FLOCK TOGETHER SOCIAL GATHERING: meet new folks with common interests

WHEN:

Saturday, March 13^th 2:00pm-4:00pm

WHERE:

Humboldt Gardens Opportunity Center

5033 N. Vancouver Avenue (at Alberta)

Portland, Oregon 97217

ABOUT:

Community Outreach of Our United Villages invites you to an interactive afternoon to connect with people and discover shared interests.  Snacks provided.  Child care, interpretation, and transportation provided upon request.  FREE and open to all. RSVP to outreach@ourunitedvillages.org or (503) 546.7499.  www.ourunitedvillages.org

2-4 PM Saturday March 13th

at the Community Room (upstairs)

United Methodist Church – corner of NE 15th and Dekum

Please bring a sample of your work.  This is an opportunity for writers in the Woodlawn neighborhood to meet, learn about one another’s work, and discuss how to promote our work within the community.

For more information: 503-288-3758

2-4 PM Saturday March 6th at the Community Room (upstairs)

United Methodist Church – corner of NE 15th and Dekum

Please bring a sample, or pictures, of your work.  This is an opportunity for artists and craftsmen in the Woodlawn neighborhood to meet, learn about one another’s work, and discuss how to promote our work within the community.

For more information: 503-288-3758

Solarize Northeast is a volunteer-driven community effort led by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) to bring renewable solar energy and the benefits of weatherization to Northeast Portland homes. Residents may sign up for solar or connect with weatherization programs, or both. The final date for enrolling in the program is April 15.  Check out http://solarize.necoalition.org/default.cfm

You can enroll on our Sign Up page to get started (it does not commit you to installing solar).

To learn more about this project, please check out the Information page above.  To learn more about solar and weatherization, check out our Resources page.  Please attend our workshops to learn more about the basics of going solar, tax credits and other financial incentives, the details of connecting to the power grid, and how to finance the purchase of solar panels.  These free workshops are listed under the Calendar menu option.

Participating neighborhoods will be doing outreach to their immediate neighborhood through neighborhood association newsletters, websites, e-lists and events. For additional information, contact solarize@necoalition.org.

Also coming soon is a clean energy job fair on February 27 from 10:00 – 2:00 at Curious Comedy Theater.  Our solar consultant, SolarCity, will be hiring electrians and limited renewable technicians for this project.

How would you feel waking up every morning knowing that every day will hold unforgettable adventures, bonding with a diverse group of co-explorers, facing exciting challenges, learning life lessons from trusted mentors, and looking back at the end of each journey with a sense of the world around you grown closer and full of possibility?

Camp Bike Fun will run two to three week long summer programs between June and August 2010 for 10 to 15 year olds. Cost is 190 per week- with scholarships available. Bicycles and helmets (and more) are provided by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. Registration begins in March at the North Portland Bike Works. 3901 N Mississippi Ave. Portland. 503-287-1098.

http://www.northportlandbikeworks.org/

A generation ago, young people grew up able to explore with their friends and seek out  the wonder of the everyday…they quickly grew to appreciate the richness of the place where they live, and develop a sense of personal connection to their own community. Now the world has changed, and a child’s life experiences are restricted to classroom studies and electronic media; adventure is something they know second-hand through books or movies. Without a sense the range of possibilities that are out there and the personal resources to find them, youth become unimaginative, incapable, and disaffected.

Pursuing one’s inner passions becomes the exclusive domain of less-inspired adults.

Similarly, knowing how to work as a team, to trust in each other, to focus on a larger goal, and to share the joys of discovery with new friends, especially from across town who before were just unfamiliar strangers…these experiences make up the foundation of a deeper sense of connection. Often for young people, “community” is more of an academic term, a superficial abstraction that happens through Facebook. Without a personal introduction to what makes their community a place of beauty and richness, they lose interest in making their own unique contribution. Without opportunities to see and develop their own leadership qualities, they resist others’ leadership and lose their direction.

As young people’s range of experience and relationships diminish, so does their confidence in taking on their fears, their sense of their own potential, the richness of their personal lives, and their depth of their relationships to society and the living world.

Reversing this bleak picture of reality for your 10-15 year old is as easy as going to your local community bike shop and signing up for a summertime bicycle adventures program. Highly affordable, designed for riders of all abilities, and led by dynamic instructors with many years’ expertise mentoring diverse youth, Camp Bike Fun is an unforgettable experience that adults would love and young people deserve as part of their lives.

Every day of the program, each young person will discover new places of wonder and beauty, grow in strength and confidence, learn skills and stories from expert adventure guides, and expand the boundaries of their world in all dimensions and directions.

In reaching spectacular destinations through their own brain and muscle power, young people will become personally linked to the unique resources of our area; by going on exciting adventures with a group of diverse peers, they will develop valued bonds of trust with other members of our community; by participating in service projects such as….., they will see themselves as contributors to our larger society.

Former program participants, speaking many years later with vivid memories and nostalgia, express how summer bicycle adventures have changed their lives:

“Camp Bike Fun was the funnest, coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” – Dawan age 11

“I never knew that I had a such a leader inside of me.” – Tiffany age 15

“It’s hecka tight!” – Nina age 13

“I wish everyone could enjoy the experiences that we had every day. I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.” Jose age 12

Go to friendsoftrees.org to register. It only takes a couple of minutes.

More information from Gregg Lavender…

We will have more information at the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association on Wednesday December 16th at the church on the corner of Dekum and NE 15th.

For 35 bucks (no one turned away by lack of funds), you can get a tree (Some of which would be 300+ dollars if you bought it from an arborist and had it installed.) The cost also includes a planting permit from the city, an inspection (to make sure there are no gas or water lines under there) METRO digs the holes, we plant the trees together in with our neighbors, and we even have a breakfast and lunch party! Other neighborhoods get a great deal for 75 dollars (which is a huge discount.) We pay only 35 bucks in Woodlawn. No one will be turned away by lack of funds- we have one neighbor willing to pay for a portion/ or all of a tree for neighbors who can’t afford the 35 bucks. (Contact woodlawntrees// @// gmail.com)

Trees absorb carbon. They cool in the summer, and protect from wind in the winter. They provide oxygen to us all. They provide food and shelter for birds. They slow traffic. They increase your (and your neighbors’) property value. They are beautiful. They fight global warming.

The rich and fancy neighborhoods shouldn’t be the only ones with beautiful trees. Our wonderful Woodlawn neighborhood should also get lots of beautiful trees too.

Last February in one day, we planted 59 new trees in Woodlawn. In 2008 we planted 89 trees in Woodlawn in one day. Right now, we are only have 41 scheduled to be planted. Help us triple that #!

If you want to help plant in February, and to come to our party, contact Friends of Trees.

If you want to help pass out door hangers telling neighbors about their last chance to order for this years planting, come to the Neighborhood Association meeting, or contact Gregg at woodlawntrees// @// gmail.com

Read more in the Oregonian…

FREE Body Composition Analysis; Saturday, December 5th  from 12PM – 4PM

An incredibly informative session that will determine lean muscle mass. Great baseline information to start your new year goals off right. No appointment necessary. Should take around 20 minutes.

FREE Teacher Training Yoga Class;  Saturdays, December 5th, 12th, and 19th from 5PM – 6:30PM

This is an ALL-LEVELS class that is taught by the current Prananda Yoga Teacher Trainees. It is supervised by Joy Wolfe (director). Tell your friends. This is part of the training so you are helping the trainees too! First come, first serve basis.

FREE Yoga Classes for Seniors; Mondays at 1 PM (ongoing)
On a personal note, I’ve been going to yoga classes at Believe Movement Studio for the past few weeks and I highly recommend them!  The space is lovely and welcoming and you get personal attention and instruction from the teachers.  Make sure you check out their calendar, rates and events at www.believemovementstudio.com.