Don’t let lack of two-wheeled transporation prevent you from enjoying tomorrow’s event ! You can rent a bike from Pedal Bike Tours will at Alberta Park or Portland Bike Tours at Rigler School.

More about Sunday Parkways here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has selected Portland to be one of four communities to share a federal grant to find ways to prevent the kind of gun violence that has claimed the lives of nine young people in the city this year, largely due to gang shootings. The five-year $4.5 million grant was awarded to Multnomah County’s Department of Public Health, and public health departments in Boston, Houston, and Salinas, Calif.

Under the Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere grant, or STRYVE, the county will receive $225,000 per year for five years to lead a coalition of groups to come up with programs to prevent youth violence within high-risk communities in North and Northeast Portland. The goal is to expand the services countywide.

The program is intended to address violence as a public health problem, and consider social ills that contribute to violence, including poverty, unemployment, low academic achievement or school engagement, or lack of parental involvement.

Read the full story here.

In partnership with Friends of Trees, the Woodlawn neighborhood is planning a tree planting project for February 4th, 2011! Join us to help plant trees and create a healthier community.

Planting a tree in your yard or parking strip creates long lasting benefits enjoyed by everyone. Did you know that trees remove pollutants from the air? A typical tree absorbs 10 pounds of pollutants, cleans 330 pounds of carbon dioxide, and creates 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Having cleaner air in your neighborhood has all sorts of health benefits, such as reduced asthma rates. Trees also help intercept and retain 760 gallons of rainwater each year, which help keep our rivers clean and help save us money on stormwater fees.

Trees can cool our homes in the summer and shade our city which helps us stay cool all summer. Trees raise the property value of your home by up to 20%. Also, unlike many other things, trees appreciate in value each year. And by planting trees now, we can keep our city green into the future.

This fall, the Woodlawn Neighborhood and Piedmont Neighborhood volunteers are teaming up with Friends of Trees to offer homeowners trees for their yard or parking strip for $35. The cost will include a site inspection by the Urban Forestry Department, hole digging, help with planting your tree, stakes, mulch, ties, labels, follow-up monitoring, and information on proper tree care techniques. For more information on purchasing a tree, available tree species, and volunteering, please visit www.friendsoftrees.org.

With best wishes,

Tim Bonnin, Neighborhood Coordinator

Friends of Trees Woodlawn neighborhood planting

Ph: 503.953-5658, Email woodlawn@plantitportland.org

We’ve got all the shifts covered for Sunday Parkways. Thanks, neighbors, for stepping up.  If anyone wants to be listed as a backup, contact Sheila at kirkman953@yahoo.com or call her 503-308-0582.

Otherwise, see you Sunday!

Everyone is excited about Parkways coming through Woodlawn and we are too. We want to say hi to folks passing through Woodlawn, make them feel at home and share with them what a great neighborhood we have. However, we need volunteers to make this happen.

The Woodlawn Neighborhood Association is asking for a simple two-hour committment to sit at the WNA table.

There are two shifts we need to fill: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Who is going to jump on board and help out the neighborhood? If you’re willing, please  contact Sheila at kirkman953@yahoo.com or call her 503-308-0582.

Thanks.

Your neighbors at WNA

All interested in the Woodlawn neighborhood are invited to attend the general meeting on Wednesday, 9/21, at the Woodlawn Community Resource Center in Woodlawn Methodist Church at 1425 N.E. Dekum St. Enter the west door and head up the stairs and down the hallway.

You can view this month’s tentative agenda here.

If you have an agenda item you’d like to be considered for future meetings, contact Lisa Gladstone.

Come to the Classic Foods Open House and Benefit Saturday, September 17, from 1:00  to 5:00 PM, 817 NE Madrona Portland, OR 97211, 503-234-9387

Please bring two cans of food to donate to the Oregon Food Bank.

Here’s the latest from FOT:

Hi tree lovers,

This is Tim & Josh, your Woodlawn neighbors and Friends of Trees neighborhood coordinators. We just wanted to check in with you as we noticed that you are now eligible to order street and/or yard trees.

You can order trees online here and simply log in beneath were it says, “Select Your Tree,” or by calling me (Tim) at 503-953-5658, or by sending us an email. And the great news is, because of a computer glitch, FOT is offering a 15% discount if you order by September 28th! Just use code P-GLITCH15 when you checkout.

Just be sure to order by January 16, 2012, as that’s our neighborhood’s tree order deadline, but the sooner you order, the better the tree selection!

Thanks so much for signing up with FOT; we’re really excited to see more trees planted in our neighborhood this year!

Here is the Sunday Parkways brochure! It shows the route, times, and event highlights.

For a map showing Woodland Park activities and vendor locations, go here.

And for Durham Street vendors, click here.

Hope to see you there!

The construction of the pocket park at 13th and NE Holman is underway beginning in late August. The cement work and then planting will last through October.

It’s been a topic of discussion amongst neighbors for years and now the Portland Parks and Recreation department, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, as well as the Urban Forester and other departments are all working together coordinating and finalizing work on the project. The goal is to finish the street work, which will create sidewalks connecting the park with the surrounding neighborhood and the bike corridor by Sunday Parkways, Sept. 25.

The park will eventually feature a kiosk, a bike rack, a drinking fountain, built-in benches and bio-swales to handle the sewer overflow. The surrounding streets will also be given improved crossing, which will have ramps to make the park accessible to a greater range of people.

There will be some volunteer opportunities to help plant the park, both at Sunday Parkways and with the Portland Park and Recreations department. Look for a flier or on the Portland Park and Recreation web page if you are interested in being part of the planting project in October.

There will be disruptions in bike, pedestrian and car traffic during the on-going project. Please be careful when traveling down Durham, 13th, Holman and 12th — especially if you are traveling at night!

–Heather Heatlie

Construction at 13th and Holman