For you parents out there…and prospective parents, too.
This is in our neighborhood, and takes place at Wild Lilac’s future location at 74th and Center.
To learn more about Wild Lilac’s plans to move into the neighborhood, as well as future plans to develop a K-8 charter school, click here.
Cinco de Mayo is this weekend, and the weather couldn’t be better. Celebrate…or don’t. But at the very least, enjoy the sun and have a good weekend. There are a few things happening locally and, as always, we want to hear what we missed. Feel free to share your events and other goings-on.
Here are your weekend tidbits…
- First, RIP Kris Kelly. If you are between the ages of 28 and 35, surely you must be sad. If you’re older or younger, you had weird taste in music. Nonetheless, the “Mac Daddy” will be missed, and Kriss Kross will no doubt be remembered for their contributions to early ’90s hip hop.
- Second, you should be taking full advantage of Foster’s outdoor seating areas. The Merc listed Gemini Lounge and Bar Carlo in their ‘Patio Pages’ this week, but there are other options for your outdoor dining and imbibing, too. From the food carts to to O’Malley’s, and beyond…breakfast, coffee, lunch/dinner, beer, cocktail, dessert…it’s all there to enjoy in the sun.
- The yearly neighborhood cleanup, hosted by the Foster-Powell and Mt. Scott-Arleta NA’s, is this Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Arleta Elementary. Get rid of your wood scraps, junky furniture, tires and bike parts, and other bulky waste, while raising money for you neighborhood association at the same time. Check the flier to the left for more details.
- While you’re into neighborhood civic duties, think about joining the next work party at the FoPo Community Garden (Sunday, May 12). Again, this is your space, too, so contribute what you can.
- Live music: Welfare performs tonight at Gemini Lounge, while JonathanTrawick and Aarun Carter will be up the road at Torta; the David Brothers get Torta on Saturday night.
That’s all we got. Again, feel free to share any events or other happenings. Happy weekend!
Just take it from this guy…rather, his prophetic, speaking van.
And now it all makes sense: All that’s wrong with Foster can no longer be blamed on poor planning; general neglect from the city; terrible traffic/pedestrian conditions; and some mystical, over-gathering of tweakers and scrap collectors. It’s our liberal views. Duh.
By the way, the economy still sucks…I’d take up the $100 challenge if I were you. I mean, 100 bucks is a 100 bucks, right?
Laurelwood Park is a nice asset to the neighborhood. It can be nicer.
Last week, the Foster Green EcoDistrict hosted its last community workshop to gather feedback on the final design option for the neighborhood park. Five people showed up. And that includes the design consultant and Foster Green facilitator.
So, if in fact a new design is accepted for Laurelwood Park, the adopted features will (at this point) be based solely on the opinions of five people…well, three, really. Sure, the sun was out last week…and who wants to go to community meetings after work.
But….
…change is happening in our neighborhood. And we (you) have an opportunity to shape it. Since you didn’t go last week (understandable: see above), you have one last chance to share your opinions.
Take this survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VBK6YL3
The proposed layout of the park has been chosen, but design features are still up in the air. The above survey allows you to express what kind of pathways, ground cover, lighting, and other land/hardscape features you’d like to see.
It takes 10 seconds.
FoPoers are a proud bunch, sure. But maybe we’re more proud of some of our qualities and attributes than others. I know I’m guilty of being Foster-centric, and often miss the happenings of 82nd Ave. It does form one our neighborhood boundaries, after all, and has vast potential to be a great street…just like Foster. Still, it often gets overlooked. Well, not this weekend, and not today. Thanks to one of our readers, we have a nice reflection on this weekend’s 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade and what that gathering meant to one neighborhood resident.
Until this morning, I couldn’t have guessed that these groups existed. I recalled parades of my youth and the excitement of marching with schools, scout troops, and bands. I remembered the time spent in each of these associations and my pride in representing them. It blew my mind a little to realize the hours of people’s lives that these marching and motoring groups represented. Watching the parade was like flipping the dollhouse around and seeing what was inside. A Taekwondo Acadamy; a fleet of beauty queens; energetic representatives of a food co-op dressed as poultry and veggies. So this is what my neighbors do in their spare time—this is what they care about. And then I started recognizing people. Is that drummer the bartender at O’Malleys? Is that lady with the dog a face I know from the grocery store? 
I have lived in Portland for 6 years. They have been great years full of good friends and memories. But I realize I have maybe been a little isolated of late. Being surrounded by neighbors and families and unexpectedly feeling like a part of something threw into stark relief the difference between lurking on facebook and actual interaction with my community. Seeing smiling faces of all shades and ages gave me some needed perspective on how I might fit in, regardless of any potential monolith of white hipster representation the city might sometimes seem to present. All of a sudden I had ambitions to see my particular interests reflected in next year’s parade. Maybe next year I will attend on purpose, meet up with new friends, share what I am proud of and add something to my community that wasn’t there before. Oh, glorious sun. It’s been nice saving money on heating…even nicer to bask in the sun on Foster—with a pint in hand—after a long day at work. Even the speeding, polluting cars and random meth heads biking the wide, sun-beaten sidewalks are enjoyable on days like this. Keep ‘em coming, sun god.
Here are your weekend tidbits…
- Ok, does it matter what’s happening this weekend so long as it stays sunny and warm? No. Especially if you have access to a park, a bike, a garden to tend to, an afternoon happy hour spot, or neighbors to visit with over iced tea or a cold IPA (hint, your neighborhood bottle shop is ripe for the to-go order).
- The BobWhite Theatre is the place to be tonight (Friday). I’m just not sure they know it. Or maybe they do and intentionally double-booked. Performing live at 8 p.m. is Spawnbreezie, a mix of island music, roots reggae, and hip hop. And….performing at 8 p.m. is DJ Tronic and others in the “For the Love of Warehouse Party v 1.” Both shows should be good, but hopefully they don’t drown each other’s sound out.
- The action continues at the BobWhite on Saturday, too, though the following event should be much more subdued. As noted earlier in the week, the PSU student group known as Mill Street Planning will be holding an open house to discuss preliminary concept plans for local alley way uses. The idea is to create a “how to” guide for residents of Mt. Scott-Arleta, Foster-Powell, and Lents, who want to better utilize their alleys. In addition to this guide, Mill Street Planning will also be creating three pilot alleys to demonstrate what these reimagined alleys can look like. The FoPo pilot is between Center/Boise and 63rd/64th. On the other side of Foster, the MSA pilot will be between Harold/Reedway and 71st/72nd.
- Mark your calendars: Lily Day Cafe’s grand opening will be on May 17th. Yes, they’ve already been open for a couple months, but now they want to introduce themselves to the neighborhood with live music from the Ukeladies and all-day food and drink specials.
- Once again, the neighborhood had decent representation in the Willamette Week’s 2013 Bar Guide. When searching their “Best Bars by Neighborhood,” Foster-Powell had two listings (well, three, but they included the Lion’s Eye which is on 82nd at Woodstock): O’Malley’s and Devil’s Point. Congrats to those two. I figured it would be a good time to recognize some of our other fine, local drinking establishments, all of which are worth your visit (and could have just as easily made this list): Gemini Lounge, Slingshot, and N.W.I.P.A. (no, this isn’t a bar per se, but if a strip club can make the list, so too can a bottle shop).
- If you want to share any other happenings and goings-on in the hood, just leave a comment.
