The Argay Neighborhood Association annual clean up is tomorrow, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Shaver Elementary, 3701 N.E. 131st Place.

Appliances, scrap metal, microwaves and yard debris are welcome at the annual event.

Argay clean up is tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Shaver Elementary.

Because Metro sponsors the clean up, the ANA charges nominal fees: $10 for a car or trunk full and $20 for a truck or trailer. Questions? Call 503-256-5579.

They will not accept: hazardous materials, herbicides, paint, motor oil, tires or electronics for disposal.

подаръциThe Resurrection Lutheran Players present “Pinocchio” on Saturday, May 19 at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, May 20 at 2 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 1700 N.E. 132nd Ave.

Original art by Enrico Mazzanti

This one act play is enhanced with puppets and marionettes.

Tickets are $7.50 for adults, $3.75 for children. Contact Linda Highman, at 503-254-6257 or lindaehighman@msn.com if you have questions.

Shop ‘til you drop today and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Parkrview Christian Retirement Center Spring Craft Fair.

Residents and area crafters will offer wooden items, handcrafted cards and toys, needle work gifts, scarves, jewelry, bird houses and more.

The Flower Lane Garden Club will be on hand with inexpensive plants to fill blank spots in your garden.

Parkview is located at 1825 N.E. 108th Ave. in Gateway.

You’re on an east Portland centric version of Jeopardy. An answer in the St. Rita Catholic Church category is Spaghetti Dinner. You ring in and say, “Rose Garre.” You are correct. If you answered Bert Garre or the Garre family, the judges would give it to you.

Rose Garre, second from right, marked her 76th year of volunteering at the St. Rita Catholic Church Spaghetti Dinner in April.

Since  its beginning in 1936, a Garre — Rose, her husband Bert (until his passing in 2001) their children, grandchildren and cousins — have been part of every spaghetti dinner.

Amassing an impressive season record of 43-1 — including two 16U tournaments in which they competed — the Rose City Mizuno Volleyball Club Black, an under 14 team, dominated the season and the Columbia Empire Volleyball Association Regional Championships held in April.

They entered the season-ending tournament seeded number one and emerged in the top spot, finishing 32-0 in their age bracket. For the November to May season, they won 87 sets, losing only six.

The St. Therese Black, a 16U volleyball team, went 43-1, under the tutelage of Julie Taylor. COURTESY RON RIVERA

The May 2012 Mid-county Memo is posted online. A recap of its contents:

Last month, the top three mayoral candidates debated at David Douglas High School’s Howard Horner Performing Arts Center; the new Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative areas are approved; Parkrose School District averts a teacher’s strike; David Douglas special education teacher Annie Harrell is named Outstanding Teacher of the Year; Lee Perlman interviews City Commissioner Amanda Fritz and opponent, state Rep. Mary Nolan; the Planning and Sustainability Commission endorsed the Outer Powell Conceptual Design Plan; since 2006, east Portland neighborhood associations have been operating illegally; the Portland Housing Bureau is changing tax abatement area boundaries in east Portland … again; and, longtime Gateway hairstylist June Bauer’s obituary.

Woohoo!

The Parkrose Farmer’s Market opened today, Saturday, May 5, and runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Parkrose Farmers’ Market opens May 5 for its fifth season.

You will find fresh, local produce; bedding plants; vegetable starts; hanging baskets; custom crafted jewelry; handmade yard and garden furniture; fresh pastries and caramel corn and lots more.

The market is open Saturdays through October from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Parkrose High School Community Center’s east parking lot, 12003 N.E. Shaver St. Be there.

Are east Portland neighborhood associations all illegal? Technically yes, says East Portland Neighborhood Office Executive Director Richard Bixby, but it is not their fault. It is his.
A handful of the City’s 95 recognized neighborhood associations are 501(c)3 non-profit corporations, able to offer tax deductions for donations. Most of the rest fall into a different non-profit status.

Because they handle relatively small amounts of money, they do not have to make yearly reports to the IRS — or did not until the year 2006, when the law was changed.

For fifty years the most popular restaurant in the Hollywood neighborhood, Yaw’s Top Notch, is reopening in Gateway.

Despite being out of the restaurant business for more than thirty years, Steve Yaw, whose grandparents opened the first Yaw’s Top Notch in 1926, thinks he can capture lightning in a bottle again, this time in east Portland.

Set to open in Mid-July, Yaw's Top Notch Restaurant, depicted here by artist Mike Hill, is coming to Gateway.

Every spring the Parkrose Educational Foundation hosts a party to bring the entire community together in support of Parkrose schools.

Tonight, parents, teachers, administrators, staff, alumni and neighbors will gather at the Holiday Inn-Portland Airport, 8439 N.E. Columbia Blvd. to “Build Strong Foundations for Parkrose Kids,” this year’s theme.

Conga line begins behind PEF Auction Chair Allison Newman-Woods.

The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres, champagne and a silent auction. Guests will then file into the ballroom for a dinner that includes complimentary wine and the oral auction.