Click HERE for past newsletters
or you can click on this icon...
|
Commentary
Sidewalks front and center
 This issue is a reflection of the times.
We have stories about schools, war, food and sidewalks.
All that's missing is the economy, but we will be covering that in detail in coming issues. In the last two issues, we looked at the troubled local real estate market. It has become more troubled since.
In this issue, sidewalks and pedestrian improvements get top billing for a several reasons.
1. The dire need for sidewalks has been a constant refrain in all the planning we've done in Hillsdale. It is a top issue.
2. Possible improvements will be the topic of the Sept. 1 Hillsdale Neighborhood Association meeting.
3. The city, in deciding how to spend new state revenues for the improvements, wants priority sites to filter up from the neighborhoods. We need to respond in a responsible way to the invitation.
So, in addition to the lead story, this issue has two commentaries about sidewalks and how we are going about choosing our #1 site for pedestrian improvements here.
Guest Commentary
By Robert E. Hamilton, Co-Chair, Hillsdale Neighborhood Association
I hope that we have a record turnout for the Sept. 1 meeting of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association (HNA) at The Watershed (and not St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, our usual meeting site).
We will start at 6 p.m. with a "Harvest Potluck Dinner." The regular business meeting will follow at 7 p.m. You may see the entire agenda of the meeting by going to the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association Web site (www.hna-pdx.com).
One on-going and critical agenda item is that relating to what I call "sidewalk-construction candidates."
In the spring and summer, a group of volunteers, led by Don Baack, then the chair of the HNA's Transportation Committee, investigated and nominated eight sites for sidewalk improvements. On Sept. 1, the Hillsdale community is invited to comment upon specific or all "candidates" and decide how we should treat them individually and collectively, not just for now, but in the future. And not just with state funds that will become available soon, but with other funds - be they federal, state, county or city.
Calling upon the expertise of the membership and the HNA Transportation Committee, we need to designate by September 20 a "top priority" for "Tier 1" state funding for sidewalk construction. Or confirm an earlier designation. Or, ask our transportation committee to do so on our behalf.
Expressed a different way, the meeting will give us "a chance to decide how to decide" complex matters relating to transportation, land use, schools, and other areas of concern.
Transportation issues can become quite complex. The portion of the meeting devoted to them will be in the hands of Glenn Bridger, new HNA Transportation Committee chair, and his guest, Marianne Fitzgerald, chair of the Transportation Committee of Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI), our 17-member Southwest Portland coalition. Both Glenn and Marianne have extensive expertise to explain the issues and answer questions.
Believe me, we will need their help. When I recently considered attending an important July 26 SWNI Transportation Committee meeting, one transportation veteran jokingly warned me, "Don't expect to understand everything we're talking about."
This is exactly why HNA Co-Chair Sheila Greenlaw-Fink and I are constantly recruiting young Hillsdale residents to attend our monthly meetings and become active in HNA committee work. It takes time to understand the complex issues important to Hillsdale.
So, please attend the Wednesday, Sept. 1, HNA meeting at The Watershed. Bring your questions, your comments, and, perhaps, a salad or vegetable purchased at the Sunday Hillsdale Farmers Market.
I've volunteered to bring a big pot of soup: maybe split-pea, ham, and carrots; or, maybe lentil soup with a dash of curry and sour cream or yoghurt; or maybe chicken-noodle.
Come and be surprised. You will nourish both body and brain.
Editor's commentary
Get involved
Because of a long-standing commitment, I will be unable to attend the important Sept. 1 meeting Robert Hamilton refers to above, but I urge those with opinions and preferences about where sidewalks should be built in Hillsdale to attend.
I trust that the decision-making process will be fair, open, neighborly and rational, grounded in agreed-upon criteria for selection.
We are fortunate to have neighborhood association leadership committed to these virtues.
Rick Seifert
As always, letters to the editor are welcomed. They may be edited for length. They should be directed to:
|
|
Links to Hillsdale organizations
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunset looking north: Students, library users and shoppers walk along the western shoulder.
City-wide competition for new state money:
Neighborhood weighs sidewalk choices at Sept. 1 meeting
With $16 million in new state revenues available to build "infill" sidewalks in Portland, the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association wants to snag a portion for needed sidewalks here.
Through a multi-step process, it has been asked to name its top choice for a sidewalk or pedestrian improvement site.
The association will take up the topic at its Wednesday, Sept. 1, meeting, 7 p.m. at the Watershed Building, Bertha Court and Capitol Highway.
With numerous sidewalk-deficient neighborhoods in Portland vying for the money, the odds are long that Hillsdale will succeed.
Still, the neighborhood wants its candidate - whatever it turns out to be - in play when area neighborhood transportation chairs meet on Sept. 20. That group, the Southwest Neighborhoods Inc. (SWNI) Transportation Committee, will forward its recommendation on to the SWNI Board. The board, in turn, will pass its recommendations on to the Mayor and the Bureau of Transportation for a final decision.
Glenn Bridger, the new chair of the Hillsdale Transportation Committee, wants the sidewalk to go on the portion of Capitol Highway between Cheltenham and Terwilliger. He and pedestrian advocate Don Baack, who stepped down as transportation chair last month, maintain that the neighborhood has long endorsed the stretch which now has only a narrow shoulder for pedestrians. They describe it as the unfinished "missing link" in the Capitol Highway Plan that was approved in the early '90s.
SW Capitol just west of Terwilliger is daunting for pedestrians  |
Baack and Bridger point to a HNA vote in July of last year that reaffirmed support for putting in a sidewalk on the dangerous stretch. The vote was on how the next round of federal stimulus dollars should be spent on Capitol Highway.
Others in the neighborhood say other options should be weighed. Indeed, in studying options for the state funding, a group, led by Baack, at one point listed 23 although it was later shortened to eight.
Baack noted in a letter to the chair of the SWNI Transportation committee, that "from all indications, the next priority (after the "missing link" Capitol Highway section) would be a sidewalk along Sunset from Dewitt to SW 18th."
Don Bachman, who lives nearby that option, says it is more deserving of funds because it serves far more people and is used by school children.
Bachman, who admires Baack's work on behalf of the neighborhood, agrees with Baack that the Capitol stretch is more dangerous, but, Bachman adds, adequate alternatives for getting to Terwilliger already exist. In contrast, he says, Sunset is the only choice for its pedestrians.
Other sidewalkless streets mentioned on the list are Dosch Road, Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, Vermont, and Capitol Hill Road.
Robert Hamilton, co-president of the neighborhood association, said the Sept. 1 meeting will give those attending an opportunity to ask questions of Bridger and SWNI Transportation chair Marianne Fitzgerald. After that, attendees will "decide how to proceed in the best interests of the community," he said.
(Commentary on this subject appears in the column to the left.)
|
Peace protesters are frequently thanked by drivers and pedestrians.  |
Chuck Stilson's vigil
Four years of anti-war protest,
with no end in sight
From 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., as hundreds of commuters whisk by, 80-year-old Chuck Stilson holds up a large sign totaling American carnage in the Iraq.
Many motorists honk encouragement. Occasionally someone flips him off. He just shrugs. "There's no sense in getting angry," he says calmly.
During the Bush administration, Chuck was joined by as many as seven others. Today, he's more apt to be joined by two or three. Sometimes he's alone.
He figures he has missed only one or two Fridays in four years.
The fighting hasn't stopped. He knows his vigil isn't going to end war. When U.S. troops officially pull out of Iraq at the end of this month, Chuck says his banner will record deaths in Afghanistan.
"I think I'll do this for years," he says.
Stilson is an Army vet. He was drafted in 1949 to fight in Korea but was among five soldiers in his 160-man platoon chosen to stay stateside. When the war ended, he was shocked to learn that only eight members of the platoon had survived.
Chuck Stilson, right, with fellow protester Jim McGoodwin.  |
War War II also shaped his pacifism. Two older brothers returned deeply traumatized, shadowed by memories of their naval service.
"They were never the same. Today we call it post-traumatic stress disorder," he says.
A son-in-law, who flew helicopters in Vietnam, was downed three time, was wounded, and brought home deep psychological wounds, Chuck says.
The human destruction he has seen is not all that drives his protest. "I care because I've been so fortunate."
Chuck grew up during the Depression on the family's 206-acre subsistence farm in the rolling wheat country of southeastern Washington. The family of seven children struggled through hard times but always helped the less fortunate.
For years, economic justice has been another calling for Chuck. He learned first hand about exploitation and the importance of unions on numerous construction jobs throughout the West. He's been an electrician, a scaffold builder, an insulation installer, an project estimator and a supervisor.
Eventually, with the skills he learned on the jobs, he struck out on his own. With a $200 investment he started a successful industrial insulation firm in Portland. He made sure his company was a union shop.
Chuck retired in 1986 after trying, unsuccessfully, to sell the business to his employees.
Now, he says, he lives by a single command: "I try to do something for someone every day," he says.
For Chuck, that has meant working for Habitat for Humanity in the Philippines and for Northwest Medical Teams in Honduras. He's mentored kids at Tubman School and at Jefferson High School. He teaches youth and works on Project Hope at nearby St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, where he and his wife, Gini, are members.
And then there are the Friday vigils for the fallen and wounded soldiers.
Of the thousands who pass his vigil, he says, "They need to be reminded. People are so unaware of what's happening."
What's happening? Chuck's current sign tells the story:
"Iraq: Deaths 4,416, Wounded 31,888 +++ PTSD over 100,000. Say no to war."
|
Despite staff cuts, Rieke's new principal, Andrea Porter, and her counterparts at Robert Gray and Wilson are accentuating the positive.  |
Hillsdale's schools will open with fewer teachers
Story and photo by Valeurie Friedman
Falling tax revenues resulting in severe state budget cuts mean Hillsdale's three public schools, like others, will have fewer teachers in their classrooms on Tuesday, Sept. 7, the start of the year.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride," says Robert Gray Middle School principal Larry Dashiell.
The budget news for Portland Public Schools went from bad in June, to worse in July, to slightly better later that month with passage of the federal stimulus program to save teaching jobs.
And the ride isn't over yet. A new state revenue forecast is coming this Thursday that is expected to bring bad news.
For now, district-wide cuts in Special Education and ESL have reduced those services at all Hillsdale schools. Beyond that, each principal was required to make additional staff reductions.
To maintain small class sizes at Rieke Elementary, Principal Andrea Porter, who is new to the school this year, chose to eliminate music, change staffing in the library, and reduce the hours of the PE teacher.
"The teachers are ready to pull together and get music back into our students' school experience," Porter says. "We're looking into providing something beyond school assemblies."
Staffing is down by half a position at Robert Gray. Six- and seventh-grade science classes will be slightly larger next year as a result. Cascading effects have led to a general shuffling of teachers around the school, changes that have kept Principal Dashiell on his toes all summer.
Cuts at Wilson High School could have been much worse, says Principal Sue Brent. Back in June Brent was told to eliminate more than eight jobs. That number later came down to just over three.
Brent has been able to absorb many of the cuts by not replacing vacancies from retirements or voluntary transfers. The biggest impact will be slightly larger science classes.
Parent groups are helping bridge the funding gap. Rieke's annual auction is in the works. Robert Gray plans a community run in the fall. Called "Run4Gray," the event will enlist parent and community support for staffing. The Wilson Foundation aims to raise $100,000 to bolster teaching staff. Wilson's PTA already has volunteers in place for activities throughout the year.
Despite financial challenges, the work of educating students goes on. Says principal Dashiell, "We've got students coming through the door on September 7th --we will do what it takes to be ready for them."
At Rieke, a new portable classroom has arrived to accommodate enrollment growth. Robert Gray enters the third year of the Positive Behavior Support program in partnership with University of Oregon. And Wilson has received grants to support student leadership programs as well as install high-efficiency lighting.
Says Wilson's Brent, "There are always negatives, but we will always focus on the positive. And there are some great things happening this year."
|
Hillsdale's market matures,
guided by experienced manager
Story and photos by Brian Olsen
Hillsdale Farmers' Market Manager Eamon Molloy is a wiry, studious-looking guy with a knack for produce. He is also the invisible hand behind the Hillsdale market.
Molloy brings residents and local farmers together every Sunday from May through November and twice monthly from December through April.
Eamon Molloy, Hillsdale's market manager.  |
Since the business major and former east coast produce manager took over managing the market seven years ago, the square footage and number of vendors have doubled and the customer count has increased from 2200 to 2700 a week.
"More importantly, sales have gone up," said Molloy. "People are buying more than just flowers. People buy a peach at the PSU Market, but they buy a flat here."
Because of bulk purchasing, people are more willing to play "let's make a deal," he added.
Respect and fairness are central themes at the market, which began in 2002.
He tells the story of the shopper who picked up a head of lettuce and asked the vendor, 'how much?' The vendor replied, 'two dollars.' The shopper said, 'that's not enough' and handed over three.
Not surprised, Molloy added that Market lettuce is sometimes picked in the wee hours of the same Sunday or the night before.
The market currently has 55 vendors and is classified as a "medium"-sized market by the American Farmland Trust, the leading national organization dedicated to saving America's farm and ranch land.
Molloy insists Hillsdale, one of 17 markets in the metro area, is "just the right size." Despite receiving more than 100 requests from vendors in recent months, he has only accepted three.
"I look at markets differently. I think of inventory of product. We're a mature market now. I'm not going to change for change sake."
A lot of change comes from innovative vendors, he said. For example, Rick Steffen Farm grew cherries in hoops this spring and had them before anyone else.
About 50 percent of the vendors are fruit and vegetable farmers.
 Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm in Gaston supplies food to Food Front, New Seasons, and comes exclusively to the Hillsdale Farmers' Market. He says the cultural connection to the neighborhood and the people keep him coming back. "We've seen the kids grow up."
The other half of the vendors include wild game meats, grass fed beef, seafood, coffee roasting, prepared foods and the like.
The Smokery supplies wild salmon that is smoked weekly for Whole Foods and Food Front. After coming to the market for eight yearsk, the Smokery's Beverly Jacobs said she knows about 90 customers by name.
Molloy says the market has revenues in the bank to pay for four to six months worth of expenses in case of an emergency. "We could replace everything we have and pay stuff without sponsorships. We don't have to compromise what we do."
He charges a flat rate of $40 for 10-by-10 foot vendor stalls and does not keep track of how much vendors gross. But, the number of five-dollar tokens purchased with debit card or SNAP continues to increase despite the recession. He suspects that vendors collectively gross $70,000 on a peak Sunday in July and August.
The market employs one full-time employee (Molloy), one half-time employee (the assistant market manager), and boasts 80 volunteers.
Volunteers setup and breakdown the market and provide information to vendors and shoppers. In return, they get the equivalent of a vendor discount.
Joan Quinn has been a volunteer since the market began back in 2002. She recalls when Hillsdale was one of only two Sunday markets in Portland. When the early markets were in the Key Bank parking lot, volunteers stored tables and tents in the attic at what is today Casa Colima.
"The market is a fabulous meeting place. Every time you turn around there is somebody who wants to talk to you. I know all of the vendors and I trust that what they bring here is not bought somewhere else."
Molloy adds, "If you like food and want to be out in the community it's an easy way to meet 2000 people on any given Sunday."
August 29 the market will be featuring tomato mania. To learn more about the market go to www.hillsdalefarmersmarket.com.
|
Up for auction Sept. 12
Artist recycles old church organ into art
Since a new pipe organ was
installed at Hillsdale Community Church in early 2009, the retired organ
console had been gathering dust in a corner of the church lobby.
That is until Evan Holt spotted
the 1947 oak console.
Holt, a church member and
artist, set about transforming the wood parts from the console into mirrors,
tables, a lamp, a bench, a couple of shelves and a mobile.
They constitute an art display
at the United Church of Christ church, 6948 SW Capitol Highway. The title is "7487:
Deconstructed/Reconstructed." 7487 is the makers' mark found on
all parts of a pipe organ console.
Holt is a local artist
specializing in fine wood furniture and finish carpentry. He is currently
pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree through the Pacific Northwest College of
Art's Applied Craft & Design program. He operates Holt Woodworks, focusing
on carpentry projects and artistic custom furniture, with an eye towards
environmentally friendly construction.
Pieces are available for
viewing free of charge during office hours (Monday - Friday,
10-2) until Friday, Sept,
10 at Hillsdale Community Church. They will be sold in a silent auction
benefiting the church's organ fund on Sunday, Sept. 12 beginning at 9 am and
ending at noon. Contact (503) 246-5474 or officeadmin@hillsdaleucc.org for
more information.
|
|
The Date Book
Saturday, August 28
Rieke, Gray invite volunteers to help ready campuses
9 a.m.-12 p.m. Volunteers should bring shovels, rakes, wheel barrows. Rieke will work on the parking lot, playground and landscaping. Naomi Cohen, Rieke's PTA volunteer coordinator, would like to know if you plan to help: nayjcohen@yahoo.com
(503) 679-0080. At Gray, just show up with tools to work on landscaping.
Sunday, August 29
Back-to-Shul BBQ welcomes Cantor to Neveh Shalom
11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Congregation Neveh Shalom will hold its all-Member BBQ
to welcome Cantor Deborah Bletstein and to kick start fall programming. Those attending will learn
about programs, services and educational opportunities. BBQ attendees
are encouraged to bring school supplies to help students in Free and Reduced Lunch
Programs in both Portland and Beaverton school districts. Needed items include
pencils, erasers, highlighters, spiral notebooks, glue sticks, colored pencils,
crayons, washable felt tip pens, loose leaf notebooks, or notebook paper. Free
to members and prospective members.
Reservations required. Contact cnsreceptionist@nevehshalom.org or
503/246-8831, ext. 100.
Sunday, August 29
Celebration of life of Dianna Ponder
5 p.m. Ferguson's Fragrant Nursery, 21763 French Prairie Road N.E., St. Paul. Directions: take exit 278 off I-5, go five miles west. Nursery is on the right at French Prairie Road.
Dianna Ponder, who was deeply involved in the Hillsdale community, died July 12.
A special fund honoring Dianna has been set up through the Hillsdale Community Foundation. Donations will go to the completion of the new bicycle plaza between Baker & Spice and Food Front. Those wanting to contribute to the Dianna Ponder plaza fund can send a check to The Hillsdale Community Foundation, PMB 121, 6327-C SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR 97239-1937. Checks should be made out to the "Hillsdale Community Foundation" with "Dianna Ponder plaza fund" in the note line. For more information about the celebration or the fund, call Mike Ponder at (503) 422-3787.
Wednesday, Sept. 1
Neighborhood Association mulls top sidewalk choice
7 p.m., The Watershed, Bertha Court and SW Capitol Highway. The meeting will be preceded by a "Harvest Potluck Dinner" at 6 p.m. On the agenda is a presentation and discussion about state money available for pedestrian improvements in Southwest Portland. See story in this issue.
Saturday, Sept. 4
Read to the Dogs at the Hillsdale Library
10 a.m. to noon for all grades. Read with Kathy and Angie to improve your reading skills and make a new
friend by reading aloud to a therapy dog. The dogs and handlers are
from the Delta Society's Pet Partners® Program, sponsored by DoveLewis.
Saturday, Sept. 4
"Usual Suspects" meet for one-hour clean-up
9 a.m. to 10 a.m. meet at the Food Front "veranda" with grabbers, bags and gloves for a congenial hour of town center litter plucking with friends. Refreshments, courtesy of Food Front, and trash artifact comparisons follow.
Sunday, Sept. 12
Drop off your bag and view chalk art
Chalk Art Festival and purse drop-off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rieke Elementary School. Donated purses are for The Wilson Area Arts Council (WAAC) "IN THE BAG," a benefit for the Arts on Sunday, Nov. 14, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at O'Connors in Multnomah Village. All proceeds benefit Wilson High School Music Program. To donate purses, email Linda Doyle at lsdoyle@earthlink.net or call Jaci Evans at (503)502-7612. |
Rick Seifert
Editor, Hillsdale News
(503) 245-7821
editor@hillsdalenews.org
|
|
|
|
|
