to support the progress being made to end this devastating disease. As we near the summer solstice with 16 hours of daylight, we can reflect on the difficult hours that Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers experience.
The goal of this event is to attract people to the garden and enhance their connection to the natural world, to help support and maintain the garden, and to contribute to ongoing research about Alzheimer's disease. There will be fun for all ages, including refreshments, live music, activities for children, a plant sale, a silent auction, and opportunities for people to honor loved ones. Walkways and restrooms are available, and the site is wheelchair accessible.
Date and Time:
Wednesday, June 20, 10:30 am to 2:00 pm
Location: Portland Memory Garden, corner of SE Powell Blvd. and SE 104
th
Ave.
(TriMet Bus #9)
Parking: Free in Ed Benedict lot and on SE Bush and 104
th
streets
For more information, see the garden website: www.portlandmemorygarden.org, or contact Patty Cassidy at
cassidypg@comcast.net.
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Program Highlights for May
GATHERING FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS (VIPs)
Members Only
Northeast Villagers with early or advanced visual impairments are invited to meet each other and share their personal stories about challenges, successes, and resources.
We welcome new members and encourage you to join us!
Friday May 11, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Reservation required:
NEIGHBORHOOD WALK: Cathedral Park/St. Johns
Open to All
This month, we'll explore a lovely neighborhood in North Portland on a two- mile walk. Part of this walk (down to and up from Cathedral Park) are slightly steep. As usual,
for those who can stay, we'll find a place to have lunch after the walk.
Monday May 14
,
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Meet at the corner of North Lombard St. and North Oswego Avenue. Street parking available or take the #75 bus.
GARDEN VISIT: BONSAI MIRAI
Members Only
Come see the dramatic bonsai creations of Bonsai Mirai. The bonsai are displayed in an outdoor garden setting close to the greenhouse and studio. For additional information see:
https://bonsaimirai.com
After our visit to the garden, we could have lunch at a restaurant nearby.
Friday, May 18. 9:30 am - 12:30 pm.
Location:
Bonsai Mirai in St. Helens
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NE Village Welcomes New Office Manager
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Sue Carr, Margaret Baldwin,
Lindsay Oldani, Jane Braunger, Susan Terry
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Here's a warm welcome to Lindsey Oldani, part-time NEV office manager,
who comes to NE Village with experience in community service work. Moving here from Missouri, Lindsey worked in the Janus Youth Programs, a non-profit serving young people in Oregon and Washington who are grappling with homelessness and sex trafficking.
Lindsey learned of the office manager job from her wife's parents, Mark Oldani and Sarah Morgan, who are NE Village associate members. Working for NE Village fits well with her desire that her jobs always serve the community.
Lindsey is a multi-media artist, the founder of Notable Normalcy. NN showcases her imaginative wall hangings, colorful jewelry and paintings in galleries, restaurants, non-profit venues and online. When not making art or working for NE Village, she camps or goes rock hounding with her dearly loved Aussiedoodle and her wife, Annie Oldani.
Nona Glazer
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Get in Step with NEV's Walking Group
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The NEV walking group paused for a photo at the historic Kenton firehouse while visiting the Kenton neighborhood in April.
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On the second Monday of each month, the NE Village walking group sets out to explore a different Portland neighborhood, park, or destination farther afield. Now in its second year, the group has enjoyed learning the history, geography, and architecture of many fascinating parts of Portland and beyond.
In addition to visiting Kenton on April 9, the NE Village walkers have been to Fernhill Park, Alberta Street, Goose Hollow, Nob Hill, the Grand Avenue Historic District, the Pearl District, Slabtown, and other destinations. They have wandered as far as Oregon City and plan to visit Fort Vancouver later this spring.
Anyone can join the walks, which typically last 1½ to 2 hours and end with a no-host lunch for those who wish to participate. Various walkers have taken turns planning the walks, and the group is always open to suggestions for new destinations.
Want to join them? Check the Village calendar and contact the leader so they know you are coming.
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When Living the Easy Life Isn't Easy
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[Editor's note: this is one of a series of articles on retirement written by NEV menber and retired psychology professor Tracy McDonald]
We often anticipate retirement as the start of the easy life. And just as often we forget that retirement is also a gigantic life transition - as big as getting married or divorced, becoming a parent, or starting a career. Like all transitions, retirement has its particular set of challenges. At the same time, retirement offers a tremendous opportunity to re-examine who we are, what our values are, and what we really want from our finite lives. Retirement gives us yet another chance to redefine and recreate our lives, this time relying on decades of experience.
During our working years our choices are naturally constrained. At work there is usually a boss or organization to accommodate. If we raised children, our choices had to be made with them in mind. Education may have presented other constraints. And then we retire.
Abruptly, our days become less regimented and filled with choices we didn't even know we had. We can finally spend our days how we want. We can travel, we can create, we can try something new. Perhaps for the first time in our lives, we have almost complete autonomy regarding how we spend our days.
This new freedom can also cause discomfort, and we may worry that
retirement is no more than endless days of nothingness. We may try to ease the discomfort by using a mental script of how we imagine retired life
should
look. We may feel safer, but scripts have foregone conclusions and limit our lives. If we can hang out in the discomfort of having no script, of not knowing where we are going, we begin to discover things we never thought we would like, values that we didn't know we held, and talents we never thought we had. We rediscover who we are and shape our lives based on self-discoveries.
So the challenge is to gently push ourselves beyond our comfort levels. Mistakes and blind alleys are good things and lead to discovery. In retirement we finally have the autonomy and time to intentionally shape our lives to be full of meaning and significance. What a tremendous opportunity!
Homework
: Choose a day to have no plans or responsibilities other than to get out of the house on your own, if you can. What kind of day do you create for yourself? What did you most enjoy and not enjoy? What did you learn?
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Northeast, North Star and Eastside Villages are partnering to coordinate a series of presentations for combined Village membership. This month, North Star Village is pleased to host writer Glennis McNeal and her presentation
Mini-memoirs: How to capture and share pieces of your life story.
This 90-minute session will help you identify topics that make good mini-memoirs and teach you about the process needed to write them.
Workshop presenter Glennis McNeal
coordinates memoir writing and publishing workshops for Oregon Press Women and currently is writing a book-length account of her early life in the Mountain West.
Date and time:
Tuesday May 22, 1:00 - 3:30 pm
Location: The commons area at Daybreak Cohousing, 2525 N. Killingsworth St.
Parking: On-street parking available. Enter from the N. Delaware St. side of the building.
RSVP required: To reserve a spot, please
contact North Star Village at 503-793-8518 or infonorthstar@comcast.net. Be sure to mention which of the three villages you belong to.
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On the Nightstand:
"Tuesday's Promise: One Veteran, One Dog and Their Bold Quest to Change Lives," by Luis Carlos Montalvan and Ellis Henican; and -
"Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him," by Luis Carlos Montalvan and Brett Witter
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Sen. Al Franken described "Tuesday's Promise" as a "moving and timely book" dedicated to "improving the lives of other veterans." It chronicles Capt. Montalvan's service in Iraq, where he was seriously injured in a booby-trap and spent two months in rehab. That's where he acquired Tuesday as a service dog.
"Tuesday's Promise" describes the difficulties Montalvan faced after being traumatized by war, as well as his endless challenges in dealing with the Veterans Administration. In one instance, when filling a prescription, he was asked for a non-existent ID for the dog and said the dog's vest was his ID. The VA police accused him of buying the vest online and threw him in a cell. An examination of the contents of Montalvan's wallet revealed that the man they had just wrestled to the floor has a Purple Heart for service to his country.
The second book, "
Until Tuesday," conveys the story of two wounded warriors, a man and a dog, who found salvation in each other and healed each other's souls. It's a story of war and peace, injury and recovery, psychological wounds and spiritual recovery.
We must do more for these valiant men - we must.
- Edana Laine
PLEASE NOTE:
The opinions expressed in this review column are those of the author, not NE Village PDX.
CALL FOR REVIEWS:
Have you read a book you'd like to share with fellow villagers? Visited a restaurant that's become your current favorite? Write up your thoughts (200-450 words is plenty) and send them to
info@nevillagepdx.org
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