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Volume X X V I, Number 27
Committed to cultural diversity.
• July 3, 1996
(Ebe ^ o rtla n h (©bsertrer
SECTION
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Leaders Laud Youth Club
Fort Vancouver
Fireworks
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
w ill host the Vancouver 34th annual
Fourth o f July Celebration. Activities be
gin on the main stage at 11:45am with
music and other entertainment, finishing
with a spectacular fireworks display at
10:00pm.
Mel Renfro
(surrounded by the
club's member) is
one o f many
community leaders
who visit the club
regularly. Renfro
was a Jefferson
High School
football and track
star, University of
Oregon All-
American, NFL
Dallas All-Pro and
Pro-Football Hall of
Famer. He's now
an Ambassador for
the Bridge Center.
Campaign For
Peace
The Cam paign fo r Peace w ith Cuba
and the F lyin g Focus V id e o C o lle c
tiv e are co-sponsoring a Cuban F ilm
Festival - a retrospective o f the late
Cuban film . The film s, in large-screen
vide o form at, w ill be shown at F ifth
Avenue Cinema, Southwest 5th and
H a ll, Thursday Ju ly I I th rough Sun
day, July 14. For more in fo rm a tio n
c a ll 287-9806 or 735-4068.
International
Performance
Festival
The 1996 Portland International Per
formance Festival "Revisiting Home" July
19 - August 15, 1996. Ticket information
at PSU Ticket office, 506 SW M ill, 725-
3307. General Festival Information: For
performances, events, courses and w ork
shops, cal 1725-4862, or 1-800-547-8887,
ext. 4862.
Community
Meeting
On T hu rsd a y, Ju ly I I , 1996,
Greenpeace Portland w ill be holding a
community meeting at 2548 SE Ankeny
St. from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. At this month’ s
meeting there w ill be a m ulti-faith panel
discussing the connections between spir
ituality and the environment. For infor
mation call Jeanne at 233-1139.
Red Cross
Summer Course
Scheduled
The Summer 1996 Schedule o f Health
and Safety Courses o f the American Red
Cross Oregon Trai I Chapter is now avai I-
able. Courses include First A id andCPR,
CPR forthe Professional Rescuer, Infant
and Child CPR, Childcare Profession
al's First Aid and CPR, Protect Your
Back, and Bloodborne Pathogen train
ing. Youth classes include Baby-sitting,
When I in in Charge, and Basic A id Train
ing. To receive a course catalog, call the
Oregon Trail Chapter, 280-1440.
Walk For Human
Race
July 27, 1996 5K fundrasing walk for
non-profits in Clark County. 8:30 - 11:30
a m. Sponsored by the Human Services
Council 694-6577.
The International
Festival
July 28, 1996 Esther Short Park in
downtown Vancouver. A grassroots fes
tival with ethnic music, dance and food
celebrating local ethnic diversity as a way
to highlight the international groups
(served by the Seafarer’s Center). Noon
to 6:30 p.m. Free 694-9300.
SU B M ISSIO N S: Community
Calendar information will be given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
B
kv
P rom ise K
ing
inda White's divine passion for
less privileged inner-city kids
goes beyond the rudiments of
her job as the Director of Blazers'
& Girls Club.
L
For White, it’ s a divine inclination.
Her deep faith in the youth club and her
towering motherly figure has given her the
niche in pioneering the club successfully.
Local community leaders have continual
ly pointed to the club’s success stories.
"I think the Club has been a blessing to the
community,” says Sam Piece.who directs
M YC AP (M in ority Youth Concerns Pro
gram).
Some area kids who use the club regularly
say it’ s helped tremendously in re-directing
their focus.
“ I feel committed to do what I can to make
a difference for our youth,” says White.
In a community that lacks basic social
amenities, the Boys & Girls Club has served
as a beacon o f hope for some and a haven for
other area kids.
“ I think one o f the most important thing
we do here is to provide a safe place to go,
Boys
not just to socialize but to learn and have fun
at the same tim e,” the youth club director
said.
The club rules are strict and runs on a
structured requirement. White says regula
tions are part o f life.
The club director's ultimate goal is to be
able to expose area kids to different choices
and opportunities and focus their minds to do
positive things.
There are many things she would want in
’ the club, like a music studio, but financial
constraints have hindered that progress at
least for now. She says it could be done with
community support.
One kid White would love to have in her
club is the Portland Blazer’s new deal, the
17-year-old high school basketball sensa
tional Jermaine O ’ Neal.
" I am going to do my best to have him
[O ’ Neal] in this club It w ill be totally awe
some to have him as a role model,” says
White.
I f White has a magic wand, the former
lieutenant with the Arizona state Dept o f
Corrections say s she w ill wipe away all traces
o f negativity and lack o f self confidence that
lurk in the minds o f many displaced inner-
city kids.
“ Places like Boys & Girls could go a long
way to help replace hopelessness with hope.
And turn wayward kids to responsible adults,”
observes White.
The Blazers' Boys & Girls Club on M l K
Boulevard opened for use las, March, is par,
o f the 1,809 Boys & Girls Club facilities over
the nation that help more than 2.4 m illion
young people connect with opportunities for
personal growth and achievement.
The M I.K 's branch has a daily member
capacity o f 210 youth. I, is open to all youth
between the ages o f 6 & 18 years.
MLK Median Generates Heat Again
bv
L ee P e r lm a n
tended gatherings. Laurel Lyon o f PDC an
nounced that the process was being put on
ortheast Martin Luther King Jr.
hold for the time being.
Boulevard is a wide street, but
Even so, the Summit meetings did reveal
still not big enough to accom
that there’ s no way to make all interest groups
modate all the agendas that special
satisfied with a redo o f M LK . There has long
interest groups have for it.
N
This became evident at the second meet
ing o f the Martin Luther King Main Street
Project. Funded by the Governor’ s Commu
nity Solutions program, the project is seeking
to identify short-term improvements to the
street based on "what makes the most sense,
what is doable, and what we have the resourc
es to accomplish right now," in the words o f
Artharee Baruti o f the state Housing and
Community Services Division He is one o f
21 community, business, non profit or gov
ernment representatives who w ill guide the
project.
The project’s first, unintcndedaccomplish-
men, has been to push aside a parallel pro
cess, Portland Community Design’s M I K
Summit. This was to be a series o f small
meetings, culminating in a day-and-a-half
gathering, that would designate and organize
specific on-going projects to promote trans
portation, businessand housingdevelopment,
cultural identity and arts on the street. How
ever, after a series o f lively bu, poorly-at-
been strong sentiment, especially in the busi
ness community, to do away with the street’ s
center median and restore on-street parking;
PCD Director Peter W ilcox started w ith this
as his personal agenda. However, he later
concluded that for the sake o f both traffic
existing four travel lanes would have to go,
there being not enough room for all o f the
above. Some, such as transit advocate Jim
Howell, say that the street would in fact
function better with just two travel lanes,
especially i f more transit service is provided.
However, Layden says preliminary studies
show that this would move the traffic onto
parallel local streets, such as Northeast Sev
enth Avenue, where it isn’t designed to go.
He also said that most o f the boulevard’s
3 1.000 vehicle trips eithercome from or goto
"We need to encourage business and job
development, not subsidized bousing,"
North-Northeast Business Association President Bill Leigh
safety and to provide ways for pedestrians to
cross the street, it may be necessary to keep
the median in at least some places.
Even ifth e median were to go, there would
be problems, or a, least choices. A, one
Summit session. Dan Layden o f the state
Department o f Transportation said that based
on state law, it would be “ a stretch” to make
major changes in the street without adding
bicycle lanes. I f such lanes are. in fact, in
stalled. either on-street parking or two o f the
the immediate area, with few cars running
straight through from Northeast Broadway to
Columbia Boulevard.
At the Main Stream Project's second meet
ing last week there were more complications.
Geri Ethen o f the Piedmont Neighborhood
Association read a position statement signed
by officers o f the Eliot. Humboldt and King
associations that, among other things op-
▼
Continued to page A3
Norma Paulus, State Superintendent
o f Public Instruction, Oregon
Department o f Education.
Urban
League
Honors
Youth
A
n organization devoted to
equality will present a new
version of the equation at its
Annual Dinner July 10.
The theme o f the Urban League o f Port
land’s dinner is "O ur Children & Our
Destiny.” The Urban League invites the
entire community to celebrate youth who
are "doing the right thing” at the event on
Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 pm at the
Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE M ar
tin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. A reception
begins at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $50 each,
$500 for a table for ten.
“ Our Children & Our Destiny” is the
new motto o f the National Urban League.
Urban League affiliates around the nation
are focusing new resources on developing
our children, and African American c h il
dren in particular, forthe 2 1 st century. The
Urban League o f Portland was recently
named one o f five Urban League affiliates
to receive a five-year grant from the Borden
Foundation to celebrate and encourage
inner city youth who are achieving. The
July 10 dinner w ill bring many o f these
youth together with adults who can help
them develop into future leaders.
Local companies are being encouraged
to donate seats at their tables to youth in
Urban League programs. Youth w ill be
prominently featured in the festive pro
gram, which w ill include entertainment, a
silent auction o f student art. and a youthful
guest speaker.
The speaker w ill be Reverend Ron Sail
or, Jr., a 2 1-year-old minister and student
from Atlanta. Rev. Sailor sits on the Na
tional N AACP board and is known for his
commitment to youth and leadership de
velopment He captured national attention
with a dynamic speech on youth issues at
the M illion Man March in October 1995.
A gifted orator, Rev. Sailor w ill speak on
“ The Changing Needs and Responsibili
t y - o f America's Youth."
i ..ree Oregonians with strong ties to
youth issues are serving as co-chairs for
the dinner Kay Dean Toran is Director o f
Oregon's O ffice for Services to Children
and Families. Norma Paulus is State Su
perintendent o f Public Instruction And
State Senator Robert Boyer manages the
K ing Facility, which houses several youth
programs in Northeast Portland. The Mas
ter o f Ceremonies w ill be Donna Johnson,
an under-30 member o f the Urban league
o f Portland board o f directors.
“ I f our young people are to believe that
our support involves more than words, we
need to show them," noted Urban League
o f Portland President Lawrence J. Dark
"W e urge adults to share skills they have
learned with young people, and show sup
port by attending our dinner or purchasing
a ticket for a youth.”
For tickets call (503) 280-2617.