Gateway Elks Lodge selects a teenager from our community each month during the school year to receive Teenager of the Month honors. The winner of this award is chosen from applications from local high school teenagers who strive to make a difference in their school and community. At the end of the school year Gateway Elks Lodge will recognize one of the monthly winners as Teenager of the Year.

Vanessa Harris, Gateway Elks Teenager of the Month. COURTESY SONNY SAECHAO

Keith Alan Bones, 64, a barber at PJ’s II Styling Salon in Gateway for over 37 years, died in his sleep on Oct. 6. He was born in Tillamook on Feb. 21, 1947, the first child of Raymond and Clarice Bones.

He attended Nestucca High School and after graduation, he attended Oregon Institute of Technology for a year.

Keith Alan Bones 1947–2011

Bones enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and served on the aircraft carrier Iwo Jima for four years as an electronics technician. He married Jan Fuehrer in 1968. In seven years of marriage, they had two daughters, Heather and Andrea.

It was not just Parkrose celebrating a birthday last month. The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services marked a year of operations at East Burnside Street and 102nd Avenue.

In a report to the Multnomah County Commission last month, Executive Director Martha Strawn Morris reported that more than 2,000 adults and 750 children had paid 7,000 visits to the facility.

One of its main offerings is enabling domestic violence victims to obtain restraining orders against abusers, and last year visitors obtained 557 such orders, nearly a quarter of all obtained in the county. This represented 90 percent of those who sought such orders at the center, as compared to 85 percent at the downtown county courthouse.

Parkview Christian Retirement Community holds its annual Craft Fair, Friday Oct. 28 and Saturday Oct. 29, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Parkview Christian Retirement Community, 1825 N.E. 108th Ave. in Gateway.

Parkview Christian Retirement Community holds its annual craft fair Friday and Saturday.

Many of the items are handcrafted. Residents will be showing everything from books to toys, harvest decorations to Christmas gifts, and lots of baby items.

The PCRC Garden Club will be selling plants at great prices. While browsing the vendor offerings, people attending can treat themselves to the homemade goodies that will be for sale as well.

A rummage sale in support of Eastminster Presbyterian Church’s community mission projects is set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Never know what you will find at a rummage sale. Eastminster Presbyterian is holding its annual rummage sale Friday and Saturday.

The deacons’ regular monthly mission includes financial support to a local chaplain, SnowCap Community Charities and the Portland Rescue Mission’s Shepherd’s Door. The church is located at 12505 N.E. Halsey St. in Gateway.

Posted online, a recap of the October 2011 edition of the Mid-county Memo  follows ….

At 15, Curtis Crawford joined the Knott Street Boxing Club; it changed his life forever. Crawford is a mixed martial arts fighter, youth boxing coach and a personal trainer at his gym, Curt’s Ultimate, in Gateway; he lives to fight.

Curtis Crawford, from left, with Curt's Ultimate Youth Boxing coaches Ray Monge and Joel Caldera. Crawford's gym, his mixed martial arts career and youth boxing program are featured on the Memo's front page this month.

East Portland Rep. Jefferson Smith throws his hat in the ring for Portland’s mayor.

If you travel Northeast Halsey Street in the vicinity of 119th Avenue, there is no doubt you have seen the colorful new storefront of U Can Do It Dog Wash.

Proprietor Sue Wade was convinced Mid-county was in need of a dog grooming facility that offers pet owners the option of shampooing their dogs themselves or turning the task over to her and her staff. Her intuition has paid off in the form of neighbors and potential customers dropping in to check the place out.

As you can see, U Can Do It Dog Wash professional groomer Taylor Case enjoys making dogs look adorable. COURTESY SUSAN WADE

A drug deal gone bad with gang overtones is the reason police investigators gave for shots fired in a usually quiet neighborhood of east Portland this afternoon.

When officers arrived, they learned occupants of two vehicles were involved in a confrontation leading to the shootings. One car and one house was hit by gunfire; no injuries were reported.

Northeast 107th Avenue and Oregon Street

Investigators cleared the scene on Oregon Street near 107th Avenue in the Lorene Park neighborhood after processing evidence and talking to witnesses. The investigation is continuing.

Area blood bank supplies are often depleted during summer months.

American Red Cross Bloodmobile makes an appearance at the Gateway Elks Lodge

The Gateway Elks Lodge, 711 N.E. 100th Ave., will host the American Red Cross’ Oregon Trail Chapter Bloodmobile Thursday, Sept. 15 from 4 to 7 p.m. Call 800-GIVELIFE to make an appointment. Every drop counts.

The September issue of the Mid-county Memo posted online. A re-cap of its content follows …

Proposed changes at Glendoveer Golf Course and Fitness Trail is this month’s main front page feature story. Glendoveer lovers and government haters showed up en masse for the heated open house last month.

Lee Perlman pens a piece about east Portland tours conducted by Oregon State Rep. Jefferson Smith (D) for candidates for City office is the subject of the second story on this month’s front page. Smith took candidates on a tour of east Portland low-lights, highlighting the decades of City neglect for Mid-county.