Special Events: Photo Albums

Photo
Album: September 2011

Movie & BBQ at

April Hill Park

Here Come the Thank Yous

First of all, a big round of applause to our friends at Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement whose Small Grants for Neighborhoods funding provided us with the resources to celebrate.And thank you Amanda Fritz for fighting to keep that pot full!

The folks at Portland Parks & Recreation and the corporate sponsors who brought us the Movies in the Park program are truly amazing!

Thank you especially to Cortney Hoffman and Jeff Milkes who were professional and pleasant to work with throughout.

To our local businesses who donated food and drinks – we could never have pulled this off without you! Maplewood neighbor Randy Walton hauled the cart-that-keeps-on-giving over to April Hill and set up like he was at his shop over on NW 23^rd!

The scooper and cashier Austen Lake and Kevin Quan now have carpal tunnel syndrome, but it was worth it! Thank you also to Annalee Lake who handed out FreezerPops with the right hand and Baker & Spice cookies with the left. The wonderful folks at that pastry heaven donated dozens of luscious cookies and shortbread.

The barbecue was supplied by a generous donation from the Raleigh Hills Fred Meyer and Claire Carder’s family, who kindly provided the spicy bean burgers and a propane grill! Lambs in Garden Home provided watermelons and ice plus their fridge and freezer space to keep all of our goodies cold. Thank you Mike Babbit for keeping that tradition alive! And Ryan Maloney over at the Garden Home Starbucks once again provided gallons of iced tea and coffee, which were drained to the melting ice cubes.

A number of volunteers helped out on food and the raffle.

Thank you Jeanne and Lauren Donaldson and Bill Rector for helping Joan in the raffle booth and Karla Englehardt for the wonderful signage. Thank you Chris Mays, Maura Kanuri, Karen and Matt Bissonette, Jim Battan, and Larry Lake for helping the MNA Board out at the grill and food stations. Thank you to Dave Drescher for cleaning and hauling the chairs to the park.

Raffle prizes were provided by wonderful restaurants and shops including Acapulcos Southwest Gold, O’Connors, Annie Blooms, Switch, Thinker Toys, Grand Central Baking and Sweets, Etc, in Multnomah Village, Valley Cinema, Valley Lanes, Western Pet Supply and VisionCue in Raleigh Hills and Beaverton, OmBase, Seasons & Regions, and Paloma Clothing in Hillsdale, Maplewood’s own Images Unlimited Salon, and artists Jill Gaddis, Bracelets By Lana, and Kaye Synoground. Patsy Gorman’s Mary Kay Beauty Consulting, Chipotle Restaurants, the SW Community Center, Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI), the Donaldsons, and Northern Lights Marketing also provided raffle items.

You only have to glance briefly at any news report to realize how fortunate we are to have such tremendous programs and support in this challenging economy.

Photo Album: Texas Street August 2011

TEXAS STREET PARADE AND BBQ 2011

Contributed by Joan Frazer

The Texas Street Parade and BBQ was held on Saturday, August 27, starting at 3:30pm.

The informal Texas Street children’s parade (followed by a potluck) was started over twenty years ago by Roberta and Lloyd Smith for the children living on Texas Street between 55^th Ave and 60^th Ave. It is a ‘somewhat’ annual event, depending on how many young children live on the street at any given time.

As a group of children grow up, the parade often takes a break. After Roberta and Lloyd organized the event and hosted for many years, the next hosts were:
Nancy Rasmussen and then the Griggs family.

This year the potluck BBQ was hosted at the house of Marty and Kristen Hickey, with help from Ron and Liz Jones. Even-numbered house addresses brought a salad or side dish to share, while the odd-numbered house addresses brought a dessert to share.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, and garden burgers with all the fixings were provided by the hosts.

The turnout for the parade was great; and included a ‘special parade float’ for the ten month old Miller twins, Avery and Siena, of a wheelbarrow with a pink lining.
They were accompanied by their dog, Picco. Many dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds accompanied their people when the parade went up Texas Street and ended at the Hickey residence.

Several children had decorated their tricycles and bicycles.
Katy and Emma Buddeke walked on tall stilts and amazingly were able to walk up the hill and complete the parade using them.

It was an event enjoyed by all, especially the children, and an opportunity for neighbors to socialize, as well as to get to know the newer residents on our block.

We all hope that this tradition will continue for years to come…and that there will always be a group of children available and willing to join in.