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FEATURE ARTICLES
Beech Park planning begins with children
Guilt moves man to life’s mission
Smith leads education forum
Beloved Ada Baetkey, Parkrose resident, passes away
Perlman's Potpourri:
Monn leaves Wilkes for greener pastures
Portland Impact: many doors, many solutions
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Local clown tapped for Grand Floral Parade
Dennis Chapple, a 15-year member of the Resurrection Lutheran Church clown ministry has been selected to march with other area clowns in the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade in downtown Portland on Saturday, June 7.

Resurrection Lutheran Church is located at 1700 N.E. 132nd Ave. The clown ministry is available for hire. To learn more, contact Jerry Sharpe at 503-255-0676 or jerry_sharpe@hotmail.com.

Help Friends of Trees green up our neighborhoods
Friends of Trees would like to partner with Mid-county neighborhoods to organize more community tree plantings. This year FOT planted 70 trees in the Argay, Parkrose, Russell and Wilkes neighborhoods. As the trees are budding and leafing out, you will hopefully notice these beautiful additions to your neighborhoods. FOT would love to have more plantings in its 2008-09 planting season, but the group needs your help.

In order to offer homeowners trees for their yards or parking strips, FOT needs neighborhood coordinators to volunteer their time to help plan these neighborhood plantings. Greening the east side is an important project, and FOT wants to provide everyone the opportunity to plant trees. Neighborhood coordinators are needed for Argay, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Mill Park, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Pleasant Valley, Powellhurst/Gilbert, Wilkes and Woodland Park. Neighborhood coordinators find neighbors who have space for trees and encourage them to plant. The neighborhood coordinator then responds to inquiries from homeowners and receives support from FOT staff throughout the whole planning process.

Planting trees in your yard or parking strip creates long-lasting benefits enjoyed by everyone. Did you know that trees remove pollutants from the air? A typical tree absorbs 10 pounds of pollutants, cleans 330 pounds of carbon dioxide and creates 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Trees also help intercept and retain 760 gallons of rainwater each year, which helps to keep our rivers clean and to save money on storm water fees. Trees can cool our homes in the summer and provide shade throughout the neighborhood. Trees can raise the property value of your home by up to 20 percent. By planting trees now, you will help to keep your neighborhood green into the future.

Neighborhood coordinator training will be offered on Saturday, July 12. If you are interested in becoming a neighborhood coordinator for one of these neighborhoods, please contact Whitney Dorer at 503-282-8846, ext. 21, or whitneyd@friendsoftrees.org.

MHCC honors teachers
Faculty and students of Mt. Hood Community College have selected three outstanding instructors to receive the annual Distinguished Teaching Award. Sue Byers-Connon, Wayne Machuca and Tim Polly will each be honored at the 2008 commencement ceremony on June 13. The award recognizes these instructors' hard work and dedication to the college, both in and outside of the classroom.

It must have felt like déjà vu to Byers-Connon when interim President Gary Murph and an entourage of friends and co-workers paid a surprise visit to her classroom. This is the second time Byers, Adult Basic Education and General Education Development instructor, has been chosen for the Distinguished Teaching Award. She first received it in 1984, and she is the only faculty member to receive this award twice. With the perfect blend of tentative care and firmness, Byers is cited for her ability to individually reach each student, cater to unique learning styles, infuse the atmosphere with confidence and guide students to ultimate success.

Machuca, Computer Information Systems instructor, was praised for his ability to run a tight ship, yet keep the atmosphere fun and relaxed, all the while teaching courses that can be very difficult for some students. When a student is having trouble, Machuca always puts in extra effort, including helping exchange students overcome language, cultural and technological barriers to succeed in his class.

Polly is famous around campus for his amazing job as chair of Industrial Technology. His list of program successes includes creating a new Integrated Metals degree and a CNC (computer numerically controlled machines) Operator program specially designed for people who speak English as a learned language, a program that some say will become a national model. However, where Polly really excels is in the classroom, where students praise him for his detailed and challenging teaching style.

Retailer takes steps to be a good neighbor
Aware that discarded shopping carts are a neighborhood nuisance, Mike Wilson, manager at K-Mart on Northeast 122nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, has announced a new cart retrieval service. Neighbors can call 1-888-55-CARTS (1-888-552-2787) 24 hours a day, seven days a week to report abandoned carts. Northwest Cart Retrieval will respond within 72 hours. If you have questions or additional concerns, contact Wilson at 503-255-8903.

Delivery of emergency rations to homebound seniors
Beginning last month, volunteers for Loaves & Fishes Centers began delivering emergency food and water rations, for use in the event of a natural disaster, to thousands of homebound seniors in the metro area.

Seniors who regularly receive Meals-On-Wheels will be provided with two gallon-size water jugs, an emergency meal bar, an emergency planning pamphlet and a personal information card to record important contact and medication information. Volunteers will deliver the supplies and help seniors to understand the importance of personal preparation.

Loaves & Fishes Centers has been working closely with Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties to develop an emergency response plan in the event of a natural disaster. Frail, homebound seniors are one of the most vulnerable population groups and depend on daily delivery of hot meals. During a natural disaster, such as a major earthquake, there is a strong possibility that regular meal delivery service would not be possible. Emergency rations can sustain seniors for 48 hours until regular meal delivery can be reestablished. County and city planning organizations recommend all households prepare a 72-hour kit for use in an emergency.

"Our vision is that no senior will go hungry or experience social isolation," said Joan Smith, executive director of Loaves & Fishes Centers. "We want to ensure that our seniors will have basic food and water in the event of a natural disaster that will prevent our regular volunteers from reaching them. We also want to encourage those who can to put together their own home emergency kits."

Stay-at-home dads have new resource
Stay-at-home dads in Portland have a new way to socialize with the formation of Portland Dads at Home, a new online networking resource for fathers who stay at home with their kids.

PDAH is the creation of Eric Houghton, a recent transplant from Boston, Mass. Houghton has been an at-home dad for a year and a half, and when he arrived in Portland late last year, he looked for a way to connect to other dads in his position to learn more about raising his son here. When he didn't find anything, he decided to start a group.

"Dads often find it harder to make connections with other dads," Houghton said. "Men in our society aren't always brought up to be as gregarious as women are, and even though at-home dads are growing more and more common, it's still relatively unusual to run into one in the course of day-to-day activities. And even when you do, it's just not as easy to break the ice and get a conversation started."

PDAH provides a perfect way for dads to start making these connections. Through its Web site and e-mail list, dads can arrange playgroups and field trips for their kids, share experiences and child-rearing wisdom, and even plan the occasional dad's night out. Early proposals for possible group activities include regular gatherings at homes, parks and community centers around the city as well as trips to OMSI, the Children's Museum, the zoo, baseball games and more.

PDAH is open to all dads who stay at home with their children, part or full time. It's a volunteer-run organization, with any member of the group welcome to coordinate activities, ask questions or make suggestions. There's no cost to get involved -- all members need is a commitment to helping each other raise children and build strong families.

Visit www.portlanddad.com for more information, or e-mail webmaster@portlanddad.com.

Problem solving guide available
The Portland Police Bureau has released the 2008 Community Problem Solving Resource Guide. This guide provides users with a quick reference to community resource information and frequently used telephone numbers.

Included in the guide are hotline and emergency numbers, a variety of general community resource numbers, a list of city and county building locations, Portland Fire Bureau fire station locations and contact numbers, and a listing of Portland area streets both alphabetical and by the hundred blocks. Also included is a contact list of Portland area hotels and motels, a location list of Portland parks and recreational facilities, contact numbers for Portland-Metro school districts and a listing of area colleges and universities.

The Community Problem Solving Resource Guide is a great asset for law enforcement agencies, community organizations and community members when searching for resources within and around the Portland area.

The Community Problem Solving Resource Guide and is available on the Portland Police Bureau Web site at www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=97462. If you do not find what you are looking for in the guide, or if you have comments or suggestions, please call the Strategic Services Division at 503-823-0286.
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