INSIDE: SERVING Burlingame • Capitol Hill • Garden Home • Glen Cullen • Hillsdale • Multnomah Village • Raleigh Hills • South Portland • Vermont Hills • West Portland Celebrating 20 years of continuous Southwest news coverage! Volume No. 21, Issue No. 11 www.swportlandpost.com Portland, Oregon Hit and run driver charged with injuring bicyclist on Barbur Blvd, then fleeing the scene – Page 3 Complimentary September 2013 Volunteers support Multnomah’s Spring Garden Park and its natural play area By Erik Vidstrand The Southwest Portland Post Over 120 residents, children, and dogs attended last month’s National Night Out held at Spring Garden Park (3332 SW Spring Garden St). In fact, there were so many people they ran out of pie and ice cream! To the east, a majestic Mt. Hood was bathed in alpenglow; so close, you could almost touch it. Acquired by Portland Parks and Recreation in 1999, Spring Garden Park claims four and a half acres and is unlike any other park in town. There are no slides, swings, mon- key bars, or even a restroom. It is considered a natural play area encouraging children to use their imagination in play. Instead, there are logs, stripped of their bark for balancing on; stumps for standing and playing king of the hill; large boulders to climb on; and sand, lots of sand. In fact, as several community Portland Police officers arrived, one child was witnessed pouring a large cup of sand on his playmate’s head. The officers decided to eat some apple pie instead. Welcome to a new (old) way of playing. It is part of a growing movement to help children get away from screens and to experi- ence play the way their parents and grandparents once spent their youth. Many of the Post readers can conjure up their days of cre- ating forts and tree houses and mud pies. Everything goes here. Well not everything. Smoking is not al- lowed within 25 feet of the play areas. Dogs are not really welcome, but if they are present, they are required to be leashed at all times. And, even though the park sign says for children aged 2-12, it is available for 2-102. Multnomah resi- dent Lori Howell, a mother of two, is the tireless leader of Friends of Spring City Commissioner and Multnomah resident, Steve Novick, enjoys a relaxing evening at National Night Garden Park. In Out at Spring Garden Park. Next to Novick, Lori Howell with Amelia (10) and Benjamin (5), enjoy ice cream and pie while Katy Brumbelow, Multnomah NA vice-chair, tends to Novick’s dog. 2008, Lori formed (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand) the Friends group, recruited a board and parents to TriMet donated a tree from their in need of new volunteers to help volunteer. They applied for and property on Lincoln Street to supply write grants and to provide parental received a $10,000 grant from the wood and materials to the project. supervision.” Multnomah Village Umpqua Bank. The tree had to be removed during Parental supervision and partici- Portland Parks & Recreation’s first construction of TriMet’s Portland- pation is needed at Playdate in the nature play area was completed in Milwaukie Light Rail project. Park on Saturday, September 21 November 2011 as a result of collab- “Money is needed to keep the from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. oration between PP&R, Friends of park sustainable,” pleaded Lori, And since city commissioners Spring Garden Park, and Umpqua who explained she was suffering Amanda Fritz and Steve Novick Bank’s Multnomah Village branch. from ‘volunteer fatigue’. “We are (Continued on Page 6) Starbucks celebrates 20 years in Multnomah Village Metro considers Barbur Boulevard demonstration project for federal funding By Erik Vidstrand The Southwest Portland Post Metro recently held a public hear- ing on the proposed highway im- provements on Oregon 99W (Barbur Boulevard) from Southwest 19th to 26th avenues. Some 40 people at- tended and 23 testified. The City of Portland is consider- ing nine different projects for sub- mittal for Regional Flexible Funds totaling $94 million from three fed- eral programs which are allocated every two to three years. The public was invited to submit written comments and over fifty emails and letters were received. (The majority of the correspondence supported the Portland Central City Multimodal Project, specifically the completion of the Willamette Gre- enway Trail.) (Continued on Page 3) Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2. Doug Van Ness, district manager; Moses Ross, chair of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association; Randy Bonella, executive director of the Multnomah Village Blocs Initiative; and Jennifer Gibson, store manager, helped show off new amenities of the remodeled Starbucks coffee house at the Grand Re-opening on August 24. New features include a chill case, snack insert, and brewed reserve coffee machine with vacuum and French press technology. Additional business news on Page 4. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand) The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206