Each day members of our community quietly celebrate milestones, achievements and accomplishments—big and small. This department highlights these triumphs for the community.
If you’re sending a submission, include all details that apply: individuals’ names, details of the milestone and a contact name and phone number. If you have photos, send them. The submission deadline for September issue is Tuesday, Aug. 15. For best results, e-mail editor@midcountymemo.com or mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230. Call 503-287-8904.
Celebrate schools before they are gone
Three schools in the Reynolds School District are slated to be demolished to make way for new buildings at the same sites. They are Fairview, Troutdale and Wilkes elementary schools. Security and playground upgrades will also be part of the projects funded by a bond measure passed in 2015.
A School Celebration Committee has been created to host farewell open houses at all three buildings Sunday, Oct. 15. The Fairview Elementary event is from 10 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.; Wilkes Elementary, noon to 1:30 p.m.; and Troutdale Elementary, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The events are open to the public, and all current and former students, teachers, staff and their families are invited to stop in to say goodbye and share memories of these schools. Refreshments will be provided.
The School Celebration Committee is seeking volunteers to help plan and conduct these events. To contact the group with questions or to volunteer, call 503-618-0946 or 503-661-2164 or e-mail celebrateyourschool@gmail.com.
The School Celebration Committee is made up of teachers, alumni and the Reynolds School District, as well as the East County Historical Organization and the Troutdale Historical Society.
East Portland advocate is McCoy winner
Hazelwood resident and longtime neighborhood association volunteer Arlene Kimura won the 2017 Gladys McCoy Award.
STAFF/2012
The 2017 Gladys McCoy Award winner is Arlene Kimura, someone who has taken it upon herself to shape how east Portland has evolved in the nearly 30 years of her involvement with the city.
Ms. Kimura is one of the founders of the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association and its longtime chair. She is also a co-chair of the East Portland Action Plan.
Kimura has also served on advisor committees for the Portland Streetcar System Concept Plan, Environmental Code Improvement Project, Gateway Regional Center Design Guidelines, Advisory Committee for Gateway Redevelopment, and East Portland in Motion. She can also often be found volunteering at neighborhood cleanup events and events at Gateway Green.
The award, named for the first African American elected to public office in Oregon, goes to a Multnomah County resident who embraces McCoy’s values and works to carry out her legacy of increasing minority representation. The Multnomah County Health Department headquarters, a small park and a low-income housing project are named after McCoy.
