FEATURE ARTICLES Memo Calendar Memo Pad Business Memo's Loaves & Fishes Letters Home
Tidings of Comfort and Joy expressed at The Grotto’s 15th Annual Festival of Lights
Neighborhood system a resource for positive change
Adventist Hospital presents master plan for future expansion
Mid-County restaurateur puts up his dukes and does it for the kids and the community
Urban Renewal funding idea floated

About the MEMO
MEMO Archives
MEMO Advertising
MEMO Web Neighbors
MEMO Staff

© 2002, Mid-county MEMO
Terms & Conditions
Memo Pad...

The Mid-county Memo is a newspaper dedicated to serving the community. The Memo Pad is a special section dedicated to your accomplishments, births, and celebrations of milestone events. If you have something special to announce or news your neighbors should know, publicize it in the Mid-county Memo Pad.

Submissions for each month are due by the 15th of the previous month. Please have submissions for January in by Monday, Dec. 16. We prefer e-mailed submissions sent to Dawn Widler, Department Editor at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail complete information to 4052 N.E. 22nd Ave., Portland, OR, 97212-1503, phone 503-287-8904 or fax 503-249-7672.

Tender care for your toes
A Foot Care Clinic will soothe Mid-County feet at the East Portland Community Center, 740 SE 106th Ave. The YWCA is sponsoring these clinics, where professional nurses will soak participants’ feet and clip their toenails. The initial visit is $22, although the fee drops to $20 for subsequent appointments. Future clinics are scheduled throughout the year. Appointments are required. To schedule an appointment, call Abby Kennedy at 503-988-6073.

A successful haunting
This year’s Rossi Farms Haunted Hayride in October was the most successful since it began four years ago. The event generated a new record of over $7,000 which will benefit the Parkrose High School Class of 2003 Senior All-Night Party.

Record ticket sales for the six nights of the event, October 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27 also helped to boost proceeds. This year’s concessions drew record funds. The unseasonable warm and dry weather also worked to draw in the crowds.

Due to the growth and expansion of the event, it now takes many days and hundreds of hours to build the Haunted Hayride. The cornfield is planted and maintained by Joe Rossi for months before the event. Then the trail is cut, “graves” are dug, and the final setup begins. This year’s props included a small town, mine shaft and spider tunnel. The graveyard was also bigger and better than ever. There are ongoing plans for next year’s event. Some props and costumes have already been purchased. However, they are always seeking donations. For more information about donations, please contact Barbara Snoozy at 503-262-9273.

Volunteers help our community
Snow-CAP, a Community Action Program, benefits many people in our area. This is made possible by the local volunteers who donate their time or money to help support those less fortunate in the community, and Snow-CAP would like to thank everyone who has helped them continue to be able to provide assistance to low-income families in the past year.

Thanks to volunteer help, Snow-CAP is able to operate several food and clothing programs for low-income residents of the mid-county area. These programs have served thousands of families in the last year. Their programs include a shopping style food pantry, produce distribution on Tuesdays, a co-op-type program called Community Basket, a community garden, and a delivery program for low-income seniors called Food 2 You, as well as much more.

Our community works through volunteers from the community pitching in, providing time and donations to help those less fortunate make it through another Portland winter. Assist your community by supporting Snow-CAP.

Current volunteer needs include artistic people to design and produce Snow-CAP greeting cards and Christmas ornaments. There is also a shortage of volunteers to deliver food boxes to seniors on the third and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Use your free time to help those less fortunate in our community. Call Danni at 503-674-8785 ext. 19 to volunteer, donate, or for more information about what you can do to help.

No excuse
With the Multnomah County Library’s complete line of services to help students, kids now have no excuse for not doing their homework. They can work with Homework Helper Volunteers in the library, explore the online Homework Center, or log on to Live Homework Help.

Live Homework Help is a new program, available from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Live Homework Help (www.tutor.com/multnomah) is simple to use and free for Multnomah County Library cardholders. After logging on with their library card number, students can enter their grade level (from 4th grade through senior in high school) and the subject they need help with. They are immediately connected to a tutor for up to 20 minutes of help. Students can get help with specific homework questions through controlled chat, an interactive white board, and shared Web browsing. Spanish speaking tutors are available.

In addition to this, our local libraries let students help themselves. The Multnomah County Library’s Homework Center (www.multcolib.org/homework) is an award-winning, nationally recognized Internet directory of K-12 homework-related subjects. With input from local teachers, librarians have researched and reviewed thousands of Web sites and selected the ones most appropriate to the subjects children study in Multnomah County classrooms. The Homework Center includes more than 10,000 links organized by subject. Due to the directories extensive coverage, libraries around the world are using this resource for their own young members.

For those who prefer to receive in-person assistance, Homework Helpers are available during regularly scheduled hours. These volunteers help K-12 students use library resources to complete their homework assignments. Hours are listed at the local library, or visit www.multcolib.org/vol/homeworkhelpers.html

Let your children play inside -without a mess at home
The East Portland Community Center Indoor Park offers safe and cooperative playtime for children accompanied by their parents. Let your kids run wild in a warm, safe indoor environment. The indoor park encourages the development of motor skills while helping children gain experience with group interaction and cooperative play on equipment, cars and assorted toys.

Parents are responsible for supervising their children: the park provides the equipment and toys for them to play with. The fee is only 50 cents per child. Sessions will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon for children up to 5 years of age. Last day of class is Friday, Dec. 20. For more information, stop by the East Portland Community Center, 740 S.E 106th Ave. or call 503-823-7459.

MHCC forensics team takes home first place win
The Mt Hood Community College (MHCC) Forensics team traveled to Lower Columbia College and the 30th annual Smelt Classic. Competition was fierce, featuring 14 colleges from throughout the region, including Pacific Lutheran University, Northwest College and Portland Community College.

It was truly a team effort as the MHCC Forensics team brought home the coveted first place Sweepstakes award for community colleges and placed second overall for the tournament.

“We did struggle in debate at this tournament, but we stormed back in individual events!” said Shannon Valdivia, MHCC director of forensics. “I think we are just beginning to show how dominant we will be this year.”

For more information, contact MHCC instructor and Forensics Director Shannon Valdivia at 503-491-7634.

Make a difference
David Douglas Community School is now seeking mentors. They are looking for a few good people who would like to make a difference in the life of a middle school student. From playing cribbage to tutoring algebra, volunteer mentors positively impact the life and development of students.

For more information about how you can make a difference in the life of a local child, please call Steve Boquist at 503-823-2279. David Douglas Community School is located on the Alice Ott Middle School campus, 12500 S.E. Ramona St.

continued...
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memo's | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | About the MEMO
MEMO Advertising | MEMO Archives | MEMO Web Neighbors | MEMO Staff | Home